Deformation-induced polymorphic transformation: experimental deformation of kyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite

Torsion experiments were performed on the Al₂SiO₅ polymorphs in the sillimanite stability field to determine basic rheological characteristics and the effect of deformation on polymorphic transformation. The experiments resulted in extensive transformation of andalusite and kyanite to sillimanite. No transformation occurred during the hot-press (no deformation) stage of sample preparation, which was carried out at similar P–T conditions and duration as the torsion experiments. Experiments were conducted on fine-grained (< 15 µm) aggregates of natural andalusite, kyanite and sillimanite at 1250 °C, 300 MPa, and a constant shear strain rate of 2 × 10^− 4/s to a maximum shear strain of 400%. Electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis of the experiments revealed development of lattice-preferred orientations, with alignment of sillimanite and andalusite [001] slightly oblique to the shear plane. The kyanite experiment could not be analyzed using EBSD because of near complete transformation to sillimanite. Very little strain ( 30%) is required to produce widespread transformation in kyanite and andalusite. Polymorphic transformation in andalusite and kyanite experiments occurred primarily along 500 µm wide shear bands oriented slightly oblique and antithetic to the shear plane and dominated by sub-µm (100–150 nm) fibrolitic sillimanite. Shear bands are observed across the entire strain field preserved in the torsion samples. Scanning transmission electron microscope imaging shows evidence for transformation away from shear bands; e.g. fibrolitic rims on relict andalusite or kyanite. Relict grains typically have an asymmetry that is consistent with shear direction. These experimental results show that sillimanite is by far the weakest of the polymorphs, but no distinction can yet be made on the relative strengths of kyanite and andalusite. These observations also suggest that attaining high bulk strain energy in strong materials such as the Al₂SiO₅ polymorphs is not necessary for triggering transformation. Strain energy is concentrated along grain boundaries, and transformation occurs by a dynamic recrystallization type process. These experiments also illustrate the importance of grain-size sensitive creep at high strains in a system with simultaneous reaction and deformation.     

ENSEMBLES-based assessment of regional climate effects in Luxembourg and their impact on vegetation

Projected future regional climate changes in Luxembourg are assessed based on a six-member ensemble of regional climate models (RCM) from the ENSEMBLES project. The key aspects are projected changes in air temperature and their impacts on vegetation. Up to now, there have been only few assessments of future climate conditions for Luxembourg. As agriculture is the dominant land use in Luxembourg, possible effects on crops and vegetation in general are highly relevant. Different RCMs at 25 km spatial and a daily temporal resolution, ranging from 1961 to 2100 based on the SRES A1B emission scenario are used. To reduce systematic biases in the RCM-derived time series, a bias correction is applied. Multi-model annual mean temperatures are projected to increase by 3.1 °C between the reference time span (1961 to 1990) and the far future (2069 to 2098). Clear change signals are found in seasonal bivariate frequency distributions of air temperature and precipitation. Derived impacts are an elongation of the thermal vegetation period by 6.2 days per decade due to an earlier onset in spring; growing degree day sums show a substantial increase leading to potentially better growth conditions; the earlier onset of the vegetation period causes an increase in late frost risk, especially in the near future (2021 to 2050) projections compared to the reference period.     

The first multi-model ensemble of regional climate simulations at kilometer-scale resolution part 2: historical and future simulations of precipitation

This paper presents the first multi-model ensemble of 10-year, “convection-permitting” kilometer-scale regional climate model (RCM) scenario simulations downscaled from selected CMIP5 GCM projections for historical and end of century time slices. The technique is to first downscale the CMIP5 GCM projections to an intermediate 12–15 km resolution grid using RCMs, and then use these fields to downscale further to the kilometer scale. The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the representation of the precipitation characteristics and their projected changes over the greater Alpine domain within a Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment Flagship Pilot Study and the European Climate Prediction system project, tasked with investigating convective processes at the kilometer scale. An ensemble of 12 simulations performed by different research groups around Europe is analyzed. The simulations are evaluated through comparison with high resolution observations while the complementary ensemble of 12 km resolution driving models is used as a benchmark to evaluate the added value of the convection-permitting ensemble. The results show that the kilometer-scale ensemble is able to improve the representation of fine scale details of mean daily, wet-day/hour frequency, wet-day/hour intensity and heavy precipitation on a seasonal scale, reducing uncertainty over some regions. It also improves the representation of the summer diurnal cycle, showing more realistic onset and peak of convection. The kilometer-scale ensemble refines and enhances the projected patterns of change from the coarser resolution simulations and even modifies the sign of the precipitation intensity change and heavy precipitation over some regions. The convection permitting simulations also show larger changes for all indices over the diurnal cycle, also suggesting a change in the duration of convection over some regions. A larger positive change of frequency of heavy to severe precipitation is found. The results are encouraging towards the use of convection-permitting model ensembles to produce robust assessments of the local impacts of future climate change.

     

Long length scales of element transport during reaction texture development in orthoamphibole-cordierite gneiss: Thor-Odin dome,British Columbia,Canada

First-order factors controlling the textural and chemical evolution of metamorphic rocks are bulk composition and pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) path. Although it is common to assume that major element bulk composition does not change during regional metamorphism, rocks with reaction textures such as corona structures record evidence for major changes in effective bulk composition (EBC) and therefore provide significant insight into the scale, pathways, and mechanisms of element transport during metamorphism. Quantifying changes in EBC is essential for petrologic applications such as calculation of phase diagrams (pseudosections). The progressive growth of complex corona structures on garnet and Al₂SiO₅ porphyroblasts in orthoamphibole-cordierite gneiss Thor-Odin dome (British Columbia, Canada) reduced the EBC volume of the rock during metamorphism and therefore had a dramatic effect on the evolution of the stable mineral assemblage. These rocks contain a chemical and textural record of metamorphic reactions and preserve 3D networks (reaction pathways) connecting corona structures. These coronal networks record long (>cm) length scales of localized element transport during metamorphism. P–T, T–X, and P–X pseudosections are used to investigate the control of effective bulk composition on phase assemblage evolution. Despite textural complexity and evidence for disequilibrium, mineral assemblages and compositions were successfully modeled and peak metamorphic conditions estimated at 750°C and 9 kbar. These results illustrate how textural and chemical changes during metamorphism can be evaluated using an integrated petrographic and pseudosection approach, highlight the importance of effective bulk composition choice for application of phase equilibria methods in metamorphic rocks, and show how corona structures can be used to understand the scale of compositional change and element transport during metamorphism.     

The simulation of European heat waves from an ensemble of regional climate models within the EURO-CORDEX project

The ability of a large ensemble of regional climate models to accurately simulate heat waves at the regional scale of Europe was evaluated. Within the EURO-CORDEX project, several state-of-the art models, including non-hydrostatic meso-scale models, were run for an extended time period (20 years) at high resolution (12 km), over a large domain allowing for the first time the simultaneous representation of atmospheric phenomena over a large range of spatial scales. Eight models were run in this configuration, and thirteen models were run at a classical resolution of 50 km. The models were driven with the same boundary conditions, the ERA-Interim re-analysis, and except for one simulation, no observations were assimilated in the inner domain. Results, which are compared with daily temperature and precipitation observations (ECA&D and E-OBS data sets) show that, even forced by the same re-analysis, the ensemble exhibits a large spread. A preliminary analysis of the sources of spread, using in particular simulations of the same model with different parameterizations, shows that the simulation of hot temperature is primarily sensitive to the convection and the microphysics schemes, which affect incoming energy and the Bowen ratio. Further, most models exhibit an overestimation of summertime temperature extremes in Mediterranean regions and an underestimation over Scandinavia. Even after bias removal, the simulated heat wave events were found to be too persistent, but a higher resolution reduced this deficiency. The amplitude of events as well as the variability beyond the 90th percentile threshold were found to be too strong in almost all simulations and increasing resolution did not generally improve this deficiency. Resolution increase was also shown to induce large-scale 90th percentile warming or cooling for some models, with beneficial or detrimental effects on the overall biases. Even though full causality cannot be established on the basis of this evaluation work, the drivers of such regional differences were shown to be linked to changes in precipitation due to resolution changes, affecting the energy partitioning. Finally, the inter-annual sequence of hot summers over central/southern Europe was found to be fairly well simulated in most experiments despite an overestimation of the number of hot days and of the variability. The accurate simulation of inter-annual variability for a few models is independent of the model bias. This indicates that internal variability of high summer temperatures should not play a major role in controlling inter-annual variability. Despite some improvements, especially along coastlines, the analyses conducted here did not allow us to generally conclude that a higher resolution is clearly beneficial for a correct representation of heat waves by regional climate models. Even though local-scale feedbacks should be better represented at high resolution, combinations of parameterizations have to be improved or adapted accordingly.