Seasonal variations of water system distribution and flow patterns in the southern sea area of Hokkaido,Japan

Hydrographic data and composite current velocity data (ADCP and GEK) were used to examine the seasonal variations of upper-ocean flow in the southern sea area of Hokkaido, which includes the “off-Doto” and “Hidaka Bay” areas separated by Cape Erimo. During the heating season (April–September), the outflow of the Tsugaru Warm Current (TWC) from the Tsugaru Strait first extends north-eastward, and then one branch of TWC turns to the west along the shelf slope after it approaches the Hidaka Shelf. The main flow of TWC evolves continuously, extending eastward as far as the area off Cape Erimo. In the late cooling season (January–March), part of the Oyashio enters Hidaka Bay along the shallower part of the shelf slope through the area off Cape Erimo, replacing almost all of the TWC water, and hence the TWC devolves. It is suggested that the bottom-controlled barotropic flow of the Oyashio, which may be caused by the small density difference between the Oyashio and the TWC waters and the southward migration of main front of TWC, permits the Oyashio water to intrude along the Hidaka shelf slope.     

Geophysical signature of the Tunnunik impact structure,Northwest Territories,Canada

In 2011, the discovery of shatter cones confirmed the 28 km diameter Tunnunik complex impact structure, Northwest Territories, Canada. This study presents the first results of ground‐based electromagnetic, gravimetric, and magnetic surveys over this impact structure. Its central area is characterized by a ~10 km wide negative gravity anomaly of about 3 mGal amplitude, roughly corresponding to the area of shatter cones, and associated with a positive magnetic field anomaly of ~120 nT amplitude and 3 km wavelength. The latter correlates well with the location of the deepest uplifted strata, an impact‐tilted Proterozoic dolomite layer of the Shaler Supergroup exposed near the center of the structure and intruded by dolerite dykes. Locally, electromagnetic field data unveil a conductive superficial formation which corresponds to an 80–100 m thick sand layer covering the impact structure. Based on the measurements of magnetic properties of rock samples, we model the source of the magnetic anomaly as the magnetic sediments of the Shaler Supergroup combined with a core of uplifted crystalline basement with enhanced magnetization. More classically, the low gravity signature is attributed to a reduction in density measured on the brecciated target rocks and to the isolated sand formations. However, the present‐day fractured zone does not extend deeper than ~1 km in our model, indicating a possible 1.5 km of erosion since the time of impact, about 430 Ma ago.     

Geological and geophysical studies of the Agoudal impact structure (Central High Atlas,Morocco): New evidence for crater size and age

Since the discovery of shatter cones (SCs) near the village of Agoudal (Morocco, Central High Atlas Mountains) in 2013, the absence of one or several associated circular structures led to speculation about the age of the impact event, the number, and the size of the impact crater or craters. Additional constraints on the crater size, age, and erosion rates are obtained here from geological, structural, and geophysical mapping and from cosmogenic nuclide data. Our geological maps of the Agoudal impact site at the scales of 1:30,000 (6 km²) and 1:15,000 (2.25 km²) include all known occurrences of SCs in target rocks, breccias, and vertical to overturned strata. Considering that strata surrounding the impact site are subhorizontal, we argue that disturbed strata are related to the impact event. Three types of breccias have been observed. Two of them (br1‐2 and br2) could be produced by erosion–sedimentation–consolidation processes, with no evidence for impact breccias, while breccia (br1) might be impact related. The most probable center of the structure is estimated at 31°59′13.73?N, 5°30′55.14?W using the concentric deviation method applied to the orientation of strata over the disturbed area. Despite the absence of a morphological expression, the ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys reveal anomalies spatially associated with disturbed strata and SC occurrences. The geophysical data, the structural observations, and the area of occurrence of SCs in target rocks are all consistent with an original size of 1.4–4.2 km in diameter. Cosmogenic nuclide data (³⁶Cl) constrain the local erosion rates between 220 ± 22 m Ma^?1 and 430 ± 43 m Ma^?1. These erosion rates may remove the topographic expression of such a crater and its ejecta in a time period of about 0.3–1.9 Ma. This age is older than the Agoudal iron meteorite age (105 ± 40 kyr). This new age constraint excludes the possibility of a genetic relationship between the Agoudal iron meteorite fall and the formation of the Agoudal impact site. A chronolgy chart including the Atlas orogeny, the alternation of sedimentation and erosion periods, and the meteoritic impacts is presented based on all obtained and combined data.     

Does Deuterium Enable the Formation of Primordial Brown Dwarfs?

The time evolution of barred structures is examined under the influence of the external forces exerted by a spherical halo and by prolate halos. In particular, galaxy disks are placed in the plane including the major axis of prolate halos, whose configuration is often found in cosmological simulations. N-body disks in fixed external halo fields are simulated, so that bars are formed via dynamical instability. In the subsequent evolution, the bars in prolate halos dissolve gradually with time, while the bar pattern in a spherical halo remains almost unchanged to the end of the simulation. The decay times of the bars suggest that they can be destroyed in a time smaller than a Hubble time. Our results indicate that this dissolution process could occur in real barred galaxies, if they are surrounded by massive dark prolate halos, and the configuration adopted here is not unusual from the viewpoint of galaxy formation. For a prolate halo model, an additional simulation that is restricted to two-dimensional in-plane motions has also ended up with similar bar dissolution. This means that the vertical motions of disk stars do not play an essential role in the bar dissolution demonstrated here.     

Alkaline leaching characteristics of biogenic opal in Eocene sediments from the central Arctic Ocean: a case study in the ACEX cores

Accurate knowledge of the extent of biogenic opal preservation in marine sediment cores is important for paleoceanographic reconstructions. The alkaline leaching method is widely employed for %biogenic opal analysis due to its ease and speed. In this study, a revised method for measuring %biogenic opal in sediment from arctic coring expedition samples was suggested. The studied middle Eocene sediments from the central Arctic Ocean presented a problem in insufficiently leaching biogenic opal with a Na₂CO₃ solution. Based on XRD analysis, it was suggested that such an alkaline resistance results from slight diagenesis of biogenic opal. In order to solve this problem, an alkaline leaching method utilizing a 2 M NaOH solution was suggested for the accurate measurement of %biogenic opal in the Eocene sediments from the central Arctic. Furthermore, dissolution rates from lithogenic matter by NaOH solution were measured in order to correct the %biogenic opal values.     

High-P metamorphism, pattern of induced flow in the mantle wedge, and the link with plutonism in paired metamorphic belts

The convex form of subduction-stage pressure–temperature ( P–T ) paths up to c. 2.0 GPa implies the Sambagawa high- P metamorphic belt, Japan, formed a few million years before ridge subduction. Additional compilation of P–T conditions for higher- P Sambagawa rocks ( c. 2.0–2.5 GPa) reveals that the thermal profile along the slab surface shows a remarkable high- T -ward warping at c. 2.0 GPa ( c. 65 km). Previous thermal models indicate that this warping corresponds to the onset of induced mantle flow towards the subducting slab. If a normal thickness continental crust of c. 30 km was present, this implies the hangingwall region between 30 and 65 km depth was occupied by serpentinized wedge mantle isolated from large-scale mantle flow. Subsequent arrival of the spreading ridge, reheating and dehydration of the serpentinized wedge probably supplied the water necessary for causing granitic magmatism in the Ryoke high- T metamorphic belt, which is paired with the Sambagawa belt.     

Re-Suspension Technique for Improving Organic Rich Sediment-Water Quality in a Shallow Sea Area

The re-suspension method consists of (1) dispersion of the sediment by air-water jets, (2) pumping of the suspension (small particles and organic matter), (3) settlement in a tank, (4) filtration and (5) disposal of solids (followed by incineration in this case). The pilot test was performed to clean up an area of 3000 m². The dispersed depth of the bottom was approximately 50 cm. The time spent for the work was two weeks. The amount of re-suspended solid removed from the bottom was about 8 tonnes in dry mass. Since the solids contain high concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorous (T-P), total nitrogen (T-N) and sulfides, the remaining sediment was considerably improved. Quantitative analyses showed that the full-scale implementation would enable the removal of about 10% of the re-suspended solids, and reduce COD by 95%, T-P by 50%, T-N by 100% and sulfide by 75% for re-deposited sediments in comparison to the original sediments.     

Decadal seesaw of the Central and Subtropical Mode Water formation associated with the Kuroshio Extension variability

Available Argo profiling float data from 2002 to 2011 were analyzed to examine the effect of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) current system variability on the formation of the Central Mode Water. Just north of the upstream portion of the KE at 140–152°E, formation of a lighter variety of the Central Mode Water in winter was active during the unstable period of the upstream KE in 2006–2009 and was reduced when the upstream KE was in the stable period of 2002–2005 and 2010–2011. This decadal formation variability is out of phase with that of the Subtropical Mode Water just south of the KE.     

DGPS and RTK Positioning Using the Internet

The Internet as a basis for Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) service provides many advantages for worldwide GPS users. Among these advantages are service unification, open architecture, bidirectional communication, and scalability. The current development of this service allows users to use RTK and DGPS through the Internet with conventional accuracy over the short and medium baselines. The perspective for this service lies in the field of wide-area augmentation systems (WASS). At this stage of the Internet-based RTK and DGPS service project, the general concept, system components, draft standards, and software are developed. ? 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ventilation revealed by the observation of dissolved oxygen concentration south of the Kuroshio Extension during 2012–2013

From the moored buoy observation at \(33.9^{\circ }\)N, \(144.9^{\circ }\)E south of the Kuroshio Extension (KE), we obtained Eulerian time series of dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) at 200, 400, and 600 m depths from June 2012 to March 2013. We observed ventilation by meso- and submesoscale processes that transport water southward across the KE jet. First, the cyclonic mesoscale eddy in June 2012 substantially depressed DO at depths of 400 and 600 m but maintained DO at 200 m, suggesting near-surface lateral transport of high-DO water derived from the north of the KE. Second, subduction of high-DO (>230 \({\upmu }\)mol kg\(^{-1}\)) water to a depth of 600 m was observed from early February to March 2013, associated with a mesoscale/submesoscale meandering of the KE jet. In mid-March 2013, shipboard hydrographic data were collected where the water mass at the mooring site would be advected by the eastward current on the southern flank of the KE. Based on these data, the subduction event was identified as an intrusion of an anomalously thick water mass from approximately 400–900 dbar. Ventilation of the subtropical mode water at a depth of 200 m around a subsurface DO maximum layer was detected as a rapid rise in DO in January 2013. This occurred after a significant seasonal decrease in DO at a rate of \(-0.130 \pm 0.007\) \({\upmu }\)mol kg\(^{-1}\) day\(^{-1}\) from July to December 2012.