Noble gases in oxidized residue prepared from the Saratov L4 chondrite and Raman spectroscopic study of residues to characterize phase Q

We analyzed noble gases in an oxidized residue prepared from a HF‐HCl residue of the Saratov L4 chondrite. The Ar, Kr, and Xe concentrations in the oxidized residue are two orders of magnitude lower than those in the HF‐HCl residue, and they are close to concentrations in the bulk. The He and Ne concentrations are similar in the three samples. The Ne isotopic ratios are almost purely cosmogenic, indicating absence of presolar diamonds (the carrier of the HL component). Thus, Saratov contains phase Q without presolar diamond. A study of the Raman spectroscopic parameters for the HF‐HCl residue and the oxidized residue shows large changes due to oxidation. The directions of these changes are the same as observed in Allende, except oxidation increased the I_D/I_G (intensity ratio of the D band to the G band) in Saratov but decreased in Allende. This difference may be attributed to the different crystalline stages of carbon in both meteorites. The shifts in the Raman parameters to a discrete and/or more expanded region suggest that (1) oxidation changes the crystalline condition of graphitic carbon, (2) phase Q is not a dissolved site, and (3) the release of Q‐gas is simply related to the rearrangement of the carbon structure during oxidation.     

Development of a numerical model for nitrates in groundwater in the reservoir area of the Komesu subsurface dam, Okinawa, Japan

A numerical model consisting of simplified equations was developed to simulate nitrate concentrations in groundwater in a reservoir area of a subsurface dam in a Quaternary limestone region. The model was composed of a water balance sub-model and a nitrogen balance sub-model; the water balance sub-model was built from tank models which can express the quick dilution near caves and the effect of dam construction; and the nitrogen balance sub-model was made to represent changes in nitrogen forms and movement of nitrogen in the soil and aquifer zones. The model was calibrated and verified by observed data before and after the dam construction and then applied to a predictive simulation under a simple assumption that rainfall descends gradually. The model seemed applicable to long-term prediction of changes in NO₃-N in the reservoir area.     

Finite Difference Simulations of Seismic Wave Propagation for the 2007 Mw 6.6 Niigata-ken Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake: Validity of Models and Reliable Input Ground Motion in the Near-Field

Finite difference simulations of seismic wave propagation are performed in the Niigata area, Japan, for the 2007 Mw 6.6 Niigata-ken Chuetsu-Oki earthquake at low frequencies. We test three 3D structural models built independently in various studies. First aftershock simulations are carried out. The model based on 3D tomography yields correct body waves in the near field, but later phases are imperfectly reproduced due to the lack of shallow sediment layers; other models based on various 1D/2D profiles and geological interpretation provide good site responses but generate seismic phases that may be shifted from those actually observed. Next, for the mainshock simulations, we adopt two different finite source models that differ in the near-field ground motion, especially above the fault plane (but under the sea) and then along the coastline. Each model is found to be calibrated differently for the given stations. For engineering purposes, the variations observed in simulated ground motion are significant, but for seismological purposes, additional parameter calibrations would be possible for such a complex 3D case.     

Intensity variations of the postnoon auroral bright spots observed at Zhongshan Station, Antarctica on August 8, 1999

1　ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅａｆｔｅｒｎｏｏｎｒｅｇｉｏｎ (ａｐｐｒｏｘｉｍａｔｅｌｙ 1 4 0 0ｔｏ 1 60 0ＭＬＴ)ｈａｓａｓｐｅｃｉａｌｓｉｇｎｉｆｉｃａｎｃｅｆｏｒａｖａｒｉｅｔｙｏｆｍａｇｎｅｔｏｓｐｈｅｒｉｃｐｈｅｎｏｍｅｎａ.Ｉｔｓｐｒｏｘｉｍｉｔｙｔｏｍａｇｎｅｔｉｃｎｏｏｎｓｕｇｇｅｓｔｓｔｈａｔｔｈｅａｕｒｏｒａｌｐｈｅｎｏｍｅｎａｏｂｓｅｒｖｅｄｍａｙｂｅｒｅｌａｔｅｄｔｏｄａｙｓｉｄｅｍａｇｎｅｔｏｓｐｈｅｒｉｃｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｅｓ ,ａｎｄｉｎｄｅｅｄａｖａｒｉｅｔｙｏｆｓｔｕ…     

Galactic winds from primeval galaxies

Ultra-high resolution hydrodynamic simulations using 1024³ grid points are performed of early supernova burst in a forming galaxy, with properties similar to those inferred for Lyman α emitters (LAEs) and Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs). We show that, at the earliest stages of less than 300 Myr, continual supernova explosions produce multitudinous hot bubbles and cooled H(I) shells in-between. The H(I) shells radiate intense Lyman α (Lyα) emission like LAEs. We found that the bubbly structures produced are quite similar to the observed features in the Lyα surface brightness distribution of the extended LAEs. After 1 Gyr, the galaxies are dominated by stellar continuum radiation and then resemble the LBGs. At this point, the abundance of heavy elements appears to be solar. After 13 Gyr, these galaxies resemble present-day ellipticals.     

Enhanced Dissolved Organic Matter Recovery from Saltwater Samples with Electrodialysis

Complexities associated with dissolved organic matter (DOM) isolation from seawater have hampered compositional characterization of this key component of global carbon and nutrient cycles. DOM isolation efficiency by electrodialysis (ED) from salt-containing waters was optimized and evaluated on samples including coastal ocean seawater, open ocean seawater, artificial seawater from axenic cultures of marine phytoplankton, and artificial seawater samples containing standard compounds of different molecular sizes and charge. ED was performed with a system optimized for processing 2–10 L sample volumes. Additionally, the combination of ED and solid-phase extraction, using Bond Elut PPL exchange resin, was evaluated. Using only ED, the following DOC recoveries were achieved: coastal seawater, 71.3 ± 6.5 %; open ocean, 50.5 ± 3.1 %; phytoplankton cultures, 70.3 ± 12.5 %; glucose, 90.2 ± 2.1 %; EDTA, 67.5 ± 9.9 %; and vitamin B₁₂, 98.3 ± 1.6 %. With the combination of PPL and ED techniques, an average DOC recovery of 76.7 ± 2.6 % was obtained for coastal seawater, but this recovery was not statistically different from seawater recoveries using only ED. Comparison of C/N ratios and fluorescence excitation emission matrices taken at the beginning and end of the recovery process for coastal samples processed using only ED indicated that the final recovered material was representative of the DOM present in the original samples. Typical recoveries using combined PPL and ED exceed those of previous isolation methods.     

The effect of pyridine treatment on phase Q: Orgueil and Allende

Marrocchi et al. (2005) reported that low‐temperature fractions of heavy noble gases were largely removed upon pyridine treatment of the Orgueil CI meteorite. As pyridine is known to induce the swelling of the macromolecular network of organic matter, they concluded that the low‐temperature phase Q is macromolecular organic carbon. However, Busemann et al. (2008) showed that pyridine had no significant effect on the noble gas contents for other very primitive meteorites, such as CM and CR. Therefore, we prepared an HF–HCl residue and the pyridine‐treated residue of Orgueil, and re‐examined the results of Marrocchi et al. (2005) by analyzing all noble gases. We confirmed that heavy noble gases are surely removed by the pyridine treatment, but the degree of the loss of heavy noble gases is generally small, and is even smaller for the lighter noble gases. Furthermore, we could not observe the evidence of Xe isotopic ratios by removing only phase Q after the pyridine treatment. We further prepared the HF–HCl residue and the pyridine‐treated residue of the Allende CV3 meteorite and performed noble gas analyses. For Allende, there is no significant change in the elemental abundances after the pyridine treatment. These results suggest that only Orgueil is special, and it is likely that the gas loss of the Orgueil residue is due to the loss of some kind of organic matter that was formed and that adsorbed the fractionated Q and HL gases during the aqueous alteration within the parent body of Orgueil.