Analysis of regional budgets of sulfur species modeled for the COSAM exercise

The COSAM intercomparison exercise (comparison of large‐scale sulfur models) was organized to compare and evaluate the performance of global sulfur cycle models. Eleven models participated, and from these models the simulated surface concentrations, vertical profiles and budget terms were submitted. This study focuses on simulated budget terms for the sources and sinks of SO₂ and sulfate in three polluted regions in the Northern Hemisphere, i.e., eastern North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Qualitatively, features of the sulfur cycle are modeled quite consistently between models, such as the relative importance of dry deposition as a removal mechanism for SO₂, the importance of aqueous phase oxidation over gas phase oxidation for SO₂, and the importance of wet over dry deposition for removal of sulfate aerosol. Quantitatively, however, models may show large differences, especially for cloud‐related processes, i.e., aqueous phase oxidation of SO₂ and sulfate wet deposition. In some cases a specific behavior can be related to the treatment of oxidants for aqueous phase SO₂ oxidation, or the vertical resolution applied in models. Generally, however, the differences between models appear to be related to simulated cloud (micro‐)physics and distributions, whereas differences in vertical transport efficiencies related to convection play an additional rôle. The estimated sulfur column burdens, lifetimes and export budgets vary between models by about a factor of 2 or 3. It can be expected that uncertainties in related effects which are derived from global sulfur model calculations, such as direct and indirect climate forcing estimates by sulfate aerosol, are at least of similar magnitude.     

Authigenic weddellite in sediments from the Coral Sea Basin

Euhedral, tetragonal, dipyramidal crystals of weddellite, an authigenic calcium oxalate, occur in samples from the topmost core of Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 210 in the Coral Sea Basin. Opinions in the literature differ as to whether weddellite is formed in situ or during sample storage. Comparison of smear-slides made of samples after a 4 year storage period with shipboard smear-slides made immediately after core retrieval, indicates that weddellite was formed in situ. Possible further growth during storage is not obvious. The presence of many corroded crystals, and the absence of weddellite in deeper cores, suggest that weddellite is formed soon after deposition, but dissolves again in time and with increased burial, due to changing geochemical parameters.     

Modelling solute leaching during fingered flow by integrating and expanding various theoretical and empirical concepts

Abstract

Wetting front instability (fingered flow) accelerates solute transport through the unsaturated zone to the groundwater table. Whether fingers widen or dissipate close to the groundwater is unclear. Water flow in a two-dimensional artificial capillary fringe below a dry layer exhibiting fingered flow was investigated. The flow diverged strongly in the wet soil, suggesting that fingers dissipate. Expressions for the finger radius in dry and wet soil were combined and adapted to a soil hydraulic property parameterization popular in numerical modelling. The modified equation provided finger radii for soils in humid and arid climates. The fingers in the arid soil were excessively wide. The finger radii were used to model solute transport, assuming fingers dissipated in the subsoil. Modelling was cumbersome for the arid climate. One shower may often be insufficient to trigger fingering in arid regions with short, heavy showers. In soils with shallow groundwater, the diverging subsoil flow determines solute leaching.     

Fundamental and derived modes of climate variability: concept and application to interannual time-scales

The notion of mode interaction is proposed as a deterministic concept for understanding climatic modes at various time-scales. This concept is based on the distinction between fundamental modes relying on their own physical mechanisms and derived modes that emerge from the interaction of two other modes. The notion is introduced and applied to interannual climate variability. Observational evidence is presented for the tropospheric biennial variability to be the result of the interaction between the annual cycle and a quasi-decadal mode originating in the Atlantic basin. Within the same framework, Pacific interannual variability at time-scales of about 4 and 6 yr is interpreted as the result of interactions between the biennial and quasi-decadal modes of climate variability. We show that the negative feedback of the interannual modes is linked to the annual cycle and the quasi-decadal mode, both originating outside the Pacific basin, whereas the strong amplitudes of interannual modes result from resonance and local positive feedback. It is argued that such a distinction between fundamental and derived modes of variability is important for understanding the underlying physics of climatic modes, with strong implications for climate predictability.