Box model analysis of hydrography and behaviour of nitrogen and phosphorus in a eutrophic estuary

In order to investigate the mechanism of eutrophication in Atsumi Bay which is a shallow and partially mixed estuary, distributions of temperature, salinity and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in all their chemical forms were observed once a month throughout a year. Supplies of freshwater and nutrients are estimated and balances of salt and nutrients are examined using a modified box model. The deduced estuarine hydrography and calculated values of photosynthesis, decomposition, deposition and sedimentation are compared with those obtained byin situ observations and laboratory experiments. It is found that the factors responsible for the appearance of heavy eutrophication include not only the general increase of nutrient supply from land but also nutrient accumulation in the rainy season just before summer, the N/P ratio of the supply from land being favourable for uptake by phytoplankton, formation of semi-closed circulations of the nutrients associated with stratification and vertical circulation of estuarine water, and possibly the inorganic turnover of phosphorus (PO₄-P) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The usefulness of the modified box model for obtaining a synoptic understanding of the estuarine system is also demonstrated.     

Ecologic and taxonomic diversification in the Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan, with emphasis on infaunalization of heterodonts

Mesozoic brackish-water bivalve faunas in Japan diversified in three steps: at the beginning of the Early Jurassic, Early and Late Cretaceous. The Hettangian Niranohama Fauna in northeastern Honshu represents the establishment of a heterodont-dominated brackish-water fauna that persisted until the early Late Cretaceous. No similar composition is known from the Triassic. The infauna consists mostly of non-siphonate and some short-siphonate heterodonts, while the epifauna is represented by diverse pteriomorphian families. In the Early Cretaceous Tetori Group in central Honshu, the long-siphonate heterodonts Tetoria (Corbiculidae) and the semi-infaunal soft-bottom oyster Crassostrea appeared. The evolutionary diversification of the latter, known as the most important element of modern brackish-water faunas, may thus originate at that time. In the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Goshoura and Mifune Groups in west Kyushu, several euryhaline deep-burrowing heterodont families, such as Veneridae and Tellinidae, further diversified in the brackish and marine environments. The Late Cretaceous is characterized by massive shell biolithic beds in which large Crassostrea species are common, a feature common for Cenozoic brackish-water faunas. The long-term changes in the composition of the brackish-water faunas in Japan represents thus an evolutionary record, irrespective of the severe physiological and environmental conditions imposed on the highly conservative nature of the fauna.     

Empirical green's function corrected for source effect

One of the severe problems in the semi-empirical method for the prediction of strong ground motions is that there is no objective criterion for choosing empirical Green's functions. It is undesirable that synthesized strong ground motions are affected by the source process of an earthquake whose record is adopted as an empirical Green's function. Through the analysis of strong motion accelerograms of two aftershocks of the 1983 Japan Sea earthquakes, it is found that characteristics of the accelerograms are dependent on the moment rate function derived from teleseismic observations. A procedure is presented for removing the effect of the source process from observed strong motion accelerograms. The thus obtained empirical Green's function expresses approximately the impulse response of the medium between the earthquake source and the observation site.     

新疆阿尔泰山南部富蕴右旋走滑断裂带晚第四纪错断水系的遥感分析研究

富蕴断裂带位于阿尔泰山南侧,横切阿尔泰山褶皱带南缘及额尔齐斯深断裂,是一条呈北北西向展布的右旋走滑断裂带。沿断裂带发育一系列错断水系、错断冲积扇、挤压脊、走滑拉分盆地等反映右旋走滑活动的典型构造地貌标志。本研究在高分辨率遥感图像和数字高程模型分析的基础上,结合野外实地构造地貌测量,对沿富蕴断裂带发育的系统错断水系特征进行了详细分析研究。研究结果表明,沿富蕴断裂带发育不同级别的错断水系,大致可划分为6级:1931年地震形成的冲沟;90m左右断距的错断水系;150m左右断距的错断水系;500m左右断距的错断水系;1500m左右断距的错断水系;2000m以上断距的错断水系。同时,结合研究区及邻区的第四纪冰川资料讨论了不同级别水系可能形成时间:恰尔沟三级支流可能形成时间为末次冰期Ⅲ阶段末期,约20ka;恰尔沟二级支流可能形成时间为末次冰期Ⅰ阶段末期,约120ka;恰尔沟一级支流可能形成于该地区冰川广泛消融的倒数第2次冰期的Ⅱ阶段末期,约为250ka;恰尔沟、水磨沟、白杨沟、乌铁布拉克河、卡布尔特河等可能形成于倒数第3次冰期Ⅱ阶段末期,约为360ka。最后,我们估算出富蕴断裂带晚第四纪以来的平均右旋走滑速率为1.46～4.99mm/a。     

Ammonium uptake kinetics and interactions between nitrate and ammonium uptake inChattonella antiqua

Ammonium uptake kinetics and interactions between nitrate and ammonium uptake were examined inChattonella antiqua. After the addition of ammonium to the culture ofC. antiqua, the ammonium concentration decreased linearly with time. The ammonium uptake rate as a function of ammonium concentration followed the Michaelis-Menten equation; the maximal uptake rate was 2.0 pmol cell^–1hr^–1 and the half saturation constant, 2.2M. Although the ammonium uptake was not affected by nitrate, uptake of nitrate was rapidly (15min) suppressed by ammonium and a 50% reduction in nitrate uptake was observed at an ammonium concentration ofca. 2M.     

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.     

Nitrogen budget in Tokyo Bay with special reference to the low sedimentation to supply ratio

In order to determine why the sedimentation to supply ratio of nutrients in Tokyo Bay is markedly small, the nitrogen budget was investigated for 1979, when a systematic and continuous observation of flow and salinity was carried out. The data were analyzed by use of a simple advective-diffusive box model and dissolved oxygen balance in the lower layer was also examined. The calculated values of two-layer flow, settling, primary production, mineralization, denitrification, and dissolved oxygen consumption were comparable to those observed.The factors making the sedimentation to supply ratio makedly small were summarized as: 1) a strong and stable two-layer flow generated by a large freshwater supply, 2) further intensification of this two-layer flow by the northern winter monsoon, 3) coincidence of the discharge region with the supply region of nutrients caused by the transverse inclination of the interface, probably due to the earth's rotation. 4) effective discharge of nutrients from the bay due to a strong tidal flow and a possible cyclonic tidal residual circulation in the inner bay mouth, 5) incomplete consumption of nutrient salts by phytoplankton in the upper layer even in the most productive season, and 6) possible denitrification in the anaerobic bottom water in summer and in the bottom sediment itself throughout the year in the inner bay.     

ASCA observations of the Galactic superluminal sources GRO J1655–40 and GRS 1915+105

We summarize the ASCA observations of the two Galactic superluminal sources GRO J1655–40 and GRS 1915+105, focusing on theabsorption line features.The high spectroscopic capability of ASCA enabled us to detectiron-K absorption line features from both objects. This is direct evidence for the presence of highly ionized plasma in a non-spherical configuration around a black hole, and is considered to be a unique signature of superluminal jet systems. The candidate of the line-absorber would be a part of an accretion disk at a distance of 10^9-11 cm from the central X-ray source.