2007 Annual Report - jamstec japan agency for marine-earth ...

September 2000 Mutsu Institute for Oceanography was inaugurated.
April 2001 Seattle Office was opened.
November 2001 Global Oceanographic Data Center (Nago-shi, Okinawa)
was opened.
April 2002 Earth Simulator recorded the world's highest computing performance.
August 2002 Yokohama Institute for Earth Science was opened.
April 2004 Independent Administrative Institution, Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology was inaugurated.
July 2004 JAMSTEC 2005 Annual Report Japan Agency for Marine-
Earth Science and Technology was reorganized as four research centers and
three centers.
February 2005 Survey on the earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's
Sumatra Island was implemented.
February 2005 URASHIMA set a new world record with a continuous
cruise of 317 km.
July 2005 Deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu was completed.
October 2005 Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research was established.
April 2006 The JAMSTEC venture support system was launched.
August 2006 Drilling tests were conducted with the Chikyu.
March 2007 Shinkai 6500 completed its 1000th dive.
March 2007 Seattle Office was consolidated with the Washington, D.C.
Office.
September 2007 Start of exploration by the Chikyu in the Nankai Trough
Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE), as part of the Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).
9. Introduction of offices and institutes
(1) Yokosuka Headquarters
JAMSTEC is engaged in research and development with
the aim of elucidating global change phenomena, based on an
understanding of the planet Earth as a single system centering
on its oceans. As JAMSTEC's main research center, the
Yokosuka Headquarters conducts advanced research and technical
development on the global system, including research on
prediction of global environmental change, research on the
Earth's core dynamics, marine and extremobiosphere research,
etc.
As infrastructure supporting basic research in these areas,
the Yokosuka Headquarters owns various large-scale research
facilities, beginning with research ships, and a dedicated quay,
and conducts operation and management work to ensure that
these facilities are utilized efficiently.
In addition, the Headquarters is also responsible for institute-wide
management work such as personnel, accounting,
administration, planning, compliance, and related matters.
(2) Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences
The Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences is a research
center for the elucidation and prediction of global environmental
change, research on the Earth's core dynamics, and similar
topics, where simulations for these researches are developed
with the full use of the Earth Simulator, the world's top-level
supercomputer. The Earth Simulator is also used in research in
advanced scientific fields, etc.
In addition, as a data center of global environmental information,
the Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences has established
a system for making the latest research results widely
available to the public where various data obtained from
research and observation activities are compiled and managed
as electronic information.
The Center for Deep Earth Exploration, which is responsible
for the operation of the deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu,
which began full-scale exploration in September 2007, also carries
out its work at the Yokosuka Headquarters.
(3) Mutsu Institute for Oceanography
The Mutsu Institute for Oceanography (MIO, Photo 1)
conducts time-series observational research in the North
Pacific. It is the home port of the oceanographic research
vessel Mirai, and provides support for observations by that
vessel. The MIO also conducts various events and other
activities aimed at increasing understanding of marine science
and technology, centering on the Shimokita Peninsula
region of Aomori Prefecture.
1 Time-series observational research in the North Pacific
The MIO is conducting time-series observation to capture
environmental variations and changes in the ocean at
Station K2(47˚N, 160˚E) in the subarctic northwestern
Pacific Ocean. The “Mirai” made observational cruise
MR07-05 was conducted in the autumn season in 2007,
when the nutrients used by phytoplankton are at their lowest
level. In addition, a buoy array was deployed with the aim of
clarifying the detailed variations in nutrients at around a
depth of 35m, and the seasonal and interannual changes in
the composition of settling particles.
Observations carried out to date have revealed that the concentration
of CO 2 on the surface layer in the subarctic gyre in
the northwestern Pacific Ocean is increasing with time, and the
composition of the particles from which organisms originate
tends to change interannualy. Furthermore, knowledge about
seasonal variations in nutrients in the northwestern Pacific, the
relationship between phytoplankton and primary production,
seasonal variations in primary productivity, POC flux and others
was accumulated based on disequilibrium of Th-234.
A compact drifting buoy in-situ automatic CO 2 measuring
device (CO 2 sensor) was developed. This development is supported
with the Marine Development and Earth Science and
Technology Research Promotion Fund's "Japan Earth
Observation System (EOS) Promotion Program (JEPP)".
During FY 2007, a device made during FY 2006 was tested in