Oil-weathering behavior in Arctic environments

Oil-weathering processes in ice-free subarctic and Arctic waters include spreading, evaporation, dissolution, dispersion of whole-oil droplets into the water column, photochemical oxidation, water-in-oil emulsification, microbial degradation, adsorption onto suspended particulate material, ingestion by organisms, sinking, and sedimentation. While many of these processes also are important factors in ice-covered waters, the various forms of sea ice (depending on the active state of ice growth, extent of coverage and/or decay) impart drastic, if not controlling, changes to the rates and relative importance of different oil-weathering mechanisms. Flow-through seawater wave-tank experiments in a cold room at −35°C and studies in the Chukchi Sea in late winter provide data on oil fate and effects for a variety of potential oil spill scenarios in the Arctic. Time-series chemical weathering data are presented for Prudhoe Bay crude oil released under and encapsulated in growing first-year columnar ice through spring breakup.     

Actinic flux and photolysis frequency comparison computations using the model PHOTOGT

The accurate radiative transfer model GOMETRAN, initially designed to yield radiances at TOA in the wavelength range 240–790 nm, has been extended to allow for the computation of actinic fluxes down to 175 nm and for the calculation of photolysis frequencies in the atmosphere. The capability of the extended model PHOTOGT (PHOTOGOMETRAN) is demonstrated in a number of successful comparison studies both with recent experiments (ground-based, balloonborne, airborne) and model calculations of radiances, actinic fluxes and photolysis frequencies in the stratosphere and troposphere. In an atmospheric case study, the impact of new quantum yield data for the O₃ » O₂+O(¹ d) photodissociation channel on the photolytic production of O(¹ d) atoms in the lower atmosphere has been quantified.     

Intercomparison of Stratospheric Chemistry Models under Polar Vortex Conditions

Several stratospheric chemistry modules from box, 2-D or 3-D models, have been intercompared. The intercomparison was focused on the ozone loss and associated reactive species under the conditions found in the cold, wintertime Arctic and Antarctic vortices. Comparisons of both gas phase and heterogeneous chemistry modules show excellent agreement between the models under constrained conditions for photolysis and the microphysics of polar stratospheric clouds. While the mean integral ozone loss ranges from 4–80% for different 30–50 days long air parcel trajectories, the mean scatter of model results around these values is only about ±1.5%. In a case study, where the models employed their standard photolysis and microphysical schemes, the variation around the mean percentage ozone loss increases to about ±7%. This increased scatter of model results is mainly due to the different treatment of the PSC microphysics and heterogeneous chemistry in the models, whereby the most unrealistic assumptions about PSC processes consequently lead to the least representative ozone chemistry. Furthermore, for this case study the model results for the ozone mixing ratios at different altitudes were compared with a measured ozone profile to investigate the extent to which models reproduce the stratospheric ozone losses. It was found that mainly in the height range of strong ozone depletion all models underestimate the ozone loss by about a factor of two. This finding corroborates earlier studies and implies a general deficiency in our understanding of the stratospheric ozone loss chemistry rather than a specific problem related to a particular model simulation.     

HOLOCENE CARBONATE PRECIPITATES ON PRECAMBRIAN BEDROCK IN THE HIGH ARCTIC: AGE AND POTENTIAL FOR PALAEOCLIMATIC INFORMATION

ABSTRACT. Crusts of white carbonate precipitate occur commonly on the upper surfaces of glacially sculptured Precambrian granites and gneisses in east-central Ellesmere Island. Radiocarbon dating of 21 such carbonate precipitates, from elevations between 50 m and 1050 m a.s.l., has yielded only Holocene ages. Two samples from Ellesmere Island, plus one from Inglefield Land, Greenland, have calibrated ages over 5000 years, the rest are younger. The formation of these deposits, mainly calcite and characterized by unusually heavy δ¹³C ratios (+3.36 to +15.18‰), has apparently been aided in some cases by the presence of bacteria, and some crusts seem to have developed where Ca-bearing minerals are more prevalent. In the case of Bache Peninsula and Cape Herschel, where the carbonate crusts are particularly abundant, the presence of calcareous till may have played a role as well. The carbonate crusts may be related to the presence of small, thin carapace ice caps, when such features formed at lower elevations than those at which they exist today. The more extensive cover of ice and snow is postulated to have existed during the latter, cooler part of the Holocene, especially during the period from 2500 to 100 years ago, deduced as a period of low melt from ice core studies on the Agassiz Ice Cap, 200 km to the north. The existence of carapace ice caps at lower elevations also agrees with the radiocarbon evidence for outlet glacier advances during the last 2000 years on both east and west margins of the Prince of Wales Icefield. Alternatively, the white carbonate crusts may be, to a large degree, the result of weathering processes. In either case they provide minimum ages for the exposed, ice-sculptured rock surfaces on which they occur.     

Sublittoral seaweed communities on natural and artificial substrata in a high-latitude coral community in South Africa

Coral mortality may result in macroalgal proliferation or a phase shift into an alga-dominated state. Subtidal, high-latitude western Indian Ocean coral communities at Sodwana Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, South Africa, have experienced some mortality because of warm-water anomalies, storms and other causes, but the response of the macroalgae is unknown. We investigated the abundance and diversity of benthic algae on different hard natural substrata (dead digitate, brain and plate corals and beach rock) on Two-Mile Reef, Sodwana Bay. We also compared algal communities colonising ceramic, marble and pretreated ceramic tiles placed on the reef for six months. We identified 95 algae (14 Chlorophyta, 11 Phaeophyceae, 69 Rhodophyta and one cyanobacterium). Assemblages on natural and artificial substrata were dominated by the brown alga Lobophora variegata (Lamouroux) Womersley ex Oliveira and non-geniculate corallines (Rhodophyta, Corallinaceae). Cluster and ordination analyses revealed that the algae showed no affinity for particular substrata, whether natural or artificial. Algal cover was occasionally higher on rougher tiles and crustose corallines were significantly more abundant on marble than ceramic tiles. Two-Mile Reef had 23.1% dead and 48.4% live scleractinian coral cover, where dead corals were colonised indiscriminately by many small algal species, but there was no evidence of algal proliferation. The results provide a baseline for monitoring this high-latitude reef system.     

The tidal range energy potential of the West Coast of the United Kingdom

With concerns mounting over the UK’s energy future and the effects of climate change, it will soon become paramount that all viable sources of renewable energy are fully exploited. This study has examined the scope for reliable and fully predictable tidal electricity generation from the conjunctive operation of 5 major estuary barrages on the West Coast of the UK in an attempt to establish the potential scale of the extractable resources. Two levels of investigation have been undertaken: simple 0-D (‘two-tank’) modelling of barrage energy generation under different operational modes, using the hydraulic characteristics of turbine performance; and 2-D modelling of tidal hydrodynamics over a wide sea area in a computational grid incorporating the barrages with turbines and sluices. It has been demonstrated that more than 33TWh per year of electricity should be attainable, from 22GW of installed capacity, this representing close to 10% of present UK demand.     

Effects of winter atmospheric circulation on temporal and spatial variability in annual streamflow in the western United States

Abstract

Winter mean 700-hectoPascal (hPa) height anomalies, representing the average atmospheric circulation during the snow season, are compared with annual streamflow measured at 140 streamgauges in the western United States. Correlation and anomaly pattern analyses are used to identify relationships between winter mean atmospheric circulation and temporal and spatial variability in annual streamflow. Results indicate that variability in winter mean 700-Hpa height anomalies accounts for a statistically significant portion of the temporal variability in annual streamflow in the western United States. In general, above-average annual streamflow is associated with negative winter mean 700-Hpa height anomalies over the eastern North Pacific Ocean and/or the western United States. The anomalies produce an anomalous flow of moist air from the eastern North Pacific Ocean into the western United States that increases winter precipitation and snowpack accumulations, and subsequently streamflow. Winter mean 700-hPa height anomalies also account for statistically significant differences in spatial distributions of annual streamflow. As part of this study, winter mean atmospheric circulation patterns for the 40 years analysed were classified into five winter mean 700-hPa height anomaly patterns. These patterns are related to statistically significant and physically meaningful differences in spatial distributions of annual streamflow.     

Lake Hoare, Antarctica: sedimentation through a thick perennial ice cover

Lake Hoare in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica is covered with a perennial ice cover more than 3 m thick, yet there is a complex record of sedimentation and of growth of microbial mats on the lake bottom. Rough topography on the ice covering the lake surface traps sand that is transported by the wind. In late summer, vertical conduits form by melting and fracturing, making the ice permeable to both liquid water and gases. Cross-sections of the ice cover show that sand is able to penetrate into and apparently through it by descending through these conduits. This is the primary sedimentation mechanism in the lake. Sediment traps retrieved from the lake bottom indicate that rates of deposition can vary by large amounts over lateral scales as small as 1 m. This conclusion is supported by cores taken in a 3 × 3 grid with a spacing of 1.5 m. Despite the close spacing of the cores, the poor stratigraphic correlation that is observed indicates substantial lateral variability in sedimentation rate. Apparently, sand descends into the lake from discrete, highly localized sources in the ice that may in some cases deposit a large amount of sand into the lake in a very short time. In some locations on the lake bottom, distinctive sand mounds have been formed by this process. They are primary sedimentary structures and appear unique to the perennially ice-covered lacustrine environment. In some locations they are tens of centimetres high and gently rounded with stable slopes; in others they reach ～ 1 m in height and have a conical shape with slopes at angle of repose. A simple formation model suggests that these differences can be explained by local variations in water depth and sedimentation rate. Rapid colonization and stabilization of fresh sand surfaces by microbial mats composed of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, and heterotrophic bacteria produces a complex intercalation of organic and sandy layers that are a distinctive form of modern stromatolites.     

Geochemistry of meteoric calcite cements in some Pleistocene limestones

In this study, the stable isotope and trace element geochemistries of meteoric cements in Pleistocene limestones from Enewetak Atoll (western Pacific Ocean), Cat Island (Bahamas), and Yucatan were characterized to help interpret similar cements in ancient rocks. Meteoric calcite cements have a narrow range of δ¹⁸O values and a broad range of δ¹³C values in each geographical province. These Pleistocene cements were precipitated from water with stable oxygen isotopic compositions similar to modern rainwater in each location. Enewetak calcite cements have a mean δ¹⁸O composition of ?6.5%₀ (PDB) and δ¹³C values ranging from ?9.6 to +0.4%0 (PDB). Sparry calcite cements from Cat Island have a mean δ¹⁸O composition of ?4.1%₀ and δ¹³C values ranging from ?6.3 to + 1.1%₀. Sparry cements from Yucatan have a mean δ¹⁸O composition of ?5.7%₀ and δ¹³C values of ?8.0 to ?2.7%₀. The mean δ¹⁸O values of these Pleistocene meteoric calcite cements vary by 2.4%₀ due to climatic variations not related directly to latitude. The δ¹³C compositions of meteoric cements are distinctly lower than those of the depositional sediments. Variations in δ¹³C are not simply a function of distance below an exposure surface. Meteoric phreatic cements often have δ¹³C compositions of less than —4.0%₀, which suggests that soil-derived CO₂ and organic material were washed into the water table penecontemporaneous with precipitation of phreatic cements. Concentrations of strontium and magnesium are quite variable within and between the three geographical provinces. Mean strontium concentrations for sparry calcite cements are, for Enewetak Atoll, 620 ppm (σ= 510 ppm); for Cat Island, 1200 ppm (σ= 980 ppm); and for Yucatan, 700 ppm (σ= 390 ppm). Equant cements, intraskeletal cements, and Bahamian cements have higher mean strontium concentrations than other cements. Equant and intraskeletal cements probably precipitated in more closed or stagnant aqueous environments. Bahamian depositional sediments had higher strontium concentrations which probably caused high strontium concentrations in their cements. Magnesium concentrations in Pleistocene meteoric cements are similar in samples from Enewetak Atoll (mean =1.00 mol% MgCO₃; σ= 0.60 mol% MgCO₃) and Cat Island (mean = 0.84 mol% MgCO₃; σ= 0.52mol% MgCO₃) but Yucatan samples have higher magnesium concentrations (mean = 2.20 mol% MgCO₃: σ= 0.84mol% MgCO₃). Higher magnesium concentrations in some Yucatan cements probably reflect precipitation in environments where sea water mixed with fresh water.