Transfer of60Co from midwater squid to sperm whales

Sperm whales are notable squid-eaters. They feed mainly on medium to large-sized cephalopods at midwater levels and defecate near the surface. This suggests the existence of an upward transport of⁶⁰Co by sperm whales from the mesopelagic zone (150–1,200 m). To elucidate this squid-whale route for this artificial radionuclide,⁶⁰Co content was determined in squid and in predator whales captured by commercial whaling. In the Cephalopoda livers⁶⁰Co levels of 30–500 mBq kg^–1 wet were found and in the viscera of Odontoceti (toothed whales) 15–40 mBq kg^–1 wet. About 0.3% of⁸⁰Co ingested was estimated to be retained in a 23-year-old male sperm whale. In the livers of Bryde's whales,⁶⁰Co levels of 40–80 mBq kg^–1 wet were detected, but not in euphausiids and sardines, their possible prey. The level of Co in sperm whales was nearly the same as in Bryde's whales. Specific radioactivity⁶⁰Co/⁵⁹Co in mBq µg^–1 was several times higher in sperm whale (1.1–1.6) than in cephalopods (0.19–0.77). Eating prey with a high content of⁶⁰Co in the 1960's may have contributed to the present body burden in sperm whales with a long-life span. However, the origin of⁶⁰Co in Bryde's whales is unknown.     

ESR diagram: a method to distinguish vitrinite macerals

It has been found that samples consisting of a homogeneous vitrinite show a good ESR correlation of spin concentration with geothermal parameters and that a graph of ESR line width vs g-value can be useful in the identification of the maceral and the determination of the coalification rank.     

The theory of the nutation for the rigid earth model at the second order

We perform a complete reconstruction of the series of the nutation for a rigid Earth model with the use of the very accurate theories ELP2000 and VSOP82 for the motion of the Moon and the planets respectively, in such a way that all the individual contributions up to 0.005 mas should be taken. This implies the introduction of the planetary effects, of the influence of second-order parts of the potential of the Earth (J3, triaxiality), and some improvements due to an extension of the theory at the second order. All this increase notably the number of coefficients to be taken in account, and modifies also in a significant way the value of some of them.     

Large-Eddy Simulation of Pollutant Removal from a Three-Dimensional Street Canyon

Large-eddy simulations were conducted to investigate the mechanism of pollutant removal from a three-dimensional street canyon. Five block configurations with aspect ratios (building height to length) of 1, 2, 4, 8 and $\infty $ were used to create an urban-like array. A pollutant was released from a ground-level line source at the centre of the target canyon floor. For smaller aspect ratios, the relative contribution of the turbulent mass flux to net mass flux at the roof level, which was spatially averaged along the roof-level ventilation area, was closer to unity, indicating that turbulent motions mainly affected pollutant removal from the top of the canyon. As aspect ratio increased, the relative contribution became smaller, owing to strong upwind motions. However, the relative contribution again reached near unity for the infinite aspect ratio (i.e. a two-dimensional street canyon) because of lowered lateral flow convergence. At least 75 % of total emissions from the three-dimensional street canyon were attributable to turbulent motions. Pollutant removal by turbulent motions was related to the coherent structures of low-momentum fluid above the canyons. Though the coherent structure size of the low-momentum fluid differed, the positions of low-momentum fluid largely corresponded to instantaneous high concentrations of pollutant above the target canyon, irrespective of canyon geometry.     

Biogenic carbon flows through the planktonic food web of the Amundsen Gulf (Arctic Ocean): A synthesis of field measurements and inverse modeling analyses

Major pathways of biogenic carbon (C) flow are resolved for the planktonic food web of the flaw lead polynya system of the Amundsen Gulf (southeast Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean) in spring-summer 2008. This period was relevant to study the effect of climate change on Arctic marine ecosystems as it was characterized by unusually low ice cover and warm sea surface temperature. Our synthesis relied on a mass balance estimate of gross primary production (GPP) of 52.5 ± 12.5 g C m⁻² calculated using the drawdown of nitrate and dissolved inorganic C, and a seasonal f-ratio of 0.64. Based on chlorophyll a biomass, we estimated that GPP was dominated by phytoplankton (93.6%) over ice algae (6.4%) and by large cells (>5 μm, 67.6%) over small cells (<5 μm, 32.4%). Ancillary in situ data on bacterial production, zooplankton biomass and respiration, herbivory, bacterivory, vertical particle fluxes, pools of particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC, DOC), net community production (NCP), as well as selected variables from the literature were used to evaluate the fate of size-fractionated GPP in the ecosystem. The structure and functioning of the planktonic food web was elucidated through inverse analysis using the mean GPP and the 95% confidence limits of every other field measurement as lower and upper constraints. The model computed a net primary production of 49.2 g C m⁻², which was directly channeled toward dominant calanoid copepods (i.e. Calanus hyperboreus 20%, Calanus glacialis 10%, and Metridia longa 10%), other mesozooplankton (12%), microzooplankton (14%), detrital POC (18%), and DOC (16%). Bacteria required 29.9 g C m⁻², a demand met entirely by the DOC derived from local biological activities. The ultimate C outflow comprised respiration fluxes (82% of the initial GPP), a small sedimentation (3%), and a modest residual C flow (15%) resulting from NCP, dilution and accumulation. The sinking C flux at the model limit depth (395 m) supplied 60% of the estimated benthic C demand (2.8 g C m⁻²), suggesting that the benthos relied partly on other C sources within the bottom boundary layer to fuel its activity. In summary, our results illustrate that the ongoing decline in Arctic sea ice promotes the growth of pelagic communities in the Amundsen Gulf, which benefited from a ∼80% increase in GPP in spring-summer 2008 when compared to 2004 – a year of average ice conditions and relatively low GPP. However, 53% of the secondary production was generated within the microbial food web, the net ecological efficiency of zooplankton populations was not particularly high (13.4%), and the quantity of biogenic C available for trophic export remained low (6.6 g C m⁻²). Hence it is unlikely that the increase in lower food web productivity, such as the one observed in our study, could support new harvestable fishery resources in the offshore Beaufort Sea domain.     

Use of an optical oxygen sensor to measure dissolved oxygen in seawater

The use of an optical oxygen sensor to measure dissolved oxygen in seawater was investigated. The sensor is based on the dynamic quenching of an oxygen-sensitive fluorochrome embedded in the tip. Dissolved oxygen in seawater samples collected from eight stations at depths ranging from 3000 to 6000 m was analyzed both with the optical sensor and by the Winkler titration method. The two sets of data did not differ significantly. The stability and simplicity of the method and the good agreement of the results with those of the titration method indicate that the sensor would be useful for fieldwork.     

Symmetrical fft technique and its applications to earthquake engineering

The objective of this paper is to propose an FFT technique symmetrical for time and frequency, in which the symmetrization is done by introducing generating functions. By the symmetrical treatment, it becomes possible to derive several complementary relations in the time and frequency domains. Based on the idea of the symmetrical FFT technique, the phase problem of seismic waves is discussed not only in the frequency domain but also in the time domain. Furthermore, the deconvolution technique to evaluate the minimum-phase-shift and all-pass functions of seismic waves, which is not discussed sufficiently in earthquake engineering, is developed in the two domains. Numerical examples to present these basic ideas are also illustrated in the symmetrical framework.     

X-ray observation of the Jovian impacts of comet Shoemaker - Levy 9

An ASCA observation of the Jovian impact of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is reported. Four impacts of H, L, Q1 and R were observed and four impacts of B, C, G, and Q2 were observed within 60 minutes after their impacts. No significant flaring of X-ray emission was observed. Upper limit X-ray fluxes of 90 % confidence level, averaged 5 minutes just after the impacts, were 2.4 × 10^–13 erg sec^–1 cm^–2, 3.5 × 10^–13 erg sec^–1 cm^–2, 1.6 × 10^–13 erg sec^–1 cm^–2 and 2.9 × 10^–13 erg sec^–1 cm^–2 for the impacts of H, L, Q1 and R, respectively, in the 0.5(0.7 for H and Q1)–10 keV energy range. However, a hint of X-ray enhancement around Jupiter from July 17 to July 19 was detected with about 2 6 × 10^–14 erg sec^–1 cm^–2 in the 0.5–10 keV energy range.     

High-sensitive measurement of uranium LIII-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) for the determination of the oxidation states of uranium in crustal materials

The uranium L_III-edge XANES spectra for natural rocks at the concentration range of 0.96–124 mg kg⁻¹ were measured using a log spiral bent crystal Laue analyzer (BCLA) combined with a multi-element Ge detector. It was found that the quality of the XANES spectra using the BCLA was greatly improved due to a reduction of interfering fluorescence from major components such as Rb and Sr. The ratio of signal to background intensities in the U L_III-edge XANES spectra increased by a factor of 2.9–17 with the use of the BCLA, which greatly enhanced the detection limit for the speciation of the oxidation states of U or the U(IV)/U(VI) ratio of natural samples. In addition, it was demonstrated that the fluorescence XANES method coupled with the BCLA enable determination of the speciation of U for various natural samples such as acidic igneous rocks, ferromanganese nodules, sediments, and some sedimentary rocks such as shale and limestone.     

Textural variations and impact history of the Millbillillie eucrite

Abstract— We have investigated 10 new specimens of the Millbillillie eucrite to study its textures and mineral compositions by electron probe microanalyser and scanning electron microscope. Although originally described as having fine-grained texture, the new specimens show diversity of texture. The compositions (Mg/Fe ratios) of the host pigeonites and augite lamellae are homogeneous, respectively, in spite of the textural variation. In addition to their chemical homogeneity, pyroxenes in coarse and fine-grained clasts are partly inverted to orthopyroxene. Chemical zoning of plagioclase during crystal growth is preserved. This eucrite includes areas of granulitic breccias and impact melts. Large scale textures show a subparallel layering suggesting incomplete mixing and deposition of impact melt and lithic fragments. An ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar age determination for a coarse-grained clast indicates a strong degassing event at 3.55 ± 0.02 Ga. We conclude that Millbillillie is among the most equilibrated eucrites produced by thermal annealing after impact brecciation. According to the classification of impact breccias, Millbillillie can be classified as a mixture of granulitic breccias and impact melts. The last significant thermal event is characterized by network-like glassy veins that run through clasts and matrices. Consideration of textural observations and requirements for Ar-degassing suggests that the ³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar age could in principle date either the earilier brecciation and annealing event or the event which produced the veins.