Abundance, Biomass, Production and Trophic Roles of Micro- and Net-Zooplankton in Ise Bay, Central Japan, in Winter

We investigated the geographical variations in abundance and biomass of the major taxonomic groups of micro- and net-zooplankton along a transect through Ise Bay, central Japan, and neighboring Pacific Ocean in February 1995. The results were used to estimate their secondary and tertiary production rates and assess their trophic roles in this eutrophic embayment in winter. Ise Bay nourished a much higher biomass of both micro- and net-zooplankton (mean: 3.79 and 13.9 mg C m^–3, respectively) than the offshore area (mean: 0.76 and 4.47 mg C m^–3, respectively). In the bay, tintinnid ciliates, naked ciliates and copepod nauplii accounted for, on average, 69, 18 and 13% of the microzooplankton biomass, respectively. Of net-zooplankton biomass, copepods (i.e. Acartia, Calanus, Centropages, Microsetella and Paracalanus) formed the majority (mean: 63%). Average secondary production rates of micro- and net-zooplankton in the bay were 1.19 and 1.87 mg C m^–3d^–1 (or 23.1 and 36.4 mg C m^–2d^–1), respectively, and average tertiary production rate of net-zooplankton was 0.75 mg C m^–3d^–1 (or 14.6 mg C m^–2d^–1). Available data approximated average phytoplankton primary production rate as 1000 mg C m^–2d^–1 during our study period. The transfer efficiency from primary production to zooplankton secondary production was 6.0%, and the efficiency from secondary production to tertiary production was 25%. The amount of food required to support the zooplankton secondary production corresponded to 18% of the phytoplankton primary production or only 1.7% of the phytoplankton biomass, demonstrating that the grazing impact of herbivorous zooplankton was minor in Ise Bay in winter.     

Temporal Variability of High Vertical Wavenumber Shear over the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge

Recent numerical studies (Hibiya et al., 1996, 1998, 2002) showed that the energy cascade across the internal wave spectrum down to small dissipation scales was under strong control of parametric subharmonic instabilities (PSI) which transfer energy from low vertical mode double-inertial frequency internal waves to high vertical mode near-inertial internal waves. To see whether or not the numerically-predicted energy cascade process is actually dominant in the real deep ocean, we examine the temporal variability of vertical profiles of horizontal velocity observed by deploying a number of expendable current profilers (XCPs) at one location near the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge. By calculating EOFs, we find the observed velocity profiles are dominated by low mode semidiurnal (∼double-inertial frequency) internal tides and high mode near-inertial internal waves. Furthermore, we find that the WKB-stretched vertical scales of the near-inertial current shear are about 250 sm and 100 sm. The observed features are reasonably explained if the energy cascade down to small dissipation scales is dominated by PSI.     

Can non-Gaussian cosmological models explain the WMAP high optical depth for reionization?

The first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data suggest a high optical depth for Thomson scattering of  0.17 ± 0.04  , implying that the Universe was reionized at an earlier epoch than previously expected. Such early reionization is likely to be caused by ultraviolet (UV) photons from first stars, but it appears that the observed high optical depth can be reconciled within the standard structure formation model only if star formation in the early Universe was extremely efficient. With normal star formation efficiencies, cosmological models with non-Gaussian density fluctuations may circumvent this conflict as high density peaks collapse at an earlier epoch than in models with Gaussian fluctuations. We study cosmic reionization in non-Gaussian models and explore to what extent, within available constraints, non-Gaussianities affect the reionization history. For mild non-Gaussian fluctuations at redshifts of 30 to 50, the increase in optical depth remains at a level of a few per cent and appears unlikely to aid significantly in explaining the measured high optical depth. On the other hand, within available observational constraints, increasing the non-Gaussian nature of density fluctuations can easily reproduce the optical depth and may remain viable in underlying models of non-Gaussianity with a scale-dependence.     

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.     

Non-Gaussian cosmic microwave background temperature fluctuations from peculiar velocities of clusters

We use numerical simulations of a (480 Mpc  h ⁻¹)³ volume to show that the distribution of peak heights in maps of the temperature fluctuations from the kinematic and thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) effects will be highly non-Gaussian, and very different from the peak-height distribution of a Gaussian random field. We then show that it is a good approximation to assume that each peak in either SZ effect is associated with one and only one dark matter halo. This allows us to use our knowledge of the properties of haloes to estimate the peak-height distributions. At fixed optical depth, the distribution of peak heights resulting from the kinematic effect is Gaussian, with a width that is approximately proportional to the optical depth; the non-Gaussianity comes from summing over a range of optical depths. The optical depth is an increasing function of halo mass and the distribution of halo speeds is Gaussian, with a dispersion that is approximately independent of halo mass. This means that observations of the kinematic effect can be used to put constraints on how the abundance of massive clusters evolves, and on the evolution of cluster velocities. The non-Gaussianity of the thermal effect, on the other hand, comes primarily from the fact that, on average, the effect is larger in more massive haloes, and the distribution of halo masses is highly non-Gaussian. We also show that because haloes of the same mass may have a range of density and velocity dispersion profiles, the relation between halo mass and the amplitude of the thermal effect is not deterministic, but has some scatter.     

Quantification of the effect of forest harvesting versus climate on streamflow cycles and trends in an evergreen broadleaf catchment

ABSTRACT

A new method known as Unobserved Components–Dynamic Harmonic Regression (UC-DHR) was applied to a 39-year record of rainfall and streamflow for three sub-catchments of the Sarukawa Experimental Watershed in southwestern Japan. Some 25% of the timber was harvested from one of the sub-catchments in May–July 1982 and the objective was to quantify the magnitude of this effect relative to the effects of climate cycles (e.g. Southern Oscillation Index). The observed effects of inter-annual climate cycles (i.e. 0.89–1.36 mm/d) were seen to be comparable (i.e. 0.70–1.17 mm/d) to the effects of harvesting 25% of the standing timber. This result underlines the importance of always quantifying the effect of climate on streamflow response when harvesting impacts are studied.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor T. Okruszko     

Spatial/temporal variations in zooplankton biomass and ecological characteristics of major species in the southern part of the Japan Sea: a review

During the 1990s many studies on zooplankton in the Japan Sea have been carried out. In this review, I have synthesized the study of horizontal distribution, seasonal and annual variations of zooplankton biomass, and ecological characteristics of major component species in the southern Japan Sea, which area is influenced by the warm Tsushima Current. The zooplankton biomass (annual mean) in the southern Japan Sea was lower than in the subarctic Pacific, including the northern Japan Sea, and similar to biomass levels in Kuroshio waters. Temporal variations in zooplankton biomass showed both seasonal and year-to-year components. Seasonal biomass increases to a maximum in spring with a weak secondary peak in autumn. As for long-term changes, 3–6 year cycles were identified, with the dynamics of the surface warm Tsushima Current and the subsurface cold water playing important roles in determining the yearly zooplankton community structure and biomass. Cold water species in the southern Japan Sea had extensive diel vertical migrations whose range is restricted in summer by the development of a thermocline. Among these species, the herbivores Euphausia pacifica and Metridia pacifica encounter a lower food supply, resulting in lower growth rates. The vertical dispersal of epipelagic carnivorous zooplankton such as Sagitta elegans and Themisto japonica to the deep-sea is probably facilitated by reduced interspecific competition. Their interaction with Japan Sea Proper Water, characterized by near-zero temperatures in the meso- and bathypelagic zones suppresses growth rates of the mesopelagic zooplankton. The lack of micronektonic predators in the mesopelagic zone may allow the persistence of slow growing populations.     

Evaporation metamorphism of primitive dust material in the early solar nebula

An evaporation experiment on matrix material of the Murchison (C2) meteorite up to 1900°C in vacuo has revealed the evaporation sequence of primitive dust material and the associated evolution of residual solid phases from hydrous silicates through magnesium silicates and iron-metal to calcium-aluminum oxides. The comparison with primitive meteorites suggests that the evaporation metamorphism coupled with the re-condensation may have played an important role in the generation of diverse primitive meteorites in the early solar nebula.     

Aerodynamic Parameters of Urban Building Arrays with Random Geometries

It is difficult to describe the flow characteristics within and above urban canopies using only geometrical parameters such as plan area index (λ _p ) and frontal area index (λ _f ) because urban surfaces comprise buildings with random layouts, shapes, and heights. Furthermore, two types of ‘randomness’ are associated with the geometry of building arrays: the randomness of element heights (vertical) and that of the rotation angles of each block (horizontal). In this study, wind-tunnel experiments were conducted on seven types of urban building arrays with various roughness packing densities to measure the bulk drag coefficient (C _d ) and mean wind profile; aerodynamic parameters such as roughness length (z _o ) and displacement height (d) were also estimated. The results are compared with previous results from regular arrays having neither ‘vertical’ nor ‘horizontal’ randomness. In vertical random arrays, the plot of C _d and z _o versus λ _f exhibited a monotonic increase, and z _o increased by a factor of almost two for λ _f = 48–70%. C _d was strongly influenced by the standard deviation of the height of blocks (σ) when λ _p ≥ 17%, whereas C _d was independent of σ when λ _p = 7%. In the case of horizontal random arrays, the plot of the estimated C _d against λ _f showed a peak. The effect of both vertical and horizontal randomness of the layout on aerodynamic parameters can be explained by the structure of the vortices around the blocks; the aspect ratio of the block is an appropriate index for the estimation of such features.