Roles of Physical Processes in the Carbon Cycle Using a Simplified Physical Model

A simplified physical model is proposed in this article to describe differences among basins in substance distributions which were not well described by previous simplified models. In the proposed model, the global ocean is divided into the Pacific/Indian Ocean (PI), the Atlantic Ocean (AT), the Southern Ocean and the Greenland/Iceland/Norwegian Sea. The model is consisted of five physical parameters, namely the air-sea gas exchange, the thermohaline circulation, the horizontal and vertical diffusions, and the deep convection in the high-latitude regions. Individual values of these parameters are chosen by optimizing model distribution of natural ¹⁴C as a physical tracer. The optimal value for a coefficient of vertical diffusion in the low-latitude region is 7.5 × 10^–5 [m²s^–1]. Vertical transports by the Antarctic Bottom Water and the North Atlantic Deep Water are estimated at 1.0 Sv and 9.0 Sv. Global-mean air-sea gas exchange time is calculated at 9.0 years. Using these optimal values, vertical profiles of dissolved inorganic carbon without biological production in PI and AT are estimated. Oceanic responses to anthropogenic fluctuations in substance concentrations in the atmosphere induced by the industrialization and nuclear bomb are also discribed, i.e., the effects appear significantly in AT while a signal is extremely weak in PI. A time-delay term is effective to make the PI water older near the bottom boundary.     

Amplification of semidiurnal internal tide observed in the outer part of Tokyo Bay

Monitoring using a thermistor array and an acoustic Doppler current profiler was carried out in the outer part of Tokyo Bay from May 20 to November 30, 2006. Current fluctuations with tidal periods were amplified during the maximum temperature period in early September. The strong current interfered with fishing operations using set nets. Although the current fluctuation was speculated to be baroclinic motion from a phase relationship among fluctuations of temperature, current and sea level, empirical orthogonal function analysis showed the dominance of a barotropic structure. Such a discrepancy in the current structure was explained by an internal tide propagating along a deep canyon in the outer part of Tokyo Bay. Furthermore, amplification of the semidiurnal internal tide and the warming of the temperature field were found to be induced by the intrusion of Kuroshio warm water. The amplification mechanism was examined using a two-dimensional model with idealized topography. It was concluded that the large amplitude of the semidiurnal internal tide is resonantly generated in the deep canyon in the outer Tokyo Bay when stratification becomes strong and the period of the internal seiche approaches the semidiurnal period.     

Varying Fine-Structure Constant and the Cosmological Constant Problem

We start with a brief account of the latest analysis of the Oklo phenomenon providing the still most stringent constraint on time variability of the fine-structure constant α. Comparing this with the recent result from the measurement of distant QSO's appears to indicate a non-uniform time-dependence, which we argue to be related to another recent finding of the accelerating universe. This view is implemented in terms of the scalar-tensor theory, applied specifically to the small but nonzero cosmological constant. Our detailed calculation shows that these two phenomena can be understood in terms of a common origin, a particular behavior of the scalar field, dilaton. We also sketch how this theoretical approach makes it appropriate to revisit non-Newtonian gravity featuring small violation of Weak Equivalence Principle at medium distances. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

High-resolution beamforming by the Wigner-Ville distribution method

The Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) function was originally proposed by Wigner in quantum mechanics and Ville applied it for signal analysis. This method has made it possible to represent a signal's power density spectrum in the time-frequency domain as a natural extension of the Fourier transform method (FTM). Recently, it has attracted great interest for its validity to analyze time-varying signals accomplished by the development of high-speed digital signal processing, and it is used for analyzing nonstationary signals. Conventionally, a sonar beamformer is constructed using delay lines, but the development of the high-speed processor has made it possible to apply the FTM for sonar beamforming. However, the bearing resolution of the beamformer is not enough for discriminating small underwater objects on the sea bottom by this method. To solve this problem, we aim to apply the WVD method, which can represent finer structure of signals as a natural extension of the FTM, for sonar beamforming to obtain sharper beam patterns than those of the beamforming method by FTM. Simulation results by computational calculations to clarify the resolution by the WVD method, which is presented in this paper, becomes approximately twice as high as by conventional FTM. The results of an experiment at sea also show the performance of this method     

Analytically computed rates of seepage flow into drains and cavities

The known formulae of Freeze and Cherry, Polubarinova–Kochina, Vedernikov for flow rate during 2-D seepage into horizontal drains and axisymmetric flow into cavities are examined and generalized. The case of an empty drain under ponded soil surface is studied and existence of drain depth providing minimal seepage rate is presented. The depth is found exhibiting maximal difference in rate between a filled and an empty drain. 3-D flow to an empty semi-spherical cavity on an impervious bottom is analysed and the difference in rate as compared with a completely filled cavity is established. Rate values for slot drains in a two-layer aquifer are ‘inverted’ using the Schulgasser theorem from the Polubarinova–Kochina expressions for corresponding flow rates under a dam. Flow to a point sink modelling a semi-circular drain in a layered aquifer is treated by the Fourier transform method. For unsaturated flow the catchment area of a single drain is established in terms of the quasi-linear model assuming the isobaric boundary condition along the drain contour. Optimal shape design problems for irrigation cavities are addressed in the class of arbitrary contours with seepage rate as a criterion and cavity cross-sectional area as an isoperimetric restriction. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late quaternary uplift in eastern Indonesia

Radiocarbon dates of fifteen samples representing raised shorelines on various islands of the tectonically mobile region of eastern Indonesia suggest rates of tectonic uplift ranging up to 12.5 mm/year. Low rates of 0.35–1.2 mm/year are from Biak Island and are averages for the last 31,000–36,000 years. The low rates may be explained to indicate subsidence alternating with uplift, both of which occurring under influence of the large Irian fault zone that passes to the immediate south of the island. Very young elevated strandlines (250 years BP) indicate rates of uplift between 8 and 12.5 mm/year which seem to demonstrate the episodic character of vertical diastrophic movements. Intermediate rates of uplift are in the order of 5 mm/year and may represent averages for eastern Indonesia.     

Interannual-decadal variability of wintertime mixed layer depths in the North Pacific detected by an ensemble of ocean syntheses

Climate Dynamics - The interannual-decadal variability of the wintertime mixed layer depths (MLDs) over the North Pacific is investigated from an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of an...     

Tsunami Source of the 2010 Mentawai, Indonesia Earthquake Inferred from Tsunami Field Survey and Waveform Modeling

The 2010 Mentawai earthquake (magnitude 7.7) generated a destructive tsunami that caused more than 500 casualties in the Mentawai Islands, west of Sumatra, Indonesia. Seismological analyses indicate that this earthquake was an unusual “tsunami earthquake,” which produces much larger tsunamis than expected from the seismic magnitude. We carried out a field survey to measure tsunami heights and inundation distances, an inversion of tsunami waveforms to estimate the slip distribution on the fault, and inundation modeling to compare the measured and simulated tsunami heights. The measured tsunami heights at eight locations on the west coasts of North and South Pagai Island ranged from 2.5 to 9.3 m, but were mostly in the 4–7 m range. At three villages, the tsunami inundation extended more than 300 m. Interviews of local residents indicated that the earthquake ground shaking was less intense than during previous large earthquakes and did not cause any damage. Inversion of tsunami waveforms recorded at nine coastal tide gauges, a nearby GPS buoy, and a DART station indicated a large slip (maximum 6.1 m) on a shallower part of the fault near the trench axis, a distribution similar to other tsunami earthquakes. The total seismic moment estimated from tsunami waveform inversion was 1.0 × 10²¹ Nm, which corresponded to M_w 7.9. Computed coastal tsunami heights from this tsunami source model using linear equations are similar to the measured tsunami heights. The inundation heights computed by using detailed bathymetry and topography data and nonlinear equations including inundation were smaller than the measured ones. This may have been partly due to the limited resolution and accuracy of publically available bathymetry and topography data. One-dimensional run-up computations using our surveyed topography profiles showed that the computed heights were roughly similar to the measured ones.     

Effects of 17beta-estradiol on the reproduction of Java-medaka (Oryzias javanicus), a new test fish species

17β-estradiol (E2) is a female hormone which is known to be one of the strongest estrogenic chemicals in the environment. The present study investigated the effects of E2 on the reproduction of the estuarine fish, Java-medaka (Oryzias javanicus). Starting from the embryonic stages, Java-medaka was exposed for 6 months to 9.5, 16, 68, 159 and 243 ng/l of E2. The fecundity of Java-medaka exposed to E2 levels >16 ng/l was significantly lower than that of the control. The appearance of secondary sexual characteristics seemed to be inhibited by exposure to 159 and 243 ng/l E2. Vitellogenin concentrations in the liver of male fish exposed to 68, 159 and 243 ng/l were significantly higher than that of the control. Thirty-three and sixty percent of male fishes exposed to 159 and 243 ng/l, respectively, had testis-ova. These results suggest that reproduction in the Java-medaka, especially the male fish, could be affected by exposure to E2 concentrations greater than 16 ng/l.