Attenuation behaviour of tuffaceous sandstone and granite during microfracturing

Laboratory measurements of ultrasonic wave propagation in tuffaceous sandstone (Kimachi, Japan) and granite (Iidate, Japan) were performed during increasing fracturing of the samples. The fracturing was achieved by unconfined uniaxial compression up to and beyond the point of macrofracture of the specimen using a constant low strain rate. The observed variation of wave velocity (up to 40 per cent) due to the development of micro- and macrofractures in the rock is interpreted by rock models relating velocity changes to damage and crack density. The calculated density of the newly formed cracks reaches higher values for the sandstone than for the granite. Using the estimated crack densities, the attenuation behaviour is interpreted in terms of different attenuation mechanisms; that is, friction and scattering. Rayleigh scattering as described by the model of Hudson (1981 ) may explain the attenuation qualitatively if the largest plausible crack dimensions are assumed in modelling.     

Heat transport variation due to change of North Pacific subtropical gyre interior flow during 1993–2012

Applying segment-wise altimetry-based gravest empirical mode method to expendable bathythermograph temperature, Argo salinity, and altimetric sea surface height data in March, June, and November from San Francisco to near Japan (30^° N, 145^° E) via Honolulu, we estimated the component of the heat transport variation caused by change in the southward interior geostrophic flow of the North Pacific subtropical gyre in the top 700 m layer during 1993–2012. The volume transport-weighted temperature (T_I) is strongly dependent on the season. The anomaly of T_I from the mean seasonal variation, whose standard deviation is 0.14^°C, was revealed to be caused mainly by change in the volume transport in a potential density layer of 25.0?25.5σ_??. The anomaly of T_I was observed to vary on a decadal or shorter, i.e., quasi-decadal (QD), timescale. The QD-scale variation of T_I had peaks in 1998 and 2007, equivalent to the reduction in the net heat transport by 6 and 10 TW, respectively, approximately 1 year before those of sea surface temperature (SST) in the warm pool region, east of the Philippines. This suggests that variation in T_I affects the warm pool SST through modification of the heat balance owing to the entrainment of southward transported water into the mixed layer.     

Mesoscale Eddies Observed by TOLEX-ADCP and TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimeter in the Kuroshio Recirculation Region South of Japan

Mesoscale eddies in the Kuroshio recirculation region south of Japan have been investigated by using surface current data measured by an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) installed on a regular ferry shuttling between Tokyo and Chichijima, Bonin Islands, and sea surface height anomaly derived from the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter. Many cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies were observed in the region. Spatial and temporal scales of the eddies were determined by lag-correlation analyses in space and time. The eddies are circular in shape with a diameter of 500 km and a temporal scale of 80 days. Typical maximum surface velocity and sea surface height anomaly associated with the eddies are 15–20 cm s^–1 and 15 cm, respectively. The frequency of occurrence, temporal and spatial scales, and intensity are all nearly the same for the cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, which are considered to be successive wave-like disturbances rather than solitary eddies. Phase speed of westward propagation of the eddies is estimated as 6.8 cm s^–1, which is faster than a theoretical estimate based on the baroclinic first-mode Rossby wave with or without a mean current. The spatial distribution of sea surface height variations suggests that these eddies may be generated in the Kuroshio Extension region and propagate westward in the Kuroshio recirculation region, though further studies are needed to clarify the generation processes.     

Observational Study on the Downward Solar Radiation at the Sea Surface in the Western Pacific

In situ observation of downward solar radiation in the Western Pacific were carried out with voluntary merchant ships for five years from autumn 1990 through autumn 1995. Daily means of the short wave radiation were computed from the observed solar radiation. Then, the effects of shadows of the ship's superstructures on the observed radiation were corrected if needed. A 5-year average of short wave radiation along the main sea-lanes in the Western Pacific was calculated based on the observed daily mean solar radiation. Maximum values of 270–280 Wm^–2 are found around 15°–20°N in May and June, while those of 290 Wm^–2 are observed south of 18°S in November and December along the lanes. Small annual variations are found in the equatorial region. Annual mean values at the equator are about 230 Wm^–2 between New Guinea and Indonesia, and 200 Wm^–2 east of New Guinea. The 5-year average of short wave radiation was compared with the climatologies given in previous studies. We have concluded that some of results of previous studies are significantly underestimated.     

Influence of Mesoscale Eddies on Variations of the Kuroshio Path South of Japan

The influences of mesoscale eddies on variations of the Kuroshio path south of Japan have been investigated using time series of the Kuroshio axis location and altimeter-derived sea surface height maps for a period of seven years from 1993 to 1999, when the Kuroshio followed its non-large meander path. It was found that both the cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies may interact with the Kuroshio and trigger short-term meanders of the Kuroshio path, although not all eddies that approached or collided with the Kuroshio formed meanders. An anticyclonic eddy that revolves clockwise in a region south of Shikoku and Cape Shionomisaki with a period of about 5–6 months was found to propagate westward along about 30°N and collide with the Kuroshio in the east of Kyushu or south of Shikoku. This collision sometimes triggers meanders which propagate over the whole region south of Japan. The eddy was advected downstream, generating a meander on the downstream side to the east of Cape Shionomisaki. After the eddy passed Cape Shionomisaki, it detached from the Kuroshio and started to move westward again. Sometimes the eddy merges with other anticyclonic eddies traveling from the east. Coalescence of cyclonic eddies, which are also generated in the Kuroshio Extension region and propagate westward in the Kuroshio recirculation region south of Japan, into the Kuroshio in the east of Kyushu, also triggers meanders which mainly propagate only in a region west of Cape Shionomisaki. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Collapse and fragmentation of rotating magnetized clouds – I. Magnetic flux–spin relation

We discuss the evolution of the magnetic flux density and angular velocity in a molecular cloud core, on the basis of three-dimensional numerical simulations, in which a rotating magnetized cloud fragments and collapses to form a very dense optically thick core of  >5 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻³  . As the density increases towards the formation of the optically thick core, the magnetic flux density and angular velocity converge towards a single relationship between the two quantities. If the core is magnetically dominated its magnetic flux density approaches  1.5( n /5 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻³)^1/2 mG  , while if the core is rotationally dominated the angular velocity approaches  2.57 × 10⁻³ ( n /5 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻³)^1/2 yr⁻¹  , where n is the density of the gas. We also find that the ratio of the angular velocity to the magnetic flux density remains nearly constant until the density exceeds  5 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻³  . Fragmentation of the very dense core and emergence of outflows from fragments will be shown in the subsequent paper.     

Impact of quasi-decadal variability in the tropical Pacific on ENSO modulations

The impact of quasi-decadal (QD: 8 to 18 years) variability in the tropical Pacific on ENSO events is investigated. It is found that there is a significant difference in the behavior of ENSO events between the phases of positive and negative anomalies of the QD Niño-3.4 index. During the period of negative QD-scale Niño-3.4 index, ENSO events, especially La Niña events, occur more frequently, and larger amplitudes of thermal anomalies related to El Niño events appear over the central to eastern equatorial Pacific. Furthermore, propagations of upper ocean heat content anomaly and a phase relationship between upper ocean heat content and Niño-3 index in the equatorial Pacific, which have been pointed out by previous studies, are clearly detected during the period of negative QD Niño-3.4 index.     

Heat balance of the surface layer of the sea at ocean weather station T

Heat balance of the upper 200 m of the sea south of Japan is studied, by the use of marine meteorological and oceanographic data at Ocean Weather Station T (29°N, 135°E), intensively obtained from June 1950 to November 1953. Local time change of the heat content in the surface layer and the net heat flux through the air-sea interface are calculated directly from these data, and the heat convergence in the sea is estimated from their residuals. Regarding the relative importance of one- and three-dimensional processes, it is found that, on a time scale of a few days to one month, the variation of heat content depends on heat convergence in the sea, while on a seasonal time scale, the heat content is determined primarily by the heat flux through the sea surface in December through February, by heat convergence within the sea from March to May, and by both processes from June to November. It is inferred that the heat convergence in the sea is caused by advection of water masses which are bounded by sharp fronts. Spectral analysis of sea surface temperature indicates that they typically take 2 to 3 days to pass the station, and their typical size is estimated as around 20 km by assuming the typical advection velocity of water masses to be 10 cm s^?1.     

Variation of water system distribution in the Sanriku Coastal Area

We analyzed hydrographic data obtained monthly by the Iwate Prefectural Fisheries Laboratory during 1977–1981. Our attention was focussed on the classification of waters based on the Temperature-Salinity (T-S) scatter diagram analyses, and on the extraction of the mean state of their distribution for each season. The water system was defined as all waters occupying some specific region on the T-S plane, and the mean state for each season was expressed by the distribution of the mode water systems (i.e., the most commonly occuring water system).Because of the coexistence of the Tsugaru Warm Current, the Oyashio and the Kuroshio, and their large seasonal variability, the sea waters had a wide variety of T-S combinations. The detailed T-S scatter diagram analyses allowed us to classify the waters into six water systems. A time-longitude diagram of water systems and the distribution of mode water systems are presented. The latter showed clear seasonal variations of the Tsugaru Warm Current and the Oyashio.Though the water system analysis was successfully able to present the distribution of the various waters in the Sanriku Coastal Area and to clearly extract the mean state of sea conditions, it was found that the classification of water systems on the T-S plane was not complete in all cases for this area.