Simulations of the impact of orbital forcing and ocean on the Asian summer monsoon during the Holocene

The importance of orbital forcing and ocean impact on the Asian summer monsoon in the Holocene is investigated by comparing simulations with a fully coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model (FOAM) and with the atmospheric component of this model (FSSTAM) forced with prescribed modern sea-surface temperatures (SSTs). The results show: (1) the ocean amplifies the orbitally-induced increase in African monsoon precipitation, makes somewhat increase in southern India and damps the increase over the southeastern China. (2) The ocean could change the spatial distribution and local intensity of the orbitally-induced latitudinal atmospheric oscillation over the southeastern China and the subtropical western Pacific Ocean. (3) The orbital forcing mostly enhances the Asian summer precipitation in the FOAM and FSSTAM simulations. However, the ocean reduces the orbitally-induced summer precipitation and postpones the time of summer monsoon onset over the Asian monsoon region. (4) The orbital forcing considerably enhances the intensity of upper divergence, which is amplified by ocean further, over the eastern hemisphere. But the divergence is weaker in the FOAM simulations than in the FSSTAM simulations when the orbital forcing is fixed. (5) The orbital forcing can enhance the amplitude of precipitation variability over the subtropical Africa, the southeastern China and northwestern China, inversely, reduce it over central India and North China in the FOAM and FSSTAM simulations. The ocean obviously reduces the amplitude of precipitation variability over most of the Asian monsoon regions in the fixed orbital forcing simulations. (6) The areas characterized by increased summer precipitation in the long-term mean are mostly characterized by increased amplitude of short-term variability, whereas regions characterized by decreased precipitation are primarily characterized by decreased amplitude of short-term variability. However, the influences of orbital forcing or dynamical ocean on regional climate depend on the model.     

Response of the intermediate complexity Mars Climate Simulator to different obliquity angles

A climate model of intermediate complexity, named the Mars Climate Simulator, has been developed based on the Portable University Model of the Atmosphere (PUMA). The main goal of this new development is to simulate the climate variations on Mars resulting from the changes in orbital parameters and their impact on the layered polar terrains (also known as permanent polar ice caps). As a first step towards transient simulations over several obliquity cycles, the model is applied to simulate the dynamical and thermodynamical response of the Martian climate system to different but fixed obliquity angles. The model is forced by the annual and daily cycle of solar insolation. Experiments have been performed for obliquities of φ=15^° (minimum), φ=25.2^° (present), and φ=35^° (maximum). The resulting changes in solar insolation mainly in the polar regions impact strongly on the cross-equatorial circulation which is driven by the meridional temperature gradient and steered by the Martian topography. At high obliquity, the cross-equatorial near surface flow from the winter to the summer hemisphere is strongly enhanced compared to low obliquity periods. The summer ground temperature ranges from 200 K (φ=15^°) to 250 K (φ=35^°) at 80^°N in northern summer, and from 220 K (φ=15^°) to 270 K (φ=35^°) at 80^°S in southern summer. In the atmosphere at 1 km above ground, the respective range is 195-225 K in northern summer, and 210-250 K in southern summer.     

The atmospheric circulation and dust activity in different orbital epochs on Mars

A general circulation model is used to evaluate changes to the circulation and dust transport in the martian atmosphere for a range of past orbital conditions. A dust transport scheme, including parameterized dust lifting, is incorporated within the model to enable passive or radiatively active dust transport. The focus is on changes which relate to surface features, as these may potentially be verified by observations. Obliquity variations have the largest impact, as they affect the latitudinal distribution of solar heating. At low obliquities permanent CO₂ ice caps form at both poles, lowering mean surface pressures. At higher obliquities, solar insolation peaks at higher summer latitudes near solstice, producing a stronger, broader meridional circulation and a larger seasonal CO₂ ice cap in winter. Near-surface winds associated with the main meridional circulation intensify and extend polewards, with changes in cap edge position also affecting the flow. Hence the model predicts significant changes in surface wind directions as well as magnitudes. Dust lifting by wind stress increases with obliquity as the meridional circulation and associated near-surface winds strengthen. If active dust transport is used, then lifting rates increase further in response to the larger atmospheric dust opacities (hence circulation) produced. Dust lifting by dust devils increases more gradually with obliquity, having a weaker link to the meridional circulation. The primary effect of varying eccentricity is to change the impact of varying the areocentric longitude of perihelion, l, which determines when the solar forcing is strongest. The atmospheric circulation is stronger when l aligns with solstice rather than equinox, and there is also a bias from the martian topography, resulting in the strongest circulations when perihelion is at northern winter solstice. Net dust accumulation depends on both lifting and deposition. Dust which has been well mixed within the atmosphere is deposited preferentially over high topography. For wind stress lifting, the combination produces peak net removal within western boundary currents and southern midlatitude bands, and net accumulation concentrated in Arabia and Tharsis. In active dust transport experiments, dust is also scoured from northern midlatitudes during winter, further confining peak accumulation to equatorial regions. As obliquity increases, polar accumulation rates increase for wind stress lifting and are largest for high eccentricities when perihelion occurs during northern winter. For dust devil lifting, polar accumulation rates increase (though less rapidly) with obliquity above o=25°, but increase with decreasing obliquity below this, thus polar dust accumulation at low obliquities may be increasingly due to dust lifted by dust devils. For all cases discussed, the pole receiving most dust shifts from north to south as obliquity is increased.     

Uncertainties in climate change prediction: El Niño-Southern Oscillation and monsoons

The sensitivity of climate phenomena in the low latitudes to enhanced greenhouse conditions is a scientific issue of high relevance to billions of people in the poorest countries of the globe. So far, most studies dealt with individual model results. In the present analysis, we refer to 79 coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations from 12 different climate models under 6 different IPCC scenarios. The basic question is as to what extent various state-of-the-art climate models agree in predicting changes in the main features of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the monsoon climates in South Asia and West Africa. The individual model runs are compared with observational data in order to judge whether the spatio-temporal characteristics of ENSO are well reproduced. The model experiments can be grouped into multi-model ensembles. Thus, climate change signals in the classical index time series, in the principal components and in the time series of interannual variability can be evaluated against the background of internal variability and model uncertainty.There are large differences between the individual model predictions until the end of the 21st century, especially in terms of monsoon rainfall and the Southern Oscillation index (SOI). The majority of the models tends to project La Niña-like anomalies in the SOI and an intensification of the summer monsoon precipitation in India and West Africa. However, the response barely exceeds the level of natural variability and the systematic intermodel variations are larger than the impact of different IPCC scenarios. Nonetheless, there is one prominent climate change signal, which stands out from model variations and internal noise: All forced model experiments agree in predicting a substantial warming in the eastern tropical Pacific. This oceanic heating does not necessarily lead to a modification of ENSO towards more frequent El Niño and/or La Niña events. It simply represents a change in the background state of ENSO. Indeed, we did not find convincing multi-model evidence for a modification of the wavelet spectra in terms of ENSO or the monsoons. Some models suggest an intensification of the annual cycle but this signal is fairly model-dependent. Thus, large model uncertainty still exists with respect to the future behaviour of climate in the low latitudes. This has to be taken into account when addressing climate change signals in individual model experiments and ensembles.     

LGM lake records from China and an analysis of climate dynamics using a modelling approach

Lake-geological studies in China have reported that there were much higher lake levels and much fresher water than today at the last glacial maximum (LGM) in western China. A compilation of lake data in this study showed LGM conditions much drier than today in eastern China but somewhat wetter in western China. These E–W differential patterns of climate conditions were completely different from the modern dry-wet conditions with a N–S differential distribution. In this study palaeoclimate simulations by an AGCM coupled with land surface process model were used to explore the possible mechanisms of LGM climate in China. The results confirmed that the dry conditions in eastern China resulted from less summer precipitation due to the Pacific Subtropical High occupying eastern China and the decline in the summer monsoon. The wet conditions in western China were produced by a decrease in evaporation due to a low temperature on land surface at the LGM and increase in precipitation. Two experiments of the palaeoclimate simulations with different land surface of modern and palaeo-vegetations have been designed to test the discrepancies of simulated LGM climate with in precipitation and P–E fields. The results suggested that the feedback from the Asian land surface within the climate system would amplify and modify external forcing, leading to marked climate changes in China.     

Periods of active permafrost layer formation during the geological history of Mars: Implications for circum-polar and mid-latitude surface processes

Permafrost is ground remaining frozen (temperatures are below the freezing point of water) for more than two consecutive years. An active layer in permafrost regions is defined as a near-surface layer that undergoes freeze-thaw cycles due to day-average surface and soil temperatures oscillating about the freezing point of water. A “dry” active layer may occur in parched soils without free water or ice but significant geomorphic change through cryoturbation is not produced in these environments. A wet active layer is currently absent on Mars. We use recent calculations on the astronomical forcing of climate change to assess the conditions under which an extensive active layer could form on Mars during past climate history. Our examination of insolation patterns and surface topography predicts that an active layer should form on Mars in the geological past at high latitudes as well as on pole-facing slopes at mid-latitudes during repetitive periods of high obliquity. We examine global high-resolution MOLA topography and geological features on Mars and find that a distinctive latitudinal zonality of the occurrence of steep slopes and an asymmetry of steep slopes at mid-latitudes can be attributed to the effect of active layer processes. We conclude that the formation of an active layer during periods of enhanced obliquity throughout the most recent period of the history of Mars (the Amazonian) has led to significant degradation of impact craters, rapidly decreasing the steep slopes characterizing pristine landforms. Our analysis suggests that an active layer has not been present on Mars in the last ∼5 Ma, and that conditions favoring the formation of an active layer were reached in only about 20% of the obliquity excursions between 5 and 10 Ma ago. Conditions favoring an active layer are not predicted to be common in the next 10 Ma. The much higher obliquity excursions predicted for the earlier Amazonian appear to be responsible for the significant reduction in magnitude of crater interior slopes observed at higher latitudes on Mars. The observed slope asymmetry at mid-latitudes suggests direct insolation control, and hence low atmospheric pressure, during the high obliquity periods throughout the Amazonian. We formulate predictions on the nature and distribution of candidate active layer features that could be revealed by higher resolution imaging data.     

The oblateness effect on the solar radiation incident at the top of the atmospheres of the outer planets

Calculations of the daily solar radiation incident at the top of the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, with and without the effect of the oblateness, are presented in a series of figures illustrating the seasonal and latitudinal variation of the ratio of both insolations. It is shown that for parts of the summer, the daily insolation of an oblate planet is increased, the zone of enhanced solar radiation being strongly dependent upon the obliquity, whereas the rate of increase is fixed by both the flattening and the obliquity. In winter, the oblateness effect results in a more extensive polar region, the daily solar radiation of an oblate planet always being reduced when compared to a spherical planet. In addition, we also numerically studied the mean daily solar radiation. As previously stated by A.W. Brinkman and J. McGregor (1979, Icarus, 38, 479–482), it is found that in summer the horizon plane is tilted toward the Sun for latitudes less than the subsolar point, but is titled away from the Sun beyond this latitude. It follows that the mean summer daily insolation is increased between the equator and the subsolar point, but decreased poleward of the above-mentioned limit. In winter, however, the horizon plane is always tilted away from the Sun, causing the mean winter daily insolation to be reduced. The partial gain of the mean summertime insolation being much smaller than the loss during winter season evidently yields a mean annual daily insolation which is decreased at all latitudes.     

A 1 Gyr climate model for Mars: new orbital statistics and the importance of seasonally resolved polar processes

New results from a 1 Gyr integration of the martian orbit are presented along with a seasonally resolved energy balance climate model employed to illuminate the gross characteristics of the long-term atmospheric pressure evolution. We present a new analysis of the statistical variation of the martian obliquity and precession prior to and subsequent to the formation of the Tharsis uplift, and explore the long term effects on the martian climate. We find that seasonal polar cycles have a critical influence on the ability for the regolith to release CO₂ at high obliquities, and find that the atmospheric CO₂ actually decreases at high obliquities due to the cooling effect of polar deposits at latitudes where seasonal caps form. At low obliquity, the formation of massive, permanent polar caps depends critically on the values of the frost albedo, A_frost, and frost emissivity, ?_frost. Using our model with values of A_frost=0.67 and ?_frost=0.55, matched to the NASA Ames General Circulation Model (GCM) results (Haberle et al., 1993, J. Geophys. Res. 98, 3093-3123, and Haberle et al., 2003, Icarus 161, 66-89), we find that permanent caps only form at low obliquities (<13°), suggesting that any permanent deposits on the surface of Mars today may be residuals left over from a period of very low obliquity, or are the result of mechanisms not represented by this model. Thus, contrary to expectations, the martian atmospheric pressure is remarkable static over time, and decreases both at high and low obliquity. Also, from our one billion year orbital model, we present new results on the fraction of time Mars is expected to experience periods of low obliquity and high obliquity.     

Insolation patterns on synchronous exoplanets with obliquity

A previous paper [Dobrovolskis, A.R., 2007. Icarus 192, 1-23] showed that eccentricity can have profound effects on the climate, habitability, and detectability of extrasolar planets. This complementary study shows that obliquity can have comparable effects.The known exoplanets exhibit a wide range of orbital eccentricities, but those within several million kilometers of their suns are generally in near-circular orbits. This fact is widely attributed to the dissipation of tides in the planets. Tides in a planet affect its spin even more than its orbit, and such tidally evolved planets often are assumed to be in synchronous rotation, so that their rotation periods are identical to their orbital periods. The canonical example of synchronous spin is the way that our Moon always keeps nearly the same hemisphere facing the Earth.Tides also tend to reduce the planet’s obliquity (the angle between its spin and orbital angular velocities). However, orbit precession can cause the rotation to become locked in a “Cassini state”, where it retains a nearly constant non-zero obliquity. For example, our Moon maintains an obliquity of about 6.7° with respect to its orbit about the Earth. In comparison, stable Cassini states can exist for practically any obliquity up to ∼90° or more for planets of binary stars, or in multi-planet systems with high mutual inclinations, such as are produced by scattering or by the Kozai mechanism.This work considers planets in synchronous rotation with circular orbits, but arbitrary obliquity β; this affects the distribution of insolation over the planet’s surface, particularly near its poles. For β=0, one hemisphere bakes in perpetual sunshine, while the opposite hemisphere experiences eternal darkness. As β increases, the region of permanent daylight and the antipodal realm of endless night both shrink, while a more temperate area of alternating day and night spreads in longitude, and especially in latitude. The regions of permanent day or night disappear at β=90°. The insolation regime passes through several more transitions as β continues to increase toward 180°, but the surface distribution of insolation remains non-uniform in both latitude and longitude.Thus obliquity, like eccentricity, can protect certain areas of the planet from the worst extremes of temperature and solar radiation, and can improve the planet’s habitability. These results also have implications for the direct detectability of extrasolar planets, and for the interpretation of their thermal emissions.     

Effect of altered Arctic sea ice and Greenland ice sheet cover on the climate of the GENESIS general circulation model

Previous studies have examined the effect of reduced Arctic sea ice cover on the circulation of climate models. Generally, the response is restricted to high northern latitudes. Here we examine a variant on those simulations, specifying both reduced Arctic sea ice cover and no Greenland ice sheet. The GENESIS general circulation model is used in these experiments. As in earlier studies, we find the effect limited primarily to the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, being greater in winter than in summer. New results reported herein involve: (1) in winter reduced Arctic ice cover has a significantly greater effect than reduced Greenland ice cover; (2) reduced ice cover had little effect on location of the winter freezing line over North America and Eurasia; (3) removal of ice caused a 30–50% increase in precipitation in high northern latitudes; however there were no significant effects elsewhere. This result does not support the hypothesis that past changes in Arctic ice cover were responsible for significant changes in area of tropical rainforests; (4) there is a peculiar surface pressure anomaly that extends into the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. This anomaly may be a spurious artifact of the effect of the removed Greenland ice sheet on the spherical harmonic expansion terms in the model. These sensitivity experiments should serve as a useful frame of reference for future Pliocene simulations with a more complete set of altered boundary conditions.     

YORP torque as the function of shape harmonics

The second-order analytical approximation of the mean Yarkovsky–O'Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack (YORP) torque components is given as an explicit function of the shape spherical harmonics coefficients for a sufficiently regular minor body. The results are based upon a new expression for the insolation function, significantly simpler than in previous works. Linearized plane-parallel model of the temperature distribution derived from the insolation function allows us to take into account a non-zero conductivity. Final expressions for the three average components of the YORP torque related with rotation period, obliquity and precession are given in a form of the Legendre series of the cosine of obliquity. The series have good numerical properties and can be easily truncated according to the degree of the Legendre polynomials or associated functions, with first two terms playing the principal role.     

Free and forced obliquities of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter

The obliquity, or angular separation between orbit normal and spin pole, is an important parameter for the geodynamics of most Solar System bodies. Tidal dissipation has driven the obliquities of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter to small, but non-zero values. We present estimates of the free and forced obliquities of these satellites using a simple secular variation model for the orbits, and spin pole precession rate estimates based on gravity field parameters derived from Galileo spacecraft encounters. The free obliquity values are not well constrained by observations, but are presumed to be very small. The forced obliquity variations depend only on the orbital variations and the spin pole precession rate parameters, which are quite well known. These variations are large enough to influence spatial and temporal patterns of tidal dissipation and tidal stress.     

Eccentricity cycles shown by early Pleistocene planktonic foraminifers of the Omma Formation, Sea of Japan

There is a continuous record of planktonic foraminifers for oxygen isotope stages 50 to 26 (ca. 1.5–1.0 Ma) in the early Pleistocene Omma Formation near Kanazawa City, Central Japan, on the Sea of Japan coast. The warm-water species Globigerinoides ruber entered the Sea of Japan with the Tsushima Current during all interglacial periods and went locally extinct in the succeeding glacial periods. This implies that the marine climate of the Sea of Japan varied predominantly with the 41,000-year period of Earth's orbital obliquity. However, the relative abundances of G. ruber in marine isotope stages 47, 43 and 31 are significantly higher than those in other interglacial stages. These stages correspond to periods when eccentricity-modulated precession extremes were aligned with obliquity maxima. The Tsushima Current is a branch of the warm Kuroshio Current which is the strong northwestern component of the subtropical North Pacific Ocean gyre. Our data imply that the early Pleistocene climate in the northwestern Pacific was influenced not only by obliquity cycles but also by eccentricity cycles. This study also supports the climate model regarding eccentricity's role in the origin of low-frequency climate changes before the late Pleistocene ice ages.     

Simulations of water resource environmental changes in China during the last 20 000 years by a regional climate model

We utilize a regional climate model with detailed land surface processes (RegCM2) to simulate East Asian monsoon climates at 0 ka, 6 ka and 21 ka BP, and evaluate the changes in hydrology process, including vapor transportation, precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff in the eastern and western China during these periods. Results indicate that the Tibetan Plateau climate presents a wet–cold status during the LGM while it exhibits a wet–warm climate at 6 ka BP. The LGM wetter climate over the Tibetan Plateau mainly results from the increased vapor inflow through its south boundary, while the increase in the vapor import over the Tibetan Plateau at 6 ka BP mostly sources from its west boundary. The increase in the LGM runoff over the Tibetan Plateau is mainly caused by the decrease in evapotranspiration, while the increase in runoff at the 6 ka BP mainly by the enhanced precipitation. Eastern China (including southern China) presents a dry status during the LGM, which precipitation and runoff decreases significantly due largely to weakened Asian summer monsoon that results in the decreased vapor inflow through the south boundary of eastern China. The variation pattern in the hydrological cycle in eastern China is contrary to that in western China during the LGM. The increase in precipitation and runoff at 6 ka BP in eastern China is tightly related to the strong Asian summer monsoon that leads to increased vapor import through the south boundary. Long term decrease trend in precipitation and runoff in northern China since the last 20 000 years may be attributed to the steady increase in vapor export through the east boundary as a result of the changes of East Asian monsoon and the adjustments of local atmospheric circulations in this area.     

Obliquity variations of terrestrial planets in habitable zones

We have investigated obliquity variations of possible terrestrial planets in habitable zones (HZs) perturbed by a giant planet(s) in extrasolar planetary systems. All the extrasolar planets so far discovered are inferred to be jovian-type gas giants. However, terrestrial planets could also exist in extrasolar planetary systems. In order for life, in particular for land-based life, to evolve and survive on a possible terrestrial planet in an HZ, small obliquity variations of the planet may be required in addition to its orbital stability, because large obliquity variations would cause significant climate change. It is known that large obliquity variations are caused by spin-orbit resonances where the precession frequency of the planet's spin nearly coincides with one of the precession frequencies of the ascending node of the planet's orbit. Using analytical expressions, we evaluated the obliquity variations of terrestrial planets with prograde spins in HZs. We found that the obliquity of terrestrial planets suffers large variations when the giant planet's orbit is separated by several Hill radii from an edge of the HZ, in which the orbits of the terrestrial planets in the HZ are marginally stable. Applying these results to the known extrasolar planetary systems, we found that about half of these systems can have terrestrial planets with small obliquity variations (smaller than 10°) over their entire HZs. However, the systems with both small obliquity variations and stable orbits in their HZs are only 1/5 of known systems. Most such systems are comprised of short-period giant planets. If additional planets are found in the known planetary systems, they generally tend to enhance the obliquity variations. On the other hand, if a large/close satellite exists, it significantly enhances the precession rate of the spin axis of a terrestrial planet and is likely to reduce the obliquity variations of the planet. Moreover, if a terrestrial planet is in a retrograde spin state, the spin-orbit resonance does not occur. Retrograde spin, or a large/close satellite might be essential for land-based life to survive on a terrestrial planet in an HZ.     

The Late Miocene climate response to a modern Sahara desert

The climate cooling and vegetation changes in the Miocene/Pliocene are generally well documented by various proxy data. Some important ecosystem changes occurred at that time. Palaeobotanical evidence suggests that the Sahara desert first appeared in the Pliocene, whereas in the Miocene North Africa was green. In the present study, we investigate the Late Miocene climate response to the appearance of the Sahara desert from a climate modelling sensitivity experiment. We compare a model experiment, which includes a full set of Late Miocene boundary conditions, with another one using the same boundary conditions except that the North African vegetation refers to the present-day situation. Our sensitivity study demonstrates that the introduction of the Sahara desert leads to a cooling and an aridification in Africa. In addition, we observe teleconnection patterns related to the North African desertification at around the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. From our sensitivity experiment, we observe that the Sahara contributes to a cooling in Central Asia and in North America. As compared to hypsodonty data for Central Asia, an increased aridity is underestimated in the Sahara experiment. Finally, we observe that the introduction of the Sahara leads to a cooling in the northern high latitudes. Hence, our sensitivity experiment indicates that the appearance of the Sahara desert is one piece to better understand Late Cenozoic climate cooling being most pronounced in the high latitudes.     

Reading the climate record of the martian polar layered deposits

The martian polar regions have layered deposits of ice and dust. The stratigraphy of these deposits is exposed within scarps and trough walls and is thought to have formed due to climate variations in the past. Insolation has varied significantly over time and caused dramatic changes in climate, but it has remained unclear whether insolation variations could be linked to the stratigraphic record. We present a model of layer formation based on physical processes that expresses polar deposition rates of ice and dust in terms of insolation. In this model, layer formation is controlled by the insolation record, and dust-rich layers form by two mechanisms: (1) increased summer sublimation during high obliquity, and (2) variations in the polar deposition of dust modulated by obliquity variations. The model is simple, yet physically plausible, and allows for investigations of the climate control of the polar layered deposits (PLD). We compare the model to a stratigraphic column obtained from the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) (Fishbaugh, K.E., Hvidberg, C.S., Byrne, S., Russel, P.S., Herkenhoff, K.E., Winstrup, M., Kirk, R. [2010a]. Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L07201) and show that the model can be tuned to reproduce complex layer sequences. The comparison with observations cannot uniquely constrain the PLD chronology, and it is limited by our interpretation of the observed stratigraphic column as a proxy for NPLD composition. We identified, however, a set of parameters that provides a chronology of the NPLD tied to the insolation record and consistently explains layer formation in accordance with observations of NPLD stratigraphy. This model dates the top 500 m of the NPLD back to ～1 million years with an average net deposition rate of ice and dust of 0.55 mm a^?1. The model stratigraphy contains a quasi-periodic ～30 m cycle, similar to a previously suggested cycle in brightness profiles from the NPLD (Laskar, J., Levrard, B., Mustard, F. [2002]. Nature, 419, 375–377; Milkovich, S., Head, J.W. [2005]. J. Geophys. Res. 110), but here related to half of the obliquity cycles of 120 and 99 kyr and resulting from a combination of the two layer formation mechanisms. Further investigations of the non-linear insolation control of PLD formation should consider data from other geographical locations and include radar data and other stratigraphic datasets that can constrain the composition and stratigraphy of the NPLD layers.     

The effect of orbital element variations on the mean seasonal daily insolation on Mars

In this paper we briefly study changes in the mean seasonal insolations on the planet Mars caused by significant large-scale variations in the following orbital elements: the eccentricity (e), the obliquity (ε) and the longitude of perihelion (λ _p ). Three orbital configurations have been investigated. In the first, the eccentricity equals successively 0, 0.075, and 0.15, whereas for the obliquity and the longitude of perihelion we took the present values which amount, respectively to 25° and 250°. In the second situation, ε=15, 25, and 35° for a circular orbit (e=0) and with λ _p =250°. In the last model we have sete=0.075 and ε=25° for λ _p =?90,0, and 90°. Although long-term periodic oscillations ofe (first case) and λ _p (third case) produce, respectively, very small or no variations in the average yearly insolation, fluctuations of the above mentioned planetary data strongly effect the mean summer and winter daily insolations. Indeed, the calculations reveal that between the two extreme values of the orbital elements used, the seasonal insolations exhibit a change in amplitude of about 15 to 20% difference over the entire latitude interval. Considering more particularly the second case it is found that the summertime insolation experiences a nearly similar variation as the mean annual daily insolation — i.e., a decrease of about 7% at the equator and a more than twofold increase at the poles. The corresponding mean winter daily insolation varies maximally by approximately 60% in the 60–80° latitude range.     

Cyclone activity associated with the interannual seesaw oscillation of summer precipitation over northern Eurasia

This study describes surface cyclone activity associated with the interannual variability in summer precipitation in northern Eurasia and how that activity may be connected to other climate signals. An east–west seesaw oscillation of precipitation across Siberia is the primary mode of interannual variability in the summer hydrological cycle over northern Eurasia. This variation occurs at sub-decadal timescales of about 6–8 years. The spatial characteristics of cyclone frequency and cyclone tracks at the two poles in variability [eastern Siberia (ES)-wet–western Siberia (WS)-dry and WS-wet–ES-dry] were examined, and temporal variability in regional cyclone frequency was compared to basin-scale precipitation variability. The analysis period was from 1973 to 2002, when the precipitation variability signal was predominant.Cyclone behavior suggested that the regions of enhanced (reduced) cyclone activity coincided with regions of increased (decreased) precipitation in each phase of the oscillation. Such behavior reflects the zonal displacement of the track of frequent storm activity that accompanies the changes in precipitation. Comparisons of the temporal characteristics confirmed the importance of regional cyclone frequency on precipitation variability in both eastern and western Siberia. Low-frequency changes in regional cyclone activity may produce the precipitation oscillation. We used various climate signals to explore connections between regional precipitation and cyclone activity in Siberia. Results suggest that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) from the preceding winter is significantly and negatively correlated with summer surface cyclone frequency and precipitation over western Siberia. Enhanced (reduced) summer cyclone activity and precipitation in western Siberia follows low- (high-) winter NAO. However, the physical mechanisms linking summer cyclone activity and precipitation over western Siberia with the preceding climate conditions associated with the winter NAO remain unclear.     

Pedestal crater heights on Mars: A proxy for the thicknesses of past, ice-rich, Amazonian deposits

Mid-latitude pedestal craters on Mars offer crucial insights into the timing and extent of widespread ice-rich deposits during the Amazonian period. Our previous comprehensive analysis of pedestal craters strongly supports a climate-related formation mechanism, whereby pedestals result from impacts into ice-rich material at mid latitudes during periods of higher obliquity. The ice from this target deposit later sublimates due to obliquity changes, but is preserved beneath the protective cover of the armored pedestal. As such, the heights of pedestals act as a proxy for the thicknesses of the paleodeposits. In this analysis, our measurement of 2300 pedestal heights shows that although pedestals can reach up to ∼260 m in height, ∼82% are shorter than 60 m and only ∼2% are taller than 100 m. Mean pedestal heights are 48.0 m in the northern mid latitudes and 40.4 m in the southern mid latitudes, with the tallest pedestals located in Utopia Planitia, Acidalia Planitia and Malea Planum. We use these data in conjunction with prior climate model results to identify both regional and global trends regarding ice accumulation during obliquity excursions. Our data provide evidence for multiple episodes of emplacement and removal of the mid-latitude ice-rich deposit based on stratigraphic relationships between pedestal craters and the close proximity of pedestals with significantly different heights.