Effects of land cover change on the tropical circulation in a GCM

Multivariate statistics are used to investigate sensitivity of the tropical atmospheric circulation to scenario-based global land cover change (LCC), with the largest changes occurring in the tropics. Three simulations performed with the fully coupled Parallel Climate Model (PCM) are compared: (1) a present day control run; (2) a simulation with present day land cover and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) A2 greenhouse gas (GHG) projections; and (3) a simulation with SRES A2 land cover and GHG projections. Dimensionality of PCM data is reduced by projection onto a priori specified eigenvectors, consisting of Rossby and Kelvin waves produced by a linearized, reduced gravity model of the tropical circulation. A Hotelling T ² test is performed on projection amplitudes. Effects of LCC evaluated by this method are limited to diabatic heating. A statistically significant and recurrent signal is detected for 33% of all tests performed for various combinations of parameters. Taking into account uncertainties and limitations of the present methodology, this signal can be interpreted as a Rossby wave response to prescribed LCC. The Rossby waves are shallow, large-scale motions, trapped at the equator and most pronounced in boreal summer. Differences in mass and flow fields indicate a shift of the tropical Walker circulation patterns with an anomalous subsidence over tropical South America.     

Effect of the large-scale atmospheric circulation on the variability of the Arctic Ocean freshwater export

Freshwater (FW) leaves the Arctic Ocean through sea-ice export and the outflow of low-salinity upper ocean water. Whereas the variability of the sea-ice export is known to be mainly caused by changes in the local wind and the thickness of the exported sea ice, the mechanisms that regulate the variability of the liquid FW export are still under investigation. To better understand these mechanisms, we present an analysis of the variability of the liquid FW export from the Arctic Ocean for the period 1950–2007, using a simulation from an energy and mass conserving global ocean–sea ice model, coupled to an Energy Moisture Balance Model of the atmosphere, and forced with daily winds from the NCEP reanalysis. Our results show that the simulated liquid FW exports through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and the Fram Strait lag changes in the large-scale atmospheric circulation over the Arctic by 1 and 6 years, respectively. The variability of the liquid FW exports is caused by changes in the cyclonicity of the atmospheric forcing, which cause a FW redistribution in the Arctic through changes in Ekman transport in the Beaufort Gyre. This in turn causes changes in the sea surface height (SSH) and salinity upstream of the CAA and Fram Strait, which affect the velocity and salinity of the outflow. The SSH changes induced by the large-scale atmospheric circulation are found to explain a large part of the variance of the liquid FW export, while the local wind plays a much smaller role. We also show that during periods of increased liquid FW export from the Arctic, the strength of the simulated Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is reduced and the ocean heat transport into the Arctic is increased. These results are particularly relevant in the context of global warming, as climate simulations predict an increase in the liquid FW export from the Arctic during the twenty-first century.     

Late Wuchiapingian (Late Dzhulfian,early Late Permian) limestone olistolites within the Tertiary flysch of Glypia Unit (Mount Parnon,central–eastern Peloponnesus,Greece)

Some olistolites reworked in a Tertiary flysch of Mount Parnon (Peloponnesus, Greece) exhibit a Late Permian assemblage, dominated by Paradunbarula (Shindella) shindensis, Hemigordiopsis cf. luquensis and Colaniella aff. minima. This association corresponds to the Late Wuchiapingian (=Late Dzhulfian), a substage whose algae and foraminifera are generally little known. Contemporaneous limestones crop out in the middle part of the Episkopi Formation in Hydra, but they are rather commonly reworked in Mesozoic and Cainozoic sequences. The palaeobiogeographical affinities shared by the foraminiferal markers of Greece, southeastern Pamir, and southern China, are very strong (up to the specific level), and are congruent with the Pangea B reconstructions. To cite this article: E. Skourtsos et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 925–931.     

Structural variation in Ca(TixSi1−x)O3 perovskites (1>x>0.65) and the ordered phase Ca2TiSiO6

High pressure perovskites in the system CaTiO₃?CaSiO₃ in the composition range from 0 to 50% CaSiO₃ have been re-examined using powder x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. In runs performed at 9 GPa and 1200 °C, a solid solution is obtained with compositions ranging from CaTiO₃ to near Ca(Ti_0.65Si_0.35)O₃, and with the orthorhombic distortion in the CaTiO₃ end-member diminishing to pseudocubic for Ca(Ti_0.65Si_0.35)O₃. Raman spectra show intensity changes and band broadening which are attributed to the reduction of orthorhombic character, but still indicate lower than cubic symmetry for the entire solid solution range. An ordered intermediate, Ca₂TiSiO₆, has been recovered from a run at 14 GPa at 1200 °C. The space group is Fm3m, with a=7.410(2)?Å, and the compound has the double perovskite structure. In this structure, Si-rich octahedral sites and Ti-rich octahedral sites alternate along the three principal axes. Transmission electron microscopy confirms the presence of the Fm3m ordered structure, and also documents the presence of lesser amounts of at least three other ordered perovskite structures which are not resolved in the x-ray data. These may account for extra features observed in the Raman spectrum which are inconsistent with mode assignments for the Fm3m phase. Non face-centered ordering schemes for these regions are suggested based on modeling of the HRTEM patterns.     

Calorimetric study of the stability of high pressure phases in the systems CoOSiO2 and “FeO”SiO2, and calculation of phase diagrams in MOSiO2 systems

High temperature calorimetric measurements of the enthalpies of solution in molten if2 PbO · B₂O₃ of α- and γ-Fe₂SiO₄ and α-, β-, and γ-Co₂SiO₄ permit the calculation of phase relations at high pressure and temperature. The reported triple point involving α-, β-, and γ-Co₂SiO₄ is confirmed to represent stable equilibrium. The curvature in the α?β phase boundary in Co₂SiO₄ and of an α?γ boundary in Fe₂SiO₄ at high temperature is explained in part by the effects of compressibility and thermal expansion, but better agreement with the observed phase diagram is obtained when one considers the effect of small amounts of cation disorder in the spinel and/or modified spinel phases. The calculated ΔH⁰ and ΔS⁰ values for the α?β, α?γ, and β?γ transitions show that enthalpy and en changes both vary strongly in the series Mg, Fe, Co, and Ni, and are of equal importance in determining the stability relations. The disproportionation of Fe₂SiO₄ and Co₂SiO₄ spinel to rocksalt plus stishovite is calculated to occur in the 170–190 kbar region; cation disorder and/or changes in wüstite stoichiometry can affect the P?T slope. The calorimetric data for CoSiO₃ and FeSiO₃ are in good agreement with the observed phase boundary for pyroxene formation from olivine and quartz. The decomposition of pyroxene to spinel and stishovite at pressures near the coesite-stishovite transition is predicted in both iron and cobalt systems. The use of calorimetric data, obtained from small samples of high pressure phases, is very useful in predicting equilibrium phase diagrams in the 50–300 kbar range.     

Thermochemistry of the new silica polymorph moganite

Samples of microcrystalline silica varieties containing variable amounts of the new silica polymorph moganite (up to R~82 wt.%) have been studied by a combination of high temperature solution calorimetry using lead borate (2 PbO · B₂O₃) solvent and transposed temperature drop calorimetry near 977 K, in order to investigate the thermochemical stability of this new silica mineral. The enthalpy of solution at 977 K and the heat content (H₉₇₇ — H₂₉₈) of “pure” moganite phase were estimated to be -7.16 ± 0.35 kJ/mol and 43.62 ± 0.50 kJ/mol, respectively. The standard molar enthalpy of formation is-907.3 ± 1.2 kJ/mol. Thus, calorimetry strongly supports results of previous X-ray and Raman spectroscopic studies that moganite is a distinct silica polymorph. Its thermochemical instability relative to quartz at 298 K of 3.4 ± 0.7 kJ/mol is marginally higher than those of cristobalite and tridymite. Structurally, this instability may be related to the presence of distorted 4-membered rings of SiO₄ tetrahedra, which are not found in the quartz structure. The metastability relative to quartz may also explain the apparent scarcity of moganite in altered rocks and in rocks that are older than 130 my.     

The effect of Fe on the crystal structure of wadsleyite β-(Mg1 − x Fe x )2SiO4, 0.00≤x≤0.40

Single crystals of five wadsleyite compositions, β-(Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄ with Fe/(Fe+Mg)=0.00, 0.08, 0.16, 0.25 and 0.40, have been synthesized at high temperature and pressure in a uniaxial, split-sphere apparatus. Crystal structures of these samples, determined by x-ray diffraction techniques, reveal that iron is significantly ordered: Fe is depleted in the M2 octahedron, while it is enriched in M1 and M3. The most iron-rich synthetic sample, which falls well outside previous estimates of wadsleyite stability, raises questions regarding published Mg₂SiO₄-Fe₂SiO₄ phase diagrams at transition zone conditions.