Lead-210 in the Japan Sea

This is the first detailed study on the distribution of lead-210 in the Japan Sea water. The content of lead-210 ranged from 9.3±2.1 dph/l in the surface water to 3.4+-0.8 dph/l in the deep water—a quite low content as compared to that in the deep water of the North Pacific. Vertical profiles show that the content of lead-210 abruptly decreases below the seasonal thermocline (10–20 m in depth) and nearly uniform in the deep water. It is suggested that a significant amount of air-borne lead-210 deposited over the Japan Sea is transported along with the Tsushima Current to the open ocean. The budget of lead-210 is calculated by using a simple box-model and the mean residence time of lead-210 in the Japan Sea is estimated to be 15 yr.     

A model study on carbon cycle and phytoplankton dynamical processes in the Bohai Sea

The carbon cycle of lower trophic level in the Bohai Sea is studied with a three-dimensional biological and physical coupled model. The influences of the processes (including horizontal advection, river nutrient load, active transport etc. ) on the phytoplankton biomass and its evolution are estimated. The Bohai Sea is a weak sink of the CO2 in the atmosphere. During the cycle, 13.7% of the gross production of the phytoplankton enter the higher trophic level and 76.8 % of it are consumed by the respiration itself. The nutrient reproduction comes mainly from the internal biogeochemical loop and the rem-ineralization is an important mechanism of the nutrient transfer from organic form to inorganic. Horizontal advection decreases the total biomass and the eutrophication in some sea areas. Change in the nutrient load of a river can only adjust the local system near its estuary. Controlling the input of the nutrient, which limits the alga growth, can be very useful in lessening the phytoplankton biomass.     

Biological effect on removal of Th-234, Po-210 and Pb-210 from surface water in Funka Bay,Japan

Vertical and temporal variations in the radioactivities of Th-234, Pb-210 and Po-210 were measured at a station in Funka Bay from April 1979 to February 1980. The inventory of Th-234 showed a minimum in early spring, when a spring bloom of phytoplankton was observed, then a steady increase to a maximum value in late summer, just before open sea water invaded the bay and a secondary phytoplankton bloom started. The inventories of Pb-210 and Po-210 also showed minima in early spring. These results suggest that the removal of these nuclides from sea water is accelerated by biological activity. The concentration of Th-234 decreased with depth, but those of Po-210 and Pb-210 were higher in the bottom water in August 1979 when the bay water was strongly stratified. This may be due to the supply of Pb-210 and Po-210 from the bottom. However, if the supply of these nuclides is expected in sediment particles, the concentrations of these nuclides in suspended matter were not sufficient to explain their increments in the bottom water.Residence times of Th, Pb and Po were estimated by applying a non-steady state model to the bay water when the water stayed in and the concentrations of these nuclides were changing. The mean residence time of Th is not significantly different from that of Pb, but is about half of that of Po, although the difference is much smaller than that obtained by applying a steady state model.     

Removal of234Th from a coastal sea: Funka Bay,Japan

In Funka Bay of Hokkaido, Japan, seawater, suspended matter and settling matter were collected once every month in the summer of 1974. These samples were analyzed for²³⁴Th, a short-lived daughter of dissolved²³⁸U. A pronounced disequilibrium between²³⁴Th and²³⁸U, and a highly variable concentration of²³⁴Th were found. Positive correlation, however, exist among the deficiency of²³⁴Th relative to²³⁸U in seawater, the concentration of particulate²³⁴Th, the fraction of particulate²³⁴Th to total²³⁴Th in seawater, the total dry weight of suspended matter, and the primary productivity during the month previous to sampling. The specific activity of²³⁴Th for the settling particles (620 ± 170 dpm/g) was nearly equal to that for suspended particles (720 ± 600 dpm/g) but much greater than that for plankton (47 ± 24 dpm/g). These facts suggest that suspended particles are somehow closely related to the removal of heavy metals from seawater, in spite of the negligibly small settling flux of suspended matter. The residence time of thorium in Funka Bay (mean depth: 60 m) is found to be about 60 days, which is nearly equal to those of²¹⁰Pb and²¹⁰Po.     

Strain geometries in the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt inferred from deformation structures in metabasite

Abstract Ductile deformation in the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt has been considered to be characterized by uniaxial elongation parallel to the east–west‐trending lineation, based on strain analysis of radiolarian fossils in metachert. However, only limited data were available to test this idea in strongly recrystallized schists. Strain measurements on deformed pillow structures in central Shikoku show uniaxial flattening, whereas pressure shadows around pyrite in the Kanto Mountains indicate constrictional strain. In addition, in the low‐grade part of the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt belonging to the Northern Chichibu Belt in the Kanto Mountains, deformed amygdules in pillow lava show flattening strain, which is consistent with the results of strain measurements using radiolarian fossils in the same area. These observations, together with the results of other strain analyses reported so far, indicate that the strain field is not uniform and that the east–west‐trending shearing and stretching were not pervasive in the Sanbagawa Metamorphic Belt.     

Lead-210 in the North Pacific and the transport of terrestrial material through the atmosphere

²¹⁰Pb in the surface water of the North Pacific was extensively determined. The results showed that the highest concentrations of²¹⁰Pb of 19 ± 3dpm/100kg were found in the northern mid-latitudes around 30°N, but longitudinal variation across the North Pacific was not observed. The mean residence time of²¹⁰Pb in the surface water up to 100 m in depth is calculated to be 230 days. In the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere,²¹⁰Pb may be transported by the prevailing westerly wind of a higher speed than 15 m/sec, likely the jet stream.     

Geochemical studies of pore fluid in surface sediment on the Daini Atsumi Knoll

We collected sediment samples and pore water samples from the surface sediment on the Daini Atsumi Knoll, and analyzed the sediments for CH₄, C₂H₆, and δ¹³C_CH4, and the pore fluids for CH₄, C₂H₆, δ¹³C_CH4, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻, δ¹⁸O_H2O, and δD_H2O, respectively. A comparison of the measured concentration and isotopic composition of methane in pore water samples with those in sediment samples revealed that methane was present in the sediment samples at a higher concentration and was isotopically heavier than those in the pore water samples. It suggests that the effect of the release of a sorbed gas bound to organic particles when heated prior to analysis of hydrocarbons was larger than that of the degassing process. A large amount of a sorbed gas would be a significant source of natural gas. Two striking features are the chemical and isotopic composition of the pore water samples taken from the different sites around the Daini Atsumi Knoll. In the KL09, KL10, and KP07 samples, Cl⁻ concentrations in the pore water samples showed depletion to a minimum of 460 mmol/kg, correspond to  17% dilution of seawater, however the latter was not enriched in CH₄. The isotopic compositions of pore water samples suggested the low-Cl⁻ fluids in the pore water were not derived from dissociation of methane hydrate, but were derived from input of meteoric water. In contrast, in the KP05 samples from the north flank of the Daini Atsumi Knoll, pore water were characterized by CH₄ enrichment more than 370 μmol/kg, but not depleted in Cl⁻ concentrations. The observed methane concentration in the KP05 samples is not sufficient for methane hydrate to form in situ, indicating that the existence of methane hydrate in the surface sediment is negligible, as supported by Cl⁻ concentration. Based on the stable carbon isotope ratio of methane in the pore fluid from the KP05 site (δ¹³C_CH4 < − 50‰PDB), methane is thought to be of microbial origin. The pore waters in the surface sediments in the north flank of the Daini Atsumi Knoll were not directly influenced by upward fluid bearing methane of thermogenic origin from a deeper part of the sedimentary layer. However, extremely high methane concentration in the north flank site as compared with the concentration of pore water taken from the normal seafloor suggests that the north flank site is not the normal seafloor. We hypothesize that upward migration of chemically-reduced fluids from a deeper zone of the sedimentary layer reduces chemically-oxidized solutes in the surface sediment. As a consequence methane production replaced sulfate reduction as the microbial metabolism in the reduced environment of the surface sediment.     

3D analytical solution to the tidally induced Lagrangian residual current equations in a narrow bay

The 3D first-order Lagrangian residual velocity (LRV) equation is established, and its analytical solution is obtained in a narrow bay. The results show clearly the 3D structure of the first-order LRV. When the exponential bottom profile is assumed, the upper half layer of the water flows in through the deep channel from the open boundary directly to the head of the bay. Then the water will return to the area surrounding the lower half of the inflow area. The downwelling area is located mainly at the deep channel, while the upwelling area occupies both sides of the bay. The inter-tidal water transport, obtained by integrating the 3D first-order LRV through the water column, has a pattern similar to the previous study in which the 2D depth-averaged Lagrangian residual current equations were solved. The inter-tidal water transport is used to analyze the water exchange, and it is found that the water exchange at different cross sections increases smoothly with the distance between the cross sections and the head of the bay until about one wavelength. It is also found that the pattern of the breadth-averaged Lagrangian residual current varies with the length of the bay if a non-flat bottom profile is used. The depth-integrated LRV and the breadth-averaged LRV are mainly determined by the different terms of the tidal body force, with the former determined by the bottom friction related term and the latter by the eddy viscosity related term. When the bay is longer than one wavelength, different results in the outer bay can be observed.     

Simulation of the Lagrangian tide-induced residual velocity in a tide-dominated coastal system: a case study of Jiaozhou Bay, China

The Eulerian residual transport velocity and the first-order Lagrangian residual velocity for weakly nonlinear systems have been used extensively in the past to depict inter-tidal mass transport. However, these could not explain the observed net surface sediment transport pattern in Jiaozhou Bay (JZB), located on the western Yellow Sea. JZB is characterized by strong tidal motion, complex topography and an irregular coastline, which are features of typical nonlinear systems. The Lagrangian residual velocity, which is applicable to general nonlinear systems, was simulated with the water parcel tracking method. The results indicate that the composition of the Lagrangian residual velocity at different tidal phases coincides well with the observed net surface sediment transport pattern. The strong dependence of water flushing time on the initial tidal phase can also be explained by the significant intra-tidal variation of the Lagrangian residual velocity. To investigate the hydrodynamic mechanism governing the nonlinearity of the M ₂ tidal system, a set of nonlinearity indexes were defined and analysed. In the surface layer, horizontal advection is the main contributor to the strong nonlinearity near the bay mouth, while in the bottom layer, the strong nonlinearity near the bay mouth may result from the vertical viscosity and horizontal advection.     

Analytical Solution for 3D Tidal Flow with Vertically Varying Eddy Viscosity

In this study, a 3D idealized model of tidal flow, in which the tidal elevation and velocities are solved analytically, is developed. The horizontal eddy viscosity is neglected, and the vertical eddy viscosity used in the study is assumed to be independent of time and only varies as a parabolic function in the vertical direction. The analytical solution is obtained in a narrow rectangular bay, with the topography varying only across the bay. The model results are compared with the field observations in the Xiangshan Bay. The results show that the influence of varying vertical eddy viscosity mainly has two aspects. On one hand, it amplifies the magnitude of the tidal elevation, particularly the amplitude near the head of the bay. On the other hand, it adjusts the axial velocity profile, resulting in an obvious frictional effect. Furthermore, the tidal elevation and velocities are more sensitive to the magnitude of the eddy viscosity near the bottom than the structure in the upper water layer.