Modeling Local Tidal Constituents Using TOPEX/POSEIDON SSH for the Malaysian Marine Region

A new Local Ocean Tide Model, has been produced for the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Malaysia, which incorporates some of the latest TOPEX/POSEIDON data for the years 1992 to 1998. Local tide gauge data are used as a comparison, along with another leading Global Ocean Tide Model, Ori96. The leading diurnal and semidiurnal constituents M₂, S₂, N₂, K₁, O₁, P₁ and Q₁ are reproduced using TOPEX/POSEIDON Sea Surface Heights (SSH) in a response analysis type least squares derivation following Munk and Cartwright (1966).     

Extended probit mortality model for zooplankton against transient change of PCO(2)

The direct injection of CO(2) in the deep ocean is a promising way to mitigate global warming. One of the uncertainties in this method, however, is its impact on marine organisms in the near field. Since the concentration of CO(2), which organisms experience in the ocean, changes with time, it is required to develop a biological impact model for the organisms against the unsteady change of CO(2) concentration. In general, the LC(50) concept is widely applied for testing a toxic agent for the acute mortality. Here, we regard the probit-transformed mortality as a linear function not only of the concentration of CO(2) but also of exposure time. A simple mathematical transform of the function gives a damage-accumulation mortality model for zooplankton. In this article, this model was validated by the mortality test of Metamphiascopsis hirsutus against the transient change of CO(2) concentration.     

Soil Condition and Seismic Characteristics in Shiga Prefecture,Japan

The seismic observation network in Shiga prefecture iscomposed of four systems.All the observation data obtained were used to estimatethe dynamic characteristicsof the surface soils around the lake and the seismichazard for Hikone City. Since1995, 21 records have been obtained at the USP site ofwhich those for the 1999Shigaken-Hokubu Earthquake and 1999 Wakayarnaken-HokubuEarthquake wereused in this study. Transfer functions of the surfacesoil in each ward of ShigaPrefecture based on the Mt. Kojin site (KJY), whichhas relatively hard soil, werecalculated from the records of the two earthquakes.Assuming a scenario earthquakeat the Hyakusaiji fault close to Hikone City, maximumground motions were obtainedfor 15 city blocks in order to establish a damageestimation for that city. The numberof collapsed wooden houses and the damage ratiowere calculated based on the distributionof construction of wooden houses by year. Blockswith a larger ratio of old, wooden housesin Hikone showed a close correlation with blockswith a large ratio of aged persons inthem, indicative that weak persons, such as theelderly, may find themselves in a severesituation during a natural disaster.     

Rapid and Simple Measurement of H2 Emission from Active Faults Using Compact Sampling Equipments

Smaller equipment has been developed for sampling and measuring H₂ in fault zones. A considerable volume of hydrogen emission, suggesting the presence of fluid paths along fault zones, was detected within a 1‐h simple field procedure at an active fault in Central Japan, the Atotsugawa Fault. The equipment enabled measurements in a thin fault gouge with a thickness of 10 mm; this led to pervasive sampling from small fault zones hosted in harder rocks. A rapid evaluation of the spatio‐temporal heterogeneity of hydrogen emissions along the faults, using the present method, would increase knowledge of fluid circulation around faults.     

Laboratory measurements of spatial fluctuation and attenuation of elastic waves by scattering due to random heterogeneities

To study the effects of strong scattering on elastic waves, spatial fluctuation and scattering attenuation ofP waves were examined by laboratory experiments for 2-D models of random media approximately characterized by a triangular correlation function in the range of 2<ka<33, wherek is the wave number anda is the correlation distance of the heterogeneities, i.e., the heterogeneity size. The results obtained are as follows: (1) Forka>10, both the intensity and the correlation distance of the amplitude fluctuation are approximate for any phase of theP-wave train. The correlation distance nearly agrees with the heterogeneity size. These fluctuation properties are quite consistent with the theoretical prediction by the forward-scattering approximation. (2) For 3<ka<6, the fluctuation intensity becomes stronger in later phases of theP-wave train. This shows that scattering is approximately isotropic, and therefore, the scattered energy increases with time within theP-wave train. The correlation distance of the amplitude fluctuation disagrees with the heterogeneity size, and it shows a frequency-dependent property decreasing from 7a to 4a with the increase ofka from 3 to 6. These properties for 3<ka<6 have not yet been predicted theoretically. (3) Forka<3, though the fluctuation is considerably smaller compared with that ofka>10 and 3<ka<6, the fluctuation property is considered similar to that of 3<ka<6. (4) The observed scattering attenuation,Q ^–1, increases withka forka<3, has a peak aroundka=35, and then decreases withka. (5) When _min = 15° and = 0.075, the theoreticalQ ^–1 curve, predicted by the approximate theory of Wu, roughly matches the observedQ ^–1 values, where _min is the minimum scattering angle measured from the propagation direction of theP waves and is the rms of fractional velocity fluctuation. This suggests that the energy scattered in the range of >15° is lost from theP waves, while the energy scattered in the range of <15° is retained; and that the approximate theory overestimates by about three times the value of the model media used owing to the neglect of multiple scattering. (6) When the size of velocity heterogeneities responsible for forward scattering at 3<ka<6 is estimated from the _min value of 15° on the basis of Wu's theory, it nearly agrees with the correlation distance for the initial phase of theP-wave train.     

Wind-dependent formation of phytoplankton spring bloom in Otsuchi Bay,a ria in Sanriku,Japan

Spring blooms of phytoplankton composed of centric diatoms developed in late February, March, and April in Otsuchi Bay on Sanriku ria coast, Japan. During this period, associated with prolonged seasonal west wind (>1 day), intense exchange of waters occurred between inside and outside the bay: outflow of nearsurface brackish water over inflow of oceanic water at depth. This circulation interrupted formation of the blooms, and transported phytoplankton populations seaward. By such water movements, a significant amount of nutrients in the bay was carried out, otherwise replenished into the bay, depending on water masses located outside the bay. Owing to irregular features of wind events, a bloom lasted from several days to a week. From February to April, supply of nutrients seemed to be replete except for the latter half of the bloom period, and estimates of the critical depth exceeded the depth of the bottom consistently. Thus, net growth of phytoplankton was expected throughout the observation period, and potentially blooms could be formed. However, the blooms were only formed under calm weather. We hypothesize that the exchange of waters dilutes populations in the bay, and that formation of the bloom, that is, accumulation of biomass depends on a balance between the growth of phytoplankton and the dilution of bay water.     

Groundwater radon anomalies associated with earthquakes

Earthquake-related changes in groundwater radon have been detected at a sensitive observation site located right on a major active fault in Northeast Japan. A time-series analysis based on Bayesian statistics was successfully applied to remove background variations from the observed radon data, enabling us to examine the earthquake-related changes in detail.

We set a simple criterion of amplitude and duration for an anomaly observed in our radon data; we define an anomaly as a radon change that kept its level beyond 2σ (a standard deviation over the whole observation period) during a period longer than one day. We have observed 20 radon anomalies that satisfied this criterion from January 1984 to December 1988. Most of these anomalies have turned out to be related to large earthquakes that occurred in East Japan and its surrounding area; we have identified 12 post-seismic and 2-pre-seismic radon anomalies out of a total of 30 earthquakes with magnitude M 6.0 and hypocentral distance D 1000 km.

The typical pattern of the post-seismic anomalies is a radon decrease which started just after an earthquake, lasting for periods ranging from a few days to more than one week. The amplitude of the post-seismic anomalies depends on both magnitude and hypocentral distance, and can, in general, be expressed by a simple magnitude-distance relationships.

A possible pre-seismic anomaly was observed about one week before the largest earthquake that occurred in this region during the observation period (March 6, 1984; M = 7.9, D = 1000 km). Another possible pre-seismic anomaly was observed about three days before two nearby large earthquakes that occurred at almost the same place in a time interval of 53 min (February 6, 1987; M = 6.4 and M = 6.7, D = 130 km).