Comparison of the climate simulated by the CCM3 coupled to two different land-surface models

We present results from a coupled atmosphere-biosphere model CCM3/IBIS (the Community Climate Model coupled to the Integrated BIosphere Simulator), which is designed to study the dynamic interactions between climate and vegetation and the global carbon cycle. We analyze the climate simulated by CCM3/IBIS with fixed vegetation conditions and we compare it to the climate simulated by the standard CCM3, which includes the LSM (land surface model) land-surface package. Important differences between the two models include simple parametrizations of lakes, wetlands and crops in CCM3/LSM not taken into account in CCM3/IBIS. CCM3/IBIS and CCM3/LSM share common biases (compared to observations) in the temperature field in boreal winter and in the precipitation field annually, making the atmospheric model the most probable cause of those biases. The models differ in the temperature field and surface energy balance in the Sahara annually and in the mid-to high latitudes from spring through fall. CCM3/IBIS simulates global annual air temperatures that are on average 1.7 °C higher than CCM3/LSM and 0.5 °C higher than the observed climatology. Differences in albedo and/or snow parametrization explain most of the Sahara and high-latitude temperature disagreement. Our sensitivity study with CCM3/LSM shows that the presence of lakes and wetlands in CCM3/LSM can account for about half of the difference in temperature in summer over the lake and wetland regions of the mid-latitudes. A second sensitivity study shows that higher surface roughness length in CCM3/IBIS can also explain part of the difference in summer surface temperature in the mid-latitudes. Surface roughness length affects the surface temperature through a feedback mechanism linking surface wind speed, planetary boundary layer height, low level cloudiness and radiation     

Microplastic pollution in urban streams across New Zealand: concentrations,composition and implications

ABSTRACT

Microplastic pollution in aquatic systems has been reported globally at an alarming rate, with an increasing number of documented negative biological consequences. Research on microplastic pollution in freshwaters has barely begun in New Zealand, and few studies from smaller lotic systems such as streams exist globally. We investigated the extent of microplastic pollution within urban streams across New Zealand and determined if microplastic concentrations were related to human population density and urbanisation of streams. Fifty-two streams were surveyed across five urban agglomerations in January 2019. Microplastics were found in samples from all sites at densities ranging from <1 to 44?items/m³. This concentration range was comparable to global data but lower than reported in another recent New Zealand study, probably due to differences in sampling methodology. Microplastic pollution was similar across all urban centres, and neither length of urbanised catchment nor urban proportion of the stream were significant predictors of microplastic concentrations. These findings suggest microplastic pollution in New Zealand streams are comparable to larger aquatic systems globally, and that smaller urban streams are significant transport pathways for microplastics. We also recommend standardising microplastic sampling methods to a greater extent in the future, to improve comparability across studies.     

Vein-plus-wall-rock melting mechanisms in the lithosphere and the origin of potassic alkaline magmas

A model is developed for the origin of ultrapotassic melts by melting of veined lithosphere; the veins are rich in clinopyroxene and mica, whereas the wall-rocks consist principally of peridotites. The veins originate by solidification of low-degree melts which are themselves the results of earlier, deeper, multistage processes ultimately due to the presence of a transition zone between large-scale channelled and porous flow regimes. The melting event producing the ultrapotassic magma begins in the veins due to the concentration of hydrous phases and incompatible elements, but spreads to include the surrounding wall-rocks by a combination of two mechanisms. The alkaline magma composition is thus a hybrid of vein (V) and wall-rock (W) components.

The melt hybridization mechanisms are: (i) Solid-solution melting: Minerals which from extensive solid-solutions are abundant in the vein assemblages (Cr/Al spinel, F/OH mica, amphibole and apatite). The breakdown of these phases take place over a temperature range between the solidus of the vein assemblage and the elimination of the more refractory end-members. This process bridges the temperature gap between the solid of vein and wall-rock, so that a melt component from the wall-rock is added to that from the vein before elimination of all vein minerals. Phlogopite forms the most effective of these sliding reactions, resulting in its stability at near-liquids temperatures in experiments. (ii) Dissolution of wall-rock minerals: The initial melt fraction in the vein infiltrates the surrounding wall-rock due to the dominance of surface energy minimization on melt flow at the intergranular scale. Following infiltration, dissolution of wall-rock minerals occurs at temperatures lower than their melting temperatures, thus imparting a refractory wall-rock component to the melt composition. Dissolution of olivine and/or orthopyroxene occurs preferentially, since these minerals are furthest from equilibrium with the strongly alkaline, vein-derived melt.

Remobilisation of several generations of veins explains the occurrence within a restricted space and time of rocks bearing chemical characteristics which are generally thought to indicate contrasting tectonic settings (e.g. central Italy). The ultrapotassic rocks are explained as being dominanyly vein-derived (i.e. high V/W ratio): further dilution of the V-component by wall-rock, supplemented by asthenospheric melt in advanced cases, leads to the production of more voluminous basaltic rocks bearing incompatible element signatures reminiscent of those of ultrapotassic rocks.     

Everyday security: privatized policing,local legitimacy and atmospheres of control

This paper examines the tactics, underpinning logics and forms of legitimacy through which urban security is produced and maintained in a volatile urban environment. I argue that urban security relies on subtle, mundane practices, in addition to the use of force. Drawing on original empirical research carried out in inner-city Johannesburg, the article makes a novel contribution by combining literature from policing and security studies with work on gentrification, ambient power and the privatization of public space. Overall, the article aims to emphasize the ways in which social and spatial realities shape security and policing practices, and broaden our understanding of the rationales, logics and meanings of urban security, particularly in volatile, conflictual urban spaces (mostly, but not exclusively) in the Global South.     

Post‐excavation deterioration of the Copney Bronze Age Stone Circle Complex: A geomorphological perspective

Post‐excavation deterioration of stones from under blanket peat at the Copney Bronze Age Stone Circle Complex in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, proceeded through widespread scaling, flaking, and splitting of stones. Investigation showed that prior to burial the porphyritic stones already possessed a complex legacy of geological weaknesses derived from hydrothermal alteration and tectonic deformation. Analysis indicated that significant alteration occurred during approximately 2000 years of burial under acidic peat cover, with development of a secondary porosity, alteration of primary minerals, and the opening of preexisting lines of weakness within the stones. Burial under peat also resulted in “bleaching” the stones so that they appeared white in color following excavation. These alterations during burial left the stones in a significantly weakened state and particularly susceptible to the effects of subaerial weathering processes. Data underline the potential fragility of excavated stonework and highlight the need to plan for its aftercare before complete excavation is undertaken. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Nanoscale Chemical Imaging by Photo‐Induced Force Microscopy: Technical Aspects and Application to the Geosciences

Photo‐induced force microscopy (PiFM) is a new‐frontier technique that combines the advantages of atomic force microscopy with infrared spectroscopy and allows for the simultaneous acquisition of 3D topographic data with molecular chemical information at high spatial (~ 5 nm) and spectral (~ 1 cm^?1) resolution at the nanoscale. This non‐destructive technique is time efficient as it requires only conventional mirror‐polishing and has fast mapping rates on the order of a few minutes that allow the study of dynamic processes via time series. Here, we review the method’s historical development, working principle, data acquisition, and evaluation, and provide a comparison with traditional geochemical methods. We review PiFM studies in the areas of materials science, chemistry and biology. In addition, we provide the first applications for geochemical samples including the visualization of faint growth zonation in zircons, the identification of fluid speciation in high‐pressure experimental samples, and of nanoscale organic phases in biominerals. We demonstrate that PiFM analysis is a time‐ and cost‐efficient technique combining high‐resolution surface imaging with molecular chemical information at the nanoscale and, thus, complements and expands traditional geochemical methods.     

The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) 4-dimensional variational data assimilation systems: Part III - Observation impact and observation sensitivity in the California Current System

The critical role played by observations during ocean data assimilation was explored when the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) 4-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation system was applied sequentially to the California Current circulation. The adjoint of the 4D-Var gain matrix was used to quantify the impact of individual observations and observation platforms on different aspects of the 4D-Var circulation estimates during both analysis and subsequent forecast cycles. In this study we focus on the alongshore and cross-shore transport of the California Current System associated with wind-induced coastal upwelling along the central California coast. The majority of the observations available during any given analysis cycle are from satellite platforms in the form of SST and SSH, and on average these data exert the largest controlling influence on the analysis increments and forecast skill of coastal transport. However, subsurface in situ observations from Argo floats, CTDs, XBTs and tagged marine mammals often have a considerable impact on analyses and forecasts of coastal transport, even though these observations represent a relatively small fraction of the available data at any particular time.During 4D-Var the observations are used to correct for uncertainties in the model control variables, namely the initial conditions, surface forcing, and open boundary conditions. It is found that correcting for uncertainties in both the initial conditions and surface forcing has the largest impact on the analysis increments in alongshore transport, while the cross-shore transport is controlled mainly by the surface forcing. The memory of the circulation associated with the control variable increments was also explored in relation to 7 day forecasts of the coastal circulation. Despite the importance of correcting for surface forcing uncertainties during analysis cycles, the coastal transport during forecast cycles initialized from the analyses has less memory of the surface forcing corrections, and is controlled primarily by the analysis initial conditions.Using the adjoint of the entire 4D-Var system we have also explored the sensitivity of the coastal transport to changes in the observations and the observation array. A single integration of the adjoint of 4D-Var can be used to predict the change that occurs when observations from different platforms are omitted from the 4D-Var analysis. Thus observing system experiments can be performed for each data assimilation cycle at a fraction of the computational cost that would be required to repeat the 4D-Var analyses when observations are withheld. This is the third part of a three part series describing the ROMS 4D-Var systems.     

Decadal variability of rainfall in the Sahel: results from the coupled GENESIS-IBIS atmosphere-biosphere model

In this study we investigate the impact of large-scale oceanic forcing and local vegetation feedback on the variability of the Sahel rainfall using a global biosphere-atmosphere model, the coupled GENESIS-IBIS model, running at two different resolutions. The observed global sea surface temperature in the twentieth century is used as the primary model forcing. Using this coupled global model, we experiment on treating vegetation as a static boundary condition and as a dynamic component of the Earth climate system. When vegetation is dynamic, the R30-resolution model realistically reproduces the multi-decadal scale fluctuation of rainfall in the Sahel region; keeping vegetation static in the same model results in a rainfall regime characterized by fluctuations at much shorter time scales, indicating that vegetation dynamics act as a mechanism for persistence of the regional climate. Even when vegetation dynamics is included, the R15 model fails to capture the main characteristics of the long-term rainfall variability due to the exaggerated atmospheric internal variability in the coarse resolution model. Regardless how vegetation is treated and what model resolution is used, conditions in the last three decades of the twentieth century are always drier than normal in the Sahel, suggesting that global oceanic forcing during that period favors the occurrence of a drought. Vegetation dynamics is found to enhance the severity of this drought. However, with both the observed global SST forcing and feedback from dynamic vegetation in the model, the simulated drought is still not as persistent as that observed. This indicates that anthropogenic land cover changes, a mechanism missing in the model, may have contributed to the occurrence of the twentieth century drought in the Sahel.     

Mediterranean Tertiary lamproites derived from multiple source components in postcollisional geodynamics

In the Mediterranean area, lamproitic provinces in Spain, Italy, Serbia and Macedonia have uniform geological, geochemical and petrographic characteristics. Mediterranean lamproites are SiO₂-rich lamproites, characterized by relatively low CaO, Al₂O₃ and Na₂O, and high K₂O/Al₂O₃ and Mg-number. They are enriched in LILE relative to HFSE and in Pb, and show depletion in Ti, Nb and Ta. Mediterranean lamproites show huge regional variation of Sr, Nd and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb isotopic values, with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr range of 0.707-0.722, εNd range from −13 to −3, and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb range of 15.62-15.79.Lamproitic rocks are derived from melts with three components involved in their origin, characterized by contrasting geochemical features which appear in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd space: (i) a mantle source contaminated by crustal material, giving rise to crust-like trace element patterns and radiogenic isotope systematics, (ii) an extremely depleted mantle characterized by very low whole-rock CaO and Al₂O₃, high-Fo olivine and Cr-rich spinel, which isotopically resembles European peridotitic massifs and lithospheric mantle; (iii) a component originating from the convecting mantle, characterized by unradiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and radiogenic ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb. These components demand multistage preconditioning of the lamproite-mantle source, involving an episode of extreme depletion, followed by involvement of terrigenous sediments, and finally interaction with melts originating from the convecting mantle, some of which are probably carbonatitic.We use our data on Mediterranean lamproites to characterize the mantle composition under the whole Alpine-Himalaya belt. Lamproites are an integral part of postcollisional volcanism, and are the most extreme melting products from a mantle which is ubiquitously crustally metasomatized. Enriched isotope signatures in Himalayan volcanics can also be explained by the involvement of subducted sediments instead of by proterozoic mantle lithosphere.