The Monsoon in the Arabian Sea: Implications From Radiolarian Fluxes to the Deep Sea

THE MONSOON IN THE ARABIAN SEA:IMPLICATIONS FROM RADIOLARIAN FLUXES TO THE DEEP SEA     

Persistence and metallic composition of paint particles in sediments from a tidal inlet

Concentrations of Cu, Pb, Sn and Zn have been determined in sediment (<500 μm) and macroscopic paint particles (>500 μm) retrieved from sections of two cores collected from a tidal inlet of the Plym estuary, southwest England. Paint particles contributed up to about 0.2% of the total mass retrieved from each section and were most abundant towards the base of the cores where, according to (210)Pb dating, deposition took place about a decade prior to sampling. Metal concentrations in the paint particles pooled from the sections were highly variable, typically spanning two orders of magnitude in each core, and were greatest for Cu and Zn (up to 460,000 and 170,000 μg g(-1), respectively) due to their use in contemporary antifouling formulations applied to boat hulls. Concentrations of metals in the sediment were, however, relatively invariant, an effect attributed to the abundance and dispersion of microscopic paint particles throughout the cores.     

Forces acting on bridge abutments over liquefied ground

Large earthquake-induced displacements of a bridge abutment can occur, when the bridge is built on a floodplain or reclaimed area, i.e., liquefiable ground, and crosses a water channel. Seismic responses of a bridge abutment on liquefiable ground are the consequence of complex interactions between the abutment and surrounding soils. Therefore identification of the factors dominating the abutment response is important for the development of simplified seismic design methods. This paper presents the results of dynamic three-dimensional finite element analyses of bridge abutments adjacent to a river dike, including the effect of liquefaction of the underlying ground using earthquake motions widely used in Japan. The analysis shows that conventional design methods may underestimate the permanent abutment displacements unless the following two items are considered: (1) softening of the soil beneath the liquefiable layer, due to cyclic shearing of the soil surrounding the piles, and (2) the forces acting on the side faces of the abutment.     

Response of a summertime anticyclonic eddy to wind forcing in Funka Bay,Hokkaido, Japan

Flow fluctuations inside an anticyclonic eddy in summertime Funka Bay were examined using three moorings and hydrographic data. The flow pattern above a sharp pycnocline with a concave isopycnal structure during the mooring period was characterized by high mean kinetic energy and relatively low eddy kinetic energy. The ratios of eddy to mean kinetic energy were equal to or less than one, and the mean flow field and isopycnal structure indicated the existence of a stable anticyclonic eddy above the sharp pycnocline under approximate geostrophic balance. Larger flow fluctuations with periods longer than 7 days were dominant inside the eddy. The low-frequency flow fluctuations are accompanied by north to northeastward movement of the eddy with deepening of the pycnocline and spin-up of the anticyclonic circulation. The wind field over Funka Bay is characterized by bay-scale wind fluctuations. The bay-scale winds are greatly influenced by the land topography around Funka Bay, resulting in non-uniform structure with significant wind stress curl. The bay-scale wind fluctuations are termed “locally modified wind” in the present study. The locally modified wind has a negative (positive) wind stress curl in the central–northeastern (southwestern) region of Funka Bay. The north to northeastward movement of the eddy is caused by horizontal non-uniform supply of vorticity from the locally modified wind forcing by the Ekman pumping process. Through this process, the anticyclonic circulation is enhanced (weakened) in the central–northeastern (southwestern) part of the eddy, resulting in the eddy moving north to northeastward with the pycnocline deepening and spin-up of the anticyclonic circulation. The locally modified wind forcing induces low-frequency flow fluctuations through the movement of the eddy in summertime Funka Bay.     

Estimation of water requirement per unit carbon fixed by<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus camaldulensis</Emphasis> in semi-arid land of Western Australia

Afforestation in arid land is a promising method for carbon fixation, but the effective utilization of water is highly important and required. Thus, the evaluation of the amount of water per unit carbon fixed with the tree growth is required to minimize the amount of water supplied to the plants. In this research, a tree is regarded as a carbon fixation reactor with inflows of water and nutrients from roots, and CO₂ as the carbon source from leaves with outflow of water vapor from leaves and accumulation in the tree itself. In the process of photosynthesis and respiration nutritional elements are dissolved in water flow in trees. They do not flow out by these reactions, but are accumulated in trees. Thus, we have treated the behaviour of nutrients as a marker to evaluate the water/carbon ratio.Assuming that nutrient concentration is constant in sap, and the differences in the ratios of nutrient to carbon in living trees and dead (i.e. litter fall, etc.) are neglected, the ratio of the used water to fixed carbon is given as the ratio of nutrient to carbon in the tree body divided by the ratio of nutrient to water in sap. However, some nutrients are translocated and concentrated within the tree and some may be discarded through litter fall. Thus it is important to examine which nutrient element is the most suitable as the tracer.In this paper, the results of the above method applied toEucalyptus camaldulensis in semiarid land of Western Australia are shown. The value of water requirement per unit carbon fixation determined from potassium balance is between 421 kg-H₂O/kg-C for mature trees and 285 kg-H₂O/kg-C for young trees, while the values from calcium balance are much larger than these. The cause of the discrepancy between these values is discussed based on the measured element concentrations in sap and trees and the plant physiology. Finally, the actual average value through the life of a tree is suggested to fall between the two values.     

The trade in wild pig meat: Australia and Japan

Socioeconomic developments in Japan since World War Two have influenced the supply of wild pig meat (inoshishi niku) from Japanese domestic sources. Trends in the supply of meat from wild boar as well as the development of the farming of wild boar in Japan are discussed. The special nature of trading in wild pig meat in Japan is outlined. Australian exports of wild pig meat to Japan depend upon developments within Japan and the relevant links are identified. Some historical background is also provided on the Australian game industry supplying wild pig meat, the location and the structure of the industry are specified and the economic value of the industry is discussed, including its exports and prices paid for wild pig meat. Comparative aspects of the industry and of trade in wild pig meat in Japan and in Australia are highlighted. In conclusion, difficulties involved in identifying the Australian product in the Japanese market are noted.     

Estimation of vegetative surface albedo in the Kushiro Mire with Landsat TM data

A method has been developed for estimating the filtered narrow band surface albedo with Landsat/TM data. In this method, the surface albedo from filtered range of Landsat/TM is converted to the surface albedo with unfiltered spectral range. The atmospheric effects on each channel are systematically different, because of the different spectral behavior of atmospheric parameters. As a result, in this study, atmospheric correction has been done respectively in different parameters for visible and infrared channels. The surface albedos of the Kushiro Mire gotten with this method were compared with the observed data there. The results show that the satellite inferred albedos have a good agreement to the diurnal mean of ground observed albedos with 3% systematic error. There is a seasonal variation of albedo in high and low mires, the albedo decreased gradually from April to July and reached its minimum in July, further it rose gradually from August to October. It is also clear that there is a characteristic pattern of surface distribution according to the vegetation types of this area. The average surface albedos of each type of community are 0.164 for Sphagnum, 0.175 for Carex, 0.179 for Pragmites and 0.166 for Alnus. In the other words, the albedo in high mire (mainly covered by Sphagnum) is lower than that in low mire (mainly covered by Phragmites and Carex).     

Geochemistry of adakitic quartz diorite in the Yamizo Mountains, central Japan: Implications for Early Cretaceous adakitic magmatism in the inner zone of southwest Japan

Abstract   Small-volume plutons of Early to Late Cretaceous ages are widely distributed in the Yamizo Mountains, central Japan. These plutons consist predominantly of granitoids, classified into hornblende gabbro, quartz diorite, hornblende–biotite granodiorite and coarse-grained biotite granite. The quartz diorite (52–64 wt% of SiO₂) is characterized by a high Sr content (606–769 p.p.m.) associated with a low Y (13–27 p.p.m.) and heavy rare earth element content (Yb content of 1.19–2.13 p.p.m.). On the Sr/Y versus Y diagram, this rock type mainly plots in the adakite and Archean high-Al tonalite, trondhjemite and granodiorite (TTG) field. Together with its initial Sr isotopic ratios, which range from 0.7038 to 0.7046, these data suggest that quartz diorite originated as slab melts. However, geochemical calculations assuming either eclogite or garnet amphibolite as the source material do not support this suggestion. Instead, the chemical compositions of quartz diorite are better explained by the fractional crystallization of hornblende, plagioclase and biotite from a primitive, basaltic melt in a magma chamber. In this case, the formation of the associated hornblende gabbro can also be explained by the accumulation of hornblende and plagioclase. Adakitic rocks of Early Cretaceous ages have also been reported in the Tamba Belt of the inner zone of southwest Japan, located ca 500 km west of the Yamizo Mountains. These rocks can be correlated to the adakitic rocks in the Yamizo Mountains based on the geology, petrography, geochemistry and radiometric ages. Therefore, we propose the possibility that the Early Cretaceous adakitic rocks in the inner zone of southwest Japan were produced by fractional crystallization from basaltic arc magmas generated by a partial melting of metasomatized wedge mantle peridotite.     

Mesospheric bore events in the equatorial middle atmosphere

An all-sky CCD imager designed to measure wave structure of the OH, O₂b(0,1) and OI557.7 nm airglow emission layers in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region has been operated near the equatorial region at São João do Cariri (Cariri), Brazil, (7.5°S, 36.5°W). A large number of gravity wave was observed from September 2000 to September 2002 and among them 64 wave events were identified as mesospheric bores. The bore front shows a horizontal extension greater than 1000 km, and observed in the airglow layers as a complementary brilliance between the three emissions. At the first time mesospheric bore events were observed and analyzed in the equatorial region. Their predominant characteristics, occurrence, local time dependency, morphology and propagation direction will be presented and discussed.     

In-situ dissolution experiment of radiolaria in the central North Pacific ocean

Monospecific phaeodarian radiolarian assemblages of Castanidium longispinum were suspended in plastic cages built with 225 μm nylon mesh at different water depths from 378 to 5582 m in the central North Pacific. Weight losses of these samples after a suspension period of 61 days were used to determine dissolution rates. The highest weight losses were observed at 378 m where samples lost ～90% of their initial weight. Through the main thermocline weight losses decreased from 90 to 60% and reached a constant value of 40% below it. These weight losses are roughly an order of magnitude higher than those reported by earlier workers. The higher weight losses can be attributed in part to the more soluble nature of the phaeodarian radiolarian skeletons and in part to the improved experimental technique. Kinetic considerations show that temperature is the major factor that controls silica dissolution rates in the ocean. Using an Arrehnius plot for the apparent rate constants, it can be shown that in surface water dissolution rats should be two orders of magnitude higher than in deep water below the main thermocline.