Generation mechanisms of tidal residual circulation

Two new types of mechanism for the generation of tidal residual flow are revealed with the use of a hydraulic model experiment. A remarkable anticlockwise tidal residual circulation is formed in a model bay due to the presence of a tidal current, the Coriolis force and a horizontal boundary. A similar circulation is also formed due to the presence of a bottom slope, a horizontal boundary and a tidal current which flows normal to the inclination of the bottom slope. The residual circulation in the Sea of Iyo in the Seto Inland Sea is considered to be due to a combination of the effects of the Coriolis force, a bottom slope, a horizontal boundary and the tidal current. We classified some of the generation mechanisms of tidal residual flow which have been described to date into seven types on the basis of vorticity considerations.     

Baroclinic eddies south of Cheju Island in the East China Sea

The detailed structures of baroclinic eddies, that is, an anticlockwise circulation in the upper layer and a clockwise one in the lower layer south of Cheju Island in the East China Sea have been revealed by intensive field observation. Such baroclinic eddies are accompanied by the southward spreading of the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water.     

A numerical experiment on the sedimentation processes in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

Sedimentation processes of suspended matter supplied from the Huanghe (Yellow River) and the Changjiang are investigated with the use of a three-dimensional numerical model of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea which includes the tidal current, residual flow and wind waves. Suspended matter supplied from the Huanghe mainly deposits in the Bohai Sea and that from the old river mouth of the Huanghe and from the Changjiang in the central part of the Yellow Sea or south of Cheju Island. The calculated results well reproduce the observed sedimentation pattern qualitatively except for the offshore area of the southeastern coast of China.     

The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel,Japan —Periodic intrusion of oceanic warm water

Kyucho is a sudden and swift current which is usually accompanied by rise of water temperature. Several features of the Kyucho in the Bungo Channel, Japan, are presented through field observations. The Kyucho in the Bungo Channel is an intrusion of warm water from the Pacific Ocean into the eastern half of the Bungo Channel, being driven gravitationally and advancing along the eastern coast of the channel. The Kyucho occurs usually in summer and seldom occurs in winter. It occurs at neap tides showing the prominent spring-neap periodicity. The modulation of the vertical mixing intensity associated with the variations of tidal current, wind and surface heating etc. is supposed to be a main cause of springneap and seasonal periodicities.     

Variation in the thermohaline front at the mouth of Tokyo Bay

The generation, variation, and disappearance of the thermohaline front at the mouth of Tokyo Bay were investigated using water temperature data obtained by a commercial ferry boat in 1987. The thermohaline front was generated south of Kan-non-zaki in mid November 1987 after the beginning of sea-surface cooling. It moved northward to Kan-non-zaki until the end of the year. The thermohaline front was most intense in February and March and disappeared in late March 1987 when sea-surface warming began.     

Pixel-based and object-based classifications using high- and medium-spatial-resolution imageries in the urban and suburban landscapes

With the increasing availability of high-spatial-resolution remote sensing imageries and with the observed limitations of pixel-based techniques, the development and testing of geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) techniques for image classification have become one of the main research areas in geospatial science. This paper examines and compares the classification performance of a pixel-based method and an object-based method as applied to high- (QuickBird satellite image) and medium- (Landsat TM image) spatial-resolution imageries in the context of urban and suburban landscapes. For the pixel-based classification, the maximum-likelihood supervised classification approach was employed. And for the object-based classification, the pixel-based classified maps were integrated with a set of image segments produced using various calibrations. The results show evidence that the object-based method can produce classifications that are more accurate for both high- and medium-spatial- resolution imageries in the context of urban and suburban landscapes.     

Analysis of satellite and model datasets for variability and trends in Arctic snow extent and depth, 1948–2006

This study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal trends in snow depth (SD) and snow cover extent (SCE) for Arctic lands, excluding Greenland, for the period 1948–2006. The investigation not only delineates how the Arctic regions are manifesting significant annual trends in both SD and SCE, but also provides a comprehensive understanding of their historical context. To achieve these objectives, the combined resources of the hydrological and biogeochemical model (CHANGE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weekly SCE data, and in situ observations of SD were used. Most regions in the Arctic exhibited a significant negative trend in SD over the 59 years of study. The magnitude of the negative trend was stronger in North America than in Eurasia, where the decrease became more significant, starting from the late 1980s, coinciding well with the temperature rise during that time. During the same period, the warming temperature caused a prominent decrease in deeper SDs (i.e., >35 cm), so that the corresponding SCEs exhibited negative anomalies, with the greatest declines being observed at SDs > 55 cm. In contrast, the SCEs for SD ≤ 35 cm showed increased anomalies during the most recent two decades. The increased anomalies signify a sequential result induced by the decrease in the SCEs with deeper SDs, rather than the expansion of snow to snow-free regions. These changes resulted in a northward shift of the shallow SD line, which took place to a highly significant degree in North America. These results suggest that the Arctic SCE and SD will undergo more intense changes in response to the future climate warming.     

Phase transformations in the earth's mantle and subducting slabs: Implications for their compositions, seismic velocity and density structures and dynamics

Abstract Phase transformations in model mantle compositions and those in subducting slabs have been reviewed to a depth of 800 km on the basis of recent high-pressure experimental data. Seismic velocity and density profiles in these compositions have also been calculated using these and other mineral physics data. The nature of the seismic velocity and density profiles calculated for a pyrolite composition was found to generally agree with those determined by seismic observations (e.g. PREM). The locations of the seismic discontinuities at 400 and 670 km correspond almost exactly to the depths where the transformations of the olivine component to denser phases take place. Moreover, the steep gradients in the seismic velocity/density profiles observed between these depths are qualitatively consistent with those expected from the successive transformations in the complementary pyroxene-garnet component in the pyrolite composition. Further, the calculated seismic velocity and density values agree well with those observed in the upper mantle and mantle transition region within the uncertainties attached to these calculations and observations. Pyrolite or peridotite compositions are thus most likely to represent the composition of the mantle above 670 km depth, although some degrees of chemical heterogeneity may exist in the transition region. The observed sharp discontinuous increases of seismic velocities and density at this depth may be attributed either to the phase transformation to a perovskite-bearing assemblage in pyrolite or to chemical composition changes. Density profiles in subducted slabs have been calculated along adequate geotherms assuming that the slabs are composed of the former oceanic crust underlain by a thicker harzburgitic layer. It is shown that the former oceanic crust is substantially less dense than the surrounding pyrolite mantle at depths below 670 km, while it is denser than pyrolite in the upper mantle and the transition region. The subducted former oceanic crust may be trapped in this region, forming a geochemically enriched layer at the upper mantle-lower mantle boundary. Thick and cool slabs may penetrate into the lower mantle, but the chemically derived buoyancy may result in strong deformation and formation of megalith structures around the 670 km seismic discontinuity. These structures are consistent with those detected by recent seismic tomography studies for subduction zones.