Formation of thermohaline front by cooling of the sea surface and inflow of the fresh water

A numerical study of characteristics of the front formed by cooling of the sea surface and inflow of the fresh water is made within a vertical two-dimensional plane without the rotation of the earth. The convective adjustment technique is employed to parameterize the small scale convective overturning process.A sharply edged shelf causing the marked difference of the heat capacity of the water columns between over the shelf (50 m depth) and in the deeper region (150 m depth), is responsible for the formation of a thermal front over the shelf edge and two cell circulations of the same sense with each other adjoining at the frontal region.Inflow of the fresh water at the upper region of the coast (which is equivalently replaced by the outflow of the salt from the same region) adds a circulation of the opposite sense to the above ones, which transports the water of low salinity and low temperature offshore and forms a sharp front both of temperature and salinity with the offshore water of high salinity and high temperature. This thermohaline front or Oceanic front has a remarkable character that the horizontal density gradient is minimal at the front due to the counteracting contributions of temperature and salinity to density. Response of this front to the sudden ceases of the surface cooling and the fresh water supply, is also studied in order to understand its transient behaviors.     

Double-celled circulation in coastal upwelling

Simple numerical experiments on two-dimensional coastal upwelling are made with emphasis on the role of non-geostrophic solenoidal field of density in the formation of double-celled circulation and multi-celled density front. Geometry of shelf and slope is not taken into account. Existence of poleward undercurrent presumably caused by the longshore variation of the large scale pressure field is also suppressed for the sake of simplicity.The results are, (1) double-celled circulation revealed in the present experiment is closely related with the internal frictional layer, where the horizontal density gradient balances with the vertical gradient of the longshore velocity and the vertical diffusion of the vorticity. (2) density front formed by the emergence of the pycnocline to the sea surface is successively advected offshoreward by the Ekman transport. (3) the pycnocline intersecting the sea surface forms the density front which is nearly vertical on account of the small scale convection. The surface currents converge at the front and construct an anti-clockwise circulation (viewed from the lee side). (4) small coefficient of eddy viscosity and strong wind stress lead the Ekman transport unstable and form a multi-celled structure in the frontal region.     

Adsorption of tributyltin by tributyltin resistant marine Pseudoalteromonas sp. cells

The isolate, Pesudoalteromonas sp. TBT1, could grow to overcome the toxicity of tributyltin chloride (TBTCl) up to 30 microM in the absence of Cl(-) in the medium until the cells reached an exponential phase of growth. The viability, however, was reduced after the cells reached a stationary phase. The degradation products, such as dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT), were not detected in the growth medium, indicating that the isolate has no ability to degrade TBT into less toxic DBT and MBT. Up to about 10(7.5) TBT molecules were adsorbed by a single cell. The observation of morphological changes with an electron microscope showed that the cell surface became wrinkled after exposure to the lethal concentration of 10 mM TBTCl. These results indicate that the resistance of the isolate toward the toxicity of TBTCl is not related to the unique cell surface, which seems to play an important role in preventing the diffusion of TBTCl into the cytoplasm.     

Propagating tsunami wave and subsequent resonant response signals detected by HF radar in the Kii Channel,Japan

Signals from the tsunami waves induced by the March 11, 2011 moment magnitude (M_w) 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and from subsequent resonances were detected as radial velocity variability by a high-frequency ocean surface radar (HF radar) installed on the eastern coast of the Kii Channel, at a range of about 1000 km from the epicenter along the eastern to southern coasts of Honshu Island. A time–distance diagram of band-passed (9–200 min) radial velocity along the beam reveals that the tsunami waves propagated from the continental shelf slope to the inner channel as progressive waves for the first three waves, and then natural oscillations were excited by the waves; and that the direction of the tsunami wave propagation and the axis of the natural oscillations differed from that of the radar beam. In addition, spectral analyses of the radial velocities and sea surface heights obtained in the channel and on the continental shelf slope suggest complex natural oscillation modes excited by the tsunami waves.     

Adsorption of tributyltin by tributyltin resistant marine Pseudoalteromonas sp. cells

The isolate, Pesudoalteromonas sp. TBT1, could grow to overcome the toxicity of tributyltin chloride (TBTCl) up to 30 μM in the absence of Cl⁻ in the medium until the cells reached an exponential phase of growth. The viability, however, was reduced after the cells reached a stationary phase. The degradation products, such as dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT), were not detected in the growth medium, indicating that the isolate has no ability to degrade TBT into less toxic DBT and MBT. Up to about 10^7.5 TBT molecules were adsorbed by a single cell. The observation of morphological changes with an electron microscope showed that the cell surface became wrinkled after exposure to the lethal concentration of 10 mM TBTCl. These results indicate that the resistance of the isolate toward the toxicity of TBTCl is not related to the unique cell surface, which seems to play an important role in preventing the diffusion of TBTCl into the cytoplasm.     

The photoionization effect of the ultraviolet background on the colour–magnitude relation of elliptical galaxies

We have examined the effects of the ultraviolet background radiation (UVB) on the colour–magnitude relation (CMR) of elliptical galaxies in clusters of galaxies in the hierarchical clustering scenario by using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. In our model the UVB photoionizes gas in dark haloes and suppresses the cooling of the diffuse hot gas on to galaxy discs. By using a semi-analytic model without the effect of the UVB, Kauffmann & Charlot found that the CMR can be reproduced by strong supernova heating because such supernova feedback suppresses the chemical enrichment in galaxies, especially for small galaxies. We find that the CMR also becomes bluer because of the UVB, in a different way from the effect of supernova feedback. While supernova feedback suppresses the chemical enrichment by a similar mechanism to galactic winds, the UVB suppresses the cooling of the hot gas. This induces suppression of the metallicity of the intracluster medium (ICM). In our model we find that the existence of the UVB can plausibly account for an observed ICM metallicity that is equal to nearly 0.3 times the solar value, and that in this case we can reproduce the CMR and the metallicity of the ICM simultaneously.     

Base shear capping buildings with graphite‐lubricated bases for collapse prevention in extreme earthquakes

Damage or collapse of buildings vulnerable to seismic forces may cause human casualties, and seismic upgrading of such structures is a practical solution to this deficiency. The study presented here proposes a simple approach to prevent structural collapse by separating the superstructure from its foundation to let the superstructure slide during extreme ground shaking. The sliding mechanism contributes to cap the horizontal force exerted on the superstructure. In such approach, the key is to maintain the friction force between the superstructure and the foundation sufficiently low and stable. This research proposes to realize a controlled sliding mechanism, which acts as a structural fuse, by means of carbon powder lubrication at the bases of the structure's columns. The fundamental behaviour of the proposed structural system, named the base shear capping building, is investigated by shaking table tests and numerical simulation. Both experimental and numerical results showed that graphite lubrication is an efficient and robust lubrication material, maintaining the friction coefficient between the steel column bases and mortar foundation at around 0.16. The sliding at the bases significantly reduced the acceleration transmitted to the superstructure, keeping the base shear coefficient not greater than about 0.40. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crustal movement along a collision boundary of plates (case of eastern Taiwan)

Recent crustal movements in eastern Taiwan were investigated based on geodetic and seismological data as a case study of the tectonics along a colliding plate boundary. Secular horizontal strain along the Longitudinal Valley, a probable arc-continent collision boundary between the Philippine Sea and Eurasion plates, is compressive with a large rate of 2 microstrains/year, and the maximum compression axis trends in NW-SE direction. This means that nearly two-thirds of the convergence rate between the two plates is consumed in the narrow zone along the valley and confirms the view that the valley is the plate boundary between the two. The amount of uplift in the Central Range, deduced from trigonometric leveling, reaches more than one meter during the past 60 years. Such active orogeny is caused by the high strain rate in this area. Horizontal displacement of the Coastal Range, a leading edge of the Philippine Sea plate, has a left-lateral component, suggesting that the boundary is a region of oblique collision and the range moves toward the north, producing subduction of the Philippine Sea plate off the Coast of northeastern Taiwan.An extensional strain pattern is found northeastern Taiwan near Hualien, in northern Taiwan near Ilan, and in southeastern Taiwan south Taitung. In northeastern Taiwan, the direction of the maximum extension axis is nearly parallel to the isodipth contours of deep-focus earthquakes that occurred under the southern part of the Ryukyu Trench. From a model calculation using a finite-element method, this pattern of strain is interpreted as an edge effect of the collision-subduction junction in northeastern Taiwan. The direction of the maximum extension in northern Taiwan forms high angles with the direction of the tectonic line near Ilan stretching from the Okinawa Trough. This fact is harmonious with the view that the Okinawa Trough is spreading. Extensional strain observed in southeastern Taiwan may be related to the eastward subduction since the area is situated on a transition zone, from collision to subduction.