A GCM study of future climate response to aerosol pollution reductions

We use the global atmospheric GCM aerosol model ECHAM5-HAM to asses possible impacts of future air pollution mitigation strategies on climate. Air quality control strategies focus on the reduction of aerosol emissions. Here we investigate the extreme case of a maximum feasible end-of-pipe abatement of aerosols in the near term future (2030) in combination with increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. The temperature response of increasing GHG concentrations and reduced aerosol emissions leads to a global annual mean equilibrium temperature response of 2.18 K. When aerosols are maximally abated only in the Industry and Powerplant sector, while other sectors stay with currently enforced regulations, the temperature response is 1.89 K. A maximum feasible abatement applied in the Domestic and Transport sector, while other sectors remain with the current legislation, leads to a temperature response of 1.39 K. Increasing GHG concentrations alone lead to a temperature response of 1.20 K. We also simulate 2–5% increases in global mean precipitation among all scenarios considered, and the hydrological sensitivity is found to be significantly higher for aerosols than for GHGs. Our study, thus highlights the huge potential impact of future air pollution mitigation strategies on climate and supports the need for urgent GHG emission reductions. GHG and aerosol forcings are not independent as both affect and are influenced by changes in the hydrological cycle. However, within the given range of changes in aerosol emissions and GHG concentrations considered in this study, the climate response towards increasing GHG concentrations and decreasing aerosols emissions is additive.     

Electron Transfer Between Sulfide and Humic Acid: Electrochemical Evaluation of the Reactivity of Sigma-Aldrich Humic Acid Toward Sulfide

Little is known of potential reactivity and redox properties of reduced dissolved organic matter (DOM), although DOM in anoxic environments, e.g., groundwater, peat soils, or lake sediments, can be expected to differ from DOM of oxidized environments. We therefore investigated the impact of electrochemical and wet chemical [hydrogen (H₂)/Pd catalyst] reduction in Sigma-Aldrich humic acid (HA) as a model DOM for high salinity, high ionic strength, or iron-rich systems on its reactivity toward sulfide. Mediated electrochemical measurement showed that the reactivity of HA toward sulfide decreased in the order non-reduced HA > electrochemically reduced (?0.1 V) HA > H₂/Pd-reduced HA > electrochemically reduced (?0.4 V) HA. Results indicated that measured initial values of electron-accepting capacities of HA had a strongly positive correlation with the sulfide transformation, except for the H₂/Pd treatment of HA. This latter treatment obviously changed HA structures and lead to a different reactivity toward sulfide, limiting a direct comparison to electrochemically reduced organic matter. Our result confirmed that reduced HA was still reactive toward sulfide, although to a lower extent compared with oxidized HA. Compared to electrochemical reduction, H₂/Pd pre-treatment of HA alters redox properties and reactivity of organic matter and may therefore lead to results that cannot be transferred to natural systems.     

Primary dolomite in the Late Triassic Travenanzes Formation,Dolomites, Northern Italy: Facies control and possible bacterial influence

In the late Carnian (Late Triassic), a carbonate‐clastic depositional system including a distal alluvial plain, flood basin and sabkha, tidal flat and shallow carbonate lagoon was established in the Dolomites (Northern Italy). The flood basin was a muddy supratidal environment where marine carbonates and continental siliciclastics interfingered. A dolomite phase made of sub‐micrometre euhedral crystals with a mosaic microstructure of nanometre‐scale domains was identified in stromatolitic laminae of the flood basin embedded in clay. This dolomite is interpreted here as primary and has a nearly stoichiometric composition, as opposed to younger early diagenetic (not primary) dolomite phases, which are commonly calcian. This primary dolomite was shielded from later diagenetic transformation by the clay. The stable isotopic composition of dolomite was analyzed along a depositional transect. The δ¹³C values range between ca ?6‰ and +4‰, with the most ¹³C‐depleted values in dolomites of the distal alluvial plain and flood basin, and the most ¹³C‐enriched in dolomites of the tidal flat and lagoon. Uniform δ¹⁸O values ranging between 0‰ and +3‰ were found in all sedimentary facies. It is hypothesized that the primary dolomite with mosaic microstructure nucleated on extracellular polymeric substances secreted by sulphate reducing bacteria. A multi‐step process involving sabkha and reflux dolomitization led to partial replacement and overgrowth of the primary dolomite, but replacement and overgrowth were facies‐dependent. Dolomites of the landward, clay‐rich portion of the sedimentary system were only moderately overgrown during late dolomitization steps, and partly retain an isotopic signature consistent with bacterial sulphate reduction with δ¹³C as low as ?6‰. In contrast, dolomites of the marine, clay‐free part of the system were probably transformed through sabkha and reflux diagenetic processes into calcian varieties, and exhibit δ¹³C values of ca +3‰. Major shifts of δ¹³C values strictly follow the lateral migration of facies and thus mark transgressions and regressions.     

Characterization of the Eva Verda basin aquifer (Saint Marcel, Aosta Valley, Italy) through geochemical and geostructural methods and analysis

The groundwater system of the Eva Verda basin (Saint Marcel Valley, southern side of the middle Aosta Valley, Italy) has many springs that can be used as sources for drinking water. This area is near the disused Servette mine, which can be a pollutant source (metals and sulfides) for the springs located downhill. Aquifer characterization was done using a multidisciplinary approach: geostructural, lithological, hydrogeological and geochemical. In particular, the geostructural analysis showed that the preferential water-flow direction is controlled by tectonics and that it has a trend along the slope toward the downhill springs. The mine drainage flow direction is in agreement with this trend and can pollute the springs. Chemical analysis revealed three water groups: (1) SO ₄ ^2- –Ca²⁺–Mg²⁺ rich water (mine drainage), (2) HCO ₃ ^- –SO ₄ ^2- –Ca²⁺ rich water and (3) HCO ₃ ^- –Ca²⁺ rich water (freshwater). The second group of water results from the different percentage mix between the first and the third waters. The low percentage of mine polluted water demonstrates that there is a high dilution and low pollution of waters that can be exploited for drinking.     

Bentho-planktonic evidence from the Austrian Alps for a decline in sea-surface carbonate production at the end of the Triassic

A high-resolution micropalaeontological study, combined with geochemical and sedimentological analyses was performed on the Tiefengraben, Schlossgraben and Eiberg sections (Austrian Alps) in order to characterize sea-surface carbonate production during the end-Triassic crisis. At the end-Rhaetian, the dominant calcareous nannofossil Prinsiosphaera triassica shows a decrease in abundance and size and this is correlated with a increase in δ¹⁸O and a gradual decline in δ¹³C_carb values. Simultaneously, benthic foraminiferal assemblages show a decrease in diversity and abundance of calcareous taxa and a dominance of infaunal agglutinated taxa. The smaller size of calcareous nannofossils disturbed the vertical export balance of the biological carbon pump towards the sea-bottom, resulting in changes in feeding strategies within the benthic foraminiferal assemblages from deposit feeders to detritus feeders and bacterial scavengers. These micropalaeontological data combined with geochemical proxies suggest that changes in seawater chemistry and/or cooling episodes might have occurred in the latest Triassic, leading to a marked decrease of carbonate production. This in turn culminated in the quasi-absence of calcareous nannofossils and benthic foraminifers in the latest Triassic. The aftermath (latest Triassic earliest Jurassic) was characterised by abundance peaks of “disaster” epifaunal agglutinated foraminifera Trochammina on the sea-floor. Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) paroxysmal activity, superimposed on a major worldwide regressive phase, is assumed to be responsible for a deterioration in marine palaeoenvironments. CAMP sulfuric emissions might have been the trigger for cooling episodes and seawater acidification leading to disturbance of the surface carbonate production at the very end-Triassic.     

Monitoring study of the mine pond reclamation of Mina Concepción, Iberian Pyrite Belt (Spain)

Mining of massive (Cu, Pb and Zn) sulphide bodies in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain) has generated a great number of abandoned waste deposits such as mine ponds. These represent large accumulations of reactive minerals and subsequently, emission sources of trace elements and formation of acid drainage. Even if they have been restored, monitoring studies are required to evaluate the corrective effects and how they may change over time. This work presents the results of a monitoring study carried out at Mine Concepción mine pond, based on mineralogical (XRD), geochemical (INAA, X-ray fluorescence, ICP-MS) and geophysical (electrical resistivity tomography) techniques. In it, a series of relevant parameters have been well delimited, such as the infilling thickness and its variation and, the position, geometry and absence of water leakages through the base of the mine pond. Additionally, the existence of an internal, remnant flow of acid waters that tends to come out through the pond dyke has been identified. Chemistry of these waters indicates that oxidation processes affecting the Mina Concepción mine tailings are generating acid drainage waters which could potentially release substantial amounts of trace elements to the river Odiel. Thus, giving that not complete sealing is accomplished by the restoration capping and rainfall water infiltrates into the pond materials, at least the sealing of the dyke through which leakages occur should be revised.     

Tepexpan Palaeoindian site, Basin of Mexico: multi-proxy evidence for environmental change during the late Pleistocene–late Holocene

The Tepexpan Palaeoindian skeleton was discovered in 1947 close to the former Lake Texcoco margin, in the Basin of Mexico. The find has been the object of considerable interest and discussion over the last 60 years regarding its real age and archaeological interpretation. Here we report new AMS radiocarbon dates associated with the sedimentary succession at Tepexpan with ages between 19,110 ± 90 and 612 ± 22 ¹⁴C years BP and a new uranium-series date for the skeleton with an age of 4700 ± 200 years BP that indicates a mid Holocene age. The sedimentary succession was studied in detail using: stable isotopes, diatoms, organic geochemistry and tephrochronology. The multi-proxy evidence suggests large changes around the margins of Lake Texcoco in terms of the balance between aquatic and terrestrial plants, C₃ and C₄ plants, saline, alkaline and freshwater conditions, volcanic activity, marginal reworking of lake sediments and input from the drainage basin through the late Pleistocene–late Holocene. These changes had large impacts on the prehistoric human populations living by the lake shores since the late Pleistocene in the Basin of Mexico.     

Detection of Flow Distortions and Systematic Errors in Sonic Anemometry Using the Planar Fit Method

We describe the coordinate transformations that can be used to convert the velocity components measured by a set of sonic anemometers with time-dependent tilt fluctuations into a single, time-independent coordinate system. By applying the planar fit method (PFM) to each anemometer dataset, it is possible, for planar flows, to locate the flow plane at each measurement point and compare its orientation with the topography. Installation on a ship is also considered. An application of this method to intercomparison data has led to the detection of an instrument error due to a misalignment between the assembly of the sonic transducers and the anemometer pedestal. If this error occurs, pedestal levelling does not guarantee that measurements are unbiased. A correction method is proposed and the results of two experiments are shown. Flow planarity at different levels and flow distortion caused by the mast are highlighted. The influence of the error on the evaluation of the Reynolds stresses using PFM or the double rotation method and the triple rotation method is discussed and the tilt corrected stresses calculated using the three methods compared.     

Bronze Age paleohydrography of the southern Venetian Plain

The Bronze Age paleohydrography of the distal Adige and Po alluvial plain (northeastern Italy) is notable for its relations with protohistoric human activities in this area. This paper regards the stratigraphy and petrography of the Saline–Cona alluvial ridge, upon which the Saline, Sarzano, and Cantarana Bronze Age sites lie, and the petrography of Fratta alluvial ridge, upon which the Frattesina complex (Bronze–Iron Age) lies. Sand analyses indicate the Po River as the source for sediments underlying the alluvial ridge that runs through Fratta Polesine, Rovigo, Sarzano, and Cona. Radiometric ages indicate that the branch of the Saline–Cona ridge was formed by the Po River between the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C. and the end of 2nd millennium B.C. This ridge represents the maximum northward expansion of the Po alluvial system, through the same area of coastal plain crossed by the Adige and Brenta paleochannels. This paleohydrographic setting implies that fluvial connections between the Central Po Plain settlements, the Venetian Plain and Alps were relatively less complex in the Early and Middle Bronze Age than in the Late Bronze Age, when the terminal reach of the Po River was separated by the Adige River by hundreds of km² of swampy terrain. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Tectonic and climatic control on the Late Messinian sedimentary evolution of the Nijar Basin (Betic Cordillera,Southern Spain)

The Late Messinian fill of the Nijar Basin (Betic Cordillera, southeastern Spain) mainly consists of clastic deposits of the Feos Formation that at basin margins rest unconformably above the primary evaporites of the Yesares Formation, the local equivalent of the Mediterranean Lower Gypsum. The Feos Fm. records the upward transition towards non‐marine environments before the abrupt return to fully marine conditions at the base of the Pliocene. The Feos Fm. is clearly two‐phase, with ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ members, which exhibit substantial differences in terms of facies, thickness, depositional trends and cyclical organization. These members record two distinct sedimentary and tectonic stages of Nijar Basin infilling. A high‐resolution, physical‐stratigraphic framework is proposed based on key beds and stratigraphic cyclicity and patterns that differ largely from those of most previously published studies. The predominant influence on stratigraphic cyclicity is interpreted to be precessionally driven climate changes, allowing their correlation to the Late Messinian astronomically calibrated chronostratigraphic framework. Detailed correlations suggest a phase of enhanced tectonic activity, possibly related to the Serrata‐Carboneras strike‐slip fault zone, during the first stage (‘lower’ member), resulting in a strongly articulated topography with structural lows and highs controlling sediment thickness and facies variation. Tectonic activity decreased during the second stage (‘upper’ member), which is characterized by (1) a progressively dampened and homogenized, (2) overall relative base‐level rise and (3) gradual establishment of hypohaline environments. Facies characteristics, overall stacking patterns and depositional trends of the Feos Fm. are analogous with uppermost Messinian successions of the Northern Apennines, Piedmont Basin and Calabria. Despite minor differences related to the local geodynamic setting, these basins experienced a common Late Messinian history that supports the development of a single, large Mediterranean water body characterized by high‐frequency, climatically‐driven changes in sediment flux and base‐level.