Intermediate Circulation in the Northwestern North Pacific Derived from Subsurface Floats

In order to examine the formation, distribution and synoptic scale circulation structure of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW), 21 subsurface floats were deployed in the sea east of Japan. A Eulerian image of the intermediate layer (density range: 26.6–27.0σ_θ) circulation in the northwestern North Pacific was obtained by the combined analysis of the movements of the subsurface floats in the period from May 1998 to November 2002 and historical hydrographic observations. The intermediate flow field derived from the floats showed stronger flow speeds in general than that of geostrophic flow field calculated from historical hydrographic observations. In the intermediate layer, 8 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 10⁶ m³s⁻¹) Oyashio and Kuroshio waters are found flowing into the sea east of Japan. Three strong eastward flows are seen in the region from 150°E to 170°E, the first two flows are considered as the Subarctic Current and the Kuroshio Extension or the North Pacific Current. Both volume transports are estimated as 5.5 Sv. The third one flows along the Subarctic Boundary with a volume transport of 5 Sv. Water mass analysis indicates that the intermediate flow of the Subarctic Current consists of 4 Sv Oyashio water and 1.5 Sv Kuroshio water. The intermediate North Pacific Current consists of 2 Sv Oyashio water and 3.5 Sv Kuroshio water. The intermediate flow along the Subarctic Boundary contains 2 Sv Oyashio water and 3 Sv Kuroshio water. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optimum design of the ocean acoustic tomography system for the Sea of Japan

An ocean acoustic tomography system covering the region of 800×1000 km with the spatial resolution of eddy-resolving scales has been designed on the basis of computer experiments using the hydrographic data collected in the Sea of Japan. The optimum number of acoustic sources required for 20 acoustic receivers was estimated as 13 by changing the source number. The spatial resolution for the optimum system was 41 km smaller than the dominant size of meso-scale eddies in the Sea of Japan. The effect of travel-time errors on tomographic maps is also quantified.     

Ocean variability North of New Guinea derived from TRITON buoy data

We investigated variability in the ocean surface-subsurface layer north of New Guinea using Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) buoys at 2°N, 138°E and 0°N, 138°E during the period from October 1999 to July 2004. Both North and South Pacific waters were observed below the subsurface at these stations. The variability in the subsurface waters was particularly high at 2°N, 138°E. Clear interannual variability occurred near the surface; the water type differed before and after onset of the 2002–03 El Niño. Before summer 2001, water that appeared to be advected from the central equatorial Pacific occupied the near surface layer. After autumn 2001, waters advected by the New Guinea Coastal Current were observed near the surface. Intraseasonal and seasonal variations were also observed below the subsurface. With regard to seasonal variability, the salinity of the subsurface saline water, the South Pacific Tropical Water, was generally high during the boreal summer-autumn, when the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent was strong. Intraseasonal fluctuations on a scale of 20 to 60 days were also seen and may have been associated with intrinsic oceanic variability, such as ocean eddies, near the stations. Ocean variability in the thermocline layer between 100 and 200 m greatly affects the surface dynamic height variability; water variability before 2001 and variability in the pycnocline depth after 2002 are important factors affecting the thermocline.     

A New Automatic Subsurface Gas Monitoring System for Seismogeochemical Studies, Installed in Haruno Borehole, Shizuoka Prefecture, Central Japan

The results of subsurface gas monitoring by application of gas chromatography (GC) to the gas composition of bubbles associated with groundwater for seismogeochemical studies are reported. An automated gas monitoring system was used to determine gas compositions in a 500-m borehole at the Haruno Crustal Movement Observation Site (HOS), central Japan during period 1, from December 1999 to December 2000. The average ± two standard deviation (2SD) compositions of gases in this period were He = 82 ± 29 ppmV, H₂ = 170 ± 62 ppmV, Ar = 0.05 ± 0.07%, N₂ = 50 ± 8%, and CH₄ = 45 ± 6%. A new automated gas monitoring system equipped with a micro-GC was installed in the borehole at the HOS, and gas bubbles from the borehole were monitored during period 2, from December 2006 to March 2007. The average ± two standard deviation (2SD) compositions of gases in this period were He = 8 ± 7 ppmV, H₂ = 13 ± 15 ppmV, Ar = 0.6 ± 0.3%, N₂ = 66 ± 7%, and CH₄ = 14 ± 14%. The gas concentration ratios (He/Ar, H₂/Ar, N₂/Ar, and CH₄/Ar) fluctuated significantly over time and repeatedly showed abrupt spike-like increases during period 2. The gas compositions obtained in period 1 and 2 were markedly different. Over the period from 2006 to 2007, the gas bubbles were depleted in He, H₂, and CH₄ of deep origin, but enriched in Ar and N₂ of atmospheric origin. This difference can be interpreted as being due to an irreversible change of the aquifer/gas system. The present deep component in the HOS gas is estimated to have composition He = 63 ppmV, H₂ = 37 ppmV, Ar = 0.17%, N₂ = 63%, and CH₄ = 37%. The new monitoring system is able to analyze the gas composition using a smaller volume of sample gas and with greater precision than the previous system. During the 3-month monitoring period 2, the separation capacity of the capillary column of the micro-GC was sufficiently maintained to determine gas-chromatographic peak areas for the five gaseous species examined. This study confirms that the new monitoring system with micro-GC is promising for continuous subsurface gas monitoring for earthquake prediction studies.     

A stochastic model of fractional crystallization and its application to the Japanese geosynclinal basalt

A stochastic model of the magmatic differentiation by fractional crystallization is given. The probability distribution of the quantity of crystallized solid removed from silicate melt was assumed to be binomial at any stage of the differentiation. According to this model, when concentrations of an element are transformed into their powers by using the reciprocal of the difference between bulk-partition coefficient for the element and unity as an exponent, the resultant frequency-distribution pattern becomes absolutely normal. The patterns of concentrations, however, cannot be expressed by a particular type of function but are variable according to the values of bulk-partition coefficients. Frequency distributions of element concentrations were computed under selected conditions on the basis of the model. The result shows that the skewed pattern often observed in frequency distributions of minor-element concentrations is explained by this fractional crystallization process. The frequency distributions of Ni and Cr concentrations in the geosynclinal basalt of southwestern Japan were examined in terms of this model. It was concluded that the model can be applied to the formation of the basalt concerning at least these two elements.     

地壳表层砷的循环与污染地下水模式

为了更好地监测和预测地下水砷污染,揭示由自然原因引起的地下水砷污染规律和机制,通过多年来对内蒙古河套平原地下水砷污染的调查研究,在充分了解和掌握砷的化学与地球化学性质以及世界各国地下水砷污染状况与分布特征的基础上,总结了砷在自然环境中的分布和污染地下水的机理。文章阐述了4种地下水砷污染类型的形成机理,并提出了地壳表层砷的循环与污染地下水模式,通过该模式在基本掌握某一地区地质环境背景的情况下,可以初步预测其可能发生地下水砷污染的地段。地下水砷污染是砷在地壳表层循环过程中发生的一种环境水文地球化学现象,污染区的分布与特定的地质、地理背景和环境条件有关。在还原解吸污染类型中,封闭的环境、硫元素和有机碳的存在是地层中砷溶出的主要控制因素。今后应加强对封闭的冲积或湖积平原、河流入湖或入海三角洲等地区地下水砷污染的调查与监测。