Ultraviolet-background-induced bifurcation of galactic morphology

Based upon a novel paradigm of galaxy formation under the influence of an ultraviolet background, the evolutionary bifurcation of pre-galactic clouds is compared with observations of elliptical and spiral galaxies. The theory predicts that the dichotomy between dissipational and dissipationless galaxy formation stems from the degree of self-shielding from the ultraviolet background radiation. This is demonstrated on a bifurcation diagram of collapse epochs versus masses of pre-galactic clouds. Using the observed properties, the collapse epochs and mass are assessed for each type of galaxy . By direct comparison of the theory with observations, it turns out that the theoretical bifurcation branch successfully discriminates between elliptical and spiral galaxies. This suggests that the ultraviolet background radiation could play a profound role in the differentiation of galactic morphology into the Hubble sequence.     

Broadband Ground Motion Reconstruction for the Kanto Basin during the 1923 Kanto Earthquake

Ground motions of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake inside the Kanto Basin are numerically simulated in a wide frequency range (0?C10?Hz) based on new knowledge of the earthquake??s source processes, the sedimentary structure of the basin, and techniques for generating broadband source models of great earthquakes. The Kanto Earthquake remains one of the most important exemplars for ground motion prediction in Japan due to its size, faulting geometry, and location beneath the densely populated Kanto sedimentary basin. We reconstruct a broadband source model of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake from inversion results by introducing small-scale heterogeneities. The corresponding ground motions are simulated using a hybrid technique comprising the following four calculations: (1) low-frequency ground motion of the engineering basement, modeled using a finite difference method; (2) high-frequency ground motion of the engineering basement, modeled using a stochastic Green??s function method; (3) total ground motion of the engineering basement (i.e. 1?+?2); and (4) ground motion at the surface in response to the total basement ground motion. We employ a recently developed three-dimensional (3D) velocity structure model of the Kanto Basin that incorporates prospecting data, microtremor observations and measurements derived from strong ground motion records. Our calculations reveal peak ground velocities (PGV) exceeding 50?cm/s in the area above the fault plane: to the south, where the fault plane is shallowest, PGV reaches 150?C200?cm/s at the engineering basement and 200?C250?cm/s at the surface. Intensity 7, the maximum value in the Japan Meteorological Agency??s intensity scale, is calculated to have occurred widely in Sagami Bay, which corresponds well with observed house-collapse rates due to the 1923 event. The modeling reveals a pronounced forward directivity effect for the area lying above the southern, shallow part of the fault plane. The high PGV and intensity seen above the southeastern corner of the fault plane and further east are largely due to this effect. Waveforms above the fault plane contain both short- and long-period components, but the short-period components are not observed further afield. Away from the fault, long-period waves (>2?s) dominate the ground motion, and in areas where the base of the third layer is relatively deep, the predominant period is >5?s. Levels of long-period ground motion in the southern part of the study area, around Sagami Bay and the southern parts of Boso Peninsula and Tokyo Bay, exceed that recorded at Tomakomai during the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, when large oil storage tanks collapsed in response to sloshing generated by strong long-period motions.     

Hayabusa‐returned sample curation in the Planetary Material Sample Curation Facility of JAXA

Abstract– The Planetary Material Sample Curation Facility of JAXA (PMSCF/JAXA) was established in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan, to curate planetary material samples returned from space in conditions of minimum terrestrial contaminants. The performances for the curation of Hayabusa‐returned samples had been checked with a series of comprehensive tests and rehearsals. After the Hayabusa spacecraft had accomplished a round‐trip flight to asteroid 25143 Itokawa and returned its reentry capsule to the Earth in June 2010, the reentry capsule was brought back to the PMSCF/JAXA and was put to a series of processes to extract recovered samples from Itokawa. The particles recovered from the sample catcher were analyzed by electron microscope, given their ID, grouped into four categories, and preserved in dimples on quartz slide glasses. Some fraction of them has been distributed for initial analyses at NASA, and will be distributed for international announcement of opportunity (AO), but a certain fraction of them will be preserved in vacuum for future analyses.     

广域空间尺度上植被净初级生产力的精确推算

作者介绍了使用遥感、GIS数据和BEPS生态过程模型推算植被净初级生产力 (NPP)的方法。为了准确推算北海道地区NPP,我们改进了BEPS模型,而且使用了高质量GIS数据作为模型的输入数据。通过计算得出1998年北海道NPP的平均值为644 g C/m²,总量为0.078 Gt C。我们还进行了模型输入数据质量对应用生态过程模型推算NPP的精度影响测试。结果表明,高质量的GIS输入数据可以提高NPP推算精度16.6%~39.7%。     

Phytoremediation of heavy metal‐contaminated water and sediment by Eleocharis acicularis

Phytoremediation is an environmental remediation technique that takes advantage of plant physiology and metabolism. The unique property of heavy metal hyperaccumulation by the macrophyte Eleocharis acicularis is of great significance in the phytoremediation of water and sediments contaminated by heavy metals at mine sites. In this study, a field cultivation experiment was performed to examine the applicability of E. acicularis to the remediation of water contaminated by heavy metals. The highest concentrations of heavy metals in the shoots of E. acicularis were 20 200 mg Cu/kg, 14 200 mg Zn/kg, 1740 mg As/kg, 894 mg Pb/kg, and 239 mg Cd/kg. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb in the shoots correlate with their concentrations in the soil in a log‐linear fashion. The bioconcentration factor for these elements decreases log‐linearly with increasing concentration in the soil. The results indicate the ability of E. acicularis to hyperaccumulate Cu, Zn, As, and Cd under natural conditions, making it a good candidate species for the phytoremediation of water contaminated by heavy metals.     

Phytoplankton growth response to wind induced regional upwelling occurring around the Izu Islands off Japan

From frequent field observations performed in coastal waters around the Izu Islands, Japan, a clear regional upwelling associated with the wind was detected baside Niijima Island. Nutrient supply by the upwelling into the euphotic zone was confirmed, and the subsequent phytoplankton growth supported by the upwelled nutrients was evaluated. The upwelling and the nutrient supply occurred within a day over an area ofca. 400 km², and phytoplankton growth response occurred only a few days after the upwelling. Such regional upwelling is considered to be one of the major mechanisms supporting the high productivity of coastal waters.Contribution number 423 from the Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba.     

Emergence Patterns of Small Subtidal Arthropods in Relation to Day/Night, Tidal, and Surface/Bottom Factors: Investigations in the Boreal Sea, Japan (Akkeshi, Hokkaido)

The emergence of small arthropods was studied in the boreal sea, Japan (Akkeshi, Hokkaido). In the shallow subtidal zone, two impeller pumps were set in the surface and bottom waters. The pumps ran continuously for 25 days (22 August-16 September, 1998), and invertebrates were sampled using a nylon net (300 to 500 m in mesh size). The small arthropods collected with the net belonged to 16 orders comprising about 60 taxa. In the dominant 23 taxa, a two-way ANOVA was applied to determine whether there was any significant difference in abundance between day and night and between surface and bottom. While emergence of 15 taxa (65%) was significantly different with regard to the day/night factor, that of the other 8 taxa (35%) was not. As to the difference between the two depths, the distribution of 15 taxa (65%) was significantly different. Furthermore, in 25 taxa for which over 100 specimens were collected in each of the two depths of water, emergence patterns were examined with regard to the synchrony with day/night and tidal cycles. There were various nocturnal patterns, and the strength of the synchrony with the day/night cycle was different for each species or group. Within the same taxa, nocturnal patterns were more clearly manifested in the surface water than in the bottom water. A tidal rhythm of emergence was only seen in zoeas of shrimp. Variations of the emergence patterns of benthic crustaceans are accounted for by a hypothesis that the frequency of swimming during day versus at night is different in each species. On the other hand, the emergence patterns of some zooplankton reflect by the daily rhythm of vertical migration or dispersal in the water column.     

Aluminum in the East China Sea and Okinawa Trough, marginal sea areas of the Western North Pacific

The distribution of aluminum (Al) in seawater has been investigated in the continental slope and the Okinawa Trough areas of the East China Sea, which is one of the marginal seas in the western North Pacific Ocean. Aluminum concentration in waters over the slope and the Trough ranged from 5.6 to 25 nmol/kg in the surface layer (0–100 m), and had a minima of 1.1 nmol/kg between 400 and 500 m depth and ranged from 1.3 to 9.7 nmol/kg in the deep or bottom waters. Aluminum values were higher than in the surface waters of the central North Pacific, while minimum values were similar to levels in the intermediate or deep waters of the central North Pacific, except for the bottom water over the slope. This suggests that the high Al concentration in the surface reflects the large atmospheric input of Asian dust around the western side of the North Pacific region. On the continental slope, Al concentrations in the upper 500 m depth decreased slopeward. This horizontal gradient of Al can be explained from the combination of dilution by upwelling of Al-poor water originated from the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) which intrudes into the mid-depth of the Okinawa Trough and the scavenging of Al by biogenic particles in the continental slope zone.     

宝鸡古土壤层S7和黄土层L8的天然剩磁锁定深度初探

详细的古地磁及岩石磁学研究表明磁铁矿和赤铁矿是宝鸡古土壤层S7和黄土层L8的特征剩磁的主要载磁矿物,在稳定的正反极性期间,这两种磁性矿物携带的剩磁方向完全一致。然而,在地磁漂移事件或者松山-布容（M-B）极性转换的过程中,这两种载磁矿物有时携带的剩磁方向不同。高分辨率的磁性地层结果证实宝鸡古土壤层S7和黄土层L8能记录300500年的短期地球磁场极性倒转事件。经与日本大阪湾高分辨率的海洋沉积物中记录的同期短期极性倒转事件相比,估算宝鸡剖面土壤层S7和黄土层L8的天然剩磁锁定深度小于58cm。     

Source characteristics of the 1992 Nicaragua tsunami earthquake inferred from teleseismic body waves

We analyzed the broadband body waves of the 1992 Nicaragua earthquake to determine the nature of rupture. The rupture propagation was represented by the distribution of point sources with moment-rate functions at 9 grid points with uniform spacing of 20 km along the fault strike. The moment-rate functions were then parameterized, and the parameters were determined with the least squares method with some constraints. The centroid times of the individual moment-rate functions indicate slow and smooth rupture propagation at a velocity of 1.5 km/s toward NW and 1.0 km/s toward SE. Including a small initial break which precedes the main rupture by about 10 s, we obtained a total source duration of 110 s. The total seismic moment isM _o =3.4×10²⁰ Nm, which is consistent with the value determined from long-period surface waves,M _o =3.7×10²⁰ Nm. The average rise time of dislocation is determined to be 10 s. The major moment release occurred along a fault length of 160 km. With the assumption of a fault widthW=50 km, we obtained the dislocationD=1.3 m. From andD the dislocation velocity isD=D/0.1 m/s, significantly smaller than the typical value for ordinary earthquakes. The stress drop =1.1 MPa is also less than the typical value for subduction zone earthquakes by a factor of 2–3. On the other hand, the apparent stress defined by 2E _s /M _o , where andE _s are respectively the rigidity and the seismic wave energy, is 0.037 MPa, more than an order of magnitude smaller than . The Nicaragua tsunami earthquake is characterized by the following three properties: 1) slow rupture propagation; 2) smooth rupture; 3) slow dislocation motion.