Transformation of arsenic compounds in modern intertidal sediments of Iriomote Island, Japan

The arsenic accumulation process in intertidal sediments of Iriomote Island, Japan, is analyzed as a naturally balanced arsenic-fixation system. Major and minor element chemistry is analyzed by X-ray fluorescence photometry, mineralogy is investigated by X-ray diffractometry, and four arsenic compounds are characterized by hydrogen-generated atomic absorption photometry. It is found that arsenic is accumulated by iron hydroxides/oxides precipitated following the decomposition of humic acids in the shallower sediment, and is subsequently incorporated into iron sulfide minerals at depth. The arsenic is immobile during incorporation into arsenic-bearing phases, suggesting that arsenic is unlikely to be released into the porewater under natural conditions in early diagenesis. The formation and decomposition of arsenic-bearing organic compounds appear to be associated with the formation and decomposition of arsenic in oxyhydroxides/oxides, suggesting that microbial activity may play an important role in controlling the behavior of arsenic and arsenic-bearing phases in the sediment column.     

A study of subsolidus relations of the Skaergaard pyroxenes by analytical electron microscopy

Within augite and pigeonite grains of the Skaergaard ferrogabbro 4430, the Ca-poor phases contain only three mole percent of CaSiO₃, and the Mg-Fe partition coefficients between the Ca-poor and Ca-rich phases are extremely small with 0.46 for augite and 0.51 for pigeonite grains. These values indicate existence of diffusion within each grain (intragranular diffusion) at considerably low temperatures.The compositions are slightly but definitely different between the Ca-rich phases in augite and pigeonite grains as well as between the Ca-poor phases in augite and pigeonite grains. This indicates that the diffusion among the grains (inter-granular diffusion) has not taken place under the subsolidus condition of the Skaergaard intrusion.     

Effect of subsurface water level on gully headcut retreat in tropical highlands of Ethiopia

Gully erosion is a major cause of soil loss and severe land degradation in sub-humid Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate the role and the effect of subsurface water level change on gully headcut retreat, gully formation and expansion in high rainfall tropical regions in the Ethiopian highlands. During the rainy seasons of 2017–2019, the expansion rate of 16 fixed gullies was measured and subsurface water levels were measured by piezometers installed near gully heads. During the study period, headcut retreats ranged from 0.70 to 2.35 m, with a mean value of 1.49 ± 0.56 m year⁻¹, and average depth of the surface water level varied between 1.12 and 2.82 m, with a mean value of 2.62 m. Gully cross-section areas ranged from 2.90 to 20.90 m², with an average of 9.31 ± 4.80 m². Volumetric retreat of gully headcuts ranged from 4.49 to 40.55 m³ and averaged 13.34 ± 9.10 m³. Soil loss from individual gullies ranged from 5.79 to 52.31 t year⁻¹ and averaged 17.21 ± 11.74 t year⁻¹. The headcut retreat rate and sediment yield were closely related over the three study seasons. Elevated subsurface water levels facilitated the slumping of gully banks and heads, causing high sediment yield. When the soil was saturated, bank collapse and headcut retreat were favoured by the combination of elevated subsurface water and high rainfall. This study indicates that area exclosures are effective in controlling subsurface water level, thus reducing gully headcut retreat and associated soil loss.     

Preliminary palaeomagnetic results of an Archaean dolerite dyke of west Greenland: geomagnetic field intensity at 2.8 Ga

The geomagnetic field intensity during Archaean times is evaluated from a palaeomagnetic and chronological study of a dolerite dyke intruded into the 3000 Ma Nuuk Gneisses at Nuuk (64.2°N, 51.7°W), west Greenland. Plagioclase from the dolerite dyke yields a mean K-Ar age of 2752 Ma. Palaeomagnetic directions after thermal demagnetization of the dyke and the gneiss reveal a positive baked-contact test, indicating that the high-temperature-component magnetization of the dyke is primary. Thellier experiments on 12 dyke specimens yield a palaeointensity value of 13.5±4.4 μT. The virtual dipole moment at ca. 2.8 Ga is 1.9±0.6 × 10²² Am², which is about one-quarter of the present value. The present study and other available data imply that the Earth's magnetic field at 2.7 ∼ 2.8 Ga was characterized by a weak dipole moment and that a fairly strong geomagnetic field similar to the present intensity followed the weak field after ca. 2.6 Ga.     

两个相连湖泊的微生态系统——云南高原湖泊中浅水的星云湖和深水的抚仙湖研究

抚仙湖是中国云南省的一个深水湖，连接着富营养化的浅水湖－－星云湖，星云湖排放含绿藻的水进入抚仙湖。两湖位于省会昆明附近，由于地方文化、集约化农业、以及旅游业的发展，两湖已经富营养化。因为湖泊体积容量的级别差异，深水湖的富营养化几乎没被注意，抚仙湖秋季下层滞水带缺氧已经关注了20年，似乎下层滞水带是深水湖富营养化的指标或趋势。抚仙湖看起来目前情况尚好，可以说寡营养，然而，外界负荷是潜在的，且是以稳定的加速度进行的。在此对浅水湖富营养化的原因进行了讨论，包括在其它云南湖泊观察到富营养化的过程，再者，对两个连相湖的藻和蓝藻碎片的大小构成进行比照。为了与深水的抚仙湖状况进行比较，简略介绍了一个日本的深湖及其径流系统。其中，涡流和它的微生态系统，在两者中相关性很好。对于以涡流生态系统的见解判断微生态系统的深水湖富营养化问题将给予概括。     

Integrated magnetobiochronology of the Pliocene–Pleistocene Miyazaki succession,southern Kyushu,southwest Japan: Implications for an Early Pleistocene hiatus and defining the base of the Gelasian (P/P boundary type section) in Japan

An integrated magnetobiochronology of the Miyazaki Pliocene–Pleistocene succession in the Miyazaki area, southwest Japan, was established using planktic foraminiferal and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy together with paleomagnetic data. The upper Miyazaki succession in the northern Miyazaki region can be divided into the Takanabe, Hisamine (redefined), and Higoyashiki (new) Formations, in ascending order. A depositional hiatus between the Hisamine Formation and the Takanabe and/or older formations was also identified based on integrated magnetobiostratigraphy from five sections including the Nagatani River (NGT) section through the uppermost Miyazaki succession. The hiatus, herein called the Hisamine unconformity, is equivalent to the Kurotaki unconformity between the Miura and Kazusa groups of the Boso Peninsula in central Japan. The depositional hiatus recognised in the lower Pleistocene of Pacific coastal areas in southwestern and central Japan may have resulted from tectonic activity associated with a change in the subduction direction of the Philippine Sea plate, which commenced prior to ca. 2.2 Ma. The youngest unit just below the hiatus is the upper part of the Takanabe Formation in the NGT section. The NGT section represents the continuous Late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene sequence including the Gauss/Matuyama boundary and is here proposed as the type section for the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary in Japan, which the IUGS ratified as the base of the Gelasian in 2009.     

Seasonal variation of horizontal material transport through the eastern channel of the Tsushima Straits

We conducted hydrographic observations ten times in the Tsushima Strait to reveal seasonal variations of horizontal material transports such as of heat, freshwater, chlorophyll a, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP) through the eastern channel of the Tsushima Strait (ECTS). The volume, freshwater, and heat transport results are of nearly the same order as results reported in previous studies. The annual mean DIN and DIP transports of 3.59 kmol/s and 0.29 kmol/s are large relative to those of the Changjiang and the Taiwan Strait and are horizontally transported through the ECTS. Nutrient transports are high in July–August and October and low in April and November. Increased nutrient transports in July–August and October are due to the appearance of a cold saline water mass in the bottom layer of the ECTS. Changes in DIN transports in summer and autumn, which account for two-thirds of the total annual DIN transport, would have a large effect on the nitrogen budget and biological productivity in the Tsushima Warm Current region.     

A search for millimeter wave spectral lines from comet Sugano-Saigusa-Fujikawa (1983e)

The search for radio spectral lines from Comet Sugano-Saigusa-Fujikawa (1983e) was conducted using the 45-m telescope of Nobeyama Radio Observatory. The frequency ranges of 44.0–46.0 and 47.5–49.5 GHz were surveyed down to $\text{ΔT}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>A</mtext>}}{}^1\text{(}\text{rms}\text{) = 20–30}\text{mK}$, with a beam size of ～35 arc sec. Upper limits have been established for spectral lines of atomic hydrogen, CS, OCS, SO₂, H₂CO, CH₃OH, HCCCCCN, HCOOCH₃, CH₃OCH₃, and CH₃CH₂CN. The J = 5?4 line from HCCCN in the vibrational ground state possibly has been detected but not confirmed. The suggested total amount of HCCCN in the coma is consistent with the possible picture that HCCCN is the main parent molecule of CN.