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.     

Relationship between trace elements and depositional environments in shallow sediments: a case study from Southern Kanto Plain,Central Japan

Underground developments such as subways and shopping facilities have been increasing in number and magnitude in the relatively shallow subsurface of many urban areas where the earth materials commonly are composed of marine sediments. Marine sediments can contain significant amounts of toxic trace elements such as arsenic, boron, and lead. Changes in the subsurface environment caused by excavation and construction in underground developments could potentially cause these toxic elements to be dissolved into pore water of the sediments, which might lead to groundwater pollution. The purpose of this study is to investigate correlations among chemical properties of marine sediments, such as pH and electrical conductivity (EC), concentrations of toxic trace elements, and stratigraphic characteristics of the sediments. We selected three sites with different stratigraphic settings in the southern Kanto Plain around the Tokyo Metropolis. We collected core samples from shallow strata at a site in the Arakawa Lowland, southern Saitama, and at two sites in the Musashino Upland, Middle Tokyo. All sites have both marine and non-marine sediments up to 50–60 m in thickness. We determined trace element concentrations in the pore water, pH, EC, and loss on ignition. The results show that (1) the marine sediments tend to have low pH, high EC, and high sulfur concentration compared to the non-marine sediments (2) the concentration of most of the soluble heavy metals vary depending on the concentration of sulfate, the pH, and the formation processes of the strata, (3) the arsenic concentration is not related to sulfur concentration but apparently to Fe and Al concentrations, (4) the boron concentration is not related to any other properties implying that the boron level is independent of and cannot be predicted by common chemical properties, and (5) for all three sites, concentrations of most of the trace elements, EC, pH, and sulfate concentration were correlated with each other. This study shows that the concentration and potential mobilization of many toxic trace elements in marine sediments could be predicted by easily measurable pore water chemical properties such as pH and EC. This could be useful for predicting and avoiding the risk of groundwater pollution during underground development projects.     

Climate-related uncertainties in projections of the twenty-first century terrestrial carbon budget: off-line model experiments using IPCC greenhouse-gas scenarios and AOGCM climate projections

A terrestrial ecosystem model (Sim-CYCLE) was driven by multiple climate projections to investigate uncertainties in predicting the interactions between global environmental change and the terrestrial carbon cycle. Sim-CYCLE has a spatial resolution of 0.5°, and mechanistically evaluates photosynthetic and respiratory CO₂ exchange. Six scenarios for atmospheric-CO₂ concentrations in the twenty-first century, proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, were considered. For each scenario, climate projections by a coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) were used to assess the uncertainty due to socio-economic predictions. Under a single CO₂ scenario, climate projections with seven AOGCMs were used to investigate the uncertainty stemming from uncertainty in the climate simulations. Increases in global photosynthesis and carbon storage differed considerably among scenarios, ranging from 23 to 37% and from 24 to 81 Pg C, respectively. Among the AOGCM projections, increases ranged from 26 to 33% and from 48 to 289 Pg C, respectively. There were regional heterogeneities in both climatic change and carbon budget response, and different carbon-cycle components often responded differently to a given environmental change. Photosynthetic CO₂ fixation was more sensitive to atmospheric CO₂, whereas soil carbon storage was more sensitive to temperature. Consequently, uncertainties in the CO₂ scenarios and climatic projections may create additional uncertainties in projecting atmospheric-CO₂ concentrations and climates through the interactive feedbacks between the atmosphere and the terrestrial ecosystem.     

A possible cause of the AO polarity reversal from winter to summer in 2010 and its relation to hemispheric extreme summer weather

In 2010, the Northern Hemisphere, in particular Russia and Japan, experienced an abnormally hot summer characterized by record-breaking warm temperatures and associated with a strongly positive Arctic Oscillation (AO), that is, low pressure in the Arctic and high pressure in the midlatitudes. In contrast, the AO index the previous winter and spring (2009/2010) was record-breaking negative. The AO polarity reversal that began in summer 2010 can explain the abnormally hot summer. The winter sea surface temperatures (SST) in the North Atlantic Ocean showed a tripolar anomaly pattern—warm SST anomalies over the tropics and high latitudes and cold SST anomalies over the midlatitudes—under the influence of the negative AO. The warm SST anomalies continued into summer 2010 because of the large oceanic heat capacity. A model simulation strongly suggested that the AO-related summertime North Atlantic oceanic warm temperature anomalies remotely caused blocking highs to form over Europe, which amplified the positive summertime AO. Thus, a possible cause of the AO polarity reversal might be the “memory” of the negative winter AO in the North Atlantic Ocean, suggesting an interseasonal linkage of the AO in which the oceanic memory of a wintertime negative AO induces a positive AO in the following summer. Understanding of this interseasonal linkage may aid in the long-term prediction of such abnormal summer events.     

A model of river flow forecasting for a small forested mountain catchment

A model for quantitatively expressing the hydrological cycle in a forested mountain catchment is proposed as a HYCYMODEL. HYCYMODEL is able to predict both short- and long-term hydrographs because the model parameters remain independent of time. It shows a good applicability for ten years of continuous data at both hourly and daily intervals for the Kiryu catchment—a forested mountain basin. Since HYCYMODEL does not need hydrograph separation between storm flow and base flow, it is a particularly attractive model.     

Back transformation and oxidation of (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 spinels at high temperatures

Based on the in situ and temperature-quench X-ray measurements, the back transformation in the (Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄-spinels has been characterized in terms of the transformation temperature (T _r ),mechanism and kinetics of the transformation, and of the end product(s), with specific emphasis on the effect of oxygen on this transformation. The in situ measurements were conducted to 900° C in vacuum (10^-4 to 10^-5 torr) and to 600° C in air using synchrotron radiation (SR) at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL). In the quench-type measurements, samples were heated in air to 1100° C, quenched and examined at ambient conditions using the conventional X-ray diffraction facilities. Important results are (1) in vacuum, all the spinels convert back into the olivine phase, with their T _r decreasing with increasing iron content; (2) the spinel olivine back transformation is a nucleation and growth type of transformation and can be described quantitatively using the Avrami equation; (3) in air, the (Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄-spinels with 0.2 mole fraction Fe or more are all oxidized, and the composition and phase of the end products depend upon the temperature and the starting composition; and (4) the oxidation of the iron-rich (Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄-spinels in air occurs at 350–400° C, which is significantly lower than its T _r ( 300° C) in vacuum.     

Stress Concentration at the Bottom of a Borehole and its Effect on Borehole Breakout Formation

Summary Stress concentration at the bottom of a borehole due to the corners with small radius of curvature in an axial section and its effect on the azimuth of breakout was studied. To this end, a 3-D finite element analysis was conducted and the stress around the borehole was examined for boreholes arbitrarily oriented to three principal axes of remote stress. Results show that, in the case of high strength rock, compressive failure resulting in spalling of a borehole may occur only at the bottom of the borehole. The spalling can occur continuously with drilling, and results in continuous spalling with depth, i.e., a breakout. This type of breakout tends to form on one side of the borehole and its orientation is approximately perpendicular to the orientation of standard breakouts, inferred from the stress concentration due to the cylindrical shape of the borehole.     

Submarine flank eruption preceding caldera subsidence during the 2000 eruption of Miyakejima Volcano, Japan

During the early part of a seismic swarm preceding eruption and caldera formation at Miyakejima Volcano, discoloured sea surfaces were observed 1.5 km off the western coast of Miyakejima on 27 June 2000. A later survey of the area using a multi-beam side scan sonar and a remotely operated small submarine revealed four craters of 20–30 m diameter aligned east-west in a 100×10–30 m area on the seafloor, with hot water at 140°C being released from one of the centres. Each crater consists of submarine spatter overlain in part by scoria lapilli. Dredged spatter from the craters was fresh, and there was no evidence of activity of marine organisms on the spatter surface, indicating that the discoloured sea surface resulted from magmatic eruption on the seafloor. This eruption occurred when a westward-propagating seismic swarm, initiated beneath Miyakejimas summit, passed through the area. Finding new magma on the seafloor demonstrates that this seismic swarm was associated with intruding magma, moving outward from beneath Miyakejima. Submarine spatter shows flattened shapes with a brittle crust formed by cooling in water, and its composition is aphyric andesite of 54 wt% SiO₂. The spatter is similar in whole rock and mineral composition to spatter erupted in 1983. However, the wide range of Cl in melt inclusions in plagioclase of the 27 June submarine spatter shows that it is not simply a remnant of the 1983 magma, which has only high Cl melt inclusions in plagioclase. The mixed character of melt inclusions suggests involvement of a magma with low Cl melt inclusions. The magma erupted explosively on 18 August from Miyakejimas summit, considered as the second juvenile magma in this eruption, contains low Cl melt inclusions in plagioclase. Based on these observations and the eruption sequence, we present the following model: (1) A shallow magma chamber was filled with a remnant of 1983 magma that had evolved to a composition of 54–55 wt% SiO₂. (2) Injection of the 18 August magma into this chamber generated a mixed magma having a wide range of Cl in melt inclusions contained plagioclase. The magma mixing might have occurred shortly before the submarine eruption and could have been a trigger for the initiation of the removal of magma from the chamber as an extensive dyke, which eventually led to caldera subsidence.Editorial responsibility: S Nakada, T Druitt     

PSP-toxicification of the carnivorous gastropod Rapana venosa inhabiting the estuary of Nikoh River, Hiroshima Bay, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

During surveillance on the toxicity of invertebrates such as bivalves inhabiting the coasts of Hiroshima Bay in 2001 and 2002, the carnivorous gastropod rapa whelk Rapana venosa collected in the estuary of Nikoh River, was found to contain toxins which showed paralytic actions in mice; the maximum toxicities (as paralytic shellfish poison, PSP) were 4.2 MU/g (May 2001) and 11.4 MU/g (April 2002). Their total toxicities were 224 and 206 MU/viscera of one specimen throughout the monitoring period. Attempts were made to identify the toxic principle in the gastropod. The viscera were extracted with 80% ethanol acidified with acetic acid, followed by defatting with dichloromethane. The aqueous layer obtained was treated with activated charcoal and then applied to a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge. The unbound toxic fraction was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography techniques. The gastropod toxin was rather unexpectedly identified as PSP. It was comprised of high toxic component (gonyautoxin-3; GTX3, GTX2, saxitoxin; STX) as the major components, which accounted for approximately 91 mol% of all components along with C1 and C2, which are N-sulfocarbamoyl derivatives. Judging from their toxin patterns, it is suggested that the PSP toxification mechanism of the gastropod that PSP toxins produced by phytoplankton such as Alexandrium tamarense, are transferred to and accumulated in plankton feeders such as the short-necked clam, and then transferred to this carnivorous rapa whelk R. venosa through predation.