A numerical study of barotropic vortex motion near a large-scale mountain range with application to the motion of tropical cyclones approaching the Sierra Madre

Summary The motion of an idealized vortex near a large-scale mountain range is examined by numerically integrating the single-layer shallow-water equations on an equatorial beta plane. Modification of the asymmetric circulation by divergent vorticity generation as the air is forced across the ridge greatly affects the motion of the vortex. Attention is focused on the role of the vortex structure, the mountainrange width and orientation, and the stratification of the model atmosphere in influencing the motion of the vortex. A scale analysis is used to explain the sensitivity of the vortex track to changes in the model's external parameters. The sensitivity of the model vortex track to the slope and orientation of the mountain range is used to help explain some features of the observed tracks of hurricanes that make landfall on the east coast of Mexico.With 14 Figures     

Crop yield response to economic, site and climatic variables

This paper examines the effects of climatic and non-climatic factors on the mean and variance of corn, soybean and winter wheat yield in southwestern Ontario, Canada over a period of 26 years. Average crop yields increase at a decreasing rate with the quantity of inputs used, and decrease with the area planted to the crop. Climate variables have a major impact on mean yield with the length of the growing season being the primary determinant across all three crops. Increases in the variability of temperature and precipitation decrease mean yield and increase its variance. Yield variance is poorly explained by both seasonal and monthly climate variable models. Projections of future climate change suggest that average crop yield will increase with warmer temperatures and a longer growing season which is only partially offset by forecast increases in the variability of temperature and rainfall. The projections would also depend on future technological developments, which have generated significant increases in yield over time despite changing annual weather conditions.     

Ice crystal shape effects on solar radiative properties of Arctic mixed-phase clouds—Dependence on microphysical properties

Based on 1-year cloud measurements with radar and microwave radiometer broadband solar radiative transfer simulations were performed to quantify the impact of different ice crystal shapes of Arctic mixed-phase clouds on their radiative properties (reflectance, transmittance and absorptance). The ice crystal shape effects were investigated as a function of microphysical cloud properties (ice volume fraction f_i, ice and liquid water content IWC and LWC, mean particle diameter D_m^I and D_m^W of ice/water particle number size distributions, NSDs).The required NSDs were statistically derived from radar data. The NSD was composed of a liquid and a solid mode defined by LWC, D_m^W (water mode) and IWC, D_m^I (ice mode). It was found that the ratio of D_m^I and D_m^W determines the magnitude of the shape effect. For mixed-phase clouds with D_m^I ≤ 27 μm a significant shape effect was obtained. The shape effect was almost insensitive with regard to the solar zenith angle, but highly sensitive to the ice volume fraction of the mixed-phase cloud. For mixed-phase clouds containing small ice crystals (D_m^I ≤ 27 μm) and high ice volume fractions (f_i > 0.5) crystal shape is crucial. The largest shape effects were observed assuming aggregates and columns. If the IWC was conserved the shape effect reaches values up to 0.23 in cloud reflectance and transmittance. If the ice mode NSD was kept constant only a small shape effect was quantified (≤ 0.04).     

Über den transport von Wolfram und den Absatz von Wolfram-Doppel-Oxiden in fluiden wässrigen LösungenThe transport of tungsten and the deposition of tungsten double oxides in fluid,aqueous solutions

The transportation of W in aqueous gas-phases at and above 500°C is examined using thermodynamic data. The transport of W is possible as fluoride and oxifluoride. The deposition of wolframite continues with decreasing temperature and pressure. The stabilities of wolframates in hydrothermal solutions are examined for temperatures up to 300°C with Eh-pH-diagrams, exchange reactions of wolframite with oxides, sulfides and dissolved ions. Fe₂WO₆ becomes stable against Fe₂O₃ + WO₃ above 126°C. At 300°C its range of stability begins at high pO₂ which is not realised in hydrothennal endogenous solutions. In consequence of the very low Gibbs energies of MgWO₄, CaWO₄ and BaWO₄, the minerals MgWO₄ and BaWO₄ should be more important than wolframite, if Mg and Ba coexist in solution together with W. Co and Ni also should be found as trace elements in wolframite, if Co and Ni were in solution in sufficiently high concentrations together with W.     

Isotope (O-Sr-Nd-Pb) and Fluid Inclusion Distributions in the CCSD Main Hole

1. Introduction The main-hole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD) in Donghai of the Dabie-Sulu UHP metamorphic belt in East China has reached its final depth of 5118 m in March 2005. As shown in Fig.     

5. Symposium über Fragen der Cyanophytensystematik in Kastanienbaum, 1969

Ohne Zusammenfassung Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Cyanophytenforschung IAC     

Barotropic Vortex Motion Near Large-Scale Mountain Ranges: Case Studies of Hurricane Gilbert (1988) and Tropical Storm Hermine (1980)

Summary  A shallow-water model is used to examine the motion of a barotropic vortex on an equatorial beta plane in the presence of a large-scale mountain range that represents the Sierra Madre of Mexico. The model is initialized with the analyzed large-scale winds of two Atlantic storms, Hurricane Gilbert (1988) and Tropical Storm Hermine (1980). The study is focused on understanding the motion of tropical cyclones in the western Gulf of Mexico. Vortices representative of each storm are found to experienc e southward deflections as they approach the Sierra Madre. The deflections are attributed to the divergent production of relative vorticity associated with vortex stretching as fluid columns are advected over the mountains. While variations of the depth and stratification of the model atmosphere are also found to influence the track of the vortex, the presence of the mountains is shown to produce the most dominant effect. Additional informatio n on the motion of the vortex is also determined through an examination of the asymmetric potential vorticity field. Received November 2, 1999/Revised November 10, 1999     

Fluid history of UHP metamorphism in Dabie Shan, China: a fluid inclusion and oxygen isotope study on the coesite-bearing eclogite from Bixiling

This paper characterizes late Holocene basalts and basaltic andesites at Medicine Lake volcano that contain high pre-eruptive H₂O contents inherited from a subduction related hydrous component in the mantle. The basaltic andesite of Paint Pot Crater and the compositionally zoned basaltic to andesitic lavas of the Callahan flow erupted approximately 1000 ¹⁴C years Before Present (¹⁴C years b.p.). Petrologic, geochemical and isotopic evidence indicates that this late Holocene mafic magmatism was characterized by H₂O contents of 3 to 6 wt% H₂O and elevated abundances of large ion lithophile elements (LILE). These hydrous mafic inputs contrast with the preceding episodes of mafic magmatism (from 10,600 to ∼3000 ¹⁴C years b.p.) that was characterized by the eruption of primitive high alumina olivine tholeiite (HAOT) with low H₂O (<0.2 wt%), lower LILE abundance and different isotopic characteristics. Thus, the mantle-derived inputs into the Medicine Lake system have not always been low H₂O, primitive HAOT, but have alternated between HAOT and hydrous subduction related, calc-alkaline basalt. This influx of hydrous mafic magma coincides temporally and spatially with rhyolite eruption at Glass Mountain and Little Glass Mountain. The rhyolites contain quenched magmatic inclusions similar in character to the mafic lavas at Callahan and Paint Pot Crater. The influence of H₂O on fractional crystallization of hydrous mafic magma and melting of pre-existing granite crust beneath the volcano combined to produce the rhyolite. Fractionation under hydrous conditions at upper crustal pressures leads to the early crystallization of Fe-Mg silicates and the suppression of plagioclase as an early crystallizing phase. In addition, H₂O lowers the saturation temperature of Fe and Mg silicates, and brings the temperature of oxide crystallization closer to the liquidus. These combined effects generate SiO₂-enrichment that leads to rhyodacitic differentiated lavas. In contrast, low H₂O HAOT magmas at Medicine Lake differentiate to iron-rich basaltic liquids. When these Fe-enriched basalts mix with melted granitic crust, the result is an andesitic magma. Since mid-Holocene time, mafic volcanism has been dominated primarily by hydrous basaltic andesite and andesite at Medicine Lake Volcano. However, during the late Holocene, H₂O-poor mafic magmas continued to be erupted along with hydrous mafic magmas, although in significantly smaller volumes. Received: 4 January 1999 / Accepted: 30 August 1999