Large but variable particulate flux in the Antarctic Ocean and its significance for the chemistry of Antarctic water

Settling particles were collected at 1,460 m and 3,760 m depth in the Antarctic Ocean with sediment traps of time series type. The total deployment period of 40 days was divided into four terms of 10 days each. Seawater samples were collected both at deployment and retrieval of the traps at each site. During the 42 days the concentration of silicate in the surface water decreased by 32%, whereas those of nitrate and phosphate decreased by only 4–5%. The total particulate flux in the Antarctic Ocean is the largest among those hitherto observed in the world ocean. The time variation of the particulate flux at 1,460 m depth almost coincided with that at 3,760 m. The settling particles were comprised roughly of 80% biogenic silica, 15% organic matter and 5% other substances including sea salt. The clay fraction was only 0.05% at 1,460 m depth. The settling flux of biogenic silica agrees fairly well with the calculated rate of change in the concentration of silicate in the surface 100 m. Thus it is concluded that preferential propagation of diatoms reduces the concentration of silicate prior to other nutrients in the Antarctic Ocean.     

Long-term patterns in the diets of Japanese temperate bassLateolabrax japonicus larvae and juveniles in Chikugo estuarine nursery ground in Ariake Bay, Japan

Larval and juvenile Japanese temperate bass (Lateolabrax japonicus) samples were collected from a wide range of spatial gradients (covering a distance of approximately 30 km) in Chikugo estuary, Ariake Bay, Japan over a period of 8 yr (1997–2004) in order to observe changes in diet. Gut contents were studied by separating, identifying, counting, and estimating the dry weight of prey organisms. Copepod samples were collected during each cruise to observe the numerical composition, abundance, and biomass in the estuary. Considerable spatial and temporal variations were observed in copepod distributions in ambient water and the diets of the fish. Two distinctly different copepod assemblages were identified in the estuary: One in the upper estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM), dominated by a single speciesSinocalanus sinensis and the other in the lower estuary consisting of a multispecies assemblage, dominated byOithona davisae, Acartia omorii, Paracalanus parvus, andCalanus sinicus. The gut content composition of the fish in the upper estuary was dominated byS. sinensis, while in the lower estuary, it consisted ofP. parvus, O. davisae, andA. omorii. Within the size group analyzed (13.0–27.0 mm SL), the smaller individuals were found to feed on a mixed diet composed of smaller prey. The diets gradually shifted to bigger prey composed predominantly ofS. sinensis for larger size groups. Greater proportions of empty guts were recorded in the smaller individuals and dropped with increasing fish size. Higher dry biomass of copepods in the environment, as well as higher dry weights of gut contents, were recorded in the upper estuary, indicating that the upper estuarine ETM areas are important nursery grounds for the early life stages of the Japanese temperate bass. The early life stages of the Japanese temperate bass are adapted to use the upstream nursery grounds and ascending to the nursery areas to useS. sinensis is one of the key survival strategies of the Japanese temperate bass in the Chikugo estuary.     

Performance and topographic preferences of dynamic and steady models for shallow landslide prediction in a small catchment

Landslides - Used to reduce damage from rainfall-induced landslides and establish disaster-warning systems, physically based stability models are efficient tools for evaluating spatial or temporal...     

Perturbation theory of N point-mass gravitational lens systems without symmetry: small mass-ratio approximation

This paper makes the first systematic attempt to determine using perturbation theory the positions of images by gravitational lensing due to arbitrary number of coplanar masses without any symmetry on a plane, as a function of lens and source parameters. We present a method of Taylor-series expansion to solve the lens equation under a small mass-ratio approximation. First, we investigate perturbative structures of a single-complex-variable polynomial, which has been commonly used. Perturbative roots are found. Some roots represent positions of lensed images, while the others are unphysical because they do not satisfy the lens equation. This is consistent with a fact that the degree of the polynomial, namely the number of zeros, exceeds the maximum number of lensed images if   N = 3  (or more). The theorem never tells which roots are physical (or unphysical). In this paper, unphysical ones are identified. Secondly, to avoid unphysical roots, we re-examine the lens equation. The advantage of our method is that it allows a systematic iterative analysis. We determine image positions for binary lens systems up to the third order in mass ratios and for arbitrary N point masses up to the second order. This clarifies the dependence on parameters. Thirdly, the number of the images that admit a small mass-ratio limit is less than the maximum number. It is suggested that positions of extra images could not be expressed as Maclaurin series in mass ratios. Magnifications are finally discussed.     

Simple monitoring method for precaution of landslides watching tilting and water contents on slopes surface

A low-cost and simple monitoring method for early warning of landslides is proposed. To detect abnormal deformation of a slope, this method employs a tilt sensor in place of an extensometer on the slope surface. In order to examine the relevance of measuring rotation angle on a slope surface by tilt sensor, model tests were conducted, and rotation on the slope surface was observed together with slide displacement along the surface. The rotation data responded 30 min before failure in a model test, which could be useful as a signal for early warning. However, the behavior of rotation before failure varies from case to case, and thus, criteria to issue warning should be defined more carefully. For a model slope made of uniform loose sand, measurement of slide displacement along the slope surface is sensitive to failure at the toe, while the measurement of rotation on the slope surface is useful to detect the development of progressive failure upward along the slope. Wireless sensor units with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) tilt sensor and volumetric water content sensor were also examined on a real slope in Kobe City, and a long-term monitoring was attempted. A simple but possible way to define the criteria of judgment to issue warning can be proposed based on combination of data obtained by the tilt sensors and volumetric water content sensors.     

An evaluation of the apparent dissociation constants of carbonic acid in seawater

The internal consistency of five sets of apparent dissociation constants of carbonic acid in seawater obtained by Buch (1951), Lyman (1956), Edmond and Gieskes (1970), Hansson (1973) and Mehrbach et al. (1973) have been tested using the GEOSECS Atlantic data for the total alkalinity, the total CO₂ concentration and the partial pressure of CO₂. As a measure of the consistency for each of the five sets of the dissociation constants with the data, the 77 measured values of the partial pressure of CO₂ have been compared with those calculated from the alkalinity and total CO₂ values determined for these samples. It has been found that: (1) the apparent dissociation constants of Lyman (1956), Hansson (1973) and Mehrbach et al. (1973) appear to be internally consistent with the data, whereas those of Buch (1951) and of Edmond and Gieskes (1970) appear to be markedly inconsistent with the GEOSECS data; and (2) on the basis of a statistical analysis of the data grouped in three temperature ranges, the dissociation constants of Lyman (1956) and of Mehrbach et al. (1973) appear to be most satisfactory.     

A strategy for the use of bomb-produced radiocarbon as a tracer for the transport of fossil fuel CO2 into the deep-sea source regions

Because the equilibration time for CO₂ gas between the surface ocean and atmosphere is an order of magnitude shorter than the equilibration time for the isotopes of carbon, bomb-produced radiocarbon cannot be simply used as a tracer for fossil fuel CO₂. This difference is especially important for the areas of deep water formation. In this paper we derive the relationship between the isotopic equilibration time and chemical equilibration times for carbon between sea and air. We also show that if the distribution of a second transient tracer is measured, it is possible to circumvent the ambiguity associated with this exchange time difference. Tritium, while adequate in purely diffusive models, is not ideal as the second transient in models involving advection (i.e., downwelling). For such models⁸⁵Kr or freon is a much better choice.     

Nutrient and carbon removal ratios and fluxes in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Net community production (NCP) and nutrient deficits (Def(X)) were calculated using decreases in dissolved CO₂ and nutrient concentrations due to biological removal in the upper 200 m of the water column during four cruises in the Ross Sea, Antarctica along 76°30′S in 1996 and 1997. A comparison to excess dissolved and particulate organic carbon showed close agreement between surplus total organic carbon (TOC) and NCP during bloom initiation and productivity maximum; however, when TOC values had returned to low wintertime values NCP was still significantly above zero. This seasonal NCP, 3.9±1 mol C m⁻², must be equivalent to the particle export to depths greater than 200 m over the whole productive season. We estimate that the annual export was 55±22% of the seasonal maximum in NCP. The fraction of the seasonal maximum NCP that is exported through 200 m is significantly higher than that measured by moored sediment traps at a depth of 206 m. The removal of carbon, nitrate and phosphate (based on nutrient disappearance since early spring) and their ratios showed significant differences between regions dominated by diatoms and regions dominated by the haptophyte Phaeocystis antarctica. While the ΔC/ΔN removal ratio was similar (7.8±0.2 for diatoms and 7.2±0.1 for P. antarctica), the ΔN/ΔP and ΔC/ΔP removal ratios for diatoms (10.1±0.3 and 80.5±2.3) were significantly smaller than those of P. antarctica (18.6±0.4 and 134.0±4.7). The similarity in ΔC/ΔN removal ratios of the two assemblages suggests that preferential uptake of phosphate by diatoms caused the dramatic differences in ΔC/ΔP and ΔN/ΔP removal ratios. In contrast to low ΔC/ΔP and ΔN/ΔP removal ratio in diatom-dominated areas early in the growing season, deficit N/P and C/P ratios in late autumn indicate that the elemental stochiometry of exported organic matter did not deviate significantly from traditional Redfield ratios. Changes in biologically utilized nutrient and carbon ratios over the course of the growing season indicated either a substantial remineralization of phosphate or a decrease in phosphate removal relative to carbon and total inorganic nitrogen over the bloom period. The species dependence in C/P ratios, and the relative constancy in the C/N ratios, makes N a better proxy of biological utilization of CO₂.