The domain of validity of the KdV-type solitary rossby waves in the shallow water β-plane model

The Domain, where the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the KdV-type solitary Rossby waves are satisfied is defined in the shallow water β-plane model. The KdV-type solitary Rossby waves are the Rossby waves whose time-longitude dependence is determined by the KdV equation. As far as an appropriate amplitude and an appropriate ratio of the scales of the east-west and north-south directions are given, the KdV-type solitary Rossby waves can exist for every basic zonal flow. This result suggests the large validity of the soliton model in geophysical fluid dynamics. The KdV-type solitary Rossby waves are classified into four categories: (1) shear solitons studied by Long, Larsen, Benny, Redekop, and Hukuda, (2) β-divergent solitons studied by Clarke, Yamagata, and Nogami, (3) β-solitons found in the case of the strong stratification, and (4) divergent solitons which exist in the planetary-geostrophic-scale zonal flow. A remarkable result is that, in addition to the conventional east-west elongated solitons, the north-south elongated solitons can also exist for the case of the divergent solitons.     

Two surveys for taking measures to cope with the coming earthquake to the Tokyo Metropolis

Although Tokyo City has frequently suffered from earthquake disasters, more than 70 years have passed since the last catastrophe of 1923. Because Tokyo has a greater probability now than ever of being hit by another major earthquake, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has carried out two surveys for taking measures to cope with it; earthquake vulnerability assessment and earthquake damage prediction. The former assesses earthquake vulnerability regionally and is used for disaster-proof city planning. Damage due to the expected earthquake is quantitatively estimated in the latter. The results are used for making a regional disaster prevention plan in an emergency. Both physical and human geographers participate in these interdisciplinary surveys effectively.     

Degradation ofn-paraffin mixture by marine microorganisms in enriched seawater medium

The ability to degraden-paraffin mixture of two bacterial strains,Caulobacter sp. andFlavobacterium sp., isolated from sea water of Tokyo Bay was studied experimentally in the enriched seawater (ESW) medium. These bacteria degraded actively the mixture ofn-tridecane,n-tetradecane,n-pentadecane andn-hexadecane. The maximum rate of degradation was observed after a lag period of 2 to 8 day and these bacteria were found to degrade then-paraffin mixture at rates calculated to be in a range from 3.3×10^?12 to 3.4×10^?11 mg-oil cell^?1 h^?1 at 20°C. The maximum degradation rate,r _m mg-oil l^?1 h^?1, was correlated with the amount of the initial totaln-paraffin,S mg-oil l^?1, as expressed by the following equation: $$rm = (rm)\max \left( {\frac{S}{{S + Km}}} \right)$$ where (r _m )_max denotes the largest value ofr _m whenn-paraffin exists in large excess andK _m is a constant and represents the amount ofn-paraffin at which the degradation rate,r _m , reaches 1/2 of its largest value, (r _m )_max. The values of (r _m )_max andK _m were calculated to be as follows: In the case ofCaulobacter sp. (strain KM-1), (r _m )_max=6.0 mg-oil l^?1 h^?1 andK _m =191 mg-oillesw ^?1; in the case ofFlavobacterium sp., (r _m )_max=5.47 mg-oil l^?1 h^?1 andK _m =152 mg-oillesw ^?1.     

Microbial community structure analysis of euxinic sediments using phospholipid fatty acid biomarkers

Microbial community structure in sediments, as determined by the phospholipid ester-linked fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, collected from Kojima Lake during summer and winter was described with reference to the environmental quality of the lake. A characteristic feature of the study area was the persistence of anoxia in summer and winter in the deeper area, and the sediments were under the reduced condition with high levels of sulfide, chemical oxygen demand, and low values of oxidation-reduction potential. PLFA profiles of the sediment were dominated by the saturated, branched and monounsaturated fatty acids. Small amounts (less than 5% of the total PLFA) of polyunsaturated fatty acids (biomarker fatty acids of microeukaryotes) and long chain fatty acids were detected in sediments. Total PLFA concentrations in sediments were higher in summer than in winter. Microbial community structure in the lake sediments was predominated by the prokaryotes, as evidenced from the larger amounts of bacterial biomarker fatty acids in the range of C₁₀ to C₂₀. The presence of signature fatty acids of sulfate reducing bacteria in sediments was consistent with the high levels of sulfide in the sediment and anoxic condition in the study area. PLFA showed significant differences in PLFA profiles between shallow and deeper areas, indicating the differences in the lipid contributing communities. However, no such a significant difference was observed between summer and winter.     

Ar and Sr isotopes of mantle-derived rocks from the Japanese Islands

⁴⁰Ar-³⁰Ar and Sr isotope analyses have been made for ultramatic nodules in basaltic rocks from Itinome-gata and the Oki-Dōgo Island, northeast and southwest of Japan respectively, in order to examine the state of the upper mantle under the Japanese Islands. ⁴⁰Ar-³⁰Ar analyses have revealed that ultramafic nodules from Oki-Dōgo Island were involved in events which caused Ar redistribution in these rocks and probably were related to their formation not older than several tens of millions of years ago. These nodules are relatively depleted in both Rb and Sr contents together with some other incompatible elements compared to similar nodules from the other regions in the world. This may be typical for ultramafic nodules from the Japanese Islands. Ultramafic nodules show mostly a little higher⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.704–0.706) than those of host basaltic rocks (0.703–0.705) indicating the accidental origin for these nodules. Present results also suggest both horizontal and vertical inhomogeneities of the uppermost part of the mantle with respect to Sr isotopes on a regional scale. Hence, the ultramafic nodules in volcanic rocks may not always directly represent the upper mantle materials from which the magma is produced at present. Such ultramafic nodules might be relatively old material from the uppermost part of the mantle under the Japanese Islands.     

Full-scale dynamic testing of response-controlled buildings and their components:concepts,methods,and findings

A series of shake-table tests was conducted by inserting and replacing 4 different types of dampers,or by removing them in a full-scale 5-story steel frame building. The objective is to validate response-control technologies that are increasingly adopted for major Japanese buildings without being attested to-date by a major earthquake. Test results are briefly described,and good performance of the dampers and frame demonstrated. The concepts of the full-scale building tests and various contributions are discussed. The difficulty associated with full-scale dynamic testing is explained.     

Activities of Parent Comets and Related Meteor Showers

The activity of a meteor shower is thought to be proportional to the activities through time of the parent comet. Recent applications of the dust trail theory provide us not only with a new method to forecast the occurrences and intensities of shower activities, but it is also offers a new approach to explore the history of past activities of the parent comet by retro-tracking its associated meteor showers. We introduce the result of an effort for relating meteor shower activities to the parent comet activities for which we chose the October Draconids and comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in this paper.     

Origin of felsic volcanism in the Izu arc intra-arc rift

An intra-arc rift (IAR) is developed behind the volcanic front in the Izu arc, Japan. Bimodal volcanism, represented by basalt and rhyolite lavas and hydrothermal activity, is active in the IAR. The constituent minerals in the rhyolite lavas are mainly plagioclase and quartz, whereas mafic minerals are rare and are mainly orthopyroxene without any hydrous minerals such as amphibole and biotite. Both the phenocryst and groundmass minerals have felsic affinities with a narrow compositional range. The petrological and bulk chemical characteristics are similar to those of melts from some partial melting experiments that also yield dry rhyolite melts. The hydrous mineral-free narrow mineral compositions and low-Al₂O₃ affinities of the IAR rhyolites are produced from basaltic middle crust under anhydrous low-temperature melting conditions. The IAR basalt lavas display prominent across-arc variation, with depleted elemental compositions in the volcanic front side and enriched compositions in the rear-arc side. The across-arc variation reflects gradual change in the slab-derived components, as demonstrated by decreasing Ba/Zr and Th/Zr values to the rear-arc side. Rhyolite lavas exhibit different across-arc variations in either the fluid-mobile elements or the immobile elements, such as Nb/Zr, La/Yb, and chondrite-normalized rare earth element patterns, reflecting that the felsic magmas had different source. The preexisting arc crust formed during an earlier stage of arc evolution, most probably during the Oligocene prior to spreading of the Shikoku back-arc basin. The lack of systematic across-arc variation in the IAR rhyolites and their dry/shallow crustal melting origin combines to suggest re-melting of preexisting Oligocene middle crust by heat from the young basaltic magmatism.     

Coronal explosions as a signature of current loop coalescence in solar flares

The coronal explosions, discovered by De Jager and Boelee (1984), and interpreted by them as manifestations of plasma streaming out of the flare kernels, can also be interpreted as signatures of current loop coalescence in the flaring region.