Dynamic evolution of nutrient discharge under stormflow and baseflow conditions in a coastal agricultural watershed in Ishigaki Island,Okinawa, Japan

Excessive terrestrial nutrient loadings adversely impact coral reefs by primarily enhancing growth of macroalgae, potentially leading to a phase‐shift phenomenon. Hydrological processes and other spatial and temporal factors affecting nutrient discharge must be examined to be able to formulate effective measures for reducing nutrient export to adjacent reefs. During storm events and baseflow periods, water samples were obtained from the tropical Todoroki River, which drains an intensively agricultural watershed into Shiraho coral reef. In situ nutrient analyzers were deployed for 6 months to hourly measure dissolved nutrient (NO₃⁻‐N and PO₄³⁻‐P) concentrations. Total phosphorus (TP) and suspended solid concentration (TSS) were increased by higher rainfall intensity (r = 0·94, p < 0·01) and river discharge Q (r = 0·88, p < 0·01). In contrast, NO₃⁻‐N concentration tends to decrease drastically (e.g. from 3 to 1 mg l⁻¹) during flood events. When base flow starts to dominate afterwards, NO₃⁻‐N manifested an increasing trend, but decreases when baseflow discharge becomes low. This counter‐clockwise hysteresis for NO₃⁻‐N highlights the significant influence of groundwater discharge. N delivery can therefore be considered a persistent process compared to sediment and P discharge, which are highly episodic in nature. Based on GIS analysis, nutrient concentration along the Todoroki River was largely affected by the percentage of sugarcane/bare areas and bedrock type. The spatial distribution of N concentration in the river reflects the considerable influence of subsurface geology—higher N levels in limestone‐dominated areas. P concentrations were directly related to the total length of artificial drainage, which enhances sediment transport. The use of high‐resolution monitoring data coupled with GIS‐based spatial analysis therefore enabled the clarification of control factors and the difference in the spatio‐temporal discharge characteristics between N and P. Thus, although erosion‐reduction schemes would reduce P discharge, other approaches (e.g. minimize fertilizer) are needed to reduce N discharge. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Data archives of seismic fault-induced damage

The study of earthquake engineering requires an understanding of various processes by which structures are seriously damaged. For this, archiving available data in a systematic way will be quite necessary. Taskforces of both Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) and Japan Geotechnical Society (JGS), with a mission of establishing remedial measures for fault-inflicted damage to civil infrastructures, have been investigating previous examples of fault-related damages. Some of their important activities were further expanded as a subject of EqTAP project (Development of Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Technologies and Their Integration for the Asia-Pacific Region). This paper introduces some examples from the JSCE/JGS/EqTAP Data Archives, which can give some hints for rational remedial or design measures for civil-infrastructures whose constructions across faults were/are unavoidable.     

Numerical study of surface water circulation around Sekisei Lagoon, southwest Japan

This paper discusses the variability of surface currents around Sekisei Lagoon using a nested grid ocean circulation model. We developed a triple-nested grid system that consists of a coarse-resolution (1/60° or ∼1.85 km) model off Taiwan, an intermediate-resolution (1/300° or ∼370 m) model around the Yaeyama Islands, and a fine-resolution (1/900° or ∼123 m) model of Sekisei Lagoon. The nested grid system was forced by wind and heat flux calculated from six-hourly atmospheric reanalysis data and integrated over the period from May to July 2003. The coarse-resolution model was driven by lateral boundary conditions calculated from daily ocean reanalysis data to include realistic variation of the Kuroshio and mesoscale eddies with spatial scales of ∼500–700 km in the open ocean. The tidal forcing was included in the intermediate-resolution model by interpolating sea level data obtained from a data-assimilative tidal model. The results were then used to drive the fine-resolution model to simulate the surface water circulation around Sekisei lagoon. Model results show that (1) currents inside the lagoon are mainly driven by tide and wind; (2) there exists a strong southwestward current along the bottom slope in the southeast portion of the lagoon; the current is mainly driven by remote mesoscale eddies and at times intensified by the local wind; (3) the flow relaxation scheme is effective in reducing biases along the open boundaries. The simulated currents were used to examine the retention and dispersion of passive particles in the surface layer. Results show that the surface dispersion in the strong open ocean current region is significantly higher than that inside the lagoon.     

Fault induced permanent ground deformations: Experimental verification of wet and dry soil, numerical findings’ relation to field observations of tunnel damage and implications for design

Few building codes contains provisions fault surface ruptures and accompanying soil deformations which constitutes a great risk to human lives, buildings and infrastructure. A numerical and experimental comparison show a fair agreement of result. Analysis of “real” scale show the how water increases the incompressibility of wet soil causing shear deformations to become larger and conjugate ruptures to appear for reverse faults. Field observations and numerical analysis indicates that horizontal compression of soil surrounding underground structures should be taken into account in design.     

Microseismicity Induced by Heavy Rainfall Around Flooded Vertical Ore Veins

—?Microseismicity (M?M?M?M??6 were also monitored at a crustal movement monitoring station located several hundred meters from the veins. It was found that the opening of the vertical ore veins primary led to significant strain and tilt, but not to seismicity, because the delay and the longer duration of the seismicity were significant. Most seismic events involve thrusting mechanisms that are consistent with the present stress state of E-W-oriented tectonic compression, but are not consistent with the opening of the deepest ore vein. Interstingly, all the events within a few months of the heavy rainfall occurred near the faults that offset the deepest ore veins, wheareas all those events located away from the deepest ore veins occurred many months after the heavy rainfall. Consequently, the delayed diffusion of water appears to have played a dominant role in reducing rock strength, which led to seismicity in the Ikuno mine.     

Numerical calculation of free-surface potential flow around a ship using the modified Rankine source panel method

A modified Rankine source panel method is presented for solving a linearized free-surface flow problem with respect to the double-body potential. The method of solution is based on the distribution of Rankine sources on the hull as well as its image and on the free surface. An iterative algorithm is used for determining the free surface and wave resistance using upstream finite difference operator. A verification of numerical modeling is made using the Wigley hull and the validity of the computer program is examined by comparing the details of wave profiles and wave making resistance with Series 60 model.     

Glacio-geophysical implication of an NNSS positioning in and around Syowa Station, East Antarctica

Utilization of the two-wave NNSS receiver drastically improved the positioning accuracy on the ice sheet of Antarctica. The NNSS positioning gives us 3 m three-dimensional convergence with 25 accepted satellite passes, and is most useful for the measurement of ice flow velocity. The flow velocity vectors along Route S-H-Z on Mizuho plateau, East Antarctica were obtained by estimating positional change of glaciological traverse stations after 7 years' interval. The transformation of the coordinate system was necessary before the comparison of the positioning in 1973 by the geodetic traverse method on the Bessel Reference Ellipsoid with that in 1980 by the satellite Doppler method on the NWL-8E Ellipsoid. NNSS receiving experiments at astronomical datum point in Syowa Station enabled us to estimate the translation of the coordinate origin of the Bessel Reference Ellipsoid against the geocentric NWL-8E Ellipsoid and correction terms for coordinate transformation. The obtained flow velocity is 15 m/a at H17 of around 1000 m a.s.l. and 70 m/a at Z2 of around 2000 m a.s.l. with ±6% uncertainty, and is too large to be explained only by the laminar flow of the ice sheet. The obtained velocity vectors are found to be mostly parallel to the maximum slope of the free-air gravity anomaly contours and can be interpreted as the ice sheet sliding down the slope of the subglacial mound of 2400 m relative height from the average subglacial bedrock topography. If such bedrock sliding occurrs over the whole region of Mizuho Plateau, the related thinning of the ice sheet may be detected by the precise measurement of the height change of the same marker station. By dynamically modelling the ice sheet and substituting the observed parameters such as precipitation, principal strain rate, etc., into the equation of ice thickness change the submergence velocity of around −1 m/a is expected and will be detected by carefully designed repetitive NNSS receiving experiments after several year's interval.     

Subgrade model for transient response analysis of multiple embedded bodies

During the dynamic response of multiple partially or fully embedded structures, the subgrade medium at the sides of the structures not only generates the soil-structure interaction forces but also transmits the motions from one structural body to others. With Winkler's hypothesis, these forces and motions are formulated in the time-domain in a simple form utilizing the frequency-domains formulations. The validity of the developed formulations is examined using small-scale-model test results obtained for piles in a synthetic ground. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the approach proposed and the formulations developed. The simplified time-domain formulations are found to be numerically efficient and yet capable of predicting the behaviour reasonably well.