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Atmospheric aerosols have been collected at four sites around Japan during 2000. From systematically monitoring the major (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, and Fe) and trace (Rb and Sr) elements, along with the Sr isotope composition, we have tried to estimate the contribution of long-range-transported Asian dust (“Kosa”) to the atmospheric aerosols. The results are summarized as follows: (1) The concentration of each element in the aerosols increased during the “Kosa” period. The increase was particularly obvious in samples collected on 8 April 2000, when the “Kosa Phenomenon” was observed at all the sampling sites in Japan, 2 days after a very heavy dust storm had occurred in China. (2) The Rb–Sr isotopic diagram shows a two-component mixing relationship: one with a high 87Sr/86Sr ratio and a high 87Rb/86Sr ratio, and the other with a low 87Sr/86Sr ratio and a low 87Rb/86Sr ratio. There is a significant difference between that of the expected end member of the Asian dust and that of the reported Asian loess, which is thought to be the possible source of the components of the “Kosa”, although the lower component is consistent with the local component at Wako. (3) Plots of the 87Sr/86Sr ratio vs the Ca/Al and Sr/Al ratios support a two-component mixing suggested by the Rb–Sr systematics, and they indicate that the contributing continental soil components to the “Kosa” aerosols should be composed of the silicate fraction of Asian loess. (4) The discrepancy in the Rb–Sr systematics between the expected end member and the possible sources may be caused by the dissolution of the Ca-bearing minerals via long-range dust transport, or by a combination of source characteristics and grain size separation.

The 5.1-kb plasmid pAMalpha1delta2, a derivative of the 9.6-kb plasmid pAMalpha1 which is harbored by Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 14508, has a region necessary for replication in E. faecalis. The nucleotide sequence related to the replication region in pAMalpha1delta2 was determined and found to contain an open reading frame of 720-bp encoding a replication protein. The sequence showed 54.5 and 48.5% homology to those encoding the RepAs of plasmids pLA103 from Lactobacillus acidophilus and pFA3 from Neisseria gonorrhoeae, respectively. A recombinant 5.8-kb plasmid, pEFX6, which can be used as a shuttle vector between Escherichia coli and some strains of E. faecalis, was constructed by combining the tetracycline resistance gene of pAMalpha1delta2 and the replication regions of pAMalpha1delta2 and pUC18 for E. faecalis and E. coli, respectively. This shuttle vector was successfully used to clone and express the gelatinase gene from E. faecalis subsp. zymogenes IFO 3989 in E. faecalis C57, a strain showing no gelatinase activity.

This is the first report of the dissolved gas composition of a deep-sea venting hydrothermal system originating from arc volcanism; the origin of dissolved gases in hydrothermal fluids from the Suiyo seamount in the southern Izu-Bonin (Ogasawara) Arc is discussed on the basis of chemical and isotopic compositions. Twelve high-temperature (up to 310°C) fluid samples were collected from three vents of the hydrothermal system using the submersible Shinkai 2000. The average 3 He 4 He ratio of the dissolved He is 8.1 ( R R atm ), which is within the range of values reported for N-MORB. The CO 2 3 He ratio is 12 × 109, which is within the range of arc volcanic gas values. The δ13C values of CO2 and CH4 are −1 and −8.5‰ respectively, which is quite high compared with other subaerial arc volcanic gases and those from mid-ocean ridges. These results, which do not accord with those from subaerial volcanism, are unlikely to result from fractionation or addition of carbon sources during the fluid circulation, but are regarded as characteristic of the magma source of Suiyo Seamount. A simple mixing of 97% MORB mantle with 3% subducting slab explains well the composition of the helium and carbon in the parent magma.