Mapping of tidal current and associated nonlinear currents in the Xiangshan Bay by coastal acoustic tomography

Ocean Dynamics - Herein, tidal current and associated nonlinear currents were measured using nine coastal acoustic tomography (CAT) systems surrounding the tomography domain in Xiangshan Bay from...     

日本中部地区上新世到更新世过渡时期的气候演变:来自水杉叶片化石稳定碳同位素及其形态性状的证据

晚上新世至更新世是地质历史时期中十分重要的阶段,2.7Ma之后北半球由温暖湿润的气候进入冰期,水杉叶片化石稳定碳同位素值、叶片面积和叶片长宽比在地质历史时期的变化可以推测该时期内环境的变化趋势、探索植物对环境变化的响应.本研究选取日本中部地区的5个化石点(泉南郡、八王子市、东近江市、十日町市和生驹市)的水杉叶片化石(3.00～0.95Ma)材料.这些化石点的化石叶片稳定碳同位素值在八王子市(2.6～2.7Ma,晚上新世)出现最低值(-29.05‰±0.15‰),明显低于其他化石点材料的稳定碳同位素值,并且在此期间化石叶片的面积为7.45±1.31mm2,大于其他时期;同时,叶片的长宽比较大,为4.22±0.67.这些结果相互印证共同指示出,上新世与更新世交界时期存在一个间冰期;之后,气候逐渐变冷变于.并且本研究结果与日本古植物群落演替得出的结论相一致.     

A Late Holocene geomagnetic secular variation record from Erhai Lake, southwest China

A secular variation record of the geomagnetic field direction for the last 6.5  kyr has been obtained from the magnetization of sediment cores from Erhai Lake, southwest China. In order to make a comparison with this record, secular variation in east-central China was investigated by combining available magnetic field data from historical records and archaeomagnetic measurements since about 350 bc . The secular variation in Erhai Lake shows features consistent with the combined record, except for the oldest three observed declination swings in Sian from 720 to 900 ad . Many features of declination and inclination in China also occur in Japan. From 500 to 1000 ad , declination was westerly ranging from about −20° to −5° in Erhai Lake, east-central China, and Japan.     

Recent progress in studies of the South China Sea circulation

The South China Sea (SCS) is a semi-enclosed marginal sea with deep a basin. The SCS is located at low latitudes, where the ocean circulations are driven principally by the Asia-Australia monsoon. Ocean circulation in the SCS is very complex and plays an important role in both the marine environment and climate variability. Due to the monsoon-mountain interactions the seasonal spatial pattern of the sea surface wind stress curl is very specific. These distinct patterns induce different basin-scale circulation and gyre in summer and winter, respectively. The intensified western boundary currents associated with the cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres in the SCS play important roles in the sea surface temperature variability of the basin. The mesoscale eddies in the SCS are rather active and their formation mechanisms have been described in recent studies. The water exchange through the Luzon Strait and other straits could give rise to the relation between the Pacific and the SCS. This paper reviews the research results mentioned above.     

Monitoring Surface Velocity from Repeated ADCP Observations and Satellite Altimetry

A method has been developed to monitor the surface velocity field by combining repeated acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) observations and satellite altimetry data. The geostrophic velocity anomaly is calculated from the sea surface height anomaly field estimated from the altimetry data by an optimal interpolation. It has been confirmed that this accurately observes the smoothed velocity anomaly field when the interpolation scales are set according to the spatio-temporal sampling pattern of the altimeter used. The velocity anomaly obtained from the altimetry data is subtracted from the repeated ADCP observations to estimate temporal mean velocity along the ship tracks. Regularly sampled, nine-year time series of surface velocity can then be obtained by adding the computed mean velocity and the altimetry anomaly components. This clearly illustrates surface velocity fluctuations such as the movement of the Kuroshio axis due to its meandering and an increase of the interannual variability of the Subtropical Countercurrent toward its downstream region. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Towed ADCP fish with Depth and Roll controllable wings and its application to the Kuroshio observation

An intelligent ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) fish, called DRAKE (Depth and Roll Adjustable Kite for Energy flux measurements) was developed with the controllable wings which can adjust the submerging depth of the fish and stabilize its roll motion. The Kuroshio west of Okinawa was measured in a roundtrip course on the same traverse line by the ADCP fish. The forward survey obtained the maximum submerging depth of 208 m at a fish operation speed of 2.9 ms^–1. The maximum fish speed of 5.4 ms^–1 was achieved at a submerging depth of 48 m in the return survey. The data in the overlapped area of data acquisition between depths 212 and 276 m were used to examine the accuracy of velocity measurement for the towed ADCP system. The summation of both survey data made it possible to estimate a sectional velocity structure and transport of the upper 600 m corresponding roughly to the whole section of the Kuroshio in this region.     

Computer Simulation of Coastal Acoustic Tomography by a Two-Dimensional Vortex Model

Computer simulation of coastal acoustic tomography with four, five, seven and nine stations was applied to two-dimensional vortex fields of horizontal domain 5 km × 5 km. Travel time data obtained in reciprocal directions between all pairs of acoustic stations were analyzed to reconstruct the vortex fields by the stochastic inverse method, reduced to the damped least squares method. The weighting factor appearing in the inverse analysis was determined by applying the L-curve method, in which a point making both the size of estimated error ‖y - Ex‖ and solution ‖x‖ as small as possible in a balance is specified as an optimum. The performance of this method was examined using two-dimensional vortex models which have different wavenumber spectra and adding the random error of different levels to the travel time difference data y. This study suggests that in the selection of the optimal weighting factor the horizontal section of the simulated tidal vortex fields can be well reconstructed by the coastal acoustic tomography system composed of five to seven acoustic stations located in the periphery of the vortex fields. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optimum design of the ocean acoustic tomography system for the Sea of Japan

An ocean acoustic tomography system covering the region of 800×1000 km with the spatial resolution of eddy-resolving scales has been designed on the basis of computer experiments using the hydrographic data collected in the Sea of Japan. The optimum number of acoustic sources required for 20 acoustic receivers was estimated as 13 by changing the source number. The spatial resolution for the optimum system was 41 km smaller than the dominant size of meso-scale eddies in the Sea of Japan. The effect of travel-time errors on tomographic maps is also quantified.     

The carbon isotopic ratio of atmospheric carbon dioxide at Tsukuba,Japan

To find out the secular and seasonal trends of the ¹³C value and CO₂ concentration in the surface air and the determination of the ¹³C in the atmospheric CO₂ collected at Tsukuba Science City was carried out during the period from July 1981 to October 1983. The monthly average of the ¹³C value of CO₂ in the surface air collected at 1400 LMT ranged from -7.52 to \s-8.45 with an average of -7.96±0.25 and the CO₂ concentration in the air varied from 334.5 l 1^-1 to 359 l 1^-1 with an average of 347.2±6.3 l 1^-1. The ¹³C value is high in summer and low in winter and is negatively correlated with the CO₂ concentration. In general, the relationship between the ¹³C and the CO₂ concentration is explainable by a simple mixing model of two different constant carbon isotopic species but the relationship does not always follow the model. The correlation between the ¹³C value and the CO₂ concentration is low during the plant growth season and high at other times. The observed negative deviation of the ¹³C value from the simple mixing model in the plant growth season is partly due to the isotopic fractionation process which takes place in the land biota.     

Monazite geochronology and geochemistry of meta-sediments in the Narryer Gneiss Complex, Western Australia: constraints on the tectonothermal history and provenance

Mt. Narryer and Jack Hills meta-sedimentary rocks in the Narryer Gneiss Complex of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia are of particular importance because they yield Hadean detrital zircons. To better understand the tectonothermal history and provenance of these ancient sediments, we have integrated backscattered scanning electron images, in situ U–Pb isotopic and geochemical data for monazites from the meta-sediments. The data indicate multiple periods of metamorphic monazite growth in the Mt. Narryer meta-sediments during tectonothermal events, including metamorphism at ~3.3–3.2 and 2.7–2.6 Ga. These results set a new minimum age of 3.2 Ga for deposition of the Mt. Narryer sediments, previously constrained between 3.28 and ~2.7 Ga. Despite the significant metamorphic monazite growth, a relatively high proportion of detrital monazite survives in a Fe- and Mn-rich sample. This is likely because the high Fe and Mn bulk composition resulted in the efficient shielding of early formed monazite by garnet. In the Jack Hills meta-sediments, metamorphic monazite growth was minor, suggesting the absence of high-grade metamorphism in the sequence. The detrital monazites provide evidence for the derivation of Mt. Narryer sediments from ca. 3.6 and 3.3 Ga granites, likely corresponding to Meeberrie and Dugel granitic gneisses in the Narryer Gneiss Complex. No monazites older than 3.65 Ga have been identified, implying either that the source rocks of >3.65 Ga detrital zircons in the sediments contained little monazite, or that >3.65 Ga detrital minerals had experienced significant metamorphic events or prolonged sedimentary recycling, resulting in the complete dissolution or recrystallization of monazite.