An assessment of the influence of land cover uncertainties on the simulation of global climate in the early Holocene

Six and 21 kyear BP represent the extreme states of climate since the last glacial maximum. The early Holocene, in contrast, was a time of transition, experiencing rapidly melting continental ice sheets, rising sea-level, and increasing summer insolation. Key features of the climate, illustrated by an NCAR CCM3 general circulation model experiment representing 11 kyr BP, include enhanced continentality and seasonality, and an enhanced northern monsoon. The principal circulation responses to the 11 kyr BP boundary conditions can be summarized as an intensification and northward shift of the mean meridional circulation and an intensification of the planetary wave structure of the Northern Hemisphere in northern summer, and a slight intensification of the mean meridional circulation coupled with a southward shift in the planetary wave structure in northern winter. These changes are manifest in the enhancement of the typical seasonal cycle of sea-level pressure in the Northern Hemisphere relative to that of the present day, and enhancement and equatorward shift of the Aleutian and Icelandic lows in northern winter. Over the period 15-8 kyr BP, within the current boreal forest zone, herbaceous tundra was replaced by shrub tundra, and subsequently by evergreen or deciduous forest, but there is uncertainty in the location, timing, and exact nature of these transitions. The specific location of the relatively small area of the Asian boreal forest-tundra transition can have an impact on regional climate, primarily in the net shortwave radiation component of the surface energy budget in spring, and in the cloudiness, net shortwave radiation, and turbulent heat fluxes in summer. These changes also have an impact on global climate. Our results suggest that the additional northern heating leads to a reduced equator-pole heat transport in the Northern Hemisphere which then influences heat and momentum transport in the Southern Hemisphere.     

Thermal Emission From The Dust Coma Of Comet Hale-Bopp And The Composition Of The Silicate Grains

The dust coma of comet Hale-Bopp was observed in the thermal infrared over a wide range in solar heating (R = 4.9–0.9 AU) and over the full wavelength range from 3 μm to 160 μm. Unusual early activity produced an extensive coma containing small warm refractory grains; already at 4.9 AU, the 10 μm silicate emission feature was strong and the color temperature was 30% above the equilibrium blackbody temperature. Near perihelion the high color temperature, strong silicate feature, and high albedo indicated a smaller mean grain size than in other comets. The 8–13 μm spectra revealed a silicate emission feature similar in shape to that seen in P/Halley and several new and long period comets. Detailed spectral structure in the feature was consistent over time and with different instruments; the main peaks occur at 9.3, 10.0 and 11.2 μm. These peaks can be identified with olivine and pyroxene minerals, linking the comet dust to the anhydrous chondritic aggregate interplanetary dust particles. Spectra at 16–40 μm taken with the ISO SWS displayed pronounced emission peaks due to Mg-rich crystalline olivine, consistent with the 11.2 μm peak. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mind mapping as an interactive tool for engaging complex geographical issues

Students and communities engaging with complex geographical issues require tools to assist them structure and contextualise data. This paper examines the use of mind mapping as a tool in geographical education. Case studies are presented from a sample of undergraduate and cross-cultural educational settings demonstrating the use of mind mapping in communication, analysis and problem solving. In critiquing this educational tool, we conclude that mind mapping is particularly effective with communities whose cultures are strong on visual communication but weaker on written communication and in cross-cultural situations where use of written English would disadvantage learners.     

Evidence and Implications of Recent Climate Change in Northern Alaska and Other Arctic Regions

The Arctic climate is changing. Permafrost is warming, hydrological processes are changing and biological and social systems are also evolving in response to these changing conditions. Knowing how the structure and function of arctic terrestrial ecosystems are responding to recent and persistent climate change is paramount to understanding the future state of the Earth system and how humans will need to adapt. Our holistic review presents a broad array of evidence that illustrates convincingly; the Arctic is undergoing a system-wide response to an altered climatic state. New extreme and seasonal surface climatic conditions are being experienced, a range of biophysical states and processes influenced by the threshold and phase change of freezing point are being altered, hydrological and biogeochemical cycles are shifting, and more regularly human sub-systems are being affected. Importantly, the patterns, magnitude and mechanisms of change have sometimes been unpredictable or difficult to isolate due to compounding factors. In almost every discipline represented, we show how the biocomplexity of the Arctic system has highlighted and challenged a paucity of integrated scientific knowledge, the lack of sustained observational and experimental time series, and the technical and logistic constraints of researching the Arctic environment. This study supports ongoing efforts to strengthen the interdisciplinarity of arctic system science and improve the coupling of large scale experimental manipulation with sustained time series observations by incorporating and integrating novel technologies, remote sensing and modeling.     

Lagrangian dispersion in sheared flow

Two-dimensional Lagrangian trajectories are studied near an idealized ocean front with shear and convergence plus an uncorrelated random walk. Applications include fixed-depth drifters and plankton patches with perfect depth regulation.     

Unemployment in Non-Metropolitan Australia: integrating geography,social and individual contexts

Despite a significant period of strong economic and jobs growth nationally, there is well-established evidence in Australia that the proceeds of this growth have not been shared equally, either between places or between individuals. Empirically, it is well known that particular socioeconomic groups have a higher risk of unemployment and it has become equally well established that there are particular geographic patterns of labour market disadvantage that suggest that local geographic context is also important. What is not well understood are the ways in which phenomena at the geographic level are associated with individual-level characteristics and other social contexts in ways that negatively impact on a range of social outcomes, including unemployment. The present paper specifically addresses this issue by using a multi-scalar approach and using survey data from the Housing, Income and Labour Force Dynamics Australia (HILDA) survey and aggregate level census data to model unemployment risk. The paper argues that to better understand unemployment and to add to sound policy development, approaches that incorporate a variety of contexts, including the impact of local geographies, are important.     

Numerical method of moments for solute transport in a nonstationary flow field conditioned on hydraulic conductivity and head measurements

The unconditional stochastic studies on groundwater flow and solute transport in a nonstationary conductivity field show that the standard deviations of the hydraulic head and solute flux are very large in comparison with their mean values (Zhang et al. in Water Resour Res 36:2107–2120, 2000; Wu et al. in J Hydrol 275:208–228, 2003; Hu et al. in Adv Water Resour 26:513–531, 2003). In this study, we develop a numerical method of moments conditioning on measurements of hydraulic conductivity and head to reduce the variances of the head and the solute flux. A Lagrangian perturbation method is applied to develop the framework for solute transport in a nonstationary flow field. Since analytically derived moments equations are too complicated to solve analytically, a numerical finite difference method is implemented to obtain the solutions. Instead of using an unconditional conductivity field as an input to calculate groundwater velocity, we combine a geostatistical method and a method of moment for flow to conditionally simulate the distributions of head and velocity based on the measurements of hydraulic conductivity and head at some points. The developed theory is applied in several case studies to investigate the influences of the measurements of hydraulic conductivity and/or the hydraulic head on the variances of the predictive head and the solute flux in nonstationary flow fields. The study results show that the conditional calculation will significantly reduce the head variance. Since the hydraulic head measurement points are treated as the interior boundary (Dirichlet boundary) conditions, conditioning on both the hydraulic conductivity and the head measurements is much better than conditioning only on conductivity measurements for reduction of head variance. However, for solute flux, variance reduction by the conditional study is not so significant.     

The Impact of the Herbicide Diuron on Photosynthesis in Three Species of Tropical Seagrass

The impact and recovery from exposure to the herbicide diuron [DCMU; 3-(3′,4′-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea] was assessed for three tropical seagrasses, maintained in outdoor aquaria over a 10-day period. Photosynthetic stress was detected using chlorophyll a fluorescence, measured with a Diving-PAM (pulse amplitude modulated fluorometer). Exposure to 10 and 100 μg l⁻¹ diuron resulted in a decline in effective quantum yield (ΔF/F_m^′) within 2 h of herbicide exposure in Cymodocea serrulata, Halophila ovalis and Zostera capricorni. Effective quantum yield also declined over the first 24 h of exposure in H. ovalis at even lower diuron concentrations (0.1 and 1.0 μg l⁻¹). Effective quantum yield in H. ovalis and Z. capricorni was significantly depressed at all diuron concentrations (0.1–100 μg l⁻¹) after 5 days exposure, whereas effective quantum yield in C. serrulata was only significantly lower in plants exposed to highest diuron concentrations (10 and 100 μg l⁻¹). Effective quantum yield depression was present 5 days after plants exposed to 10 and 100 μg l⁻¹ diuron were returned to fresh seawater. These results indicate that exposure to herbicide concentrations present in nearshore Queensland sediments present a potential risk to seagrass functioning.     

Numerical study on tide-driven submarine groundwater discharge and seawater recirculation in heterogeneous aquifers

There are many factors affecting submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). However, systematic study of the influences of these factors is still limited. In this study, numerical modeling is performed to quantitatively explore the influences of various factors on SGD in a coastal aquifer. In such locations, tidal and terrestrial hydraulic gradients are the primary forces driving fresh and salt water movement. Unlike steady-state flow, dynamic fresh and salt water mixing at the near-shore seafloor may form an intertidal mixing zone (IMZ) near the surface. By constructing a general SGD model, the effects of various model components such as boundary conditions, model geometry and hydraulic parameters are systematically studied. Several important findings are obtained from the study results: (1) Previous studies have indicated there will be a freshwater discharge tube between the classic transition zone and the IMZ. However, this phenomenon may become unclear with the increase of heterogeneity and anisotropy of the medium’s conductivity field. (2) SGD and IMZ are both more sensitive to the vertical anisotropy ratio of hydraulic conductivity (K_x/K_z) than to the horizontal ratio (K_x/K_y). (3) Heterogeneity of effective porosity significantly affects SGD and IMZ. (4) Increase of the storage coefficient decreases fresh water discharge but increases mixing salt water discharge and total SGD. The increase will also change the shape of the IMZ. (5) Variation of dispersivities does not affect SGD, but significantly changes the distributions of the IMZ and the whole mixing zone. These findings will be helpful to the sampling design of field studies of SGD and to the application of dynamic SGD models to field sites for model development and calibration.