Effects of sheens associated with offshore oil and gas development on the feather microstructure of pelagic seabirds     

Patrick D. O’Hara  Lora A. Morandin 《Marine pollution bulletin》2010,60(5):672-678

Operational discharges of hydrocarbons from maritime activities can have major cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems. Small quantities of oil (i.e., 10 ml) results in often lethally reduced thermoregulation in seabirds. Thin sheens of oil and drilling fluids form around offshore petroleum production structures from currently permissible operational discharges of hydrocarbons. Methodology was developed to measure feather microstructure impacts (amalgamation index or AI) associated with sheen exposure. We collected feather samples from two common North Atlantic species of seabirds; Common Murres (Uria aalge) and Dovekies (Alle alle). Impacts were compared after feather exposure to crude oil and synthetic lubricant sheens of varying thicknesses. Feather weight and microstructure changed significantly for both species after exposure to thin sheens of crude oil and synthetic drilling fluids. Thus, seabirds may be impacted by thin sheens forming around offshore petroleum production facilities from discharged produced water containing currently admissible concentrations of hydrocarbons.  相似文献   

A probabilistic approach to exposure risk assessment   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Crispin M. Mutshinda  Imoh Antai  Robert B. O’Hara 《Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (SERRA)》2008,22(4):441-449

The introduction of hazardous substances into the environment has long been recognized as being a cause of several diseases in humans, wildlife, and plants. The damaging character of suspected contaminants is usually assessed via a “reject/retain” design with no explicit link between levels of exposure and intensities of the potential adverse health effects even though this connection may be important for the development of public health regulations that limit exposure to hazardous substances. Here, we propose a probabilistic approach to exposure risk assessment as a way around this typical flaw. We develop a Bayesian model using proximity to the source of an alleged contaminant as a surrogate for exposure. Subsequently, we carry out an experimental study based on simulated data to illustrate the model implementation with real world data. We also discuss a possible way of extending the model to accommodate potential heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of the focal disease.  相似文献   

Detrital zircon multi‐chronology,provenance, and low‐grade metamorphism of the Cretaceous Shimanto accretionary complex,eastern Shikoku,Southwest Japan: Tectonic evolution in response to igneous activity within a subduction zone          下载免费PDF全文

Hidetoshi Hara  Yoshihiro Nakamura  Kousuke Hara  Toshiyuki Kurihara  Hiroshi Mori  Hideki Iwano  Tohru Danhara  Shuhei Sakata  Takafumi Hirata 《Island Arc》2017,26(6)

Detrital zircon multi‐chronology combined with provenance and low‐grade metamorphism analyses enables the reinterpretation of the tectonic evolution of the Cretaceous Shimanto accretionary complex in Southwest Japan. Detrital zircon U–Pb ages and provenance analysis defines the depositional age of trench‐fill turbidites associated with igneous activity in provenance. Periods of low igneous activity are recorded by youngest single grain zircon U–Pb ages (YSG) that approximate or are older than the depositional ages obtained from radiolarian fossil‐bearing mudstone. Periods of intensive igneous activity recorded by youngest cluster U–Pb ages (YC1σ) that correspond to the younger limits of radiolarian ages. The YC1σ U–Pb ages obtained from sandstones within mélange units provide more accurate younger depositional ages than radiolarian ages derived from mudstone. Determining true depositional ages requires a combination of fossil data, detrital zircon ages, and provenance information. Fission‐track ages using zircons estimated YC1σ U–Pb ages are useful for assessing depositional and annealing ages for the low‐grade metamorphosed accretionary complex. These new dating presented here indicates the following tectonic history of the accretionary wedge. Evolution of the Shimanto accretionary complex from the Albian to the Turonian was caused by the subduction of the Izanagi plate, a process that supplied sediments via the erosion of Permian and Triassic to Early Jurassic granitic rocks and the eruption of minor amounts of Early Cretaceous intermediate volcanic rocks. The complex subsequently underwent intensive igneous activity from the Coniacian to the early Paleocene as a result of the subduction of a hot and young oceanic slab, such as the Kula–Pacific plate. Finally, the major out‐of‐sequence thrusts of the Fukase Fault and the Aki Tectonic Line formed after the middle Eocene, and this reactivation of the Shimanto accretionary complex as a result of the subduction of the Pacific plate.  相似文献   

Characterization of sulfate mineral deposits in central Thailand          下载免费PDF全文

Junichiro Kuroda  Hidetoshi Hara  Katsumi Ueno  Thasinee Charoentitirat  Teruyuki Maruoka  Takashi Miyazaki  Akira Miyahigashi  Stefano Lugli 《Island Arc》2017,26(2)

In this paper we present petrographic and geochemical data of sulfate mineral deposits in northeast Nakhon Sawan, central Thailand, and provide new constraints on their age. The deposits are made up mainly of strongly deformed nodular and massive gypsum in the upper part, and less deformed layered anhydrite in the lower part. They are intruded by andesitic dikes that contain Middle Triassic zircons (ca 240 Ma). These dikes are probably part of the regional magmatic activity of the Sukhothai Arc during the Early to Middle Triassic. Sulfur (δ³⁴S) and strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) isotopic compositions of the sulfates range from 15.86 ‰ to 16.26 ‰ and from 0.70810 to 0.70817, respectively. Comparisons with the Phanerozoic seawater isotopic evolution curve indicate that those values are best explained by precipitation of the sulfates from Carboniferous seawater, in particular seawater of late Mississippian age (ca 326 Ma), and this would be consistent with previous studies of calcareous fossils in the limestones that crop out around this site. Our interpretation is that evaporitic gypsum was originally precipitated from hypersaline seawater on a shallow lagoon or shelf on the Khao Khwang Platform during the Serpukhovian, and that this gypsum changed to anhydrite during early burial. The anhydrite was then cut by andesitic dikes during the Middle Triassic, and more recently the upper part of which was rehydrated during exhumation to form secondary gypsum near the surface.  相似文献   

Recent and historical tsunami deposits from Lake Tokotan,eastern Hokkaido,Japan, inferred from nondestructive,grain size,and radioactive cesium analyses     

Shinozaki  Tetsuya  Sawai  Yuki  Ito  Kazumi  Hara  Junko  Matsumoto  Dan  Tanigawa  Koichiro  Pilarczyk  Jessica E. 《Natural Hazards》2020,103(1):713-730

Geological evidence of recent tsunamis from sediment samples collected from Lake Tokotan, a coastal lagoon in eastern Hokkaido, northern Japan, was detected using computed tomography (CT) and soft X-ray images, grain size, and radionuclide profiles. Initial field observations revealed that sediments had no discernable sedimentary structures at the top of the core. However, results of CT imaging, soft X-ray, and grain size analyses show evidence for three invisible sand layers that are intercalated with mud layers. These sand layers exhibit trends of landward fining and thinning. Furthermore, the distribution of sand layers was limited to the center and seaward parts of the lake. Vertical profiles of cesium and lead concentrations in combination with recent eyewitness accounts indicated that these sand layers are correlated with the 1973 Nemuro-oki, 1960 Chilean, and 1952 Tokachi-oki tsunami events. The deeper part of the sediment cores includes three volcanic ash layers and three prehistoric coarse sand layers. The prehistoric layers are correlated with unusually large tsunamis that were geologically identified in previous studies from eastern Hokkaido. These findings suggest that nondestructive techniques, in combination with radionuclide analysis, allow for detection of frequent but faint tsunami deposits. This technique allows for an improved understanding of the history of tsunami inundation in Lake Tokotan and of other locations for which stratigraphic evidence for faint tsunamis layers is not readily apparent from field assessments.

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Large-scale landslides in Toyama Prefecture,central Japan,and their probable relationship with earthquakes     

Satoru Kojima  Tamotsu Nozaki  Hidehisa Nagata  Ryota Tanahashi  Ryoich Kondo  Noriaki Okamura  Kazuhiro Suzuki  Akiko Ikeda  Toshio Nakamura  Tomoyuki Ohtani 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2014,71(6):2753-2763

Large-scale landslides along the Kubusu and Besso rivers in Toyama Prefecture are developed in the Miocene Iwaine Formation, which is composed of andesitic lava, tuff, and tuff breccia. In the middle member of this formation, the tuff is easily altered to montmorillonite-bearing rock, and subsequently plays an important role in the development of landslides events, which tend to be large-scale events, as the massive lava of the upper member forms a cap rock over the tuff. The Kiritani and Koinami basins, which are flat intermontane basins located along the Kubusu and Besso rivers, respectively, are interpreted as landslide-dammed lakes, later filled with sediment. Accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C ages show that the landslides forming each dam occurred simultaneously, at approximately 2500 BP. These ages were measured from wood fragments embedded in the landslide material of Kiritani, and from an in situ stump drowned during the impoundment of Koinami. If the trigger of these landslides was an earthquake, it is most likely to have been the penultimate event along the Atotsugawa fault zone.  相似文献   

Aeolian dust experiment on climate impact: An overview of Japan–China joint project ADEC   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

M. Mikami  G.Y. Shi  I. Uno  S. Yabuki  Y. Iwasaka  M. Yasui  T. Aoki  T.Y. Tanaka  Y. Kurosaki  K. Masuda  A. Uchiyama  A. Matsuki  T. Sakai  T. Takemi  M. Nakawo  N. Seino  M. Ishizuka  S. Satake  K. Fujita  Y. Hara  K. Kai  S. Kanayama  M. Hayashi  M. Du  Y. Kanai  Y. Yamada  X.Y. Zhang  Z. Shen  H. Zhou  O. Abe  T. Nagai  Y. Tsutsumi  M. Chiba  J. Suzuki 《Global and Planetary Change》2006,52(1-4):142

The Aeolian Dust Experiment on Climate Impact (ADEC) was initiated in April 2000 as a joint five-year Japan–China project. The goal was to understand the impact of aeolian dust on climate via radiative forcing (RF). Field experiments and numerical simulations were conducted from the source regions in northwestern China to the downwind region in Japan in order to understand wind erosion processes temporal and spatial distribution of dust during their long-range transportation chemical, physical, and optical properties of dust and the direct effect of radiative forcing due to dust. For this, three intensive observation periods (IOP) were conducted from April 2002 to April 2004.The in situ and network observation results are summarized as follows: (1) In situ observations of the wind erosion process revealed that the vertical profile of moving sand has a clear size dependency with height and saltation flux and that threshold wind velocity is dependent on soil moisture. Results also demonstrated that saltation flux is strongly dependent on the parent soil size distribution of the desert surface. (2) Both lidar observations and model simulations revealed a multiple dust layer in East Asia. A numerical simulation of a chemical transport model, CFORS, illustrated the elevated dust layer from the Taklimakan Desert and the lower dust layer from the Gobi Desert. The global-scale dust model, MASINGAR, also simulated the dust layer in the middle to upper free troposphere in East Asia, which originated from North Africa and the Middle East during a dust storm in March 2003. Raman lidar observations at Tsukuba, Japan, found the ice cloud associated with the dust layer at an altitude of 6 to 9 km. Analysis from lidar and the radio-sonde observation suggested that the Asian dust acted as ice nuclei at the ice-saturated region. These results suggest the importance of dust's climate impact via the indirect effect of radiative forcing due to the activation of dust into ice nuclei. (3) Studies on the aerosol concentration indicated that size distributions of aerosols in downwind regions have bimodal peaks. One peak was in the submicron range and the other in the supermicron range. The main soluble components of the supermicron peak were Na⁺, Ca²⁺, NO₃⁻, and Cl⁻. In the downwind region in Japan, the dust, sea salt, and a mixture of the two were found to be dominant in coarse particles in the mixed boundary layer. (4) Observation of the optical properties of dust by sky-radiometer, particle shoot absorption photometer (PSAP), and Nephelometer indicated that unpolluted dust at source region has a weaker absorption than originally believed.A sensitivity experiment of direct RF by dust indicated that single scattering albedo is the most important of the optical properties of dust and that the sensitivity of instantaneous RF in the shortwave region at the top of the atmosphere to the refractive index strongly depends on surface albedo. A global scale dust model, MASINGAR, was used for evaluation of direct RF due to dust. The results indicated the global mean RF at the top and the bottom of the atmosphere were − 0.46 and − 2.13 W m^− 2 with cloud and were almost half of the RF with cloud-free condition.  相似文献   

The Hinode (Solar-B) Mission: An Overview     

T. Kosugi  K. Matsuzaki  T. Sakao  T. Shimizu  Y. Sone  S. Tachikawa  T. Hashimoto  K. Minesugi  A. Ohnishi  T. Yamada  S. Tsuneta  H. Hara  K. Ichimoto  Y. Suematsu  M. Shimojo  T. Watanabe  S. Shimada  J. M. Davis  L. D. Hill  J. K. Owens  A. M. Title  J. L. Culhane  L. K. Harra  G. A. Doschek  L. Golub 《Solar physics》2007,243(1):3-17

The Hinode satellite (formerly Solar-B) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS/JAXA) was successfully launched in September 2006. As the successor to the Yohkoh mission, it aims to understand how magnetic energy gets transferred from the photosphere to the upper atmosphere and results in explosive energy releases. Hinode is an observatory style mission, with all the instruments being designed and built to work together to address the science aims. There are three instruments onboard: the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS), and the X-Ray Telescope (XRT). This paper provides an overview of the mission, detailing the satellite, the scientific payload, and operations. It will conclude with discussions on how the international science community can participate in the analysis of the mission data. T. Kosugi deceased 26 November 2006.  相似文献   

Production of High-Temperature Plasmas During the Early Phases of a C9.7 Flare. II. Bi-directional Flows Suggestive of Reconnection in a Pre-flare Brightening Region     

T. Watanabe  H. Hara  A. C. Sterling  L. K. Harra 《Solar physics》2012,281(1):87-99

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Degradation of Toxic Compounds at Low and Medium Temperature Conditions Using Isolated Fungus          下载免费PDF全文

Young‐Cheol Chang  Soichiro Fuzisawa  Motakatla Venkateswar Reddy  Hikari Kobayashi  Eri Yoshida  Yuka Yajima  Tamotsu Hoshino  DuBok Choi 《洁净——土壤、空气、水》2016,44(8):992-1000

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