High-resolution terrestrial carbon isotope and planktic foraminiferal records of the Upper Cenomanian to the Lower Campanian in the Northwest Pacific

Making Upper Cretaceous biostratigraphic correlations between the Northwest Pacific and Tethyan–Atlantic sections have been difficult because of rare frequencies of age-diagnostic macro- and microfossils in the sequences in the Northwest Pacific region. In order to correlate these sections precisely, an integrated planktic foraminiferal and bulk wood carbon-isotope stratigraphy from the upper Cenomanian to the lower Campanian succession (the middle–upper part of the Yezo Group) of Hokkaido, northern Japan is established with an average resolution of 50 k.y. The δ¹³C curves from bulk wood of the Yezo Group and from bulk carbonate of English Chalk show remarkably similar patterns of isotopic fluctuation, allowing the correlation of 22 carbon isotopic events between these sections. This high-resolution correlation greatly improves the previous micro- and macrofossil biostratigraphic schemes in the Northwest Pacific region, and reveals that global events, such as the oxygen depletion at the OAE 2 horizon, the constant decrease in pCO₂ during the Late Cretaceous, and the eustatic sea-level falls in the late middle Turonian, Santonian/Campanian Boundary and early Campanian, are recorded in the Upper Cretaceous sequence of the Northwest Pacific.     

Estimating of gas transfer velocity using triple isotopes of dissolved oxygen

The atmosphere-ocean exchange of climatically important gases is determined by the transfer velocity (k) and concentration gradient across the interface. Based on observations in the northwestern subarctic Pacific and Sagami Bay, we report here the results of the first ever application of the natural abundance of triple isotopes of dissolved oxygen (¹⁶O, ¹⁷O and ¹⁸O) for direct estimation of k and propose a new relationship with wind speed. The k values estimated from nighttime variations in oxygen isotopes are found to be higher than the direct estimations at low wind speed (<5 m s⁻¹) and lower at high wind speeds (>13 m s⁻¹) and showed significant spatial variability. The method presented here can be used to derive seasonal and spatial variations in k and the influence of surface conditions on the value, leading to improved estimates of biogenic/anthropogenic gas exchange at the air-sea interface.     

Temporal variation in phytoplankton composition related to water mass properties in the central part of Sagami Bay

Temporal variations in water mass properties and the composition of phytoplankton pigments in the central part of Sagami Bay were investigated by monthly observations from June 2002 to May 2004. Eleven pigments were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from 100%, 20%, and 5% light depths relative to the surface; the class-specific composition of phytoplankton community was then obtained by CHEMTAX analysis. The study area was influenced by the Kuroshio water for most of the observation period. The mean contribution of diatoms in all samples was relatively low (29%), while that of flagellates, mainly chlorophytes or cryptophytes, was quite high (60%). The phytoplankton composition at the three depths was uniform throughout the observation period, indicating that the vertical structure of the phytoplankton community did not develop significantly over time. A distinct temporal pattern was observed: flagellates dominated during the summer of 2002 and the winters of 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, while diatoms dominated during the summer of 2003. This pattern was associated with water mass changes. The community in the summer of 2003 was influenced by coastal water. While no distinct spring bloom of phytoplankton was observed, a weak increase in chlorophyll a was observed during the spring of 2004. Ocean color satellite data showed that fluctuations in chlorophyll a concentrations at time scales much shorter than a month occurred during the spring of 2003 and that the elevations in chlorophyll a levels were not continuous. The fluctuations were probably associated with rapid flushing by the Kuroshio water, which has low chlorophyll a content.     

Determination of plastic regions around underground openings by a coupled boundary-element-characteristics method

A two-dimensional hybrid method for solving elastoplastic problems in engineering is presented by coupling two existing methods, namely, the boundary element method and the characteristics method. The formulation of this method is presented, as well as an excellent procedure for the determination of the boundary between elastic and plastic regions. It is shown not only that this method is a powerful and accurate method for evaluating the shape and extent of the plastic region around rock caverns, which is of prime importance for the construction of rock caverns, but also applicable to a given range of the initial stress field ratio where only compressive failure occurs. Then, some typical examples are solved in order to check the accuracy of the solution by this method. Furthermore, its successful applications are presented and discussed to determine the shape and the extent of the plastic regions around parallel, circular and rectangular openings.     

Waveform inversion of mantle Love waves:the Born seismogram approach

Summary. Normal mode theory, extended to the slightly laterally heterogeneous earth by the first-order Born approximation, is applied to the waveform inversion of mantle Love wave (200–500 s) for the Earth's lateral heterogeneity at l = 2 and a spherically symmétric anelasticity ( Q _μ) structure. The data are from the Global Digital Seismograph Network (GDSN). The l =2 pattern is very similar to the results of other studies that used either different méthods, such as phase velocity measurements and multiplet location measurements, or a different data set, such as mantle Rayleigh waves from different instruments. The results are carefully analysed for variance reduction and are most naturally explained by heterogeneity in the upper 420 km. Because of the poor resolution of the data set for the deep interior, however, a fairly large heterogeneity in the transition zones, of the order of up to 3.5 per cent in shear wave velocity, is allowed. It is noteworthy that Love waves of this period range cannot constrain the structure below 420 km and thus any model presented by similar studies below this depth are likely to be constrained by Rayleigh waves (spheroidal modes) only.
The calculated modal Q values for the obtained Q _μ model fall within the error bars of the observations. The result demonstrates the discrepancy of Rayleigh wave Q and Love wave Q and indicates that care must be taken when both Rayleigh and Love wave data, including amplitude information, are inverted simultaneously.
Anomalous amplitude inversions of G2 and G3, for example, are observed for some source-receiver pairs. This is due to multipathing effects. One example near the epicentral region, which is modelled by the obtained l = 2 heterogeneity, is shown.     

Phytoplankton pigment distributions in regional upwelling around the Izu Peninsula detected by Coastal Zone Color Scanner on May 1982

Phytoplankton pigment (chlorophylla+pheopigments) distributions in a regional upwelling around the Izu Peninsula obtained by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) on May 23, 1982, were compared with ship-observed pigment and satellite sea-surface-temperature distributions. Pigment concentrations detected by the CZCS were positively correlated with the ship-observed pigment concentrations. However, they were about factor of 5 smaller when atmospheric correction parameters known for typical oceanic and land aerosol were used and when the parameters were estimated with the clear water algorithm. When the atmospheric correction parameters were adjusted so that a pigment concentration derived by CZCS was equivalent to a concentration obtained by the ship at a coincide location, the pattern and magnitudes of the CZCS-derived pigment distributions showed remarkable agreement with ship-observed pigment distributions. Thus, the normal atmospheric correction algorithm may not be suitable for waters around Japan, and the development of better atmospheric correction methods combined with more verification programs is required. The pigment distributions showed patterns that were similar to those observed in sea-surface-temperature distributions. Cold water showed higher pigment concentrations, and warm water showed lower pigment concentrations. The Kuroshio, which can be identified by generally warm, low pigment water, showed a large meander which flowed offshore at Shiono-misaki, looped back onshore from Hachijo Island to Omaezaki and then flowed northeast along the Izu and Boso Peninsulas. Locally upwelled water along the Izu Peninsula was seen clearly in the sea-surface-temperature and CZCS pigment distributions as a region of cold water and high pigment concentrations. Cold upwelled waters were also found at the eastern side of the Izu Islands, but pigment concentrations in these waters was not always high. This difference in the two upwelling regions may be caused by different physical and biological interactions.     

Moored instrument observations in the Kuroshio south of Kyushu

In each of the (fiscal) years 1979–1982, multilayer current measurements by means of moored instruments were carried out in the Kuroshio off Tanegashima Island, south of Kyushu, with particular interest in the baroclinic layer (0–1,000 m) of the intense current. Most of the moored instruments were in position for more than 30 days, the maximum duration being 145 days. This paper describes some noticeable features of the mean and fluctuation fields in the surface Kuroshio as inferred from the the new data sets.Vertical profiles of horizontal velocities show that the eastward current of the Kuroshio in the region is confined to the upper 600 m on average and below this level the mean current is directed to the southwest along the local isobaths. This is believed to be the first observation of the level of no motion in this region. It is argued that the indicated level of no motion would lead to much smaller values for the Kuroshio transport than previous values referred to the 1,000 m level — for example, earlier estimates by Nitani (1972).The fluctuation field in the upper intense current appears to be dominated by an organized motion with a time scale of about 30 days. This can be seen clearly in the time variations of water temperature and local volume transport, but less clearly in the velocity records. The horizontal transfer components of momentum and heat are calculated and it is suggested that the transverse momentum transfer, UV tends to be negative (offshore) in the region of anticyclonic shear of the upper Kuroshio; no evidence for a negative eddy viscosity effect is found.