Land hazards of the Kushiro-Oki earthquake of 15 January 1993

At 8:06, Friday, 15 January 1993, when most residents in Kushiro Bay Area were at home having just finished dinner on the Coming of Age Holiday. An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude reached its maximum intensity. This earthquake was centered about 20 km South of Kushiro at a depth of 103 km. It had disastrous effects on the highly developed modern urban district in the Kushiro Bay Area. This earthquake is of special interest seismologically because it was triggered by the activity of a segment of the main. The study of this earthquake is of crucial importance for researchers who work on urban seismic risk evaluation, lifeline earthquake engineering and countermeasure against soil liquefaction. Accordingly, this report focuses on the damage of land hazards to civil engineering structures including lifeline facilities. Regarding the lifeline system, not only structural damage of the components but also functional damage of the entire systems are of importance.     

Diets of Steller sea lions off the coast of Hokkaido,Japan: An inter‐decadal and geographic comparison

Inter‐decadal and geographic variations in the diets of Steller sea lion, Eumetopias jubatus, were examined based on the contents of 408 stomachs collected from coastal areas around Hokkaido Island during the periods 1994–1998 and 2005–2012. The most important prey species in the 1990s were gadid fishes (walleye pollock [Gadus chalcogrammus], Pacific cod [Gadus microcephalus] and saffron cod [Eleginus gracilis]). The frequency of occurrence and gravimetric contribution of gadids decreased in the 2000s latter period at three study sites (Rausu, Shakotan and Rebun) and were replaced by Okhotsk Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus azonus) and smooth lumpsucker (Aptocyclus ventricosus). However, analysis based on gravimetric composition indicated that the dietary diversity of prey showed only a slight inter‐decadal difference, reflecting the wide diversity of prey ingested during both study periods. These results indicate that Steller sea lions along the Hokkaido coast are opportunistic feeders that utilize a wide variety of prey, and appear to feed mainly upon prey that is easily obtained.     

Sinohyliopsis schlegeli珍珠层中Si、Mn、Fe和Sr离子的微生物固定化和环境因素

在日本Ishikawa Prefecture的Kanazawa大学进行了为期8个月的排水池培养实验,利用特征水和营养元素的基本因素对Sinohyliopsis schlegeli贝壳珍珠质所记录的环境变化进行观察。在2007年5月份到11月份之间,每个月向贝壳珍珠质注入四环素作为指示剂。定期测量水质,诸如pH、氧化还原势、电导率、溶解氧以及水温,通过过滤法除掉水中悬浮固体并进行光学显微镜和荧光X射线分析以及扫描电镜 能量色散X射线观察(SEM EDX)。对贝壳珍珠质的X射线荧光化学分析表明那些富含四环素的层对应高含量的Si、Mn、Fe和Sr离子。氧化还原势和溶解氧分析都证明在珍珠质中存在层。排水池中悬浮物质主要由Si、Mn和Fe元素组成,这与2007年夏季贝壳珍珠层的生物固定化中所涉及的元素一致。SEM EDX分析证明离子来自Siderocapsa sp.和Gallionella ferruginea硅藻的胃部。冬季几乎没有发生离子的生物固定化。结果表明在层化的贝壳珍珠质中存在元素的固定化,Sinohyliopsis schlegeli 在夏季以离子为食来生长珍珠质。具有这些生物氧化物的Sinohyliopsis schlegeli可能对自然界水体中重金属的清除有一定的贡献。     

Function of spa development in countryside for domestic tourism in China

The common problems on tourism of developing countries have often been researched by west researchers until now, which can be concluded into special words: “two sectors”, “enclave construction”, “government’s interference”, “developing scale”, and “the industrial role of tourism” etc. In fact all the researches were done from the areas with the patronage of foreign visitors, how is the situation of domestic tourism was ignored in some points. In this paper, another developing model compared with the one with foreign visitors was presented to the readers on the case studies of countryside spas in China. Through this research, one aspect of Chinese real leisure life can be understood to some extent, and the implying that for bigger developing countries the domestic tourism can match the effect of international tourism should not be ignored at least to China. As the developing of economy, domestic tourism will finally unite with international one together, and the common problems will disappear step by step, therefore domestic tourism and international tourism of developing countries should be researched equally since now. Biography: WANG Yan-ping (1962–), male, a native of Heilongjiang Province, is a doctorate student of Chiba University of Japan. His research insterest is environmental impact assessment.     

ISO-SWS Spectra of OH/IR Stars

We present the spectra of 5 OH/IR stars observed with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The spectra are dominated by dust features, both in the amorphous and crystalline state and illustrate the influence of the mass loss rate on the observed spectral features. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of coastal erosion on landslide activity revealed by multi-sensor observations

Coastal erosion is becoming an increasingly serious consequence of climate change. This study demonstrates the effects of coastal erosion on landslide activity while considering the amount of erosion and changes in pore water pressure. To determine the factors related to landslide slip generation, we specifically measured the displacement, deformation, pore water pressure, and amount of erosion with high temporal resolution (1 s–1 h) for a coastal landslide in Hokkaido, north-eastern Japan, for 7 months. It has been determined that landslides occur simultaneously with high pore water pressure. Toe erosion events also occurred several times, while the landslide exhibited major displacement. Because toe erosion and the increase in pore water pressure occurred simultaneously, we tried to determine which of the two contributed majorly to the landslide displacement by conducting a stability analysis that incorporates the effects of the two factors. From the actual observed data, toe erosion and the increase in pore water pressure had comparable effects on the destabilization of the studied landslide. Specifically, the time series for the safety factor shows that the landslide in the case with toe erosion was destabilized more than that in the case with no erosion, with a difference of more than 5% in the safety factor. The model with toe erosion provided a better explanation for the landslide displacement. Furthermore, the inclination data suggested that erosion took place at least 1 month before the landslide displacement. This implied that coastal erosion played a role in the preparation and ongoing displacement of the coastal landslide. Inland landslides with toes that are subject to undercutting due to river incision or artificial construction have geomorphological settings that are similar to those of the studied landslide. The knowledge obtained here can contribute to the understanding of destabilization mechanisms and terrain changes related to such landslides. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ISO-SWS Observations of Stars with Unusual IRAS LRS Characteristics

Observations of 5 stellar sources with unusual characteristics of IRAS Low Resolution Spectra were made with the SWS on ISO. Observed stars are 4 late-type stars with silicate bands and one planetary nebula. Their IRAS LRS contain somewhat unusual features in respect of the 10/18 μm intensity ratio or narrow emission feature from unknown molecular bands. Some narrow unusual features are confirmed by ISO SWS01 spectra but the broad features were turned out to be false. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.