Estimates of total radiation and albedo in Sub-Arctic Canada

Summary Maps have recently been prepared of the physiography and plant cover of Labrador-Ungava, in the Canadian Sub-Arctic. These enable detailed studies of representative localities to be extended over wider areas. Methods of estimating the average total insolation from sun and sky received at the surface are discussed, together with aerial measurements of albedo and thus a method of calculating the insolation absorbed by the surface is demonstrated. The limitations of the technique are stressed.

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Zusammenfassung Es wurden Karten der Physiographie und Pflanzenbedeckung von Labrador-Ungava im sub-arktischen Klimagebiet Kanadas bearbeitet; an Hand dieser Karten kann von einzelnen, repräsentativen Orten auf die Verhältnisse in größeren Gebieten geschlossen werden. Die Methoden zur Abschätzung der Globalstrahlung an der Erdoberfläche werden diskutiert. Zusammen mit Messungen der Albedo vom Flugzeug aus ergibt sich eine Möglichkeit, die vom Erdboden absorbierte Strahlungsenergie zu berechnen. Die Grenzen der Leistungsfähigkeit dieser Methode werden betont.

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Résumé On a dressé des cartes de la physiographie et de la couverture végétale du Labrador-Ungava soumis au climat subarctique du Canada. Elles permettent d'étendre les conclusions relatives à certains lieux représentatifs à de plus grands territoires. Discussion des méthodes d'estimation du rayonnement global à la surface du sol. En tentant compte de mesures de l'albédo faites depuis l'avion, on peut calculer l'énergie de rayonnement absorbée par le sol. Les limites d'application de la méthode sont discutées.

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The research described in this paper was sponsored jointly by the Carnegie Arctic Programme of McGill University and the Defence Research Board of Canada.     

Carbon chemistry of Luna 16 and Luna 20 samples

Luna 16 and Luna 20 samples were analyzed for volatilizable species using vacuum pyrolysis to 1400°C. The major gaseous products evolved (ranging from 10–650 μg/g) were H₂O, CO, CO₂, N₂ and CH₄. Minor components (all < 10 μg/g) included NH₃, HCN, NO, SO₂, H₂S, C₂H₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₆ and higher hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, and the polymeric contaminants Teflon^® and silicone oil. The total carbon and nitrogen contents (μg/g) for these sieved samples (< 125 μm) were: Luna 16—C 418, N 134 and Luna 20—C 380, N 80.     

Arsenic in marine fish and invertebrates

An environmental survey has been undertaken on the Pacific coast of Canada to document natural background levels of a number of heavy metals, including arsenic, in various species of marine fish and invertebrates. The majority of fish studied from four different sampling locations near a proposed mine site, contained arsenic with levels ranging from less than 0.4 to 37.8 mg/kg (wet weight). Crabs were found to contain the highest level of arsenic of all marine organisms tested. Results indicate that arsenic accumulates in marine fish and invertebrates and may possibly be a micronutrient.     

A CME mass distribution derived from SOLWIND coronagraph observations

Using estimates of the masses of nearly 1000 CMEs observed by SOLWIND from Howardet al. (1985), we re-plot the numbers of CMEs as a function of CME mass on a log-linear plot. The plot is significant in that it shows a linear trend over more than a decade of CME masses. The plot indicates a simple form for the distribution of the CME masses and allows an easy determination of the total mass ejected into the solar wind in the form of CMEs. We find that approximately 16% of the solar wind at solar maximum can be comprised of CME mass. There is no indication that the numbers of low-mass CMEs increase in number above the trend set by the more massive ones. Specifically, there is no increase in the numbers of small CMEs such that the whole of the solar wind can be comprised of them.     

Orbital forcing of Arctic climate: mechanisms of climate response and implications for continental glaciation

Progress in understanding how terrestrial ice volume is linked to Earths orbital configuration has been impeded by the cost of simulating climate system processes relevant to glaciation over orbital time scales (10³–10⁵ years). A compromise is usually made to represent the climate system by models that are averaged over one or more spatial dimensions or by three-dimensional models that are limited to simulating particular snapshots in time. We take advantage of the short equilibration time (10 years) of a climate model consisting of a three-dimensional atmosphere coupled to a simple slab ocean to derive the equilibrium climate response to accelerated variations in Earths orbital configuration over the past 165,000 years. Prominent decreases in ice melt and increases in snowfall are simulated during three time intervals near 26, 73, and 117 thousand years ago (ka) when aphelion was in late spring and obliquity was low. There were also significant decreases in ice melt and increases in snowfall near 97 and 142 ka when eccentricity was relatively large, aphelion was in late spring, and obliquity was high or near its long term mean. These glaciation-friendly time intervals correspond to prominent and secondary phases of terrestrial ice growth seen within the marine ¹⁸O record. Both dynamical and thermal effects contribute to the increases in snowfall during these periods, through increases in storm activity and the fraction of precipitation falling as snow. The majority of the mid- to high latitude response to orbital forcing is organized by the properties of sea ice, through its influence on radiative feedbacks that nearly double the size of the orbital forcing as well as its influence on the seasonal evolution of the latitudinal temperature gradient.     

Weathering of sulfidic shale and copper mine waste: secondary minerals and metal cycling in Great Smoky Mountains National Park,Tennessee, and North Carolina,USA

Metal cycling via physical and chemical weathering of discrete sources (copper mines) and regional (non-point) sources (sulfide-rich shale) is evaluated by examining the mineralogy and chemistry of weathering products in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and North Carolina, USA. The elements in copper mine waste, secondary minerals, stream sediments, and waters that are most likely to have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems are aluminum, copper, zinc, and arsenic because these elements locally exceed toxicity guidelines for surface waters or for stream sediments. Acid-mine drainage has not developed in streams draining inactive copper mines. Acid-rock drainage and chemical weathering processes that accompany debris flows or human disturbances of sulfidic rocks are comparable to processes that develop acid-mine drainage elsewhere. Despite the high rainfall in the mountain range, sheltered areas and intermittent dry spells provide local venues for development of secondary weathering products that can impact aquatic ecosystems.Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.

A cost–benefit appraisal of coastal managed realignment policy

European coasts are coming under increasing threat as a result of climate change from erosion and flooding. While coastal defences such as sea walls have been constructed since Roman times to protect human settlements from the sea, it is now increasingly recognised that these defences are unsustainable. The security provided by ‘hard’ engineered defences has encouraged development on the coast, and the defences themselves have led to the loss of intertidal habitat and the natural protection it provides.An alternative to maintaining ‘hard’ defences (hold-the-line) to protect land from increasing sea levels is managed realignment, where the engineered defences are deliberately breached. By allowing the coastline to recede to a new line of defence further inland, intertidal habitat is created providing natural protection from flooding and erosion.The study evaluates the economic efficiency—using cost–benefit analysis—of various managed realignment scenarios compared to a strategy of holding-the-line within the Humber estuary in North-east England. The results of this analysis show that managed realignment can be more economically efficient than holding-the-line over a sufficiently long time period—generally greater than 25 years. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that results are more sensitive to the amount and value of intertidal habitat generated than they are to the amount and value of carbon stored by this habitat. Cost–benefit analysis is viewed as one component of a wider policy appraisal process within integrated coastal management.