Classification of Japanese rivers by heavy metals in bottom mud

Bottom mud was collected from the upper and lower reaches of 92 rivers in Japan to determine the distribution of 0.5N-HCI-soluble heavy metals. The average concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd in the mud from the lower reaches were from two to three times higher than those in the upper reaches. Japanese rivers were classified according to the degree of heavy metal pollution by using the values of 0.5N-HCI-soluble metals in the lower reaches of rivers. The content of 0.5N-HCI-soluble heavy metals in the mud of the upper reaches was used as the standard value. The classification of rivers was made by a cluster analysis according to Euclidian distance. As a result, rivers in Japan could be classified into three groups based on the degree of metal pollution, and the classification was in agreement with the pollution index.     

Online hybrid test by internet linkage of distributed test‐analysis domains

Online hybrid tests (called the online tests), particularly when combined with substructuring techniques, are able to conduct large‐scale tests. An extension of this technique is to combine multiple loading tests conducted in remote locations and to integrate the tests with large numerical analysis codes. In this study, a new Internet online test system is developed in which a physical test is conducted in one place, the associated numerical analysis is performed in a remote location, and the two locations communicate over the Internet. To implement the system, a technique that links test and analysis domains located at different places is proposed, and an Internet data exchange interface is devised to allow data communication across Internet. A practical method that utilizes standard protocols implemented by operating systems for sharing files and folders is adopted to ensure stable and robust communication between remotely located servers that commonly protect themselves by strict firewalls. To combine the online test with a finite element program formulated in an incremental form and adopting an implicit integration scheme, a tangent stiffness prediction procedure is proposed. In this procedure, a tangent stiffness is estimated based on a few previous steps of experimental data. Using the system devised, tests on a base‐isolated structure were carried out. Here, the base‐isolation layer was taken as the tested part and tested in Kyoto University, Japan, and the superstructure was modelled by means of a finite element program and analysed in a computer located in Osaka University. A series of physical Internet online tests were carried out, with the integration time interval and the method of tangent stiffness prediction as the major parameters. The tests demonstrated that the Internet communication was very stable and robust, without malfunctions. The proposed method of stiffness prediction was effective even when the experimental hysteresis curves exhibited complex behaviour, thereby ensuring accurate simulation for the earthquake response of the entire structure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent Dasycladales (Chlorophyta) in Okinawa Jima in the Central Ryukyus,southwestern Japan: Paleontological implications

Recent dasycladalean algae (Dasycladales, Chlorophyta) are classified into two families, 11 genera, and 44 species, and inhabit the tropical to warm‐temperate waters of the world. Twelve species of dasycladalean algae occur in Okinawa Jima, Ryukyu Islands. In this paper, the present‐day dasycladalean species and their distributions in Okinawa Jima are reported and their paleontological implications are discussed. Dasycladalean algae grow mainly on coral rubble and rocks, often forming large meadows in calm shallow lagoons. However, Dasycladus vermicularis occurs in deeper waters, at depths of 15–89 m, around Okinawa Jima. Neomeris annulata is found at water depths of 0–30 m. These data throw doubt on the interpretation that the occurrence of dasycladalean algae is linked to warm shallow habitats.     

Dissolved free amino acids in coastal seawater using a modified fluorometric method

The method of Parsonset al. (1984) for measuring dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) in coastal seawater was modified. We found considerable interference in DFAA determination from ammonia dissolved in coastal seawater, although the interference of urea could be ignored. For DFAA analysis for coastal seawater samples, ammonia determinations for the same sample are needed to correct DFAA values. For coastal surface seawater samples from all over the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, values of DFAA ranged from undetectable to 1.87 μg-at N/l when corrected for ammonia, while uncorrected values ranged from undetectable to 2.61 μg-at N/l. DFAA, urea, nitrate+nitrite, ammonia and DON concentrations in surface seawater collected in the Seto Inland Sea were analyzed simultaneously. DFAA at four seasons constituted from 1.4 to 10.1% of DON, with a mean value of 6.5%. The concentration of urea was similar to that of DFAA and often higher than that of ammonium, although generally lower than that of nitrate.     

Distribution of fault rocks in the fracture zone of the Nojima Fault at a depth of 1140 m: Observations from the Hirabayashi NIED drill core

Abstract Characteristics of deformation and alteration of the 1140 m deep fracture zone of the Nojima Fault are described based on mesoscopic (to the naked eye) and microscopic (by both optical and scanning electron microscopes) observations of the Hirabayashi National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) drill core. Three types of fault rocks; that is, fault breccia, fault gouge and cataclasite, appear in the central part of the fault zone and two types of weakly deformed and/or altered rocks; that is, weakly deformed and altered granodiorite and altered granodiorite, are located in the outside of the central part of the fault zone (damaged zone). Cataclasite appears occasionally in the damaged zone. Six distinct, thin foliated fault gouge zones, which dip to the south-east, appear clearly in the very central part of the fracture zone. Slickenlines plunging to the north-east are observed on the surface of the newest gouge. Based on the observations of XZ thin sections, these slickenlines and the newest gouge have the same kinematics as the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake (Kobe earthquake), which was dextral-reverse slip. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the freeze-dried fault gouge show that a large amount of void space is maintained locally, which might play an important role as a path for fluid migration and the existence of either heterogeneity of pore fluid pressure or strain localization.     

Simulations of dense planetary rings: IV. Spinning self-gravitating particles with size distribution

Previous self-gravitating simulations of dense planetary rings are extended to include particle spins. Both identical particles as well as systems with a modest range of particle sizes are examined. For a ring of identical particles, we find that mutual impact velocity is always close to the escape velocity of the particles, even if the total rms velocity dispersion of the system is much larger, due to collective motions associated to wakes induced by near-gravitational instability or by viscous overstability. As a result, the spin velocity (i.e., the product of the particle radius and the spin frequency) maintained by mutual impacts is also of the order of the escape velocity, provided that friction is significant. For the size distribution case, smaller particles have larger impact velocities and thus larger spin velocities, particularly in optically thick rings, since small particles move rather freely between wakes. Nevertheless, the maximum ratio of spin velocities between the smallest and largest particles, as well as the ratio for translational velocities, stays below about 5 regardless of the width of the size distribution. Particle spin state is one of the important factors affecting the temperature difference between the lit and unlit face of Saturn's rings. Our results suggest that, to good accuracy, the spin frequency is inversely proportional to the particle size. Therefore, the mixing ratio of fast rotators to slow rotators on the scale of the thermal relaxation time increases with the width of the particle size distribution. This will offer means to constrain the particle size distribution with the systematic thermal infrared observations carried by the Cassini probe.     

Standing stocks and production rates of phytoplankton and abundance of bacteria in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Standing stocks and production rates of phytoplankton and abundance of bacteria were investigated at 39 stations in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan during four crulses in October 1993, January, April and June 1994. Primary productivity was measured by the¹³C tracer method. Photosynthetic rate varied from 0.41 to 32.1 μgC/1/h with an average value of 4.67 μgC/l/h. Annual primary production was estimated to be 218 gC/m²/year. Annual primary production in this study was 1.8 times as high as the values which were previously reported at same area. The reason for the disagreement between our primary production value and previous values is not thought to be due to the difference of methods used for measuring primary production or the different Chl.a concentrations but to the method of estimating the primary production in the euphotic zone from thein vitro measurements. The distribution of bacterial cells in surface seawater was examined during the same cruises. Bacterial cell density ranged from 0.32 to 3.4×10⁶ cells/ml. The density was relatively high in the eutrophic regions of Hiroshima Bay and Osaka Bay In addition, a high density of bacteria was also observed in an area within Suo Nada where Chl.a was relatively low. The disparity between Chla and bacterial density in Suo Nada suggests that bacterial abundance can be controlled by the availability of substrates other than phytoplankton exudate.     

A multilayer model for thermal infrared emission of Saturn’s rings II: Albedo, spins, and vertical mixing of ring particles inferred from Cassini CIRS

Since the Saturn orbit insertion of the Cassini spacecraft in mid-2004, the Cassini composite infrared spectrometer (CIRS) measured temperatures of Saturn’s main rings at various observational geometries. In the present study, we apply our new thermal model (Morishima, R., Salo, H., Ohtsuki, K. [2009]. Icarus 201, 634-654) for fitting to the early phase Cassini data (Spilker, L.J., and 11 colleagues [2006]. Planet. Space Sci. 54, 1167-1176). Our model is based on classical radiative transfer and takes into account the heat transport due to particle motion in the azimuthal and vertical directions. The model assumes a bimodal size distribution consisting of small fast rotators and large slow rotators. We estimated the bolometric Bond albedo, A_V, the fraction of fast rotators in cross section, f_fast, and the thermal inertia, Γ, by the data fitting at every radius from the inner C ring to the outer A ring. The albedo A_V is 0.1-0.4, 0.5-0.7, 0.4, 0.5 for the C ring, the B ring, the Cassini division, and the A ring, respectively. The fraction f_fast depends on the ratio of scale height of fast rotators to that of slow rotators, h_r. When h_r = 1, f_fast is roughly half for the entire rings, except for the A ring, where f_fast increases from 0.5 to 0.9 with increasing saturnocentric radius. When h_r increases from 1 to 3, f_fast decreases by 0.2-0.4 for the B and A rings while no change in f_fast is seen for the optically thin C ring and Cassini division. The large f_fast seen in the outer A ring probably indicates that a large number of small particles detach from large particles in high velocity collisions due to satellite perturbations or self-gravity wakes. The thermal inertia, Γ, is constrained from the efficiency of the vertical heat transport due to particle motion between the lit and unlit faces, and is coupled with the type of vertical motion. We found that in most regions, except for the mid B ring, sinusoidal vertical motion without bouncing is more reasonable than cycloidal motion assuming bouncing at the midplane, because the latter motion gives too large Γ as compared with previous estimations. For the mid B ring, where the optical depth is highest in Saturn’s rings, cycloidal vertical motion is more reasonable than sinusoidal vertical motion which gives too small Γ.     

Life inhabits rocks: clues to rock erosion from electron microscopy of pisolite at a UNESCO heritage site in Brazil

Rock erosion is attracting increasing attention from scientists worldwide. The area encompassing the Saint John Baptist Church, Saint John Village, XVII century ruins in Rio Grande do Sul at the UNESCO World Heritage Site is considered a Brazilian treasure. However, the risk of damage to this site from rock erosion has recently increased tremendously. Generally, the rocky construction such as fence, wall and tomb stone, seems strong but is actually extremely sensitive to erosion caused by lichens, fungi, molds and bacteria. Because of biological erosion and massive exposure, the fresh rock is dominated by clays and microorganisms. Water-adsorbing clays and microorganisms influence the mechanisms of the rock erosion. In this study, the formation of bio-clay-minerals in porous structure of pisolite was demonstrated using electron microscopy. Bacterial clay mineralization can deform the rock structure and even produce organic materials. Biological activity could easily corrode rocky constructions around the Saint John Baptist Church site. The rocks are pisolitic laterites possibly formed in Tertiary over the Kretaceous Parana flood Basalts. Samples inhabited by lichens and fungi were collected from a collapsed wall in the ancient church. The zonal reddish-brown pisolites are 4 mm in diameter in a matrix of clays associated with porous and empty spaces. Elemental distribution maps from X-ray fluorescence microscopy show iron-rich spherules of pisolite, whereas the matrix is composed of Al, Si, Mn, and Sr; thus producing goethite and kaolinite. Transmission electron microscopic observation showed that various types of bacteria inhabit the spherule and are associated with clay minerals and graphite. STEM elemental analysis confirmed the bio-clay-mineralization with Al, Si, S, and Fe, around bacterial cells. The results presented here will improve our understanding of nm-scale bio-mineralization and bio-erosion in lateritic rocks. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

来自于九年后日本海纳霍德卡溢油污染海岸的碳氢化合物降解细菌和石蜡

近十年来，石油类碳氢化合物，尤其是油溢带来的污染引起了广泛的关注。油溢会影响到自然菌落及其受污染菌落点的物理和化学性质。生物降解碳氢化合物是一种主要的除去油类泄漏污染源的方法。1997年1月2日，一艘名为纳霍德卡（Nakhodka）的俄罗斯油轮在日本海发生重油溢漏污染事故。纳霍德卡号油溢事件导致粘稠的流体污染了海岸，影响了周围的生态环境。本文详述了碳氢化合物降解细菌（假单胞菌种）的褪变，确定了九年后来自于纳霍德卡号油溢污染海岸的有机化合物。经过十年的生物修复，纳霍德卡溢油变硬．XRD分析结果中与石墨和方解石有关的0．422，