Monitoring system for environmental risk management of a landfill disposal site

A landfill disposal site can be described as “an artificial vessel” and must satisfy the following three demands (1) storage and disposal of waste; (2) protection of the environment; and (3) benefit for nearby residents by taking advantage of consequential effects. The concept of risk was effectively considered to emphasize the importance of monitoring systems in landfill disposal sites, especially to protect the environment. Because a part of the R&D was involved in creating a monitoring system for a landfill disposal site, the present development and future potential of a system which can detect the leakage of watershield sheets, was discussed.     

Geochemical characteristics of Tertiary oils derived from siliceous sources in Japan, Russia and U.S.A.

Siliceous sourced Tertiary oils from the Circum-Pacific area of Japan, Russia and the U.S.A. have a heavy carbon isotope composition, monomodal n-alkane distributions, and nearly identical regular sterane compositions with a predominance of C₂₇ homologues. These are consistent with open marine depositional environments dominated by diatomaceous organic matter. However, a number of alkane and biomarker parameters such as Pr/Ph, CPI, relative concentration of 28,30-bisnorhopane, and the C₃₅/C₃₄ homohopane ratio indicate more oxic depositional environments for the source rocks of Japan and Russia. In contrast to the California Monterey Formation sourced oils, petroleums with low maturity levels from the North Sakhalin basin, Russia and the Akita basin, Japan have lower concentrations of asphaltenes and sulphur and are characterized by higher API gravities. A correlation of extractable organic matter from source rocks vs the least matured petroleums demonstrates that oil expulsion in siliceous shales of the Akita basin occurs at a maturity level corresponding to R_o≥0.65%, which is in the range of the conventional oil window (R_o = 0.6−1.1%).     

Theory of electronic structures of chemisorption on oxide surfaces

Surface electronic structures of metal oxides such as MgO, TiO₂, SrTiO₃, ReO₃ and transition-metal monoxides are discussed based on the first-principles DV-Xα cluster and slab methods. Particular attention is paid to the origin and properties of intrinsic and extrinsic surface states. A close correlation between the surface structure and electronic states is confirmed. Some exotic properties of polar oxide surfaces, for example the formation of a two-dimensional metallic band, are predicted.     

Nebular emission-line profiles of Type Ib/c supernovae – probing the ejecta asphericity

In order to assess qualitatively the ejecta geometry of stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae (SNe), we investigate 98 late-time spectra of 39 objects, many of them previously unpublished. We perform a Gauss-fitting of the [O  i ]  λλ6300, 6364  feature in all spectra, with the position, full width at half maximum and intensity of the  λ6300  Gaussian as free parameters, and the  λ6364  Gaussian added appropriately to account for the doublet nature of the [O  i ] feature. On the basis of the best-fitting parameters, the objects are organized into morphological classes, and we conclude that at least half of all Type Ib/c SNe must be aspherical. Bipolar jet models do not seem to be universally applicable, as we find too few symmetric double-peaked [O  i ] profiles. In some objects, the [O  i ] line exhibits a variety of shifted secondary peaks or shoulders, interpreted as blobs of matter ejected at high velocity and possibly accompanied by neutron-star kicks to assure momentum conservation. At phases earlier than ∼200 d, a systematic blueshift of the [O  i ]  λλ6300, 6364  line centroids can be discerned. Residual opacity provides the most convincing explanation of this phenomenon, photons emitted on the rear side of the SN being scattered or absorbed on their way through the ejecta. Once modified to account for the doublet nature of the oxygen feature, the profile of Mg  i ]  λ4571  at sufficiently late phases generally resembles that of [O  i ]  λλ6300, 6364  , suggesting negligible contamination from other lines and confirming that O and Mg are similarly distributed within the ejecta.     

FDM Simulation of Seismic Waves, Ocean Acoustic Waves, and Tsunamis Based on Tsunami-Coupled Equations of Motion

We have developed a new, unified modeling technique for the total simulation of seismic waves, ocean acoustic waves, and tsunamis resulting from earthquakes, based on a finite difference method simulation of the 3D equations of motion. Using the equilibrium between the pressure gradient and gravity in these equations, tsunami propagation is naturally incorporated in the simulation based on the equations of motion. The performance of the parallel computation for the newly developed tsunami-coupled equations using a domain partitioning procedure shows a high efficiency coefficient with a large number of CPU cores. The simulation results show how the near-field term associated with seismic waves produced by shallow earthquakes leads to a permanent coseismic deformation of the ground surface, which gives rise to the initial tsunami on the sea surface. Propagation of the tsunami along the sea surface as a gravity wave, and ocean acoustic waves in seawater with high-frequency multiple P-wave reflections between the free surface and sea bottom, are also clearly demonstrated by the present simulations. We find a good agreement in the tsunami waveform between our results and those obtained by other simulations based on an analytical model and the Navier–Stokes equations, demonstrating the effectiveness of the tsunami-coupling simulation model. Based on this simulation, we show that the ratio of the amplitude of ocean acoustic waves to the height of the tsunami, both of which are produced by the earthquake, strongly depends on the rise time of the earthquake rupture. This ratio can be used to obtain a more detailed understanding of the source rupture processes of subduction zone earthquakes, and for implementing an improved tsunami alert system for slow tsunami earthquakes.     

Palaeotemperature curve for the Late Cretaceous of the northwestern circum-Pacific

In the northwestern circum-Pacific, two main trends in Late Cretaceous temperatures can be recognized. (1) In general, a recurrent warming trend is thought to have begun in the Turonian–Campanian, reaching temperature maxima in the early Late Santonian and early Late Campanian, and temperature minima in the earliest Santonian and perhaps early Campanian. (2) During the Maastrichtian, temperatures dropped sharply, with only a slight warming in the early Late Maastrichtian. The existence of a thermal maximum at the Coniacian–Santonian transition has previously been expected, but is not confirmed by new isotopic results.     

Microbial ecology concerning to the degradation of nucleic acid in the marine environment

This article summarizes the author's current work on microbial degradation of nucleic acid. The aim of this work is to elucidate parts of the saprogenic process in the marine ecosystem through the study of the behavior of nucleic acid-hydrolyzing bacteria inhabiting seawater and sediments.Considerably large population of nucleic acid-hydrolyzing bacteria was found to occur in seawater and sediments. The main genera of these microbes areVibrio spp. in coastal seas, andPseudomonas spp. in the oceanic waters. As a result of microbial attack, nucleic acid components are released into seawater. The properties of extracellular nuclease produced by a marineVibrio sp. are well adapted to the seawater environment; consequently this enzyme has high activity and stability in seawater. By determining nuclease activity in seawater and sediments, the intensities of nucleic acid-hydrolysisin situ were evaluated.Distribution patterns of marine bacteria are also discussed in reference to the occurrence of phytoplankton in seawater.     

Improved numerical analysis for ultimate behavior of elastomeric seismic isolation bearings

Elastomeric isolation bearings consist of multiple rubber layers with their top and bottom surfaces bonded to steel plates to restrict compressive deformation. Deformation constraints result in a variation of elastic modulus over the cross section of the rubber layers. In this paper, we describe a normalized compression modulus distribution on a circular rubber pad. The compressive and bending moduli of the rubber pad can be reproduced by applying the distribution to a series of axial springs. We also present a mechanical model for predicting the behavior of elastomeric seismic isolation bearings subject to large shear deformation and high compressive load. The mechanical model consists of a series of multiple shear springs at midheight and a series of axial springs at the top and bottom interfaces of the bearing. Simulation analyses of bearing tests were conducted to validate the proposed model. The analyses demonstrated that a model for circular lead-rubber bearings can successfully capture the influence of the axial load magnitude on the bearing shear behavior. The new model can simulate much more realistic behavior than prior models based on a uniform modulus assumption.