ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a cross-disciplinary overview of permafrost and the carbon cycle by providing an introduction into the geographical distribution of permafrost, with a focus on the distribution of permafrost and its soil carbon reservoirs. The chapters explain the basic physical properties and processes of permafrost soils: ice, mineral and organic components, and how these interact with climate, vegetation and geomorphological processes. In particular, the book covers the role of the large quantities of ice in many permafrost soils which are crucial to understanding carbon cycle processes. An explanation is given on how permafrost becomes loaded with ice and carbon. Gas hydrates are also introduced. Structures and processes formed by the intense freeze-thaw action in the active layer are considered (e.g. ice wedging, cryoturbation), and the processes that occur as the permafrost thaws, (pond and lake formation, erosion). The book introduces soil carbon accumulation and decomposition mechanisms and how these are modified in a permafrost environment. A separate chapter deals with deep permafrost carbon, gas reservoirs and recently discovered methane emission phenomena from regions such as Northwest Siberia and the Siberian yedoma permafrost.

Description / Table of Contents: In the Anthropocene, the thawing of frozen earth due to global warming has drawn worldwide attention to permafrost. Contemporary scientists define permafrost as ground that maintains a negative temperature for at least two years. But where did this particular conception of permafrost originate, and what alternatives existed? The Life of Permafrost provides an intellectual history of permafrost, placing the phenomenon squarely in the political, social, and material context of Russian and Soviet science. Pey-Yi Chu shows that understandings of frozen earth were shaped by two key experiences in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. On one hand, the colonization and industrialization of Siberia nourished an engineering perspective on frozen earth that viewed the phenomenon as an aggregate physical structure: ground. On the other, a Russian and Soviet tradition of systems thinking encouraged approaching frozen earth as a process, condition, and space tied to planetary exchanges of energy and matter. Aided by the US militarization of the Arctic during the Cold War, the engineering view of frozen earth as an obstacle to construction became dominant. The Life of Permafrost tells the fascinating story of how permafrost came to acquire life as Russian and Soviet scientists studied, named, and defined it.

Description / Table of Contents: "Examines issues faced by disabled library workers, through the lens of critical disability theory"

Description / Table of Contents: Anthropogenic climate change constitutes one of the main global crises in the 21st century. It manifests itself distinctly in global warming and its effects. Forests play an essential role in mitigating the effects of climate change, improving our knowledge of the distribution and changes of terrestrial carbon stocks is vital to mitigate its consequences. Therefore, remote sensing is recommended as one of the tools to ensure systematic and operational forest monitoring. Forests in the Russian Federation are of particular importance as it is the most forested country in the world and at the same time, it is the country with the highest uncertainty when calculating global carbon stocks. Remote sensing is recommended as one of the tools to ensure systematic and operational forest monitoring. It can acquire data over large areas with a high repetition rate and at a relatively low cost. In particular, microwave sensors are recommended as they can provide weather and sun independent, systematic observations with high temporal frequency. The main goal of this cumulative dissertation was to develop methods using new algorithms for estimating parameters for boreal forests from remote sensing data acquired with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Using the SAR data acquired by the sensor with the longest wavelength available at the moment of writing this dissertation in space, the L-band, methods for estimating the above-ground forest biomass were developed. For this purpose, algorithms for machine learning (ML) were applied and validated. These methods were chosen because they are recommended for large data sets and an incomplete theoretical understanding of processes, e.g., the interaction between the forest and the radar signal, and are relatively new in forest monitoring studies. In addition, efforts have been made to establish improved mapping of large-scale forest cover change

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date assessment of the key terrestrial components of the Arctic system, i.e., its hydrology, permafrost, and ecology, drawing on the latest research results from across the circumpolar regions. The Arctic is an integrated system, the elements of which are closely linked by the atmosphere, ocean, and land. Using an integrated system approach, the book’s 30 chapters, written by a diverse team of leading scholars, carefully examine Arctic climate variability/change, large river hydrology, lakes and wetlands, snow cover and ice processes, permafrost characteristics, vegetation/landscape changes, and the future trajectory of Arctic system evolution. The discussions cover the fundamental features of and processes in the Arctic system, with a special focus on critical knowledge gaps, i.e., the interactions and feedbacks between water, permafrost, and ecosystem, such as snow pack and permafrost changes and their impacts on basin hydrology and ecology, river flow, geochemistry, and energy fluxes to the Arctic Ocean, and the structure and function of the Arctic ecosystem in response to past/future changes in climate, hydrology, and permafrost conditions. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, environmentalists, managers, and administrators who are concerned with the northern environment and resources.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides in-depth information about the sea ice in the Arctic at scales from paleoenvironmental variability to more contemporary changes during the past and present centuries. The book is based on several decades of research related to sea ice in the Arctic and its variability, sea ice process studies as well as implications of the sea ice variability on human activities. The chapters provide an extensive overview of the research results related to sea ice in the Arctic at paleo-scales to more resent scales of variations as well as projections for changes during the 21st century. The authors have pioneered the satellite remote sensing monitoring of sea ice and used other monitoring data in order to study, monitor and model sea ice and its processes

Description / Table of Contents: Seaweeds (macroalgae) represent the most striking living components in the Antarctic’s near-shore ecosystems, especially across the West Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands. Due to their abundance, their central roles as primary producers and foundation organisms, and as sources of diverse metabolically active products, seaweed assemblages are fundamental to biogeochemical cycles in Antarctic coastal systems. In recent years, the imminence of climate change and the direct impacts of human beings, which are affecting vast regions of the Antarctic, have highlighted the importance of seaweed processes in connection with biodiversity, adaptation and interactions in the benthic network. Various research groups have been actively involved in the investigation of these topics. Many of these research efforts have a long tradition, while some “newcomers” have also recently contributed important new approaches to the study of these organisms, benefiting polar science as a whole. This book provides an overview of recent advances and insights gleaned over the past several years. Focusing on a timely topic and extremely valuable resource, it assesses the challenges and outlines future directions in the study of Antarctic seaweeds.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a comprehensive summary of research to date in the field of stable iron isotope geochemistry. Since research began in this field 20 years ago, the field has grown to become one of the major research fields in "non-traditional" stable isotope geochemistry. This book reviews all aspects of the field, from low-temperature to high-temperature processes, biological processes, and cosmochemical processes. It provides a detailed history and state-of-the art summary about analytical methods to determine Fe-isotope ratios and discusses analytical and sample prospects.

Description / Table of Contents: Der exklusive Fotoband zur Jahrhundertexpedition in die Arktis. Im September 2019 legte die Polarstern in Richtung Arktis ab - an Bord das internationale MOSAiC-Forscherteam, das die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf das ewige Eis erkundet. Chronologisch aufgebaut dokumentiert der bildgewaltige Band in bisher ungesehenen Fotografien von Esther Horvath Leben und Arbeiten während der einjährigen Reise unter den extremen Bedingungen am Nordpol. Begleitet von kenntnisreichen Essays und Textbeiträgen von Experten, Wissenschaftlern und Expeditionsteilnehmern ist der Band ein eindrucksvolles Zeugnis der wohl größten klimatischen Herausforderung unserer Zeit und bietet Einblicke in dieses einmalige Forschungsprojekt sowie die spektakuläre, schützenswerte Polarlandschaft.

Description / Table of Contents: Die Hochgebirge haben eine große Bedeutung für das globale Klima, die Wasserversorgung und die Biosphäre. So ist die besonders starke Ausprägung des Amazonas-Regenwalds den Anden zu verdanken. Sie verhindern den Durchzug der aus dem Atlantik mit viel Luftfeuchtigkeit kommenden Wolken. Dadurch erhält das Amazonas-Gebiet im Jahresdurchschnitt über 2.000 mm Regen, was die Grundlage für die intensive Bewaldung ist. Obwohl die Gebirge global nur ca. 12% der Landfläche bedecken, beherbergen Hochgebirge rund die Hälfte aller Säugetierarten und 74% aller endemischen Vogelarten (ohne Inselarten). 21 der 34 globalen Biodiversitätshotspots befinden sich in Hochgebirgen. In den Gebirgen entstehen aufgrund von höheren Niederschlägen wichtige Wasserressourcen auch für die angrenzenden Tiefländer. Trotz der für den Menschen oft erschwerten Zugänglichkeit sind Hochgebirge und Hoch-Plateaus, besonders in tropischen Regionen, Orte dichter Besiedlung und sogar von Hochkulturen. Die Folgen des Klimawandels sind in den Hochgebirgen besonders deutlich. So war die Erwärmung in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten dort höher als in den Flachländern. Die Gletscher schrumpfen in fast allen Gebirgen, insbesondere in den letzten Jahrzehnten. Auf den jetzt eisfreien Flächen siedeln sich schon nach wenigen Jahren neue Pflanzengemeinschaften an. In den Alpen hat das Eisvolumen seit 1850 schon um mehr als zwei Drittel abgenommen. Das entspricht allein seit 1997 einem Süßwasserverlust von etwa dem 14fachen Volumen des Bodensees. Insgesamt sind die Klimaänderungen in den Gebirgsregionen gravierender als im Flachland. Mit der Zunahme der Starkregen und dem Rückgang des Permafrosts nimmt die Gefahr von Erdrutschen zu, und manche Gletscher wurden instabil. Im Mittel haben sich die Temperaturen im Gebirgspermafrost in einem Jahrzehnt von 2007 bis 2016 um etwa 0,2°C erhöht. Die Schneedeckendauer nahm in den letzten Jahrzehnten kontinuierlich ab; die Herausforderungen für den Wintertourismus werden zusehends größer.

Description / Table of Contents: Eine Medien- und Wissensgeschichte von Biologie und Ozeanographie im Kielwasser der Walfänger. Immer wieder entzieht sich der Wal wissenschaftlicher Klassifikation und Darstellbarkeit. Wale sind buchstäblich nicht zu fassen - als sich die neuen biologischen Wissenschaften im 19. Jahrhundert daran machten, »das Leben« zu erklären, blieb das der Wale ein Problem. Doch Walfänger durchkreuzten auf ihren Spuren im 19. Jahrhundert die Meere der Welt. Kartographen erschlossen auf den Spuren dieser Walfänger die Nordwestpassage und den pazifischen Ozean, während Naturhistoriker und Zoologen sie in die Lebensräume der Wale begleiten. Felix Lüttge erzählt die Geschichte der Walfänger, die den Walen, und der Wissenschaftler, die wiederum den Walfängern folgten.Es ist eine Medien- und Wissensgeschichte des Wals wie auch der Meere, die auf seinen Spuren durchfahren und vermessen wurden. Felix Lüttge beschreibt die komplexen Austauschprozesse, mit denen Walfänger und Wissenschaftler ökonomisches, ozeanographisches, zoologisches und geographisches Wissen hervorbrachten.

Description / Table of Contents: Stratospheric variability is one of the main potential sources for sub-seasonal to seasonal predictability in mid-latitudes in winter. Stratospheric pathways play an important role for long-range teleconnections between tropical phenomena, such as the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the mid-latitudes on the one hand, and linkages between Arctic climate change and the mid-latitudes on the other hand. In order to move forward in the field of extratropical seasonal predictions, it is essential that an atmospheric model is able to realistically simulate the stratospheric circulation and variability. The numerical weather prediction (NWP) configuration of the ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic atmosphere model ICON is currently being used by the German Meteorological Service for the regular weather forecast, and is intended to produce seasonal predictions in future. This thesis represents the first extensive evaluation of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric winter circulation in ICON-NWP by analysing a ...

Description / Table of Contents: Until recently, the prevailing view of marine life at high latitudes has been that organisms enter a general resting state during the dark Polar Night and that the system only awakens with the return of the sun. Recent research, however, with coordinated, multidisciplinary field campaigns based on the high Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard, have provided a radical new perspective. Instead of a system in dormancy, a new perspective of a system in full operation and with high levels of activity across all major phyla is emerging. Examples of such activities and processes include: Active marine organisms at sea surface, water column and the sea-floor. At surface we find active foraging in seabirds and fish, in the water column we find a high biodiversity and activity of zooplankton and larvae such as active light induced synchronized diurnal vertical migration, and at seafloor there is a high biodiversity in benthic animals and macroalgae. The Polar Night is a period for reproduction in many benthic and pelagic taxa, mass occurrence of ghost shrimps (Caprellides), high abundance of Ctenophores, physiological evidence of micro- and macroalgal cells that are ready to utilize the first rays of light when they appear, deep water fishes found at water surface in the Polar night, and continuous growth of bivalves throughout the winter. These findings not only begin to shape a new paradigm for marine winter ecology in the high Arctic, but also provide conclusive evidence for a top-down controlled system in which primary production levels are close to zero. In an era of environmental change that is accelerated at high latitudes, we believe that this new insight is likely to strongly impact how the scientific community views the high latitude marine ecosystem. Despite the overwhelming darkness, the main environmental variable affecting marine organisms in the Polar Night is in fact light. The light regime during the Polar Night is unique with respect to light intensity, spectral composition of light and photoperiod. .

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a comprehensive overview of recent novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, their biology and associated challenges for their treatment and prevention of novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Discussing various aspects of COVID-19 infection, including global epidemiology, genome organization, immunopathogenesis, transmission cycle, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control strategies, it highlights host-pathogen interactions, host immune response, and pathogen immune invasion strategies toward developing an immune intervention or preventive vaccine for COVID-19. An understanding of the topics covered in the book is imperative in the context of designing strategies to protect the human race from further losses and harm due to SARS-CoV-2 infection causing COVID-19.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents current knowledge on chemistry and physics of Arctic atmosphere. Special attention is given to studies of the Arctic haze phenomenon, Arctic tropospheric clouds, Arctic fog, polar stratospheric and mesospheric clouds, atmospheric dynamics, thermodynamics and radiative transfer as related to the polar environment. The atmosphere-cryosphere feedbacks and atmospheric remote sensing techniques are presented in detail. The problems of climate change in the Arctic are also addressed.

Description / Table of Contents: Der zentralasiatische Naturraum, wie er sich uns heute präsentiert, ist das Ergebnis eines Zusammenwirkens vieler verschiedener Faktoren über Jahrmillionen hinweg. Im aktuellen Kontext des Klimawandels zeigt sich jedoch, wie stark sich Stoffflüsse auch kurzfristig ändern und dabei das Gesicht der Landschaft verwandeln können. Die Gobi-Wüste in der Inneren Mongolei (China), als Teil der gleichnamigen Trockenregionen Nordwestchinas, ist aufgrund der Ausgestaltung ihrer landschaftsprägenden Elemente sowie ihrer Landschaftsdynamik, im Zusammenhang mit der Lage zum Tibet-Plateau, in den Fokus der klimageschichtlichen Grundlagenforschung gerückt. Als großes Langzeitarchiv unterschiedlichster fluvialer, lakustriner und äolischer Sedimente stellt sie eine bedeutende Lokalität zur Rekonstruktion von lokalen und regionalen Stoffflüssen dar.. Andererseits ist die Gobi-Wüste zugleich auch eine bedeutende Quelle für den überregionalen Staubtransport, da sie aufgrund der klimatischen Bedingungen insbesondere der Erosion durch Ausblasung preisgegeben wird. Vor diesem Hintergrund erfolgten zwischen 2011 und 2014, im Rahmen des BMBF-Verbundprogramms WTZ Zentralasien – Monsundynamik & Geoökosysteme (Förderkennzeichen 03G0814), mehrere deutsch-chinesische Expeditionen in das Ejina-Becken (Innere Mongolei) und das Qilian Shan-Vorland. Im Zuge dieser Expeditionen wurden für eine Bestimmung potenzieller Sedimentquellen erstmals zahlreiche Oberflächenproben aus dem gesamten Einzugsgebiet des Heihe (schwarzer Fluss) gesammelt. Zudem wurden mit zwei Bohrungen im inneren des Ejina-Beckens, ergänzende Sedimentbohrkerne zum bestehenden Bohrkern D100 (siehe Wünnemann (2005)) abgeteuft, um weit reichende, ergänzende Informationen zur Landschaftsgeschichte und zum überregionalen Sedimenttransfer zu erhalten. Gegenstand und Ziel der vorliegenden Doktorarbeit ist die sedimentologisch-mineralogische Charakterisierung des Untersuchungsgebietes in Bezug auf potenzielle Sedimentquellen und Stoffflüsse des Ejina-Beckens sowie die Rekonstruktion der Ablagerungsgeschichte eines dort erbohrten, 19m langen Sedimentbohrkerns (GN100). Schwerpunkt ist hierbei die Klärung der Sedimentherkunft innerhalb des Bohrkerns sowie die Ausweisung von Herkunftssignalen und möglichen Sedimentquellen bzw. Sedimenttransportpfaden. Die methodische Herangehensweise basiert auf einem Multi-Proxy-Ansatz zur Charakterisierung der klastischen Sedimentfazies anhand von Geländebeobachtungen, lithologisch-granulometrischen und mineralogisch-geochemischen Analysen sowie statistischen Verfahren. Für die mineralogischen Untersuchungen der Sedimente wurde eine neue, rasterelektronenmikroskopische Methode zur automatisierten Partikelanalyse genutzt und den traditionellen Methoden gegenübergestellt. Die synoptische Betrachtung der granulometrischen, geochemischen und mineralogischen Befunde der Oberflächensedimente ergibt für das Untersuchungsgebiet ein logisches Kaskadenmodell mit immer wiederkehrenden Prozessbereichen und ähnlichen Prozesssignalen. Die umfangreichen granulometrischen Analysen deuten dabei auf abnehmende Korngrößen mit zunehmender Entfernung vom Qilian Shan hin und ermöglichen die Identifizierung von vier texturellen Signalen: den fluvialen Sanden, den Dünensanden, den Stillwassersedimenten und Stäuben. Diese Ergebnisse können als Interpretationsgrundlage für die Korngrößenanalysen des Bohrkerns genutzt werden. Somit ist es möglich, die Ablagerungsgeschichte der Bohrkernsedimente zu rekonstruieren und in Verbindung mit eigenen und literaturbasierten Datierungen in einen Gesamtkontext einzuhängen. Für das Untersuchungsgebiet werden somit vier Ablagerungsphasen ausgewiesen, die bis in die Zeit des letzten glazialen Maximums (LGM) zurückreichen. Während dieser Ablagerungsphasen kam es im Zuge unterschiedlicher Aktivitäts- und Stabilitätsphasen zu einer kontinuierlichen Progradation und Überprägung des Schwemmfächers. Eine besonders aktive Phase kann zwischen 8 ka und 4 ka BP festgestellt werden, während der es aufgrund zunehmender fluvialer Aktivitäten zu einer deutlich verstärkten Schwemmfächerdynamik gekommen zu sein scheint. In den Abschnitten davor und danach waren es vor allem äolische Prozesse, die zu einer Überprägung des Schwemmfächers geführt haben. Hinsichtlich der mineralogischen Herkunftssignale gibt es eine große Variabilität. Dies spiegelt die enorme Heterogenität der Geologie des Untersuchungsgebietes wider, wodurch die räumlichen Signale nicht sehr stark ausgeprägt sind. Dennoch, können für das Einzugsgebiet drei größere Bereiche deklariert werden, die als Herkunftsgebiet in Frage kommen. Das östliche Qilian Shan Vorland zeichnet sich dabei durch deutlich höhere Chloritgehalte als primäre Quelle für die Sedimente im Ejina-Becken aus. Sie unterscheiden sich insbesondere durch stark divergierende Chloritgehalte in der Tonmineral- und Gesamtmineralfraktion, was das östliche Qilian Shan Vorland als primäre Quelle für die Sedimente im Ejina-Becken auszeichnet. Dies steht in Zusammenhang mit den Grünschiefern, Ophioliten und Serpentiniten in diesem Bereich. Geochemisch deutet vor allem das Cr/Rb-Verhältnis eine große Variabilität innerhalb des Einzugsgebietes an. Auch hier ist es das östliche Vorland, welches aufgrund seines hohen Anteils an mafischen Gesteinen reich an Chromiten und Spinellen ist und sich somit vom restlichen Untersuchungsgebiet abhebt. Die zeitliche aber auch die generelle Variabilität der Sedimentherkunft lässt sich in den Bohrkernsedimenten nicht so deutlich nachzeichnen. Die mineralogisch-sedimentologischen Eigenschaften der erbohrten klastischen Sedimente zeugen zwar von zwischenzeitlichen Änderungen bei der Sedimentherkunft, diese sind jedoch nicht so deutlich ausgeprägt, wie es die Quellsignale in den Oberflächensedimenten vermuten lassen. Ein Grund dafür scheint die starke Vermischung unterschiedlichster Sedimente während des Transportes zu sein. Die Kombination der Korngrößenergebnisse mit den Befunden der Gesamt- und Schwermineralogie deuten darauf hin, dass es zwischenzeitlich eine Phase mit überwiegend äolischen Prozessen gegeben hat, die mit einem Sedimenteintrag aus dem westlichen Bei Shan in Verbindung stehen. Neben der Zunahme ultrastabiler Schwerminerale wie Zirkon und Granat und der Abnahme opaker Schwerminerale, weisen vor allem die heutigen Verhältnisse darauf hin. Der Vergleich der traditionellen Schwermineralanalyse mit der Computer-Controlled-Scanning-Electron-Microscopy (kurz: CCSEM), die eine automatisierte Partikelauswertung der Proben ermöglicht, zeigt den deutlichen Vorteil der modernen Analysemethode. Neben einem zeitlichen Vorteil, den man durch die automatisierte Abarbeitung der vorbereiteten Proben erlangen kann, steht vor allem die deutlich größere statistische Signifikanz des Ergebnisses im Vordergrund. Zudem können mit dieser Methode auch chemische Varietäten einiger Schwerminerale bestimmt werden, die eine noch feinere Klassifizierung und sicherere Aussagen zu einer möglichen Sedimentherkunft ermöglichen. Damit ergeben sich außerdem verbesserte Aussagen zu Zusammensetzungen und Entstehungsprozessen der abgelagerten Sedimente. Die Studie verdeutlicht, dass die Sedimentherkunft innerhalb des Untersuchungsgebietes sowie die ablaufenden Prozesse zum Teil stark von lokalen Gegebenheiten abhängen. Die Heterogenität der Geologie und die Größe des Einzugsgebietes sowie die daraus resultierende Komplexität der Sedimentgenese, machen exakte Zuordnungen zu klar definierten Sedimentquellen sehr schwer. Dennoch zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die Sedimentzufuhr in das Ejina-Becken in erster Linie durch fluviale klastische Sedimente des Heihe aus dem Qilian Shan erfolgt sein muss. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse zeigen jedoch ebenso die Notwendigkeit einer ergänzenden Bearbeitung angrenzender Untersuchungsgebiete, wie beispielsweise den Gobi-Altai im Norden oder den Beishan im Westen, sowie die Verdichtung der Oberflächenbeprobung zur feineren Auflösung von lokalen Sedimentquellen.

Description / Table of Contents: Die MOSAiC-Expedition verschiebt die Grenzen des Machbaren und markiert einen historischen Meilenstein der Polarforschung. In den Fußstapfen von Fridtjof Nansens bahnrechender Pionierleistung in den Jahren 1893 bis 1896 mit seinem hölzernen Segelschiff »Fram« bringt sie erstmals einen modernen Forschungseisbrecher im Winter in die direkte Umgebung des Nordpols. 20 Nationen haben sich zusammengetan, um die Geheimnisse des dramatischen Klimawandels der Arktis zu entschlüsseln. Untertützt wird das Flaggschiff der Expedition, der deutsche Forschungseisbrecher »Polarstern«, von sechs weiteren Schiffen und Eisbrechern, Flugzeugen und Helikoptern. Insgesamt fünfhundert Menschen nehmen an den verschiedenen Phasen der Expedition teil. Markus Rex, Kopf des Vorhabens und Expeditionsleiter, berichtet anschaulich vom oft genug dramatischen Verlauf dieser Expedition, aber auch von überwältigend faszinierenden Eindrücken aus der Arktis während der langen winterlichen Polarnacht und während des sommerlichen Polartags. Und er beschreibt die unvorstellbaren Herausforderungen, denen sich die Expeditionsteilnehmer eingefroren im polaren Eis gestellt haben - immer geleitet von dem Ziel, Licht in die Prozesse des globalen Klimawandels zu bringen, der nirgends so auseprägt ist wie in der Arktis.

Description / Table of Contents: This thesis investigates how the permafrost microbiota responds to global warming. In detail, the constraints behind methane production in thawing permafrost were linked to methanogenic activity, abundance and composition. Furthermore, this thesis offers new insights into microbial adaptions to the changing environmental conditions during global warming. This was assesed by investigating the potential ecological relevant functions encoded by plasmid DNA within the permafrost microbiota. Permafrost of both interglacial and glacial origin spanning the Holocene to the late Pleistocene, including Eemian, were studied during long-term thaw incubations. Furthermore, several permafrost cores of different stratigraphy, soil type and vegetation cover were used to target the main constraints behind methane production during short-term thaw simulations. Short- and long-term incubations simulating thaw with and without the addition of substrate were combined with activity measurements, amplicon and metagenomic sequencing of permanently frozen and seasonally thawed active layer. Combined, it allowed to address the following questions. i) What constraints methane production when permafrost thaws and how is this linked to methanogenic activity, abundance and composition? ii) How does the methanogenic community composition change during long-term thawing conditions? iii) Which potential ecological relevant functions are encoded by plasmid DNA in active layer soils? The major outcomes of this thesis are as follows. i) Methane production from permafrost after long-term thaw simulation was found to be constrained mainly by the abundance of methanogens and the archaeal community composition. Deposits formed during periods of warmer temperatures and increased precipitation, (here represented by deposits from the Late Pleistocene of both interstadial and interglacial periods) were found to respond strongest to thawing conditions and to contain an archaeal community dominated by methanogenic archaea (40% and 100% of all detected archaea). Methanogenic population size and carbon density were identified as main predictors for potential methane production in thawing permafrost in short-term incubations when substrate was sufficiently available. ii) Besides determining the methanogenic activity after long-term thaw, the paleoenvironmental conditions were also found to influence the response of the methanogenic community composition. Substantial shifts within methanogenic community structure and a drop in diversity were observed in deposits formed during warmer periods, but not in deposits from stadials, when colder and drier conditions occurred. Overall, a shift towards a dominance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens was observed in all samples, except for the oldest interglacial deposits from the Eemian, which displayed a potential dominance of acetoclastic methanogens. The Eemian, which is discussed to serve as an analogue to current climate conditions, contained highly active methanogenic communities. However, all potential limitation of methane production after permafrost thaw, it means methanogenic community structure, methanogenic population size, and substrate pool might be overcome after permafrost had thawed on the long-term. iii) Enrichments with soil from the seasonally thawed active layer revealed that its plasmid DNA (‘metaplasmidome’) carries stress-response genes. In particular it encoded antibiotic resistance genes, heavy metal resistance genes, cold shock proteins and genes encoding UV-protection. Those are functions that are directly involved in the adaptation of microbial communities to stresses in polar environments. It was further found that metaplasmidomes from the Siberian active layer originate mainly from Gammaproteobacteria. By applying enrichment cultures followed by plasmid DNA extraction it was possible to obtain a higher average contigs length and significantly higher recovery of plasmid sequences than from extracting plasmid sequences from metagenomes. The approach of analyzing ‘metaplasmidomes’ established in this thesis is therefore suitable for studying the ecological role of plasmids in polar environments in general. This thesis emphasizes that including microbial community dynamics have the potential to improve permafrost-carbon projections. Microbially mediated methane release from permafrost environments may significantly impact future climate change. This thesis identified drivers of methanogenic composition, abundance and activity in thawing permafrost landscapes. Finally, this thesis underlines the importance to study how the current warming Arctic affects microbial communities in order to gain more insight into microbial response and adaptation strategies.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a cross-disciplinary overview of permafrost and the carbon cycle by providing an introduction into the geographical distribution of permafrost, with a focus on the distribution of permafrost and its soil carbon reservoirs. The chapters explain the basic physical properties and processes of permafrost soils: ice, mineral and organic components, and how these interact with climate, vegetation and geomorphological processes. In particular, the book covers the role of the large quantities of ice in many permafrost soils which are crucial to understanding carbon cycle processes. An explanation is given on how permafrost becomes loaded with ice and carbon. Gas hydrates are also introduced. Structures and processes formed by the intense freeze-thaw action in the active layer are considered (e.g. ice wedging, cryoturbation), and the processes that occur as the permafrost thaws, (pond and lake formation, erosion). The book introduces soil carbon accumulation and decomposition mechanisms and how these are modified in a permafrost environment. A separate chapter deals with deep permafrost carbon, gas reservoirs and recently discovered methane emission phenomena from regions such as Northwest Siberia and the Siberian yedoma permafrost.

Description / Table of Contents: High-resolution images of phytoplankton cells such as diatoms or desmids, which are useful for monitoring water quality, can now be provided by digital microscopes, facilitating the automated analysis and identification of specimens. Conventional approaches are based on optical microscopy; however, manual image analysis is impractical due to the huge diversity of this group of microalgae and its great morphological plasticity. As such, there is a need for automated recognition techniques for diagnostic tools (e.g. environmental monitoring networks, early warning systems) to improve the management of water resources and decision-making processes. Describing the entire workflow of a bioindicator system, from capture, analysis and identification to the determination of quality indices, this book provides insights into the current state-of-the-art in automatic identification systems in microscopy. .

Description / Table of Contents: This book addresses a broad range of issues concerning microplastic pollution, including microplastic pollution in various environments (freshwater, marine, air and soil); the sources, fate and effects of microplastics; detection systems for microplastic pollution monitoring; green approaches for the synthesis of environmentally friendly polymers; recovery and recycling of marine plastics; wastewater treatment plants as a microplastic entrance route; nanoplastics as emerging pollutants; degradation of plastics in the marine environment; impacts of microplastics on marine life; microplastics: from marine pollution to the human food chain; mitigation of microplastic impacts and innovative solutions; sampling, extraction, purification and identification approaches for microplastics; adsorption and transport of pollutants on and in microplastics; and lastly, the socio-economic and environmental impacts: assessment and risk analysis. In addition to presenting cutting-edge information and highlighting current trends and issues, the book proposes concrete solutions to help face this significant environmental threat. It is chiefly intended for researchers and industry decision-makers; international, national and local institutions; and NGOs, providing them with comprehensive information on the origin of the problem; its effects on marine environments, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean Sea and coasts; and recent and ongoing research activities and projects aimed at finding technical solutions to mitigate the phenomenon. .

Description / Table of Contents: Noch nie haben Forschende das Meereis der Arktis so umfassend untersuchen können, wie auf der internationalen MOSAiC-Expedition des Forschungseisbrechers Polarstern. Ein Jahr lang ist das Schiff mit dem Eis durch die zentrale Arktis getrieben; ein Jahr lang haben die Männer und Frauen das Eis mithilfe modernster Technik unter die Lupe genommen. Welche Herausforderungen es dabei zu meistern galt und was sie herausgefunden haben im polaren Hotspot des Klimawandels, erzählen sie in zehn DriftStories, die dieser Band vereint. Faszinierende Arktisforschung zum Anfassen – präsentiert von meereisportal.de.

Description / Table of Contents: Never before have researchers had the chance to explore the Arctic sea ice as comprehensively as on the international MOSAiC expedition. For an entire year, the research icebreaker Polarstern drifted through the Central Arctic with the sea ice; for an entire year, the men and women of the expedition painstakingly investigated the ice with the aid of cutting-edge technologies. In the ten DriftStories gathered here, they share the challenges they had to overcome, and the discoveries they made in this polar hotspot of climate change: fascinating Arctic research at your fingertips - presented by meereisportal.de.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents current knowledge on chemistry and physics of Arctic atmosphere. Special attention is given to studies of the Arctic haze phenomenon, Arctic tropospheric clouds, Arctic fog, polar stratospheric and mesospheric clouds, atmospheric dynamics, thermodynamics and radiative transfer as related to the polar environment. The atmosphere-cryosphere feedbacks and atmospheric remote sensing techniques are presented in detail. The problems of climate change in the Arctic are also addressed.

Description / Table of Contents: Since the publication of "Spectral Methods in Fluid Dynamics", spectral methods, particularly in their multidomain version, have become firmly established as a mainstream tool for scientific and engineering computation. While retaining the tight integration between the theoretical and practical aspects of spectral methods that was the hallmark of the earlier book, Canuto et al. now incorporate the many improvements in the algorithms and the theory of spectral methods that have been made since 1988. The initial treatment Fundamentals in Single Domains discusses the fundamentals of the approximation of solutions to ordinary and partial differential equations on single domains by expansions in smooth, global basis functions. The first half of the book provides the algorithmic details of orthogonal expansions, transform methods, spectral discretization of differential equations plus their boundary conditions, and solution of the discretized equations by direct and iterative methods. The second half furnishes a comprehensive discussion of the mathematical theory of spectral methods on single domains, including approximation theory, stability and convergence, and illustrative applications of the theory to model boundary-value problems. Both the algorithmic and theoretical discussions cover spectral methods on tensor-product domains, triangles and tetrahedra. All chapters are enhanced with material on the Galerkin with numerical integration version of spectral methods. The discussion of direct and iterative solution methods is greatly expanded as are the set of numerical examples that illustrate the key properties of the various types of spectral approximations and the solution algorithms. A companion book "Evolution to Complex Geometries and Applications to Fluid Dynamics" contains an extensive survey of the essential algorithmic and theoretical aspects of spectral methods for complex geometries and provides detailed discussions of spectral algorithms for fluid dynamics in simple and complex geometries.

Description / Table of Contents: While researching for another film, filmmakers Tom Radford and Peter Raymont came across the story of Nugliak, an Inuvialuit man born just before the end of the 19th century who observed and wrote of the changes that occurred in the north during his lifetime on Herschel Island. Radford's film loosely follows the book, touching on much the same subjects, but using Nugliak's descendents as a link to the present.

Description / Table of Contents: It is easy to overlook Herschel Island - a tiny speck of land just off the Yukon coast - where the Inuvialuit hunter Nuligak once followed the great journeys of caribou, polar bears, and whales. The island lays silently on the margins of geography, entrapped in the footnotes of history, a forgotten place frozen in time. And yet just over a century ago Herschel Island was a frontier boomtown, branded "the Sodom of the Arctic" by some visitors at the time. A place cohabited by whalers, Inuit, missionaries, and police; a place of contact and conflict; a place where worlds collided and lives were changed forever. It was on Herschel Island that a young Inucialuit boy, Nuligak (later named Bob Cockney by the missionaries) came of age - fascinated by Herschel, but equally repelled by the excess of so-called civilization. Through Nuligak's touching yet tragic life-story expressed through his writings and echoed by his grandchildren's poignant return to the Island - we are offered a unique view into an often troubling past and a potentially hopeful future.

Description / Table of Contents: Sixty articles arranged in eight thematic sections refer to most recent geological and geophysical results of Antarctic research. The Precambrian of the East Antarctic shield and its geological history is considered as well as sub-ice topography, geophysics and stratigraphy, sedimentology and geophysics of the surrounding Southern Ocean. Particular emphasis is given to the connection of the Antarctic and the surrounding continents when forming part of Gondwana.

Description / Table of Contents: Das Buch führt in die grundlegenden Bereiche der klassischen Zeitreihenanalyse ein. Deshalb spielen in den ersten Kapiteln die Begriffe Stationarität und Autokovarianz- bzw. Autokorrelationsstruktur eine wesentliche Rolle. Ergänzend zu den grundlegenden Modellen werden aber auch schon zu Beginn eine Reihe von Beispielen diskutiert. Mit Hilfe des Spektralsatzes und der Filterung stationärer Zeitreihen kann die wichtige Klasse der ARMA-Modelle sehr effizient und erschöpfend behandelt werden. Die asymptotischen Resultate des Textes beruhen auf einem zentralen Grenzwertresultat für sog. schwach abhängige Zufallsvariable. Es zeigt sich, dass dieses Resultat sowohl die Behandlung linearer Zeitreihenmodelle wie gewisser nichtlinearer und für den Bereich der Finanzzeitreihen wichtiger Zeitreihen erlaubt. Im Weiteren werden dann Schätzmethoden im Spektralbereich von Zeitreihen diskutiert. Neben dem Periodogram werden ebenso auch sog. geglättete Spektraldichteschätzer vollständig behandelt. Kapitel über Modellwahlverfahren und die wesentlichen Grundlagen multivariater Zeitreihen sowie einiger Anhänge, die den Text weitestgehend autark lesbar machen sollen, schließen das Buch ab.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a sound introduction to the basic physical processes that dominate the workings of the Earth, its atmosphere and hydrosphere. It systematically introduces the physical processes involved in the Earth's systems without assuming an advanced physics or mathematical background.

Description / Table of Contents: The second edition of this internationally acclaimed text presents the latest developments in atmospheric science. It continues to be the premier text for both a rigorous and a complete treatment of the chemistry of the atmosphere, covering such pivotal topics as: chemistry of the stratosphere and troposphere; formation, growth, dynamics, and properties of aerosols; meteorology of air pollution; transport, diffusion, and removal of species in the atmosphere; formation and chemistry of clouds; interaction of atmospheric chemistry and climate; radiative and climatic effects of gases and particles; formulation of mathematical chemical/transport models of the atmosphere. All chapters develop results based on fundamental principles, enabling the reader to build a solid understanding of the science underlying atmospheric processes. Among the new material are three new chapters: Atmospheric radiation and photochemistry, gernal circulation of the atmosphere, and global cycles. In addition, the chapters Stratospheric chemistry, tropospheric chemistry, and organic atmospheric aerosols have been rewritten to reflect the latest findings. Readers familiar with the first edition will discover a text with new structures and new features that greatly aid learning. Many examples are set off in the text to help readers work through the application of concepts. Advanced material has been moved to appendices. Finally, many new problems, coded by degree of difficulty, have been added. A solutions manual is available. Throughly updated and restructured, the second edition of Atmospheric chemistry and physics is an ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a reference for researchers in environmental engineering, meteorology, chemistry, and the atmospheric sciences.

Description / Table of Contents: This Atlas and accompanying CD-ROM contains oceanographic data collected by the scientific specialists of the Academy of Sciences, Ministery of Fisheries, and the Hydrometeorological Service of Russia in the Sea of Azov and the adjacent part of the Black Sea during 1913 - 2004. Monthly data distribution plots are provided for each year. Monthly climatic maps of temperature and salinity at the sea surface and depth levels of 5 and 10 meters are computed using opjective analysis. Intra-annual variability of temperature and salinity of the Sea of Azov is discussed with respect to the quality control of the primary data. The Atlas also includes, in electronic format, selected copies of rare books and articles about the history of the Sea of Azov exploration and climate studies as well as photos, which provide information about the people and environment of this region.