Intense ocean freshening from melting glacier around the Antarctica during early twenty-first century.

With the accelerating mass loss of Antarctic ice sheets, the freshening of the Southern Ocean coastal oceans (SOc, seas around Antarctica) is gradually intensifying, which will reduce the formation of bottom water and weaken the meridional overturning circulation, thus having a significant negative impact on the ocean's role in regulating global climate. Due to the extreme environment of the Southern Ocean and the limitations of observational techniques, our understanding of the glacier-derived freshening of SOc is still vague. We developed a method that first provided us with an expansive understanding of glacier-derived freshening progress over the SOc.

A storm-induced flood and associated nearshore dispersal of the river-derived suspended Cs.

Accidental leakage of radionuclides from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP1) took place in the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunamis associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. Significant amount of radionuclides released into the atmosphere were reportedly transported and deposited on land located near FNPP1. The Niida River, Fukushima, Japan, has been recognized as a terrestrial source of highly contaminated suspended radiocesium adhering to sediment particles in the ocean through the river mouth as a result of hydrological processes.

Long-term ocean acidification trends in coastal waters around Japan.

This study examines long-term ocean pH data to evaluate ocean acidification (OA) trends at two coastal research institutions located on the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. These laboratories are located away from the influences of large rivers and major industrial activity. Measurements were performed daily for the past 30 years (1980s-2010s).

The Southern Ocean with the largest uptake of anthropogenic nitrogen into the ocean interior.

The oceanic external nitrogen (N) deposition to the global ocean is expected to rise significantly owing to human activities. The Southern Ocean (SO) is an important pathway, which brings external influences into the ocean interior. It touches the borders of several developing countries that emit a large amount of anthropogenic nitrogen.

Establishment of long-term preservation for dimethyl sulfide by the solid-phase microextraction method.

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) derived from marine biological activity affects radiative forcing of the climate. The general analytical technique for DMS in seawater (purge and trap analytical method, P&T) is complex onboard ship. Thus it is difficult to obtain sufficient data for a comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal variability of DMS in the sea surface layer.