Assessment of metal concentrations in lake sediments of southwest Japan based on sediment quality guidelines

Geochemical analysis of the bottom sediments of Lakes Banryoko, Onbe, Hamahara and Kijima in Shimane prefecture of southwest Japan was carried out to determine their metal concentrations, and to assess the potential for ecological harm by comparison with sediment quality guidelines. The work conducted includes water quality measurement, and analyses of trace and major elements and rare earth element (REE) of sediments. Results showed that water quality of the lakes contrasts slightly between their upper and lower parts. Average abundances of As, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr in Banryoko sediments were 27, 33, 90, 27, 25, and 46 ppm, respectively, compared to 31, 52, 175, 44, 44, and 75 ppm at Onbe, 11, 26, 96, 13, 13, and 35 ppm at Hamahara, and 24, 43, 193, 31, 12, and 30 ppm at Kijima. These concentrations exceeded the lowest effect level that has moderate impact on aquatic organisms as proposed by the New York State Department of Environmental conservation. Pb and Cu abundances are comparable to the Coastal Ocean Sediment Database threshold, while As and Zn exceed this value, indicating the concentrations of these metals are potentially toxic. Increases in the abundances of these metals in lake sediments are probably related to the reducing condition of the sediments, anthropogenic sources and surface soil erosion. The REE patterns of sediments in the study areas are broadly comparable to the average upper continental crust, but show some contrast between lakes due to differing source litho type. Significant positive correlations between Fe₂O₃ and As, Pb, Zn, and Cu were found in the sediments, suggesting these metals may be adsorbed on Fe oxides in the lake sediments.     

A search for collision orbits in the free-fall three-body problem I. Numerical procedure

A numerical procedure is devised to find binary collision orbits in the free-fall three-body problem. Applying this procedure, families of binary collision orbits are found and a sequence of triple collision orbits are positioned. A property of sets of binary collision orbits which is convenient to search triple collision orbits is found. Important numerical results are formulated and summarized in the final section.     

Numerical simulation of organic chemicals in a marine environment using a coupled 3D hydrodynamic and ecotoxicological model

For ecotoxicological risk assessment in a marine ecosystem, we constructed a coupled three-dimensional hydrodynamic and ecotoxicological model (EMT-3D), and applied it to Tokyo Bay. The model was calibrated with field data obtained in 2002. The results of sensitivity analysis for dissolved Bisphenol A showed that biodegradation rate was the most important factor for concentration change. Bioconcentration coefficient was the most important factor for Bisphenol A in phytoplankton. Therefore, the parameters must be carefully considered in the modeling. The mass balance results showed that standing stocks of Bisphenol A in water, in particulate organic carbon and in phytoplankton are 7.85 x 10(4), 1.78 x 10(2) and 3.44 x 10(-1) g, respectively. With respect to flux, biodegradation in the water column had the highest value of 1.06 x 10(3) g/day, and next were effluent to the open sea, partition to particulate organic carbon, and bioconcentration in phytoplankton.     

Geographical Variation of Body Size of Neocalanus cristatus, N. plumchrus and N. flemingeri in the Subarctic Pacific and Its Marginal Seas: Implications for the Origin of Large Form of N. flemingeri in the Oyashio Area

Size distributions of Neocalanus cristatus, N. flemingeri and N. plumchrus were investigated in the eastern and the western subarctic gyres and three marginal seas of the North Pacific during the diapause period to examine the geographical variation in body size of Neocalanus species and to clarify the origin of the large biennial N. flemingeri which has been observed in the Oyashio region. There were significant among region variations in body sizes for all three species of Neocalanus. Generally, the body sizes of the copepods were larger in the marginal seas and marginal areas of the open ocean. In the open ocean, the body sizes increased westward. These patterns of variation in the body sizes roughly correlated with local food availability. Distribution of biennial N. flemingeri was restricted to the Sea of Japan, the Okhotsk Sea and the Oyashio region. The large-sized biennial N. flemingeri were abundantly observed in the Okhotsk Sea, and the medium-sized biennial individuals were observed in the Sea of Japan. These facts strongly suggest that the large biennial N. flemingeri in the Oyashio region are advected from the Okhotsk Sea.     

Dynamics of microphytobenthic biomass in a coastal area of western Seto Inland Sea, Japan

This study focused on the causes of the variation in microphytobenthic biomass and the effects of this variation on macrobenthic animals in the western Seto Inland Sea, Japan, where the importance of microphytobenthos as the primary food source for benthic animals has been recently reported. We investigated the microphytobenthic biomass together with light attenuation of seawater, phytoplanktonic biomass, macrobenthic density and biomass at eight stations (water depth = 5–15 m) during four cruises in 1999–2000. The increased light attenuation coefficient of the water column associated with increased concentration of the phytoplanktonic Chl-a caused a decrease in light flux that reached the seafloor. The biomass of the microphytobenthos within the upper 1 cm of the sediment, 1.9–46.5 mg Chl-a m⁻², was inversely correlated with the phytoplanktonic biomass in the overlying water column, 10.9–65.0 mg Chl-a m⁻². Thus, interception of light by phytoplankton is considered to be a main cause of the variation in the microphytobenthic biomass. The microphytobenthos biomass showed a significant positive correlation with the macrobenthic density (78–9369 ind. m⁻²) and biomass (0.4–78.8 gWW m⁻²). It appears that the increase in oxygen production by the microphytobenthos allowed macrobenthic animals to become more abundant, as a consequence of oxygenation of the organically enriched muddy sediments (14.5 ± 2.69 mg TOC g⁻¹). This study suggests that the variation in the microphytobenthic biomass is influenced by the phytoplanktonic biomass due to shading effect, and the balance between these two functional groups might affect the variability in the macrobenthic density and biomass.     

EMRIDGE: The electromagnetic investigation of the Juan de Fuca Ridge

From July to November 1988, a major electromagnetic (EM) experiment, known as EMRIDGE, took place over the southern end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific. It was designed to complement the previous EMSLAB experiment which covered the entire Juan de Fuca Plate, from the spreading ridge to subduction zone. The principal objective of EMRIDGE was to use natural sources of EM induction to investigate the processes of ridge accretion. Magnetotelluric (MT) sounding and Geomagnetic Depth Sounding (GDS) are well suited to the study of the migration and accumulation of melt, hydrothermal circulation, and the thermal evolution of dry lithosphere. Eleven magnetometers and two electrometers were deployed on the seafloor for a period of three months. Simultaneous land-based data were made available from the Victoria Magnetic Observatory, B.C., Canada and from a magnetometer sited in Oregon, U.S.A.Changes in seafloor bathymetry have a major influence on seafloor EM observations as shown by the orientation of the real GDS induction arrows away from the ridge axis and towards the deep ocean. Three-dimensional (3D) modelling, using a thin-sheet algorithm, shows that the observed EM signature of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and Blanco Fracture Zone is primarily due to nonuniform EM induction within the ocean, associated with changes in ocean depth. Furthermore, if the influence of the bathymetry is removed from the observations, then no significant conductivity anomaly is required at the ridge axis. The lack of a major anomaly is significant in the light of evidence for almost continuous hydrothermal venting along the neo-volcanic zone of the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge: such magmatic activity may be expected to have a distinct electrical conductivity signature, from high temperatures, hydrothermal fluids and possible melt accumulation in the crust.Estimates of seafloor electrical conductivity are made by the MT method, using electric field records at a site 35 km east of the ridge axis, on lithosphere of age 1.2 Ma, and magnetic field records at other seafloor sites. On rotating the MT impedance tensor to the principal axis orientation, significant anisotropy between the major (TE) and minor (TM) apparent resistivities is evident. Phase angles also differ between the principal axis polarisations, and TM phase are greater than 90° at short periods. Thin-sheet modelling suggests that bathymetric changes accounts for some of the observed 3D induction, but two-dimensional (2D) electrical conductivity structure in the crust and upper mantle, aligned with the ridge axis, may also be present. A one-dimensional (1D) inversion of the MT data suggests that the top 50 km of Earth is electrically resistive, and that there is a rise in conductivity at approximately 300 km. A high conductivity layer at 100 km depth is also a feature of the 1D inversion, but its presence is less well constrained.     

Preferential dissolution of SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> from enstatite to H<Subscript>2</Subscript> fluid under high pressure and temperature

Stability and phase relations of coexisting enstatite and H₂ fluid were investigated in the pressure and temperature regions of 3.1–13.9 GPa and 1500–2000 K using laser-heated diamond-anvil cells. XRD measurements showed decomposition of enstatite upon heating to form forsterite, periclase, and coesite/stishovite. In the recovered samples, SiO₂ grains were found at the margin of the heating hot spot, suggesting that the SiO₂ component dissolved in the H₂ fluid during heating, then precipitated when its solubility decreased with decreasing temperature. Raman and infrared spectra of the coexisting fluid phase revealed that SiH₄ and H₂O molecules formed through the reaction between dissolved SiO₂ and H₂. In contrast, forsterite and periclase crystals were found within the hot spot, which were assumed to have replaced the initial orthoenstatite crystals without dissolution. Preferential dissolution of SiO₂ components of enstatite in H₂ fluid, as well as that observed in the forsterite H₂ system and the quartz H₂ system, implies that H₂-rich fluid enhances Mg/Si fractionation between the fluid and solid phases of mantle minerals.     

Impacts of nutrient management and decrease in paddy field area on groundwater nitrate concentration: a case study at the Nasunogahara alluvial fan,Tochigi Prefecture,Japan

In order to help evaluate the trends in the NO₃-N concentration in groundwater with a view to preventing further degradation in water quality in the future, a distributed groundwater quality model was constructed for the Nasunogahara basin. The best fit for the groundwater table elevations by the flow component of the model was achieved with average mean absolute errors (MAEs) of 0·92 m for the calibration period and 0·83 m for the validation period. Moreover, the best fit for the NO₃-N concentration by the water quality component was achieved with average mean relative errors (MREs) of 29·8% for the calibration period and 30·3% for the validation period. After developing a robust model, various change scenarios were tested; specifically, the effects of effluent load control and a decrease in paddy field area on the NO₃-N concentration in groundwater were predicted. The most intensively farmed area contributed about 40% of the total effluent load because of livestock farming in the basin. When the effluent load from this area was decreased by 50%, the average NO₃-N concentrations at sites S1, S2 and S3 were reduced by about 15%; however, the average concentrations at S4 and S5 were reduced by only 1%. Furthermore, when the total effluent load from the concentrated livestock area was removed completely, the average groundwater NO₃-N concentrations at S1, S2 and S3 were reduced by about 30% as compared with the original calculated results. In contrast, decreasing the area of the paddy fields in the basin did not greatly influence the groundwater NO₃-N concentration. In the case of a 70% reduction in paddy field area, average NO₃-N concentrations increased by about 7% at S1, S2 and S3. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental change of the fluvial-estuary system in relation to Arase Dam removal of the Yatsushiro tidal flat,SW Kyushu,Japan

Chemical composition of 24 elements for sediments and suspended solids, water parameters and the diatoms from Yatsushiro Bay tidal flat, Kuma River, and Arase Dam have been determined to examine changes from 2002 to 2013. In 2002, sediment delivered to the bay by the Kuma River was restricted by the Arase Dam; however, in April 2010 two gates were opened and also repeated seasonal flushing allowing resumption of natural sediment transport. Bulk chemical composition of the tidal flat sediments has changed since 2002, with marked decreases in concentrations of As, Zn, Pb and total sulfur. Decreased heavy metal contents in 2012 and 2013 for bay sediments after opening the dam and repeated flushing is attributed to dilution by previously impounded quartz and feldspar. Restoration of natural sediment transport by opening the dam and repeated flushing has thus brought about a recovery in the Yatsushiro marine environment.     

The effect of health benefits on climate change mitigation policies

This paper studies the interplay between climate, health, and the economy in a stylized world with eleven heterogeneous regions, with special emphasis on USA, Europe, China, India, and Africa. We introduce health impacts into a simple economic integrated assessment model where both the local cooling effect of SO ₂ and the global warming effect of CO ₂ are endogenous, and investigate how these factors affect the equilibrium path. Regions do not respond in the same way to climate change. In particular, emission abatement rates and health costs depend on the economic and geographical characteristics of each region. Two policy scenarios are considered, Nash and Optimal, for which we present both global and regional results. Results for Africa and China are highlighted.