RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science Astro-Glaciology Laboratory

Director: Yuko Motizuki (D.Sc.)

Japanese Page

Research Summary

Our laboratory is establishing a new cross-disciplinary field that combines astrophysics, astrochemistry, and glaciology. We measure isotopic and ionic concentrations in terrestrial ice cores and develop analytical techniques and instrumentation. The ice cores preserve atmospheric information of the past, and some of them may contain stratospheric components that are affected by cosmic radiation. The research thus encompasses volcanic eruptions, solar activity, the relationships with climate change, and more. To extract signatures of astronomical events is one of our ultimate targets. We are also studying the evolution of molecules in space. These investigations will all contribute to an enhanced understanding of the relationships between the Universe and Earth.

Related Research Fields

Earth and planetary science
Astronomy
Chemistry
Physics
Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering

Keywords

Ice cores
Solar activity variations
Isotopic analyses
Nucleosynthesis
Climate change

Selected Publications

1. Kazuya Takahashi, Yu Vin Sahoo, Yoichi Nakai, Hideaki Motoyama, Yuko Motizuki.:
"Annually resolved profiles of δ34S and sulfate in shallow ice core DF01 (Dome Fuji, Antarctica) spanning the nineteenth century and their geochemical implications"
Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 127, 9, e2021JD036137 (2022).
2. Yasuto Miyake, Naoya Ikoma, Kazuya Takahashi, Yu Vin Sahoo and Hiroki Okuno.:
"Test of 107Pd transmutation with macroscopic quantities"
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, Published online (2022).
3. E. Tsantini, T. Minami, M. A. C. Ontiveros, K. Takahashi and J. C. Melgarejo:.
"Sulfur Isotope Analysis to Examine the Provenance of Cinnabar Used in Wall Paintings in the Roman domus Avinyó (Barcelona)"
Minerals, 11, 6 (2021).
4. Satoru Katsuda, Hitoshi Fujiwara, Yoshitaka Ishisaki, Yoshitomo Maeda, Koji Mori, Yuko Motizuki, Kosuke Sato, Makoto S. Tashiro and Yukikatsu Terada.:
"New Measurement of the Vertical Atmospheric Density Profile from Occultations of the Crab Nebula with X-Ray Astronomy Satellites Suzaku and Hitomi"
Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics, 126, 4, e2020JA028886 (2021).
5. K. Kanzawa, F. Miyake, K. Horiuchi, K. Sasa, K. Takano, M. Matsumura, T. Takahashi, Y. Motizuki, K. Takahashi, Y. Nakai, K. Ohtani, Y. Tada, Y. Ochiai, H. Motoyama, H. Matsuzaki, A. Yamazaki, Y. Muramatsu, and T. Yamagata.:
"High-Resolution 10Be and 36Cl Data from the Antarctic Dome Fuji Ice Core (~100 years around 5480 BCE): An Unusual Grand Solar Minimum Occurrence?"
Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics, 126, 10, e2021JA029378 (2021).
6. K. Kitajima, Y. Nakai, W. M. C. Sameera, M. Tsuge, A. Miyazaki, H. Hidaka, A. Kouchi and N. Watanabe.:
"Delivery of Electrons by Proton-Hole Transfer in Ice at 10 K: Role of Surface OH Radicals"
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 12, 704-710 (2021).
7. Y. Motizuki, Y. Nakai, K. Takahashi, J. Hirose, Y. V. Sahoo, Y. Yano, M. Yumoto, M. Maruyama, M. Sakasita, K. Kase and S. Wada.:
"A novel high-resolution laser-melting sampler for discrete analyses of ion concentrations and stable water isotopic compositions in firn and ice cores"
RIKEN Accel. Prog. Rep. 54, 73 (2021).
8. A. Miyazaki, N. Watanabe, W. M. C. Sameera, Y. Nakai, M. Tsuge, T. Hama, H. Hidaka and A. Kouchi.:
"Photostimulated desorption of OH radicals from amorphous solid water: Evidence for the interaction of visible light with an OH-ice complex"
Phys. Rev. A 102, 052822 (2020).
9. Takeshi Minami, Kousuke Hatanaka, Yuko Motizuki, Yoichi Nakai, and Kazuya Takahashi.:
"A method of collecting trace amounts of vermilion from artifacts for source estimation by sulfur isotope (δ34S) analysis: use of sulfur-free adhesive"
Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 28, 102027 (2019).
10. Kazuya Takahashi, Yoichi Nakai, Yuko Motizuki, Toshiyuki Ino, Shigeru Ito, Satoru B. Ohkubo, Takeshi Minami, Yuichi Takaku, Yoshitaka Yamaguchi, Miho Tanaka, and Hideaki Motoyama.:
"High-sensitivity sulfur isotopic measurements for Antarctic ice core analyses"
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 32, 1991-1998 (2018).