We developed an automatic ascending/descending water quality profiler to continuously observe vertical profile of water quality in a semi-enclosed coastal region. This profiler can collect vertical profile of water quality according to preset configuration by ascending/descending into seawater utilizing piston cylinder to change its buoyancy. From the end of July to the beginning of September in 2000, we deployed this profiler in the Kaita Bay, that is the most inner branch bay of the Hiroshima Bay of Japan, in order to collect profiles of water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, turbidity and depth at every twenty minutes. As a result, this profiler could catch over-saturated dissolved oxygen in the surface layer due to red tide, and vertical variation of stratification and chlorophyll-a caused by sea-land breeze.
In addition, during the field experiment, a problem occurred with ascending/descending action due to sag of the mooring system, which should be improved in future.

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This paper outlines the exploration of Teisi Knoll by the autonomous underwater vehicle the R-One Robot, as carried out October 19-22, 2000, and presents images taken by the sidescan SONAR fitted to the bottom of the vehicle. The R-One Robot was launched from the R/V Kaiyo, started diving near the support ship, followed predetermined tracklines which were defined by waypoints, and finally came back to the destination where it was recovered by the support vessel. In order to minimize positioning error, which is determined by the inertial navigation system and Doppler SONAR, the robot ascended to the surface several times to ascertain its precise position using the global positioning system, the antenna of which is fitted on the vertical fin. Taking advantage of this positioning system, the robot followed the predetermined tracklines with an error of less than 40 meters in 30 minutes of continuous submerging. Disturbance to the robot is small enough compared to towed vehicles that its movement can be regarded as stable. This stability resulted in clear side scanning images of the knoll and surrounding sea floor. The robot stopped at the center of the knoll, and descended vertically into the crater. When the vehicle was in the crater, anomalous manganese ion concentrations were detected by the in situ trace metal micro-analyzer GAMOS, which was loaded in the payload bay at the front of the robot.

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We propose the guideline to identify fault in offshore region mainly based on MCS profiles, combining high resolution bathymetric maps and geological data such as bore hole results. Based on the guideline we distinguished total 776 faults developing around Japan since the latest Miocene and 753 faults out of total numbers of faults are interpreted to have been active by Quaternary. Together with distinguishment of fault we examined the attributes of each faults such as surface and vertical distribution, criteria of offset, age of movement, certainty of a fault and so on.
The results of the distinguishment and examination of the fault leads to the conclusion that the ongoing tectonic framework around Japan characterized by 1) oblique Subduction along the Nankai Trough, 2) rifting at the Okinawa Trough, 3) E-W compressionl regeme along the Japan Sea margin, 4) E-W compressionl regeme along southwestern margin of the Okhotsk Sea and off southern Hokkaido, 5) E-W compressionl regeme along the Japan Trench, 6) rifting in the central arc of the Izu-Ogasawara Arc has been established since 3 Ma, at the earliest 6 Ma.
We utilized high resolution data set which we enable to access. Tow big problems, however, still remain in terms of reliability of fault recognition. Those are 1) age of fault movement and 2) spatial distribution of fault. To solve the first one, new technique is required in order to obtain core samples which provide critical evidence to determine age of fault movement. As is second problem concerned, new intensive seismic survey is indispensable to make a precise fault distribution map, especially in the boundary area between land and sea.

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The Arctic Ocean is one of the most sensitive regions to the earth environment changes. Japan Marine Science and Technology Center developed a new drift buoy to observe the Arctic Ocean. The name of the buoy is J-CAD (JAMSTEC Compact Arctic Drifter). From 1991 to 1993, JAMSTEC developed Ice-Ocean Environmental Buoy (IOEB) as a buoy to observe the Arctic Ocean in cooperation with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The J-CAD is the buoy, which adopted the latest technology based on the knowledge and experience of IOEB development. The J-CAD was designed and developed by JAMSTEC and made by a Canadian Company MetOcean. JAMSTEC did design and development, and a Canadian company Met-Ocean made the J-CAD. It acquires meteorological and oceanographic data of the Arctic Ocean, and transmits the data that it measured via satellite. It dose also store the data inside its memory. An Inductive Modem system, which was developed by Sea-Bird Electronics, Inc. in the United States, was adopted in the underwater transmission system that data on each ocean sensor were collected. An ORBCOMM communication system was adopted for the satellite data transmission. J-CAD-1 was installed at 89°41'N; 130°20'W on April 24, 2000, and the observation was started. August 1st was the day when 100 days have passed since the J-CAD-1 was installed on the North Pole. And now, the distance J-CAD-1 has covered exceeds 400 km, and it has transmitted data more than 500 k byte. A part of the data is introduced to the public in the homepage (http://w3.jamstec.go.jp: 8338) of the Arctic research group of JAMSTEC.

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