Comparison of atmospheric forcing in four sub-arctic seas

A comparative analysis was conducted on climate variability in four sub-arctic seas: the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea shelf, the Labrador Sea, and the Barents Sea. Based on data from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, the focus was on air–sea interactions, which influence ice cover, ocean currents, mixing, and stratification on sub-seasonal to decadal time scales. The seasonal cycles of the area-weighted averages of sea-level pressure (SLP), surface air temperature (SAT) and heat fluxes show remarkable similarity among the four sub-arctic seas. With respect to variation in climate, all four seas experience changes of comparable magnitude on interannual to interdecadal time scales, but with different timing. Since 2000 warm SAT anomalies were found during most of the year in three of the four sub-arctic seas, with the exception of the Sea of Okhotsk. A seesaw (out of phase) pattern in winter SAT anomalies between the Labrador and the Barents Sea in the Atlantic sector is observed during the past 50 years before 2000; a similar type of co-variability between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea shelf in the Pacific is only evident since 1970s. Recent positive anomalies of net heat flux are more prominent in winter and spring in the Pacific sectors, and in summer in the Atlantic sectors. There is a reduced magnitude in wind mixing in the Sea of Okhotsk since 1980, in the Barents Sea since 2000, and in early spring/late winter in the Bering Sea shelf since 1995. Reduced sea-ice areas are seen over three out of four (except the Sea of Okhotsk) sub-arctic seas in recent decades, particularly after 2000 based on combined in situ and satellite observations (HadISST). This analysis provides context for the pan-regional synthesis of the linkages between climate and marine ecosystems.     

Formation and occurrence of organic hydroperoxides in the troposphere: Laboratory and field observations

The formation and occurrence of hydroperoxides in the troposphere have been studied by laboratory experiments and by preliminary field measurements. Nine alkenes were reacted individually with ozone in a reaction chamber in the presence of excess water, and the amounts of hydrogen peroxide and of nine organic hydroperoxides produced in the gas and aerosol phases and deposited on the chamber walls determined by HPLC. The reactions of ethene, propene, 1-butene and isoprene gave hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide as the major product with no hydrogen peroxide observed. In the case of - and -pinene, 2-carene and limonene the major product was hydrogen peroxide. Cis-2-butene produced hydrogen peroxide and methyl hydroperoxide. Preliminary measurements of hydrogen peroxide and five organic hydroperoxides in ambient air were made at Niwot Ridge, Colorado from 24 July–4 August 1989. The gas-phase species were preconcentrated by cryotrapping with subsequent HPLC separation. The gas-phase concentrations of H₂O₂ ranged from 0.5–2 ppbv with the lowest concentrations being measured at night and the highest under conditions of strong photochemical activity. The maximum concentrations of hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide approximated those of H₂O₂. Methyl hydroperoxide concentrations ranged from <50 to 800 pptv and three other organic hydroperoxides were detected at concentrations below 200 pptv. High volume aerosol samples yielded H₂O₂ and methyl hydroperoxide concentrations <10 ng m^-3 while H₂O₂ and six organic species were detected in rainwater at concentrations in the range <0.01–50 M.     

Constrained Smoothing of Noisy Data Using Splines in?Tension

A method of fitting a smooth cubic spline curve through noisy data points is presented. Overshoots of the spline curve between data points were prevented by applying tension to the fit using a quadratic spring approximation, which allowed a linear inverse theory approach to be adopted. Error-bars in the measured data were mapped through the inversion process to give the covariance of the fitted curve. This is an improvement over previous methods, which largely neglect the effect of data errors on the fit. Another improvement is to impose fixed constraints on the fit by simultaneously applying the method of Lagrange multipliers. The effect of these constraints on the covariance of the fitted curve is quantified using results from linear algebra. Example applications to synthetic data and a record of magnetic inclination from Hawaii are given.     

Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and glacier dynamics, western Scottish Highlands

Glacial sediments of the western Scottish Highlands are comprehensively described and characterized here for the first time, enabling the first glacial stratigraphy for the area to be proposed. This classification is based on the results of extensive geological mapping and field investigation of sedimentary sequences and their structures, X-ray diffraction and particle size distribution analyses, and comparison with deposits formed in contemporary glaciated environments. These new data are subsequently appraised in terms of their implications for late Pleistocene glacier evolution and dynamics. Together, the data suggest that much of the landscape is palimpsest, and can be attributed to the Weichselian (Late Devensian) glaciation. Subsequent glacier advance during the Younger Dryas did little to modify the area, suggesting that ice flow was dominated by sliding on a meltwater-lubricated rigid bed, with deformation of basal sediments playing a more limited role. Final deglaciation was marked by a significant increase in basal meltwater flux, reflecting the warming climate and increasing precipitation. These new palaeoglaciological and palaeoenvironmental insights advance our understanding of former glacier dynamics in the western Scottish Highlands, improve our knowledge of Pleistocene landscape evolution of this area, and enable comparisons to be made with sedimentary sequences elsewhere.     

Catchment-scale (dis)connectivity in sediment flux in the upper Hunter catchment, New South Wales, Australia

(Dis)connectivity within and between landscape compartments affects the extent and rate of transfer of energy and matter through catchments. Various landforms may impede sediment conveyance in a river system, whether laterally to the channel (termed buffers) or longitudinally along the channel itself (termed barriers). A generic approach to analysis of landscape (dis)connectivity using slope threshold analysis in GIS, tied to air photograph interpretation and field mapping of buffers and barriers, is tested in the upper Hunter catchment, Australia. Under simulated conditions, effective catchment area, which is a measure of the proportion of a catchment that has the potential to contribute sediment to the channel network, varies from 73% to just 3% of the total catchment area for differing subcatchments in the upper Hunter. This variability can be explained by the spatial distribution and assemblage of buffers and barriers in each subcatchment. Multiple forms of disconnectivity are evident in some subcatchments, such that when one buffer or barrier is breached, other features still impede sediment transfer within the system. The importance of the position of buffers and barriers within any given subcatchment is emphasised. Spatial variability in valley width exerts a critical control on catchment connectivity, with more efficient sediment conveyance in narrow valleys relative to wider valleys characterised by piedmonts, terraces, fans and extensive floodplains in which conveyance is impeded. This variability reflects the landscape history and geological setting of each subcatchment. The framework developed in this paper can be used to assess the impact of natural or human-induced buffers and barriers on catchment-scale sediment flux in any landscape setting, providing a physical template atop which other biogeochemical fluxes could be examined.     

Two mantle sources, two plumbing systems: tholeiitic and alkaline magmatism of the Maymecha River basin, Siberian flood volcanic province

Rocks of two distinctly different magma series are found in a ∼4000-m-thick sequence of lavas and tuffs in the Maymecha River basin which is part of the Siberian flood-volcanic province. The tholeiites are typical low-Ti continental flood basalts with remarkably restricted, petrologically evolved compositions. They have basaltic MgO contents, moderate concentrations of incompatible trace elements, moderate fractionation of incompatible from compatible elements, distinct negative Ta(Nb) anomalies, and _Nd values of 0 to +2. The primary magmas were derived from a relatively shallow mantle source, and evolved in large crustal magma chambers where they acquired their relatively uniform compositions and became contaminated with continental crust. An alkaline series, in contrast, contains a wide range of rock types, from meymechite and picrite to trachytes, with a wide range of compositions (MgO from 0.7 to 38 wt%, SiO₂ from 40 to 69 wt%, Ce from 14 to 320 ppm), high concentrations of incompatible elements and extreme fractionation of incompatible from compatible elements (Al₂O₃/TiO₂∼1; Sm/Yb up to 11). These rocks lack Ta(Nb) anomalies and have a broad range of _Nd values, from −2 to +5. The parental magmas are believed to have formed by low-degree melting at extreme mantle depths (>200 km). They bypassed the large crustal magma chambers and ascended rapidly to the surface, a consequence, perhaps, of high volatile contents in the primary magmas. The tholeiitic series dominates the lower part of the sequence and the alkaline series the upper part; at the interface, the two types are interlayered. The succession thus provides evidence of a radical change in the site of mantle melting, and the simultaneous operation of two very different crustal plumbing systems, during the evolution of this flood-volcanic province. Received: 6 January 1998 / Accepted: 29 June 1998     

Tropical westerlies over Pangaean sand seas

Cross‐equatorial, westerly winds are key features of tropical circulation in monsoonal regions. Although prominent in numerical climate models of Pangaea (the supercontinent straddling earth's equator, Late Palaeozoic to Early Mesozoic), such flow has not been confirmed previously by migration directions of ancient dunes. Wind‐blown sandstones that span 100 million years of earth history are widely exposed in south‐western USA. If recent palaeomagnetic data from the Colorado Plateau are used to correct Mesozoic palaeogeographic maps, the Plateau is placed about 10° further south than previously assumed, and the prevailing north‐westerly surface winds recorded by dune‐deposited sandstones are explicable as cross‐equatorial westerlies – the hallmark of modern monsoon circulation. Permian to Early Jurassic dunes were driven by north‐westerlies produced by a steep pressure gradient spanning the supercontinent during December–January–February. Although winds are light in most modern, near‐equatorial settings, the East African Jet accounts for more than half the cross‐equatorial flow in June–July–August. The thicknesses of annual depositional cycles within the Navajo Sandstone indicate that the near‐equatorial, north‐westerly winds that drove these particular dunes were stronger than the modern East African Jet. The Early Jurassic dunes that deposited the thick cycles were positioned west of the dominant (southern hemisphere) thermal low and against highlands to the west – a setting very similar to the East African Jet. The mountains along the western coast of Pangaea not only enhanced wind strength, but also cast a rain shadow that allowed active dunes to extend very close to the palaeoequator.