Decomposition characteristics of particulate organic matter in hiroshima bay

The decomposition characteristics of particulate organic matter (POM) sampled with plankton nets in Hiroshima Bay were investigated under aerobic conditions in a laboratory experiment.The POM derived from plankton consisted of both a labile fraction (70–80 % of the whole) and a refractory fraction (20–30%). The labile fraction was completely decomposed within 40 days at 20°C. Although the concentrations of particulate organic carbon (POC) decreased gradually with time, an apparent lag phase was recognized in the decomposition of particulate phosphorus (PP) at an early stage, which might result from a specific uptake of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) by bacteria. A comparison of the metabolic activity between dissolved organic matter (DOM) and POM by measuring ATP contents showed that the former was one order of magnitude larger than the latter.On the other hand, there was no significant difference among the decomposition rates of POM collected at various depths. The change of the first-order rate constant (k) for the POM decomposition by temperature was expressed ask=0.0329 exp(0.0644T), and the Q₁₀ value was 1.94. There were fairly large variances ink values obtained from the various plankton species. Thek values averaged 0.144 day^–1 and ranged from 0.078 to 0.20 day^–1 at 20°C.     

午后多重极光弧观测研究

本文利用2001-2003年南极中山站175天全天空摄像机观测,对午后多重极光弧的出现率及其与Kp指数的关系进行了统计分析,结果表明午后多重极光弧出现率呈一单峰分布,最大发生率出现在1445UT(1645MLT),其位置在1500MLT极光热点(1300-1700MLT)近夜侧的部分。与地磁活动指数Kp的相关统计分析表明,Kp值为2-3之间时多重极光弧有较大的出现率,这说明中等地磁活动情形下午后多重极光弧有较高的出现率。事件分析表明多重极光弧的强度变化与地磁Pc5脉动具有较高的相关性,并且有类似的频谱特征,这说明午后多重极光弧可能与同时出现的Pc5地磁脉动有关。     

SAINF: A toolbox for analyzing the effect of point-like,line-like and polygon-like infrastructural features on the distribution of point-like non-infrastructural features

This paper introduces a GIS-based toolbox, called SAINF, for analyzing the effects of infrastructural features on the distribution of non-infrastructural features. One of the distinct characteristics of SAINF is that it can deal not only with point-like infrastructural features but also line-like (e.g. railways) and polygon-like (e.g. big parks) features. SAINF analyzes these effects with the conditional nearest neighbor distance method and the cross K-function method. First, the paper briefly refers to these methods. Second, the paper illustrates how to use SAINF with an actual example. SAINF can be downloaded via the Internet without charge for non-profit uses.We express our thanks to Exceed Co. Ltd. for helping us program SAINF, and to Miki Arimoto for making the data of high-class apartment buildings and parks in Kiba. This development was partly supported by Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research No. 10202201 (Spatial information science for human and social sciences) and No. 14350327 (Regional supporting network planning for the elderly) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.     

Lithological and physical properties of core samples from the Sagara oil field: Oil occurrence in Sagara core samples

Abstract   A drilling and coring investigation of the Sagara oil field, central Honshu, Japan, was conducted to contribute to the understanding of hydrocarbon migration processes in a forearc basin. Core samples were analyzed to determine lithology, physical properties (specifically gas permeability) and the characteristics of oil occurrence. Gas permeability values greater than approximately 10⁻¹¹ m² constitute the basic precondition for any lithology to serve as a potential fluid conduit or reservoir in the Sagara oil field. Cores recovered from the 200.6-m-deep borehole were primarily composed of alternating siltstone, sandstone and conglomerate, all of which are correlated to the late Miocene Sagara Group. Both sandstone and conglomerate can be classified into two types, carbonate-cemented and poorly to non-cemented, based on matrix material characteristics. Oil stains are generally absent in the former lithology and more common in the latter. Variations in physical properties with respect to gas permeability values are directly related to the presence and character of carbonate cement, with higher permeabilities common in poorly to non-cemented rocks. The relationships between lithology, oil-staining, cementation and permeability indicate that cementation preceded oil infiltration and that cementation processes exerted significant control on the evolution of the reservoir.     

Statistical empirical index of chemical weathering in igneous rocks: A new tool for evaluating the degree of weathering

Chemical weathering indices are useful tools in characterizing weathering profiles and determining the extent of weathering. However, the predictive performance of the conventional indices is critically dependent on the composition of the unweathered parent rock. To overcome this limitation, the present paper introduces an alternative statistical empirical index of chemical weathering that is extracted by the principal component analysis (PCA) of a large dataset derived from unweathered igneous rocks and their weathering profiles. The PCA analysis yields two principal components (PC1 and PC2), which capture 39.23% and 35.17% of total variability, respectively. The extent of weathering is reflected by variation along PC1, primarily due to the loss of Na₂O and CaO during weathering. In contrast, PC2 is the direction along which the projections of unweathered felsic, intermediate and mafic igneous rocks appear to be best discriminated; therefore, PC1 and PC2 represent independent latent variables that correspond to the extent of weathering and the chemistry of the unweathered parent rock. Subsequently, PC1 and PC2 were then mapped onto a ternary diagram (MFW diagram). The M and F vertices characterize mafic and felsic rock source, respectively, while the W vertex identifies the degree of weathering of these sources, independent of the chemistry of the unweathered parent rock.

The W index has a number of significant properties that are not found in conventional weathering indices. First, the W index is sensitive to chemical changes that occur during weathering because it is based on eight major oxides, whereas most conventional indices are defined by between two and four oxides. Second, the W index provides robust results even for highly weathered sesquioxide-rich samples. Third, the W index is applicable to a wide range of felsic, intermediate and mafic igneous rock types. Finally, the MFW diagram is expected to facilitate provenance analysis of sedimentary rocks by identifying their weathering trends and thereby enabling a backward estimate of the composition of the unweathered source rock.     

Fast Oxidation Reaction of Nitrite by Dissolved Oxygen in the Freezing Process in the Tropospheric Aqueous Phase

Nitrite oxidation in the tropospheric aqueous phase by freezing was evaluated by freezing a field sample. Nitrite oxidation by dissolved oxygen in the freezing process is much faster than by other oxidation processes, such as reactions with ozone, hydrogen peroxide or dissolved oxygen in an aqueous solution at pHs 3 to –6. At pH 4.5 and 25°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the aqueous phase is ca. 1 hr in oxidation by ozone (6×10^-10 mol dm^-3), ca. 10 hr in oxidation by H₂O₂ (2×10^-4 mol dm^-3), and 7.5 hr (Fischer and Warneck, 1996) in photodissociation at midday in summer. Under the same conditions at a temperature below 0°C, the lifetime of nitrite in the freezing process is estimated as ca. 2 sec when the droplets are frozen within a second. The reaction by freezing is affected by the presence of salts, such as NaCl or KCl, or orgnaic compounds, such as methanol or acetone. The results of freezing a field rain or fog sample showed that nitrite oxidation proceeds below pH 6, and the conversion ratio of nitrate from nitrite increases with decreasing pH. The oxidation of nitrite by freezing was also observed in freezing fog particles generated by an ultrasonic humidifier. The ratios of the concentrations of ions in the winter sample to those in the summer sample (or those in the fog sample) were almost the same values. However, the concentration of nitrite in the winter sample was lower than that estimated by the ratios of other ions. From the present study, it seems that the freezing process plays an important role in the nitrite sink process in the tropospheric aqueous phase.     

Extension of a polar ionospheric current to the nightside equator

A detailed analysis of rapid-run magnetograms from Guam (geomagnetic latitude = 4.2°) revealed that there are two kinds of geomagnetic sudden commencement (SC) observed in nighttime. One is the ordinary SC consisting of a main impulse only which has a smooth rise of the H-component. The other is a superposition by a small positive impulse on the very beginning part of the smooth rise of the main impulse and consequently the SC starts with a small stepwise increase of the H-component. The latter type of SC occurs between 20 and 08 h L.T. and its occurrence rate takes the maximum value of about 50% around 03 h L.T. Corresponding magnetograms from a dayside equatorial station (Huancayo, geomagnetic latitude = ?0.7°) were examined and a good correlation was found between the stepwise SC at the nightside (Guam) and SC¹ with a preliminary reverse impulse (PRI) at the dayside (Huancayo). Since PRI observed at the dayside equator may be interpreted as an extension of an ionospheric current due to an dusk-to-dawn electric field impressed on the polar ionosphere, our results show that a polar originating ionospheric current can extend to the nightside equator and produce a small but observable magnetic effect in spite of much reduced nighttime ionospheric conductivity.