Quaternary changes in delivery and accumulation of organic matter in sediments of Lake Biwa, Japan

A 911-m-long sediment core from Lake Biwa, Japan, provides a record of organic matter delivery and accumulation in this large lake during a succession of tectonic and climatic changes dating back to the latest Pliocene. Sediments deposited since 430 ky are profundal; older sediments vary in setting between shallow-water and fluviodeltaic conditions, with occasional deep-water intervals. C/N ratios identify algal production as the dominant source of organic matter throughout the core, although the proportion of land-derived contributions episodically increases in the fluviodeltaic and shallow-water sediments. Rates of organic matter delivery and burial in lake sediments change in response to glacial-interglacial climate changes over the past 430 ky. Sediments deposited during interglacial intervals have organic carbon mass accumulation rates up to 9 times greater than those from glacial intervals, reflecting interglacial climates that were wetter than glacial climates. Algal production of organic matter increased during interglacial times because of greater wash-in of soil nutrients, and organic matter preservation was enhanced because of faster sedimentation rates.     

Rainfall variability may modify the effects of long-term exclosure on vegetation in Mandalgobi,Mongolia

Starting in 2005, we examined differences in vegetation for three consecutive years across an airport fence that separated heavily grazed areas from areas in which grazing had been excluded for 24 years in Mandalgobi, Mongolia. We performed repeated-measures analysis separately on two community types (dominated by Allium polyrrhizum and Achnatherum splendens, respectively) to compare the effects of fencing and year on the cover of different plant functional types. There was a significant fence × year interaction for grass cover in the Allium type (but not the Achnatherum type), due to greater cover of grasses inside the fence only when rainfall was sufficient during the growing season. The effect of grazing exclusion on perennial forb cover was confounded by a significant fence × year interaction in both types. In 2007, perennial forbs were found outside the fence, but had almost disappeared inside the fence, resulting in this interaction. Annual forbs only had much greater cover values inside the fence than outside in 2006, also resulting in a significant fence × year interaction in both community types. This study thus suggests that the high rainfall variability in arid and semi-arid rangelands may modify the effects of long-term exclosure on vegetation.     

On the rotation of a moonlet embedded in planetary rings

We examine the rotation of a small moonlet embedded in planetary rings caused by impacts of ring particles, using analytic calculation and numerical orbital integration for the three-body problem. Taking into account the Rayleigh distribution of particles' orbital eccentricities and inclinations, we evaluate both systematic and random components of rotation, where the former arises from an average of a large number of small impacts and the latter is contribution from large impacts. Calculations for parameter values corresponding to inner parts of Saturn's rings show that a moonlet would spin slowly in the prograde direction if most impactors are small particles whose velocity dispersion is comparable to or smaller than the moonlet's escape velocity. However, we also find that the effect of the random component can be significant, if the velocity dispersion of particles is larger and/or impacts of large particles comparable to the moonlet's size are common: in this case, both prograde and retrograde rotations can be expected. In the case of a small moonlet embedded in planetary rings of equal-sized particles, we find that the systematic component dominates the moonlet rotation when m/M?0.1 (m and M are the mass of a particle and a moonlet, respectively), while the random component is dominant when m/M?0.3. We derive the condition for the random component to dominate moonlet rotation on the basis of our results of three-body orbital integration, and confirm agreement with N-body simulation.     

Characterization of forests and deforestation in Cambodia using ALOS/PALSAR observation

In this study, we have demonstrated the capability of full polarimetric ALOS/Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar data for the characterization of the forests and deforestation in Cambodia, to support climate change mitigation policies of Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). We have observed mean backscattering coefficient (σ°), entropy (H), alpha angle (α), anisotropy (A), pedestal height (PH), Radar Vegetation Index (RVI) and Freeman–Durden three-component decomposition parameters. The observations show that the forest types and deforested area are showing variable polarimetric and backscattering properties because of the structural difference. Evergreen forest is characterized by a high value of σ° HV (?12.96 dB) as compared with the deforested area (σ° HV=?22.2 dB). The value of polarimetric parameters such as entropy (0.93), RVI (0.91), PH (0.41) and Freeman–Durden volume scattering (0.43) is high for evergreen forest, whereas deforested area is characterized by the low values of entropy (0.36) and RVI (0.17). Based on these parameters, it is found that σ° HV, entropy, RVI and PH provide best results among other parameters.     

Fatty acids and hydrocarbons in surficial sediments of Lake Huron

Fatty acid and hydrocarbon distributions in surficial sediments from ten locations in southern Lake Huron indicate both aquatic and terrigenous recent biological sources of these geolipid materials. Normal alkanoic acids appear to be derived primarily from aquatic sources whereas normal alkanes are from multiple origins. Geolipid distributions are determined by the nature of the biogenic source and are modified during transport and deposition. Sediments receiving urban runoff in Saginaw Bay contain large amounts of non-biogenic hydrocarbons of a petroleum or industrial nature.     

Studying Air Pollution with Kitt Peak Solar Flux Atlas—Analysis Method and Results of Observation

l.Introducti0nTwoflightsoftheSAGEIIIinstrumentwereplanedbeinglaunchedinJune2O00byRussianMeteor-3Mandin2002byInternationalSpaceStation(ISS).Itisexpectedthattheywouldofferinformationofalmostglobalcoverage.Theseinstrumentswillutilizetheselfcal-ibratingsolaroccultationtechniquetomeasureprofilesofaerosoIextinctionfrom0to4Okm,ozonefrom6to85km,nitrogendioxidefroml0to5Okm,andwatervaporfrom0to5Okm,andutilizelunaroccultationobservati0nstomonitorthekeynighttimesPecies,nitrogentrioxidefrom22to55k…     

Oblique and near collision subduction, Sagami and Suruga Troughs —preliminary results of the French-Japanese 1984 Kaiko cruise, Leg 2

Leg 2 of the French-Japanese 1984 Kaiko cruise has surveyed the Suruga and the Sagami Troughs, which lie on both sides of the northwestward moving and colliding Izu-Bonin Ridge, the northernmost part of the Philippine Sea plate. The transition from the Nankai Trough to the Suruga Trough is characterized by northward decrease in width of the accretionary prism, in good agreement with the increasing obliquity between the through axis and the direction of the convergence, as the strike of the convergent boundary changes from ENE-NNE to south-north. South of the area, the southern margin of the Zenisu Ridge shows contractional deformations. This supports the interpretation made by the team of Leg 1 who studied the western extension of the area we studied, that it is an intra-oceanic thrusting of the ridge over the Shikoku Basin. In the Sagami Trough, where the relative motion is highly oblique to the plate boundary, active subduction is mostly confined in the east-west trending portions of the trough located south of the Boso Peninsula and along the lower Boso Canyon, near the TTT triple junction. In between, the present motion is mainly right-lateral along the northwest trending Boso escarpment. However, an inactive but recent (Pliocene to lower Pleistocene) accretionary prism exists south of the Boso escarpment, which suggests that the relative motion was more northerly than at present before about 1 Ma ago.