Meteorological Observations in 1999 at the Arctic Station,Qeqertarsuaq (Godhavn), Central West Greenland/Evidence of a warmer climate around AD 600, Mittivakkat Glacier,South East Greenland

In october 1990 an automatic weather station was established at the Arctic Station (65° 15', 53°31'W), Qeqertarsuaq (Godhavn), Central West Greenland. The Station register parameters each 20 minutes, and the paramters have been described in an earlier paper in this journal by Nielsen et al.(1995). The present paper summarizes meteorological parameters during 1999.

During a field campaign in 1999, woody remains from Salix glauca were found on a nunatak, 515 m. a.s.l. on the Mittivakkat Glacier, South East Greenland. Radio carbon dating determined the age of a wood sample to AD 640. Together with analyses of macroscopic botanical remains and insect rests in peaty material found nearby, these results indicate, that a warmer climate prevailed near the glacier around AD 600. These findings are in accordance with temperature records based on studies of ice cores from the Greenland Ice sheet.     

New high‐resolution age data from the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary indicate rapid,ecologically driven onset of the Cambrian explosion

The replacement of the late Precambrian Ediacaran biota by morphologically disparate animals at the beginning of the Phanerozoic was a key event in the history of life on Earth, the mechanisms and the time‐scales of which are not entirely understood. A composite section in Namibia providing biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data bracketed by radiometric dating constrains the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary to 538.6–538.8 Ma, more than 2 Ma younger than previously assumed. The U–Pb‐CA‐ID TIMS zircon ages demonstrate an ultrashort time frame for the LAD of the Ediacaran biota to the FAD of a complex, burrowing Phanerozoic biota represented by trace fossils to a 410 ka time window of 538.99 ± 0.21 Ma to 538.58 ± 0.19 Ma. The extremely short duration of the faunal transition from Ediacaran to Cambrian biota within less than 410 ka supports models of ecological cascades that followed the evolutionary breakthrough of increased mobility at the beginning of the Phanerozoic.     

Why the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Euler</Emphasis> scheme in particle tracking is not enough: the shallow-sea pycnocline test case

During the last decades, the Euler scheme was the common “workhorse” in particle tracking, although it is the lowest-order approximation of the underlying stochastic differential equation. To convince the modelling community of the need for better methods, we have constructed a new test case that will show the shortcomings of the Euler scheme. We use an idealised shallow-water diffusivity profile that mimics the presence of a sharp pycnocline and thus a quasi-impermeable barrier to vertical diffusion. In this context, we study the transport of passive particles with or without negative buoyancy. A semi-analytic solutions is used to assess the performance of various numerical particle-tracking schemes (first- and second-order accuracy), to treat the variations in the diffusivity profile properly. We show that the commonly used Euler scheme exhibits a poor performance and that widely used particle-tracking codes shall be updated to either the Milstein scheme or second-order schemes. It is further seen that the order of convergence is not the only relevant factor, the absolute value of the error also is.     

Influence of the boundary layer height on the global air–sea surface fluxes

Results from large-eddy simulations and field measurements have previously shown that the velocity field is influenced by the boundary layer height, z _i , during close to neutral, slightly unstable, atmospheric stratification. During such conditions the non-dimensional wind profile, φ _m , has been found to be a function of both z/L and z _i /L. At constant z/L, φ _m decreases with decreasing boundary layer height. Since φ _m is directly related to the parameterizations of the air–sea surface fluxes, these results will have an influence when calculating the surface fluxes in weather and climate models. The global impact of this was estimated using re-analysis data from 1979 to 2001 and bulk parameterizations. The results show that the sum of the global latent and sensible mean heat fluxes increase by 0.77 W m⁻² or about 1% and the mean surface stress increase by 1.4 mN m⁻² or 1.8% when including the effects of the boundary layer height in the parameterizations. However, some regions show a larger response. The greatest impact is found over the tropical oceans between 30°S and 30°N. In this region the boundary layer height influences the non-dimensional wind profile during extended periods of time. In the mid Indian Ocean this results in an increase of the mean annual heat fluxes by 2.0 W m⁻² and an increase of the mean annual surface stress by 2.6 mN m⁻².     

Spectra of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Water Vapour in the Marine Atmospheric Surface Layer

Spectra of CO₂ and water vapour fluctuations from measurements made in the marine atmospheric surface layer have been analyzed. A normalization of spectra based on Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, originally developed for wind speed and temperature, has been successfully extended also to CO₂ and humidity spectra. The normalized CO₂ spectra were observed to have somewhat larger contributions from low frequencies compared to humidity spectra during unstable stratification. However, overall, the CO₂ and humidity spectra showed good agreement as did the cospectra of vertical velocity with water vapour and CO₂ respectively. During stable stratification the spectra and cospectra displayed a well-defined spectral gap separating the mesoscale and small-scale turbulent fluctuations. Two-dimensional turbulence was suggested as a possible source for the mesoscale fluctuations, which in combination with wave activity in the vertical wind is likely to explain the increase in the cospectral energy for the corresponding frequency range. Prior to the analysis the turbulence time series of the density measurements were converted to time series of mixing ratios relative to dry air. Some differences were observed when the spectra based on the original density measurements were compared to the spectra based on the mixing ratio time series. It is thus recommended to always convert the density time series to mixing ratio before performing spectral analysis.     

Storm surges in the Western Baltic Sea: the present and a possible future

Globally-coupled climate models are generally capable of reproducing the observed trends in the globally averaged atmospheric temperature or mean sea level. However, the global models do not perform as well on regional/local scales. Here, we present results from four 100-year ocean model experiments for the Western Baltic Sea. In order to simulate storm surges in this region, we have used the General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM) as a high-resolution local model (spatial resolution ≈ 1?km), nested into a regional atmospheric and regional oceanic model in a fully baroclinic downscaling approach. The downscaling is based on the global model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. The projections are imbedded into two greenhouse-gas emission scenarios, A1B and B1, for the period 2000–2100, each with two realisations. Two control runs from 1960 to 2000 are used for validation. We use this modelling system to statistically reproduce the present distribution of surge extremes. The usage of the high-resolution local model leads to an improvement in surge heights of at least 10% compared to the driving model. To quantify uncertainties associated with climate projections, we investigate the impact of enhanced wind velocities and changes in mean sea levels. The analysis revealed a linear dependence of surge height and mean sea level, although the slope parameter is spatially varying. Furthermore, the modelling system is used to project possible changes within the next century. The results show that the sea level rise has greater potential to increase surge levels than does increased wind speed. The simulations further indicate that the changes in storm surge height in the scenarios can be consistently explained by the increase in mean sea level and variation in wind speed.     

Precise electron microprobe age determination in altered uraninite: consequences on the intrusion age and the metallogenic significance of the Kirchberg granite (Erzgebirge,Germany)

An integral method of data evaluation for chemical dating of accessory uraninite by electron microprobe analysis and electron microscopy is proposed. The internal structure of uraninite grains, the contents of Si, Ca, and Fe, and tests for loss or gain of Pb and U are suitable criteria to decide whether or not a given crystal area was affected by secondary alteration. The method was applied to uraninite from the Kirchberg granite, Erzgebirge, Germany, and an age of 330LJ Ma (DŽ†) was constrained. This result supports earlier assumptions that there were at least two events of Hercynian granite magmatism separated by a time gap of about 40 Ma, and that the magmatic evolution of the Kirchberg granite is not related to the formation of the W mineralisation developed in the endocontact of this granite. Secondary alteration of uraninite is probably closely related to the formation of U deposits in the vicinity of the Kirchberg massif which was extensively mined in the past.     

Calculation of sensible and latent heat fluxes,and surface resistance from profile data

A set of semi-continuous measurements of temperature, wind and moisture gradients as well as of net radiation and ground heat flux covering a period of about one and a half years has been analysed to give a corresponding set of complete surface energy balance data on an hourly basis. An analysis of the evaporation data so obtained is given.It is shown that surface resistance r _S exhibits a diurnal trend: values are smallest (ca. 150 s m^-1) a few hours before noon and increase to as much as 800 s m^-1 towards dusk. The minimum values tend to be higher during dry periods when the soil moisture is low. There is also some indication that r _S decreases rapidly soon after rainfall.An exponential relation is found between the fraction of available energy used as evaporative flux, , and r _S for values of r _I/r_S <0.70, where r _I is the climatological resistance. On the other hand, the ratio of r _I to r _S is linearly correlated with , implying that an equilibrium state is established between the grass surface and the atmosphere, at least from mid-morning to mid-afternoon when the leaves are dry. Near-noon values calculated by Stewart and Thom for Thetford Forest also follow a linear trend.The above two regression results (In (r _S) versus r _I/r_S versus ) are combined to obtain an empirical relation of the form r _I=m exp (a-b) which is used to estimate evaporative flux. The estimates are found to be within 20% of calculated values.Guest Scientist from Department of Physics, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.     

Turbulence characteristics in a near neutrally stratified urban atmosphere

Turbulence measurements from the city of Uppsala, Sweden, are analysed. Measurements were taken at two sites: one in the central area, ca. 6 m above roof level, the average building height being ca. 15 m; the other at ca. 8 and 50 m above the ground on a tower situated 100 m downwind of a sharp discontinuity between the densely built-up urban area and flat grass-covered land. The average stability was close to neutral, the range being -0.2 < z/L < 0.2. The main emphasis of the study is on the non-dimensional standard deviations of the velocity components _i /u _*t and on the corresponding non-dimensional energy spectra, u _*t being a local velocity scale defined as _i /( _l is the local momentum flux). Comparison with results obtained from surface-layer measurements at ideal sites (with u _*, being the ordinary friction velocity) shows good general agreement. The most complete agreement is found for the tower 50 m measurements, a result which is notable as this measurement point is found to be within a distinctly transitional zone between the urban and post-urban boundary layers. The results from the central city measurement point are also fairly close to the ideal results, the deviations found being small in view of the fact that the site is probably inside the layer in which the roughness elements (the buildings) have direct influence. The measurements at the tower 8 m level show certain distinct deviations from ideal results: all three _i /u _*l , are higher by ca. 10%, the excessive energy being found at the low frequency end of the spectrum. Arguments are presented for this feature to be due to a spectral lag effect.     

Spectroscopic studies on natural chloritoids

Room temperature and low temperature Mössbauer and optical absorption spectroscopic data on six natural chloritoids characterized by means of electron microprobe and X-ray powder diffraction techniques are presented. Two narrow quadrupole doublets with widths of 0.25–0.29 mm/s assigned to Fe²⁺ in a relatively large octahedral site and Fe³⁺ in a smaller octahedral site, are observed in the Mössbauer spectra. Polarized optical absorption spectra reveal three main absorption bands. A broad absorption band at 16,300 cm^?1, which is strongly polarized in E‖X and E‖Y and shows a linear increase in integral absorption with increasing [Fe²⁺] [Fe³⁺] concentration product, is assigned to a Fe²⁺+Fe³⁺→Fe³⁺+Fe²⁺ charge transfer transition. This band displays also a temperature dependence different from that of single ion d?d transitions. Two absorption bands at 10,900 cm^?1 and 8,000 cm^?1 are, on the basis of compositional dependence and energy, assigned to Fe²⁺ in the large M(1B) octahedra of the brucite-type layer in chloritoid. Combined spectroscopic evidence and structural and chemical considerations support a distribution scheme for ferrous and ferric iron which orders the Fe²⁺ ions in the M(1B) octahedra and the Fe³⁺ ions in the small M(1A) octahedral sites. Both types of octahedra are found in the brucite type layer of chloritoid.