Anthropogenic trace metals in an ice core at Vestfonna,Svalbard, Norway

1　IntroductionAnicecoreobtainedfrom polarglaciersoricesheetsisoneofthemostimportantarchivestoreconstructpaleoclimaticandpaleoatmosphericcondition .Informationonpale o environmentcanbeextractedfromicecoresaschemicaland/orphysicalsignals.Amongthechemicalsignals,heavymetalsarenotedassignalsofterrestrialenvironmentalchangeandanthropogenicpollution (e.g .Murozumietal.1 969;NgandPatterson 1 981 ;Hongetal.1 994) .SinceconcentrationsofmostofthemetalsinpolarsnowincentralGreen landareatorbelowthepptl…     

Long-Term Investigation of Spatio-Temporal Variations in Faunal Composition and Species Richness of Megabenthos in Ise Bay,Central Japan

Based on our long-term data from megabenthos sampling from 1993 to 2002 in Ise Bay, central Japan, we examined spatio-temporal variations in taxon composition, species richness and its distribution of megabenthos in the bay in relation to the occurrence of the oxygen-poor water (i.e. oxygen content less than 3 ppm) in bottom waters of the bay. A total of 261 species were identified including 6 cnidarians, 1 tentaculate, 5 annelids, 71 molluscs, 72 crustaceans, 16 echinoderms, 12 urochordates and 78 pisces. Of the most abundant 10 megabenthos species, the following 4 species of echinoderms made up more than the half of megabenthos biomass: Luidia quinaria, Echinocardium cordatum, Asterias amurensis and Astropecten scoparius. Species richness of megabenthos varied significantly between seasons and among stations. The severity and period of occurrence of the oxygen-poor water developing every summer play an important role in determining spatial distributions of species richness in the bay.     

Sulfate reduction and sulfide deposition in deep-sea sediments from the southwestern Japan Sea

Vertical profiles of total sulfur and organic carbon have been measured in two deep-sea piston cores from the southwestern Japan Sea where sulfate reduction is proceeding within the sediments. The content of total sulfur, most of which is present as pyrite, increases gradually with increasing depth, showing several peaks. The amount of diagenetically deposited sulfide-sulfur is estimated using a steady-state model that considers vertical change in the diffusion coefficient. It is suggested that two-thirds to three-fourths of the observed total sulfur content has been deposited diagenetically.     

Depth distribution of radiolarians from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, western Arctic

The depth distributions of the radiolarian fauna in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, marginal seas of the western Arctic Ocean, were examined quantitatively in depth-stratified plankton tows from 4 or 5 intervals above 500 m and in surface sediments from various depths between 163 and 2907 m. The radiolarian assemblage from the water column in September 2000 was dominated by Amphimelissa setosa and followed by the Actinomma boreale/leptoderma group, Pseudodictyophimus gracilipes and Spongotrochus glacialis. These species are related to the Arctic Surface Water shallower than 150 m. This assemblage is similar to that in the Greenland Sea relating to the ice edge, but did not contain typical Pacific radiolarians in spite of the flow of water of Pacific origin in this region. The living depth of Ceratocyrtis historicosa was restricted to the relatively warm water between 300 and 500 m corresponding to the upper Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) originating from the Atlantic Ocean. Radiolarian assemblages in the surface sediments are similar to those in the plankton tows, except for common Cycladophora davisiana in sediment samples below 500 m. C. davisiana is probably a deep-water species adapted to the lower AIW or the Canadian Basin Deep Water ventilated from the shelves.     

The effects of the reed,Phragmites australis (Trin.), on substratum grain-size distribution in a salt marsh

The effects of the reed,Phragmites australis (Trin.), growing in a brackish water lagoon, were studied in relation to the grain-size distribution of the substratum. At the salt marshes near the lagoon, the upper soils from the surface to a depth of 20 cm contained much silt-clay. These fine particles were found to be transferred from the river and fish ponds near the lagoon, and to be deposited when the tidal rhythm changed, that is, when the water current stopped. In addition, the fine particles, which were deposited on the bottom of the lagoon adjacent to the marshes, became resuspended as a result of wind-caused wave action, and then were transported and redeposited in the salt marshes at the flood tide. Since the reeds further reduced the water current caused by the waves and tide, the reeds were thought to promote redeposition of the resuspended matter. In other words, the reeds were considered to protect deposited and redeposited particles such as silt and clay from resuspension as a result of wave action by reducing the effects of waves and wind. These processes suggested that silt-clay will become abundant in the substratum of the salt marsh adjacent to the lagoon.     

Degradation of lubricating oils by marine bacteria observed by quantitative mass spectrometry

Bacterial degradation of the hydrocarbons of lubricating oils was investigated by mass spectrometric analysis which gives both total amount and the composition of hydrocarbon types of residual oil. An unused lubricating oil, which mainly consisted of hydrocarbon types with only a small percentage ofn-alkanes, was degraded by marineBacillus sp. andPseudomonas sp. with 55 % and 25 % decreases in 10 days, respectively. Susceptibility of respective hydrocarbon types to biodegradation was in the following order: alkanes > non-condensed cycloalkanes, mono-aromatics > condensed cycloalkanes. A used lubricating oil of different brand showed a larger decrease than the unused oil. Both species of bacteria degraded large portions of alkane fraction of Arabian light crude oil.     

Air-Sea Gas Transfer Velocity in Stormy Winter Estimated from Radon Deficiency

Thirteen vertical profiles of ²²⁶Ra and ²²²Rn in the near-surface water were obtained in the western North Pacific in winter, and the gas transfer velocities across the air-sea interface were estimated. The transfer velocities found by applying a steady state model varied widely from 2.1 to 30.2 m day⁻¹ with a mean of 9.4 m day⁻¹. The mean value is almost 5 times higher than that in summer in other oceans, and the maximum value is a record high for world oceans. This is partly due to the inadequacy of the steady state model, which overestimates when stronger winds blow in more recent days than the ²²²Rn half-life of about 4 days. In fact, a strong low pressure zone passed through the station about 2 days earlier, which was one of the low pressure zones that with a period of develop once a week or so in the northwestern North Pacific in winter. Instead of steady-state removal, if half of the radon removal occurred sporadically every 7 days, and the last removal took place two days before the observation, the transfer velocity would be 26 m day⁻¹. Our mean transfer velocity, which is less than 20% different from the steady state value including both overestimated and underestimated values, 9.4 ± 4.8 m day⁻¹, seems to represent the mean state of this region in winter. This suggests that the gas exchange fluxes under extremely rough conditions in the open ocean are larger than those estimated by using a transfer velocity equation with a linear or quadratic relationship with wind speed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Finite-element Simulation of Seismic Ground Motion with a Voxel Mesh

— Accurate simulation of seismic ground motion for three-dimensionally complex topography and structures is one of the most important goals of strong motion seismology. The finite-element method (FEM) is well suited for this kind of simulation, since traction-free conditions are already included in the formulation, and the Courant condition is less strict than for the finite-difference method (FDM). However, the FEM usually requires both large memory and computation time. These limitations can be overcome by using a mesh consisting of voxels (rectangular prisms) with isotropy built into the explicit formulation of the dynamic matrix equation. Since operators in the voxel FEM are the combinations of ordinary FDM operators and additional terms, the method keeps accuracy of the same order as FDM and the terms relax the Courant condition. The voxel FEM requires a similar amount of memory and only takes 1.2～1.4 times longer computation time. The voxel mesh can be generated considerably faster than the popular tetrahedral mesh. Both ground motions and static displacements due to a point or line source can be calculated using the voxel FEM approach. Comparisons with the reflectivity method and theoretical solutions demonstrate the successful implementation of the method, which is then applied to more complex problems.     

Seasonal and spatial variation in the denitrifying activity in estuarine and lagoonal sediments

We have elucidated the seasonal and spatial variation in the potential denitrifying activity in estuarine and coastal lagoonal sediments in Lakes Shinji and Nakaumi, Japan. The denitrifying activity increased from summer through autumn and was positively correlated with the temperature of the overlying water at all sites except one, where the bottom was always more reductive than at the other sites and there was no NO₃ ⁻ as a substrate for denitrification from spring to autumn. Moreover, the relationship between the denitrifying activity and the distance from the sea showed different trends in estuarine and lagoonal sediments. These spatial differences indicate that different factors regulate the denitrification in estuarine and lagoonal sediments. Denitrifying activity in estuarine sediment was regulated by the discharge of freshwater containing NO₃ ⁻ or organic matter, while in the lagoonal sediments the occurrence of nitrification via the intrusion of oxic seawater into the reductive sediment appears to be a key requirement for the process of denitrification. Therefore, the denitrifying activity in the lagoonal sediment appears to be greater near the sea. Water intrusion is one of the key factors controlling denitrification in coastal marine ecosystems by affecting the supply of substrate available for denitrification.