Re-assessment of the paleoclimate implications of the Shell Bar in the Qaidam Basin,China

The Shell Bar in the Qaidam Basin, China, is a prominent geological feature composed of millions of densely packed Corbicula shells. Since the mid 1980s, it has been regarded as evidence for existence of a large lake during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 in the presently hyper-arid Qaidam Basin. Early studies suggested the bivalve shells accumulated at the shore of a large lake, whereas more recent work led to the conclusion that the Shell Bar was formed within a deeper water body. Based on our re-assessment of sediments and fossils from the Shell Bar, investigation of exposed fluvio-lacustrine sections upstream of the Shell Bar and study of nearby modern streams, we infer that the Shell Bar represents a stream deposit. Corbicula is a typical stream-dweller around the world. Preservation of Corbicula shells of different sizes, as well as occurrence of many articulated shells, provide evidence against post-mortem transport and accumulation along a lake shore. Additionally, the SE-NW alignment of the Shell Bar is similar to modern intermittent stream beds in its vicinity and corresponds to the present-day slope towards the basin centre further NW, and furthermore, the predominantly sandy sediments also indicate that the Shell Bar was formed in a stream. Abundant ostracod shells in the Shell Bar sediments originated from stream-dwelling species that are abundant in modern streams in the vicinity of the Shell Bar, or in part from fluvio-lacustrine sediments exposed upstream of the Shell Bar, as a result of erosion and re-deposition. Deflation of alluvial fine-grained sediments in the Shell Bar region and protection of the stream deposits by the large and thick-walled Corbicula shells reversed the former channel relief and yielded the modern exposure, which is a prominent morphological feature. Occurrence of Corbicula shells in the Qaidam Basin indicates climate was apparently warmer than present during the formation of the Shell Bar because Corbicula does not live at similar or higher altitudes in the region today. Because the Shell Bar is no longer considered a deposit formed within a lake, its presence does not indicate paleoclimate conditions wetter than today.     

GNSS satellite transmit power and its impact on orbit determination

Antenna thrust is a small acceleration acting on Global Navigation Satellite System satellites caused by the transmission of radio navigation signals. Knowledge about the transmit power and the mass of the satellites is required for the computation of this effect. The actual transmit power can be obtained from measurements with a high-gain antenna and knowledge about the properties of the transmit and receive antennas as well as losses along the propagation path. Transmit power measurements for different types of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou-2 satellites were taken with a 30-m dish antenna of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) located at its ground station in Weilheim. For GPS, total L-band transmit power levels of 50–240 W were obtained, 20–135 W for GLONASS, 95–265 W for Galileo, and 130–185 W for BeiDou-2. The transmit power differs usually only slightly for individual spacecraft within one satellite block. An exception are the GLONASS-M satellites where six subgroups with different transmit power levels could be identified. Considering the antenna thrust in precise orbit determination of GNSS satellites decreases the orbital radius by 1–27 mm depending on the transmit power, the satellite mass, and the orbital period.     

Sub-Recent Sexual Populations of Limnocythere inopinata Recorded for the First Time from > 3500 m Altitude on the Tibetan Plateau

<正>The central and northwestern Tibetan Plateau region,also called"Qiangtang Plateau"(30°27'25"-35°39'13"N,83o41'14"-95°10'46"E),is the highest and largest arcticalpine area of the Earth covering approximately 600,000km~2 with altitude ranging from 4600 to 5100 m a.s.l.(Song et al.,2012,Fig.1).Ostracod species of     

C‐band SAR backscatter characteristics of Arctic sea and land ice during winter

Abstract

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data has become an important tool for studies of polar regions, due to high spatial resolution even during the polar night and under cloudy skies. We have studied the temporal variation of sea and land ice backscatter of twenty‐four SAR images from the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS‐1) covering an area in Lady Ann Strait and Jones Sound, Nunavut, from January to March 1992. The presence of fast ice in Jones Sound and glaciers and ice caps on the surrounding islands provides an ideal setting for temporal backscatter studies of ice surfaces. Sample regions for eight different ice types were selected and the temporal backscatter variation was studied. The observed backscatter values for each ice type characterize the radar signatures of the ice surfaces. This time series of twenty‐four SAR images over a 3‐month period provides new insights into the degree of temporal variability of each surface. Ice caps exhibit the highest backscatter value of ‐3.9 dB with high temporal variability. Valley glacier ice backscatter values decrease with decreasing altitude, and are temporally the most stable, with standard deviations of 0.08–0.10 dB over the 90‐day period.

First‐year ice and lead ice show a negative trend in backscatter values in time and a positive correlation of up to 0.59 with air temperature over the 90‐day period. For first‐year ice and lead ice, episodes of large temperature fluctuations (±12°C) are associated with rapid changes in backscatter values (±2 dB). We attribute the backscatter increase to a temperature‐induced increase in brine volume at the base of the snow pack. Multi‐year ice, conglomerate ice and shore ice are relatively stable over the 3‐month period, with a backscatter variation of only a few dBs. An observed lag time of up to three days between backscatter increase/decrease and air temperature can be attributed to the insulation effect of the snow cover over sea ice. The net range of the backscatter values observed on the most temporally stable surface, valley glacier ice, of about 0.30 dB indicates that the ERS‐1 SAR instrument exceeds the 1 dB calibration accuracy specified for the Alaska SAR Facility processor for the three winter months.     

Predictability of large interannual Arctic sea-ice anomalies

In projections of twenty-first century climate, Arctic sea ice declines and at the same time exhibits strong interannual anomalies. Here, we investigate the potential to predict these strong sea-ice anomalies under a perfect-model assumption, using the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model in the same setup as in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). We study two cases of strong negative sea-ice anomalies: a 5-year-long anomaly for present-day conditions, and a 10-year-long anomaly for conditions projected for the middle of the twenty-first century. We treat these anomalies in the CMIP5 projections as the truth, and use exactly the same model configuration for predictions of this synthetic truth. We start ensemble predictions at different times during the anomalies, considering lagged-perfect and sea-ice-assimilated initial conditions. We find that the onset and amplitude of the interannual anomalies are not predictable. However, the further deepening of the anomaly can be predicted for typically 1 year lead time if predictions start after the onset but before the maximal amplitude of the anomaly. The magnitude of an extremely low summer sea-ice minimum is hard to predict: the skill of the prediction ensemble is not better than a damped-persistence forecast for lead times of more than a few months, and is not better than a climatology forecast for lead times of two or more years. Predictions of the present-day anomaly are more skillful than predictions of the mid-century anomaly. Predictions using sea-ice-assimilated initial conditions are competitive with those using lagged-perfect initial conditions for lead times of a year or less, but yield degraded skill for longer lead times. The results presented here suggest that there is limited prospect of predicting the large interannual sea-ice anomalies expected to occur throughout the twenty-first century.     

Karst spring responses examined by process-based modeling

Ground water in karst terrains is highly vulnerable to contamination due to the rapid transport of contaminants through the highly conductive conduit system. For contamination risk assessment purposes, information about hydraulic and geometric characteristics of the conduits and their hydraulic interaction with the fissured porous rock is an important prerequisite. The relationship between aquifer characteristics and short-term responses to recharge events of both spring discharge and physicochemical parameters of the discharged water was examined using a process-based flow and transport model. In the respective software, a pipe-network model, representing fast conduit flow, is coupled to MODFLOW, which simulates flow in the fissured porous rock. This hybrid flow model was extended to include modules simulating heat and reactive solute transport in conduits. The application of this modeling tool demonstrates that variations of physicochemical parameters, such as solute concentration and water temperature, depend to a large extent on the intensity and duration of recharge events and provide information about the structure and geometry of the conduit system as well as about the interaction between conduits and fissured porous rock. Moreover, the responses of solute concentration and temperature of spring discharge appear to reflect different processes, thus complementing each other in the aquifer characterization.     

Spatial and temporal changes in dry-snow line altitude on the Antarctic Peninsula

Drastic changes were detected in glacial systems of the Antarctic Peninsula in the last decades. The observed phenomena comprise the disintegration of ice shelves, acceleration and thinning of glaciers, and retreat of glacier fronts. However, due to the lack of consistent systematic observations in particular of the higher parts of the glacial systems, it is difficult to predict further responses of the Antarctic Peninsula glaciers to climatic change. The present paper analyses spatial and temporal variations of changes in the dry-snow line altitude on the Antarctic Peninsula as extracted from a time series (1992–2005) of ERS-1/2 SAR and Envisat ASAR data. Upward changes in dry-snow line altitude were observed in general, and are attributed to extreme high-temperature events impacting the central plateaus of the Antarctic Peninsula and the increasing duration of warming periods. A mean decrease in dry-snow line altitude was detected on the west side of the peninsula and is identified as a response to recorded increase in precipitation and accumulation. These results validate the capability of SAR data for deriving superficial parameters of glaciers to be used as indicators of climatic changes in high-latitude regions where operational restrictions limit conventional meteorological observations.