Wind Fields over Funka Bay and Their Effect on Water Circulation in the Bay

Horizontal wind fields over Funka Bay during cold air outbreaks were simulated using a 3-D meso-scale atmospheric model. The simulated wind fields over the bay have a positive curl in the north and a negative curl in the south. These wind fields were used to simulate the current in Funka Bay using a barotropic ocean model. The simulated current pattern was composed of two vortices—one with anti-clockwise vorticity in the north and the other with clockwise vorticity in the south—and was in the opposite direction to that simulated by the uniform wind fields. This is because the wind stress curl effect on the vorticity production in Funka Bay opposes and overwhelms the bathymetry torque effect during cold air outbreaks. These results show that the non-uniformity of the wind fields caused by the land topography around a shallow lake or bay cannot be neglected in simulating its currents.     

Late Miocene Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems in the Jozankei-Zenibako District, Southwest Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract: Hydrothermal systems related to magmatic intrusions in the Jozankei-Zenibako district, southwest Hokkaido are examined, based on field observations, K-Ar ages, and alteration mineral assemblages. The study reveals five major magmat–ic–hydrothermal systems of Late Miocene in age, comprising Ogawa (9. 7 Ma), Jozankei (9. 5–9. 0 Ma), Otarunaigawa (8. 7 Ma), Asarigawa (8. 8 and 6. 7 Ma) and Hariusu (6. 7 Ma). The Ogawa system is related to granodiorite, and the Jozankei, Otarunaigawa and Asarigawa systems are related to quartz porphyry.
The Ogawa system includes potassic, sericitic, propylitic and advanced argillic alteration as well as base-metal mineralization, represented by the Toyotomi deposit. The Jozankei and Otarunaigawa systems lack significant potassic alteration, and are accompanied by sericitic and propylitic alteration. The Otarunaigawa system is associated with base-metal mineralization at Toyohiro and Inatoyo. The Asarigawa and Hariusu systems include advanced argillic and argillic alteration, as well as iron sulfide deposits. The presence of potassic alteration only in the Ogawa system is ascribed to deeper emplacement (˜3 km from the surface) of the intrusive magma. These systems formed in terrestrial environments that existed from ca. 11 Ma to 8. 5 Ma and after 7. 5 Ma in the district.
Age–data compilation shows that the major advanced argillic alteration events in southwest Hokkaido, including those in the Jozankei-Zenibako district, formed during the periods from 9. 7–6. 5 Ma and 3. 5–1. 5 Ma. These periods correspond to the timing of normal subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Northeast Japan arc. Normal, in contrast to oblique, plate subduction is characterized by andesitic, polygenetic volcanism and associated advanced argillic alteration.     

侵蚀沉积模型在嘉陵江流域的应用

从20世纪50年代到80年代长江宜昌水文站观测的泥沙输送量逐年增加,但是到了90年代却出现了逐渐减少的趋势。泥沙量增加的原因主要是乱伐森林和土地利用方式的快速改变,而减少的原因则可能是采取了一系列防止水土流失的对策和在上游修建了许多大坝而造成的。嘉陵江流域是长江泥沙的主要源区之一,90年代每年从嘉陵江流域到长江的输沙量减少到1988年前的约36%。因此,分析该流域每年泥沙输送动态及其变化原因,对制定减小水土流失的森林规划,防止三峡水库的淤积以及保护长江流域的生存环境和生态系统等具有重大意义。本研究开发并改进了一个流域集水坡面上的侵蚀模型,并将它应用到1987年的嘉陵江流域,以对其适用性进行了研究。结果表明,该模式可被用于月度泥沙生产量的评估中。     

Geochemical study on the formation of carbonate sediment

It is indeed my great honor to receive the Oceanographical Society of Japan Prize (1986) for my geochemical study on the formation of carbonate sediment. The present article reviews my work on crystal form and minor element distribution in marine biogenic carbonates, which is an important part of my study on the above title. The contents of this article are: (1) outline of my research work, (2) aim of geochemical study on carbonate sediment, (3) basic knowledge for crystal form and minor element distribution in carbonates, (4) influence of chemical constituents dissolved in a parent solution on the polymorphic crystallization of calcium carbonate, (5) crystal form and type of marine biogenic carbonates, (6) synthesis of magnegian calcite in aqueous solution, (7) distribution of minor elements between solution and calcium carbonate precipitate, (8) amount of biogenic carbonate deposition annually in the ocean and (9) role of biogenic carbonate accumulating on the sea floor in the geochemical balance of chemical elements.     

Winter Oceanographic Conditions in the Southwestern Part of the Okhotsk Sea and Their Relation to Sea Ice

In the southwestern part of the Okhotsk Sea, oceanographic and sea-ice observations on board the icebreaker Soya were carried out in February 1997. A mixed layer of uniform temperature nearly at the freezing point extending down to a depth of about 300 m was observed. This is much deeper than has previously been reported. It is suggested that this deep mixed layer originated from the north (off East Sakhalin), being advected along the shelf slope via the East Sakhalin Current, accompanied with the thick first-year ice (average thickness 0.6 m). This vertically uniform winter water, through mixing with the surrounding water, makes the surface water more saline (losing a characteristic of East Sakhalin Current Water) and the water in the 100–300 m depth zone less saline, colder, and richer in oxygen (a characteristic of the intermediate Okhotsk Sea water). The oceanographic structure and a heat budget analysis suggest that new ice zone, which often appears at ice edges, can be formed through preconditioning of thick ice advection and subsequent cooling by the latent heat release due to its melting. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

NEW TRENDS IN THE NUMERICAL STUDY OF COASTAL SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES

1 INTRODUCTION The conventional method for numerical study of coastal sedimentary processes has been based on the solution of a phase-averaged wave equation, the steady nearshore current equations, the continuity equation for sediment, and an empirical net sediment transport equation. This strategy has advantages in meso-scale problems but it loses accuracy in the vicinity of a structure, where local scour usually occurs. To have a good representation of both meso-scale sediment transport …     

Monitoring and simulation of water, heat, and CO2 fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems based on the APEIS-FLUX system

The Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM) project, part of the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy (APEIS) project, developed an integrated environmental monitoring system that can be used to detect, monitor, and assess environmental disasters, degradation, and their impacts in the Asia-Pacific region. The system primarily employs data from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on the Earth Observation System- (EOS-) Terra/Aqua satellite, as well as those from ground observations at five sites in different ecological systems in China. From the preliminary data analysis on both annual and daily variations of water, heat and CO2 fluxes, we can confirm that this system basically has been working well. The results show that both latent flux and CO2 flux are much greater in the crop field than those in the grassland and the saline desert, whereas the sensible heat flux shows the opposite trend. Different data products from MODIS have very different correspondence, e.g. MODIS-derived land surface temperature has a close correlation with measured ones, but LAI and NPP are quite different from ground measurements, which suggests that the algorithms used to process MODIS data need to be revised by using the local dataset. We are now using the APEIS-FLUX data to develop an integrated model, which can simulate the regional water, heat, and carbon fluxes. Finally, we are expected to use this model to develop more precise high-order MODIS products in Asia-Pacific region.     

气候变化对太行山土壤水分及植被的影响

在太行山低山区将自然植被移入蒸渗仪,观察当降水分别为常年平均降水量的80%、90%、100%、110%和120%等5种处理条件下,植被生产力和土壤的不同反映。研究发现:受验植被对降水反映敏感,降水每增加10%,植被生产力增加15%左右,预示未来全球变化导致的降水变化会对太行山低山区植被产生影响。同时在利用野外实验结果对WAVES模型进行验证的基础上,模拟了不同温度和降水变化情景下,土壤水分的可能变化趋势。结果表明:增温和减少降水对土壤水分负作用明显,尽管降水增加可改善土壤的水分供应状况,但降水增加10%对土壤水分的正面影响,大体被3 oC的增温抵消。由于模型模拟中采用的是与目前没有改变降水条件的实验相同的植被(LAI),而植被生长在太行山这一半湿润、半干旱地区又受土壤水分控制,因而估计未来气候变化情景下的植被变化与土壤水分的变化趋势相似。