Late Triassic ammonoid Sirenites from the Sabudani Formation in Tokushima,Southwest Japan,and its biostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic implications

Discovery of Sirenites senticosus (Dittmar) in the upper part of the Sabudani Formation of the Kurosegawa Belt, Kito area, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, establishes a late Early Carnian age for this part of the stratigraphic unit. Because S. senticosus was mainly distributed in the Tethyan region, its occurrence provides evidence that Late Triassic ammonoids of Japan had strong affinities with those of the Tethyan faunas. This finding clearly differs from the biogeographic distribution of contemporary bivalves in the region, which are referred to as the Kochigatani bivalve faunas, and show strong affinities to faunas of the Boreal region.     

The Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter

The joint Japan/US/UK Hinode mission includes the first large-aperture visible-light solar telescope flown in space. One component of the Focal Plane Package of that telescope is a precision spectro-polarimeter designed to measure full Stokes spectra with the intent of using those spectra to infer the magnetic-field vector at high precision in the solar photosphere. This article describes the characteristics of the flight hardware of the Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter, and summarizes its in-flight performance.     

A systematic review of strong gravitational lens modeling software

Despite expanding research activity in gravitational lens modeling, there is no particular software which is considered a standard. Much of the gravitational lens modeling software is written by individual investigators for their own use. Some gravitational lens modeling software is freely available for download but is widely variable with regard to ease of use and quality of documentation. This review of 13 software packages was undertaken to provide a single source of information. Gravitational lens models are classified as parametric models or non-parametric models, and can be further divided into research and educational software. Software used in research includes the GRAVLENS package (with both gravlens and lensmodel), Lenstool, LensPerfect, glafic, PixeLens, SimpLens, Lensview, and GRALE. In this review, GravLensHD, G-Lens, Gravitational Lensing, lens and MOWGLI are categorized as educational programs that are useful for demonstrating various aspects of lensing. Each of the 13 software packages is reviewed with regard to software features (installation, documentation, files provided, etc.) and lensing features (type of model, input data, output data, etc.) as well as a brief review of studies where they have been used. Recent studies have demonstrated the utility of strong gravitational lensing data for mass mapping, and suggest increased use of these techniques in the future. Coupled with the advent of greatly improved imaging, new approaches to modeling of strong gravitational lens systems are needed. This is the first systematic review of strong gravitational lens modeling software, providing investigators with a starting point for future software development to further advance gravitational lens modeling research.     

Near-infrared and Visible Light Microthermometry of Fluid Inclusions in Sphalerite from a Possible Southeast Extension of the Toyoha Polymetallic Deposit, Japan

Abstract. Near-infrared (NIR) and visible light microthermometry was applied to the fluid inclusions in sphalerite from a possible southeast extension of the Toyoha polymetallic deposit. Sphalerite occurs as euhedral-subhedral crystals or collo-form aggregates with a variety of color, which contain a well-developed growth banding. Combined with morphological observations, fluid inclusions in dark-colored sphalerite were examined using a near-infrared light microscopic technique, whereas those in light-colored sphalerite and quartz were examined by a conventional visible light microscopy.
Salinities of fluid inclusions in dark-colored sphalerite have a wide variation (1.0–10.3 wt % NaCl equiv.) compared to that in light-colored sphalerite and quartz (0.0–3.4 wt % NaCl equiv.). These variations suggest that the conventional microthermometric data from light-colored sphalerite and quartz were inadequate to interpret the ore formation process. Dark-colored colloform sphalerite and a dark core of subhedral sphalerite formed from high-salinity fluids (6.5–10.3 wt % NaCl equiv.) under highly supersaturated conditions with respect to sphalerite.
The NIR and visible light microthermometry of fluid inclusions in sphalerite combined with its morphological observations is an invaluable method to infer the formation conditions of sphalerite. The NIR and visible light microthermometry is useful to reveal how the nature of ore fluids changed with time.     

Upper Cretaceous depositional environments and bivalve assemblages of far-east Asia: the Himenoura Group, Kyushu, Japan

The depositional environments and bivalve assemblages are determined for the Upper Cretaceous Hinoshima Formation of the Himenoura Group, Kamishima, Amakusa Islands, Kyushu, Japan. The Hinoshima Formation is characterized by a thick transgressive succession that varies from incised-valley-fill deposits to submarine slope deposits with high aggradation rates of depositional systems. The incised valley is filled with fluvial, bayhead delta, brackish-water estuary, and marine embayment deposits, and is overlain by thick slope deposits.Shallow marine bivalves are grouped into five fossil assemblages according to species composition: Glycymeris amakusensis (foreset beds of a bayhead delta), Nippononectes tamurai (foreset beds of a bayhead delta), Ezonuculana mactraeformis–Nucula formosa (central bay), Glycymeris amakusensis–Apiotrigonia minor (slope), and Inoceramus higoensis–Parvamussium yubarensis (slope). These bivalve assemblages all represent autochthonous and parautochthonous conditions except for a Glycymeris amakusensis–Apiotrigonia minor assemblage found in debris flow and slump deposits. The life habitats of these bivalves and the compositions of the assemblages are discussed in terms of the ecological history of fossil bivalves of the mid- to Late Cretaceous.     

Numerical study for specifying the major origin of low salinity water associated with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chattonella</Emphasis> (Raphidophyceae) blooms in Tachibana Bay,Japan

In both 2009 and 2010, massive Chattonella blooms occurred in Tachibana Bay. Observation results show that high cell densities of Chattonella were distributed in the central area of Tachibana Bay with low salinity water. Model results indicate that the low salinity water originated from the Ariake Sea and intruded into Tachibana Bay during the northerly or weak winds. It is suggested that low salinity water was mainly discharged from the northern area of the Ariake Sea. Northerly wind enhanced the horizontal advection of the low salinity water intruding into Tachibana Bay originating from the northern area of the Ariake Sea.     

Seasonal Variability in Circulation Pattern and Residence Time of Suo-Nada

The development and evolution of the persistent counterclockwise circulation in Suo-Nada have been studied in detail using a three-dimensional numerical model. The realistic circulation has been reproduced from the monthly climatological fields of salinity, temperature along the open boundary, wind, heat flux and buoyancy input from twenty-two major rivers surrounding the basin. The seasonal variation of fresh-water discharge from the rivers proved to be the most important forcing mechanism driving the circulation. The expansion and contraction of coastal low salinity water well corresponded with the development of counterclockwise circulation from spring to summer and dissipation from autumn to winter. The circulation was found to be vertically homogenous and quasi-barotropic. However, confined along the coastal zone is an estuarine flow (i.e., oppositely directed currents in the upper and lower layers) whose horizontal dimension conforms to the period of maximum buoyancy flux from the rivers. This indicates that the flow pattern in Suo-Nada can be separated into two distinct regions where the relative dominance of estuarine circulation plays a significant role. Furthermore, the monthly water exchange capacity for autonomous purification of the basin has been evaluated from the average residence time of conservative material based on the calculated current field. It is demonstrated that the kinetic energy of the basin is directly responsible in promoting water exchange in Suo-Nada. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Intraannual variability of sea level around Tosa Bay

Through analysis of monthly in situ hydrographic, tide gauge, altimetry and Kuroshio axis data for the years 1993–2001, the intraannual variability of sea level around Tosa Bay, Japan, with periods of 2–12 months is examined together with the intraannual variability of the Kuroshio south of the bay. It is shown that the intraannual variation of steric height on the slope in Tosa Bay can account for that of sea level at the coast around the bay as well as on this slope. It is found that the steric height (or sea level) variation on the slope in this bay is mainly controlled by the subsurface thermal variation correlated with the Kuroshio variation off Cape Ashizuri, the western edge of Tosa Bay. That is, when the nearshore Kuroshio velocity south of the cape is intensified [weakened] concurrently with the northward [southward] displacement of the current axis, temperature in an entire water column decreases [increases] simultaneously, mainly due to the upward [downward] displacement of isotherms, coincident with that of the main thermocline. It follows that the steric height (or sea level) decreases [increases].     

Circulation and Material Transport in Suo-Nada during Spring and Summer

An attempt was made to reproduce the circulation pattern in Suo-Nada, Japan during spring and summer season in order to elucidate the water exchange mechanism in the basin. Two hydrographic surveys at the end of each season were conducted covering the entire Suo-Nada area. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic Princeton Ocean Model (POM) was used to compute the current resulting from the observed density and wind field. During spring, a very pronounced counter clockwise gyre is situated near the opening of the basin. This is replaced by a clockwise circulation which seemed to occupy the whole domain during summer. Within each season, however, the vertical distribution of current does not show any remarkable differences, indicating the dominance of horizontal current and a very weak estuarine flow. These observational and numerical results were used to estimate the remnant function and the corresponding average residence time of permanently dissolved matter (PDM) and transformable matter (TM). The results revealed a small difference in the average residence times of materials within each season but a large seasonal variability between spring and summer. Furthermore, calculations based on climatological density fields have indicated a similar trend of variation between the seasonal values of average residence times. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.