Presence of high nitrate to phosphate ratio subsurface water in the Tsushima Strait during summer

To identify water with an excess nitrate concentration to phosphate ratio and its potential source, the nutrient concentrations in the Tsushima Strait (TSS) were investigated over ten cruises in August and September 2007–2014, excluding 2010. On the basis of the Redfield ratio, water with an excess nitrate concentration of >1 μM (positive ExNOx water) was identified below the surface mixed layer during four cruises in 2011–2013. Positive ExNOx water was present mainly in less-saline (<34) waters with a density of 22–25 σ _θ , and 25–75 m depth. However, in August 2012, positive ExNOx was detected in dense (25–25.5 σ _θ ) and deep (50–110 m depth) waters near the salinity maximum, although the salinity during this period was significantly lower than that in other years. The horizontal length of positive ExNOx water was >100 km across the TSS during two cruises in August 2012 and September 2013, respectively. According to multi-regression analysis conducted on the silicate concentration, temperature, and salinity, the silicate concentration was increased in the less-saline subsurface water. The required amount of original freshwater was 10^8–9 m³ day^?1 based on the excess nitrate concentration. This evidence indicates that the positive ExNOx water originated from large river waters such as the Changjiang. Thus, discharged water from the rivers of the East Asia is contributing to the increased N:P ratio in the Tsushima Warm Current, southern Japan Sea.     

Fifteen years progress of the TRITON array in the Western Pacific and Eastern Indian Oceans

The Triangle Trans‐Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) project by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology began with deployment in the western tropical Pacific Ocean in 1998 and has shifted to steady, long-term observations since 1999. After on-site inter-comparison with the Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System mooring system of the Tropical Atmosphere and Ocean (TAO) array by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the TRITON array became the international TAO/TRITON array in 2000 as a key component of the Global Ocean and Climate Observing Systems. The TAO/TRITON array took over from the TAO array, which was developed during the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere program (1985–1994), and replaced the western part of TAO with new additional real-time measurements of salinity and ocean currents. In 2001, two TRITON moorings were deployed in the eastern Indian Ocean for capturing the eastern pole of the Indian Ocean Dipole. From this initiative, the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS) was designed, and the Indian Ocean mooring array (Research Moored Array for Africa–Asian–Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction) was developed as a key component of IndOOS. In this paper, 15 years of progress in the TRITON project in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans is reviewed with regards to scientific outcomes, technological development, and collaborations with international and domestic partners. Future directions for sustainable observation in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are also discussed.     

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis shows that bacterial communities change with mid-ocean ballast water exchange

Ships carry ballast water for better stability and to control trim. However, the discharge of ballast water near ports is known to transport invasive species from one coastal area to another. The exchange of ballast water on the high seas is supposed to reduce such invasions of exotic species. In this study, we used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to analyze the composition of the bacterial community in ballast water before and after such a mid-ocean exchange, and we also measured total bacterial counts. Our findings confirmed that the ballast water was replaced by the mid-ocean exchange, as indicated by the marked change in the composition of the bacterial community. There was also a significant decrease in bacterial abundance after the mid-ocean exchange. Finally, our findings support the incubation hypothesis, because the composition of the bacterial communities changed over time within the same ballast water.     

Evidence for a Tang-Song Dynasty great earthquake along the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt prior to the 2008 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>w</Subscript> 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake,China

The magnitude (M _w) 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake occurred on 12 May 2008 in the Longmen Shan region of China, the transition zone between the Tibetan Plateau and the Sichuan Basin, resulting in widespread damage throughout central and western China. The steep, high-relief eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau has undergone rapid Cenozoic uplift and denudation accompanied by folding and thrusting, yet no large thrust earthquakes are known prior to the 2008 M _w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. Field and excavation investigations reveal that a great historical earthquake occurred in the Sichuan region that ruptured a >200-km-long thrust fault within the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt, China, which also triggered the 2008 M _w 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The average co-seismic slip amount produced by this historical earthquake is estimated to be 2–3 m, comparable with that caused by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Paleoseismic and archaeological evidence and radiocarbon dating results show that the penultimate great earthquake occurred in the Sichuan region during the late Tang-Song Dynasty, between AD 800 and 1000, suggesting a recurrence interval of ~1,000–1,200 years for Wenchuan-magnitude (M = ~8) earthquakes in the late Holocene within the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt. This finding is in contrast with previous estimates of 2,000–10,000 years for the recurrence interval of large earthquakes within the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt, as obtained from long-term slip rates based on the Global Positioning System and geological data, thereby necessitating substantial modifications to existing seismic-hazard models for the densely populated region at the eastern marginal zone of the Tibetan Plateau.     

Collapse simulation of a four‐story steel moment frame by a distributed online hybrid test

The collapse of a one‐bay, four‐story steel moment frame is simulated in this study by the proposed peer‐to‐peer (P2P) Internet online hybrid test system. The typical beam hinging mechanism, which is ensured by a strong‐column, weak‐beam design, is reproduced. The plastic hinges at the column bases are taken as the experimental portions, while the superstructure is analyzed numerically by a general‐purpose finite element program. The implicit plastic rotations of the two column bases are treated as boundary displacements. In order to account for the complex behavior of the column bases, the P2P system is modified to use the secant stiffness during iterations, and the physical specimens are designed such that the plastic hinge behavior can be obtained. For this study, the three substructures are distributed to different locations. A large ground motion is repeatedly imposed until the column bases lose their capacity to sustain the gravity load. As a result, significant deterioration is observed at both column bases. The proposed P2P system is thus demonstrated to be able to accommodate multiple‐tested substructures involving unstable behavior. The results suggest that the P2P Internet online hybrid test system provides a reliable means of studying structures up to collapse. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of Nonlinear Constraints in a Three-Dimensional Variational Ocean Analysis

Two kinds of nonlinear constraints, not previously studied in oceanography, have been adopted with the Preconditioned Optimizing Utility for Large-dimensional analyses (POpULar) in a three-dimensional oceanic variational analysis in the equatorial Pacific. One is the constraint for the variational Quality Control (QC) procedure and the other is used to avoid density and temperature inversions. Estimation of the large heat content anomaly in the upper ocean related to El Nino and La Nina phenomena is improved with the variational QC. For example, it prevents unusual but correct observation data on the thermocline deepening in the 1997/98 El Nino from being ignored. As a result, it improves the temperature field estimation in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The constraint for avoiding inversions prevents the low salinity layer at the surface and the barrier layer in the eastern equatorial Pacific in the El Nino period from being destroyed by the convective adjustment procedure performed after minimizing the cost function. Incorporating nonlinear constraints in variational analyses is thus a strong candidate for increasing the accuracy of analysis.     

Ocean Data Assimilation in the Tropical Pacific: A Short Survey

This short survey presents several research and operational developments of ocean data assimilation in the tropical Pacific, primarily for climate-scale phenomena. Aspects of theoretical error estimations, diagnostics and practical reduced space techniques are also briefly reported. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.