Effects of CO2 on benthic biota: An in situ benthic chamber experiment in Storfjorden (Norway)

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) methods, either sub-seabed or in ocean depths, introduces risk of CO₂ leakage and subsequent interaction with the ecosystem. It is therefore important to obtain information on possible effects of CO₂. In situ CO₂ exposure experiments were carried out twice for 10 days during 2005 using a Benthic Chamber system at 400 m depth in Storfjorden, Norway. pCO₂ in the water above the sediment in the chambers was controlled at approximately 500, 5000 and 20,000 μatm, respectively. This article describes the experiment and the results from measured the biological responses within the chamber sediments. The results show effects of elevated CO₂ concentrations on biological processes such as increased nanobenthos density. Methane production and sulphate reduction was enhanced in the approximately 5000 μatm chamber.     

The influence of alongshore and cross‐shore wave energy flux on large‐ and small‐scale coastal erosion patterns

A strong low‐pressure system traveled along the Japanese main island Honshu in October 2006. High waves and storm surge attacked the Kashima Coast resulting in huge erosion over the area. Airborne laser data measured in October 2005 and November 2006 were analyzed to estimate cross‐sectional changes within the subaerial zone. The results of the alongshore distribution of the changes of cross‐sectional area indicate that the amount of erosion of the 38 km‐long northern and 15 km‐long southern parts decreased toward the south in each part and that the amount of erosion was smaller in protected areas with artificial headlands than in unprotected areas. The local alongshore variation of the erosion and accretion patterns showed wavy fluctuations of several hundreds of meters. The total amounts of the estimated eroded volume of the subaerial zone over the northern and southern parts were 620 000 m³ and 600 000 m³, respectively. The Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) wave model was applied to estimate wave conditions along the coast during the storm. The computational results were verified, and then the alongshore distribution of wave energies, expressed as the alongshore and cross‐shore components of the wave energy flux, was compared with the alongshore distribution of cross‐sectional change. The results show that the distribution of energy flux explains the distribution of erosion well: The alongshore variability in the cross‐shore energy flux is responsible for the large‐scale variability in erosion, and shorter‐scale variability is due to gradients in the alongshore energy fluxes, especially for the areas without coastal works. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microscopic Analyses of Insoluble Particles in an Ice Core of ürümqi Glacier No. 1: Quantification of Mineral and Organic Particles

Insoluble particle concentration in ice cores is commonly analyzed as a proxy for varia-tions in atmospheric mineral dust (aerosol concentration). However, recent studies have revealed that the mineral dust is not only a constituent of the particles but that biogenic organic particles are also contained. We microscopically analyzed insoluble particles in a shallow ice core drilled on a mountain glacier, the ürümqi Glacier No. 1, in eastern Tienshan, China. We distinguished different morphologi-cal particles...     

Microtopographic properties of sparse moss vegetation in the Antarctic polar desert

The effect of topography on moss vegetation is examined to clarify the processes that affect the colonization of polar deserts on continental Antarctica. Data on the presence of the mosses Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Pottia heimii, and relative altitude were recorded. The altitude measurements were used to infer the underlying topographical attributes of the substrate in the study plots. Specifically, the local distribution of moss plants was clarified using the topographical attributes to construct generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). The models suggested that steep slopes and convex microhabitats within areas of concave general relief (at the plot scale 4 × 4 m) promoted the establishment of moss. This correspondence to general relief was more apparent for B. pseudotriquetrum than for P. heimii. Among the study plots, general relief was found to be an important determinant of the precise spatial distribution of B. pseudotriquetrum. The standard surface estimated using the robust methods presented in this study is shown to be more accurate for describing moss distribution than the prevailing least-squares method.     

3-D internal architecture of methane hydrate-bearing turbidite channels in the eastern Nankai Trough, Japan

The reservoir architecture of methane hydrate (MH) bearing turbidite channels in the eastern Nankai Trough, offshore Japan is evaluated using a combination of 3-D seismic and well data. On the 3-D seismic section, the MH-bearing turbidite channels correspond to complex patterns of strong seismic reflectors, which show the 3-D internal architecture of the channel complex. A seismic-sequence stratigraphic analysis reveals that the channel complex can be roughly classified into three different stages of depositional sequence (upper, middle, and lower). Each depositional sequence results in a different depositional system that primarily controls the reservoir architecture of the turbidite channels. To construct a 3-D facies model, the stacking patterns of the turbidite channels are interpreted, and the reservoir heterogeneities of MH-bearing sediments are discussed. The identified channels at the upper sequence around the β1 well exhibit low-sinuosity channels consisting of various channel widths that range from tens to several hundreds of meters. Paleo-current flow directions of the turbidite channels are typically oriented along the north-northeast-to-south-southwest direction. High-amplitude patterns were identified above the channels along the north-to-south and north-northeast-to-south-southeast directions. These roughly coincide with the paleo-current flow of the turbidite channels. An interval velocity using high-density velocity analysis shows that velocity anomalies (>2000 m/s) are found on the northeastern side of the turbidite channels. The depositional stage of the northeastern side of the turbidite channels exhibits slightly older sediment stages than the depositional stages of the remaining channels. Hence, the velocity anomalies of the northeastern side of the channels are related to the different stages of sediment supply, and this may lead to the different reservoir architectures of the turbidite channels.     

Importance of intracellular Fe pools on growth of marine diatoms by using unialgal cultures and on the Oyashio region phytoplankton community during spring

We report on the ability for luxury Fe uptake and the potential for growth utilizing intracellular Fe pools for 4 coastal centric diatom isolates and in situ phytoplankton assemblages, mainly composed of diatoms. Iron uptake of the diatom isolates and natural phytoplankton assemblages in the Oyashio region during spring blooms were prevented by adding hydroxamate siderophore desferrioxamine B (DFB). After the addition of DFB, intracellular Fe in the diatom isolates supported 2.4–4.2 cell divisions with 1.2–2.6 Chl a doublings. The intracellular Fe was primarily used for cell generation rather than Chl a production, leading to a reduction in the Chl a cell quota in the Fe-starved cells with time. The metabolic properties of the Fe-starved cells with their cell morphologies were different among species or genera. An on-deck incubation experiment also exhibited 1.9 cell divisions and 0.81 Chl a doublings of phytoplankton after the addition of DFB, also indicating the preference of cell generation over Chl a production. A decrease in the level of cellular Chl a, a main light-harvesting pigment in Fe-starved diatoms, may become a superior survival strategy to protect the cells from high irradiance that can cause photo-oxidative damages through photosynthesis. Such relatively low-Fe with high-light conditions could often occur in surface waters of the Oyashio region from spring to summer.     

Breaking pattern and critical breaking condition of Japanese pine trees on coastal sand dunes in huge tsunami caused by Great East Japan Earthquake

Coastal vegetation is widely recognized to reduce tsunami damage to people and buildings, and it has been studied recently because it requires relatively little capital investment compared with artificial measures, provides human-friendly beach fronts, and enhances inter-relationships with other ecological systems. However, the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake at 14:46 JST on March 11, 2011, with a magnitude of 9.0 and epicenter 129?km east of Sendai, broke most of the sea wall (tsunami gates, large embankments) and caused catastrophic damage to coastal forests in the Tohoku and Kanto districts of Japan. A field survey was conducted to elucidate the critical breaking condition of Japanese coastal pine trees. Tree-trunk breakage was observed when the sea embankment was washed out or when there was no sea embankment and the tree was under strong inertia force or impact force by debris. Even though the trunk bending and breaking phenomena are different, statistical analysis showed that the critical diameters for trunk bending and trunk breaking were not very different. The overturning phenomenon is a little more complex than trunk breaking because the resistive force is a function of the substrate and root anchorage. An equation to determine the critical diameters for trunk bending, trunk breaking, and overturning was derived as a function of tsunami water depth, soil-root strength, and the hydrodynamic parameter (H _D ) formulated by Froude number, drag coefficient, and the ratio of impact force to drag force considering the physical mechanisms to resist the tsunami. Trunk bending and breaking were closely related to tsunami water depth and the hydrodynamic parameter (H _D ), but tree overturning was found to be more site specific, and the root-soil strength greatly affected the critical value. The proposed critical diameter equation and its coefficient are useful for the design of an inland forest of pine trees that can trap large trees, cars, debris, etc., to its breaking limit. The trapping function should be utilized more in the future designs of inland forests, if possible, on embankments.     

Fluorine contents of some hydrous minerals derived from upper mantle and lower crust

Fluorine contents have been determined in about forty samples of amphibole, mica and apatite in alkali basalt and kimberlite and their incorporated xenoliths. They show a wide variation ranging from 15,000 to 100 ppm, corresponding to about 40 to 0.2 per cent substitution of F for OH in hydroxyl site of hydrous minerals. Fluorine abundances in these minerals reflect those of their host magmas or rocks; Itinome-gata xenoliths are the lowest and South African kimberlites and their xenoliths are the highest. F/OH and also. D/H (Kuroda et al. 1975) ratios in coexisting phlogopite-potassic richterite from peridotite and mica nodules are thoughts to have formed under no simple equlibrium conditions.     

Seasonal variations of spectra of wind speed and air temperature in the mesoscale frequency range

Seasonal variations of the spectra of wind speed and air temperature in the mesoscale frequency range from 1.3 × 10^-4 to 1.5 × 10^-3 Hz (10 min to 2 h periods) have been studied through observations over land for one year. Spectrographs [time series of isopleths of spectral densities, f · S(f) vs f] of wind speed and air temperature contain occasional peaks that are attributed to short-lived mesoscale atmospheric activity with narrow frequency bands. Significant spectral peaks of wind speed were found in 19% of the total observations in winter, and in 15–16% in the other seasons; for air temperature, they occured in 12% of observations in autumn, and in 16–19% in the other seasons. The peaks most often occurred in the period range from 30 min to 1 h; most had durations less than 24 h. Mesoscale fluctuations of wind speed and air temperature were highly correlated, and in most cases, phase differences were 90–180 ° with air temperature leading wind speed. Significant spectral peaks of wind speed often occurred during northerly seasonal cold winds in winter, and accompanied tropical and/or mid-latitude cyclones in the other seasons. When the peaks occurred, wind speed was usually relatively high and the atmospheric surface layer was unstable.     

Physically based maximum precipitation estimation under future climate change conditions

Estimation of the extreme precipitation over a target watershed under a changing climate would be necessary to design safe large hydraulic structures. For this purpose, the maximum precipitation (MP) estimation approach was applied to the American River Watershed (ARW) in Northern California under several future climate conditions over 90 water years (2010–2099). These future climate conditions were obtained using 13 future climate projections from two general circulation models (ECHAM5 and CCSM3) based on four future climate scenarios (Special Report on Emissions Scenarios: A1B, A1FI, A2, and B1). A total of 1,170 future projected severe storm events (90 years × 13 projections) were selected with respect to the 72‐hr basin‐average precipitation over the ARW. The 72‐hr basin‐average precipitation for each of the selected severe storm events was maximized over the ARW by horizontally shifting the atmospheric boundary conditions of a regional atmospheric model in order to optimize the path of the storm system that corresponded to the particular event. After maximization, the MP estimates, which are the largest precipitation depths among the maximized results, were obtained as 836.7 mm for the early half‐century period (2010–2054) and 1,056.5 mm for the late half‐century period (2055–2099).