In active volcanoes, various hydrothermal alteration minerals form through the interaction between edifice rocks and thermal waters derived from magmatic gases. Regarding clay minerals, the presence of pyrophyllite and kaolin minerals indicates acidic environments, while smectite, chlorite, and illite reflect near-neutral hydrothermal conditions. Although talc has generally been regarded as uncommon in hydrothermally altered rocks at active volcanoes, our investigations reveal its presence at several sites, suggesting that talc is no as absent from subvolcanic hydrothermal environments as was previously assumed. This study summarizes the occurrence of talc and discusses its formation environments and processes at active volcanoes. The alteration mineral assemblages at the studied volcanoes indicate that talc replaces pyroxene and olivine under near‑neutral hydrothermal environments. In addition, talc is Fe‑rich (approximately 10 wt.
Sulfur deficiency in plants has become a global concern as a result of reduced sulfur input from non-sulfur fertilizers and decreased atmospheric sulfur deposition. However, few studies have simultaneously analyzed the responses of both plants and microorganisms to sulfur application. This study aimed to investigate the impact of sulfur application on paddy rice, microbial sulfur-acquiring enzyme synthesis, and microbial biomass sulfur. To evaluate the effects of sulfur fertilization on both soil microorganisms and paddy rice, a pot experiment was conducted under field conditions using two soil types, with and without sulfur application. Sulfur application increased the sulfur concentration of straw by an average of 18.4
The Agro-Meteorological Grid Square Data, NARO provides 1 km grid data on snow depth, snow water equivalent, and snowfall water equivalent estimated from general meteorological factors such as temperature and precipitation. For historical data, records are available from the 1980-1981 cold season onward. Although the data were first provided in 2017, the calculation algorithm was modified in 2024 to improve accuracy and reduce calculation time. Key updates include the direct use of AMGSDS humidity data, simplification of heat balance calculations, and the implementation of a latitude-dependent degree-day method for snowmelt forecasting. A major refinement was also made to the correction procedure using AMeDAS snow depth observations. Corrections are applied only when deviations exceed +/- 10%, and the adjustment ranges for both snowfall and snowmelt water equivalents were expanded to better capture natural variability. Using data from approximately 80 snow depth observation points installed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, the accuracy of the calculation results from the old and new algorithms was compared for the three cold seasons of 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017. As a result, the estimation error (RMSE) of snow cover days decreased by 43%, and the estimation error of the snowmelt date decreased by 27%.
Following the recent global progress in the establishment of soybean genomic resources, DNA marker technologies have been actively implemented in soybean breeding programs in Japan, thereby enhancing the efficiency of varietal improvement and facilitating the successive release of cultivars developed through the application of DNA markers. In particular, DNA markers developed for the selection of useful traits, such as pod-shattering resistance and bacterial leaf pustule resistance present in foreign germplasms, have facilitated the precise introgression of only the desired alleles from genetically divergent foreign germplasms into Japanese backgrounds. By increasing selection efficiency and shortening breeding cycles, these advances have substantially contributed to the recent improvements in Japanese soybean breeding. The present review consolidates findings on genetic variations identified in Japanese cultivars and breeding materials, which have been investigated for the development of such DNA markers, and from knowledge expected to contribute to future soybean breeding in Japan.
