Performance of limestones laden with mixed salt solutions of Na2SO4–NaNO3 and Na2SO4–K2SO4

The behaviour of two types of limestones having a different porosity, Maastricht and Euville limestone, laden with aqueous solutions of equimolar mixtures of sodium sulphate/sodium nitrate or sodium sulphate/potassium sulphate was investigated. At 50 % RH, the efflorescences on Maastricht samples during the first 30 h of drying consisted of similar amounts of thenardite and darapskite in case of an equimolar mixture of sodium sulphate/sodium nitrate while those on Euville samples under the same conditions contained mainly darapskite. After drying at 20 °C and 85 % RH, thenardite, formed through the precipitation and dehydration of mirabilite, was mostly detected in the efflorescences on both Maastricht and Euville samples. Re-wetting by increasing the RH from 50 to 85 % resulted in substantial damage on Maastricht stone laden with an equimolar mixture of sodium sulphate/sodium nitrate as a consequence of high supersaturation of mirabilite. In case of a contamination with equimolar amounts of sodium sulphate and potassium sulphate, the efflorescence on both limestones during drying at 50 % RH contained predominantly aphthitalite. The observed crystallisation behaviour is compared to the theoretical behaviour. The results indicate a strong influence of stone properties on the crystallisation behaviour of salt mixtures.     

The simulation of European heat waves from an ensemble of regional climate models within the EURO-CORDEX project

The ability of a large ensemble of regional climate models to accurately simulate heat waves at the regional scale of Europe was evaluated. Within the EURO-CORDEX project, several state-of-the art models, including non-hydrostatic meso-scale models, were run for an extended time period (20 years) at high resolution (12 km), over a large domain allowing for the first time the simultaneous representation of atmospheric phenomena over a large range of spatial scales. Eight models were run in this configuration, and thirteen models were run at a classical resolution of 50 km. The models were driven with the same boundary conditions, the ERA-Interim re-analysis, and except for one simulation, no observations were assimilated in the inner domain. Results, which are compared with daily temperature and precipitation observations (ECA&D and E-OBS data sets) show that, even forced by the same re-analysis, the ensemble exhibits a large spread. A preliminary analysis of the sources of spread, using in particular simulations of the same model with different parameterizations, shows that the simulation of hot temperature is primarily sensitive to the convection and the microphysics schemes, which affect incoming energy and the Bowen ratio. Further, most models exhibit an overestimation of summertime temperature extremes in Mediterranean regions and an underestimation over Scandinavia. Even after bias removal, the simulated heat wave events were found to be too persistent, but a higher resolution reduced this deficiency. The amplitude of events as well as the variability beyond the 90th percentile threshold were found to be too strong in almost all simulations and increasing resolution did not generally improve this deficiency. Resolution increase was also shown to induce large-scale 90th percentile warming or cooling for some models, with beneficial or detrimental effects on the overall biases. Even though full causality cannot be established on the basis of this evaluation work, the drivers of such regional differences were shown to be linked to changes in precipitation due to resolution changes, affecting the energy partitioning. Finally, the inter-annual sequence of hot summers over central/southern Europe was found to be fairly well simulated in most experiments despite an overestimation of the number of hot days and of the variability. The accurate simulation of inter-annual variability for a few models is independent of the model bias. This indicates that internal variability of high summer temperatures should not play a major role in controlling inter-annual variability. Despite some improvements, especially along coastlines, the analyses conducted here did not allow us to generally conclude that a higher resolution is clearly beneficial for a correct representation of heat waves by regional climate models. Even though local-scale feedbacks should be better represented at high resolution, combinations of parameterizations have to be improved or adapted accordingly.     

The magnitude of error in conventional bulk-sediment radiocarbon dates from central North America

Although the carbon-reservoir problem with bulk-sediment radiocarbon dates from lakes has long been recognized, many synoptic studies continue to use chronologies derived from such dates. For four sites in central North America, we evaluate chronologies based on conventional radiocarbon dates from bulk sediment versus chronologies based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from terrestrial plant macrofossils. The carbon-reservoir error varies among sites and temporally at individual sites from 0 to 8000 yr. An error of 500–2000 yr is common. This error has important implications for the resolution of precise event chronologies.     

A low-order model for the response of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation to climate change

Concern has been expressed that anthropogenic climate change may lead to a slowdown or even collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC). Because of the possibly severe consequences that such an event could have on the northern North Atlantic and northwestern Europe, integrated assessment models (IAMs) are needed to explore the associated political and socioeconomic implications. State-of-the-art climate models representing the THC are, however, often too complex to be incorporated into an integrated assessment framework. In this paper we present a low-order model of the Atlantic THC which meets the main requirements of IAMs: it (1) is physically based, (2) is computationally highly efficient, (3) allows for comprehensive uncertainty analysis and (4) can be linked to globally aggregated climate models that are mostly used in IAMs. The model is an interhemispheric extension of the seminal Stommel model. Its parameters are determined by a least-squares fit to the output of a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity. Results of a number of transient global warming simulations indicate that the model is able to reproduce many features of the behaviour of coupled ocean–atmosphere circulation models such as the sensitivity of the THC to the amount, regional distribution and rate of climate change.Responsible Editor: Richard Greatbatch     

Thermotectonic evolution of a rifted continental margin: fission track evidence from the Kangerlussuaq area, SE Greenland

Fission track analyses of apatites from sediments, Precambrian gneisses and Caledonian to Tertiary intrusive rocks from the Kangerlussuaq region reveal its post-Caledonian thermotectonic history. Inland the history involves cooling to temperatures within the high temperature part of the apatite annealing interval and slow cooling (or reheating) continued in Cretaceous times through this interval. Apatites from coastal areas between Kangerlussuaq and Tasiilaq reveal only Tertiary cooling. In Tertiary times cooling accelerated after the main intrusive phase in the Tertiary. The evolution is taken as evidence for a general uplift/erosion since Caledonian times probably disturbed by basin formation and sedimentation and reheating due to magmatic activity. Thermal subsidence of the rift shoulders following the opening of the adjacent oceanic basin is not indicated. Annealing patterns inland of the plume centre in the Kangerlussuaq provide no evidence for the earlier movement of the plume from a westerly direction.