An unsteady wind-driven ocean circulation model

This model of a continuously stratified ocean, consisting of surface Ekman and thermal layers and a deep abyssal region, is driven by an unsteady surface wind stress. The model yields a nonlinear planetary wave equation for the surface temperature which is solved by the method of characteristics. Horizontal distributions of the surface temperature, the heat content and the potential energy are computed. For a model zonal wind stress relevant to the North Atlantic, a parameter sensitivity study is made.Long time scale observations of the heat content in the North Atlantic north of 45°N show that periods of heating and cooling of a few decades duration frequently occur. Using a zonal wind stress consisting of the superposition of a mean and two time harmonic components, secular variations in the surface temperature field manifest themselves as a beat period, provided the time harmonic frequencies are close together. Finally, to investigate the effects on the circulation produced by the changing intensity of the westerly winds, numerical results are presented for the case when the wind stress distribution oscillates in the north-south direction with time. Results from the study show that the heating and cooling periods of a few decades duration in the North Atlantic can be reproduced.     

Dust in jupiter''s magnetosphere: Origin of the ring

A model for the production of the Jovian ring is proposed. The ‘visible’ ring particles are micron-sized and produced by erosive collisions between an assumed population of km-sized parent bodies and sub-micron sized magnetospheric dust particles. These small dust particles are ejected by volcanoes from Io. The observed topology of the ring is described quite well with the theory, and properties of the parent bodies are deduced.     

Photometry of 433 Eros from 0.65 to 2.2 μm

Lightcurves of 433 Eros are reported for 11 bandpasses ranging from 0.65 to 2.2 μm in wavelength. The relative spectral reflectance, R(λ), was not seen to vary during our observations. Eros has R(1.6 μm) = 1.5 ± 0.1 and R(2.2 μm) = 1.7 ± 0.1, where R(λ) is the spectral reflectance scaled to unity at λ = 0.56 μm. This spectral reflectance is suggestive of a mixture of silicates and material with high infrared reflectance, perhaps a metallic phase such as meteoritic “iron”.     

Atmospheric Measurements of HONO by Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

Ambient gas phase nitrous acid (HONO) has been measured by Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy with sub-ppbv detection limits. An R-branch line in the 1263.4 cm^–1 ₃ band was found tobe free of interference and suitable for ambient HONO measurements. Nitrous acid was measured during the night and early morning at an urban site in Toronto, Canada, during the summer of 1998. Average mixing ratios, integrated over 30 minutes, ranged from below the minimum detection limit of 300 pptv to 1.9 ppbv, with the highest concentrations observed during the early morning hours. During the night of 19 June 1998, the concentration of HONO increased by as much as 0.5 ppbv/hr. The usual decrease in HONO after sunrise was delayed by a few hours, possibly due to a combination of an increase in the production rate of HONO with rush hour, and attenuation of the early morning light by high NO₂ within the aerosol fog/haze.     

Two regimes of the Arctic's circulation from ocean models with ice and contaminants

A two-dimensional barotropic, coupled, ocean-ice model with a space resolution of 55.5 km and driven by atmospheric forces, river run-off, and sea-level slope between the Pacific and the Arctic Oceans, has been used to simulate the vertically averaged currents and ice drift in the Arctic Ocean. Results from 43 years of numerical simulations of water and ice motions demonstrate that two wind-driven circulation regimes are possible in the Arctic, a cyclonic and an anti-cyclonic circulation. These two regimes appear to alternate at 5-7 year intervals with the 10-15 year period. It is important to pollution studies to understand which circulation regime prevails at any time. It is anticipated that 1995 is a year with a cyclonic regime, and during this cyclonic phase and possibly during past cyclonic regimes as well, pollutants may reach the Alaskan shelf. The regime shifts demonstrated in this paper are fundamentally important to understanding the Arctic's general circulation and particularly important for estimating pollution transport.     

Assessing herbicide concentrations in the saturated and unsaturated zone of a Chalk aquifer in southern England

The behavior of the herbicides isoproturon (IPU) and chlortoluron (CTU) in ground water and shallow unsaturated zone sediments were evaluated at a site situated on the Chalk in southern England. Concentrations of IPU in ground water samples varied from < 0.05 to 0.23 microgram/L over a five-year period of monitoring, and were found to correlate with application of the pesticide. Concentrations of pesticides in ground water samples collected during periods of rising water table were significantly higher than pumped samples and suggest that rapidly infiltrating recharge water contains higher herbicide concentrations than the native ground water. Significant variations in herbicide concentrations were observed over a three-month period in ground water samples collected by an automated system, with concentrations of IPU ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 microgram/L, and concentrations of a recent application of CTU ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 microgram/L. Different extraction methods were used to assess pore water concentrations of herbicides in the unsaturated zone, and samples were analyzed by standard HPLC analysis and immunoassay (ELISA) methods. These data indicated highly variable concentrations of herbicide ranging from 4 to 200 g/ha for HPLC and 0.01 to 0.04 g/ha for ELISA, but indicate a general pattern of decreasing concentrations with depth. The results of this study indicate that transport of IPU and CTU through the unsaturated zone to shallow ground water occurs and that this transport increases immediately following herbicide application. Measured concentrations of herbicides are generally lower than specified by the European Union Drinking Water Directive, but are observed to spike above this limit. These results imply that, while delivery of pesticides to ground water can occur as a result of normal agricultural practices, the impact on potable supplies is likely to be negligible due to the potential for degradation during the relatively long travel time through the unsaturated zone and high degree of dilution that occurs within the aquifer. As a result of the wide variation in concentrations detected by different techniques, it is suggested that for future site investigations more than one sampling strategy be employed to characterize the occurrence of pesticide residues and elucidate the transport mechanisms.     

Experimental hearths and the thermal alteration of Caliche on the Southern High Plains

Throughout the Holocene, caliche has been a ubiquitous technological resource for the people of the Southern High Plains. Archaeological sites on the Southern High Plains often contain thermal features that appear to utilize caliche nodules in various cultural processes. These processes usually involve some degree of thermal dynamic alteration to the caliche, identified in the archaeological record as fire‐scorched or blackened nodules. Previous studies of the pyrodynamic properties of caliche have focused on quantification of color and fracture patterns within a laboratory setting, without direct involvement of cultural processes or problems associated with thermal features. Thermal alteration variables of caliche are examined from an actualistic perspective, utilizing previously excavated basin feature geometry and local caliche outcrops. Results indicate that sustained, intense heating of caliche (above 204°C) causes significant, but variable, structural transformations at the specimen level. The experimental use of shallow basin hearths demonstrates that hearth structures were easily capable of achieving and sustaining temperatures that would result in the physical alteration of individual caliche nodules, defined here as hearthstones. The broader implications of this study suggest that the interpretation of archaeological hearthstone assemblages should reflect variability, as observed during this experiment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

State-of-the-Practice Review of In Situ Thermal Technologies

In situ thermal-based soil and aquifer remediation technologies (e.g., electrical resistance heating [ERH], conductive heating, and steam-based heating) have undergone rapid development and application in recent years. These thermal technologies offer the promise of more rapid and thorough treatment of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) source zones; however, their field-scale application has not been well documented in the technical literature. A state-of-the-practice review of the application of these technologies was conducted in this study. Available documents from 182 applications were reviewed, which included 87 ERH, 46 steam-based heating, 26 conductive heating, and 23 other heating technology applications conducted between 1988 and 2007. Approximately 90% of the 182 applications were implemented after 1995 and about half since 2000. More specifically, this review identified the geologic settings in which these technologies were applied, chemicals treated, design parameters, operating conditions, and performance metrics. The results of this study are summarized in a table linking this information to five generalized geologic scenarios. Practitioners considering thermal technologies for their site can identify the geologic scenario that most closely resembles their site and then can quickly see which technologies have been applied in that setting, the designs employed, operating conditions, and the performance achieved.