Observing Convective Aggregation

Convective self-aggregation, the spontaneous organization of initially scattered convection into isolated convective clusters despite spatially homogeneous boundary conditions and forcing, was first recognized and studied in idealized numerical simulations. While there is a rich history of observational work on convective clustering and organization, there have been only a few studies that have analyzed observations to look specifically for processes related to self-aggregation in models. Here we review observational work in both of these categories and motivate the need for more of this work. We acknowledge that self-aggregation may appear to be far-removed from observed convective organization in terms of time scales, initial conditions, initiation processes, and mean state extremes, but we argue that these differences vary greatly across the diverse range of model simulations in the literature and that these comparisons are already offering important insights into real tropical phenomena. Some preliminary new findings are presented, including results showing that a self-aggregation simulation with square geometry has too broad distribution of humidity and is too dry in the driest regions when compared with radiosonde records from Nauru, while an elongated channel simulation has realistic representations of atmospheric humidity and its variability. We discuss recent work increasing our understanding of how organized convection and climate change may interact, and how model discrepancies related to this question are prompting interest in observational comparisons. We also propose possible future directions for observational work related to convective aggregation, including novel satellite approaches and a ground-based observational network.     

The Fountain Hills unique CB chondrite: Insights into thermal processes on the CB parent body

Abstract— We report the results of an extensive study of the Fountain Hills chondritic meteorite. This meteorite is closely related to the CB_a class. Mineral compositions and O‐isotopic ratios are indistinguishable from other members of this group. However, many features of Fountain Hills are distinct from the other CB chondrites. Fountain Hills contains 23 volume percent metal, significantly lower than other members of this class. In addition, Fountain Hills contains porphyritic chondrules, which are extremely rare in other CB_a chondrites. Fountain Hills does not appear to have experienced the extensive shock seen in other CB chondrites. The chondrule textures and lack of fine‐grained matrix suggests that Fountain Hills formed in a dust‐poor region of the early solar system by melting of solid precursors. Refractory siderophiles and lithophile elements are present in near‐CI abundances (within a factor of two, related to the enhancement of metal). Moderately volatile and highly volatile elements are significantly depleted in Fountain Hills. The abundances of refractory siderophile trace elements in metal grains are consistent with condensation from a gas that is reduced relative to solar composition and at relatively high pressures (10^?3bars). Fountain Hills experienced significant thermal metamorphism on its parent asteroid. Combining results from the chemical gradients in an isolated spinel grain with olivine‐spinel geothermometry suggests a peak temperature of metamorphism between 535 °C and 878 °C, similar to type‐4 ordinary chondrites.     

Cirrus Cloud Macrophysical and Optical Properties over North China from CALIOP Measurements

Two years of mid-latitude cirrus cloud macrophysical and optical properties over North China are described from Earth-orbiting Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization(CALIOP) satellite measurements. Global cloud climatological studies based on active remote sensing data sets benefit from more accurate resolution of vertical structure and more reliable detection of optically thin layers.The mean values for cirrus cases over North China are 0.19±0.18 for infrared emittance,0.41±0.68 for visible optical depth, 0.26±0.12 for integrated depolarization ratio,and 0.72±0.22 for integrated color ratio.When studied using reasonable assumptions for the relationship between extinction and ice crystal backscatter coefficients,our results show that most of the cirrus clouds profiled using the 0.532μm channel data stream correspond with an optical depth of less than 1.0.The dependence of cirrus cloud properties on cirrus cloud mid-cloud temperature and geometry thickness are generally similar to the results derived from the ground-based lidar, which are mainly impacted by the adiabatic process on the ice cloud content.However,the differences in macrophysical parameter variability indicate the limits of spaceborne-lidar and dissimilarities in regional climate variability and the nature and source of cloud nuclei in different geographical regions.     

Petrology of the G and H Chromitite Zones in the Mountain View Area of the Stillwater Complex, Montana

The Ultramafic Series of the Stillwater Complex in the MountainView area of the intrusion consists of 17 cyclic units thathave been numbered stratigraphically. A typical unit has olivinecumulates at the base, olivine–bronzite cumulates at intermediatelevels, and bronzite cumulates at the top. Most cyclic unitsalso have chromite-rich layers near their base, the thickestbeing the G and H chromitite zones in units 10 and 11. The Gand H zones are each separated from the top of the underlyingcyclic unit by 1–3 m of coarse-grained olivine cumulateand pegmatite; and they are both succeeded by thinner chromititezones, respectively called the hanging wall G (HWG) and thehanging wall H (HWH) zones, situated {small tilde}20 m and 5m above them. The G and H chromitite zones feature rhythmicsequences of thin layers that tend to progress upward from massivechromitite through chromite–olivine cumulate to olivine–chromitecumulate (the last with the minerals in approximately cotecticproportions of about 98:2). In cyclic units 10 and 11, variationsof Mg/Fe in the olivine and bronzite, and of Ni in the olivine,are small and show no clear stratigraphic fractionation trends.The abundance of Cr in the chromite in unit 10 does have a fractionationtrend, however, being generally highest at the bottom of theunit and lowest at the top, with a regression at the HWG zone.In general, Cr in chromite is highest at the base of a rhythmicunit and decreases upward, but it shows no overall decline throughsuccessive rhythmic units; Fe³ exhibits opposite variation,being lowest in the massive chromite, and highest in the disseminatedgrains. The G and H chromitite zones, in the Mountain View area, eachcontain enough chromite to form a single layer of massive chromitite{small tilde} 1 m thick. If their formation involved removalof only 30% of the Cr in the parental magmatic liquid (estimatedconcentration, 600 ppm), then this liquid could have amountedvolumetrically to an areally equivalent layer at least 2000m thick. Model calculations demonstrate that such a large volumeof liquid is consistent with the small variations of Mg/Fe inthe pyroxenes and olivines in the Stillwater cyclic units. We postulate that the G and H chromitite zones and cyclic unitsthat host them formed in response to the entry of new pulsesof primitive magmatic liquid into the Stillwater chamber. Fromexperimental observations, we infer that these pulses producedfountains in which the primitive liquid mixed with residualfractionated liquids, yielding hybrids that were compositionallywithin the chromite liquidus field (or volume) and that weresupercooled (supersaturated ) with respect to the oxide mineral.These effects may have been enhanced by low fO₂ (oxygen fugacity)in the primitive liquid and(or) by high fO₂ of the fractionatedliquid. The hybrid liquids probably collected at the bottomof the chamber in a zoned layer that then divided into double-diffusiveconvecting layers. In these circumstances, the lowest chromite-richlayer in a rhythmic sequence could have formed from the lowestdouble-diffusive liquid layer, and the next could then haveformed when this liquid mixed with the liquid layer above it—andso on up the sequence. We argue that the thick G and H chromititezones are situated toward the top of the Ultramafic Series becausethat level marks when the compositional contrasts between theinjected primitive liquid and the residual fractionated liquidsin the chamber were greatest.     

Quantifying uncertainty in remotely sensed land cover maps

Remotely sensed land cover maps are increasingly used as inputs into environmental simulation models whose outputs inform decisions and policy-making. Risks associated with these decisions are dependent on model output uncertainty, which is in turn affected by the uncertainty of land cover inputs. This article presents a method of quantifying the uncertainty that results from potential mis-classification in remotely sensed land cover maps. In addition to quantifying uncertainty in the classification of individual pixels in the map, we also address the important case where land cover maps have been upscaled to a coarser grid to suit the users’ needs and are reported as proportions of land cover type. The approach is Bayesian and incorporates several layers of modelling but is straightforward to implement. First, we incorporate data in the confusion matrix derived from an independent field survey, and discuss the appropriate way to model such data. Second, we account for spatial correlation in the true land cover map, using the remotely sensed map as a prior. Third, spatial correlation in the mis-classification characteristics is induced by modelling their variance. The result is that we are able to simulate posterior means and variances for individual sites and the entire map using a simple Monte Carlo algorithm. The method is applied to the Land Cover Map 2000 for the region of England and Wales, a map used as an input into a current dynamic carbon flux model.     

Grain-size parameters of insoluble residues in mixed terrigenous-skeletal carbonate sediments and sedimentary rocks: some New Zealand examples

Grain-size parameters derived from the mechanical analysis of acid-insoluble residues from mixed terrigenous-shell beach sediments from Auckland, New Zealand, are more effective for interpreting the depositional processes, and for characterizing the beach environment on textural scatter plots, than are parameters based on the analysis of the total beach samples. This results mainly from the wide variations in size of hydraulically equivalent skeletal carbonate grains in the sediment, especially in the coarser size grades, but may also be accentuated by the local origin and susceptibility to alteration of the shell material. Compared with the total sediment grain-size distribution, the insoluble residues from the beach deposits are characteristically finer-grained, better sorted, and more consistently coarse-skewed and leptokurtic. The grain-size distribution characteristics of insoluble residues from several stratigraphic units in a sequence of Oligocene mixed terrigenous-skeletal shelf sediments in the South Auckland region distinguish depositional mechanisms and environmental energy levels for each unit that are consistent with interpretations made on the basis of carbonate petrography and palaeontology. With regard to the bulk content of terrigenous mud in the insoluble residues, the grain-size distribution of the fraction coarser than 4φ is alone diagnostic of the energy-time trends in these sediments. The grain-size parameters of the acid-insoluble residues in modern and ancient mixed terrigenous-skeletal carbonate sediments may provide more reliable criteria for distinguishing and characterizing the depositional environment of these deposits than do the parameters obtained from the size distribution of the total grain population.     

Trace Metal Speciation of USGS Reference Sample MAG-I

The USGS reference sample marine mud MAG-1 has been subjected to a sequential extraction procedure designed to partition the constituent trace metals into five fractions: I-exchangeable; II- bound to carbonates; III-bound to Fe-Mn oxides; IV- bound to organic matter; V- residual. The analytical approach involved successive chemical extractions and the subsequent determination of trace metal concentrations (Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn; Fe, Mn) in the leachates by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The chemical speciation results obtained on four replicate sub-samples demonstrate that the coefficients of variation for metal concentrations in the individual fractions are generally better than + 10%. Comparison with published values for total trace metal concentrations in the MAG-1 sample suggests that the overall accuracy of the chemical extraction procedure is satisfactory.     

Combined hillslope diffusion and sediment transport simulation applied to landscape dynamics modelling

We present a new numerical approach for simulating geomorphic and stratigraphic processes that combines open‐channel flow with non‐uniform sediment transport law and semi‐empirical diffusive mass wasting. It is designed to facilitate modelling of surface processes across multiple space‐ and time‐scales, and under a variety of environmental and tectonic conditions. The physics of open‐channel flow is primarily based on an adapted Lagrangian formulation of shallow‐water equations. The interaction between flow and surface geology is performed by a non‐uniform total‐load sediment transport law. Additional hillslope processes are simulated using a semi‐empirical method based on a diffusion approach. In the implementation, the resolution of flow dynamics is made on a triangulated grid automatically mapped and adaptively remeshed over a regular orthogonal stratigraphic mesh. These new methods reduce computational time while preserving stability and accuracy of the physical solutions. In order to illustrate the potential of this method for landscape and sedimentary system modelling, we present a set of three generic experiments focusing on assessing the influence of contrasting erodibilities on the evolution of an active bedrock landscape. The modelled ridges morphometrics satisfy established relationships for drainage network geometry and slope distribution, and provide quantitative information on the relative impact of hillslope and channel processes, sediment discharge and alluviation. Our results suggest that contrasting erodibility can stimulate autogenic changes in erosion rate and influence the landscape morphology and preservation. This approach offers new opportunities to investigate joint landscape and sedimentary systems response to external perturbations. The possibility to define and track a large number of materials makes the implementation highly suited to model source‐to‐sink problems where material dispersion is the key question that needs to be addressed, such as natural resources exploration and basin analysis. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.