Ecosystem shift resulting from loss of eelgrass and other submerged aquatic vegetation in two estuarine lagoons, Lake Nakaumi and Lake Shinji, Japan

Zostera marina L. was intensively harvested until the early 1950s in Lake Nakaumi, a eutrophic estuarine lagoon. We have estimated the amount of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removed from the lagoon through Z. marina harvesting. Lake Nakaumi lies in Tottori and Shimane prefectures, and the annual harvest of Z. marina in the late 1940s in Tottori was recorded as at least 56,250 t wet weight. The nutrient content of 56,250 t of Z. marina was calculated to be 61.9 t of N and 12.9 t of P, which is equivalent to 5.3% and 11%, respectively, of present annual nutrient loads to the lake. The nutrients formerly used by Z. marina were likely used by phytoplankton after the Z. marina started to decline in the mid-1950s at Lake Nakaumi. This shift in the chief primary producer, from benthic macrophytes to phytoplankton, caused a subsequent shift in secondary producers. Benthic fish and crustacean populations decreased and the non-commercial filter-feeding bivalve, Musculus senhausia, increased in Lake Nakaumi after the decline of seagrass beds. This affected the local economy, inducing not only eutrophication but also the collapse of local fisheries. On the other hand, at adjacent Lake Shinji, loss of submerged aquatic vegetation induced an increase of the commercial filter-feeding bivalve, Corbicula japonica, which doubled the fishery yield in the lake.     

Space astronomy in Japan

Japan's two X-ray astronomy satellites, HAKUCHO and TENMA, have been actively in operation leading to deeper understandings of the neutron star physics. Other satellite and balloon projects have been performed under international collaborators.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Estimation of inner-core rotation rate by using the Earth’s free oscillation

We estimate a rate of inner-core differential rotation from time variations of splitting functions of seven core modes of the Earth’s free oscillations excited by eight large earthquakes in a period of 1994–2003. The splitting functions and moment tensor elements are simultaneously determined for each core mode by a spectral fitting technique. The estimated moment tensor well agrees with Harvard CMT solution. The splitting functions are corrected for the effect of mantle heterogeneity using a 3D mantle velocity model. Inner-core rotation angle about the Earth’s spin axis is determined for each core mode as a function of event year by comparison of the corrected and reference splitting functions. Mean rotation rate of six core modes is estimated at 0.03±0.18° per year westward, and this value is insignificantly different from zero. Therefore, the inner core is not rotating at a significant rate relatively to the crust and mantle.     

Drag Optimization of A Planing Vessel Based on the Stability Criteria Limits

China Ocean Engineering - One of the important phases of designing a craft is stability analysis and optimization of the drag force in cruise speed. In this research the longitudinal and lateral...     

Size of the hard X-ray source in the Crab Nebula

The size of the hard X-ray source in the Crab Nebula was observed with scintillation counters on board two balloons at a lunar occulatation on 24 January, 1975. The Gaussian width of the source is 34 (+17, –14) and the center thereof is offset from the pulsar by 6±4 at position angle 102°. The observed time profile can also be fitted to an alternative model of two line sources whose intensities are 48% at 11 and 25.5% at 7 on both sides of the pulsar.Paper presented at the COSPAR Symposium on Fast Transients in X- and Gamma-Rays, held at Varna, Bulgaria, 29–31 May, 1975.     

U–Pb ages of zircons from metamorphic rocks in the upper sequence of the Hidaka Metamorphic Belt,Hokkaido, Japan: Identification of two metamorphic events and implications for regional tectonics

The Hidaka Metamorphic Belt is a well-known example of island-arc crustal section, in which metamorphic grade increases westwards from unmetamorphosed sediment up to granulite facies. It is divided into lower (granulite to amphibolite facies) and upper (amphibolite to greenschist facies) metamorphic sequences. The metamorphic age of the belt was considered to be ~55 Ma, based on Rb – Sr whole-rock isochron ages for granulites and related S-type tonalities. However, zircons from the granulites in the lower sequence yield U – Pb ages of ~21 – 19 Ma, and a preliminary report on zircons from pelitic gneiss in the upper sequence gives a U – Pb age of ~40 Ma. In this paper we provide new zircon U – Pb ages from two pelitic gneisses in the upper sequence to assess the metamorphic age and also the maximum depositional age of the sedimentary protolith. The weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages from a biotite gneiss in the central area of the belt yield 39.6 ± 0.9 Ma for newly grown metamorphic rims and 53.1 ± 0.9 Ma for the youngest detrital cores. The ages of zircons from a cordierite–biotite gneiss in the southern area are 35.9 ± 0.7 Ma for metamorphic rims and 46.5 ± 2.8 Ma for the youngest detrital cores. These results indicate that metamorphism of the upper sequence took place at ~40 – 36 Ma, and that the sedimentary protolith was deposited after ~53 – 47 Ma. These metamorphic ages are consistent with the reported ages of ~37–36 Ma plutonic rocks in the upper sequence, but contrast with the ~21–19 Ma ages of metamorphic and plutonic rocks in the lower sequence. Therefore, we conclude that the upper and lower metamorphic sequences developed independently but coupled with each other before ~19 Ma as a result of dextral reverse tectonic movement.