Biogeochemical Variation in Dimethylsulfide, Phytoplankton Pigments and Heterotrophic Bacterial Production in the Subarctic North Pacific during Summer

Dimethylsulfide (DMS), chlorophyll a (Chl-a), accessory pigments (fucoxanthin, peridinin and 19-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin), and bacterial production (BP) were measured in the surface layer (0–100 m) of the subarctic North Pacific, including the Bering Sea, during summer (14 July–5 September, 1997). In surface sewater, the concentrations of DMS and Chl-a varied widely from 1.3 to 13.2 nM (5.1 ± 3.0 nM, mean ± S.D., n = 48) and from 0.1 to 2.4 µg L^–1 (0.6 ± 0.6 µg L^–1, n = 24), respectively. In the subarctic North Pacific, DMS to Chl-a ratios (DMS/Chl-a) were higher on the eastern side than the western side (p < 0.0001). Below the euphotic zone, DMS/Chl-a ratios were law and the correlation between DMS and Chl-a was relatively strong (r ² = 0.700, n = 27, p < 0.0001). In the euphotic zone, DMS/Chl-a ratios were higher and the correlation between DMS and Chl-a was weak (r ² = 0.128, n = 50, p = 0.01). The wide variation in DMS/Chl-a ratios would be at least partially explained by the geographic variation in the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton, because of the negative correlation between DMS/Chl-a and fucoxanthin-to-Chl-a ratios (Fuc/Chl-a) (r ² = 0.476, n = 26, p = 0.0001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between DMS and BP (r ² = 0.380, n = 19, p = 0.005). This suggests that BP did not represent DMS and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) removal by bacterial consumption but rather DMSP degradation to DMS by bacterial enzyme.     

Distribution and expression of gas seeps in a gas hydrate province of the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope, Sea of Okhotsk

Multidisciplinary surveys were conducted to investigate gas seepage and gas hydrate accumulation on the northeastern Sakhalin continental slope (NESS), Sea of Okhotsk, during joint Korean–Russian–Japanese expeditions conducted from 2003 to 2007 (CHAOS and SSGH projects). One hundred sixty-one gas seeps were detected in a 2000 km² area of the NESS (between 53°45′N and 54°45′N). Active gas seeps in a gas hydrate province on the NESS were evident from features in the water column, on the seafloor, and in the subsurface: well-defined hydroacoustic anomalies (gas flares), side-scan sonar structures with high backscatter intensity (seepage structures), bathymetric structures (pockmarks and mounds), gas- and gas-hydrate-related seismic features (bottom-simulating reflectors, gas chimneys, high-amplitude reflectors, and acoustic blanking), high methane concentrations in seawater, and gas hydrates in sediment near the seafloor. These expressions were generally spatially related; a gas flare would be associated with a seepage structure (mound), below which a gas chimney was present. The spatial distribution of gas seeps on the NESS is controlled by four types of geological structures: faults, the shelf break, seafloor canyons, and submarine slides. Gas chimneys that produced enhanced reflection on high-resolution seismic profiles are interpreted as active pathways for upward gas migration to the seafloor. The chimneys and gas flares are good indicators of active seepage.     

Molecular and isotopic characteristics of gas hydrate-bound hydrocarbons in southern and central Lake Baikal

We investigated the molecular composition (methane, ethane, and propane) and stable isotope composition (methane and ethane) of hydrate-bound gas in sediments of Lake Baikal. Hydrate-bearing sediment cores were retrieved from eight gas seep sites, located in the southern and central Baikal basins. Empirical classification of the methane stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δD) for all the seep sites indicated the dominant microbial origin of methane via methyl-type fermentation; however, a mixture of thermogenic and microbial gases resulted in relatively high methane δ¹³C signatures at two sites where ethane δ¹³C indicated a typical thermogenic origin. At one of the sites in the southern Baikal basin, we found gas hydrates of enclathrated microbial ethane in which ¹³C and deuterium were both highly depleted (mean δ¹³C and δD of –61.6‰ V-PDB and –285.4‰ V-SMOW, respectively). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C₂ δ¹³C–δD classification for hydrate-bound gas in either freshwater or marine environments.     

Accidents due to oxygen deficiency and methane gas blow-off in Tokyo area,Japan

The groundwater leve in the Tokyo area had declined to about 60 m below the surface because of excess withdrawal of groundwater from various aquifers. Many construction workers died due to oxygen deficiency at construction sites from 1960 to 1980, the period of decreasing groundwater level. The compressed air in pneumatic foundation construction sites passed easily through the aquifer, and the oxygen in it was consumed by ferrous ions oxidizing to ferric ions. During periods of high barometric pressure, atmospheric air penetrates into the strata and it is deoxygenated there. Suffocation occurred not only at construction sites in underground excavations, but also in residences in Tokyo. Such acidents have become less frequent with recovery of the pore-water pressure in aquifers, which has accompanied the recovery of the groundwater level since 1972.With the recovery of the pore-water pressure and the groundwater level in the aquifer, fires and explosions resulting from gushes of methane have occurred in Tokyo lowlands since 1973. These blow-off gases are classified into two types: Kameido and Asakusa.The gas of the Kameido type originates from the Kazusa Group and migrates into upper alluvial deposits or Pleistocene sediments because of the recovery of pore-water pressure in the Kazusa Group. The gas of the Asakusa type formed from the air that penetrated the aquifers during the period of low groundwater level. Methane was produced by the depletion of oxygen accumulated in alluvial deposits and Pleistocene sediments. This gas blows off through wells in alluvial deposits and Pleistocene sediments at times of low barometric pressure. Accidents of the Asakusa type will not happen when the groundwater level and pore-water pressure in alluvial and Pleistocene sediments is restored to previous levels.     

An interactive system to assist mineral identification in ore microscopy

An interactive computer system has been developed to assist the mineral identification in ore microscopy. The reference file of the system consists of optical, mechanical, and chemical properties of about 130 ore minerals. The properties are name, chemical formula, color, bireflectance, anisotropism, internal reflection, reflectance at wavelengths of 470, 546, 589, and 650 nm, and polishing hardness and micro-indentation hardness. All the properties except reflectance and microindentation hardness are qualitative or semi-qualitative. Most of the properties are given as characters relative to the more common minerals. This implies that most of the identification processes advance on the basis of the comparison between a subject mineral and coexisting minerals. For this reason, the system asks a user at first to input already identified mineral names. This is quite different from the mineral identification procedures used in petrographic microscopy. To reduce the number of possible minerals, the system presents a series of questions to a user, and the user selects any of the prepared answers according to his observation. The user can also choose any desired question independently of the sequence. The user is expected to be able to recognize some common minerals, such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, and hematite, without the assistance of the system.     

BALLOON-BORNE MEASUREMENTS OF AEROSOL VERTICAL DISTRIBUTIONS OVER BEIJING DURING THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF 1993

The results of two balloon soundings during the summer and autumn of 1993 from the Xianghe Observation Station are being utilized in a study of the temporal and spatial distribution of the atmospheric aerosols.The balloon,gondola,instrumentation and atmospheric conditions during the observation period are described.The temporal and spatial characteristics of aerosol concentration,size ratio,mixing ratio,and size distribution for both troposphere and strato-sphere are presented and analyzed.     

Antiferromagnetic transition of fayalite under high pressure studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Néel temperature (Tm _N of α-Fe₂SiO₄ (fayalite) was measured as a function of pressure by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy in the pressure range 0–16 Gpa. High pressure was generated using a clamp-type miniature diamond anvil cell which was inserted into a cryostat. The Néel temperature increased linearly with increasing pressure at a rate of dT _N /dp=2.2±0.2 K/GPa. The result is discussed on the basis of the model proposed for the magnetic structure of fayalite by Santoro et al. (1966). The observed dT _N /dp suggests that the superexchange interactions vary as the ?10/3 power of the volume while the volume dependence of the direct exchange interactions is positive and small.     

Trace element compositions of jadeite (+omphacite) in jadeitites from the Itoigawa-Ohmi district, Japan: Implications for fluid processes in subduction zones

Abstract   Trace-element compositions of jadeite (±omphacite) in jadeitites from the Itoigawa-Ohmi district of Japan, analyzed by a laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique showed chemical zoning within individual grains and variations within each sample and between different samples. Primitive mantle-normalized patterns of jadeite in the samples generally showed high large-ion lithophile element contents, high light rare earth element/heavy rare earth element ratios and positive anomalies of high field strength elements. The studied jadeitites have no signatures of the protolith texture or mineralogy. Shapes and distributions of minerals coupled with chemical zoning within grains suggest that the jadeitites were formed by direct precipitation of minerals from aqueous fluids or complete metasomatic modification of the precursor rocks by fluids. In either case, the geochemical characteristics of jadeite are highly affected by fluids enriched in both large-ion lithophile elements and high field strength elements. The specific fluids responsible for the formation of jadeitites are related to serpentinization by slab-derived fluids in subduction zones. This process is followed by dissolving high field strength elements in the subducting crust as the fluids continue to circulate into the subducting crusts and serpentinized peridotites. The fluids have variations in chemical compositions corresponding to various degrees of water–rock interactions.