The 100-kyr ice-age cycle: internal oscillation or inclinational forcing?

The ice-age hypothesis of Muller and MacDonald (1995, 1997a, 1997b) has two parts: (a) The 100-kyr cycle does not owe its existence to Milankovitch forcing; and (b) variations in inclination of Earth's orbit (i.e., the orbit's angle with the solar system invariable plane) provide the mechanism sought. In support of the first proposition, Muller and MacDonald point to the paradox that the spectrum of oxygen isotope series from deep-sea sediments contains no power for two prominent eccentricity cycles, 125 and 400 kyr. In support of the second proposition, they offer a match between the SPECMAP record (Imbrie et al. 1984) and a plot of the amplitude of orbital inclination, shifted by 33 kyr. The hypothesis of Muller and MacDonald is rejected in both parts, although an influence of inclination forcing is not precluded entirely. The paradox of the missing eccentricity cycles (125 and 400 kyr) is explained by suppression of the two longer cycles, and enhancement of the one near 96 kyr, as a result of internal oscillation. A Muller–MacDonald machine for making the 100-kyr ice-age cycles, however conceived, would have to have a memory near 30 kyr to provide for phase shift between input and output. Precisely this amount of memory is sufficient to produce the needed oscillation in Milankovitch machine here applied; thus, there is no advantage, from the point of view of either necessity or simplicity, in replacing Milankovitch forcing, with its precise phasing (despite the fuzzy physics), with inclination forcing, and with its severe problems in phasing (and, thus far, no physics at all). Received: 10 June 1998 / Accepted: 2 February 1999     

Impact of ice sheet induced North Atlantic oscillation on East Asian summer monsoon during an interglacial 500,000?years ago

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 13, an interglacial about 500,000?years ago, is unique due to an exceptionally strong East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) occurring in a relatively cool climate with low greenhouse gas concentrations (GHG). This paper attempts to find one of the possible mechanisms for this seeming paradox. Simulations with an Earth System model LOVECLIM show that the presence of ice sheets over North America and Eurasia during MIS-13 induces a positive phase of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) like feature. The ocean having a longer memory than the atmosphere, the oceanic anomalies associated with NAO persists until summer. The signals of summer NAO are transmitted to East Asia to reinforce the monsoon there through the stationary waves excited at the Asian Jet entrance. The geopotential height shows clearly a mid-latitude wave train with positive anomalies over the eastern Mediterranean/Caspian Sea and the Okhotsk Sea and a negative anomaly over Lake Baikal. This reinforces the effect of the high-latitude wave train induced independently by the Eurasian ice sheet topography as shown in previous study. These features reinforce the Meiyu front and enhance the precipitation over East Asia. The results obtained from LOVECLIM are further confirmed by an atmospheric general circulation model, ARPEGE.     

Experimental determination of turbulent fluxes over the heterogeneous LITFASS area: Selected results from the LITFASS-98 experiment

Summary ?During the LITFASS-98 experiment, local flux measurements were performed over five different types of underlying surface (grass, barley, triticale, pine forest, water) in a heterogeneous landscape using eddy covariance and profile techniques over a three week time period in June, 1998. Estimates of the area-integrated sensible heat flux during daytime were obtained from continuous measurements with a large aperture scintillometer (LAS) along a 4.7 km path. The calculation of a mean diurnal cycle of the fluxes during the experiment revealed significant differences between the main land use classes. A land-use weighted average of the sensible heat flux was found to be in good agreement with the LAS based estimate, which in turn was supported by other regionally integrated flux estimates from budget considerations and aircraft measurements for a few case studies. The profiles of turbulent quantities measured along a 99 m-tower significantly deviate from “idealised” profiles measured over homogeneous terrain. Peculiarities in the profile structure could be attributed to the heterogeneity of the terrain, namely to the differences in the surface characteristics of the footprint areas for the different tower levels. Received June 6, 2001; revised January 15, 2002; accepted April 4, 2002     

The Baroclinic, Variable Eddy Viscosity Ekman Layer

The WKB method is used in conjunction with the variation of parameters technique to find an approximate analytical solution for Ekman layers with eddy viscosity and horizontal pressure gradient that are each variable with height from the surface. Behaviour of the solution is illustrated by comparing model output when several eddy viscosity and horizontal pressure gradient profiles are used. Cases where the pressure gradient decreases with height accentuate the super-geostrophic peak in the wind velocity profile, with decreasing eddy viscosity with height further enhancing this effect. Increasing pressure gradient with height reduces or eliminates the peak. The model output when using an eddy viscosity that has a low-level peak fits marine boundary-layer data taken during ASTEX better than the classic solution - the model giving greater low-level mixing which is seen in ASTEX data as well as in data from ERICA.     

Emissions of antifouling-biocides into the North Sea —an estimation

Summary Ship owners coat the wetted surface of vessels with toxic paints to prevent fouling which increases fuel consumption. The active biocides in the paints are mainly TBT (tributyl tin), copper, and organonitrogen compounds. The amounts of biocides emitted by the German fleet and the world fleet are estimated, and the theoretical concentrations of biocides in the North Sea caused by shipping are valididated by measurements of other authors.

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Schätzung der Immissionen von Antifouling-Bioziden in die Nordsee

Zusammenfassung Die vom Seewasser benetzte Außenhaut von Schiffen wird mit giftigen Farben beschichtet. Damit verhindert man die Besiedelung durch Organismen, das fouling, das den Widerstand der Schiffe und damit den Brennstoffverbrauch steigert. Die aktiven Biozide der Farben bestehen hauptsächlich aus TBT (Tributyl-Zinn), Kupfer und Organo-Stickstoff-Verbindungen (S-Triazine). Für die deutsche Flotte und die Weltflotte werden Mengen der Biozide überschläglich berechnet. Außerdem wird die theoretische Konzentration der emitierten Biozide in der Nordsee vom Schiffsverkehr abgeleitet und mit Messungen anderer Autoren verglichen.

     

Tectonically controlled fluid flow and water-assisted melting in the middle crust: An example from the Central Alps

Melting triggered by influx of a free aqueous fluid in the continental crust has commonly been inferred, but the source of water in such contexts remains a matter of debate. We focus on the Tertiary migmatites in the Southern Steep Belt of the Central Alps (Switzerland) to discuss the petrology, structures and geodynamic setting of water-assisted melting. These migmatites comprise various structural types (e.g. metatexites, diatexites, melt in shear zones), which reflect variable leucosome fractions. The melting event itself as well as the variable melt fractions are related to the amount of aqueous fluids. At a given P and T, melt-fractions in rocks of minimum melt composition correlate with the amount of infiltrated aqueous fluids. In more granodioritic systems the water distributes between melt and newly crystallizing hydrous phases such as amphibole, such that the melt fraction correlates with the contents of H₂O, Al, and Ca in the system. Phase-equilibrium modelling indicates that the stabilization of amphibole leads to slightly lower melt fractions than in a granitic system at the same P, T and bulk water content. Phase-equilibrium models further indicate that in the Alpine migmatite belt: (1) several wt.% water (fluid:rock ratio of  1:30) are necessary to produce the inferred melt fraction; (2) the activity of H₂O in the fluid is high; and (3) spatially associated metapelites are unlikely as a source for the required aqueous fluids.

We present a tectonic scenario for the southern margin of the Central Alps, to which these migmatites are confined, and we propose that water was produced from dehydration reactions in metapelites in the Southern Alps. We model fluid production rates at the time of melting and demonstrate that the resulting fluid flow pattern is mainly controlled by the differences in permeability between the fluid source region and melting region. The proposed model requires strong gradients in temperature and permeability for the two tectonic blocks. This is consistent with the scenario involving indenter tectonics at the boundary between the Central and the Southern Alps in Oligocene times.     

From subduction to collision: Thermal overprint of HP/LT meta-sediments in the north-eastern Lepontine Dome (Swiss Alps) and consequences regarding the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Alpine orogenic wedge

The Cenozoic-age metamorphic structure of the Alps consists of a throughgoing pressure-dominated belt (blueschists and eclogites) that strikes parallel to the orogen and was later truncated by two thermal domes characterised by Barrow-type metamorphism (Lepontine dome and Tauern window). This study documents for the first time that relics of Fe-Mg carpholite occur also within meta-sedimentary units that are part of the north-eastern Lepontine structural and metamorphic dome, where so far exclusively Barrovian assemblages were found. They occur in meta-sediments of both Valais Oceanderived Lower Penninic Bündnerschiefer and structurally lower Europe-derived Sub-Penninic cover nappes and slices. These high-pressure units were subsequently overprinted by a thermal event, as is documented by the growth of new minerals typical for Barrovian metamorphism.We present evidence for a two-stage metamorphic evolution in the northern part of the Lepontine dome: (1) Early subduction-related syn-D1 (Safien phase) HP/LT metamorphism under blueschist facies conditions (350–400 °C and 1.2–1.4 GPa) was immediately followed by “cold” isothermal (or cooling) decompression during D2 nappe-stacking (Ferrera phase). (2) Collisionrelated Barrovian overprint (500–570 °C and 0.5–0.8 GPa) postdates the D3 nappe-refolding event (Domleschg phase) and represents a late heating pulse, separated by D2 and D3 from the D1 high-pressure event. It occurred before and/or during the initial stages of D4 (Chiéra phase) representing a second nappe-refolding event.In discussing possible heat sources for the late Barrow-type heating pulse it is argued that heat release from radioactive decay of accreted material may play an important role in contributing much to heat production. Based on the field evidence, we conclude that heat transfer was essentially conductive during these latest stages of the thermal evolution.     

Inferring protoliths of high-grade metamorphic gneisses of the Erzgebirge using zirconology,geochemistry and comparison with lower-grade rocks from Lusatia (Saxothuringia,Germany)

Protoliths of highly metamorphosed gneisses from the Erzgebirge are deduced from the morphology, age and chemistry of zircons as well as from whole rock geochemistry and are compared with lower-grade rocks of Lusatia. Gneisses with similar structural appearance and/or geochemical pattern may have quite different protoliths. The oldest rocks in the Erzgebirge are paragneisses representing meta-greywackes and meta-conglomerates. The youngest group of zircon of meta-greywackes that did not undergo Pb loss represents the youngest igneous component for source rocks (about 575 Ma). Similar ages and zircon morphology reflect the subordinate formation of new zircon grains or only zircon rims in the augengneiss from Bärenstein and Wolkenstein, which probably represent metamorphic equivalents to Lower Cambrian two-mica granodiorites from Lusatia. Bulk rock chemistry, intense fracturing and high U and Th concentrations of zircons suggest deformation-induced and fluid-enhanced recrystallisation of zircon grains. Temperatures during tectonic overprinting—too low to reset zircon ages—indicate mid- or upper crustal levels for shearing recorded in these augengneisses. Lower Cambrian (~540 Ma) granodiorites are widespread in Lusatia but are exclusively represented by the Freiberg gneiss dome in the Eastern Erzgebirge. Ordovician protolith ages were recorded by zircons from the augengneisses of the Reitzenhain–Catherine dome and the Schwarzenberg dome (Western Erzgebirge) documenting significant regional differences between the eastern and the western Erzgebirge (~540 vs. ~490 Ma). In the Western Erzgebirge, most meta-volcanic rocks (muscovite gneisses) and meta-granites (mainly red augengneisses) yield Ordovician zircon ages, whereas in the Eastern part, similar rocks mainly recorded Lower Cambrian protolith ages. Zircon overprinting was highest within discrete tectonic zones where the combination of fluid infiltration and deformation induced variable degrees of recrystallisation and formation of a new augengneiss structure. Variable degrees of Pb loss caused age shifts that do not correspond to changes in zircon morphology but may be associated with U and Th enrichments. Major changes in bulk rock composition appear to be restricted to discrete zones and to (U)HP nappes, whereas gneisses with a MP–MT metamorphic overprint basically show no geochemical modifications.     

Tibet forcing of mid-Pleistocene synchronous enhancement of East Asian winter and summer monsoons revealed by Chinese loess record

The mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) of the global climate system, marked by a shift of previously dominant 41-ka cycles to lately dominant 100-ka cycles roughly in the mid-Pleistocene, is one of the fundamental enigma in the Quaternary climate evolution. The process and origin of the MPT remain of persistent interest and conjecture. Here we present high-resolution astronomically tuned magnetic susceptibility (MS) and grain‐size records from a complete loess–paleosol sequence at Chaona on the central Chinese Loess Plateau. These two proxies are well-known sensitive indicators to the East Asian summer and winter monsoons, respectively. The records reveal a remarkable two-step simultaneous enhancement of the East Asian summer and winter monsoons at 0.9 Ma and 0.64 Ma, respectively, accompanied with an onset of a clear 100-ka cycle at 0.9 Ma and of a final, predominant 100-ka cycle starting at 0.64 Ma. The mid-Pleistocene stepwise rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau could be the mechanism driving the simultaneous enhancement of East Asian summer and winter monsoons and the shift of the periodicities during the MPT by complex positive feedbacks.