Satellite Monitoring of Siberian Wildfires and Their Effects: Features of 2019 Anomalies and Trends of 20-Year Changes

Doklady Earth Sciences - The features of anomalous Siberian wildfires in 2019 and trends of their changes during 2000–2019 are analyzed on the basis of satellite monitoring data. The average...     

Isotopic-geochemical characteristics of the lost city hydrothermal field

The isotopic (δD, δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and geochemical characteristics of hydrothermal solutions from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the material of brucite-carbonate chimneys at the Lost City hydrothermal field at 30°N, MAR, were examined to assay the role of the major factors controlling the genesis of the fluid and hydrothermal chimneys of the Lost City field. The values of δD and δ¹⁸O in fluid samples indicates that solutions at the Lost City field were produced during the serpentinization of basement ultramafic rocks at temperatures higher than 200°C and at relatively low fluid/rock ratios (<1). The active role of serpentinization processes in the genesis of the Lost City fluid also follows from the results of the electron-microscopic studying of the material of hydrothermal chimneys at this field. The isotopic (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and geochemical (Sr/Ca and REE) signatures indicate that, before its submarine discharging at the Lost City field, the fluid filtered through already cold altered outer zones of the Atlantis Massif and cooled via conductive heat loss. During this stage, the fluid could partly dissolve previously deposited carbonates in veins cutting serpentinite at the upper levels of the Atlantis Massif and the carbonate cement of sedimentary breccias underlying the hydrothermal chimneys. Because of this, the age of modern hydrothermal activity at the Lost City field can be much younger than 25 ka.     

EMIC Intercomparison Project (EMIP–CO2): comparative analysis of EMIC simulations of climate, and of equilibrium and transient responses to atmospheric CO2 doubling

An intercomparison of eight EMICs (Earth system Models of Intermediate Complexity) is carried out to investigate the variation and scatter in the results of simulating (1) the climate characteristics at the prescribed 280 ppm atmosphere CO₂ concentration, and (2) the equilibrium and transient responses to CO₂ doubling in the atmosphere. The results of the first part of this intercomparison suggest that EMICs are in reasonable agreement with the present-day observational data. The dispersion of the EMIC results by and large falls within the range of results of General Circulation Models (GCMs), which took part in the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 1 (CMIP1). Probable reasons for the observed discrepancies among the EMIC simulations of climate characteristics are analysed. A scenario with gradual increase in CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere (1% per year compounded) during the first 70 years followed by a stabilisation at the 560 ppm level during a period longer than 1,500 years is chosen for the second part of this intercomparison. It appears that the EMIC results for the equilibrium and transient responses to CO₂ doubling are within the range of the corresponding results of GCMs, which participated in the atmosphere-slab ocean model intercomparison project and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 2 (CMIP2). In particular EMICs show similar temperature and precipitation changes with comparable magnitudes and scatter across the models as found in the GCMs. The largest scatter in the simulated response of precipitation to CO₂ change occurs in the subtropics. Significant differences also appear in the magnitude of sea ice cover reduction. Each of the EMICs participating in the intercomparison exhibits a reduction of the strength of the thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic under CO₂ doubling, with the maximum decrease occurring between 100 and 300 years after the beginning of the transient experiment. After this transient reduction, whose minimum notably varies from model to model, the strength of the thermohaline circulation increases again in each model, slowly rising back to a new equilibrium.     

Unusual types of degassing from melts of peripheral magma chambers of “dormant” El’brus volcano, Russia: Geochemical and mineralogical features

In addition to traditional degassing of the melt in the subsurface magma chambers of the “dormant” El’brus volcano, alsodegassing through pores and microcracks that occur in the top of magma chambers has also been detected. It is proven by studies of compactness, porosity, and permeability of the rocks. The speeds at which gases (H, He, H₂S, CO₂, F, and Cl) pass through gneiss and volcanic rocks were estimated. Magma chambers on the ground surface are expressed in stable thermal anomalies revealed by night-time thermal sounding from an NOAA satellite. The presence of magma chambers at depths of 2–12 km was proven by magnetotelluric sounding [Sobisevich et al., 2003] and gravity studies. In addition to occasional “columns” of bright-white fluorescence above the thermal anomalies, aerosol “clouds” and hydrogen flows were detected by lidar and hydrogen surveying [Alekseev et al., 2007, 2009]. Observation at the same sites detected steam outbursts occurring periodically, the snow-ice cover thaws and the smell of hydrogen sulfide is felt. Geochemical characteristics of degassing were studied by snow sampling from up to 1 m deep pits. They were taken within contours of the thermal anomalies, above active fault zones, in the sites of bright-white fluorescence “columns,” and on a new fumarole locality. It is shown that the degassing of melt was accompanied by the gas transporting many elements (Li, B, Si, P, S, Ca, Zn, Pb, Mo, Ba, W, Hg, Ag, U, Th, I, Au, and Pt) in a fine-grained state (a few microns or possibly nanometers) with an active participation of F and Cl. Native platinum, chalcopyrite, halite, sylvite, barite, gypsum, zircon, opal, chlorinated organics, etc. were for the first time discovered in the Mt. El’brus area using electron microscope studies of solid residue from dehydrated snow samples. “Hidden” ore mineralization genetically related to degassing of melts enriched in ore elements may be supposedly found in paleo- and present-day areas of volcanic activity.     

Effect of including land-use driven radiative forcing of the surface albedo of land on climate response in the 16th–21st centuries

A change in ecosystem types, such as through natural-vegetation-agriculture conversion, alters the surface albedo and triggers attendant shortwave radiative forcing (RF). This paper describes numerical experiments performed using the climate model (CM) of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Russian Academy of Sciences, for the 16th–21st centuries; this model simulated the response to a change in the contents of greenhouse gases (tropospheric and stratospheric), sulfate aerosols, solar constant, as well as the response to change in surface albedo of land due to natural-vegetation-agriculture conversion. These forcing estimates relied on actual data until the late 20th century. In the 21st century, the agricultural area was specified according to scenarios of the Land Use Harmonization project and other anthropogenic impacts were specified using SRES scenarios. The change in the surface vegetation during conversion from natural vegetation to agriculture triggers a cooling RF in most regions except for those of natural semiarid vegetation. The global and annual average RF derived from the IAP RAS CM in late 20th century is ?0.11 W m^?2. Including the land-use driven RF in IAP RAS CM appreciably reconciled the model calculations to observations in this historical period. For instance, in addition to the net climate warming, IAP RAS CM predicted an annually average cooling and reduction in precipitation in the subtropics of Eurasia and North America and in Amazonia and central Africa, as well as a local maximum in annually average and summertime warming in East China. The land-use driven RF alters the sign in the dependence that the amplitude of the annual cycle of the near-surface atmospheric temperature has on the annually averaged temperature. One reason for the decrease in precipitation as a result of a change in albedo due to land use may be the suppression of the convective activity in the atmosphere in the warm period (throughout the year in the tropics) and the corresponding decrease in convective precipitation. In the 21st century, the effect that the land-use driven RF has on the climate response for scenarios of anthropogenic impact is generally small.