Latitudinal Differences in the Planktonic Biomass and Community Structure Down to the Greater Depths in the Western North Pacific

As part of the research program WEST-COSMIC Phase I (1997–2001), vertical profiles down to the greater depths (0–2000 m or 5800 m) of the plankton community structure composed of heterotrophic bacteria, phytoplankton, protozooplankton and metazooplankton were studied at one station in each subarctic (44°N) and in transitional region (39°N), and two stations in subtropical region (30°N and 25°N); all in 137–155°E in the western North Pacific Ocean. The biomass of all four taxonomic groups decreased rapidly with increasing depths at all stations, although the magnitude of depth-related decrease differed among the groups. As plankton community structure, metazooplankton biomass and bacterial biomass occupied >50% of the total in 0–2000 and 2000–4000 or 5000 m strata, respectively, at subarctic and transitional stations, while bacterial biomass contributed to >50% of the total consistently from 0 through 4800 or 5800 m at subtropical stations. Metazooplankton biomass integrated over the greater depths exhibited a clear latitudinal pattern (high north and low south), but this was not the case for those of the other taxonomic groups. As a component of metazooplankton, an appreciable contribution of diapausing copepods to the metazooplankton was noted at subarctic and transitional stations, but they were few or nil at subtropical stations. As protozooplankton assemblages, heterotrophic microflagellates (HMF) and dinoflagellates were two major components at subarctic and transitional stations, but were only HMF predominated at subtropical stations. From biomass ratios between heterotrophic bacteria, HMF and dinoflagellates, “sinking POC-DOC-heterotrophic bacteria-HMF-heterotrophic dinoflagellates” link was proposed as a microbial food chain operative in the deep layer of the western North Pacific. All results are discussed in the light of latitudinal differences in the structure and functioning of plankton community contributing to the ‘biological pump’ in the western North Pacific Ocean. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The study of metabolic activities of marine zooplankton,with particular emphasis on the relationship to body size

This paper reviews the author's research on metabolic activities of marine zooplankton for which the Okada Prize of the Oceanographical Society of Japan was awarded in 1978. The term metabolic activities used here refers to various physiological rate processes of zooplankton, such as respiration, excretion, feeding and growth.On the basis of experimental data obtained by the author and other workers, it is emphasized that all these rates are power functions of the body weight of zooplankton. In other words, the weight specific rates (rates per unit body weight) increase with a decrease in body weight. The habitat temperature of zooplankton can also affect the level of these rates.The relationship between these rates and body weight established experimentally can be applied to the estimation of the total rates of a zooplankton community in the field, by knowing the size distribution of individual zooplankters. The feasibility of this method was tested with the zooplankton community in the Kuroshio region.Finally, the potential importance of microzooplankton in total zooplankton respiration was suggested, based on respiration rate data recently obtained in the author's laboratory.     

Eddy Activities around the Nansei Shoto (Okinawa Islands) Revealed by TRMM

Sea surface temperature (SST) variation around the Nansei Shoto (Okinawa Islands), Japan from March 1998 to February 1999 is investigated using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) images. Root mean squared (RMS) error of SST by TMI from the in situ observed SST is 0.9°C. The results of statistical analysis of SST by TMI show that a 14–16 days period variation dominates around the main Okinawa Island, while a 9–11 days period variation dominates along the shelf edge of the East China Sea. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Tourmaline breakdown in a pelitic system: implications for boron cycling through subduction zones

Pressure–temperature conditions of tourmaline breakdown in a metapelite were determined by high-pressure experiments at 700–900°C and 4–6 GPa. These experiments produced an eclogite–facies assemblage of garnet, clinopyroxene, phengite, coesite, kyanite and rare rutile. The modal proportions of tourmaline clearly decreased between 4.5 and 5 GPa at 700°C, between 4 and 4.5 GPa at 800°C, and between 800 and 850°C at 4 GPa, with tourmaline that survived the higher temperature conditions appearing corroded and thus metastable. Decreases in the modal abundance of tourmaline are accompanied by decreasing modal abundance of coesite, and increasing that of clinopyroxene, garnet and kyanite; the boron content of phengite increases significantly. These changes suggest that, with increasing pressure and temperature, tourmaline reacts with coesite to produce clinopyroxene, garnet, kyanite, and boron-bearing phengite and fluid. Our results suggest that: (1) tourmaline breakdown occurs at lower pressures and temperatures in SiO₂-saturated systems than in SiO₂-undersaturated systems. (2) In even cold subduction zones, subducting sediments should release boron-rich fluids by tourmaline breakdown before reaching depths of 150 km, and (3) even after tourmaline breakdown, a significant amount of boron partitioned into phengite could be stored in deeply subducted sediments.     

Helium isotopes in the Izu Peninsula,Japan: Relation of magma and crustal activity

The relation of magma and crustal activity has been studied from spatial distribution of ³He/⁴He ratios of gas and/or water samples over the Izu Peninsula, where significant crustal deformation associated with seismic swarm activities has been observed since 1970s. The air-corrected values of ³He/⁴He ratios ranged from 3.5 to 8.2 R_A, where R_A is the atmospheric ³He/⁴He ratio = 1.4 × 10^? 6, indicating that helium is mostly of magmatic origin. Among the three pressure sources proposed to explain the crustal deformation, two inflation sources beneath the inland of northeast and the mid east coast of the Izu Peninsula locate in the broad distribution of high ³He/⁴He ratios, which supports relation of magma to the crustal uplift. In contrast, the distribution of ³He/⁴He ratios around the tensile fault assumed in the area of seismic swarms appears not to indicate existence of significant amount of magma below the tensile fault. Alternatively, the results suggest magma below a point several kilometers south of the tensile fault. The seismic swarms are explained either by fluid pressurization of thermal water heated by this magma or by intrusion of magma to the tensile fault moved obliquely from the deep magma reservoir.     

A preliminary analysis of the formation of travertine and travertine cones in the Jifei hot spring,Yunnan, China

The Jifei hot spring emerges in the form of a spring group in the Tibet–Yunnan geothermal zone, southwest of Yunnan Province, China. The temperatures of spring waters range from 35 to 81°C and are mainly of HCO₃–Na·Ca type. The total discharge of the hot spring is about 10 L/s. The spring is characterized by its huge travertine terrace with an area of about 4,000 m² and as many as 18 travertine cones of different sizes. The tallest travertine cone is as high as 7.1 m. The travertine formation and evolution can be divided into three periods: travertine terrace deposition period, travertine cone formation period and death period. The hydrochemical characteristics of the Jifei hot spring was analyzed and compared with a local non-travertine hot spring and six other famous travertine springs. The results indicate that the necessary hydrochemical conditions of travertine and travertine cones deposition in the Jifei area are (1) high concentration of HCO₃ ⁻ and CO₂; (2) about 52.9% deep source CO₂ with significantly high value; (3) very high milliequivalent percentage of HCO₃ ⁻ (97.4%) with not very high milliequivalent percentage of Ca²⁺ (24.4%); and (4) a large saturation index of calcite and aragonite of the hot water.     

Movement of radiocaesium fallout released by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident

The moment magnitude (M _w) 9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, generating an unusually large tsunami. The seismic shocks and tsunami inundation severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Radionuclide emission due to reactor breakdown contaminated wide areas of Fukushima and its surroundings. Heavy rainfall causes runoff across surface soil, and fine soil particles are susceptible to uptake by the flowing water. The high radioactivity of grains suspended in floodwater indicates that radioactive fallout was streamed into rivers in particulate form and transported downstream under high-flow conditions. Here, we investigated the diachronic mode of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs in central Fukushima, through which the contaminated air mass drifted and caused wet deposition of radionuclides. Stratigraphic measurements of radioactivity in sediment cores is the method employed in this study to determine the basin-wide movement of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs, to evaluate the significance of the erosion–transportation–accumulation processes on natural decontamination in terrain characterized by steep slopes and high precipitation. Stratigraphic results illustrate the process of fluvial sediment discharge, and the massive deposition of radiocaesium suggests basin-wide movement of fallout during concentrated rainfall. Grain suspension in torrential currents is an important pathway for transportation of radionuclides from land to sea, and the appearance of hotspots on floodplains and the offshore sea floor is the consequence of erosion and transportation under seasonal heavy precipitation. Radioactive horizons occur in offshore sediment columns and thus radiocaesium discharged from the estuary will persist forever under the sea floor if no artificial disturbance occurs.     

Metabolic activity of pelagic copepods from 5,000 to 7,000 m depth of the western subarctic Pacific,as inferred from electron transfer system (ETS) activity

This study demonstrates reduced electron transfer system (ETS) activity of mixed copepods collected from 5,000 to 7,000 m depths [3.21 ± 1.25 μl O₂ (mg protein)⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 10°C] as compared with mixed copepods from 0 to 200 m depths [5.93 ± 1.66 μl O₂ (mg protein)⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 10°C] of the western subarctic Pacific. At the in situ temperature of 1.5°C, the 5,000–7,000 m ETS data, in terms of wet mass (WM)-specific respiration rates (R), is equivalent to [0.052 ± 0.021 μl O₂ (mg WM)⁻¹ h⁻¹] which is similar to or greater than those reported for selected copepods or mixed mesozooplankton from <5,000 m depth by previous workers.     

Extinction curves expected in young galaxies

We investigate the extinction curves of young galaxies in which dust is supplied from Type II supernovae (SNe II) and/or pair instability supernovae (PISNe). We adopt Nozawa et al. (2003) for compositions and size distribution of grains formed in SNe II and PISNe. We find that the extinction curve is quite sensitive to internal metal mixing in supernovae (SNe). The extinction curves predicted from the mixed SNe are dominated by SiO₂ and are characterized by a steep rise from infrared to ultraviolet (UV). The dust from unmixed SNe shows a shallower extinction curve, because of the contribution from large-sized (∼0.1 μm) Si grains. However, the progenitor mass is important in unmixed SNe II: if the progenitor mass is smaller than  ∼20 M_⊙  , the extinction curve is flat in UV; otherwise, the extinction curve rises towards the short wavelength. The extinction curve observed in a high-redshift quasar  ( z = 6.2)  favours the dust production by unmixed SNe II. We also provide some useful observational quantities, so that our model might be compared with future high- z extinction curves.