Three-dimensional distributions of sewage markers in Tokyo Bay water--fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs)

Three-dimensional distributions of fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs: more specifically, DSBP and DAS1), which are sewage-derived water-soluble markers, were observed in Tokyo Bay water through multi-layer sampling of water at 20 locations. In summer, FWAs predominated in the surface layers, with trace but significant concentration of FWAs in bottom water due to stratification of seawater. In winter, on the other hand, FWAs were extensively mixed into the bottom layers because of the vertical mixing of seawater. In the surface layer, FWA concentrations and the DSBP/DAS1 ratio (the concentration ratio of DSBP to DAS1) were lower in summer than in winter, suggesting more efficient photodegradation of FWAs in euphotic zones during the summer due to stronger solar radiation. Horizontally, FWAs were widely distributed over the surface layer of Tokyo Bay. Surface water with DSBP concentrations above 50ng/L, corresponding to <200 times dilution of sewage effluent, was found to have spread up to 10km from the coastline. In addition, an offshore decline in FWA concentrations was observed, showing a half-distance of 10-20km. The decrease was caused by dilution by seawater of fresh water containing FWAs. The eastern part of the bay was different with respect to surface layers, with higher concentrations seen in northeastern parts. Furthermore, dispersion of combined sewer overflow (CSO)-derived water mass was observed in Tokyo Bay after heavy rain.     

Melt inclusion analysis of the Unzen 1991–1995 dacite: implications for crystallization processes of dacite magma

Dacitic magma, a mixture of high-temperature (T) aphyric magma and low-T crystal-rich magma, was erupted during the 1991–1995 Mount Unzen eruptive cycle. Here, the crystallization processes of the low-T magma were examined on the basis of melt inclusion analysis and phase relationships. Variation in water content of the melt inclusions (5.1–7.2 wt% H₂O) reflected the degassing history of the low-T magma ascending from deeper levels (250 MPa) to a shallow magma chamber (140 MPa). The ascent rate of the low-T magma decreased markedly towards the emplacement level as crystal content increased. Cooling of magma as well as degassing-induced undercooling drove crystallization. With the decreasing ascent rate, degassing-induced undercooling decreased in importance, and cooling became more instrumental in crystallization, causing local and rapid crystallization along the margin of the magma body. Some crystals contain scores of melt inclusions, whereas there are some crystals without any inclusions. This heterogeneous distribution suggests the variation in the crystallization rate within the magma body; it also suggests that cooling was dominant cause for melt entrapment. Numerical calculations of the cooling magma body suggest that cooling caused rapid crystal growth and enhanced melt entrapment once the magma became a crystal-rich mush with evolved interstitial melt. The rhyolitic composition of melt inclusions is consistent with this model.Editorial responsibility: H Shinohara     

Pore-water pressure development in a frozen saline clay under isotropic loading and undrained shearing

Acta Geotechnica - A systematical testing program on frozen Onsøy clay under isotropic loading and undrained shearing at different temperatures...     

Nutrients,light and phytoplankton production in the shallow,tropical coastal waters of Bandon Bay,Southern Thailand

Phytoplankton primary production and its regulation by light and nutrient availability were investigated in the shallow, tropical coastal waters of Bandon Bay, Southern Thailand. The bay was meso‐eutrophicated and highly turbid, receiving river water discharge. Water column stratification was consistently weak during both rainy and dry seasons. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was higher off the river mouth than in the other regions, suggesting that river water discharge was a main source of DIN. By contrast, dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) showed a significant negative correlation with total water depth, implying that regeneration around the sea floor was an important source of DIP. Surface DIN and DIP showed positive correlations with surface primary production (PP) and water column primary productivity (ΣPP*), respectively. The combined correlation and model analyses indicate that total water depth had an ambivalent influence on water column primary production (ΣPP); shallower water depth induced more active regeneration of nutrients, but it also caused higher turbidity and lower light availability as a result of enhanced resuspension of sediments. Furthermore, there was a vertical constraint for phytoplankton during the rainy season: total water depth tended to be shallower than euphotic zone depth. In conclusion, light limitation and vertical constraint owing to shallow water depth appear to be more important than nutrient limitation for water column primary production in Bandon Bay.     

Sex‐related differences in size,function and regeneration of the major cheliped in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi

Pagurus hermit crabs have a well‐developed right cheliped (major cheliped) and in some species the major cheliped of males is longer than that of females. This paper describes sex‐related differences in major cheliped length and regeneration pattern of the major cheliped in the hermit crab Pagurus filholi. We also examined the function of the major cheliped in male–male competition. Major cheliped length of males was longer than that of females in P. filholi. Males regenerated larger chelipeds than females at the first molt after experimentally induced autotomy. Body size growth in males of the regeneration group was less than that in intact males of the control group while there was no significant difference in body size growth of females between regeneration and control groups. Major cheliped length was included in the best model to explain the outcome of male–male competition and thus sexual selection appears to be a causative factor in the sex‐related difference of the major cheliped length. Sex‐related differences in the regeneration pattern may reflect differences in evolutionary pressures on males for large major chelipeds and females for large body size.     

Paleomagnetism of the Middle–Late Jurassic to Cretaceous red beds from the Peninsular Thailand: Implications for collision tectonics

Jurassic to Cretaceous red sandstones were sampled at 33 sites from the Khlong Min and Lam Thap formations of the Trang Syncline (7.6°N, 99.6°E), the Peninsular Thailand. Rock magnetic experiments generally revealed hematite as a carrier of natural remanent magnetization. Stepwise thermal demagnetization isolates remanent components with unblocking temperatures of 620–690 °C. An easterly deflected declination (D = 31.1°, I = 12.2°, α₉₅ = 13.9°, N = 9, in stratigraphic coordinates) is observed as pre-folding remanent magnetization from North Trang Syncline, whereas westerly deflected declination (D = 342.8°, I = 22.3°, α₉₅ = 12.7°, N = 13 in geographic coordinates) appears in the post-folding remanent magnetization from West Trang Syncline. These observations suggest an occurrence of two opposite tectonic rotations in the Trang area, which as a part of Thai–Malay Peninsula received clockwise rotation after Jurassic together with Shan-Thai and Indochina blocks. Between the Late Cretaceous and Middle Miocene, this area as a part of southern Sundaland Block experienced up to 24.5° ± 11.5° counter-clockwise rotation with respect to South China Block. This post-Cretaceous tectonic rotation in Trang area is considered as a part of large scale counter-clockwise rotation experienced by the southern Sundaland Block (including the Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and south Sulawesi areas) as a result of Australian Plate collision with southeast Asia. Within the framework of Sundaland Block, the northern boundary of counter-clockwise rotated zone lies between the Trang area and the Khorat Basin.     

Microscopic filamentation due to electrothermal instability and plasma heating in time-dependent solar transition layer

We have investigated nonlinear equilibrium states of a microscopic current filamentation (electrothermal instability) in solar atmosphere. The microscopic filamentation instability will develop for transition zone ion temperature plasmas, provided T _e/T_i > 1, where T _e and T _i are the electron and ion temperatures, respectively. Since the temperature radio for a steady-state solar atmosphere is approximately unity, the electrothermal instability will develop only in a time-dependent solar atmosphere. Indeed, such a condition is provided by time-dependent currents, which seem to exist in many magnetic loops as recent analysis by Porter et al. (1987) indicates. When the onset condition for the electrothermal instability is satisfied, the instability drives a current filamentation to a nonlinear equilibrium state with a spatially periodic electron temperature variation with the wavelength comparable to several ion-Larmor radii. The amplitude of the periodic temperature variation may be so large that the transition layer temperature and coronal temperature plasmas may exist within several Larmor radii — coexistence of the transition zone and corona within the same macro-volume.     

Research note: deblended-data reconstruction using generalized blending and deblending models

We introduce a concept of generalized blending and deblending, develop its models and accordingly establish a method of deblended-data reconstruction using these models. The generalized models can handle real situations by including random encoding into the generalized operators both in the space and time domain, and both at the source and receiver side. We consider an iterative optimization scheme using a closed-loop approach with the generalized blending and deblending models, in which the former works for the forward modelling and the latter for the inverse modelling in the closed loop. We applied our method to existing real data acquired in Abu Dhabi. The results show that our method succeeded to fully reconstruct deblended data even from the fully generalized, thus quite complicated blended data. We discuss the complexity of blending properties on the deblending performance. In addition, we discuss the applicability to time-lapse seismic monitoring as it ensures high repeatability of the surveys. Conclusively, we should acquire blended data and reconstruct deblended data without serious problems but with the benefit of blended acquisition.     

Physical and chemical effects of ingested plastic debris on short-tailed shearwaters, Puffinus tenuirostris, in the North Pacific Ocean

We investigated the plastics ingested by short-tailed shearwaters, Puffinus tenuirostris, that were accidentally caught during experimental fishing in the North Pacific Ocean in 2003 and 2005. The mean mass of plastics found in the stomach was 0.23 g per bird (n = 99). Plastic mass did not correlate with body weight. Total PCB (sum of 24 congeners) concentrations in the abdominal adipose tissue of 12 birds ranged from 45 to 529 ng/g-lipid. Although total PCBs or higher-chlorinated congeners, the mass of ingested plastic correlated positively with concentrations of lower-chlorinated congeners. The effects of toxic chemicals present in plastic debris on bird physiology should be investigated.     

Attenuation of coda waves and Q c value beneath the Chengdu telemetered seismic network

Based on the single scattering model of coda power spectrum analysis, digital waveform data of 50 events recorded by the real-time processing system of the Chengdu telemetry network are analyzed to estimate the Q _c values of earth medium beneath the Chengdu telemetry network for several specified frequencies. It is found that the Q _c shows the frequency dependency in the form of Q _c = Q ₀ f ⁿ in the range of 1.0 to 20.0Hz. Estimated Q ₀ ranges from 60.83 to 178.05, and n is found to be 0.713 to 1.159. The average value of Q ₀ and n are 117 and 0.978 respectively. This result indicates the strong frequency dependency of the attenuation of coda waves beneath the Chengdu telemetry network. Comparing with the results obtained in other regions of the world, it is found that Q ₀ ⁻¹ value and its change with frequency are similar to those in regions with strong tectonic activity. This subject is supported by the Ministry of Personnel, China for partly sponsoring.