Observations of the soil temperatures on Mt. Fuji were conducted during the summer of 1974. The temperatures were measured on each direction of the slopes, north, west, south and east, at the depths of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 meter from the surface to the altitude of 2480 meters which was above the upper limit of the forest. The materials of the shallow layer were thick soils on the northern, western and southern slopes, but volcanic sand on the eastern.
The soil temperatures became cooler with altitude, but the lowest temperatures were in the conifer forest zone at the height of about 2070 meters. The ratio of volcanic sand became larger above this height.
The lapse rate of the soil temperature is in the range of 0.33 to 0.61°C per 100 meters. The lapse rates are largest in the northern slope and smallest in the southern and eastern slopes. Depending on the depth, the difference in the rate was larger in the northern slope, but it was smaller in the southern slope.
The soil temperatures differ according to the direction of the slope. On the eastern slope, the soil temperatures are the highest, while it is the lowest on the northern slope. This phenomenon is related to the reciprocals of the remainders of the temperatres with the depth of soil.

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Alnus japonica and Ulmus Davidiana are the main constituents of Japanese swamp forests. Their presence in the forests are said to be arranged according to a gradient of humidity of the habitat from wet to mesic, with the intervening forest dominated by Fraxinus mandshurica var. japonica on less wet habitats.
In the present study, forest vegetation with their habitat conditions were surveyed intensively in a small tributary basin in a hilly area in Kawatabi, Miyagi Prefecture, in which a number of stands was found to be occupied by alder and elm forests (Figs. 1 and 2). The forest vegetation occurring on the valley floor were classified in terms of their species composition. Four communities were distinguished: Ulmus Davidiana community, Alnus japonica-Carex fulta comm., A. japonica-Sasa senanensis comm. and A. japonica-Miscanthus sinensis comm. The second community can be divided further into Filipendula kamtschatica type and Phragmites communis type (Table).
In addition to the humidity gradient, other essential differences were found in the landforms and subsurface materials between the habitat of alder and elm forests in this valley. Alnus japonica-Carex fulta community, which has a typical species composition and physiognomy of Japanese swampy alder forest, is found on a flood plain with standing water. While, Ulmus Davidiana community occurs on comparatively steep and rough mass movement deposits. The other communities occupy rather restricted areas.

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Lake Numayama-Oonuma is situated at the southern foot of Mt. Gassan. Since the first survey of this lake by Yoshimura, about forty-five years have passed. Regretably, it has been ignored by limnologists for the last thirty years. In order to examine the present status, a study was undertaken by the author between 1965 and 1966. In this paper, the new findings from the study are discussed with special reference to the geochemistry of the lake water.
1. The morphometrical data of the lake are summarized as:
(a) surface area: 9.94×10⁴m²
(b) volume: 1.13×10⁶m
(c) maximum depth: 31.7m
(d) shore development: 1.78
The bathymetric map reveals that this lake is a damned lake formed by a catastropic landslide.
2. The main solute in the lake water is sodium cholride derived from the atmospheric salt transported by monsoon and deposited in the snow cover. The quality of water has not changed in spite of the passage of time.
3. In midsummer, the development of thermal and chemical stratifications is observed and the layer from the depth of fifteen meters to the bottom is always in a stagnant condition.
4. Judging from the low photosynthetic productivity and the quality of water, this lake belongs to an oligotrophic lake.

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According to the analysis of the lake map (1:10, 000) issued by Geogr aphical Survey Institute (1964), there are seven developed sub-lake terraces in Lake Ogawara. The results of the present writer's geological survey of the lake's surrounding parts as well as of his analysis of the sub-lake deposits surveyed by Planning Bureau and GSI, Ministry of Construction (1971) are as follows:
1) The bed formation (H formation) is related to Akobo-surface of the 2nd surface of the upper terraces of the Oirase River.
2) The above is related to bed formation of the upper surface of Misawa Hill.
3) The G formation is comparable to the upper formation of the upper surface of Misawa Hill.
4) Judging from the results of an analysis of the sub-lake deposits, the H formation was developed at the first stage (R/W interglacial) of the higher sea-level of Misawa, the G formation at the maximum of Misawa (Shimosueyoshi), the E formation at one stage of the higher sea-level pre-Würm Glacial, and the C formation at the higher sea-level of Jomon Age, respectively.
5) The river terraces (since Akobo Surface) of the Oirase River and the sub-lake terraces (since H Formation) were formed at the same stage, and the development of these different terraces of the heights resulted from the different grade of the two rivers in the former shore line, and the sedimentation formed since Tertiary.

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Nagamachi-Rifu Dislocation Line runs in the NE-SW direction marking the boundary between Sendai Coastal Plain in the southeast and hilly land in the northwest. Along this dislocation line, deformation of terraces of the Hirose and Natori rivers have been noticed by many scholars. The present writers have investigated intensively the mode of deformation of the terraces and structure of Pliocene Sendai group, in order to clarify characteristics of Quaternary crustal movements along the dislocation line.
Main results are as follows:
1) The dislcoated terraces, i. e. Aobayama, Dainohara, Uwamachi, Nagamachi and Shimomachi Terraces in descending order, form an elevated zone stretching parallel to the dislocation line for 10km with width of 1km. On the northwestern margin of the zone, Dainenjiyama Faults (thrusts) are located shaping scarplets or gentle slopes and terrace deposits are often displaced on the faults. On the southeastern margin, a flexure structure associated with subsurface Nagamachi-Rifu Fault, which is presumed to be a thrust, forms conspicuous scarplets or steep slopes accompanying warped terrace deposits which submerge below alluvium.
2) These terraces are deformed with the greater rate on the older terrace in a same mode and the mode is also in harmony with that of Pliocene Sendai group. Average rates of vertical displacements on Dainenjiyama Faults and Nagamachi-Rifu Line are calculated to be 0.1+mm per year and 0.5mm per year respectively since formation of Aobayama Terrace III. Deformation rate of this terrace to that of uppermost Pliocene Dainenji bed is about 2 to 3.
3) Most of minor faults along the dislocation line are thrusts chiefly with dip-slip components and their strikes appear in the NE-SW direction, which coincide with characteristics of Dainenjiyama Faults and Shishiochi Fault located 1km to the west.
4) Judging from the deformation of Sendai Group with brittle shear fracture and unchangeable thickness of the group, commencement of crustal movements along Nagamachi-Rifu Line may be dated in Quaternary succeeding to the emergence of uppermost Pliocene Dainenji bed.
5) Maximum compressive principal stress axis, which is elucidated by the characteristics of major and minor faults along the dislocation line, lies in the NW-SE direction and coincides with the direction deduced from focal mechanisms of recent major earthquakes and microearthquakes analysis in the surrounding area.
6) This maximum stress direction pattern also concides with stress field inferred from characteristics of notable active faults in the vicinity. Some of historical great earthquakes have occurred along these faults indicating that these faults are still active under the same stress field.
Therefore it can be said that during Quaternary period continuous and accumulative crustal movements have been taking place along Nagamachi-Rifu Dislcoation Line under the NW-SE compressive stress field.

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The existence of stream piracy can be inferred in the Niijuku Pass between the Shiroishi River, a tributary of the Abukuma River, and the Ôtaki River which belongs to the water system of the Mogami River. At the pass, a wind gap has formed. Tributaries of the Ôtaki River are developing on the little fan. A shallow valley and knick point are found at the upper stream of the Ôtaki River. The absence of a flat valley floor along this river which forms the eastern part of the Yonezawa Basin is recognized. These facts can be considered the result of stream piracy.

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The form and function of a port are a part of a city, but, in addition, these factors exert a significant influence on other parts of a city. In this study of the Port of Otaru, Hokkaido, the influence of these factors will be examined as an example of the growth process of a port and a city.
The growth process of the Port of Otaru can divided into three stages. The features of each stage can be summarized as follows:
1) The Old City was situated in the southern part of Otaru at the begining of the Meiji era. The city, then, expanded into the northern part of Otaru in response to the construction of a port.
2) The institutions of the port concentrated in the northern part of it. Then, the expansion of the city occurred towards the foot of the mountains. The core of the city was established in the Ironai district which is the center of the present port.
3) After World War II, the Port of Otaru lost its most important market, Sakhalin, which resulted in a decline in the city activity. The modernization of the port has been advanced since 1950. As a result, cargoes increased to the highest level of the pre-War period. But, as the influence of the City of Sapporo grew stronger, the city activity of Otaru began to wane again.

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