Bianchi type – IX string cosmological models with bulk viscous fluid in general relativity

Some Bianchi Type IX string cosmological models with bulk viscous fluid for massive string is investigated. To get a determinate solution, a supplementary condition a=b ⁿ, between metric potentials, is used wherea and b are function of time alone. A particular solution for n=0 is also discussed. The behaviour of the model in presence and absence of bulk viscosity, is discussed. The physical and implications of the model is also discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Diel Patterns in Chlorophyll <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> Specific Absorption Coefficient and Absorption Efficiency Factor of Picoplankton

Diel patterns in the chlorophyll a specific absorption coefficient of surface picoplankton, a*_pico (γ) (m²·[mg chlorophyll a]⁻¹), were studied at 7 stations under daily cycle of in situ light condition in the western subarctic Pacific and Japan Sea. All the data were normalized by dividing the anomaly with daily averaged a*_pico (γ). Opposite diel patterns were observed for the normalized a*_pico (443) and a*_pico (675) with maximum toward dawn or dusk and minimum toward midday at 4 stations under low-irradiance (LI) conditions and vice versa at 3 stations under high-irradiance (HI) conditions. The absorption efficiency factors at red absorption peak, Q _a (675), were determined by reconstruction with intracellular chlorophyll a concentration and cell diameter. The normalized Q _a (675) also showed diel pattern with maximum toward midday and minimum toward dawn or dusk under LI. The diel pattern in a*_pico (675) and Q _a (675) were primarily caused by changes in intracellular chlorophyll a concentration due to photoadaptation under LI. The diel pattern in a*_pico (443) was influenced by pigmentation, as recognized by blue to red ratio [a*_pico (443)/a*_pico (675)] under HI. This study proposed that the opposite diel pattern in a*_pico (γ) might occur for a wide range of algal species. The results presented here have important consequences for the interpretation of diel variations in optical properties observed in the open ocean.     

CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Flux Measurements over the Sea Surface by Eddy Correlation and Aerodynamic Techniques

The measurements of the vertical transport of CO₂ were carried out over the Sea of Japan using the specially designed pier of Kyoto University on September 20 to 22, 2000. CO₂ fluxes were measured by the eddy correlation and aerodynamic techniques. Both techniques showed comparable CO₂ fluxes during sea breeze conditions: −0.001 to −0.08 mg m⁻²s⁻¹ with the mean of −0.05 mg m⁻²s⁻¹. This means that the measuring site satisfies the fetch requirement for meteorological observations under sea breeze conditions. Moreover, the eddy diffusivity coefficient used in the aerodynamic technique is found to be consistent with the coefficient used in the eddy correlation technique. The present result leads us to conclude that the aerodynamic technique may be applicable to underway CO₂ flux measurements over the ocean and may be used in place of the bulk technique. The important point is the need to maintain a measuring accuracy of CO₂ concentration difference of the order of 0.1 ppmv on the research vessels or the buoys.     

Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Total Mass Flux around Coral Reefs in the Southern Ryukyus,Japan

Total mass flux, size distribution of sediment particles and some chemical components such as total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN) and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) were monitored monthly using a multi-cup sediment traps at seven coral reef sites (6 reef flat and 1 reef slope) of the Marine Protected Areas around Ishigaki, Kohama, Kuroshima and Iriomote Islands in the southern Ryukyus, Japan from September 2000 to September 2001. The size distribution of trapped sediments revealed mostly uni-modal fine sand to mud in the reef flat and gravelly to coarse sand in the reef slope. The total mass flux ranged between 0.54 to 872 gm⁻²d⁻¹, and showed a pronounced seasonality (high in summer-autumn and low in spring) at each site, which was consistent with the rainfall and typhoon regime. Exceptionally high values were observed on the reef slope (Iriomote) in February–March 2001 (1533 gm⁻²d⁻¹) owing to a large amount of bottom sediment re-suspension. On the reef flat (Todoroki South and North; Ishigaki), values obtained in July–August 2001 (872 gm⁻²d⁻¹) and August–September 2001 (800 gm^{− 2}d⁻¹) indicate the high terrestrial discharge from Todoroki River. Trapped sediment particles consist of CaCO₃ (1.2–27.1%) and a non-carbonate fraction (98.8–72.9%), which contains total carbon (4.9–26%), carbonate carbon (CO₂-C) (0.2–3.1%) and non-carbonate carbon (NC-C) (7.9–25.6%). Total nitrogen content was in the range 0.02–0.48%. TN is contained mainly in the carbonate fraction and NC-C may be contained in the non-carbonate fraction. The low TN/OC ratio of the trapped sediments suggests that they were mostly of terrestrial origin and that both fractions migrated. The high total mass flux derived from Todoroki River exceeded the threshold at which a lethal effect on coral community is caused. The results stress the importance of conducting seasonal studies of sedimentation over more than one year and at more than one location in south Japan coral reef ecosystems to gain an understanding of the processes controlling the total mass fluxes and their nutrients content, also to develop an awareness of how to prevent the damage of coral reef ecosystems and, if it does occur, to allow mitigation measures to be undertaken.     

Seismic structure and tectonics of the Shackleton Fracture Zone (Drake Passage,Scotia Sea)

The structural framework of the southern part of the Shackleton Fracture Zone has been investigated through the analysis of a 130-km-long multichannel seismic reflection profile acquired orthogonally to the fracture zone near 60° S. The Shackleton Fracture Zone is a 800-km-long, mostly rectilinear and pronounced bathymetric lineation joining the westernmost South Scotia Ridge to southern South America south of Cape Horn, separating the western Scotia Sea plate from the Antarctic plate. Conventional processing applied to the seismic data outlines the main structures of the Shackleton Fracture Zone, but only the use of enhanced techniques, such as accurate velocity analyses and pre-stack depth migration, provides a good definition of the acoustic basement and the architecture of the sedimentary sequences. In particular, a strong and mostly continuous reflector found at about 8.0 s two-way traveltime is very clear across the entire section and is interpreted as the Moho discontinuity. Data show a complex system of troughs developed along the eastern flank of the crustal ridge, containing tilted and rotated blocks, and the presence of a prominent listric normal fault developed within the oceanic crust. Positive flower structures developed within the oceanic basement indicate strike-slip tectonism and partial reactivation of pre-existing faults. Present-day tectonic activity is found mostly in correspondence to the relief, whereas fault-induced deformation is negligible across the entire trough system. This indicates that the E–W-directed stress regime present in the Drake Passage region is mainly dissipated along a narrow zone within the Shackleton Ridge axis. A reappraisal of all available magnetic anomaly identifications in the western Scotia Sea and in the former Phoenix plate, in conjunction with new magnetic profiles acquired to the east of the Shackleton Fracture Zone off the Tierra del Fuego continental margin, has allowed us to propose a simple reconstruction of Shackleton Fracture Zone development in the general context of the Drake Passage opening.     

Scaling analysis of deposition from turbidity currents

Many oil-bearing sedimentary deposits are formed by the settling of particles from turbidity currents. Modeling sedimentary processes that form these turbidites enables the calculation of properties such as extent, depth, porosity and permeability of hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs. This paper estimates the extent and thickness of turbidites from the initial conditions of the turbidity flow. This is achieved by the application of scaling analysis of the partial differential equations that govern the dynamics of and deposition from turbidity currents. We apply the results of scaling analysis to five modern submarine fans. The predicted and actual values of the dimensions of the fan deposits match well. We then compare the derived results against tabulated sizes of ancient turbidites. The comparisons are good as long as we correctly identify the flow regimes in which the deposition took place. The good agreements observed in the two cases show that the estimates obtained using scaling analysis can provide useful first-guess values for the dimensions of the deposits.     

Simple determination of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a simple, sensitive and less destructive method for the determination of dimethylsulfide (DMS) in seawater. Combined with detection by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the method had sufficient sensitivity (minimum detectable concentration of DMS was 0.05 nM), and practical levels of reproducibility (relative standard deviation ≤7%) and linearity (r ² > 0.995) over a wide concentration range (0.5 to 910 nM). The protocol developed was applied to a Sagami Bay water sample to determine concentrations of DMS and DMSP, and in situ DMSP-lyase activity.     

Comparison of TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimeter Derived Wind Speed and Wave Parameters with Ocean Buoy Data in the North Indian Ocean

Results of comparison exercises carried out between the state-of-the-art TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter-derived ocean surface wind speed and ocean wave parameters (significant wave height and wave period) and those measured by a set of ocean data buoys in the North Indian Ocean are presented in this article. Altimeter-derived significant wave height values exhibited rms deviation as small as ±0.3 m, and surface wind speed of ±1.6 m/s. These results are found consistent with those found for the Pacific Ocean. For estimation of ocean wave period, the spectral moments-based semiempirical approach, earlier applied on GEOSAT data, was extended to TOPEX/POSEIDON. For this purpose, distributions of first four years of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data and climatology over the North Indian Ocean were analyzed and a new set of coefficients generated for estimation of wave period. It is shown that wave periods thus estimated from TOPEX/POSEIDON data (for the subsequent two years), when compared with independent data set of ocean data buoys deployed in the North Indian Ocean, exhibit improved accuracy (rms ~ ±1.4 nos) over those determined earlier with GEOSAT data.     

The flow of viscoelastic non-Newtonian fluid in the Ekman layer

In this paper the unsteady flow in the Ekman layer of a visco-elastic non-Newtonian fluid near a flat plate is discussed. Laplace transform technique has been employed to show the basic differential equations. Expressions for velocity profile, the skin friction have been calculated. It is shown that the time to attain the steady state increases with the elastic parameter. It is shown that normally the ultimate steady state is reached through a decay of inertial oscillations whose frequency decreases with increase in the elastic parameter. In the present study we examine the following unsteady problem in non-Newtonian fluid. Consider an infinite plate coinciding with the platez=0 and rotating in unison with elasticoviscous liquid occupying the regionz>0 with a uniform angular velocity about thez-axis for timet<-0. At timet>0, the plate starts moving with a uniform velocityU _o along thex-axis relative to the rotating frame of reference. The horizontal homogeneity of the problem demands that conditions depend onz andt only. The equation of continuity together with the no slip condition at the plate then shows that thez-component of the velocity vanishes everywhere.