Plasma dynamics at the very initial phases of flares

Solar Physics - Plasma motions at the initial phases of flares observed in the high resolution soft X-ray spectrometers are summarized. Blue-shifted components of highly ionized metal ions suggest...     

Study on the selection of unsaturated flow model for the different types of soil and soft rock

Precise estimation of unsaturated hydraulic properties of porous media is indispensable in various study areas, such as analyzing the moisture flow, the drying process occurring from the surface, and the pollutant migration beneath the ground surface. Although many empirical/theoretical models describing the unsaturated hydraulic properties have been proposed by several previous researchers, the best model for the different types of soil/rock may not be identical. Thus, the model selection process and the estimation technique of the parameters included in the models should be developed. In the present study, the inverse technique based on the transient evaporation change was investigated to select the model and estimate the model parameters. The experimental work was based on a relatively low permeable soft rock and a relatively high permeable sandy soil (Toyoura standard sand). Experimental equipment was developed to precisely measure the evaporation rate for the high permeable sandy soil. The Genetic Algorithm (GA) was adopted in the inverse technique as an optimization tool. In order to simplify the problem, only the drying process from the saturated condition was considered. It was established that the information concerning the transient evaporation change could be used for the model selection and parameter estimation. Further, the saturation distribution could be used for the selection of the models. The present study provides important information for the development of the model selection process.     

A Preliminary Study of Oceanic Bomb Radiocarbon Inventory in the North Pacific during the Last Two Decades

Radiocarbon and total carbonate data were obtained near the 1973 GEOSECS stations in the North Pacific along 30°N and along 175°E between 1993 and 1994. In these stations, we estimated radiocarbon originating from atomic bomb tests using tritium, trichlorofluoromethane and silicate contents. The average penetration depth of bomb radiocarbon during the two decades has deepened from 900 m to 1300 m. Bomb radiocarbon inventories above the average value for the whole North Pacific were found widely in the western subtropical region around 30°N both in the 1970s and 1990s, and its area in the 1990s was broader than that in the 1970s. In most of the North Pacific, while the bomb radiocarbon has decreased above 25.4, the bomb radiocarbon flux below 25.4 was over 1 × 10¹² atom m^-2yr^-1 in the subtropical region around 30°N. In the tropical area south of 20°N, the bomb radiocarbon inventory below 25.4 increased from zero to over 10 × 10¹² atom m^-2 during the last three decades. These distributions suggest that the bomb radiocarbon removed from the surface is currently accumulated with bomb ¹⁴C flux of over 1 × 10¹² atom m^-2yr^-1 below 25.4 in the subtropical region, mainly by advection from the higher latitude, and that part of the accumulated bomb ¹⁴C gradually spread southward with about 30 years.     

Optical absorption and electron spin resonance in blue and green natural beryl

A comparative study of blue and green beryl crystals (from the region of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil) using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and optical absorption (OA) spectroscopy is reported. The EPR spectra show that Fe³⁺ in blue beryl occupies a substitutional Al³⁺ site and in green beryl is localized in the structural channels between two O₆ planes. On the other hand the infrared spectra show that the alkali content in the blue beryl is mostly at substitutional and/or interstitial sites and in green beryl is mostly in the structural channels. The OA spectra show two types of Fe²⁺. Thermal treatments above 200° C in green beryl cause the reduction of Fe³⁺ into Fe²⁺ accompanied by a change of color to blue. The blue beryl color does not change on heating. The kinetics of the thermal conversion of Fe³⁺ into Fe²⁺ is composed of two first order processes; the first one has an activation energy ΔE ₁=0.30 eV and the second one has an activation energy ΔE ₂=0.46 eV.     

Reconstruction of sea surface dimethylsulfide in the North Pacific during 1970s to 2000s

We proposed an empirical equation of sea surface dimethylsulfide (DMS, nM) using sea surface temperature (SST, K), sea surface nitrate (SSN, μM) and latitude (L, °N) to reconstruct the sea surface flux of DMS over the North Pacific between 25°N and 55°N: ln DMS = 0.06346 · SST − 0.1210 · SSN − 14.11 · cos(L) − 6.278 (R² = 0.63, p < 0.0001). Applying our algorithm to climatological hydrographic data in the North Pacific, we reconstructed the climatological distributions of DMS and its flux between 25 °N and 55 °N. DMS generally increased eastward and northward, and DMS in the northeastern region became to 2–5 times as large as that in the southwestern region. DMS in the later half of the year was 2–4 times as large as that in the first half of the year. Moreover, applying our algorithm to hydrographic time series datasets in the western North Pacific from 1971 to 2000, we found that DMS in the last three decades has shown linear increasing trends of 0.03 ± 0.01 nM year^− 1 in the subpolar region, and 0.01 ± 0.001 nM year^− 1 in the subtropical region, indicating that the annual flux of DMS from sea to air has increased by 1.9–4.8 μmol m^− 2 year^− 1. The linear increase was consistent with the annual rate of increase of 1% of the climatological averaged flux in the western North Pacific in the last three decades.     

Long-term changes in the fish community structure from the Tsushima warm current region of the Japan/East Sea with an emphasis on the impacts of fishing and climate regime shift over the last four decades

Japanese fisheries production in the Japan/East Sea between 1958 and 2003 increased to their peak (1.76 million tons) in the late 1980s and decreased abruptly with the collapse of Japanese sardine. Catch results for 58 fisheries and various environmental time-series data sets and community indices, including mean trophic level (MTL) and Simpson’s diversity index (DI), were used to investigate the impacts of fishing and climate changes on the structure of the fish community in the Tsushima warm current (TWC) region of the Japan/East Sea. The long-term trend in fisheries production was largely dependent on the Japanese sardine that, as a single species, contributed up to 60% of the total production in the Japanese waters of the Japan/East Sea during the late 1980s. Excluding Japanese sardine, production of the small pelagic species was higher during 1960s and 1990s but lower during 1970s and 1980s. This variation pattern generally corresponds with the trend in water temperature, warmer before early 1960s and after 1990s but colder during 1970s and 1980s. The warm-water, large predatory fishes and cold water demersal species show opposite responses to the water temperature in the TWC region, indicating the significant impact of oceanic conditions on fisheries production of the Japan/East Sea. Declines in demersal fishes and invertebrates during 1970s and 1980s suggested some impact of fishing. MTL and DI show a similar variation pattern: higher during 1960s and 1990s but lower during 1970s and 1980s. In particular, the sharp decline during the 1980s resulted from the abundant sardine catches, suggesting that dominant species have a large effect on the structure of the fish community in the Japan/East Sea. Principal component analysis for 58 time-series data sets of fisheries catches suggested that the fish community varied on inter-annual to inter-decadal scales; the abrupt changes that occurred in the mid-1970s and late 1980s seemed to correspond closely with the climatic regime shifts in the North Pacific. These results strongly suggest that the structure of the fish community in the Japan/East Sea was largely affected by climatic and oceanic regime shifts rather than by fishing. There is no evidence showing “fishing down food webs” in the Japan/East Sea. However, in addition to the impacts of abrupt shifts that occurred in the late 1980s, the large predatory and demersal fishes seem to be facing stronger fishing pressure with the collapse of the Japanese sardine.     

Distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nemopilema nomurai</Emphasis> in the southwestern Sea of Japan related to meandering of the Tsushima Warm Current

We investigated the horizontal distribution of Nemopilema nomurai medusae using a midwater trawl in the southwestern Sea of Japan from September to October of each year from 2006 to 2012. Numerous medusae of this species found in 2006, 2007, and 2009 were mainly distributed far (>40 km) from the mainland of Japan in the western part of the survey area, but were distributed in the stations closest (<25 km) to the mainland in the eastern part, particularly in 2006 and 2009. These distribution patterns were associated with the path of the second branch of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) that flows offshore to the west of Oki Islands and usually approaches the mainland of Japan to the east of Oki Islands. Differences in jellyfish distribution across the survey periods were related to the distribution of the second branch being associated with types, position and intensity of eddies in the eastern part of the survey area. Hence, the formations of eddies and consequent variation in the path of the TWC would be responsible for transporting medusae from offshore to near the mainland to the east of Oki Islands. Individuals with large bells accumulated in the northwestern part of the survey area, where a cyclonic eddy was present downstream of the third branch of the TWC. This variation in bell size distribution may be ascribed to differences in the physical and/or biological factors among the three branches of the TWC.     

Spatial distribution of sister species of vesicomyid bivalves Calyptogena okutanii and Calyptogena soyoae along an environmental gradient in chemosynthetic biological communities in Japan

Vesicomyid bivalves have a substantial biomass in deep-sea chemosynthetic biological communities in the Pacific. Using a novel multiplex-PCR (mPCR) method to identify the co-occurring vesicomyids in Sagami Bay, we analyzed the distribution of Calyptogena okutanii and Calyptogena soyoae along environmental gradients. All the known distributions of C. okutanii indicated the different preferences in salinity and temperature to those of C. soyoae, and in Sagami Bay, depth seemed to be an important environmental factor, too. Although the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in sediment was not examined, our results showed that the distributions of these two Calyptogena clams were affected by salinity and temperature.     

A near-inertial current event in the homogeneous deep layer of the northern Sea of Japan during winter

Under strong surface wind forcing during winter, direct current observations in the northern Sea of Japan show the existence of strong near-inertial currents in the deep water that is characterized by the extremely homogeneous vertical structures of temperature and salinity. However, the mechanism generating internal waves in the deep water of the northern Sea of Japan has not been well understood. In this study, to clarify the dynamical link between the surface wind forcing and near-inertial currents in the deep water of the northern Sea of Japan, we drive a general circulation model taking into account realistic wind stress, ocean bottom and land topography. In the northern Sea of Japan, the numerical results show that vertically coherent horizontal currents with a speed of ~ 0.05 m s^?1 are excited throughout the homogeneous deep water. A two-layer model successfully reproduces the pattern of the horizontal current velocities shown by the general circulation model, indicating that internal waves emanate westward from the northwestern coast of Japan through coastal adjustment to the strong wind forcing event and, while propagating into the ocean interior, they excite evanescent near-inertial response throughout the lower layer below the interface.