Detection of the 11 yr sunspot cycle signal in Earth rotation

Summary. A two-channel MESA or maximum entropy spectrum analysis (Morf et al. 1978) between Δ T °= ET – UT (Morrison 1973) and sunspot numbers spanning 1832–1975 yields the following results over a bandwidth 2–20yr: (1) The spectra of Δ T ° and sunspot numbers are both dominated by a narrow band signal at 11.0 yr; (2) On average the coherency over the continuum is 0.14 while at 11.0yr it peaks at 0.83; (3) The 11-yr sunspot cycle signal in length of day (lod) has an amplitude of 0.16 ms, and in time lags that in sunspot numbers by 3.4yr. Estimates obtained from segmenting the series yield extremal values which grossly bound the above estimates: The narrow band signal has period range (10.5–11.4yr) coherency (0.8–1.0), amplitude (0.06–0.31 ms), and time lag (3.0–3.Syr). In addition, a two channel analysis of sunspot numbers with a new Δ T ⁿ series from 1861–1978 (Morrison 1979) and an earlier segment of Δ T °, as well as a single-channel analysis of Δ T ° and Δ T ⁿ individually, further support the conclusion that the solar sunspot cycle in Earth rotation has been detected. These experimental results have implications in astronomy, solar physics, meteorology and climatology.     

Evidence for 18.6-yr MN term in Japanese air pressure and geophysical implications

Summary Evidence is found in Japanese station pressure records for the 11-yr solar cycle term and a long-period signal near 20 yr which we identify as the 18.6-yr M _N lunar nodal term in atmospheric tides. Amplitudes of the identified M _N term are highly variable with a nominal amplitude of 0.1 mb and, for the seven available stations, the term is in phase (0.0±2.3yr) with the M _N term in 30 temperature records in north-eastern North America. These results are important because of my proposal that enhanced drought conditions in the western United States on a time-scale of ˜ 20 yr are neither 'recurrent' nor 'rhythmic', but rather periodic with a period 18.6yr. And the influence of the Rocky Mountains (as well as the Tibetan Plateau) on standing atmospheric waves vis-à-vis precipitation is the common forcing function for the signal in temperature and drought conditions.     

A world-wide search for the 11-yr solar cycle in mean sea-level records

Summary. Tide gauge records from throughout the world have been examined for evidence of the 11-yr solar cycle in mean sea-level (MSL). In Europe an amplitude of 10–15mm is observed with a phase relative to the sunspot cycle similar to that expected as a response to forcing from previously reported solar cycles in sea-level air pressure and winds. At the highest European latitudes the MSL solar cycle is in antiphase to the sunspot cycle while at mid-latitudes it changes to being approximately in phase. Elsewhere in the world there is no convincing evidence for an 11-yr component in MSL records.     

Diatom-based paleolimnological reconstruction of regional climate and local land-use change from a protected sinkhole lake in southern Florida, USA

Despite their sensitivity to climate variability, few of the abundant sinkhole lakes of Florida have been the subject of paleolimnological studies to discern patterns of change in aquatic communities and link them to climate drivers. However, deep sinkhole lakes can contain highly resolved paleolimnological records that can be used to track long-term climate variability and its interaction with effects of land-use change. In order to understand how limnological changes were regulated by regional climate variability and further modified by local land-use change in south Florida, we explored diatom assemblage variability over centennial and semi-decadal time scales in an ~11,000-yr and a ~150-yr sediment core extracted from a 21-m deep sinkhole lake, Lake Annie, on the protected property of Archbold Biological Station. We linked variance in diatom assemblage structure to changes in water total phosphorus, color, and pH using diatom-based transfer functions. Reconstructions suggest the sinkhole depression contained a small, acidic, oligotrophic pond ~11000–7000 cal yr BP that gradually deepened to form a humic lake by ~4000 cal yr BP, coinciding with the onset of modern precipitation regimes and the stabilization of sea-level indicated by corresponding palynological records. The lake then contained stable, acidophilous planktonic and benthic algal communities for several thousand years. In the early AD 1900s, that community shifted to one diagnostic of an even lower pH (~5.6), likely resulting from acid precipitation. Further transitions over the past 25 yr reflect recovery from acidification and intensified sensitivity to climate variability caused by enhanced watershed runoff from small drainage ditches dug during the mid-twentieth Century on the surrounding property.     

Simple equations of sedimentation: applications to sequence stratigraphy

Abstract An equation to relate the thickness of sediment deposited (ΔSed), eustatic sea-level change (ΔE), and subsidence (ΔSub), to changes in depth of water (ΔD) is: ΔSub +ΔE-ΔSed =ΔD.
Using existing sea-level curves, the equation shows that some transgressive-regressive sequences in a foreland basin and a composite seismic facies sequence on a passive margin cannot result solely from eustatic variation. In each case, the space created by subsidence is greater than that provided by eustatic rise. However, eustatic variation could have triggered sequence development if superimposed on a basin with relatively constant values of the other parameters. Short-period sea-level fluctuations with high rates of change, exceeding 70–100 m Myr^-1 for periods less than 2–3 Myr, affect the stratigraphy and sedimentology more than longer period, higher amplitude variations.
Clinoforms are generated because of lateral variations in sedimentation rate compared to the rate of creation of accommodation space. These variations may result from differing sedimentation rates, subsidence rates, or rates of eustatic change, superimposed on a basin with lateral sediment supply. Clinoform slopes and curvatures are interpre table in terms of these variables as well as the type of sediment supplied and the energy distribution in the basin.
These equations put some well-known geological principles on a simple quantitative basis. They force precision in definition of variables, and may lead to further development of quantitative techniques in stratigraphy and sedimentology.     

Evidence of late Holocene climate variability in the western Nanling Mountains,South China

A 95-cm-thick peat sequence obtained from Daping Swamp in the western Nanling Mountains provides evidence for climate variability in the past ~3,000 year. Multi-proxy records (including organic carbon isotopes, humification degree, organic matter content, and dry bulk density) revealed three intensified Asian summer monsoon (ASM) intervals (i.e.~2900–2700, 2500–1700 and 1000–600 cal. yr BP) and three weakened ASM intervals (i.e.~2800–2500, 1700–1000 and 600–200 cal. yr BP). Our δ¹³C record shows a possible correlation with the sunspot number and residual atmospheric ¹⁴C records on multi-centennial scale, especially for the period between 2960 and 2200 cal. yr BP. A spectral analysis of δ¹³C record reveals three significant cycles (i.e., 396, 110 and 102 yr) and all these cycles could be related to solar activity, suggesting that solar output may have influenced the late Holocene climate variability in the study region.     

Spectral analysis of Quaternary palaeomagnetic data from British Columbia and its bearing on geomagnetic secular variation

Palaeomagnetic results obtained from a 7-m sedimentary sequence in southern British Columbia spanning approximately 9000 yr (˜ 22 000 to ˜31 000 yr BP based on radiocarbon dates) are reported and analysed. Remanence directions from 37 horizons spread throughout the section have been determined, and no evidence of the geomagnetic excursion observed at Lake Mungo, Australia (˜ 31 000–28 000 yr BP), or that observed at Mono Lake, California (25 000–24 000 yr BP) is present. However, regular oscillations in the remanence vectors are observed, and maximum entropy spectral analysis, after mapping the remanence directions on to the complex plane, reveals peaks at periods of approximately 2000 and 5000 yr. The 2000-yr peak is associated with clockwise looping of the geomagnetic vector, and therefore most likely represents the time associated with one full cycle of the westward drift of the non-dipole field. The 5000-yr peak is associated with elliptical counterclockwise looping of the local geomagnetic vector and may be indicative of counterclockwise motion of the geomagnetic dipole axis.     

Climate variability of southern Chile since the Last Glacial Maximum: a continuous sedimentological record from Lago Puyehue (40°S)

This paper presents a multi-proxy climate record of an 11 m long core collected in Lago Puyehue (southern Chile, 40°S) and extending back to 18,000 cal yr BP. The multi-proxy analyses include sedimentology, mineralogy, grain size, geochemistry, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility and radiocarbon dating. Results demonstrate that sediment grain size is positively correlated with the biogenic sediment content and can be used as a proxy for lake paleoproductivity. On the other hand, the magnetic susceptibility signal is correlated with the aluminium and titanium concentrations and can be used as a proxy for the terrigenous supply. Temporal variations of sediment composition evidence that, since the Last Glacial Maximum, the Chilean Lake District was characterized by three abrupt climate changes superimposed on a long-term climate evolution. These rapid climate changes are: (1) an abrupt warming at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum at 17,300 cal yr BP; (2) a 13,100–12,300 cal yr BP cold event, ending rapidly and interpreted as the local counterpart of the Younger Dryas cold period, and (3) a 3,400–2,900 cal yr BP climatic instability synchronous with a period of low solar activity. The timing of the 13,100–12,300 cold event is compared with similar records in both hemispheres and demonstrates that this southern hemisphere climate change precedes the northern hemisphere Younger Dryas cold period by 500 to 1,000 years. This is the third in a series of eight papers published in this special issue dedicated to the 17,900 year multi-proxy lacustrine record of Lago Puyehue, Chilean Lake District. The papers in this special issue were collected by M. De Batist, N. Fagel, M.-F. Loutre and E. Chapron.     

Palaeomagnetism of A Core Sediment From the Inland Sea, Japan (Seto Naikai)

Palaeomagnetic measurements on a giant core sample 20 cm in diameter and 7.38 m long collected from Mizushima-Nada, the Inland Sea. Japan (Seto Naikai) provide evidence of post-depositional magnetization. the geomagnetic secular variation from about 4000 to 8000 yr BP is characterized by a long period of westerly declination before 6600 yr BP. the maximum deflection is beyond 50°W during this period. the palaeomagnetic record further demonstrates that there is a hiatus over 3000 yr in sedimentation due 10 the sea-level change around 6.85 m from sea bottom, and that the lower limit of the sea-level around 8000 yr BP is 18.5 m beneath the present sea-level.     

Role of Antarctic ice mass balance in present-day sea-level change

The Antarctic ice sheet is arguably the most critical in terms of future sea-level rise, primarily because it contains 70% of the world's fresh water. While there exists evidence of accelerated ice-sheet ablation during the past decade, the possibility that the ice sheets contributed little to 20th century sea-level rise could result in Antarctica becoming the largest contributor to sea-level rise during the 21st century. Here we review the findings of studies published following the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) study, focusing on the role of Antarctica in present-day (1992–2006) sea-level rise. We show that the choice of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) model significantly affects GRACE-estimated Antarctic mass loss, adding 0.25–0.45 mm/yr to the estimate of sea-level rise. The current estimate of Antarctica's contribution to sea-level rise has a wide range: from −0.12 to +0.52 mm/yr. The discrepancy between observed sea-level trend of 1.8 mm/yr and those estimated from various geophysical sources (2.10 ± 0.99 mm/yr) is 0.30 mm/yr. The role of Antarctica in sea-level rise might be better constrained by lengthening satellite observations, using long-term GPS data to discriminate subglacial vertical motion from ice mass balance, and detecting the sea-level signal due to elastic loading from the melting ice-sheets.     

Estimation of the pole tide gravimetric factor at the chandler period through wavelet filtering

Wavelet analysis for filtering is used to improve estimation of gravity variations induced by Chandler wobble. This method eliminate noise in superconducting gravimeter (SG) records with bandpass filters derived from Daubechies wavelet. The SG records at four European stations (Brussels, Membach, Strasbourg and Vienna) are analysed in this study. First, the earth tidal constituents are removed from the observed data by using synthetic tides, then the gravity residuals are filtered into a narrow period band of 256–512 d by a wavelet bandpass filter. These data are submitted to three regression analysis methods for estimating the gravimetric factor of the Chandler wobble. After processing by wavelet filtering, SG records can provide amplitude factors δ and phase lags κ of the Chandler wobble with much smaller mean square deviation (MSD) than these provided by former studies. It is mainly because the wavelet method can effectively eliminate instrumental drift and provide smoothed data series for the regression analysis.     

10Be and solar activity cycles in varved lake sediments, AD 1900–2006

Annually resolved terrestrial ¹⁰Be archives other than those in polar ice sheets are heretofore unexplored sources of information about past solar activity and climate. Until now, it has proven difficult to find natural archives that have captured and retained a ¹⁰Be production signal, and that allow for annual sampling and contain sufficient ¹⁰Be for AMS measurement. We report the first annually resolved record of ¹⁰Be in varved lake sediments. The record comes from Lake Lehmilampi, eastern Finland, which lies at 63°37′N, 29°06′E, 95.8 m a.s.l. The focus on the last 100 years provided an unprecedented opportunity to compare sediment ¹⁰Be data with annual ice core, neutron monitor and sunspot number data. Results indicate successful recovery of ¹⁰Be atoms from as little as 20 mg sediment. Sediment ¹⁰Be accumulation rates suggest control by solar activity, manifested as a reflection of the 11-year Schwabe solar cycle and its amplitude variations throughout the investigated period. These results open the possibility of using varved lake sediment ¹⁰Be records as a new proxy for solar activity, thus providing a new approach for synchronization of paleoclimate events worldwide.     

Holocene paleohydrological reconstruction of Lake Strzeszyńskie (western Poland) and its implications for the central European climatic transition zone

Western Poland is located in the central European climatic transition zone, which separates the mild and humid Atlantic climate of Western Europe and the East European continental climate. This region is sensitive to lateral shifts of the European climate zones and is particularly suitable for reconstructing Holocene climate variability. This paper presents detailed analyses of the sedimentary record from Lake Strzeszyńskie since the Late Pleistocene. These include smear-slide and thin-section observations, X-ray fluorescence core scanning, magnetic susceptibility measurements, pollen analyses, and radiocarbon dating. The sediment record reveals three distinct sedimentary units consisting of: (1) an alternation of sand layers and laminated silt and clay deposits accumulated prior to 14,600 cal yr BP; (2) faintly laminated calcareous sediments intercalated with organic matter-rich layers deposited between 14,600 and 10,200 cal yr BP; and (3) massive calcareous mud deposited after 10,200 cal yr BP. The Holocene period is marked by nine phases of organic-rich sedimentation and enhanced Fe deposition, which occurred at ca. 10.1, 9.3, 6.4–6.1, 5.5–5.1, 4.7–4.5, 2.7–2.4, 1.3–1.2, 0.8–0.6, 0.4–0.2 kyr cal BP. These phases are associated with high lake levels and correspond with wet periods recognized in several other records from Poland and central Europe. These phases partly coincide with North Atlantic cold periods, which may suggest that high lake levels are triggered by an ocean-continent linking mechanism.     

华南老红砂沉积年代学及其环境意义：以福建青峰老红砂为例

对福建海坛岛青峰老红砂进行了系统的光释光测年研究,结合已发表的相关测年数据,在统一的时间标尺上探讨了老红砂发育过程及其与海平面变化和东亚季风变化之间的关系。结果表明：① QFS剖面沉积年龄为110~33 ka,起始发育年龄延伸到了末次间冰期。主要涵盖了MIS5c~MIS3阶段,其中存在4个快速堆积期。结合已发表的年代学数据进行综合分析,认为前人得出的老红砂发育在末次冰期以来的结论需要得到修正。② 华南老红砂发育过程与区域海平面变化密切相关。在末次间冰期和末次冰期均有发育,高海面（>-50 m）或较高海面（-50~-70 m）时期是老红砂普遍发育期。区域地壳运动叠加海平面变化造成闽南和闽东北老红砂的沉积差异：海退过程中的较高海面时期北部先发生快速堆积;海侵过程中的较高海面时期南部先发生快速堆积。LGM（海平面<-70 m）期,老红砂不发育。③ 老红砂在冰期-间冰期尺度上的沉积速率体现了源区气候和海平面变化对老红砂物源输送的双重制约。     

Seismic quiescence before the M 7, 1988, Spitak earthquake, Armenia

A detailed analysis of the 35  yr of seismicity between 1962 and 1997 using a gridding technique shows that the M 7, Spitak earthquake of 1988 December 7 was preceded by a quiescence anomaly that started at approximately 1984±0.5, and lasted about 5±0.5  yr, up to the main shock. This quiescence anomaly had a radius of about 20±3  km, estimated from circular areas with 75 per cent rate decrease, centred at the point of maximum significance of the anomaly. The quiescence was clearly present in the aftershock volume during the 5  yr before the 1988 main shock, but its statistically strongest expression was located 30  km NW of the epicentre. This anomaly fulfills the association rules between precursory quiescence anomalies and main shocks, even for a tight definition, and is therefore proposed as a case of precursory quiescence. The largest value of the standard deviate Z , found by random selection of samples by gridding, was Z =14 for a time window of T _w=3  yr, using a sample size of N =300 events. This makes this anomaly the strongest observed so far, and it is the first documented in an environment of continental collision. There are no false alarms exceeding in significance the precursor. The Armenian earthquake catalogue used for this study had 4600 earthquakes with M ≥ M _min=2.2 in the area bounded by 39.5° to 42°N/42.5° to 47°E. From the point of view of homogeneous reporting this is the best catalogue we have analysed so far. The limits of the data used and the density of the grid are dictated by the data, and have no influence on the results. The choice of free parameters does not influence the results significantly within the following limits: 100≤ N ≤500, 2≤ T _w≤7, 2.2≤ M _min≤2.8.     

Climatically relevant periodicities in the thickness of biogenic carbonate varves in Spooensee, Switzerland (9740-6870 calendar yr BP)

Accurate determination of the thicknesses of 2717 biogenic carbonate varves from a Swiss lake (Soppensee), spanning the period from about 9740 to 6870 calendar yr BP, allowed the computation of a power spectrum using classical FFT methods. The presence of pronounced peaks at 40-50 and 20-25 yr agrees with the results of other studies on varve thickness and D¹⁴C which have been interpreted as indicating an association between solar forcing and varve thickness. The presence in the Soppensee varve series of an additional peak at 10.9 yr, corresponding to the Schwabe sunspot cycle, lends further support to this hypothesis. Because the Soppensee varves are of biogenic rather than clastic origin, any influence fluctuations in solar irradiance may have had on sedimentation rates is likely to have been exerted via primary production.     

基于EEMD的太阳绕太阳系质心运动和太阳活动Hallstatt周期分析

基于行星会合指数运动学方程,推演出太阳质心到太阳系质心距离变化的计算公式,并利用该公式重建太阳质心相对于太阳系质心的距离变化时间序列,作为太阳轨道运动的替代性指标,使用聚合经验模态分解(Ensemble empirical mode decomposition,EEMD)方法分析0～25.0 ka BP太阳质心到太阳系...     

Linear correlations between Florida Current volume transport and surface speed with Miami sea-level and weather during 1964-70

Summary. The 1964-70 Florida Current data of Niiler & Richardson are examined for linear correlation with observed sea-level and weather, because their data provide an independent test of similar correlations reported in Maul et al. Seventy-five values of directly measured volume transport and 67 values of surface speed from Niiler & Richardson's unevenly spaced data are correlated with available daily mean values of Miami Beach sea-level, Bimini sea-level, Bimini-Miami Beach sea-level difference, and Miami weather (barometric pressure, air temperature, and north and east components of wind speed). Statistical frequency distribution of transport and of surface speed suggest variability that is not dominated by annual and/or semiannual cycles. Volume transport is most highly correlated with Bimini minus Miami Beach sea-level difference, and surface speed is most highly correlated with inverted Miami Beach sea-level. Including certain weather variables results in statistically significant improvements in linear multivariate modelling of transport and surface speed from sea-level; the standard errors are ± 2.6 sverdrup and ±10 cms⁻¹ respectively. Linear correlation coefficients and multivariate regression parameters from Niiler & Richardson's data are in agreement with those from Maul et al. , except that the standard error of estimating volume transport from sea-level is smaller in Maul et al. , apparently because of smaller errors in the direct measurements.     

Hydrology of Dali Lake in central-eastern Inner Mongolia and Holocene East Asian monsoon variability

Lacustrine records from the northern margin of the East Asian monsoon generate a conflicting picture of Holocene monsoonal precipitation change. To seek an integrated view of East Asian monsoon variability during the Holocene, an 8.5-m-long sediment core recovered in the depocenter of Dali Lake in central-eastern Inner Mongolia was analyzed at 1-cm intervals for total organic and inorganic carbon concentrations. The data indicate that Dali Lake reached its highest level during the early Holocene (11,500–7,600 cal yr BP). The middle Holocene (7,600–3,450 cal yr BP) was characterized by dramatic fluctuations in the lake level with three intervals of lower lake stands occurring 6,600–5,850, 5,100–4,850 and 4,450–3,750 cal yr BP, respectively. During the late Holocene (3,450 cal yr BP to present), the lake displayed a general shrinking trend with the lowest levels at three episodes of 3,150–2,650, 1,650–1,150 and 550–200 cal yr BP. We infer that the expansion of the lake during the early Holocene would have resulted from the input of the snow/ice melt, rather than the monsoonal precipitation, in response to the increase in summer solar radiation in the Northern Hemisphere. We also interpret the rise in the lake level since ca. 7,600 cal yr BP as closely related to increased monsoonal precipitation over the lake region resulting from increased temperature and size of the Western Pacific Warm Pool and a westward shifted and strengthened Kuroshio Current in the western Pacific. Moreover, high variability of the East Asian monsoon climate since 7,600 cal yr BP, marked by large fluctuations in the lake level, might have been directly associated with variations in the intensity and frequency of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events.     

The Holocene development of Kushu Lake on Rebun Island in Hokkaido, Japan

Diatom assemblages and sulfur content in sediments were analyzed to clarify changes in the sedimentary environment of Kushu Lake, a coastal lake on Rebun Island in Hokkaido, Japan. Salinity variations were assessed by means of a diatom-based index of paleosalinity and the sedimentary sulfur content. This paper discusses the Holocene development of the lake, in relation to Holocene relative sea-level change. For paleoenvironmental interpretation of the lake development, the rationale of the threshold method (Anundsen et al., 1994) was applied.At ca. 8000 yr BP, a coastal embayment (paleo-Kushu Bay) resulted from marine ingression. The threshold elevation at the mouth of the paleo-Kushu Bay kept pace with the rising sea-level, resulting in its enclosure at the culmination of Holocene marine transgression (ca. 6500–5000 yr BP). From predicted relative sea-level at ca. 6000 yr BP for Rebun Island (Nakada et al., 1991), the threshold may have been at least above –3 to –5 m altitude. A freshwater lake environment with strongly anoxic bottom conditions may have occurred from ca. 5500 to 5100 yr BP. After an important episode of marine ingression, the lake was isolated completely from the open sea at ca. 4900 yr BP. The diatom record suggests that the maximum lacustrine extent occurred at ca. 4900–3100 yr BP. Thereafter, water depth decreased at the lake margins.In Kushu Lake, the threshold elevation, due to a build-up of a coastal barrier, prevents us from determining the amplitude of sea-level changes, even though the age of isolation contacts corresponds to periods of regression and climatic deterioration. In spite of isostatic subsidence, the effective protection provided by the well-developed barrier did not allow registration of any relative sea-level fluctuations since its isolation.