Cloud-radiation feedbacks in a general circulation model and their dependence on cloud modelling assumptions

The general circulation model (GCM) used in this study includes a prognostic cloud scheme and a rather detailed radiation scheme. In a preceding paper, we showed that this model was more sensitive to a global perturbation of the sea surface temperatures than most other models with similar physical parametrization. The experiments presented here show how this feature might depend on some of the cloud modelling assumptions. We have changed the temperature at which the water clouds are allowed to become ice clouds and analyzed separately the feedbacks associated with the variations of cloud cover and cloud radiative properties. We show that the feedback effect associated with cloud radiative properties is positive in one case and negative in the other. This can be explained by the elementary cloud radiative forcing and has implications concerning the use of the GCMs for climate sensitivity studies.     

Lateritic nickel deposits of Brazil

Many nickel deposits are known in Brazil, accounting for about 350 · 10⁶ tons of ore with an average of 1.5% Ni. All are of the lateritic type. These deposits are scattered throughout the country, being rarer in the Northeastern Region and in the South, below 25 °S latitude. They are mainly associated with mafic-ultramafic massifs of large dimensions and ultramafic alkaline complexes, and occur in climatic regions of contrasting seasons. The weathering profile developed over the fresh rock consists, from bottom to top, of the following horizons: altered rock, coarse saprolite, argillaceous saprolite, ferruginous saprolite and lateritic overburden. The thickness of each horizon varies from one deposit to another, the whole profile generally exceeding 20 m. The saprolitic horizons with inherited minerals (serpentine, chlorite) or neoformed minerals (smectites) constitute the silicated nickel ore and are thicker were climatic conditions are drier; the ferruginous upper horizons made up of iron oxide-hydroxides are more developed in more humid regions. In Brazil, the silicated ore generally prevails over the oxidized ore. The main Ni-bearing minerals are serpentine, smectite, garnierite and goethite. The lateritic nickel deposits of Brazil may be correlated with two erosion surfaces, corresponding to the Sul Americano (Lower Tertiary) and Velhas (Upper Tertiary) levelling cycles. The degree of dismantling of the higher and more ancient surface and the consequent development of the Velhas Surface control the position of the nickel accumulation in the landscape. Thus, the deposits may be found either in the lowlands or in the highlands, where they are always covered by a silcrete layer. The alteration profiles in the Brazilian lateritic nickel deposits are broadly similar to those described elsewhere in the world. However, they present two characteristic features: the silicated ore prevails over the oxidized ore, and a silicified layer covers the profies developed on the highlands.     

Das Karbon des Amazonas-Beckens

Summary This article is a brief résumé of the geology of the marine Upper Carboniferous beds (Itaituba series) of the Amazonian basin. The unfolded sediments cover a large area of the basin and are constituted of limestones, shales and sandstones. The macrofauna includes brachiopods, pelecypoda, corals, bryozoa, etc., from which the brachiopods are the better known by the present. The microfauna includes two genera of fusulinids:Millerella andFusulinella.According to the age as given by the fusulinids the sediments are Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous), and not Permian as it has been supposed by some authors. So, the correlation with the Andean (Bolivia and Peru) permian groups is no more valid. Correlation with Tarma Group (Upper Carboniferous from Peru) and with the marine carboniferous of the MaranhÃo-Piauí (Brazil) is possible but not very well established.     

Complexing capacity of the nutrient medium and its relation to inhibition of algal photosynthesis by copper

The toxic effect of copper on phytoplankton production is investigated in waters having different complexing capacities. It is demonstrated that a water’s complexing capacity does not guarantee that an equivalent amount of copper could be tolerated without adversely affecting algal production. Possible explanations for these findings are offered and discussed. It is deduced that ionic copper probably is already toxic to planktonic algae at concentrations of about 10^?10 mole/l.     

État actuel des données sur l'âge de la terre

Sans résumé     

Analyzing ice dynamics using Sentinel-1 data at the Solheimajoküll Glacier,Iceland

ABSTRACT

The climate in southern Iceland has warmed over the last 70 years, resulting in accelerated glacier dynamics at the Solheimajoküll glacier. In this study, we compare glacier terminus locations from 1973 to 2018, to changes in climate across the study area, and we derive ice-surface velocities (2015–2018) from satellite remote-sensing imagery (Sentinel-1) using the offset-tracking method. There have been two regional temperature trends in the study period: cooling (1973–1979) and warming (1980–2018). Our results indicate a time lag of about 20 years between the onset of glacier retreat (?53 m/year since 2000) and the inception of the warming period. Seasonally, the velocity time series suggest acceleration during the summer melt season since 2016, whereas glacier velocities during accumulation months were constant. The highest velocities were observed at high elevations where the ice-surface slope is the steepest. We tested several scenarios to assess the hydrological time response to glacier accelerations, with the highest correlations being found between one and 30 days after the velocity estimates. Monthly correlation analyses indicated inter-annual and intra-annual variability in the glacier dynamics. Additionally, we investigate the linkage between glacier velocities and meltwater outflow parameters as they provide useful information about internal processes in the glacier. Velocity estimates positively correlate with water level and negatively correlate with water conductivity between April and August. There is also a disruption in the correlation trend between water conductivity and ice velocity in June, potentially due to a seasonal release of geothermal water.     

The magnetic properties of solar surges

High resolution on- and off-band Hα filtergrams of disk solar surges obtained with the Vacuum Tower Telescope of the Sacramento Peak Observatory have been compared to magnetic data.

1. Surges constitute clusters of very fine dark (sometimes bright) filaments where each thread connects to an Ellerman bomb brightening. If the magnetic map reveals the existence of a satellite polarity as defined by Rust (1968), the bomb(s) lies over it.
2. Although a large fraction of surges is not associated with clearly detectable satellite polarities, events are strongly favored in regions of evolving magnetic features, characterized by dimensions of about 10 000 km and significant flux change over a period of less than a day. A flux change rate of 3 × 10¹⁵ Mx s^?1 has been measured along at least three homologous bomb-surge events in a satellite of region MW 18594. Surges appear to be related to rising flux of one polarity into a region of stronger opposite flux.
3. The trajectories of surges are matched by magnetic lines of force computed in the current-free approximation.

     

Groundwater and volcanoes: examples from the Azores archipelago

Groundwater at the Azores archipelago is a strategic resource for the freshwater supply. Freshwater, mineral and thermal water discharges occur in the archipelago, and especially at the Fogo and Furnas volcanoes (São Miguel). These discharges provide data for case studies of groundwater chemistry from volcanic monitoring due to the stable composition of the sampled waters. The mineral and thermal discharges are mainly of sodium bicarbonate types and present a large range of temperatures, from cold springs to waters at about 90 °C. Some boiling discharges have a sulfate-dominated composition, suggesting a steam-heating mechanism. Geochemical studies on these mineral and thermal waters began in the 19th century. Data gathered since these earlier studies provide a baseline for pH, temperature, CO₂ and major-element composition. Weekly measurements of pH and temperature also denote a rather stable behavior.