Decadal variations in a Venus general circulation model

The Community Atmosphere Model (CAM), a 3-dimensional Earth-based climate model, has been modified to simulate the dynamics of the Venus atmosphere. The most current finite volume version of CAM is used with Earth-related processes removed, parameters appropriate for Venus introduced, and some basic physics approximations adopted. A simplified Newtonian cooling approximation has been used for the radiation scheme. We use a high resolution (1° by 1° in latitude and longitude) to take account of small-scale dynamical processes that might be important on Venus. A Rayleigh friction approach is used at the lower boundary to represent surface drag, and a similar approach is implemented in the uppermost few model levels providing a ‘sponge layer’ to prevent wave reflection from the upper boundary. The simulations generate superrotation with wind velocities comparable to those measured in the Venus atmosphere by probes and around 50-60% of those measured by cloud tracking. At cloud heights and above the atmosphere is always superrotating with mid-latitude zonal jets that wax and wane on an approximate 10 year cycle. However, below the clouds, the zonal winds vary periodically on a decadal timescale between superrotation and subrotation. Both subrotating and superrotating mid-latitude jets are found in the approximate 40-60 km altitude range. The growth and decay of the sub-cloud level jets also occur on the decadal timescale. Though subrotating zonal winds are found below the clouds, the total angular momentum of the atmosphere is always in the sense of superrotation. The global relative angular momentum of the atmosphere oscillates with an amplitude of about 5% on the approximate 10 year timescale. Symmetric instability in the near surface equatorial atmosphere might be the source of the decadal oscillation in the atmospheric state. Analyses of angular momentum transport show that all the jets are built up by poleward transport by a meridional circulation while angular momentum is redistributed to lower latitudes primarily by transient eddies. Possible changes in the structure of Venus’ cloud level mid-latitude jets measured by Mariner 10, Pioneer Venus, and Venus Express suggest that a cyclic variation similar to that found in the model might occur in the real Venus atmosphere, although no subrotating winds below the cloud level have been observed to date. Venus’ atmosphere must be observed over multi-year timescales and below the clouds if we are to understand its dynamics.     

The Pemali Formation of Central Java and equivalents: Indicators of sedimentation on an active plate margin

The Pemali Formation is revised from being the oldest known sedimentary unit in north Central Java to being almost the youngest. This, and a new examination of its composition, has implications for regional geological models and petroleum geology. The Pemali Formation was originally interpreted as “early Miocene” but is now shown to be latest Miocene through Pliocene in age, and characterised by both very high rates of sedimentation and a particularly high degree of reworking. The mid-Late Miocene tectonic event that initiated deposition of this formation created a new series of basins that were filled by erosion of new structural highs. Continuing constriction of the basins resulted in the uplift of older Pemali sediments on the basin margins, being reworked into the youngest Pemali strata.Neither the Pemali Formation nor the associated uplift and erosion are seen in the basins in the Java Sea a short distance to the north. Both the severe effects of the mid-Late Miocene tectonism and the Pemali-type sediments are restricted to a particular geologic zone, which is roughly the same as the modern island of Java. This may be above lithosphere of mixed terranes that forms a rim to the sialic Sunda Plate. The onshore Java area has a history of severe tectonism through the Tertiary and consequently a stratigraphy that greatly contrasts with that of the present-day Java Sea.The localised and thick Pemali deposition affected the burial history and the generation of hydrocarbons around the mid-Late Miocene basins, whilst the uplifted areas may include hydrocarbon traps. If basement composition influenced the location and thickness of the Pemali Formation then it is also likely to have fundamentally controlled deposition of older formations, including the unknown source rock for surface oil seeps. Likewise, these controls appear to contrast strongly with the better known rift-sag basins of the Java Sea.     

EQUILIBRIUM AND NONEQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS IN DRYLAND RIVERS

Rivers in drylands typically are characterized by extreme flow variability, with long periods of little or no flow interspersed with occasional large, sometimes extreme, floods. Complete adjustment of river form and process is sometimes inhibited, resulting in a common assumption that equilibrium conditions may rarely, if ever, exist in dryland rivers, and that transient and unstable (nonequilibrium) behavior is the norm. Examples from the Channel Country and the Northern Plains in central Australia challenge that notion. Along the middle reaches of these intermediate and large, low-gradient rivers, where long duration floods generate moderate to low unit stream powers and boundary resistance is high as a result of indurated alluvial terraces, cohesive muds or riparian vegetation, there is evidence that: (1) channels have remained essentially stable despite large floods; (2) sediment transport discontinuities, while present at a catchment scale, are largely insignificant for channel form and process in individual reaches; (3) there are strong correlations between many channel form and process variables; and (4) many rivers appear to be adjusted to maximum sediment transport efficiency under conditions of low gradient, abundant within-channel vegetation and declining downstream discharge. In these middle reaches, rivers are characterized by equilibrium conditions. However, in the aggradational lower reaches of rivers on the Northern Plains, where upstream terraces are buried by younger sediments and channels are less confined, nonequilibrium conditions prevail. Here, channels sometimes undergo sudden and substantial changes in form during large floods, sediment transport discontinuities are readily apparent, and landforms such as splays remain out-of-balance with normal flows. Hence, dryland rivers can exhibit both equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions, depending on factors such as catchment size, channel gradient, flood duration, unit stream power, channel confinement, sediment cohesion, and bank strength. [Key words: dryland rivers, floods, equilibrium, nonequilibrium, central Australia.]     

Cu- and Mn-bearing tourmalines from Brazil and Mozambique: crystal structures, chemistry and correlations

Cu- and Mn-bearing tourmalines from Brazil and Mozambique were characterised chemically (EMPA and LA-ICP-MS) and by X-ray single-crystal structure refinement. All these samples are rich in Al, Li and F (fluor-elbaite) and contain significant amounts of CuO (up to ~1.8 wt%) and MnO (up to ~3.5 wt%). Structurally investigated samples show a pronounced positive correlation between the <Y-O> distances and the (Li + Mn²⁺ + Cu + Fe²⁺) content (apfu) at this site with R ² = 0.90. An excellent negative correlation exists between the <Y-O> distances and the Al₂O₃ content (R ² = 0.94). The samples at each locality generally show a strong negative correlation between the X-site vacancies and the (MnO + FeO) content. The Mn content in these tourmalines depends on the availability of Mn, on the formation temperature, as well as on stereochemical constraints. Because of a very weak correlation between MnO and CuO we believe that the Cu content in tourmaline is essentially dependent on the availability of Cu and on stereochemical constraints.     

Provenance of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Gosau Group around and beneath the Vienna Basin (Austria and Slovakia)

Chemistry of detrital garnets, chrome spinels and tourmalines of 30 selected samples in combination with the general heavy mineral distribution from 523 sandstone samples of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Gosau Group of the eastern part of the Eastern Alps and the western West Carpathians result in an advanced picture of sedimentary provenance and palaeogeographic evolution of that area. Garnets from Coniacian to Campanian sediments are partly derived from a metamorphic sole remnant of Neotethys ophiolites to the south. Tectonically high ophiolitic nappes, later on completely eroded, supplied mainly the paleogeographically southern Grünbach and Glinzendorf Gosau basins with ultramafic detritus, represented by chrome spinels of a mixed harzburgite/lherzolite composition, whereas no direct indications for a northern ophiolitic source, the Penninic accretionary wedge to the north of the Gosau basins, could be found. In the younger part of the Gosau basins fill, from the Maastrichtian to the Eocene, only almandine-rich garnets could be observed suggesting a southern provenance from low-grade metamorphic metapelites of exhuming Austroalpine metamorphic complexes. Ophiolite detritus is reduced in the Maastrichtian and disappears in the Paleogene.     

The use of monitoring data for identifying factors influencing phytoplankton bloom dynamics in the eutrophic Taw Estuary, SW England

Using the Taw Estuary as an example, data routinely collected by the Environment Agency for England and Wales over the period 1990-2004 were interrogated to identify the drivers of excessive algal growth. The estuary was highly productive with chlorophyll concentrations regularly exceeding 100 μg L⁻¹, mostly during periods of low freshwater input from the River Taw when estuarine water residence times were longest. However, algal growth in mid estuary was often inhibited by ammonia inputs from the adjacent sewage treatment works. The reported approach demonstrates the value of applying conventional statistical analyses in a structured way to existing monitoring data and is recommended as a useful tool for the rapid assessment of eutrophication. However, future estuarine monitoring should include the collection of dissolved organic nutrient data and targeted high temporal resolution data because the drivers of eutrophication are complex and often very specific to a particular estuary.     

Interactive Visualization to Advance Earthquake Simulation

The geological sciences are challenged to manage and interpret increasing volumes of data as observations and simulations increase in size and complexity. For example, simulations of earthquake-related processes typically generate complex, time-varying data sets in two or more dimensions. To facilitate interpretation and analysis of these data sets, evaluate the underlying models, and to drive future calculations, we have developed methods of interactive visualization with a special focus on using immersive virtual reality (VR) environments to interact with models of Earth’s surface and interior. Virtual mapping tools allow virtual “field studies” in inaccessible regions. Interactive tools allow us to manipulate shapes in order to construct models of geological features for geodynamic models, while feature extraction tools support quantitative measurement of structures that emerge from numerical simulation or field observations, thereby enabling us to improve our interpretation of the dynamical processes that drive earthquakes. VR has traditionally been used primarily as a presentation tool, albeit with active navigation through data. Reaping the full intellectual benefits of immersive VR as a tool for scientific analysis requires building on the method’s strengths, that is, using both 3D perception and interaction with observed or simulated data. This approach also takes advantage of the specialized skills of geological scientists who are trained to interpret, the often limited, geological and geophysical data available from field observations.     

On the Characteristics of Heavy Multiple-Day Snowfalls in the Eastern Alps

Based on the daily fresh-snowrecordings of a set of 81 stations of the AustrianHydrographic Service, covering a 19-year period,various aspects of extraordinarily long-lasting severesnowfalls are investigated. Starting from an exactdefinition of periods of Heavy Snowfall Events (HSE),some of the discussed items include the annual andseasonal frequencies of intense snowfall episodes, thelocation and migration paths of the storm centers andthe volume of snow dropped by the individual storms.Another part of the study, designed to visualize thebig variability of snow-related parameters over Alpineterrain, determines for all involved sites maximalobserved and theoretical extreme fresh-snowaccumulations for periods of variable length. Heavythree-day snowfall events are analyzed with specialregard of the resulting avalanche threat.     

Reminiscences of my life in science

With a great deal of humility I attempt in the following to recall important events in my life and in my scientific career of more than five decades. I am not through yet. I continue to do research though, I admit, not with the energy and fervor I once had. Still, I hope to contribute to science in meaningful ways.     

A model of Saturn inferred from its measured gravitational field

We present an interior model of Saturn with an ice-rock core,a metallic region,an outer molecular envelope and a thin transition layer between the metallic and molecular regions.The shape of Saturn’s 1 bar surface is irregular and determined fully self-consistently by the required equilibrium condition.While the ice-rock core is assumed to have a uniform density,three different equations of state are adopted for the metallic,molecular and transition regions.The Saturnian model is constrained by its known mass,its known equatorial and polar radii,and its known zonal gravitational coefficients,J_(2n),n=1,2,3.The model produces an ice-rock core with equatorial radius 0.203 R_S,where R_S is the equatorial radius of Saturn at the 1-bar pressure surface;the core densityρ_c=10388.1 kgm~(3)corresponding to 13.06 Earth masses;and an analytical expression describing the Saturnian irregular shape of the 1-bar pressure level.The model also predicts the values of the higher-order gravitational coefficients,J_8,J_10 and J_12,for the hydrostatic Saturn and suggests that Saturn’s convective dynamo operates in the metallic region approximately defined by 0.2 R_Sre0.7 R_S,where r_e denotes the equatorial radial distance from the Saturnian center of figure.