Seasonal variation in Tsushima Warm Current paths over the shelf off the San’in coast,Japan

Using long-term sea surface temperature (SST) and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data, we examined variations in the current axis of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) off the San’in coast of Japan, near the entrance to the Japan Sea. There were large horizontal temperature gradients along the shelf edge in the southwestern Japan Sea from October to May, suggesting that the second branch of the TWC appears not only in spring and autumn but also in winter. From the ADCP data analysis, we found that currents with speeds of approximately 20 cm s^?1 and greater appeared around the shelf edge off San’in coast in all seasons. The SST and ADCP data analyses suggested that the second branch of the TWC exists around the shelf edge off the San’in coast throughout the year. This finding differed from those of previous studies. A relatively strong current (speed greater than 15 cm s^?1) appeared on the shore side in all seasons, except at line W in winter. This current might be the first branch of the TWC. The first branch seemed to occur around in 100 m isobaths, but shifted northward and southward because the bottom topography around lines W and M was relatively flat and the shelf was broad. The first branch was very obscure, and it was difficult to define the two branches of the TWC off the San’in coast from the seasonally averaged vectors. However, snapshots of current distribution derived from the ADCP data clearly showed these branches. Hence, both the first and second branches might occur throughout the year off the San’in coast.     

A search for millimeter wave spectral lines from comet Sugano-Saigusa-Fujikawa (1983e)

The search for radio spectral lines from Comet Sugano-Saigusa-Fujikawa (1983e) was conducted using the 45-m telescope of Nobeyama Radio Observatory. The frequency ranges of 44.0–46.0 and 47.5–49.5 GHz were surveyed down to $\text{ΔT}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>A</mtext>}}{}^1\text{(}\text{rms}\text{) = 20–30}\text{mK}$, with a beam size of ～35 arc sec. Upper limits have been established for spectral lines of atomic hydrogen, CS, OCS, SO₂, H₂CO, CH₃OH, HCCCCCN, HCOOCH₃, CH₃OCH₃, and CH₃CH₂CN. The J = 5?4 line from HCCCN in the vibrational ground state possibly has been detected but not confirmed. The suggested total amount of HCCCN in the coma is consistent with the possible picture that HCCCN is the main parent molecule of CN.     

Coastal ecosystem change in Asia: hypoxia,eutrophication, and nutrient conditions

Journal of Oceanography -     

Integrated magnetobiochronology of the Pliocene–Pleistocene Miyazaki succession,southern Kyushu,southwest Japan: Implications for an Early Pleistocene hiatus and defining the base of the Gelasian (P/P boundary type section) in Japan

An integrated magnetobiochronology of the Miyazaki Pliocene–Pleistocene succession in the Miyazaki area, southwest Japan, was established using planktic foraminiferal and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy together with paleomagnetic data. The upper Miyazaki succession in the northern Miyazaki region can be divided into the Takanabe, Hisamine (redefined), and Higoyashiki (new) Formations, in ascending order. A depositional hiatus between the Hisamine Formation and the Takanabe and/or older formations was also identified based on integrated magnetobiostratigraphy from five sections including the Nagatani River (NGT) section through the uppermost Miyazaki succession. The hiatus, herein called the Hisamine unconformity, is equivalent to the Kurotaki unconformity between the Miura and Kazusa groups of the Boso Peninsula in central Japan. The depositional hiatus recognised in the lower Pleistocene of Pacific coastal areas in southwestern and central Japan may have resulted from tectonic activity associated with a change in the subduction direction of the Philippine Sea plate, which commenced prior to ca. 2.2 Ma. The youngest unit just below the hiatus is the upper part of the Takanabe Formation in the NGT section. The NGT section represents the continuous Late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene sequence including the Gauss/Matuyama boundary and is here proposed as the type section for the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary in Japan, which the IUGS ratified as the base of the Gelasian in 2009.     

The Wide Band Spectrometer on the SOLAR-A

The SOLAR-A spacecraft has spectroscopic capabilities in a wide energy band from soft X-rays to gamma-rays. The Wide Band Spectrometer (WBS), consisting of three kinds of spectrometers, soft X-ray spectrometer (SXS), hard X-ray spectrometer (HXS) and gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS), is installed on SOLAR-A to investigate plasma heating, high-energy particle acceleration, and interaction processes. SXS has two proportional counters and each counter provides 128-channel pulse height data in the 2–30 keV range every 2 s and 2-channel pulse count data every 0.25 s. HXS has a NaI scintillation detector and provides 32-channel pulse height data in the 20–400 keV range every 1 s and 2-channel pulse count data every 0.125 s. GRS has two identical BGO scintillation detectors and each detector provides 128-channel pulse height data in the 0.2–10 MeV range every 4 s and 4-channel pulse count data (0.2–0.7, 0.7–4, 4–7, and 7–10 MeV) every 0.25–0.5 s. In addition, each of the BGO scintillation detectors provides 16-channel pulse height data in the 8–100 MeV range every 4 s and 2-channel pulse count data (8–30 and 30–100 MeV) every 0.5 s. The SXS observations enable one to study the thermal evolution of flare plasma by obtaining time series of electron temperatures and emission measures of hot plasma; the HXS observations enable one to study the electron acceleration and heating mechanisms by obtaining time series of the electron spectrum; and the GRS observations enable one to study the high-energy electron and ion acceleration and interaction processes by obtaining time series of electron and ion spectra.After the launch the name of SOLAR-A has been changed to YOHKOH.     

High sensitivity SiO maser survey for mira variables

Simultaneous observations of the six transitions of SiO for 106 late-type stars were made. The SiO maser emission was detected in 83 stars. Thev=3 maser emission was detected in eight stars, and the²⁹SiOv=0 emission in six stars. The²⁹SiOv=0 emission is stronger and narrower than that of²⁸SiO, suggesting that the²⁹SiO emission is masing.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Formation mechanism of pigeonite lamellae in skaergaard augite

Fine textures of exsolution lamellae and interface boundaries between augite and pigeonite in augite crystals from Skaergaard ferrogabbro 4430 have been studied by high resolution electron microscopy and X-ray methods. Thick pigeonite lamellae have higher densities of (100) stacking faults than thin lamellae. The displacement vector of the faults has been determined as 5/6c from the measured density of faults and the relative rotation of the augite and pigeonite lattices. The augite and pigeonite lattices are apparently coherent, and no growth ledges were observed at the interfaces. The stacking faults are often combined with the antiphase boundary of pigeonite resulting in a total displacement vector of 1/2(a+b)+5/6c. The observation of thick and thin pigeonite lamellae indicated that the thickening of (001) pigeonite lamellae was controlled by coherency strains accumulated at the interfaces between augite and pigeonite.     

Fine-grained aggregates in L3 chondrites

The textures and chemical compositions of the constituent minerals of the fine-grained aggregates (FGA's) of L3 chondrites were studied by the backscattered electron image technique, electron probe microanalysis, and transmission electron microscopy. Plagioclase and glass in the interstices between fine grains of olivine and pyroxene indicate that the FGA's once partly melted. Compositional zoning and decomposition texture of pyroxenes are similar to those observed in chondrules, indicating a common cooling history of the FGA's and chondrules. Therefore, the mechanism that caused melting of the FGA's is considered to be the same as for chondrules. Bulk compositions of the FGA's are within the range of those of chondrules, so some chondrules probably were produced by complete melting of the same precursor materials as those of the FGA's. The precursor materials must have included fine olivine and other grains that probably are condensates.     

Evaluation of tidal error in altimetry data in the Asian marginal seas

The magnitude and geographical distribution of the error in the Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data (AVISO) altimetry data associated with tidal correction around Asian marginal seas has been revealed. The errors were evaluated by harmonic analysis of the AVISO corrected sea surface heights data (CorSSH). Errors of more than 15 cm of tidal correction were recognized in the western and northern parts of the Yellow Sea, Celebes Sea, Kuril Islands, and the northwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea. It was found that the CorSSH and sea level anomaly (SLA) data downloaded from the AVISO are not available for direct use in those marginal seas. To reduce the tidal correction error, the harmonic constants calculated from the latest tide model and regional tide model were applied as the tidal correction of the Altimetry data. The tidal errors in the Yellow Sea and the northwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea were reduced by approximately 20 cm and 10 cm, respectively. Root mean square differences between the harmonic constants derived from tide models and those derived from altimetry data were calculated. The root mean square differences were large in the Yellow and the Okhotsk Seas. Root sum squares for four principal tidal constituents in the Yellow and East China Seas and Okhotsk Sea were 7.72 cm and 8.36 cm, respectively.     

Tidal Correction of Altimetric Data in the Japan Sea

Satellite altimetric data have been very useful in the study of variation in the eddy field of the ocean. In order to investigate the variation in the eddy field, we have to remove tidal signals from altimetric data. However, global tidal models do not have sufficient accuracy in marginal seas such as the Japan Sea. In this study, we carried out harmonic analysis of temporal fluctuations of sea surface height data in the Japan Sea measured by TOPEX/POSEIDON. We could eliminate the tidal signals from altimetric data of TOPEX/POSEIDON and also from ERS-2 altimetric data with use of the harmonic constants derived from TOPEX/POSEIDON and tide gauge data along the coast. We draw co-tidal and co-range charts in the Japan Sea using the result of the harmonic analysis of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetric data and tide gauge data along the coast. The results obtained turn out to be very useful for the tidal correction of altimetric data from satellite in the Japan Sea.