Microbiological and ecological responses to global environmental changes in polar regions (MERGE): An IPY core coordinating project

An integrated program, “Microbiological and ecological responses to global environmental changes in polar regions” (MERGE), was proposed in the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008 and endorsed by the IPY committee as a coordinating proposal. MERGE hosts original proposals to the IPY and facilitates their funding. MERGE selected three key questions to produce scientific achievements. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms in terrestrial, lacustrine, and supraglacial habitats were targeted according to diversity and biogeography; food webs and ecosystem evolution; and linkages between biological, chemical, and physical processes in the supraglacial biome.MERGE hosted 13 original and seven additional proposals, with two full proposals. It respected the priorities and achievements of the individual proposals and aimed to unify their significant results. Ideas and projects followed a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach. We intend to inform the MERGE community of the initial results and encourage ongoing collaboration. Scientists from non-polar regions have also participated and are encouraged to remain involved in MERGE.MERGE is formed by scientists from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, UK, Uruguay, USA, and Vietnam, and associates from Chile, Denmark, Netherlands, and Norway.     

Vertical vibration isolator having piecewise‐constant restoring force

We present a vertical vibration isolator having a piecewise‐constant restoring force, which belongs to a class of passive and nonlinear vibration isolators. In vertical vibration isolation, direct use of low‐stiffness elements leads to unacceptably large deformations due to self‐weight. To overcome the difficulty, we apply a combination of constant‐force springs, each of which sustains a constant load regardless of its stretch. By arranging the constant‐force springs, so that the isolator has a piecewise‐constant restoring force, we alleviate the problem of the excessive deformation caused by self‐weight, provide stability at the static equilibrium state along with the self‐centering capability, and realize a large stroke while keeping the mechanism simple and compact. Further, we attempt to limit the response acceleration within a tolerance regardless of the frequency spectrum and the magnitude of earthquake ground motions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the present isolator through shaking table tests and numerical simulations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nitrate-nitrogen isotopic patterns in surface waters of the western and central equatorial pacific

To understand the processes transporting nitrate to the surface layer of the western and central equatorial Pacific, we measured the nitrogen isotopic ratio of nitrate (δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ ), which is a very useful tracer of the source of nitrate, above 200 m depth in this region in December 1999. δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ is higher (about 13.0‰) in the surface water than in the subsurface water (where it is about 6.5‰) due to isotopic fractionation during nitrate uptake by phytoplankton. The δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ value has a roughly linear relationship with the natural logarithm of nitrate concentration (ln[NO ₃ ⁻ ]). However, for values above 150 m depth, the intercept of this linear relationship varies with position from east to west. On the other hand, the data at 200 m depth at all observation stations are concentrated around a single point (ln[NO ₃ ⁻ ] = 2.5 and δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ = 6.5‰) and do not fit the linear relationships for the shallower values. To examine the meaning of the observed distributions of δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ and nitrate concentration we developed a box model including nitrogen and nitrogen isotopic cycles. By reproducing the observed relationship between δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ and nitrate concentration using this model we found that most nitrate is transported horizontally from the eastern equatorial Pacific. We also conducted case studies and investigated the effects of differences in pathways of nitrate transport on the distributions of δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ and nitrate concentration. From these studies we concluded that the observed linear relationships between δ ¹⁵NO ₃ ⁻ and ln[NO ₃ ⁻ ], having a common slope around 6‰ but different intercepts at each station, are evidence of the significant horizontal transport of nitrate to the surface water in this area.     

Constraints on the source mechanism of harmonic tremors based on seismological, ground deformation, and visual observations at Sakurajima volcano, Japan

Vulcanian-type eruptive activity has occurred from the summit crater of Sakurajima volcano, Japan, since 1955. Over this period, harmonic tremors have commonly occurred either several hours after swarms of B-type earthquakes (herein termed HTB: Harmonic Tremor following B-type earthquake swarm) or immediately after explosive eruptions (herein termed HTE: Harmonic Tremor after an Eruption). In this study, we analyzed the spectra and particle motions of HTBs and HTEs. Both HTBs and HTEs have spectra with peaks at fundamental frequencies and higher frequencies that are integer multiples of the fundamental frequencies. The peak frequencies of HTBs remained within a certain range, whereas those of HTEs showed a gradual increase. The spectra of an HTB that occurred on 20 July 1990 had stable fundamental frequencies of 1.46–1.66 Hz and at least 9 peaks of higher modes; in contrast, the HTE that occurred 3 minutes after an explosive eruption at 11 h 15 m (JST) on 11 October 2002 showed clear frequency gliding from 0.8 to 3.7 Hz in the fundamental mode. The peak frequencies of higher modes of the HTE also showed an increase corresponding to the shift of the fundamental mode towards a higher frequency. Particle motion analysis mainly identified Rayleigh waves from the prograde elliptical motion at the deepest borehole station (HAR) and retrograde motions at the other shallower stations. Love waves were dominant at the stations north and south of the crater. The distribution patterns of Rayleigh and Love waves of HTBs are similar to those of HTEs. The nature of the dominant surface waves of both HTBs and HTEs suggest that the sources of harmonic tremors are located at a shallow depth, corresponding to a gas pocket in the uppermost part of the volcanic conduit. Differences in the temporal characteristics of the HTB and HTE spectra reflect the internal condition of the gas pocket: HTBs are associated with inflation of the conduit, whereas HTEs occur following an eruption, associated with deflationary ground deformation. HTBs are caused by resonance of the gas pocket embedded beneath the lava dome. Although HTEs occur within the open conduit, the small size of vents enables resonance within the bubbly magma conduit. The positive gliding of dominant peaks toward higher frequencies is interpreted to result from shortening of the bubbly magma conduit due to a rise in the bubble nucleation level; this rise results from the re-pressurization that accompanies the ascent of magma from deep within the reservoir.     

Cyclic behavior of laterally loaded concrete piles embedded into cohesive soil

Modern seismic design codes stipulate that the response analysis should be conducted by considering the complete structural system including superstructure, foundation, and ground. However, for the development of seismic response analysis method for a complete structural system, it is first imperative to clarify the behavior of the soil and piles during earthquakes. In this study, full‐scale monotonic and reversed cyclic lateral loading tests were carried out on concrete piles embedded into the ground. The test piles were hollow, precast, prestressed concrete piles with an outer diameter of 300 mm and a thickness of 60 mm. The test piles were 26 m long. Three‐dimensional (3D) finite element analysis was then performed to study the behavior of the experimental specimens analytically. The study revealed that the lateral load‐carrying capacity of the piles degrades when subjected to cyclic loading compared with monotonic loading. The effect of the use of an interface element between the soil and pile surface in the analysis was also investigated. With proper consideration of the constitutive models of soil and pile, an interface element between the pile surface and the soil, and the degradation of soil stiffness under cyclic loading, a 3D analysis was found to simulate well the actual behavior of pile and soil. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A high‐T metamorphic complex derived from the high‐P Suo metamorphic complex in the Omuta district,northern Kyushu,southwest Japan

New U–Pb ages of zircons from migmatitic pelitic gneisses in the Omuta district, northern Kyushu, southwest Japan are presented. Metamorphic zonation from the Suo metamorphic complex to the gneisses suggests that the protolith of the gneisses was the Suo metamorphic complex. The zircon ages reveal the following: (i) a transformation took place from the high‐P Suo metamorphic complex to a high‐T metamorphic complex that includes the migmatitic pelitic gneisses; (ii) the detrital zircon cores in the Suo pelitic rocks have two main age components (ca 1900–1800 Ma and 250 Ma), with some of the detrital zircon cores being supplied (being reworked) from a high‐grade metamorphic source; and (iii) one metamorphic zircon rim yields 105.1 ±5.3 Ma concordant age that represents the age of the high‐T metamorphism. The high‐P to high‐T transformation of metamorphic complexes implies the seaward shift of a volcanic arc or a landward shift of the metamorphic complex from a trench to the sides of a volcanic arc in an arc–trench system during the Early Cretaceous. The Omuta district is located on the same geographical trend as the Ryoke plutono‐metamorphic complex, and our estimated age of the high‐T metamorphism is similar to that of the Ryoke plutono‐metamorphism in the Yanai district of western Chugoku. Therefore, the high‐T metamorphic complex possibly represents the western extension of the Ryoke plutono‐metamorphic complex. The protolith of the metamorphic rocks of the Ryoke plutono‐metamorphic complex was the Jurassic accretionary complex of the inner zone of southwest Japan. The high‐P to high‐T transformation in the Omuta district also suggests that the geographic trend of the Jurassic accretionary complex was oblique to that of the mid‐Cretaceous high‐T metamorphic field.     

Temperature profiling measurements by sea turtles improve ocean state estimation in the Kuroshio-Oyashio Confluence region

Ocean Dynamics - We demonstrate that assimilation of water temperature measurements by sea turtles into an operational ocean nowcast/forecast system improves representation of mesoscale eddies and...     

Probing the evolution of early-type galaxies using multicolour number counts and redshift distributions

We investigate pure luminosity evolution models for early-type (elliptical and S0) galaxies (i.e. no number density change or morphological transition), and examine whether these models are consistent with observed number counts in the B , I and K bands, and redshift distributions of two samples of faint galaxies selected in the I and K bands. The models are characterized by the star formation time-scale τ _SF and the time t _gw when the galactic wind starts to blow, in addition to several other conventional parameters. We find that the single-burst model ( τ _SF=0.1 Gyr and t _gw=0.353 Gyr), which is known to reproduce the photometric properties of early-type galaxies in clusters, is inconsistent with the redshift distributions of early-type galaxies in the field environment, owing to overpredictions of the number of galaxies at z ≳1.4 even with strong extinction which is at work until t _gw. In order for dust extinction to be more effective, we treat τ _SF and t _gw as free parameters, and find that models with τ _SF≳0.5 Gyr and t _gw>1.0 Gyr can be made consistent with both the observed redshift distributions and the number counts, if we introduce strong extinction [ E ( B − V )≥1 as a peak value]. These results suggest that early-type galaxies in the field environment do not have the same evolutionary history as described by the single-burst model.     

Technical issues in modeling surface-drifter behavior on the East China Sea shelf

To investigate technical issues associated with the particle-tracking numerical models frequently used to reproduce the behavior of objects drifting in the actual ocean, the trajectories of satellite-tracked drifters released in 2003, 2004, and 2007 were reproduced using a numerical model. In particular, the wind stress driving the surface currents which carried the drifters has been computed using satellite-observed QuikSCAT/Seawinds data provided twice daily in conjunction with in-situ Ieodo-station wind data. Although it is difficult to reproduce the trajectory of a single drifter using numerical models because of the uncertainty induced by random-walk processes, the similarity between the modeled particle and observed buoy trajectories is statistically significant, except for the experiment in 2007. In general, the satellite-derived wind field modified using in situ data is likely to be able to reproduce observed drifter motion. However, it is found that the model is unable to reproduce drifter trajectories in windy 2007. The numerical modeling result demonstrates that wind-induced leeway drift prevails in drifter motion in 2007, in spite of the wind-resistant drogue attached to the drifters, and that this drift shows non-negligible spatiotemporal variability, suggesting that leeway drift is not simply proportional to wind speeds, as in previous studies have maintained.     

Geochemical diversity in submarine HIMU basalts from Austral Islands, French Polynesia

We present the first report of geochemical data for submarine basalts collected by a manned submersible from Rurutu, Tubuai, and Raivavae in the Austral Islands in the South Pacific, where subaerial basalts exhibit HIMU isotopic signatures with highly radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions. With the exception of one sample from Tubuai, the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the submarine basalts show no significant age gaps between the submarine and subaerial basalts, and the major element compositions are indistinguishable at each island. However, the variations in Pb, Sr, Nd, and Hf isotopic compositions in the submarine basalts are much larger than those previously reported in subaerial basalts. The submarine basalts with less-radiogenic Pb and radiogenic Nd and Hf isotopic compositions show systematically lower concentrations in highly incompatible elements than the typical HIMU basalts. These geochemical variations are best explained by a two-component mixing process in which the depleted asthenospheric mantle was entrained by the mantle plume from the HIMU reservoir during its upwelling, and the melts from the HIMU reservoir and depleted asthenospheric mantle were then mixed in various proportions. The present and compiled data demonstrate that the HIMU reservoir has a uniquely low ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf decoupled from ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, suggesting that it was derived from an ancient subducted slab. Moreover, the Nd/Hf ratios of the HIMU basalts and curvilinear Nd–Hf isotopic mixing trend require higher Nd/Hf ratios for the melt from the HIMU reservoir than that from the depleted mantle component. Such elevated Nd/Hf ratios could reflect source enrichment by a subducted slab during reservoir formation.