Coastal upwelling along the north coast of Papua New Guinea and El Niño events during 1981–2005

We investigate the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) cooling and upwelling along Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) north coast before the onset of El Niño events using a hindcast experiment with a high-resolution ocean general circulation model. Coastal upwelling and related SST cooling appear along PNG north coast during the boreal winter before the onsets of six El Niño events occurring during 1981–2005. Relatively cool SSTs appear along PNG north coast during that time, when anomalous northwesterly surface wind stress, which can cause coastal upwelling by offshore Ekman transport appearing over the region. In addition, anomalous cooling tendencies of SST are observed, accompanying anomalous upward velocities at the base of the mixed layer and shallow anomalies of 27°C isotherm depth. It is also shown that entrainment cooling plays an important role in the cooling of the mixed layer temperature in this region.     

Open-system degassing of sulfur from Krakatau 1883 magma

We present the first sulfur and oxygen isotopic data for tephra from the catastrophic 1883 eruption of Krakatau. Sulfur isotopic ratios in unaltered Krakatau tephra erupted August 26–27, 1883 are markedly enriched in ³⁴S relative to mantle sulfur. High δ³⁴S values of +6.3 to +16.4‰ can best be explained by open-system or multi-stage degassing of SO₂ from the oxidized rhyodacitic and gray dacitic magmas with ³⁴S enrichment of SO²⁻₄ remaining in the melt. Lower whole-rock δ³⁴S values of +2.6‰ and +4.0‰ in two oxidized gray dacitic samples indicate more primitive subarc mantle sulfur in the 1883 magma chamber. Initial δ³⁴S of the rhyodacitic magma was probably in the +1.5‰ to +4.0‰ range and similar to δ³⁴S values measured in arc volcanic rocks from the Mariana Arc.     

Effectivity of dissolved SF6 tracer for clarification of rainfall–runoff processes in a forested headwater catchment

Understanding rainfall‐runoff processes is crucial for prevention and prediction of water‐related natural disasters. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) is a potential tracer, but few researches have applied it for rainfall‐runoff process studies. We observed multiple tracers including SF₆ in spring water at 1‐ to 2‐hr intervals during rainstorm events to investigate the effectivity of SF₆ tracer in rainfall–runoff studies through the clarification of rainfall–runoff process. The target spring is a perennial spring in a forested headwater catchment with an area of 0.045 km² in Fukushima, Japan. The relationship between the SF₆ concentration in spring water and the spring discharge volume was negative trend; the SF₆ concentration in spring water becomes low as the spring discharge volume increases especially during rainstorms. The hydrograph separation using SF₆ and chloride ion tracers was applied for determining the contribution of principal sources on rainfall–runoff water. It suggested more than 60% contribution of bedrock groundwater at the rainfall peak and high percentage contribution continued even in the hydrograph recession phase. Based on observed low SF₆ concentration in groundwater after heavy rainfall, the replacement of groundwater near the spring with bedrock groundwater is indicated as a mechanism for water discharge with low SF₆ concentration during rainfall events. Consequently, rainstorm events play an important role as triggers in discharging water stored in the deeper subsurface area. In addition, SF₆ tracer is concluded as one of the strongest tracers for examining rainfall–runoff process studies. And, therefore, this study provided new insights into the dynamics of groundwater and its responses to rainfall in terms of SF₆ concentration variance in water in headwater regions.     

Impact-induced N2 production from ammonium sulfate: Implications for the origin and evolution of N2 in Titan’s atmosphere

Chemical reactions and volatile supply through hypervelocity impacts may have played a key role for the origin and evolution of both planetary and satellite atmospheres. In this study, we evaluate the role of impact-induced N₂ production from reduced nitrogen-bearing solids proposed to be contained in Titan’s crust, ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄), for the replenishment of N₂ to the atmosphere in Titan’s history. To investigate the conversion of (NH₄)₂SO₄ into N₂ by hypervelocity impacts, we measured gases released from (NH₄)₂SO₄ that was exposed to hypervelocity impacts created by a laser gun. The sensitivity and accuracy of the measurements were enhanced by using an isotope labeling technique for the target. We obtained the efficiency of N₂ production from (NH₄)₂SO₄ as a function of peak shock pressure ranging from ∼8 to ∼45 GPa. Our results indicate that the initial and complete shock pressures for N₂ degassing from (NH₄)₂SO₄ are ∼10 and ∼25 GPa, respectively. These results suggest that cometary impacts on Titan (i.e., impact velocity v_i > ∼8 km/s) produce N₂ efficiently; whereas satellitesimal impacts during the accretion (i.e., v_i < 4 km/s) produce N₂ only inefficiently. Even when using the proposed small amount of (NH₄)₂SO₄ content in the crust (∼4 wt.%) (Fortes, A.D. et al., 2007. Icarus 188, 139-153), the total amount of N₂ provided through cometary impacts over 4.5 Ga reaches ∼2-6 times the present atmospheric N₂ (i.e., ∼7 × 10²⁰-2 × 10²¹ [mol]) based on the measured production efficiency and results of a hydrodynamic simulation of cometary impacts onto Titan. This implies that cometary impacts onto Titan’s crust have the potential to account for a large part of the present N₂ through the atmospheric replenishment after the accretion.     

Uranium-series chronology for sediments of Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia, and the 1-Ma records of uranium and thorium isotopes from the HDP-04 drill core

Uranium and thorium isotopes in an 81-m long sediment core (HDP-04) of Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia, were measured to investigate their downcore distributions and to explore potential linkage to paleoenvironmental changes. Three-dimensional isochron techniques using isotope-ratio diagrams in ²³⁸U–²³⁴U–²³⁰Th–²³²Th system presented by Ludwig and Titterington were applied to age date the lake sediments at the depths of 11.42, 14.71 and 14.83 m in the HDP-04 section, the estimated ages of these horizons are 66 ± 8, 122 ± 11 and 128 ± 22 ka, respectively. The ²³⁸U concentration throughout the entire section fluctuated by a factor of 12, ranging from 19.9 to 232.1 mBq/g with anomalously high ²³⁸U peak at 23.8 m in depth, while the ²³²Th concentration varied only by a factor of about two between 24.3 and 54.0 mBq/g. The discrimination of the bulk ²³⁸U into authigenic and terrigenous ²³⁸U fractions was attempted, based on the measured ²³²Th as a correction index for terrigenous materials. In the upper 24 m corresponding to the last 250 ka, the authigenic ²³⁸U was higher in interglacials and lower in glacials. This depth profile of authigenic ²³⁸U contents was almost identical pattern with that found in a sediment core (VER98-1-6) from the Academician Ridge, Lake Baikal. Further, this profile can be correlated well with that of photosynthetic pigment contents, one of proxies of paleoproductivity, suggesting that the variation of authigenic ²³⁸U contents were associated with the environmental change around Lake Hovsgol.     

Characterization of drying-induced deformation behaviour of Opalinus Clay and tuff in no-stress regime

The drying-induced deformation behaviour of Opalinus Clay and tuff, which are being investigated under international and local collaborative projects for nuclear waste disposal in Switzerland and Japan, was investigated under a no-stress condition in the laboratory to evaluate their generic susceptibility to the formation of excavation damaged zone. The cylindrical core samples of Opalinus Clay and tuff were prepared to a one-dimensional drying condition and submitted to an uncontrolled laboratory environment. The strain evolution, evaporative water loss and environmental entities, such as temperature and relative humidity, were recorded simultaneously and quasi-continuously. It was observed that the drying phase induced significant strain magnitude and damage in Opalinus Clay samples, which was evidenced by the formation of hairy cracks on the surface parallel to the bedding. On the contrary, the strain occurrences in tuff samples were relatively insignificant, and no tendency of cracking was observed. In addition, the quasi-continuous availability of volumetric strains was further used in poroelastic relation for the estimation of capillary suction evolution. The calculated results were validated with pore size distributions obtained from mercury intrusion porosimetry.     

Estimation of urban heat island intensity using biases in surface air temperature simulated by a nonhydrostatic regional climate model

This study demonstrates that urban heat island (UHI) intensity can be estimated by comparing observational data and the outputs of a well-developed high-resolution regional climate model. Such an estimate is possible because the observations include the effects of UHI, whereas the model used does not include urban effects. Therefore, the errors in the simulated surface air temperature, defined as the difference between simulated and observed temperatures (simulated minus observed), are negative in urban areas but 0 in rural areas. UHI intensity is estimated by calculating the difference in temperature error between urban and rural areas. Our results indicate that overall UHI intensity in Japan is 1.5 K and that the intensity is greater in nighttime than in daytime, consistent with the previous studies. This study also shows that root mean square error and the magnitude of systematic error for the annual mean temperature are small (within 1.0 K).     

Sulfur isotopic characteristics of late Cenozoic ore deposits at the arc junction of Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract Sulfide minerals of late Cenozoic vein-type deposits of southwest Hokkaido and Kuril Islands yielded δ³⁴_CDT S values of 2 to 8 permil, which are typical green-tuff values of magnetite-series igneous terrane. Sulfides of the Kitami district of northeast Hokkaido, on the other hand, are characterized by negative δ³⁴S_CDT values, ranging from 0 to - 7 permil. This unique value among ore deposits in the late Cenozoic back-arc terranes in the Japanese Islands is considered to have resulted from extraction of ³²S enriched sulfur from the basement rocks, because of well-developed N-S fracturing in the basement, which is characteristic of the axial belt and Kitami district of Hokkaido.     

Effects of a physical librations of the moon caused by a liquid core,and determination of the fourth mode of a free libration

An analytical theory of lunar physical librations based on its two-layer model consisting of a non-spherical solid mantle and ellipsoidal liquid core is developed. The Moon moves on a high-precision orbit in the gravitational field of the Earth and other celestial bodies. The defined fourth mode of a free libration is caused by the influence of the liquid core, with a long period of 205.7 yr, with amplitude S = 0″0395 and with an initial phase Π₀ = ?134° (for the initial epoch 2000.0). Estimates of dynamic (meridional) oblatenesses of a liquid core of the Moon have been estimated: ?_D = 4.42 × 10^?4, μ_D = 2.83 × 10^?4 (?_D + μ_D = 7.24 × 10^?4). These results have been obtained as a result of comparison of the developed analytical theory of physical librations of the Moon with the empirical theory of librations of the Moon constructed on the basis of laser observations.