Entrainment of bottom sediment in the Seto Inland Sea in summer

Time series of the vertical distribution of resuspended matter and bottom current were collected concurrently during summer at a few anchored stations in the Seto Inland Sea. The vertical distribution of resuspended matter was measured every hour for about one tidal cycle and the three components of current fluctuation were obtained at each sampling station. Current data at each sampling station show that the bottom is hydraulically smooth.Assuming that the averaged vertical distribution of resuspended matter for one tidal cycle shows a steady state distribution, the settling velocityWs of resuspended matter is estimated to be in the range of 1.2×10^–2 to 5.7×10^–2 cm sec^–1 from analysis of the averaged distributions.The relation between the erosion rate and the bottom shear stress for this study area is investigated and is compared with that for other areas. The results show that the erosion of sediment in the Seto Inland Sea during summer occurs even due to the low bottom shear stress which is considered as almost smooth hydraulically.     

Response of a two-layer ocean with a baroclinic current to a moving storm,part II

A circular storm moves with a constant speedc along a geostrophic flow similar to a western boundary current in the upper layer of a two-layer ocean with the motionless lower layer. The linear inertia terms are retained. Effects of the current becomes more conspicuous for smallerc and insignificant forc above 10 m s^–1. The inertia effects are manifested in cellular patterns of the interface perturbations with cell lengths of(c–vf ^–1 in a wake of the storm with a radius of an order of 100 km, wherev is the current velocity. On the left hand edge where the flow has a strong shear, the interface displacements have large amplitudes which increase with a distance along the path in a wake of the storm. These disturbances propagate to the left of the edge within an angle of cot^–1 (c ²/gH₀–1), whereg is the reduced gravity andH ₀ is the depth of the interface at the edge of the current. Comparison with the observations during Typhoon Trix in 1971 south of Japan suggests that fluctuations of the daily mean sea level with several days' periods observed along the southern coast of Japan may be due to the stationary oscillations of the Kuroshio caused by the inertia undulations along its left edge or due to the propagating perturbations to the left.     

Güttler scattering analogues for dust aggregates

We show that suitably defined Güttler (core-mantle) analogues can satisfactorily represent the optical cross-sections of aggregates of very small particles that result from mutual collisions and sticking. Earlier calculations using the discrete dipole approximation are seen to be in good agreement with Güttler analogue calculations, particularly in the case of the so-called Ballistic Particle-Cluster Aggregates (BPCA).     

Turbulent diffusion in a shearing oscillatory flow

The diffusion in a shearing oscillatory flow from an instantaneous surface point source is considered. An analytical solution is obtained by Fourier transform. The results show that, for three dimensional diffusion in an oscillatory flow with constant shear, the distribution of the contaminant follows the multivariate Gaussian distribution rule. When the frequency is very high, or the time very short, the shear does not influence the diffusion. For moderate values of time, there are fluctuations with longitudinal variance. For large values of time the longitudinal variance increases as t, and the peak concentration decreases as t^−1.5, which are faster than those in a flow without shear, but much slower than those in a steady flow, where the longitudinal variance increases as t³ and the peak concentration decreases as t^−2.5. The contaminant patch is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the shear flow and moves back and forth with the water motion. Contribution No. 1306 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica. Received July 12, 1985     

Upwelling plumes in sagami bay and adjacent water around the Izu Islands,Japan

Water plumes, 20 km long or less, identified by low temperature, high salinity and high nutrient concentrations, were observed on the eastern side of Izu Islands where the Kuroshio Current or its branch flowed eastward. The T-S diagrams and the vertical profiles of oceanographic variables indicated that the water plumes resulted from the upwelling of subsurface water. A newly formed plume, characterized by a sharp temperature front and high nutrient concentrations, contained less chlorophyll than did old plumes. It is suggested that the upwelling plumes are maintained for a period long enough to allow luxuriant growth of phytoplankton.     

Northwest Africa 1950: Mineralogy and comparison with Antarctic lherzolitic shergottites

Abstract— NWA 1950 is a new lherzolitic shergottite recently recovered from Morocco and is the first sample of this group found outside Antarctica. Major constituent phases of NWA 1950 are olivine, pyroxenes, and plagioclase glass (“maskelynite”) and the rock shows a two distinct textures: poikilitic and non‐poikilitic typical of lherzolitic shergottites. In poikilitic areas, several‐millimeter‐sized pyroxene oikocrysts enclose cumulus olivine and chromite. In contrast, pyroxenes are much smaller in non‐poikilitic areas, and olivine and plagioclase glass are more abundant. Olivine in non‐poikilitic areas is more Fe‐rich (Fa_29–31) and shows a narrower distribution than that in poikilitic areas (Fa_23–29). Pyroxenes in non‐poikilitic areas are also more Fe‐rich than those in poikilitic areas that show continuous chemical zoning suggesting fractional crystallization under a closed system. These observations indicate that pyroxene in non‐poikilitic areas crystallized from evolved interstitial melts and olivine was re‐equilibrated with such melts. NWA 1950 shows similar mineralogy and petrology to previously known lherzolitic shergottites (ALH 77005, LEW 88516, Y‐793605 and GRV 99027) that are considered to have originated from the same igneous body on Mars. Olivine composition of NWA 1950 is intermediate between those of ALH 77005‐GRV 99027 and those of LEW 88516‐Y‐793605, but is rather similar to ALH 77005 and GRV 99027. The subtle difference of mineral chemistry (especially, olivine composition) can be explained by different degrees of re‐equilibration compared to other lherzolitic shergottites, perhaps due to different location in the same igneous body. Thus, NWA 1950 experienced a high degree of re‐equilibration, similar to ALH 77005 and GRV 99027.     

Optical and X-Ray Observations of the Symbiotic System Ag Draconis During Quiescence and Outburst

We review the main characteristics of the symbiotic system AG Draconis, with special emphasis on its optical and X-ray variations. We also discuss the X-ray to visual energy distribution during quiescence and outburst and describe our spectroscopic and X-ray observations during the 2003 outburst. Based on X-ray observations collected with the XMM–Newton Observatory, on INES data from the IUE satellite, and on optical spectra collected with the Asiago–Cima Ekar, Bologna–Loiano and La Palma–Galileo Italian telescopes.