Excess228Th in the airborne dust: an indicator of continental dust from the East Asian deserts

Thorium isotopes in the airborne dust collected at Tsukuba Science City in Japan from January 1981 to December 1982 show clear seasonal variations. Especially²²⁸Th in the airborne particles have a typical maximum cincentration between February and April, which is about an order of magnitude higher than during the remainder of the year. According to the result of size distribution of thorium isotope-bearing particles in the air, about 53% of²²⁸Th is associated with the particles less than 1.6 μm aerodynamic diameter. These results reveal that²²⁸Th in the airborne particles is present in fine soily matters originating from the East Asian deserts.     

Predictability of Interannual Variability in the Kuroshio Transport South of Japan Based on Wind Stress Data over the North Pacific

It is expected that a roughly two-year forecast of the Kuroshio transport variation can be made from a past record of wind stress data over the ocean, since it takes nearly ten years for the first-mode baroclinic Rossby wave to traverse the entire basin in the midlatitude North Pacific (∼30°N). We therefore investigated the predictability using an ocean general circulation model driven by the wind stress data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. Referring to a hindcast experiment as the control run, we carried out fifteen forecast experiments, the initial conditions of which are taken from the hindcast experiment at intervals of two years during the period from the end of 1969 to the end of 1997. Each of the forecast experiments is driven only by wind stress in the year preceding each experiment. The forecasted Kuroshio transport anomaly south of Japan agrees better with the hindcasted one during the first two years of the forecast in most cases. In some cases, however, significant disagreements occur, most of which are likely due to larger unpredictable variations caused by wind stress anomalies near Japan. At the end of forecast year 2, the anomaly correlation coefficient is about 0.7, and rms of the forecast error is smaller than rms of the hindcasted anomaly. These results indicate that the prediction of the interannual variability in the Kuroshio transport could be made two years in advance at a statistically significant level. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The content of selenium and its chemical form in sea water

By using the new fluorometric method of determination of the total selenium ( Se), Se (IV) and Se (VI), the content of selenium in sea weter was determined in the western North Pacific. Results showed that the content of Se in surface water ranged from 0.06 to 0.12g l^–1, while in deeper layers, the content increased to 0.20g l^–1. It was found that Se (IV) showed rather uniform distribution with depth, while Se (VI) increased with depth to about three times that in the surface. The ratio of Se (IV) to the Se ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 in the surface and 0.4 to 0.6 in the deep. The coexistence of the hexa- and tetravalent ions of selenium was confirmed both in surface and deep layers. Some results of observations on the content of selenium in the coastal areas of Japan were also reported.     

Integrated “plume winter” scenario for the double-phased extinction during the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition: The G-LB and P-TB events from a Panthalassan perspective

The event across the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition involved the greatest mass extinction in history together with other unique geologic phenomena of global context, such as the onset of Pangean rifting and the development of superanoxia. The detailed stratigraphic analyses on the Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks documented a two-stepped nature both of the extinction and relevant global environmental changes at the Guadalupian–Lopingian (Middle and Upper Permian) boundary (G-LB, ca. 260 Ma) and at the Permo-Triassic boundary (P-TB, ca. 252 Ma), suggesting two independent triggers for the global catastrophe. Despite the entire loss of the Permian–Triassic ocean floors by successive subduction, some fragments of mid-oceanic rocks were accreted to and preserved along active continental margins. These provide particularly important dataset for deciphering the Permo-Triassic paleo-environments of the extensive superocean Panthalassa that occupied nearly two thirds of the Earth’s surface. The accreted deep-sea pelagic cherts recorded the double-phased remarkable faunal reorganization in radiolarians (major marine plankton in the Paleozoic) both across the G-LB and the P-TB, and the prolonged deep-sea anoxia (superanoxia) from the Late Permian to early Middle Triassic with a peak around the P-TB. In contrast, the accreted mid-oceanic paleo-atoll carbonates deposited on seamounts recorded clear double-phased changes of fusuline (representative Late Paleozoic shallow marine benthos) diversity and of negative shift of stable carbon isotope ratio at the G-LB and the P-TB, in addition to the Paleozoic minimum in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratio in the Capitanian (Late Guadalupian) and the paleomagnetic Illawarra Reversal in the late Guadalupian. These bio-, chemo-, and magneto-stratigraphical signatures are concordant with those reported from the coeval shallow marine shelf sequences around Pangea. The mid-oceanic, deep- and shallow-water Permian records indicate that significant changes have appeared twice in the second half of the Permian in a global extent. It is emphasized here that everything geologically unusual started in the Late Guadalupian; i.e., (1) the first mass extinction, (2) onset of the superanoxia, (3) sea-level drop down to the Phanerozoic minimum, (4) onset of volatile fluctuation in carbon isotope ratio, 5) ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of the Paleozoic minimum, (6) extensive felsic alkaline volcanism, and (7) Illawarra Reversal.The felsic alkaline volcanism and the concurrent formation of several large igneous provinces (LIPs) in the eastern Pangea suggest that the Permian biosphere was involved in severe volcanic hazards twice at the G-LB and the P-TB. This episodic magmatism was likely related to the activity of a mantle superplume that initially rifted Pangea. The supercontinent-dividing superplume branched into several secondary plumes in the mantle transition zone (410–660 km deep) beneath Pangea. These secondary plumes induced the decompressional melting of mantle peridotite and pre-existing Pangean crust to form several LIPs that likely caused a “plume winter” with global cooling by dust/aerosol screens in the stratosphere, gas poisoning, acid rain damage to surface vegetation etc. After the main eruption of plume-derived flood basalt, global warming (plume summer) took over cooling, delayed the recovery of biodiversity, and intensified the ocean stratification. It was repeated twice at the G-LB and P-TB.A unique geomagnetic episode called the Illawarra Reversal around the Wordian–Capitanian boundary (ca. 265 Ma) recorded the appearance of a large instability in the geomagnetic dipole in the Earth’s outer core. This rapid change was triggered likely by the episodic fall-down of a cold megalith (subducted oceanic slabs) from the upper mantle to the D″ layer above the 2900 km-deep core-mantle boundary, in tight association with the launching of a mantle superplume. The initial changes in the surface environment in the Capitanian, i.e., the Kamura cooling event and the first biodiversity decline, were probably led by the weakened geomagnetic intensity due to unstable dipole of geodynamo. Under the low geomagnetic intensity, the flux of galactic cosmic radiation increased to cause extensive cloud coverage over the planet. The resultant high albedo likely drove the Kamura cooling event that also triggered the unusually high productivity in the superocean and also the expansion of O₂ minimum zone to start the superanoxia.The “plume winter” scenario is integrated here to explain the “triple-double” during the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition interval, i.e., double-phased cause, process, and consequence of the greatest global catastrophe in the Phanerozoic, in terms of mantle superplume activity that involved the whole Earth from the core to the surface biosphere.     

Measurements of directional spectrum of wind waves using an array of wave detectors Part II. Field observation

The directional spectrum of wind waves was observed using seven wave gauges at the marine observation tower. Directional spectrum was calculated by the method described inFujinawa (1974 a) which assures the high directional resolving power. Under the nearly uniform condition of the wind the process of wave development was studied by the use of the data of the directional spectrum. The analysis revealed that, 1) the mean wave direction does not necessarily coincide with the wind direction, 2) the directional spreading is much narrower than hitherto reported, 3) the growth rate is closely proportional to the square of cosine of the angle between the wave direction and the wind direction, 4) the resonancetype wave-wave interaction plays only minor role in the process of wave development for any wave component in the earlier stage of development and for the most rapidly developing component in the main stage of development.     

Accuracy of areal interpolation: A comparison of alternative methods

This paper discusses the accuracy of spatial data estimated by areal interpolation, a process of transferring data from one zonal system to another. A stochastic model is proposed which represents areal interpolations in diverse geographic situations. The model is used to examine the relationship between estimation accuracy and the spatial distribution of estimation error from a theoretical viewpoint. The analysis shows that the uniformity in error distribution improves the accuracy of areal interpolation. Four areal interpolation methods are then assessed through numerical examinations. From this it is found that the accuracy of simple interpolation methods heavily depends on the appropriateness of their hypothetical distributions, whereas the accuracy of intelligent methods depends on the fitness of the range of supplementary data for that of true distribution. Received: 19 February 1999/Accepted 17 September 1999     

Growth and gonad production of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus in the fucoid bed and algal turf in northern Japan

To clarify the differences in the growth and gonad size of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus among algal sere, the study was conducted in June and July, and September 1998 at three fucoid beds in Oga and at three algal turfs in Hachimori, Akita Prefecture in northern Japan. The most rapid growth was observed in a large perennial fucoid bed at the climax stage. Growth in a small perennial Chondrus ocellatus‐dominated bed in algal turfs in the seral stage was then high. The slowest growth was observed in the small perennial Dictyopteris divaricata‐ and Laurencia spp.‐dominated beds which are known to possess chemicals which act as feeding deterrents against the sea urchins. The gonad index (gonad wet weight × 100/body wet weight) at a fucoid bed was high where standing crops exceeded 3 kg·m^?2. The gonad index in the Laurencia bed was lower than those at fucoid beds. These results suggest that growth and gonad production are affected by algal sere and differ among species of small perennial algae in the seral stage with or without chemical defense.     

Reproductive biology and seasonality of the Indo-Australasian mysid Mesopodopsis orientalis (Crustacea: Mysida) in a tropical mangrove estuary,Malaysia

A year-round survey of the tropical shallow-water mysid Mesopodopsis orientalis (Tattersall, 1908) (Crustacea, Mysidacea) was conducted in the Merbok mangrove estuary, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. The mysid formed dense aggregations at the river's edge close to the mangrove forest during the daytime, but very few were captured elsewhere in the estuary system. The sampled population was found in a wide range of salinities from 16 to 32, demonstrating broad euryhalinity, and the number of the catch at the littoral zone ranged from 11.8 to 2273 ind m⁻². The overall annual mean was 709.2 ind m⁻². Females predominated over males in the entire population, and brooding females were present at every monthly sample, indicating that reproduction is continuous year round. The clutch size positively correlated with female body length. The diameter of eggs (Stage I embryos) was unaffected by the seasonality and independent of the maternal size within an observed size range. The life history pattern of the estuarine population of M. orientalis showed close similarity to that of the coastal counterpart. However, the former was found to produce fewer but larger eggs, and the specimens in this population were larger than those in the coastal population at the embryo, juvenile, and adult stages. This evidence indicates that the life history features of the estuarine population would differ to some degree from those of the coastal counterpart.