Construction of Wide Field Cryogenic Telescope

We constructed a wide field cryogenic telescope (WFCT) containing a whole Ritchey-Chrétien system and a focal plane array in a cryostat for near infrared observations to cover the field of view of 0.4°. The telescope has a primary mirror of 220 mm and an engineering grade 256 × 256 InSb array. The optical components such as two mirrors, filters, spiders, and radiation shield tube are cooled down to 180 K as well as the InSb array to 35 K by a mechanical refrigerator. We show the results of the background surface brightnesses and the limiting magnitudes at 3.3 and 3.67 μm measured at Sutherland, South Africa. We describe the on-going upgrade of this instrument, equipped with a 1024 × 1024 ALADDIN InSb science grade array. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Olivine-rich exposures in the South Pole-Aitken Basin

The distribution and the geological context of the olivine-rich exposures in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the Moon were investigated based on the spectral data obtained from the Spectral Profiler (SP) and Multiband Imager (MI) onboard the Japanese lunar explorer Kaguya/SELENE. The olivine-rich exposures are found only in the peak rings or central peaks of the Schrödinger basin and Zeeman crater, which are located in the outer region of the SPA Basin and not in the center region. On a localized scale, the olivine-rich materials are exposed on landslide features on the crater walls or sloped wall of the central peaks or the peak rings. Another observational finding is the co-existence of olivine-rich and plagioclase-rich materials on a kilometer scale spanning most of the olivine-rich sites in the Schrödinger basin. Pyroxene-rich materials are found in fresh craters outside the peak rings or the central peaks with olivine-rich materials. Based on these results, the following scenario are proposed: (1) the impact to form the SPA Basin melted a large amount of the lunar upper mantle and crust, and distributed the melted materials to the outer region; (2) local differentiation of melted materials hid the olivine-rich materials in the center region of the SPA Basin; (3) later impacts that formed the Schrödinger and Zeeman craters excavated and exposed the olivine-rich materials to the surface again; and (4) space weathering and regolith gardening obscured the olivine-rich spectra at the exposure sites, but recent, small scale impacts or landslides on the sloped wall exposed fresh olivine-rich materials, allowing the identification of the olivine-rich exposures by spectral remote-sensing. This suggests that several, different scale events play an important role in forming the surface distributions of originally deep-seated materials on the Moon, as well as on other planetary bodies.     

Photosynthesis-irradiance relationship of phytoplankton and primary production in the vicinity of Kuroshio warm core ring in spring

The light-saturated maximum value (P ^B _max) and initial slope (α) of the photosynthesis-irradiance (P-E) curve were examined in a warm streamer, a cold streamer and a warm core ring off the Sanriku area in the subarctic western North Pacific Ocean during an ADEOS/OCTS Sanriku field campaign in early May 1997. BothP ^B _max and α were within the ranges of temperate populations. A regional difference was apparent inP ^B _max: populations in the warm streamer tended to show higher value ranging between 1.92 and 4.74 mgC (mgChla)⁻¹h⁻¹ than those in the cold streamer and the warm core ring (1.35–2.87 mgC (mgChla)⁻¹h⁻¹). A depth variation was also observed in α in both the warm streamer and the warm core ring: shallow populations tended to have lower α than deep populations. The depth variations in bothP ^B _max and α resulted in a lower light intensity of the light saturation in a deeper population than that of a shallower one. These depth-related variations in the P-E parameters were likely a manifestation of “shade-adaptation” of photosynthesis. Photoinhibition was not observed over in situ surface light intensity varying below ca 1600 μmol photon m⁻²s⁻¹. Water-column primary productivity was biooptically estimated to be 233 to 949 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹ using vertical distributions of the P-E parameters, chlorophylla, phytoplankton light absorption and underwater irradiance. Applicability of surface data sets for estimation of water-column productivity is discussed.     

Calcium-alkalinity relationship in the North Pacific

The dissolution of calcium carbonate in deep ocean water causes variation in calcium concentration (Ca) and alkalinity (TA) in the ratio of one to two. The decomposition of organic matter generates nitric acid, phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid. A proton flux which is derived from this process also changes alkalinity. Using the variation in nitrate concentration (NO₃) as an index of the proton flux, the relationship betweenCa,TA andNO₃ is expressed asCa=0.5TA+0.63NO₃ The values of Ca obtained from direct measurements in the North Pacific are in good agreement with the values estimated from this equation.     

Mesoscale eddy effects on temporal variability of surface chlorophyll a in the Kuroshio Extension

We investigated the relationship between chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentrations estimated from satellite observations and the activity of eddies in the Kuroshio Extension region. High (low) area-averaged Chl-a concentrations were frequently observed in the core of cyclonic (anticyclonic) eddies. Such relationships between Chl-a concentrations and eddy cores were not frequently observed in the southern part of the recirculation gyre, and advection of background meridional gradient of Chl-a by eddy-edge currents accounted for Chl-a spatial variability. Decadal-scale changes of Chl-a concentrations around the Kuroshio Extension were strongly affected by eddy activity and transport but not by large-scale near-surface isopycnal heaving. We also found that decadal changes of nutrient concentrations near the main stream could affect Chl-a concentrations in the southern part of the recirculation gyre via southward transport of eddies and mean flow.     

Climatic physical snowpack properties for large-scale modeling examined by observations and a physical model

Here we have conducted an integral study using site observations and a model with detailed snow dynamics, to examine the capability of the model for deriving a simple relationship between the density and thermal conductivity of the snowpack within different climatic zones used in large-scale climate modeling. Snow and meteorological observations were conducted at multiple sites in different climatic regions (two in Interior Alaska, two in Japan). A series of thermal conductivity measurements in snow pit observations done in Alaska provided useful information for constructing the relationship. The one-dimensional snow dynamics model, SNOWPACK, simulated the evolution of the snowpack and compared observations between all sites. Overall, model simulations tended to underestimate the density and overestimate the thermal conductivity, and failed to foster the relationship evident in the observations from the current and previous research. The causes for the deficiency were analyzed and discussed, regarding a low density of the new snow layer and a slow compaction rate. Our working relationships were compared to the equations derived by previous investigators. Discrepancy from the regression for the melting season observations in Alaska was found in common.     

A catalytic oxidation method for the determination of total nitrogen dissolved in seawater

A detailed examination of a high-temperature catalytic oxidation method for liquid samples in the analysis of total nitrogen dissolved in seawater is reported. The nitrogenous compounds in liquid samples are oxidized on a platinum catalyzer at 680°C under oxygen atmosphere and the generated NO₂ is absorbed into a chromogenic reagent, followed by a spectrophotometric determination. The results of this method are much higher than those of wet oxidation methods. Molecular size dependency of the results clearly indicates that the above discrepancy is caused by the low oxidation capacity of the wet oxidation method against high-polymer organic matter dissolved in seawater. The results revealed that the concentration of total nitrogen in seawater is nearly constant from surface to bottom, ranging from 30 to 40 μM 1^?1, which organic nitrogen concentration higher in the surface layer, and a rapid decrease with depth. An examination of molecular size distribution indicates that the concentration of high-polymer organic nitrogen decreases rapidly from surface to deeper layers, with molecular sizes ranging from 5 × 10³ to 3 × 10⁴. Because of the well-defined principle of the oxidation process, its reliability, ease of sample handling and of analytical procedure on board or in the land laboratory, the present method is much more suitable for the marine analytical chemistry of total and organic nitrogen than the other previous methods.     

Hydrodynamical models of the Orion-KL Nebula

The interaction between an isotropic protostellar wind and an ambient molecular cloud is investigated by two-dimensional hydrodynamic computations. The wind-cloud interaction model is promising for explanation of the observed properties of the Orion-KL Nebula.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Shipboard calibration of an infrared absorption gas analyser for total carbon dioxide determination in sea water

A new method for shipboard calibration of an infrared absorption carbon dioxide analyser was devised, utilizing the oxidative decomposition reaction of oxalic acid by permanganate in acid solution. With the present method, shipboard analysis of total carbon dioxide in 2 ml of sea water can be carried out with an error of less than 0.5 %. Some improvements in the analyser system are also presented.     

Adsorption of extracellular proteases in seawater onto filters during size fractionation

In aquatic environments extracellular enzymes are bound to microbial cells or exist in a free and adsorbed state. Various filters have been used to fractionate these enzymatic activities, but enzymes may be readily adsorbed onto some materials, and such adsorption can induce errors in the estimation of enzymatic activity. In this study we examined three filters to determine the most suitable filter for fractionation when estimating proteolytic enzyme activity in seawater. We found that the polycarbonate Nuclepore membrane, widely used for size fractionation because of its pore-size accuracy, was the most favorable for this purpose, even though it adsorbed slightly more enzymes than the low-protein-binding polyethersulfone membrane. We also found that trypsin-and chymotrypsin-type enzymes were more easily adsorbed than aminopeptidases.