An investigation of the small ice cap instability in the Southern Hemisphere with a coupled atmosphere-sea ice-ocean-terrestrial ice model

 A simple climate model has been developed to investigate the existence of the small ice cap instability in the Southern Hemisphere. The model consists of four coupled components: an atmospheric energy balance model, a thermodynamic snow-sea ice model, an oceanic mixed layer model and a terrestrial ice model. Results from a series of experiments involving different degrees of coupling in the model show that the instability appears only in those cases when an explicit representation of the Antarctic ice sheet is not included in the model. In order to determine which physical processes in the ice sheet model lead to a stabilization of the system we have conducted several sensitivity experiments in each of which a given ice sheet process has been removed from the control formulation of the model. Results from these experiments suggest that the feedback between the elevation of the ice sheet and the snow accumulation-ice ablation balance is responsible for the disappearance of the small ice cap instability in our simulation. In the model, the mass balance of the ice sheet depends on the air temperature at sea level corrected for altitude and it is, therefore, a function of surface elevation. This altitude-mass balance feedback effectively decouples the location of the ice edge from any specific sea level isotherm, thus decreasing the model sensitivity to the albedo-temperature feedback, which is responsible for the appearance of the instability. It is also shown that the elevation-radiative cooling feedback tends to stabilize the ice sheet, although its effect does not seem to be strong enough to remove the instability. Another interesting result is that for those simulations which include the terrestrial ice model with elevation-dependent surface mass balance, hysteresis is exhibited, where for a given level of external forcing, two stable solutions with different, non-zero ice-sheet volume and area and different air and ocean temperature fields occur. However, no unstable transition between the two solutions is ever observed. Our results suggest that the small ice cap instability mechanism could be unsuitable for explaining the inception of glaciation in Antarctica. Received: 14 April 1997 / Accepted: 22 October 1997     

Pyrite paragenesis and multiple sulfur isotope distribution in late Archean and early Paleoproterozoic Hamersley Basin sediments

The sulfur isotope record in late Archean and early Paleoproterozoic rocks is of considerable importance because it provides evidence for changes in early Earth atmospheric oxygen levels and potentially constrains the origin and relative impact of various microbial metabolisms during the transition from an anoxic to oxic atmosphere. Mass independently fractionated (MIF) sulfur isotopes reveal late Archean and early Paleoproterozoic sulfur sources in different pyrite morphologies in Western Australia's Hamersley Basin. Multiple sulfur isotope values in late Archean pyrite vary according to morphology. Fine grained pyrite has positive sulfur MIF, indicating a reduced elemental sulfur source, whereas pyrite nodules have negative sulfur MIF, potentially derived from soluble sulfate via microbial sulfate reduction. The Hamersley Basin δ³⁴S–Δ³³S record suggests that the extent of oxygenation of the surface ocean fluctuated through the Late Archean from at least 2.6 Ga, more than 150 million yr before the Great Oxidation Event. In the early Paleoproterozoic, there is less distinction between pyrite morphologies with respect to sulfur isotope fractionation, and pyrite from the Brockman Iron Formation trends toward modern sulfur isotope values. An important exception to this is the strong negative MIF recorded in layer parallel pyrite in Paleoproterozoic carbonate facies iron formation. This may suggest that deeper water hydrothermal environments remained anoxic while shallower water environments became more oxidised by the early Paleoproterozoic. The results of the current study indicate that sulfide paragenesis is highly significant when investigating Archean and early Paleoproterozoic multiple sulfur isotope compositions and sulfur sources.     

A multi-proxy approach for revealing recent climatic changes in the Russian Altai

For the first time we present a multi-proxy data set for the Russian Altai, consisting of Siberian larch tree-ring width (TRW), latewood density (MXD), δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O in cellulose chronologies obtained for the period 1779–2007 and cell wall thickness (CWT) for 1900–2008. All of these parameters agree well between each other in the high-frequency variability, while the low-frequency climate information shows systematic differences. The correlation analysis with temperature and precipitation data from the closest weather station and gridded data revealed that annual TRW, MXD, CWT, and δ¹³C data contain a strong summer temperature signal, while δ¹⁸O in cellulose represents a mixed summer and winter temperature and precipitation signal. The temperature and precipitation reconstructions from the Belukha ice core and Teletskoe lake sediments were used to investigate the correspondence of different independent proxies. Low frequency patterns in TRW and δ¹³C chronologies are consistent with temperature reconstructions from nearby Belukha ice core and Teletskoe lake sediments showing a pronounced warming trend in the last century. Their combination could be used for the regional temperature reconstruction. The long-term δ¹⁸O trend agrees with the precipitation reconstruction from the Teletskoe lake sediment indicating more humid conditions during the twentieth century. Therefore, these two proxies could be combined for the precipitation reconstruction.     

Search for variability in hydrogen-poor stars

The evolutionary status of hydrogen-poor stars is analyzed.Photoelectric observations of six objects are reported as a first step of a long-term project devoted to search for variability of a large sample of hydrogen-poor stars.The observed stars show phenomena of microvariability with an amplitude of the order of 0^m. 1 or less.Two extreme helium stars have been examined: a period in the range of 0^d.162-0^d.164 has been found for BD+ 10⁰2179, andP=0^d.1079962 for BD+13⁰3324.The mass-losing O subdwarf (sdO) BD+37⁰ 443 presents short-term fluctuations with a time-scale of several minutes and long-term variations on a scale of months. The standard sdO BD+75⁰325 is probably non-variable, although light variations of very small amplitude (m0.03) with a time-scale of about 1 hr might be present. The high gravity sdO BD+25⁰4655, which is very close to the white dwarf stage, also presents variability on a time-scale of about 13 minutes, and might be an analog of the recently discovered pulsating sdO, or hot white dwarf, PG 1159-035.The variability of the intermediate helium star HD 37776 is finally confirmed.     

Discrete element modelling of fragmentable geomaterials with size dependent strength

This paper presents the application of a discrete element technique to the analysis of the dynamic indentation of either a purely brittle or a brittle viscoplastic geomaterial which can experience fragmentation resulting in fragments with size dependent strength characteristics.     

Potential Salinity and Temperature Futures for the Chesapeake Bay Using a Statistical Downscaling Spatial Disaggregation Framework

Estuaries are productive and ecologically important ecosystems, incorporating environmental drivers from watersheds, rivers, and the coastal ocean. Climate change has potential to modify the physical properties of estuaries, with impacts on resident organisms. However, projections from general circulation models (GCMs) are generally too coarse to resolve important estuarine processes. Here, we statistically downscaled near-surface air temperature and precipitation projections to the scale of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and estuary. These variables were linked to Susquehanna River streamflow using a water balance model and finally to spatially resolved Chesapeake Bay surface temperature and salinity using statistical model trees. The low computational cost of this approach allowed rapid assessment of projected changes from four GCMs spanning a range of potential futures under a high CO₂ emission scenario, for four different downscaling methods. Choice of GCM contributed strongly to the spread in projections, but choice of downscaling method was also influential in the warmest models. Models projected a ~2–5.5 °C increase in surface water temperatures in the Chesapeake Bay by the end of the century. Projections of salinity were more uncertain and spatially complex. Models showing increases in winter-spring streamflow generated freshening in the Upper Bay and tributaries, while models with decreased streamflow produced salinity increases. Changes to the Chesapeake Bay environment have implications for fish and invertebrate habitats, as well as migration, spawning phenology, recruitment, and occurrence of pathogens. Our results underline a potentially expanded role of statistical downscaling to complement dynamical approaches in assessing climate change impacts in dynamically challenging estuaries.     

Results of seismological observations in the western Kaliningrad region and in the Baltic Sea water area

In 2006–2007, researchers of the IO RAS conducted seismological observations in the Baltic Sea and western Kaliningrad region with the use of ocean-bottom and land-based autonomous seismic stations. According to maps of general seismic zoning of the territory of Russia, the Kaliningrad region is aseismic. However, a series of seismic phenomena with magnitudes of about 5 and sources located near the Bay of Gdansk coast occurred here in September 2004. The total duration of the IO RAS seismological observations in five areas of the region under investigation was more than 200 days. The analysis of seismic records of the IO RAS network located sources of two local weak earthquakes with magnitudes M _L = 3.4–3.5, which indicates that the seismic process in the western part of the Kaliningrad region continues and the region is far from being seismically stable.     

Modeling the dynamics of the block structure and seismicity of the Caucasus

Based on the morphostructural zoning scheme of the Caucasus, the block structure reflecting the real fault geometry and the block formation of the region is constructed. Several dozens of numerical experiments are conducted for simulating the dynamics of the block structure and the arising seismicity. The modeling relies on the following principles. It is assumed that the structure is composed of perfectly rigid blocks separated by infinitely thin fault planes. On the fault planes and on the blocks' bottoms, the blocks viscoelastically interact with each other and with the underlying medium. At each time instant, the translational displacements and rotations of the blocks are calculated from the condition of the quasi-static equilibrium of the entire block structure. The earthquakes occur in accordance with the dry friction model at the time instants when within a certain segment of the fault the stress-to-pressure ratio exceeds the given threshold. The modeling yields the synthetic catalog of the Caucasian earthquakes the spatial distribution of which reflects a set of characteristic features of the real seismicity. The similarity is observed in the magnitude–frequency diagrams of the synthetic and real seismicity. The comparison of the positions of the epicenters of the strong synthetic earthquakes with the results of recognizing the highly seismically active areas in the Caucasus demonstrates the presence of such epicenters in a few highly active areas where, according to the observations, strong earthquakes have not occurred to date.     

Geochemical Features of Cupriferous Sandstones in the Orenburg Area of the Ural Region

The new geochemical data obtained of cupriferous sandstones of the Orenburg area of the Ural region show that the Permian host stratum could have served as the source of rare-earth elements and other microelements for the ore-forming fluids. They confirm the possibility of using a convection model to explain the genesis of the copper ores studied. This model indicates the likely multistage development of mineralization to significant depths, like in the Manto deposits in Chili. Consequently, the Permian cupriferous sandstones of the southwestern area of the Ural region can be considered a very promising source of raw material for the development of copper industry in the area.

     

Generalized inverses of nonlinear mappings and the nonlinear geodetic datum problem

Motivated by the existing theory of the geometric characteristics of linear generalized inverses of linear mappings, an attempt is made to establish a corresponding mathematical theory for nonlinear generalized inverses of nonlinear mappings in finite- dimensional spaces. The theory relies on the concept of fiberings consisting of disjoint manifolds (fibers) in which the domain and range spaces of the mappings are partitioned. Fiberings replace the quotient spaces generated by some characteristic subspaces in the linear case. In addition to the simple generalized inverse, the minimum-distance and the x ₀-nearest generalized inverse are introduced and characterized, in analogy with the least-squares and the minimum-norm generalized inverses of the linear case. The theory is specialized to the geodetic mapping from network coordinates to observables and the nonlinear transformations (Baarda's S-transformations) between different solutions are defined with the help of transformation parameters obtained from the solution of nonlinear equations. In particular, the transformations from any solution to an x ₀-nearest solution (corresponding to Meissl's inner solution) are given for two- and three-dimensional networks for both the similarity and the rigid transformation case. Finally the nonlinear theory is specialized to the linear case with the help of the singular-value decomposition and algebraic expressions with specific geometric meaning are given for all possible types of generalized inverses. Received: 11 April 1996 / Accepted: 19 April 1997