Gonadal histology and serum vitellogenin levels of bigeye tuna Thunnus obesus from the Northern Pacific Ocean--absence of endocrine disruption bio-indicators

Endocrine disrupting chemicals such as organochlorines have been detected in a large number of marine fish. Histological observation of the gonads, measurement of serum vitellogenin (VTG) level and of liver polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) content were performed to evaluate the reproductive health and the contamination with endocrine disruptors in bigeye tuna Thunnus obesus, collected in the northern Pacific Ocean in 1999 and 2000. Abnormalities commonly found in species affected by endocrine disruptors such as the presence of oocytes in the testis or elevated serum VTG levels were not found in any of males examined. Both males and females had only small amounts of liver PCB content. The results suggest that currently there is little if any risk of organochlorine contamination or endocrine disruption of gonadal function in bigeye tuna from the northern Pacific Ocean. However, further studies are necessary to evaluate the health status of the open sea fishery resources.     

Wide-Field Camera for Gravitational Microlensing Survey: MOA-cam2

We have constructed a large, mosaic CCD camera called MOA-cam2 which has 4096 × 6144-pixelsto search for gravitational microlensing events. MOA-cam2 has three4096 × 2048-pixel SITe CCD chips, which have a very high quantum efficiency (nearly 80% in the wave region 500 to 800 nm),and three buttable sides. We have placed the threechips side by side with 100 m dead space. MOA-cam2 has been installed on the 61 cm Boller and Chivens telescope of the MOA collaboration at the Mt. John University Observatory (MJUO) in NewZealand since July 1998. The field coverage is 0.92° × 1.38° per exposure. The technical details of MOA-cam2 and the first images obtained with the Boller and Chivens telescope are presented. MOA-cam2 introduces a second phase of research on gravitational microlensing by the MOA collaboration.     

Effects of a kappa distribution function of electrons on incoherent scatter spectra

In usual incoherent scatter data analysis, the plasma distribution function is assumed to be Maxwellian. In space plasmas, however, distribution functions with a high energy tail which can be well modeled by a generalized Lorentzian distribution function with spectral index kappa (kappa distribution) have been observed. We have theoretically calculated incoherent scatter spectra for a plasma that consists of electrons with kappa distribution function and ions with Maxwellian neglecting the effects of the magnetic field and collisions. The ion line spectra have a double-humped shape similar to those from a Maxwellian plasma. The electron temperatures are underestimated, however, by up to 40% when interpreted assuming Maxwellian distribution. Ion temperatures and electron densities are affected little. Accordingly, actual electron temperatures might be underestimated when an energy input maintaining a high energy tail exists. We have also calculated plasma lines with the kappa distribution function. They are enhanced in total strength, and the peak frequencies appear to be slightly shifted to the transmitter frequency compared to the peak frequencies for a Maxwellian distribution. The damping rate depends on the electron temperature. For lower electron temperatures, plasma lines for electrons with a distribution function are more strongly damped than for a Maxwellian distribution. For higher electron temperatures, however, they have a relatively sharp peak.     

Age model, physical properties and paleoceanographic implications of the middle Pleistocene core sediments in the Choshi area, central Japan

Abstract   A continuous, well-preserved core was obtained from the Choshi area, on the Pacific side of Japan, to investigate paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic changes around the northwestern Pacific region during the middle Pleistocene. Siliciclastic sequences in the core are divided into five formations – the Obama, Yokone, Kurahashi and Toyosato Formations in the Inubo Group and the Katori Formation, in ascending order. Examination of calcareous nannofossils and magnetic polarities detected four datums in the core sediments of the Inubo Group: the top of Reticulofenestra asanoi , the base of Helicosphaera inversa , the top of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa and the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary. Fourteen marine isotope stages (MIS24–MIS11) were identified in the δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C records based on detected datums and the graphic correlation with the standard stack oxygen isotope curve. Magnetic susceptibility and gamma-ray attenuation porosity evaluator density were also measured and low values characterize the glacial intervals. Biogenic sedimentation by primary production may be larger during the glacial periods because of invasions of nutrient-rich northern surface-waters related to the southward shift of the Kuroshio front in the Choshi area.     

Additional evidence of existence of ancient rocks in the mid-Atlantic ridge and the age of the opening of the Atlantic

A metabasalt dredged at a junction of the median valley with the Atlantis fracture zone (30°01/tN, 42°04/tW) in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge shows complete recrystallization under a metasomatic condition, though the original igneous texture of a coarse-grained basalt is still recognizable. There is strong circumstantial evidence suggesting that this rock is not an ice-rafted erratic, but an authentic Mid-Atlantic Ridge rock. The ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age of this sample is 169 m.y. (Jurassic) which should represent the time of recrystallization. The initial value (^87Sr/86Sr)_O is 0.720, far above the values previously observed in oceanfloor basalts, including both tholeiitic and alkalic rocks (0.701–0.704). Sr with such a high isotopic ratio is considered to have been introduced by metasomatism during metamorphism by a solution coming from a continental mass or masses which were then located very close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The ⁴⁰Ar−³⁹Ar age of sample AM50 may approximate the time of the commencement of the opening of the Atlantic. All these data support the possible existence of ancient rock masses in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as was formerly claimed by Bonatti, Melson and others.     

VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV): The public ESO near-IR variability survey of the Milky Way

We describe the public ESO near-IR variability survey (VVV) scanning the Milky Way bulge and an adjacent section of the mid-plane where star formation activity is high. The survey will take 1929 h of observations with the 4-m VISTA telescope during 5 years (2010–2014), covering ～10⁹ point sources across an area of 520 deg², including 33 known globular clusters and ～350 open clusters. The final product will be a deep near-IR atlas in five passbands (0.9–2.5 μm) and a catalogue of more than 10⁶ variable point sources. Unlike single-epoch surveys that, in most cases, only produce 2-D maps, the VVV variable star survey will enable the construction of a 3-D map of the surveyed region using well-understood distance indicators such as RR Lyrae stars, and Cepheids. It will yield important information on the ages of the populations. The observations will be combined with data from MACHO, OGLE, EROS, VST, Spitzer, HST, Chandra, INTEGRAL, WISE, Fermi LAT, XMM-Newton, GAIA and ALMA for a complete understanding of the variable sources in the inner Milky Way. This public survey will provide data available to the whole community and therefore will enable further studies of the history of the Milky Way, its globular cluster evolution, and the population census of the Galactic Bulge and center, as well as the investigations of the star forming regions in the disk. The combined variable star catalogues will have important implications for theoretical investigations of pulsation properties of stars.     

Geochemical study of arsenic and other trace elements in groundwater and sediments of the Old Brahmaputra River Plain,Bangladesh

The geochemical study of groundwaters and core sediments from the Old Brahmaputra plain of Bangladesh was conducted to investigate the distribution of arsenic and related trace elements. Groundwaters from tube wells are characterized by pH of 6.4–7.4, dissolved oxygen (DO) of 0.8–1.8 mg/l, Ca contents of 5–50 mg/l, and Fe contents of 0.2–12.9 mg/l. Arsenic concentrations ranged from 8 to 251 μg/l, with an average value of 63 μg/l. A strong positive correlation exists between As and Fe (r ² = 0.802; p = 0.001) concentrations in groundwater. The stratigraphic sequences in the cores consist of yellowish silty clays at top, passing downward into grayish to yellowish clays and sands. The uppermost 3 m and lower parts (from 13 to 31 m) of the core sediments are oxidized (average oxidation reduction potential (ORP) +170 and +220 mV, respectively), and the ORP values gradually become negative from 3 to 13 m depths (−35 to −180 mV), indicating that anoxic conditions prevail in the shallow aquifers of the Brahmaputra plain. Age determinations suggest that clay horizons at ~10 m depth were deposited at around 2,000 and 5,000 years BP (¹⁴C ages) during the transgressive phase of sea-level change. Elevated concentrations of As, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and V are present in the silts and clays, probably due to adsorption onto clay particles. Significant concentrations of As occur in black peat and peaty sediments at depths between 9 and 13 m. A strong positive correlation between As and Fe was found in the sediments, indicating As may be adsorbed onto Fe oxides in aquifer sediments.     

Sedimentary evolution of the Holocene subaqueous clinoform off the southern Shandong Peninsula in the Western South Yellow Sea

Based on the stratigraphic sequence formed since the last glaciation and revealed by 3000 km long high-resolution shallow seismic profiles and the core QDZ03 acquired recently off the southern Shandong Peninsula, we addressed the sedimentary characteristics of a Holocene subaqueous clinoform in this paper. Integrated analyses were made on the core QDZ03, including sedimentary facies, sediment grain sizes, clay minerals, geochemistry, micro paleontology, and AMS 14 C dating. The result indicates that there exists a Holocene subaqueous clinoform, whose bottom boundary generally lies at 15–40 m below the present sea level with its depth contours roughly parallel to the coast and getting deeper seawards. The maximum thickness of the clinoform is up to 22.5 m on the coast side, and the thickness contours generally spread in a banded way along the coastline and becomes thinner towards the sea. At the mouths of some bays along the coast, the clinoform stretches in the shape of a fan and its thickness is evidently larger than that of the surrounding sediments. This clinoform came into being in the early Holocene(about 11.2 cal kyr BP) and can be divided into the lower and upper depositional units(DU 2 and DU 1, respectively). The unit DU 2, being usually less than 3 m in thickness and formed under a low sedimentation rate, is located between the bottom boundary and the Holocene maximum flooding surface(MFS), and represents the sediment of a post-glacial transgressive systems tract; whereas the unit DU 1, the main body of the clinoform, sits on the MFS, belonging to the sediment of a highstand systems tract from middle Holocene(about 7–6 cal kyr BP) to the present. The provenance of the clinoform differs from that of the typical sediments of the Yellow River and can be considered as the results of the joint contribution from both the Yellow River and the proximal coastal sediments of the Shandong Peninsula, as evidenced by the sediment geochemistry of the core. As is controlled mainly by coactions of multiple factors such as the Holocene sea-level changes, sediment supplies and coastal dynamic conditions, the development of the clinoform is genetically related with the synchronous clinoform or subaqueous deltas around the northeastern Shandong Peninsula and in the northern South Yellow Sea in the spatial distribution and sediment provenance, as previously reported, with all of them being formed from the initial stage of the Holocene up to the present.     

Relations between load and settlement of circular foundations on or in a dense sand expressed by a function of diameter and depth

When load acts on a circular foundation on or in a dense sand, average contact pressure on the lower surface of the foundation is q and settlement of the foundation is s. Diameter and depth of the foundation are B and D_f. When the sand, B and D_f are given, we can know the relation between q and s/B by, e.g. a loading test, i.e. the relation is determined by B and D_f for the sand. Using the results of numerical analyses, we express a relation between q and s/B up to s=0.1B by functions of a single variable which is a linear combination of B and D_f. Consequently when two foundations have different B's and different D_f's but have the same value of the variable, the relations are the same. Then we examine whether the functions can express the results of eleven tests of model foundations of wide range of B and/or D_f. In all the tests, the relations are expressed with sufficient accuracy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.