Wind sensitivity of the inter-ocean heat exchange

An idealised two-basin model is used to investigate the impact of the wind field on the heat exchange between the ocean basins. The scalar potential of the divergent component of the horizontal heat flux is computed, which gives a 'coarse-grained' image of the surface heat flux that captures the large-scale structure of the horizontal heat transport. Further the non-divergent component is examined, as well as the meridional heat transport and the temperature–latitude overturning stream function. A sensitivity analysis examines the heat transport response to changes in wind stress at different latitudes. The results are compared with results from an eddy-permitting global circulation model. The westerly wind stress over the Southern Ocean has two effects: a local reduction of the surface heat loss in response to the equatorward surface Ekman drift, and a global re-routing of the heat export from the Indo-Pacific. Without wind forcing, the Indo-Pacific heat export is released to the atmosphere in the Southern Ocean, and the net heat transport in the southern Atlantic is southward. With wind forcing, the Indo-Pacific export enters the Atlantic through the Aghulas and is released in the Northern Hemisphere. The easterlies enhance the poleward heat transport in both basins.     

Leakage and spillover effects of forest management on carbon storage: theoretical insights from a simple model

Leakage (spillover) refers to the unintended negative (positive) consequences of forest carbon (C) management in one area on C storage elsewhere. For example, the local C storage benefit of less intensive harvesting in one area may be offset, partly or completely, by intensified harvesting elsewhere in order to meet global timber demand. We present the results of a theoretical study aimed at identifying the key factors determining leakage and spillover, as a prerequisite for more realistic numerical studies. We use a simple model of C storage in managed forest ecosystems and their wood products to derive approximate analytical expressions for the leakage induced by decreasing the harvesting frequency of existing forest, and the spillover induced by establishing new plantations, assuming a fixed total wood production from local and remote (non-local) forests combined. We find that leakage and spillover depend crucially on the growth rates, wood product lifetimes and woody litter decomposition rates of local and remote forests. In particular, our results reveal critical thresholds for leakage and spillover, beyond which effects of forest management on remote C storage exceed local effects. Order of magnitude estimates of leakage indicate its potential importance at global scales.     

Interannual variability of NDVI and bird species diversity in Kenya

Species richness, or simply the number of species in a given area, is commonly used as an important indicator of biological diversity. Spatial variability in species richness has been postulated to depend upon environmental factors such as climate and climatic variability, which in turn may affect net primary productivity. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been shown to be correlated with climatic variables including rainfall, actual evapotranspiration and net primary productivity. To determine factors favoring high species richness, we examined the relationship between interannual NDVI variables and species richness of birds at a quarter degree scale (55 × 55 km). Results revealed a strong positive correlation between species richness and maximum average NDVI. Conversely, species richness showed negative correlation with standard deviation of maximum NDVI and the coefficient of variation. Though these relationships are indirect, they apparently operate through the green vegetation cover. Understanding such relationships can help in mapping and monitoring biological diversity, as well as in estimating changes in species richness in response to global climatic change.     

Improvement of GIS graphics for analysis and decision-making

Abstract

Current geographical information systems (GIS) include functions to create cartographic output interactively or automatically. However, none of the systems presently incorporates mechanisms to ensure correct application of graphic functions. Many of today's users of GIS are not trained in the design and production of graphics and may create maps that confuse or mislead map users. Poorly-designed maps may obliterate the patterns in displayed information.

This article investigates ways to improve the quality of GIS graphical displays and increase their effectiveness for decision-making. Alternatives are presented for improving map design in GIS, ranging from non-technical efforts to enhancement of software functionality. Suggestions propose augmenting users' abilities to create maps in an automated environment, using an approach termed amplified intelligence: key decisions default explicitly to users, whose knowledge is amplified by a range of high-level tools to carry out map design operations automatically.     

Experimental Determination of the Upper Thermal Stability of Fe-Staurolite+Quartz at Medium Pressures

The thermal equilibrium for the reaction Fe-staurolite+quartz=almandine+sillimanite+H₂Ohas been reversed at 3?25 and 5?00 kb pressure using a well-characterizednatural Fe-rich staurolite. Long run times of 100 days at 3?25kb and 60 days at 5 kb, in addition to pretreatments of thealmandine+sillimanite+quartz by annealing at the experimentalP and T for 30 days prior to the experimental run, increasedthe probability that equilibrium was attained and that sufficientamounts of reaction had occurred to allow its detection. Reaction direction was determined by directly observing surfacemorphologies of the staurolites with the Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM), a technique that permits evaluation of stability andinstability even when the extent of reaction is minor. Growthand dissolution appear to be crystallographically controlledbut produce distinct morphologies that allow mterpretation ofthe reaction direction. Growth of staurolite develops by a face-selectiveprocess, such that small step-like features overgrow the originalseed staurolite surface. Dissolution produces simpler, blockierforms locally transected by etch pits. Based on textural criteria for staurolite stability and instability,the equilibrium boundary is located between 643' and 658?C at3?25 kb and between 673 and 688?C at 5 kb. This phase boundaryhas a shallower dP/dT slope and lies {small tilde}25?C lowerthan the previous experimental investigation at low pressure(Richardson, 1968). However, this study has not solved the apparentdiscrepancy between the experimentally determined thermal stabilityof staurolite and natural occurrences of staurolite (the stauroliteproblem). For the experimentally determined staurolite curveto agree with natural staurolite occurrences, the experimentalequilibrium boundary would have to be {small tilde}50? lowerthan that indicated by the results of this study. Additionalthermochemical discrepancies are most likely related to thecomplex crystal chemistry of staurolite. ^*Present address: Department of Geology & Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803     

The formation and significance of irregularly shaped quartz grains in till

Thin sections and scanning electron microscopy of quartz sand grains from till show clearly that a number of grains have been modified in place. The irregular grains result from the action of circulating alkaline groundwater, episodically concentrated by evaporation on fracture surfaces within grains and on concave surfaces produced by fracture during glacial transport. Evaporation increases the pH of the pore water and localizes its effect in small pores with a high capillary potential. Subsequent dilution by rainwater or snow meltwater flushes the system so that evaporation can repeat the process again. Solution rounding in terrigenous sediments has a number of ramifications for any interpretation based on textural maturity of the sediment.     

The Cougar Point Tuff: Implications for Thermochemical Zonation and Longevity of High-Temperature, Large-Volume Silicic Magmas of the Miocene Yellowstone Hotspot

The 12·7–10·5 Ma Cougar Point Tuff in southernIdaho, USA, consists of 10 large-volume (>10²–10³ km³each), high-temperature (800–1000°C), rhyolitic ash-flowtuffs erupted from the Bruneau–Jarbidge volcanic centerof the Yellowstone hotspot. These tuffs provide evidence forcompositional and thermal zonation in pre-eruptive rhyolitemagma, and suggest the presence of a long-lived reservoir thatwas tapped by numerous large explosive eruptions. Pyroxene compositionsexhibit discrete compositional modes with respect to Fe andMg that define a linear spectrum punctuated by conspicuous gaps.Airfall glass compositions also cluster into modes, and thepresence of multiple modes indicates tapping of different magmavolumes during early phases of eruption. Equilibrium assemblagesof pigeonite and augite are used to reconstruct compositionaland thermal gradients in the pre-eruptive reservoir. The recurrenceof identical compositional modes and of mineral pairs equilibratedat high temperatures in successive eruptive units is consistentwith the persistence of their respective liquids in the magmareservoir. Recurrence intervals of identical modes range from0·3 to 0·9 Myr and suggest possible magma residencetimes of similar duration. Eruption ages, magma temperatures,Nd isotopes, and pyroxene and glass compositions are consistentwith a long-lived, dynamically evolving magma reservoir thatwas chemically and thermally zoned and composed of multiplediscrete magma volumes. KEY WORDS: ash-flow tuff; Bruneau–Jarbidge; rhyolite; Yellowstone hotspot; residence time     

Assimilation of image sequences in numerical models

Understanding and forecasting the evolution of geophysical fluids is a major scientific and societal challenge. Forecasting algorithms should take into account all the available information on the considered dynamic system. The variational data assimilation (VDA) technique combines all these informations in an optimality system (O.S.) in a consistent way to reconstruct the model inputs. VDA is currently used by the major meteorological centres. During the last two decades about 30 satellites were launched to improve the knowledge of the atmosphere and of the oceans. They continuously provide a huge amount of data that are still underused by numerical forecast systems. In particular, the dynamic evolution of certain meteorological or oceanic features (such as eddies, fronts, etc.) that the human vision may easily detect is not optimally taken into account in realistic applications of VDA. Image Assimilation in VDA framework can be performed using 'pseudo-observation' techniques: they provide apparent velocity fields, which are assimilated as classical observations. These measurements are obtained by certain external procedures, which are decoupled with the considered dynamic system. In this paper, we suggest a more consistent approach, which directly incorporates image sequences into the O.S.