Role of Time-Delay Concept in Understanding Mechanism of Total Solar Irradiance Variation and its Effect on the Climate of the Earth

A time-delay concept is described to play a vital role in a hypothesis of the mechanism of the solar total irradiance variation driven by time variation of the thermal structure of the solar convection zone, with time scales on the order of 10 to 10000 years. The hypothesis is formulated on an empirical basis from an analysis of the observed data of the magnetic field of the Sun and of the global land-air temperature anomalies of the Earth, with the assumption that the land area of the Earth can be a good recorder of the solar total irradiance variation in the past. As a result of the assumption within the context of the present hypothesis, it was found that the solar total irradiance increase and the global warming of the Earth from the early 20th century to the present time could be caused by release of heat stored in the solar convection zone in the Maunder Minimum of the 17th century.     

Mineralogical study of brown olivine in Northwest Africa 1950 shergottite and implications for the formation mechanism of iron nanoparticles

Martian meteorites, in particular shergottites, contain darkened olivine (so‐called “brown olivine”) whose color is induced by iron nanoparticles formed in olivine during a shock event. The formation process and conditions of brown olivine have been discussed in the Northwest Africa 2737 (NWA 2737) chassignite. However, formation conditions of brown olivine in NWA 2737 cannot be applied to shergottites because NWA 2737 has a different shock history from that of shergottites. Therefore, this study observed brown olivine in the NWA 1950 shergottite and discusses the general formation process and conditions of brown olivine in shergottites. Our observation of NWA 1950 revealed that olivine is heterogeneously darkened between and within grains different from brown olivine in NWA 2737. XANES analysis showed that brown olivine contains small amounts of Fe³⁺ and TEM/STEM observation revealed that there is no SiO‐rich phase around iron metal nanoparticles. These observations indicate that iron nanoparticles were formed by a disproportionation reaction of olivine (3Fe²⁺_olivine → Fe⁰_metal + 2Fe³⁺_olivine + V_olivine, where V_olivine means a vacancy in olivine). Some parts of brown olivine show lamellar textures in SEM observation and Raman peaks in addition to those expected for olivine, implying that brown olivine experienced a phase transition (to e.g., ringwoodite). In order to induce heterogeneous darkening, heterogeneous high temperature of about 1500–1700 K and shock duration of at least ~90 ms are required. This heterogeneous high temperature resulted in high postshock temperature (>900 K) inducing back‐transformation of most high‐pressure phases. Therefore, in spite of lack of high‐pressure phases, NWA 1950 (= Martian meteorites with brown olivine) experienced higher pressure and temperature compared to other highly shocked meteorite groups.     

The 10-year time delay of the solar cycle luminosity modulation of the Sun behind the solar cycle magnetic oscillation

We found an evidence that the solar cycle luminosity modulation of the Sun deduced from the total irradiance modulation which was measured by the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) experiment on board of Nimbus 7 from November 16, 1978 to December 13, 1993 was not in phase with the solar cycle magnetic oscillation when we used the sunspot relative number as its index. The modulation was delayed in time behind the solar cycle magnetic oscillation by an amount of about 10.3 years on the order of length of one solar cycle. In order to quantitatively evaluate the correlation between the two quantities, we devised a method to extract characteristics which were proper to a particular solar cycle by defining a new index of the correlation called multiplied correlation index (MCI). We found that the characteristics of the ERB data time profile between solar cycles 21 and 22 were more similar to those of the solar cycle magnetic oscillation between solar cycles 20 and 21 than those between solar cycles 21 and 22 and thus the time profile of the luminosity modulation from the maximum phase of solar cycle 21 to the declining phase of the solar cycle 22 corresponded to the solar cycle magnetic oscillation from the maximum phase of solar cycle 20 to the declining phase of solar cycle 21. We interpret this phenomenon as an evidence that main features of the modulation is not caused by dark sunspots and bright faculae and plages on the surface of the Sun that should instantaneously affect the luminosity modulation but is caused by time-delayed modulation of global convection by the Lorentz force of the magnetic field of the solar cycle. The delay time of about 10.3 years is the time needed for the force to modify the flows of the convection and to modulate heat flow. Thus the delay time is a function of the strength of the magnetic field oscillation of the solar cycle which is represented by amplitude of the solar cycle. Accordingly, the delay time for other time intervals of the solar cycle magnetic oscillation with different amplitudes can be different from 10.3 years for the interval of the present analysis.     

On the characteristics of the basic framework of solar active regions and the magnetohydrodynamical structure of the convection zone

The characteristics of the basic framework of structure and development of solar active regions are interpreted as good indicators of the magnetohydrodynamical structure of the convection zone, the magnetic field lines of which are twisted and are made wave-like by the action of the very large scale non-axisymmetric convection, called here the global convection. The characteristics discussed in this paper are: (i) the preponderance of preceding spots of bipolar sunspot groups in strength and life time relative to the following spots of the groups, (ii) the tilt of bipolar axes of the sunspot groups to the local parallels of latitude, (iii) the forward inclination of normal axes of sunspots inferred from the east-west asymmetry of the appearance and total area of sunspots, (iv) the faster rotation of sunspots than the averaged fluid rotation, and (v) the association of the characteristics of an active region with the presence of an older active region in its vicinity and with the relative disposition of the two active regions.     

Continuing observation of disturbed reproductive cycle and ovarian spermatogenesis in the giant abalone, Haliotis madaka from an organotin-contaminated site of Japan

Histological examination of gonads as well as chemical analysis of organotin compounds in tissues of the giant abalone, Haliotis madaka, was conducted to evaluate continuing endocrine disruption in abalone populations in Japan. Abalone specimens were collected from two different areas, Tsushima as a reference site and Jogashima as a site representative of declining abalone populations where serious organotin contamination had been observed, each month from January 1998 to March 1999. Scores were given to the development stages of reproductive cells in the ovary and testis. The degree of sexual maturation was evaluated by calculating the mean value of a histogram of these scores for the reproductive cells of each abalone. The temporal variations in degree of sexual maturation showed that female and male abalone from Tsushima matured synchronously, while those from Jogashima did not, which were similar to results of the previous study during September 1995–November 1996. Approximately 19% of the female abalone from Jogashima were masculinized with an ovo-testis, which was also similar to the result of the previous study. The masculinization of female abalone is reported to be induced by tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT) from antifouling paints. Concentrations of the sum of butyltins (TBT, dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT): ΣBTs) and the sum of phenyltins (TPhT, diphenyltin (DPhT) and monophenyltin (MPhT): ΣPhTs) in the muscle of abalone from Jogashima (n = 73) of 7.8 ± 9.0 ng/g wet wt. and 4.5 ± 6.8 ng/g wet wt., respectively, were significantly higher than those from Tsushima (n = 87) of 4.7 ± 4.9 ng/g wet wt. and 0.8 ± 1.7 ng/g wet wt., respectively (p < 0.05 for ΣBTs; p < 0.001 for ΣPhTs), although concentrations of TBT and TPhT in the muscle of abalone from Jogashima (n = 73) of 2.2 ± 2.5 ng/g wet wt. and 5.8 ± 5.1 ng/g wet wt., respectively, were insignificantly and significantly higher than those from Tsushima (n = 87) of 0.4 ± 0.6 ng/g wet wt. and 0.5 ± 0.9 ng/g wet wt., respectively, (p > 0.05 for TBT; p < 0.001 for TPhT). Thus, endocrine disruption as well as contamination by organotins in the giant abalone from Jogashima is still persisting.     

Volumetric mapping of tubeworm colonies in Kagoshima Bay through autonomous robotic surveys

We developed and tested a comprehensive method for measuring the three-dimensional distribution of tubeworm colonies using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). We derived volumetric measurements such as the volume, area, average height, and number of tubes for colonies of Lamellibrachia satsuma, the world's shallowest-dwelling vestimentiferan tubeworm discovered at a depth of 82 m, at the Haorimushi site in Kagoshima Bay, Japan, by processing geometric and visual data obtained through low-altitude surveys using the AUV Tri-Dog 1. According to the results, the tubeworm colonies cover an area of 151.9 m², accounting for 5.8% of the observed area (2600 m²). The total number of tubes was estimated to be 99,500. Morphological parameters such as area, volume, and average height were estimated for each colony. On the basis of average height, colonies could be clearly separated into two groups, short (0.1-0.3 m) and tall (0.6-0.7 m), independent of the area.     

The Scutum ring ofHii regions

A ring of compact radio continuum sources was found atl=24°.6b=0°.0, which we call the Scutum ring. Radio continuum,Hi line, and CO line observations are suggested that it is a star-forming region triggered by an expanding diffuseHii region.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.NRO, a branch of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, University of Tokyo, is a cosmic radio observing facility open for outside users.     

Multivariate interpolation and information entropy for optimizing raingauge network in the Mekong River Basin

ABSTRACT

The applicability of multivariate interpolation and information entropy to optimize the raingauge network in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) is investigated. Three different spatial interpolation methods are tested: inverse distance squared (IDS), ordinary kriging (OK) and gradient plus inverse distance squared (GIDS). The validated results confirm that the GIDS method outperformed IDS and OK. The application of information entropy together with GIDS on a network of 57 gauges provided the same information content (7.34 nat) as could be obtained using all 6788 gauges in the MRB. Combining this result with meteorological and hydrological indicators revealed that the number of gauges for the optimum raingauge network could be reduced to 40. The results imply good applicability of the proposed method, which may be used to help prioritize efforts and funds to maintain the raingauge network in a given river basin.     

Compression of Na0.4Mg0.6Al1.6Si0.4O4 NAL and Ca-ferrite-type phases

Compression behaviors of two Al-rich phases in the lower mantle, hexagonal new aluminum-rich (NAL) phase and its high-pressure polymorph Ca-ferrite-type (CF) phase, were examined for identical Na_0.4Mg_0.6Al_1.6Si_0.4O₄ (40?% NaAlSiO₄–60?% MgAl₂O₄) composition. The volumes of the NAL and CF phases were obtained at room temperature up to 31 and 134?GPa, respectively, by a combination of laser-annealed diamond-anvil cell techniques and synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. Fitting of the third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state to such pressure–volume data yields bulk modulus K ₀?=?199(6) GPa at 1?bar and its pressure derivative K ₀′?=?5.0(6) for the NAL phase and K ₀?=?169(5) GPa and K ₀′?=?6.3(3) for the CF phase. These results indicate that the bulk modulus increases from 397 to 407 GPa across the phase transition from the NAL to CF phase at 43 GPa, where the NAL phase completely transforms into the CF phase on Na_0.4Mg_0.6Al_1.6Si_0.4O₄. Density also increases by 2.1?% across the phase transition.