Lake Shinji and Lake Nakaumi
Organization
Research Center for Coastal Lagoon Environments, Shimane University
Research Theme
- Unraveling the mechanism of environmental change in brackish-water zones in relation to the complex systems of nature and mankind
- Developing a new model for the wise use of brackish-water environments
The Organization of the research center consists of two sections: Diversity Research and Environmental Change Research. The research themes are following, respectively:
Diversity Research Section :
- Surveying the fauna and flora in coastal lagoons and estuarine zones
- Creating biological wealth by restoring the degraded environments
- Promoting sustainable development
- Restoring natural wetlands
Environmental Change Research Section :
- Observation and analysis of the ongoing processes of environmental change
- Understanding the processes and mechanisms of preservation of environmental information in bottom sediments, with an emphasis on hydrocarbon accumulation related to global environmental change
- Decoding and analysis of long-term environmental change, based on the records contained in bottom sediments
Site Outline
The estuarine lagoons, Lakes Shinji and Nakaumi, are located along the Japan Sea coast in the San-in district, southwestern part of Japan. Lake Nakaumi, connected to the Japan Sea (Miho Bay) through the Sakai Channel (7.5 km long), has a surface area of 86.2km2 and a mean depth of 5.4 m. It develops a halocline and salinity of the upper layer is c. 1/3 of the seawater, whereas the lower layer is closer to that of seawater. Lake Shinji (79.1km2 in surface area and 4.5 m in mean depth) is connected with Lake Nakaumi through the Ohashi River (c. 7 km long), and freshwater is supplied from the Hii River at the western part of the lake, and only a thin layer of saline water is sometimes observed on the bottom. Salinity of this lake varies widely from c. 1 PSU to 10 PSU. In Lake Shinji, there is a dense population and active fishery for the filter-feeding bivalve Corbicula japonica. In Lake Nakaumi, a dense population of another filter-feeding bivalve, Musclista senhousia, is found in the shallow area.
Contact
- Address : 1060 Nishikawatsucho, Matsue 690-8504, Japan
- Name : Hidenobu Kunii
- Phone : 0852-32-6439
- Fax : 0852-32-6439
- E-mail : kunii@soc.shimane-u.ac.jp