Observation of cosmic soft X-rays

Cosmic soft X-rays in the energy range between 0.14 and 7 keV were observed with thin polypropylene window proportional counters on board a sounding rocket. The field of view crossed the galactic plane in the Cygnus-Cassiopeia region at a large angle and reached the galactic latitudes of –55° and +30°. Referring also to the result with Be window counters, we obtained the energy spectrum of Cyg XR-2, the flux from the Cas A region and the distribution of the intensity of diffuse X-rays over the scanned region. The turn-over of the Cyg XR-2 spectrum at about 1 keV indicates that the distance of the Cyg XR-2 source lies between 600 and 800 pc, if the turn-over is due entirely to interstellar absorption. The flux from the Cas A region is obtained as 0.23±0.05 photons cm^–2 sec^–1 in the energy range between 1.1 and 4.1 keV. The intensity of diffuse soft X-rays depends on the galactic latitude more weakly than expected from the interstellar absorption of extragalactic X-rays and shows asymmetry with respect to the galactic equator, thus suggesting a contribution of galactic X-rays. The spectrum of extragalactic X-rays is approximately represented by a power lawE ^–1.8.     

Cosmological radiative transfer codes comparison project – I. The static density field tests

Radiative transfer (RT) simulations are now at the forefront of numerical astrophysics. They are becoming crucial for an increasing number of astrophysical and cosmological problems; at the same time their computational cost has come within reach of currently available computational power. Further progress is retarded by the considerable number of different algorithms (including various flavours of ray tracing and moment schemes) developed, which makes the selection of the most suitable technique for a given problem a non-trivial task. Assessing the validity ranges, accuracy and performances of these schemes is the main aim of this paper, for which we have compared 11 independent RT codes on five test problems: (0) basic physics; (1) isothermal H  ii region expansion; (2) H  ii region expansion with evolving temperature; (3) I-front trapping and shadowing by a dense clump and (4) multiple sources in a cosmological density field. The outputs of these tests have been compared and differences analysed. The agreement between the various codes is satisfactory although not perfect. The main source of discrepancy appears to reside in the multifrequency treatment approach, resulting in different thicknesses of the ionized-neutral transition regions and the temperature structure. The present results and tests represent the most complete benchmark available for the development of new codes and improvement of existing ones. To further this aim all test inputs and outputs are made publicly available in digital form.     

Disastrous sediment discharge due to typhoon-induced heavy rainfall over fossil periglacial catchments in western Tokachi,Hokkaido, northern Japan

In August 2016, Typhoon 1610 (Lionrock) caused heavy rainfall in Hokkaido, which led to the discharge of a large volume of sediment and water from catchments on the eastern slope of the northern Hidaka Range. The eight catchments examined in this study are characterized by granitic lithology and late Pleistocene periglacial landforms with weakly cohesive, low-resistance periglacial debris thickly covering the weathered bedrocks. This characteristic of the landscape presumably provided a transport-limited condition where some debris flows were initiated by shallow landslides. As they moved, the debris flows grew larger through mobilization and erosion of sediment in channel beds and sidewalls. This sediment mobilization and erosion continued for an extensive distance along the course of the river. Morphological changes induced by channel aggradation and bank erosion were considerable and distinctive from upstream to downstream. Granitic periglacial sediments are amply present on the mountain slopes, river channels, and river banks in the area, likely due to the rarity of intensive rainfall events. These distinctive features of fossil periglacial catchments are important for disaster prevention and catchment-scale sediment management in sub-boreal areas, particularly in the context of climate change, which may generate more frequent and intensive rainfall events.     

Assessment of potential outburst floods from the Tsho Rolpa glacial lake in Nepal

Flood and sediment disasters caused by glacial lake outbursts have occurred frequently in recent years in the Himalayas of Nepal. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) can cause catastrophic flooding in downstream areas with serious damage to lives and property. It is thus important to investigate outburst floods from potentially dangerous glacial lakes. In this study, the characteristics of potential outburst floods from the Tsho Rolpa glacial lake due to two types of moraine dam failure caused by seepage flow or water overtopping were analyzed with various scenarios by using integrated modeling system of three numerical models: (1) the flow and bed-surface erosion model, (2) the seepage model and (3) the slope stability model. Flood inundation areas were also identified by using the numerical model of the flow and moraine dam failure and geographical information system tools. Possible threats and damages due to the potential GLOF events from the lake were also analyzed based on numerical results, flood inundation maps and field investigations.     

Seismic response control using electromagnetic inertial mass dampers

This paper presents a new type of electromagnetic damper with rotating inertial mass that has been developed to control the vibrations of structures subjected to earthquakes. The electromagnetic inertial mass damper (EIMD) consists of a ball screw that converts axial oscillation of the rod end into rotational motion of the internal flywheel and an electric generator that is turned by the rotation of the inner rod. The EIMD is able to generate a large inertial force created by the rotating flywheel and a variable damping force developed by the electric generator. Device performance tests of reduced‐scale and full‐scale EIMDs were undertaken to verify the basic characteristics of the damper and the validity of the derived theoretical formulae. Shaking table tests of a three‐story structure with EIMDs and earthquake response analyses of a building with EIMDs were conducted to demonstrate the seismic response control performance of the EIMD. The EIMD is able to reduce story drifts as well as accelerations and surpasses conventional types of dampers in reducing acceleration responses. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dissolved iron and zinc in Sagami Bay and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench

Using a clean seawater sampling system for trace metals onboard the R. V. Shinsei-Maru, newly launched in 2013, we investigated the vertical distributions of dissolved iron and zinc in Sagami Bay and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. We applied appropriate clean sampling and filtering processes for trace metals, so that uncontaminated seawater samples were successfully collected. The distribution of zinc in the trench area was similar to that of silicate and the same as that previously reported in the subtropical North Pacific. There were spatial variations in the iron (Fe) distribution in the trench areas. We used previously reported information about biogeochemical cycling in the trench area, and found that Fe has a residence time of 29 years in the water column. The short residence time of Fe (29 years) corresponds to the vertical variations of dissolved Fe in the water column.     

Mineral classification from quantitative X-ray maps using neural network: Application to volcanic rocks

We developed a mineral classification technique of electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) maps in order to reveal the mineral textures and compositions of volcanic rocks. In the case of lithologies such as basalt that include several kinds of minerals, X-ray intensities of several elements derived from EPMA must be considered simultaneously to determine the mineral map. In this research, we used a Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM) to classify minerals in the thin-sections from several X-ray intensity maps. The SOM is a type of artificial neural network that is trained using unsupervised training to produce a two-dimensional representation of multi-dimensional input data. The classified mineral maps of in situ oceanic basalts of the Juan de Fuca Plate allowed us to quantify mineralogical and textural differences among the marginal and central parts of the pillow basalts and the massive flow basalt. One advantage of mineral classification using a SOM is that relatively many minerals can be estimated from limited input elements. By applying our method to altered basalt which contains multiple minerals, we successfully classify eight minerals in thin-section.     

尼罗河及其流域环境的近期变化：以文献为依据

The Nile is one of the longest rivers on the planet and an important freshwater source for the arid regions of Africa. It is also a river that is extensively affected by anthropogenic impact. This paper aims to provide an account of the social drivers that combine to cause extensive changes in the Nilotic environments. This paper is based on extensive review of literature backed up by field research. The main focus is on the lower Nile, where the effects of anthropogenic disturbances are most prominent. We argue that the Nile Basin is characterized by interrelated and compound problems of resource management, and managing this river system effectively requires shifting the focus from water related problems to a basin wide management agenda. We contend that knowledge of environmental history is important for this agenda shift, and the idea of benefit sharing can alleviate the growing stress on this extremely sensitive arid river basin.     

Effects of heavy oil in the developing spotted halibut, Verasper variegatus

It is well known that heavy oil (HO) on the sea surface causes serious problems in the aquatic environment. In particular, some species of teleosts which develop on the sea surface are thought to be affected by the HO which flows out from tankers or coastal industry. However, the toxicological effects of HO are not fully understood. We performed exposure experiments using the Pleuronectiformean fish, spotted halibut (Verasper variegatus), which is an important fishery resource in Japan. In course of the development, HO-exposed embryos showed remarkable delay in developmental processes including somite formation. We further observed abnormal development of the head morphology. Notably, treated embryos had relatively small eyes and craniofacial structures. These findings strongly suggest that HO seriously affects the cell proliferation and differentiation of the embryo. In addition, HO-exposed embryos showed abnormal neuronal development. We also performed the exposure in the larval stage. Treatment of post-hatching larvae with HO resulted in significantly greater mortality compared with controls. Through these observations, we finally conclude that HO is strongly toxic to halibut in their early life stages.