Abrupt temperature changes during the last 1,500 years

We investigate the occurrence of abrupt changes in a total of 35 different proxy records from the extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere for the last ~1,500 years. The proxy records include ice-core δ¹⁸O, speleothem, tree ring width/density, marine sediment and lake sediment records with annual, sub-decadal or decadal resolutions. The aim is to explore the spatio–temporal distribution of abrupt climate changes using a kink point analysis technique. A clustering of warm kink points (the kink points with the highest temperatures) around AD 1000 appears corresponding to the Medieval Warm Period and indicates a geographically widespread temperature peak at that time. Kink points around AD 1000 are somewhat more numerous on higher latitudes than on lower latitudes. There are some tendencies for the coldest kink points (the kink points with the lowest temperatures) to be clustered in the ninetenth century, but they are generally more unevenly spaced in time than the warm peaks around AD 1000. The relative lack of kink points detected during the 1500 s–1700 s, likely the coldest part of the Little Ice Age, implies that this cold period was relatively stable and without abrupt events. A possible cluster of kink points on lower latitudes in the early ninth century is also found. No clear difference in the timing of kink points between the different proxy types can be observed.     

Water column monitoring near oil installations in the North Sea 2001-2004

Fisheries have been vital to coastal communities around the North Sea for centuries, but this semi-enclosed sea also receives large amounts of waste. It is therefore important to monitor and control inputs of contaminants into the North Sea. Inputs of effluents from offshore oil and gas production platforms (produced water) in the Norwegian sector have been monitored through an integrated chemical and biological effects programme since 2001. The programme has used caged Atlantic cod and blue mussels. PAH tissue residues in blue mussels and PAH bile metabolites in cod have confirmed exposure to effluents, but there was variation between years. Results for a range of biological effects methods reflected exposure gradients and indicated that exposure levels were low and caused minor environmental impact at the deployment locations. There is a need to develop methods that are sufficiently sensitive to components in produced water at levels found in marine ecosystems.     

Sand dunes and valley fills from Preboreal glacial-lake outburst floods in south-eastern Norway – beyond the aeolian paradigm

A major glacial-lake outburst flood in the Glomma valley, south-eastern Norway, took place during the final decay of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet. A combined morphological, geophysical and sedimentological study provides new insight into the variety of processes and deposits of the flood. The studied succession, some tens of metres in thickness, comprises the fill of a major flood basin that developed during hydraulic ponding. Large-scale sand dunes and bars accumulated downstream of locations with expanding flow. Most notable are 10 m high, concentric dune ridges that accumulated downstream of a topographical constriction hosting a high-velocity flow. Flow expansion at the outlet generated intense turbulence and scouring. The sand-loaded eddies helped feeding the semi-stationary dune ridges that grew vertically and downflow under high aggradation rates. Internal structures vary but reflect an overall shift in sedimentation from prevailing supercritical flow to overall subcritical flow conditions at high flood levels. Loading by water and sediment caused large-scale, synsedimentary deformation, increasing local accommodation space. Fast-falling flood levels caused stronger flow locally, while mud and fine sand settled in stagnant pools. The fall caused a significant drop in hydrostatic pressure. This triggered a release of excess pore pressure causing massive dewatering and fluidisation. Water-escape structures include numerous (sub)vertical pipes. The present study shows that outburst flood-generated, large-scale dunes can develop in well-sorted, fine sand and are thereby easily confused with aeolian deposits. Several dune fields in south-eastern Norway are here reinterpreted as the product of at least two major flood events. Sandy dune fields with similar characteristics elsewhere in Scandinavia should likely also be reinterpreted, and the role of outburst floods during the final deglaciation of Scandinavia has seemingly been underestimated. The study emphasises the importance of ponding, flow expansion, sorting, rapidly changing pressure conditions and deformation for outburst flood-related sedimentation.     

A continuous Holocene beetle record from the site Stavsåkra,southern Sweden: implications for the last 10 600 years of forest and land use history

Beetle remains from a small bog in southern Sweden contribute information concerning the forest history of the study area. The study shows that beetles are valuable indicators of woodland structures such as openness, field vegetation, presence of dead wood and disturbance factors such as climate change, fire regimes, grazing and land use. The early Holocene, ca. 8600–6450 cal. BC, was characterised by open, pine‐dominated woodlands maintained by fire and grazing disturbances. The changes in the wetland fauna, between 8600 and 7500 cal. BC, correlate well with low lake levels in southern Sweden. During the mid Holocene, ca. 6450–2400 cal. BC, the woodlands were relatively dense, with few openings in the canopy. Around 4200 cal. BC, there was a shift to a dominance of deciduous trees. Fire and grazing pressures were particularly low. Numbers of aquatic and hygrophilic beetles indicate dry conditions between ca. 5000 and 3000 cal. BC. During the late Holocene, ca. 2400 cal. BC to present, the woodlands opened up mainly through increased land use. The main disturbance factors were fire and grazing. The beetles indicate the formation of heather‐dominated heathland around 800 cal. BC. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article was published online on 23 December 2008. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected (5 August 2009).     

High Resolution Simulation of the Variability of Surface Energy Balance Fluxes Across Central London with Urban Zones for Energy Partitioning

The parameterization of surface heat-flux variability in urban areas relies on adequate representation of surface characteristics. Given the horizontal resolutions (e.g. $\approx $ 0.1–1 km) currently used in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, properties of the urban surface (e.g. vegetated/built surfaces, street-canyon geometries) often have large spatial variability. Here, a new approach based on Urban Zones to characterize Energy partitioning (UZE) is tested within a NWP model (Weather Research and Forecasting model; WRF v3.2.1) for Greater London. The urban land-surface scheme is the Noah/Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). Detailed surface information (horizontal resolution 1 km) in central London shows that the UZE offers better characterization of surface properties and their variability compared to default WRF-SLUCM input parameters. In situ observations of the surface energy fluxes and near-surface meteorological variables are used to select the radiation and turbulence parameterization schemes and to evaluate the land-surface scheme and choice of surface parameters. For radiative fluxes, improved performance (e.g. $>$ 25 W m $^{-2}$ root-mean-square error reduction for the net radiation) is attained with UZE parameters compared to the WRF v3.2.1 default for all three methods from the simplest to the most detailed. The UZE-based spatial fluxes reproduce a priori expectations of greater energy storage and less evaporation in the dense city centre compared to the residential surroundings. Problems in Noah/SLUCM partitioning of energy between the daytime turbulent fluxes are identified with the overestimation of the turbulent sensible heat and underestimation of the turbulent latent heat fluxes.     

Statistical downscaling of daily precipitation over Sweden using GCM output

A classification of Swedish weather patterns (SWP) was developed by applying a multi-objective fuzzy-rule-based classification method (MOFRBC) to large-scale-circulation predictors in the context of statistical downscaling of daily precipitation at the station level. The predictor data was mean sea level pressure (MSLP) and geopotential heights at 850 (H850) and 700 hPa (H700) from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and from the HadAM3 GCM. The MOFRBC was used to evaluate effects of two future climate scenarios (A2 and B2) on precipitation patterns on two regions in south-central and northern Sweden. The precipitation series were generated with a stochastic, autoregressive model conditioned on SWP. H850 was found to be the optimum predictor for SWP, and SWP could be used instead of local classifications with little information lost. The results in the climate projection indicated an increase in maximum 5-day precipitation and precipitation amount on a wet day for the scenarios A2 and B2 for the period 2070–2100 compared to 1961–1990. The relative increase was largest in the northern region and could be attributed to an increase in the specific humidity rather than to changes in the circulation patterns.