Microbial community respiration and structure of dead zone sediments of Omura Bay, Japan

Monitoring sediment microbial community metabolism and structure is instrumental to understanding biogeochemical processes in and ecological impacts on bottom environments. The aim of this study was to determine potential community respiration and to reveal community dynamics of the microorganisms in the dead zone sediments of Omura Bay, Japan. The bay is highly enclosed and develops severe hypoxia in the central regions every summer. We collected sediment core samples from the center of the bay during hypoxia, estimated sediment oxygen consumption by using an adapted in vivo electron transport system activity (in vivo ETSA) assay, enumerated abundance of bacteria, and analyzed bacterial community structure by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. Higher ETSA and bacterial diversity were found in upper sediments (within 3?cm depth) from the center than the fringe of the bay. Sediment bacterial community structure of the bay center was distinct from that of the fringe. From these results, upper sediment in the dead zone of Omura Bay was characterized by (1) greater community respiration and (2) greater diversity of bacterial components compared with the non-hypoxic sediment of the bay fringe. These characteristics have important implications for understanding the interaction between microbial communities and the development of hypoxia in Omura Bay.     

Field measurements of absolute gravity in East Antarctica

Abstract This paper reports the results of field-based absolute gravity measurements aimed at detecting gravity change and crustal displacement caused by glacial isostatic adjustment. The project was initiated within the framework of the 53rd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition （JARE53）. Absolute gravity measurements, together with GPS measurements, were planned at several outcrops along the Prince Olav Coast and S6ya Coast of East Antarctica, including at Syowa Station. Since the icebreaker Shirase （AGB 5003） was unable to moor alongside Syowa Station, operations were somewhat restricted during JARE53. However, despite this setback, we were able to complete measurements at two sites： Syowa Station and Langhovde. The absolute gravity value at the Syowa Station IAGBN （A） site, observed using an FG-5 absolute gravimeter （serial number 210; FG-5 #210）, was 982 524 322.7＋0.1 ktGal, and the gravity change rate at the beginning of 2012 was -0.26 gGal.a-1. An absolute gravity value of 982 535 584.2~0.7 ktGal was obtained using a portable A-10 absolute gravimeter （serial number 017; A-10 #017） at the newly located site AGS01 in Langhovde.     

Formation age of the lunar crater Giordano Bruno

Abstract— Using the Terrain Camera onboard the Japanese lunar explorer, SELENE (Kaguya), we obtained new high‐resolution images of the 22‐kilometer‐diameter lunar crater Giordano Bruno. Based on crater size‐frequency measurements of small craters (<200 m in diameter) superposed on its continuous ejecta, the formation age of Giordano Bruno is estimated to be 1 to 10 Ma. This is constructive evidence against the crater's medieval age formation hypothesis.     

Secondary instability and three-dimensionalization in a laboratory accelerating shear layer with varying density differences

We investigate the processes by which an accelerating stratified shear flow undergoes the transition to turbulence in a sequence of experiments in a tilted tank. We observe that the processes by which the flow undergoes breakdown are both complex and diverse, and suggest that the ratio, D, of the depth of the shear layer to the total tank depth and/or the (nondimensional) total density difference are important parameters in the determination of the dominant structures. In general, inherently three-dimensional, and relatively large-scale, flow structures strongly suppress simple subharmonic vortex pairing, and appear to dominate totally the transition to turbulence. In certain circumstances, the primary instabilities of the flow, namely Kelvin-Helmholtz billows, are able to develop in a quasi-two-dimensional manner before interaction between neighbouring billows becomes significant. In these circumstances, narrow secondary streamwise ‘tubes’ of vorticity are observed between neighbouring billows. Alternatively subharmonic, quasi-two-dimensional vortex mergings may be observed; these are not just simple pairings, but also three vortices are observed to merge into a single secondary billow, or two merge and the other persists, as predicted theoretically by Klaassen and Peltier (J. Fluid Mech., 202: 367–402, 1989). Three-dimensional vortex merging (knotting) of initially quasi-two-dimensional billows is also observed. Such knots are observed not only as pairwise transitions, as discussed by Thorpe (Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., 34: 175–199, 1985), but also single billows are observed to knot with both adjacent neighbours simultaneously. Also, billows are observed to bow during merging events. However, particularly at larger density differences, higher Reynolds number and when the depth ratio, D, is sufficiently small, billow-billow interactions are apparent essentially immediately upon instability onset. Although the structures which develop resemble secondary tubes, these structures appear to be a primary instability of the flow, analogous to an instability observed by other researchers in both forced and unforced homogeneous shear layers.     

Seasonal Trend in the Occurrence of Nocturnal Drainage Flow on a Forested Slope Under a Tropical Monsoon Climate

Using data for one year, we examined the vertical wind speed profileson a mountain slope covered with forest in northern Thailand undera tropical monsoon climate. We defined two profile patterns: higherwind speeds at greater heights (Pattern 1) and lower wind speeds atgreater heights (Pattern 2). We classified 9.4% of the data as Pattern 2;this pattern tended to occur during the night, at low wind speeds, and with high outgoing longwave radiation. In addition, stable stratification anddecoupling between the canopy surface air and the overlying layers wereobserved when Pattern 2 occurred frequently. These facts suggested thatPattern 2 was caused by a nocturnal drainage flow. The occurrence ofPattern 2 showed a clear seasonal trend, indicating that there is a seasonaltrend in the occurrence of nocturnal drainage flows. Pattern 2 was observedmore frequently between August and February and less frequently betweenMarch and July. This corresponded to the seasonal trend in wind speed, butdid not correspond to the seasonal trend in the outgoing longwave radiation.     

Equivalent linear method considering frequency dependent characteristics of stiffness and damping

Equivalent linear dynamic response analysis of ground is based on complex moduli and Fourier series expansion; therefore, it is not an equivalent method but an approximate method. Two deficiencies in the conventional equivalent linear method represented by SHAKE are described first. The maximum shear strength is overestimated, resulting in overestimation of the peak acceleration under a strong ground motion, and the amplification is underestimated at high frequency. The latter sometimes results in underestimation of the peak acceleration under weak ground shaking, and gives an incident wave with unrealistic large accelerations or a divergence of analysis in deconvolution analysis under strong ground motion. Both deficiencies are shown to come from the same cause, i.e. computing the effective strain as a constant fraction of the maximum strain. Since this is a key concept of the equivalent linear analysis, one cannot overcome both deficiencies at the same time in the conventional method. An apparent frequency dependence in stiffness and damping is shown to appear in the dynamic response, although soil itself does not show frequency dependent characteristics. Following this observation, the effective strain is expressed in terms of frequency from the similarity concept of the strain–frequency relationship between time domain and frequency domain. This enables the reduction of both deficiencies at the same time, resulting in a marked improvement in the equivalent linear analysis. The accuracy of the proposed method is examined by the simulations of three vertical array records during large earthquakes. The proposed method always gives much better prediction than conventional equivalent linear methods for both convolution and deconvolution analyses, and it is confirmed to be applicable at more than 1% shear strain.     

Volcanic Sequences Related to Kuroko Mineralization in the Hokuroku District, Northeast Japan

Abstract. Kuroko deposits are a representative volcanic‐hosted massive sulfide deposit and the Hokuroku district is economically the most important Kuroko containing province in Japan. There are two cycles of the bimodal volcanic sequence in the Hokuroku district. The pre‐ore volcanism started with basaltic activity and was followed by intensive felsic hyaloclas‐tic activity under bathyal conditions. The post‐ore sequence also began with basaltic activity intercalated with mudstone and was followed by alternating beds of pumice tuff with several lava flows and mudstone. Kuroko deposits are situated in the final period of the pre‐ore felsic volcanic sequence of the first bimodal volcanic cycle. Based on a detailed investigation of existing age data, it was concluded that the felsic volcanic sequences in the pre‐and post‐Kuroko formation can be divided into a pre‐ore dacite group (16–13.5 Ma), a D2 dacite group (lower unit of the post‐ore volcanic sequence, 12.7±0.6～ ll Ma) and a Dl dacite group (upper unit of the post‐ore sequence including quartz‐porphyry and granitoid, 11sim;10 Ma) in ascending order. Field and microscopic observations show that the pre‐ore dacite is characterized by aphyric to plagioclase‐phyric lava and the post‐ore dacitic rocks are characterized by quartz‐plagioclase‐phyric aphanitic lava and dome. These three dacite groups are petrochemically discriminated by SiO₂‐Al₂O₃ and CaO‐TiO₂ diagrams, excluding altered specimens. The distribution of the normative compositions on the Q‐An‐Ab‐Or diagram suggests that the pre‐ore dacites trend on the 5 kb cotectic line (equilibrated to 10—15 km deep) and those of the post‐ore trend along the 1 kb line (a few km deep). The secular variation of the major elements indicates that the rhyolitic members genetically related to the Kuroko formation could be the most differentiated products in the pre‐ore felsic volcanism. The distribution of Nb against SiO₂ content in the pre‐ and post‐ore bimodal volcanic cycles indicates that these two volcanisms could have been generated by different magmatic origins. The difference would have been caused by the tectonic conversion from a back‐arc to an island‐arc setting.