Factors influencing the recession rate of Niagara Falls since the 19th century

The rate of recession of Niagara Falls (Horseshoe and American Falls) in northeastern North America has been documented since the 19th century; it shows a decreasing trend from ca. 1 m y^− 1 a century ago to ca. 0.1 m y^− 1 at present. Reduction of the flow volume in the Niagara River due to diversion into bypassing hydroelectric schemes has often been taken to be the factor responsible, but other factors such as changes in the waterfall shape could play a role and call for a quantitative study. Here, we examine the effect of physical factors on the historically varying recession rates of Niagara Falls, using an empirical equation which has previously been proposed based on a non-dimensional multiparametric model which incorporates flow volume, waterfall shape and bedrock strength. The changes in recession rates of Niagara Falls in the last century are successfully modeled by this empirical equation; these changes are caused by variations in flow volume and lip length. This result supports the validity of the empirical equation for waterfalls in rivers carrying little transported sediment. Our analysis also suggests that the decrease in the recession rate of Horseshoe Falls is related to both artificial reduction in river discharge and natural increase in waterfall lip length, whereas that of American Falls is solely due to the reduction in flow volume.     

Suppressive Effects of Traditional Mulching Using Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) on Solanaceae Crop Diseases

Poaceae plant species, such as silver grass, are commonly used in mulching activities Japan. In contrast, local farmers have traditionally used Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) mulch in the cultivation of solanaceous crops in the Nishi-Awa area of Japan, which is a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems site. We have previously evaluated the positive effects of Japanese knotweed mulching on solanaceous crops, such as eggplants, tomato, and potato. In the present study, we observed that the naturally occurring diseases in the solanaceous crops tended to decrease when the knotweed mulching system was adopted, in comparison to when Poaceae mulch was adopted. In eggplants, leaf mold and powdery mildew decreased under Japanese knotweed mulching. We further evaluated the effects of Japanese knotweed mulching by inoculating test plants with Pseudomonas cichorii. We observed suppression of bacterial disease and tomato mosaic virus under Japanese knotweed mulching and following spraying with Japanese knotweed extracts. In addition, disease-resistance genes were expressed at high levels in Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant, following treatment with Japanese knotweed extracts. The results suggest that Japanese knotweed has potential applications in future sustainable agriculture activities.     

Curation protocol of Phobos sample returned by Martian Moons eXploration

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission will launch a spacecraft in 2024 to return samples from Phobos in 2029. Curatorial work for the returned Phobos samples is critical for the sample allocation without degrading the sample integrity and subsequent sample analysis that will provide new constraints on the origin of Phobos and the evolution of the circum-Mars environment. The Sample Analysis Working Team of the MMX is designing the sample curation protocol. The curation protocol consists of three phases: (1) quick analysis (extraction and mass spectrometry for gases), (2) pre-basic characterization (bulk-scale observation), and (3) basic characterization (grain-by-grain observation and allocation of the sample aliquots). Nondestructive analyses within the clean chamber (e.g., visible and near-infrared spectral imaging) and outside the chamber (e.g., gas mass spectrometry) are incorporated into the curation flow in coordination with the MMX mission instrument teams for ground-truthing the remote-sensing data sets. The MMX curation/sample analysis flow enables the seamless integration between the sample and remote-sensing data sets to maximize the scientific value of the collected Phobos samples.     

Spatial Modeling Techniques for Characterizing Geomaterials:Deterministic vs.Stochastic Modeling for Single-Variable and Multivariate Analyses

Sample data in the Earth and environmental sciences are limited in quantity and sampling location and therefore, sophisticated spatial modeling techniques are indispensable for accurate imaging of complicated structures and properties of geomaterials. This paper presents several effective methods that are grouped into two categories depending on the nature of regionalized data used. Type I data originate from plural populations and type II data satisfy the prerequisite of stationarity and have distinct spatial correlations. For the type I data, three methods are shown to be effective and demonstrated to produce plausible results: (1) a spline-based method, (2) a combination of a spline-based method with a stochastic simulation, and (3) a neural network method. Geostatistics proves to be a powerful tool for type II data. Three new approaches of geostatistics are presented with case studies: an application to directional data such as fracture, multi-scale modeling that incorporates a scaling law, and space-time joint analysis for multivariate data. Methods for improving the contribution of such spatial modeling to Earth and environmental sciences are also discussed and future important problems to be solved are summarized.      

Far-Field Tsunami Potential and a Real-Time Forecast System for the Pacific Using the Inversion Method

Estimating tsunami potential is anessential part of mitigating tsunami disasters. Weproposed a new method to estimate the far-fieldtsunami potential by assuming faultmodels on the Pacific Rim. We find thata tsunami that generates in the areas wherethere is no tsunami in the history can damagethe Japanese coast. This shows that it isimportant to estimate tsunami potential byassuming fault models other than the pastearthquake data.Another important activity to mitigate tsunamidisasters is to provide appropriatewarnings to coastal communities when dangerfrom a tsunami is imminent. We applied anew inversion method using wavelet transformto a part of the real-time tsunami forecastsystem for the Pacific. Because this inversionmethod does not require fault location, it ispossible to analyze a tsunami in real timewithout all seismic information. In order tocheck the usability of the system, anumerical simulation was executed assuming anearthquake at sea off Taiwan. The correlationcoefficient for the estimated initialwaveform to the assumed one was calculatedto be 0.78. It takes 90 min to capturetime-series waveform data from tsunamigauges and 5 sec to estimate the 2-D initialwaveform using the inversion method. After that,it takes 2 minutes to forecast thetsunami heights at the Japanese coast. Since thesum of these times is less than the 105minutes transit time of the tsunami fromTaiwan to Japan, it is possible to give a warningto the residents before the tsunami attacksthe Japanese coast. Comparing the tsunamiheights forecasted by this system with thosecalculated by the fault model, the averageerror was 0.39 m. The average error ofthe arrival time was 0.007 min.     

Effect of canopy openness and meteorological factors on spatial variability of throughfall isotopic composition in a Japanese cypress plantation

Spatial variability of throughfall (TF) isotopic composition, used as tracer input, influences isotope hydrological applications in forested watersheds. Notwithstanding, identification of the dominant canopy factors and processes that affect the patterns of TF isotopic variability remains ambiguous. Here, we examined the spatio‐temporal variability of TF isotopic composition in a Japanese cypress plantation, in which intensive strip thinning was performed and investigated whether canopy structure at a fine resolution of canopy effect analysis is related to TF isotopic composition and how this is affected by meteorological factors. Canopy openness, as an index of canopy structure, was calculated from hemispherical photographs at different zenith angles. TF samples were collected in a 10 × 10 m experimental plot in both pre‐thinning (from July to November 2010) and post‐thinning (from May 2012 to March 2013) periods. Our results show that thinning resulted in a smaller alteration of input δ¹⁸O of gross precipitation, whereas the changes in deuterium excess varied in both directions. Despite the temporal stability of spatial patterns in TF amount, the spatial variability of TF isotopic composition was not temporally stable in both pre‐ and post‐thinning periods. Additionally, after thinning, the isotopic composition of TF was best related to canopy openness calculated at the zenith angle of 7°, exhibiting three different relationships, that is, significantly negative, significantly positive, and nonsignificant. Changes in meteorological factors (wind speed, rainfall intensity, and temperature) were found to affect the relationships between TF δ¹⁸O and canopy openness. The observed shifts in the relationships reveal different dominant factors (partial evaporation and the selection), and canopy water flowpaths control such differences. This study provides useful insights into the spatial variability of TF isotopic composition and improves our understanding of the physical processes of interception through canopy passage.     

Spatial Simulation and Characterization of Three-Dimensional Fractures in Gejiu tin District,Southwest China,Using GEOFRAC

Natural Resources Research - Fracture is an important factor controlling mineralization and ore distribution in metallic deposits. Fracture also affects mechanical stability of drifts. A plausible...     

New Indices for Characterizing Spatial Models of Ore Deposits by the Use of a Sensitivity Vector and an Influence Factor

Precise spatial estimation of ore grades and impurity contents from sample data limited in amount and location is indispensable to metallic and nonmetallic resource exploration. One of the advantages of using geostatistics for this purpose is that it can incorporate multivariate data into spatial estimation of one variable. However, there are two weak points concerning technical and post-processing problems. First is the difficulty in application to geologic data in which spatial correlations are not clear because of intrinsic nonlinear behavior. Second is the absence of indices to interpret the mechanisms and factors which govern the spatial distribution. To address these problems, a spatial method of modeling based on a feedforward neural network, SLANS, which recognizes the relationship between the data value and location by considering supplementary attributes such as lithology and biostratigraphy, and a sensitivity analysis using this network were developed. These methods were applied to two case studies, genetic mechanisms of kuroko deposits and quality assessment of a limestone mine. The first case study is a spatial analysis of principal metals of kuroko deposits (volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits) in the Hokuroku district, northern Japan. It was clarified that upward and downward sensitivity vectors were distinguished near the deposits inside and outside the tectonic basin, respectively. Sensitivity analysis for the second case study showed a strong effect of crystalline limestone on the important impurity, P₂O₅ contents. Hydrothermal alteration, which could cause leaching and secondary concentration of phosphorus, is considered to have produced this effect.     

Properties of simulated cosmic matters after gamma-ray and neutron irradiation

Interstellar and circumstellar matter is known to be strongly irradiated by cosmic radiation and several types of cosmic ray particles. The effects of irradiation on simulated interstellar and circumstellar matter such as CaCO₃, MgCO₃, SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ are investigated. Especially, thermoluminescence (TL) spectra after γ-ray and neutron irradiation are compared carefully. It is shown that the thermoluminescence after neutron irradiation appears significantly in the wavelength of blue region. On the reflectance in infrared region, the irradiation effect appears scarcely.