Statistics of Wind and Waves off Tsuyazaki, Fukuoka, in the Eastern Tsushima Strait

The variability of the sea surface wind and wind waves in the coastal area of the Eastern Tsushima Strait was investigated based on the hourly data from 1990 to 1997 obtained at a station 2 km off Tsuyazaki, Fukuoka. The annual mean wind speed was 4.84 m s⁻¹, with strong northwesterly monsoon in winter and weak southwesterly wind in summer. Significant wave heights and wave periods showed similar sinusoidal seasonal cycles around their annual means of 0.608 m and 4.77 s, respectively. The seasonal variability relative to the annual mean is maximum for wave heights, medium for wind speeds, and minimum for wave periods. Significant wave heights off Tsuyazaki turned out to be bounded by a criterion, which is proportional to the square of the significant wave period corresponding to a constant steepness, irrespective of the season or the wind speed. For terms shorter than a month, the significant wave height and the wave period were found to have the same spectral form as the inshore wind velocity: white for frequencies less than 0.2 day⁻¹ and proportional to the frequency to the −5/3 power for higher frequencies, where the latter corresponds to the inertial subrange of turbulence. The spectral levels of wave heights and wave periods in that inertial range were also correlated with those of the inshore wind velocity, though the scatter was large. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pacific ocean circulation based on observation

A thorough understanding of the Pacific Ocean circulation is a necessity to solve global climate and environmental problems. Here we present a new picture of the circulation by integrating observational results. Lower and Upper Circumpolar Deep Waters (LCDW, UCDW) and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) of 12, 7, and 5 Sv (10⁶ m³s⁻¹) in the lower and upper deep layers and the surface/intermediate layer, respectively, are transported to the North Pacific from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). The flow of LCDW separates in the Central Pacific Basin into the western (4 Sv) and eastern (8 Sv) branches, and nearly half of the latter branch is further separated to flow eastward south of the Hawaiian Ridge into the Northeast Pacific Basin (NEPB). A large portion of LCDW on this southern route (4 Sv) upwells in the southern and mid-latitude eastern regions of the NEPB. The remaining eastern branch joins nearly half of the western branch; the confluence flows northward and enters the NEPB along the Aleutian Trench. Most of the LCDW on this northern route (5 Sv) upwells to the upper deep layer in the northern (in particular northeastern) region of the NEPB and is transformed into North Pacific Deep Water (NPDW). NPDW shifts southward in the upper deep layer and is modified by mixing with UCDW around the Hawaiian Islands. The modified NPDW of 13 Sv returns to the ACC. The remaining volume in the North Pacific (11 Sv) flows out to the Indian and Arctic Oceans in the surface/intermediate layer.     

Water masses and currents of deep circulation southwest of the Shatsky Rise in the western North Pacific

We conducted full-depth hydrographic observations in the southwestern region of the Northwest Pacific Basin in September 2004 and November 2005. Deep-circulation currents crossed the observation line between the East Mariana Ridge and the Shatsky Rise, carrying Lower Circumpolar Deep Water westward in the lower deep layer (θ<1.2 °C) and Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) and North Pacific Deep Water (NPDW) eastward in the upper deep layer (1.3–2.2 °C). In the lower deep layer at depths greater than approximately 3500 m, the eastern branch current of the deep circulation was located south of the Shatsky Rise at 30°24′–30°59′N with volume transport of 3.9 Sv (1 Sv=10⁶ m³ s⁻¹) in 2004 and at 30°06′–31°15′N with 1.6 Sv in 2005. The western branch current of the deep circulation was located north of the Ogasawara Plateau at 26°27′–27°03′N with almost 2.1 Sv in 2004 and at 26°27′–26°45′N with 2.7 Sv in 2005. Integrating past and present results, volume transport southwest of the Shatsky Rise is concluded to be a little less than 4 Sv for the eastern branch current and a little more than 2 Sv for the western branch current. In the upper deep layer at depths of approximately 2000–3500 m, UCDW and NPDW, characterized by high and low dissolved oxygen, respectively, were carried eastward at the observation line by the return flow of the deep circulation composing meridional overturning circulation. UCDW was confined between the East Mariana Ridge and the Ogasawara Plateau (22°03′–25°33′N) in 2004, whereas it extended to 26°45′N north of the Ogasawara Plateau in 2005. NPDW existed over the foot and slope of the Shatsky Rise from 29°48′N in 2004 and 30°06′N in 2005 to at least 32°30′N at the top of the Shatsky Rise. Volume transport of UCDW was estimated to be 4.6 Sv in 2004, whereas that of NPDW was 1.4 Sv in 2004 and 2.6 Sv in 2005, although the values for NPDW may be slightly underestimated, because they do not include the component north of the top of the Shatsky Rise. Volume transport of UCDW and NPDW southwest of the Shatsky Rise is concluded to be approximately 5 and 3 Sv, respectively. The pathways of UCDW and NPDW are new findings and suggest a correction for the past view of the deep circulation in the Pacific Ocean.     

Gravelly spit deposits in a transgressive systems tract: the Pleistocene Higashikanbe Gravel, central Japan

The Pleistocene Higashikanbe Gravel, which crops out along the Pacific coast of the Atsumi Peninsula, central Japan, consists of well‐sorted, pebble‐ to cobble‐size gravel beds with minor sand beds. The gravel includes large‐scale foreset beds (5–10 m high) and overlying subhorizontal beds (0·5–3 m thick), showing foreset and topset structure, from which the gravel has previously been interpreted as deposits of a Gilbert‐type delta. However, (1) the gravel beds lack evidence of fluvial activity, such as channels in the subhorizontal beds; (2) the foresets incline palaeolandwards; (3) the gravels fill a fluvially incised valley; and (4) the gravels overlie low‐energy deposits of a restricted environment, such as a bay or an estuary. The foresets generally dip towards the inferred palaeoshoreline, indicating landward accretion of gravel. Reconstruction of the palaeogeography of the peninsula indicates that the Higashikanbe Gravel was deposited as a spit similar to that developed at the western tip of the present Atsumi Peninsula, rather than as a delta. According to the new interpretation, the large‐scale foreset beds are deposits on the slopes of spit platforms and accreted in part to the sides of small islets that are fragments of the submerging spit during relative sea‐level rise. The subhorizontal beds include nearshore deposits on the spit platform topsets and deposits of gravel shoals or bars, which are reworked sediments of the spit beach gravels during a transgression. The lack of spit beach facies in the subhorizontal beds results from truncation by shoreface erosion. Dome structure, which is a cross‐sectional profile of a recurved gravel spit at its extreme point, and sandy tidal channel deposits deposited between the small islets were also identified in the Higashikanbe Gravel. The Higashikanbe Gravel fills a fluvially incised valley and occupies a significant part of a transgressive systems tract, suggesting that gravelly spits are likely to be well developed during transgressions. The large‐scale foreset beds and subhorizontal beds of gravelly spits in transgressive systems tracts contrast with the foreset and topset beds of deltas, characteristic of highstand, lowstand and shelf‐margin systems tracts.     

Late Precambrian and Early Cambrian in the East European platform

Carbon suboxide polymers reacted with hydroxylamine and ammonia under UV irradiation in aqueous medium to form amino acids such as glycine, alanine, serine, threonine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid. This finding suggests that carbon suboxide is a new candidate as starting material for the synthesis of biomolecules on the primitive earth.     

Hinode Flare Catalogue

We describe a catalogue of solar flares observed by the three instruments (SOT, XRT, EIS) onboard the Hinode satellite. From the launch of the Hinode satellite in September 2006 until late 2011, about 5000 solar flares (larger than A-class in the GOES classification) occurred during the five-year period of Hinode observations, and more than half of them were captured by the Hinode telescopes. Observation information for RHESSI and Nobeyama Radioheliograph are also included in the catalogue. This catalogue is distributed to users through the Internet. It will be useful and helpful for scientists in surveying flares to be analyzed, facilitate access to Hinode data, and help advance data analysis activities among the world solar community.     

Effects of excitation frequency on detection accuracy of orthogonal wavelet decomposition for structural health monitoring

Accurate estimation of stiffness loss is a challenging problem in structural health monitoring. In this study orthogonal wavelet decomposition is used for identifying the stiffness loss in a single degree of freedom spring-mass-damper system. The effects of excitation frequency on accuracy of damage detection is investigated. Results show that pseudo-alias effects caused by the orthogonal wavelet decomposition (OWD), affect damage detectability. It is demonstrated that theproposed approach is sunable for damage detection when the excitation frequency is relatively low. This study shows how a priori knowledge about the signal and ability to control the sampling frequency can enhance damage detectability.