Size distributions of aerosol number concentrations and water-soluble constituents in Toyama, Japan: A comparison of the measurements during Asian dust period with non-dust period

Size-separated aerosol number concentrations and water-soluble constituents were measured in Toyama, the Hokuriku district, near the coast of the Japan Sea, during the spring and summer in 2003. The number concentrations of coarse particles were significantly high in April, which was due to Asian dust events called Kosa in Japanese. Particulate nssCa²⁺, which is mostly present in the coarse-mode particles, was significantly high in April. On the other hand, the concentrations of NH₄⁺ and nssSO₄²⁻, which mainly exist as the accumulation-mode particles were not high in April. The mass-size distributions of water-soluble constituents were compared with the size-separated number concentrations of particles. Backward trajectory analysis was also employed to examine the transport process of the air mass in Toyama.     

K-Ar dating studies of Ashigawa and Tokuwa granodiorite bodies and plutonic geochronology in the South Fossa Magna, central Japan

Abstract K-Ar age studies in the Ashigawa and the southern part of the Tokuwa granodioritic bodies, which consist of the southern part of the Kofu plutonic complex, revealed that they formed between 12 and 9 Ma. Quite a narrow range of ages obtained from the Ashigawa southernmost part of the Tokuwa pluton implies that they cooled rapidly. The southern part of the Tokuwa pluton, as a whole, shows a systematic age distribution with a decrease in age to the north. Compilation of currently available plutonic ages in the South Fossa Magna suggests that the plutonic activities occurred three times in this region. Episodic activity like this could be argued in relation to the tectonic development of this region.     

Induction of female‐to‐male sex change in a large protogynous fish,Choerodon schoenleinii

Most behavioral studies on hermaphroditic fishes have focused on small‐sized species, which are tractable for research. Although many species of large hermaphroditic fishes are important fishery resources, their proximate mechanisms (visual, chemical and/or behavioral cues) in the social regulation of sex change have not been determined. Determination of these would inform resource management and aquaculture. In order to get closer to understanding the proximate mechanisms underlying the social regulation of female‐to‐male sex change in large hermaphroditic fishes, this study reports situations that induced female‐to‐male sex change in black‐spot tuskfish, Choerodon schoenleinii, a species of large protogynous fish, in massive laboratory tanks. The situations differed in the possibility of male‐to‐female tactile contact and in the group sex ratio, enabling us to infer plausible proximate mechanisms underlying sex change induction. Tactile contact between individuals is suspected to be closely related to the incidence of female‐to‐male sex change in C. schoenleinii. Visual and chemical cues alone may be insufficient to inhibit such sex changes. Male‐to‐female tactile contact may have an important influence on female‐to‐male sex change, i.e., inhibition of this sex change, in this species. The effect of sex ratio of a social group on the incidence of sex change may be due to the relative frequency and intensity of male tactile contact with each female, which may vary with the number of females. In the absence of a dominant male, tactile contact among females may affect the incidence of sex change, as well as determine which individuals change sex.     

A web-based real-time and full-resolution data visualization for Himawari-8 satellite sensed images

It has been almost four decades since the first launch of geostationary meteorological satellite by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The specifications of the geostationary meteorological satellites have shown tremendous progresses along with the generations, which are now entering their third generation. The third-generation geostationary meteorological satellites not only yield basic data for weather monitoring, but also globally observe the Earth’s environment. The development of multi-band imagers with improved spatial resolution onboard the third-generation geostationary meteorological satellites brings us meteorological data in larger size than those of the second-generation ones. Thus, new techniques for domestic and world-wide dissemination of the observational big data are needed. In this paper, we develop a web-based data visualization for Himawari-8 satellite sensed images in real time and with full resolution. This data visualization is supported by the ecosystems, which uses a tiled pyramid representation and parallel processing technique for terrain on an academic cloud system. We evaluate the performance of our techniques for domestic and international users on laboratory experiments. The results show that our data visualization is suitable for practical use on a temporal preview of observation image data for the domestic users.     

Characteristics of Sea Surface Circulation and Eddy Field in the South China Sea Revealed by Satellite Altimetric Data

Temporal and spatial variations of sea surface circulation in the South China Sea were revealed with use of altimetric data provided by TOPEX/POSEIDON from December 1992 to October 1997. The estimated distribution of sea surface dynamic heights from altimetric data coincide well with the results of observation by Soong et al. (1995) and Chu et al. (1998). The RMS variability of sea surface dynamic height, which is obtained after tidal correction based on Yanagi et al. (1997), is high in the central part of the South China Sea, the Gulf of Tongking, the Sunda Shelf and the Gulf of Thailand. The high RMS variability in the Gulf of Tongking, the Sunda Shelf and the Gulf of Thailand is due to set up and set down of sea water by the East Asian monsoon, which is northeasterly during winter and southwesterly during summer. Also, the high RMS variability in the central part of the South China Sea is due to the variations of basin-wide circulation. The circulations are dominant in the central part of the South China Sea during summer and winter, an anticyclonic circulation during summer and a cyclonic circulation during winter. It is suggested that these circulations are controlled by the East Asian monsoon. Hence, there is an interannual variability of the basin-wide circulation associated with the variation of the East Asian monsoon.     

Diagenesis of Neogene diatoms and their importance as a source of petroleum in Japan

Abstract Various siliceous rocks are found in the Ohdoji, Akaishi and Maido Formations from the western Aomori basin, and the Yotsuzawa and Wadagawa Formations from the eastern Aomori basin of northern Honshu, Japan. These rocks are classified into diatomite, siliceous shale and chert.
Diatomite is composed of abundant amorphous silica and has porosity between 50 and 65%. Siliceous shale is composed of a large amount of quartz, and has porosity ranging from 25 to 35%. Chert is chiefly composed of cristobalite or quartz, and has porosity between 20 to 30%.
Average contents of total organic carbon, S₁ and S₂ generally increase from argillaceous rocks → diatomites → siliceous shales → cherts. Maturation of organic matter in these rocks is generally lower than that in average source rocks. Diatoms, which appeared in the late Cretaceous and became increasingly important in the Miocene, are the principal primary producers of organic matter in the marine environment during the Cenozoic. Excellent organic components and higher biological productivity show that diatoms might be the most important source of petroleum during the Neogene in Japan.
Proteins, carbohydrates and lipids in diatoms have been transformed into fulvic acids, humic acids and humin by polycondensation and polymerization. Later, these humin materials could be changed into insoluble kerogen under the effect of mild temperature and pressure. A part of the lipids would transform to geochemical fossils (biomarkers). Amorphous silica in cells of diatoms would change to low-cristobalite and low-quartz by the increase of geothermal temperature.     

An assessment of uncertainties in VS profiles obtained from microtremor observations in the phased 2018 COSMOS blind trials

Journal of Seismology - Site response is a critical consideration when assessing earthquake hazards. Site characterization is key to understanding site effects as influenced by seismic site...     

Contamination level of mercury in red meat products from cetaceans available from South Korea markets

Levels of total mercury (T-Hg) were surveyed in red meat (n=73) and liver (n=3) from toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises (odontocetes) sold for human consumption in the coastal cities of South Korea. High concentrations of T-Hg were found in the liver products of finless porpoises (18.7 and 156 microg/wet g) and common dolphins (13.2 microg/wet g). The T-Hg concentrations in red meat products were highest in the false killer whale (9.66+/-12.3 microg/wet g, n=9), bottlenose dolphin (10.6+/-12.6 microg/wet g, n=3) and killer whale (13.3 microg/wet g, n=1), and lowest in Cuvier's beaked whale and the harbour porpoise (0.4-0.5 microg/wet g). Thus, most of the products that originated from odontocetes exceeded the safety limit of 0.5 microg/wet g for T-Hg set by the South Korean health authorities for the fishery industry. Pregnant women and other vulnerable sectors of the population living in South Korea should therefore limit their consumption of odontocete products.