ALBERT

Description: The diagnosis of the conservation state of monumental structures from constraints to the spatial distribution of their physical properties on shallow and inner materials represents one of the key objectives in the application of non-invasive techniques. In situ, CRP and 3D ultrasonic tomography can provide an effective coverage of stone materials in space and time. The intrinsic characteristics of the materials that make up a monumental structure and affect the two properties (i.e., reflectivity, longitudinal velocity) through the above methods substantially differ. Consequently, the content of their information is mainly complementary rather than redundant. In this study we present the integrated application of different non-destructive techniques i.e., Close Range Photogrammetry (CRP), and low frequency (24 KHz) ultrasonic tomography complemented by petrographycal analysis based essentially on Optical Microscopy (OM). This integrated methodology has been applied to a Carrara marble column of the Basilica of San Saturnino, in Byzantine-Proto-Romanesque style, which is part of the Paleo Christian complex of the V-VI century. This complex also includes the adjacent Christian necropolis in the square of San Cosimo in the city of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. The column under study is made of bare material dating back probably to the first century A.D., it was subjected to various traumas due to disassembly and transport to the site, including damage caused by the close blast of a WWII fragmentation bomb. High resolution 3D modelling of the studied artifact was computed starting from the integration of proximal sensing techniques such as CRP based on Structure from Motion (SfM), with which information about the geometrical anomalies and reflectivity of the investigated marble column surface was obtained. On the other hand, the inner parts of the studied body were successfully inspected in a non-invasive way by computing the velocity pattern of the ultrasonic signal through the investigated materials using 3D ultrasonic tomography. This technique gives information on the elastic properties of the material related with mechanical properties and a number of factors, such as presence of fractures, voids, and flaws. Extracting information on such factors from the elastic wave velocity using 3D tomography provides a non-invasive approach to analyse the property changes of the inner material of the ancient column. The integrated application of in situ CRP and ultrasonic techniques provides a full 3D high resolution model of the investigated artifact. This model enhanced by the knowledge of the petrographic characteristics of the materials, improves the diagnostic process and affords reliable information on the state of conservation of the materials used in the construction processes of the studied monumental structure. The integrated use of the non-destructive techniques described above also provides suitable data for a possible restoration and future preservation.

Description: Copernicus

Description: Published

Description: On line

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: Originating from the boreal forest and often transported over large distances, driftwood characterises many Arctic coastlines. Here we present a combined assessment of radiocarbon (14C) and dendrochronological (ring width) age estimates of driftwood samples to constrain the progradation of two Holocene beach-ridge systems near the Lena Delta in the Siberian Arctic (Laptev Sea). Our data show that the 14C ages obtained on syndepositional driftwood from beach deposits yield surprisingly coherent chronologies for the coastal evolution of the field sites. The dendrochronological analysis of wood from modern driftlines revealed the origin and recent delivery of the wood from the Lena River catchments. This finding suggests that the duration transport lies within the uncertainty of state-of-the-art 14C dating and thus substantiates the validity of age indication obtained from driftwood. This observation will help to better understand changes in similar coastal environments, and to improve our knowledge about the response of coastal systems to past climate and sea-level changes.

Description: Earth system and climate modelling involves the simulation of processes on a wide range of scales and within and across various compartments of the Earth system. In practice, component models are often developed independently by different research groups, adapted by others to their special interests and then combined using a dedicated coupling software. This procedure not only leads to a strongly growing number of available versions of model components and coupled setups but also to model- and high-performance computing (HPC)-system-dependent ways of obtaining, configuring, building and operating them. Therefore, implementing these Earth system models (ESMs) can be challenging and extremely time consuming, especially for less experienced modellers or scientists aiming to use different ESMs as in the case of intercomparison projects. To assist researchers and modellers by reducing avoidable complexity, we developed the ESM-Tools software, which provides a standard way for downloading, configuring, compiling, running and monitoring different models on a variety of HPC systems. It should be noted that ESM-Tools is not a coupling software itself but a workflow and infrastructure management tool to provide access to increase usability of already existing components and coupled setups. As coupled ESMs are technically the more challenging tasks, we will focus on coupled setups, always implying that stand-alone models can benefit in the same way. With ESM-Tools, the user is only required to provide a short script consisting of only the experiment-specific definitions, while the software executes all the phases of a simulation in the correct order. The software, which is well documented and easy to install and use, currently supports four ocean models, three atmosphere models, two biogeochemistry models, an ice sheet model, an isostatic adjustment model, a hydrology model and a land-surface model. Compared to previous versions, ESM-Tools has lately been entirely recoded in a high-level programming language (Python) and provides researchers with an even more user-friendly interface for Earth system modelling. ESM-Tools was developed within the framework of the Advanced Earth System Model Capacity project, supported by the Helmholtz Association.

Description: Numerous studies have addressed the possible existence of large floating ice sheets in the glacial Arctic Ocean from theoretical, modelling, or seafloor morphology perspectives. Here, we add evidence from the sediment record that support the existence of such freshwater ice caps in certain intervals, and we discuss their implications for possible non-linear and rapid behaviour of such a system in the high latitudes. We present sedimentary activities of 230Th together with 234U/238U ratios, the concentrations of manganese, sulphur and calcium in the context of lithological information and records of microfossils and their isotope composition. New analyses (PS51/038, PS72/396) and a re-analysis of existing marine sediment records (PS1533, PS1235, PS2185, PS2200, amongst others) in view of the naturally occurring radionuclide 230Thex and, where available, 10Be from the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas reveal the widespread occurrence of intervals with a specific geochemical signature. The pattern of these parameters in a pan-Arctic view can best be explained when assuming the repeated presence of freshwater in frozen and liquid form across large parts of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas. Based on the sedimentary evidence and known environmental constraints at the time, we develop a glacial scenario that explains how these ice sheets, together with eustatic sea-level changes, may have affected the past oceanography of the Arctic Ocean in a fundamental way that must have led to a drastic and non-linear response to external forcing. This concept offers a possibility to explain and to some extent reconcile contrasting age models for the Late Pleistocene in the Arctic Ocean. Our view, if adopted, offers a coherent dating approach across the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, linked to events outside the Arctic.

Description: The modeling of paleoclimate, using physically based tools, is increasingly seen as a strong out-of-sample test of the models that are used for the projection of future climate changes. New to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) is the Tier 1 Last Interglacial experiment for 127 000 years ago (lig127k), designed to address the climate responses to stronger orbital forcing than the midHolocene experiment, using the same state-of-the-art models as for the future and following a common experimental protocol. Here we present a first analysis of a multi-model ensemble of 17 climate models, all of which have completed the CMIP6 DECK (Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima) experiments. The equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) of these models varies from 1.8 to 5.6 ∘C. The seasonal character of the insolation anomalies results in strong summer warming over the Northern Hemisphere continents in the lig127k ensemble as compared to the CMIP6 piControl and much-reduced minimum sea ice in the Arctic. The multi-model results indicate enhanced summer monsoonal precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere and reductions in the Southern Hemisphere. These responses are greater in the lig127k than the CMIP6 midHolocene simulations as expected from the larger insolation anomalies at 127 than 6 ka. New synthesis for surface temperature and precipitation, targeted for 127 ka, have been developed for comparison to the multi-model ensemble. The lig127k model ensemble and data reconstructions are in good agreement for summer temperature anomalies over Canada, Scandinavia, and the North Atlantic and for precipitation over the Northern Hemisphere continents. The model–data comparisons and mismatches point to further study of the sensitivity of the simulations to uncertainties in the boundary conditions and of the uncertainties and sparse coverage in current proxy reconstructions. The CMIP6–Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP4) lig127k simulations, in combination with the proxy record, improve our confidence in future projections of monsoons, surface temperature, and Arctic sea ice, thus providing a key target for model evaluation and optimization.

Description: In order to investigate the impact of spatial resolution on the discrepancy between simulated δ18O and observed δ18O in Greenland ice cores, regional climate simulations are performed with the isotope-enabled regional climate model (RCM) COSMO_iso. For this purpose, isotope-enabled general circulation model (GCM) simulations with the ECHAM5-wiso general circulation model (GCM) under present-day conditions and the MPI-ESM-wiso GCM under mid-Holocene conditions are dynamically downscaled with COSMO_iso for the Arctic region. The capability of COSMO_iso to reproduce observed isotopic ratios in Greenland ice cores for these two periods is investigated by comparing the simulation results to measured δ18O ratios from snow pit samples, Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) stations and ice cores. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a mid-Holocene isotope-enabled RCM simulation is performed for the Arctic region. Under present-day conditions, a dynamical downscaling of ECHAM5-wiso (1.1◦ × 1.1◦) with COSMO_iso to a spatial resolution of 50km improves the agreement with the measured δ18O ratios for 14 of 19 observational data sets. A further increase in the spatial resolution to 7km does not yield substantial improvements except for the coastal areas with its complex terrain. For the mid-Holocene, a fully coupled MPI-ESM-wiso time slice simulation is downscaled with COSMO_iso to a spatial resolution of 50km. In the mid-Holocene, MPI-ESM-wiso already agrees well with observations in Greenland and a downscaling with COSMO_iso does not further improve the model–data agreement. Despite this lack of improvement in model biases, the study shows that in both periods, observed δ18O values at measurement sites constitute isotope ratios which are mainly within the subgrid-scale variability of the global ECHAM5-wiso and MPI-ESM-wiso simulation results. The correct δ18O ratios are consequently not resolved in the GCM simulation results and need to be extracted by a refinement with an RCM. In this context, the RCM simulations provide a spatial δ18O distribution by which the effects of local uncertainties can be taken into account in the comparison between point measurements and model outputs. Thus, an isotope-enabled GCM–RCM model chain with realistically implemented fractionating processes constitutes a useful supplement to reconstruct regional paleo-climate conditions during the mid-Holocene in Greenland. Such model chains might also be applied to reveal the full potential of GCMs in other regions and climate periods, in which large deviations relative to observed isotope ratios are simulated.

Description: Proxy climate records are an invaluable source of information about the earth’s climate prior to the instrumental record. The temporal- and spatial-coverage of records continues to increase, however, these records of past climate are associated with significant uncertainties due to non-climate processes that influence the recorded and measured proxy values. Generally, these uncertainties are timescale-dependent and correlated in time. Accounting for structure in the errors is essential to providing realistic error estimates for smoothed or stacked records, detection of anomalies and identifying trends, but this structure is seldom accounted for. In the first of these companion articles we outlined a theoretical framework for handling proxy uncertainties by deriving the power spectrum of proxy error components from which it is possible to obtain timescale-dependent error estimates. Here in part II, we demonstrate the practical application of this theoretical framework using the example of marine sediment cores. We consider how to obtain estimates for the required parameters and give examples of the application of this approach for typical marine sediment proxy records. Our new approach of estimating and providing timescale-dependent proxy errors overcomes the limitations of simplistic single value error estimates. We aim to provide the conceptual basis for a more quantitative use of paleo-records for applications such as model-data comparison, regional and global synthesis of past climate states and data assimilation.

Description: The mid-Pliocene warm period (mPWP; ∼3.2 million years ago) is seen as the most recent time period characterized by a warm climate state, with similar to modern geography and ∼400 ppmv atmospheric CO2 concentration, and is therefore often considered an interesting analogue for near-future climate projections. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions indicate higher surface temperatures, decreasing tropical deserts, and a more humid climate in West Africa characterized by a strengthened West African Monsoon (WAM). Using model results from the second phase of the Pliocene Modelling Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP2) ensemble, we analyse changes of the WAM rainfall during the mPWP by comparing them with the control simulations for the pre-industrial period. The ensemble shows a robust increase in the summer rainfall over West Africa and the Sahara region, with an average increase of 2.5 mm/d, contrasted by a rainfall decrease over the equatorial Atlantic. An anomalous warming of the Sahara and deepening of the Saharan Heat Low, seen in 〉90 % of the models, leads to a strengthening of the WAM and an increased monsoonal flow into the continent. A similar warming of the Sahara is seen in future projections using both phase 3 and 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3 and CMIP5). Though previous studies of future projections indicate a west–east drying–wetting contrast over the Sahel, PlioMIP2 simulations indicate a uniform rainfall increase in that region in warm climates characterized by increasing greenhouse gas forcing. We note that this effect will further depend on the long-term response of the vegetation to the CO2 forcing.

Description: Due to its dryness, the subtropical free troposphere plays a critical role in the radiative balance of the Earth's climate system. But the complex interactions of the dynamical and physical processes controlling the variability in the moisture budget of this sensitive region of the subtropical atmosphere are still not fully understood. Stable water isotopes can provide important information about several of the latter processes, namely subsidence drying, turbulent mixing, and dry and moist convective moistening. In this study, we use high-resolution simulations of the isotope-enabled version of the regional weather and climate prediction model of the Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMOiso) to investigate predominant moisture transport pathways in the Canary Islands region in the eastern subtropical North Atlantic. Comparison of the simulated isotope signals with multi-platform isotope observations (aircraft, ground- and space-based remote sensing) from a field campaign in summer 2013 shows that COSMOiso can reproduce the observed variability of stable water vapour isotopes on timescales of hours to days, thus allowing us to study the mechanisms that control the subtropical free-tropospheric humidity. Changes in isotopic signals along backward trajectories from the Canary Islands region reveal the physical processes behind the synoptic-scale isotope variability. We identify four predominant moisture transport pathways of mid-tropospheric air, each with distinct isotopic signatures: - air parcels originating from the convective boundary layer of the Saharan heat low (SHL) – these are characterised by a homogeneous isotopic composition with a particularly high δD (median mid-tropospheric δD=−122‰), which results from dry convective mixing of low-level moisture of diverse origin advected into the SHL; - air parcels originating from the free troposphere above the SHL – although experiencing the largest changes in humidity and δD during their subsidence over West Africa, these air parcels typically have lower δD values (median δD=−148‰) than air parcels originating from the boundary layer of the SHL; - air parcels originating from outside the SHL region, typically descending from tropical upper levels south of the SHL, which are often affected by moist convective injections from mesoscale convective systems in the Sahel – their isotopic composition is much less enriched in heavy isotopes (median δD=−175‰) than those from the SHL region; - air parcels subsiding from the upper-level extratropical North Atlantic – this pathway leads to the driest and most depleted conditions (median δD=−255‰) in the middle troposphere near the Canary Islands. The alternation of these transport pathways explains the observed high variability in humidity and δD on synoptic timescales to a large degree. We further show that the four different transport pathways are related to specific large-scale flow conditions. In particular, distinct differences in the location of the North African mid-level anticyclone and of extratropical Rossby wave patterns occur between the four transport pathways. Overall, this study demonstrates that the adopted Lagrangian isotope perspective enhances our understanding of air mass transport and mixing and offers a sound interpretation of the free-tropospheric variability of specific humidity and isotope composition on timescales of hours to days in contrasting atmospheric conditions over the eastern subtropical North Atlantic.

Description: Hyrrokkin sarcophaga is a parasitic foraminifera that is commonly found in cold-water coral reefs where it infests the file clam Acesta excavata and the scleractinian coral Desmophyllum pertusum (formerly known as Lophelia pertusa). Here, we present measurements of the trace element and isotopic composition of these parasitic foraminifera, analyzed by inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and mass spectrometry (gas-source MS and inductively-coupled-plasma MS). Our results reveal that the geochemical signature of H. sarcophaga depends on the host organism it infests. Sr / Ca ratios are 1.1 mmol mol−1 higher in H. sarcophaga that infest D. pertusum, which could be an indication that dissolved host carbonate material is utilized in shell calcification, given that the aragonite of D. pertusum has a naturally higher Sr concentration compared to the calcite of A. excavata. Similarly, we measure 3.1 ‰ lower δ13C and 0.25 ‰ lower δ18O values in H. sarcophaga that lived on D. pertusum, which might be caused by the direct uptake of the host's carbonate material with a more negative isotopic composition or different pH regimes in these foraminifera (pH can exert a control on the extent of CO2 hydration/hydroxylation) due to the uptake of body fluids of the host. We also observe higher Mn / Ca ratios in foraminifera that lived on A. excavata but did not penetrate the host shell compared to specimen that penetrated the shell, which could be interpreted as a change in food source, changes in the calcification rate, Rayleigh fractionation or changing oxygen conditions. While our measurements provide an interesting insight into the calcification process of this unusual foraminifera, these data also indicate that the geochemistry of this parasitic foraminifera is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of paleoenvironmental conditions using Sr / Ca, Mn / Ca, δ18O or δ13C unless the host organism is known and its geochemical composition can be accounted for.

Description: In this work we have performed a detailed study of vectors to ore to a representative volcanic-rock-hosted replacive volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit located in the northern Iberian Pyrite Belt (Spain), the Aguas Teñidas deposit. The investigated vectors include the following: (1) mineralogical zoning, (2) host sequence characterization and mineralized unit identification based on whole rock geochemistry discrimination diagrams, (3) study of the characteristics and behaviour of whole rock geochemical anomalies around the ore (e.g. alteration-related compositional changes, characteristics and extent of geochemical halos of indicative elements such as Cu, Zn, Pb, Sb, Tl, and Ba around the deposit), and (4) application of portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF) analysis to the detection of the previous vectors. In the footwall, a concentric cone-shaped hydrothermal alteration zone bearing the stockwork passes laterally, from core to edge, from quartz (only local) to chlorite–quartz, sericite–chlorite–quartz, and sericite–quartz alteration zones. The hydrothermal alteration is also found in the hanging wall despite being tectonically allochthonous to the orebody: a proximal sericite alteration zone is followed by a more distal albite-rich one. Whole rock major elements show an increase in alteration indexes (e.g. AI, CCPI) towards the mineralization, a general SiO2 enrichment, and FeO enrichment as well as K2O and Na2O depletion towards the centre of the hydrothermal system, with MgO showing a less systematic behaviour. K2O and Na2O leached from the centre of the system are transported and deposited in more external areas. Copper, Pb, and Zn produce proximal anomalies around mineralized areas, with the more mobile Sb, Tl, and Ba generating wider halos. Whereas Sb and Tl halos form around all mineralized areas, Ba anomalies are restricted to areas around the massive sulfide body. Our results show that proposed vectors, or adaptations designed to overcome p-XRF limitations, can be confidently used by analysing unprepared hand specimens, including the external rough curved surface of drill cores. The data presented in this work are not only applicable to VMS exploration in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, but on a broader scale they will also contribute to improving our general understanding of vectors to ore in replacive-type VMS deposits.

Description: We combine satellite data products to provide a first and general overview of the physical sea ice conditions along the drift of the international Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition and a comparison with previous years (2005–2006 to 2018–2019). We find that the MOSAiC drift was around 20 % faster than the climatological mean drift, as a consequence of large-scale low-pressure anomalies prevailing around the Barents–Kara–Laptev sea region between January and March. In winter (October–April), satellite observations show that the sea ice in the vicinity of the Central Observatory (CO; 50 km radius) was rather thin compared to the previous years along the same trajectory. Unlike ice thickness, satellite-derived sea ice concentration, lead frequency and snow thickness during winter months were close to the long-term mean with little variability. With the onset of spring and decreasing distance to the Fram Strait, variability in ice concentration and lead activity increased. In addition, the frequency and strength of deformation events (divergence, convergence and shear) were higher during summer than during winter. Overall, we find that sea ice conditions observed within 5 km distance of the CO are representative for the wider (50 and 100 km) surroundings. An exception is the ice thickness; here we find that sea ice within 50 km radius of the CO was thinner than sea ice within a 100 km radius by a small but consistent factor (4 %) for successive monthly averages. Moreover, satellite acquisitions indicate that the formation of large melt ponds began earlier on the MOSAiC floe than on neighbouring floes.

Description: Across the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) there is a narrow engineering corridor with widely distributed slopes called the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC), where a variety of important infrastructures are concentrated. These facilities are transportation routes for people, materials, energy, etc. from inland China to the Tibet Autonomous Region. From Golmud to Lhasa, the engineering corridor covers 632 km of permafrost containing the densely developed Qinghai–Tibet Railway and Qinghai–Tibet Highway, as well as power and communication towers. Slope failure in permafrost regions, caused by permafrost degradation, ground ice melting, etc., affects the engineering construction and permafrost environments in the QTEC. We implement a variety of sensors to monitor the hydrological and thermal deformation between permafrost slopes and permafrost engineering projects in the corridor. In addition to soil temperature and moisture sensors, the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were adopted to monitor the spatial distribution and changes in thermal deformation. An integrated dataset of hydrological and thermal deformation in permafrost engineering and slopes in the QTEC from the 1950s to 2020, including meteorological and ground observations, TLS point cloud data, and RGB and thermal infrared (TIR) images, can be of great value for estimating the hydrological and thermal impact and stability between engineering and slopes under the influence of climate change and engineering disturbance. The dataset and code were uploaded to the Zenodo repository and can be accessed through https://zenodo.org/communities/qtec (last access: 23 June 2021), including meteorological and ground observations at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5009871 (Luo et al., 2020d), TLS measurements at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5009558 (Luo et al., 2020a), UAV RGB and TIR images at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5016192 (Luo et al., 2020b), and R code for permafrost indices and visualisation at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5002981 (Luo et al., 2020c).

Description: We present the first incorporation of the Common Representative Intermediates version 2.2 tropospheric chemistry mechanism, CRI v2.2, combined with stratospheric chemistry, into the global chemistry–climate United Kingdom Chemistry and Aerosols (UKCA) model to give the CRI-Strat 2 mechanism. A rigorous comparison of CRI-Strat 2 with the earlier version, CRI-Strat, is performed in UKCA in addition to an evaluation of three mechanisms, CRI-Strat 2, CRI-Strat and the standard UKCA chemical mechanism, StratTrop v1.0, against a wide array of surface and airborne chemical data. CRI-Strat 2 comprises a state-of-the-art isoprene scheme, optimized against the Master Chemical Mechanism v3.3.1, which includes isoprene peroxy radical isomerization, HOx recycling through the addition of photolabile hydroperoxy aldehydes (HPALDs), and isoprene epoxy diol (IEPOX) formation. CRI-Strat 2 also features updates to several rate constants for the inorganic chemistry, including the reactions of inorganic nitrogen and O(1D). The update to the isoprene chemistry in CRI-Strat 2 increases OH over the lowest 500 m in tropical forested regions by 30 %–50 % relative to CRI-Strat, leading to an improvement in model–observation comparisons for surface OH and isoprene relative to CRI-Strat and StratTrop. Enhanced oxidants also cause a 25 % reduction in isoprene burden and an increase in oxidation fluxes of isoprene and other biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) at low altitudes with likely impacts on subsequent aerosol formation, atmospheric lifetime, and climate. By contrast, updates to the rate constants of O(1D) with its main reactants relative to CRI-Strat reduces OH in much of the free troposphere, producing a 2 % increase in the methane lifetime, and increases the tropospheric ozone burden by 8 %, primarily from reduced loss via O(1D)+H2O. The changes to inorganic nitrogen reaction rate constants increase the NOx burden by 4 % and shift the distribution of nitrated species closer to that simulated by StratTrop. CRI-Strat 2 is suitable for multi-decadal model integrations and the improved representation of isoprene chemistry provides an opportunity to explore the consequences of HOx recycling in the United Kingdom Earth System Model (UKESM1). This new mechanism will enable a re-evaluation of the impact of BVOCs on the chemical composition of the atmosphere and further probe the feedback between the biosphere and the climate.

Description: The use of mass flow simulations in volcanic hazard zonation and mapping is often limited by model complexity (i.e. uncertainty in correct values of model parameters), a lack of model uncertainty quantification, and limited approaches to incorporate this uncertainty into hazard maps. When quantified, mass flow simulation errors are typically evaluated on a pixel-pair basis, using the difference between simulated and observed (“actual”) map-cell values to evaluate the performance of a model. However, these comparisons conflate location and quantification errors, neglecting possible spatial autocorrelation of evaluated errors. As a result, model performance assessments typically yield moderate accuracy values. In this paper, similarly moderate accuracy values were found in a performance assessment of three depth-averaged numerical models using the 2012 debris avalanche from the Upper Te Maari crater, Tongariro Volcano, as a benchmark. To provide a fairer assessment of performance and evaluate spatial covariance of errors, we use a fuzzy set approach to indicate the proximity of similarly valued map cells. This “fuzzification” of simulated results yields improvements in targeted performance metrics relative to a length scale parameter at the expense of decreases in opposing metrics (e.g. fewer false negatives result in more false positives) and a reduction in resolution. The use of this approach to generate hazard zones incorporating the identified uncertainty and associated trade-offs is demonstrated and indicates a potential use for informed stakeholders by reducing the complexity of uncertainty estimation and supporting decision-making from simulated data.

Description: In this study, we analyse the climatology of ionosphere over Nepal based on GPS-derived vertical total electron content (VTEC) observed from four stations as defined in Table 1: KKN4 (27.80∘ N, 85.27∘ E), GRHI (27.95∘ N, 82.49∘ E), JMSM (28.80∘ N, 83.74∘ E) and DLPA (28.98∘ N, 82.81∘ E) during the years 2008 to 2018. The study illustrates the diurnal, monthly, annual, seasonal and solar cycle variations in VTEC during all times of solar cycle 24. The results clearly reveal the presence of equinoctial asymmetry in TEC, which is more pronounced in maximum phases of solar cycle in the year 2014 at KKN4 station, followed by descending, ascending and minimum phases. Diurnal variations in VTEC showed the short-lived day minimum which occurs between 05:00 to 06:00 LT (local time) at all the stations considered, with diurnal peaks between 12:00 and 15:00 LT. The maximum value of TEC is observed more often during the spring equinox than the autumn equinox, with a few asymmetries. Seasonal variation in TEC is observed to be a manifestation of variations in solar flux, particularly regarding the level of solar flux in consecutive solstices.

Description: We report on applications of the ultraviolet-light-emitting-diode-based incoherent broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (UV-LED-IBBCEAS) technique for optical monitoring of HONO, NO2 and CH2O in a simulation chamber. Performance intercomparison of UV-LED-IBBCEAS with a wet chemistry-based NitroMAC sensor and a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer has been carried out on real-time simultaneous measurement of HONO, NO2 and CH2O concentrations during the reaction of NO2 with H2O vapour in CESAM (French acronym for Experimental Multiphasic Atmospheric Simulation Chamber). The 1σ (signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) = 1) detection limits of 112 pptv for NO2, 56 pptv for HONO and 41 ppbv for CH2O over 120 s were found for the UV-LED-IBBCEAS measurement. On the contrary to many set-ups where cavities are installed outside the simulation chamber, we describe here an original in situ permanent installation. The intercomparison results demonstrate that IBBCEAS is a very well suitable technique for in situ simultaneous measurements of multiple chemically reactive species with high sensitivity and high precision even if the absorption bands of these species are overlapped. It offers excellent capacity for non-invasive optical monitoring of chemical reactions without any perturbation. For the application to simulation chambers, it has the advantage to provide a spatially integrated measurement across the reactor and hence to avoid point-sampling-related artefacts.

Description: Assimilation of weather radar measurements including radar reflectivity and radial wind data has been operational at the Deutscher Wetterdienst, with a diagonal observation error (OE) covariance matrix. For an implementation of a full OE covariance matrix, the statistics of the OE have to be a priori estimated, for which the Desroziers method has been often used. However, the resulted statistics consists of contributions from different error sources and are difficult to interpret. In this work, we use an approach that is based on samples for truncation error in radar observation space to approximate the representation error due to unresolved scales and processes (RE) and compare its statistics with the OE statistics estimated by the Desroziers method. It is found that the statistics of the RE help the understanding of several important features in the variances and correlation length scales of the OE for both reflectivity and radial wind data and the other error sources from the microphysical scheme, radar observation operator and the superobbing technique may also contribute, for instance, to differences among different elevations and observation types. The statistics presented here can serve as a guideline for selecting which observations are assimilated and for assignment of the OE covariance matrix that can be diagonal or full and correlated.

Description: Determining controls on the temperature sensitivity of heterotrophic soil respiration remains critical to incorporating soil–climate feedbacks into climate models. Most information on soil respiratory responses to temperature comes from laboratory incubations of isolated soils and typically subsamples of individual horizons. Inconsistencies between field and laboratory results may be explained by microbial priming supported by cross-horizon exchange of labile C or N. Such exchange is feasible in intact soil profiles but is absent when soils are isolated from surrounding depths. Here we assess the role of soil horizon connectivity, by which we mean the degree to which horizons remain layered and associated with each other as they are in situ, on microbial C and N substrate use and its relationship to the temperature sensitivity of respiration. We accomplished this by exploring changes in C : N, soil organic matter composition (via C : N, amino acid composition and concentration, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy), and the δ13C of respiratory CO2 during incubations of organic horizons collected across boreal forests in different climate regions where soil C and N compositions differ. The experiments consisted of two treatments: soil incubated (1) with each organic horizon separately and (2) as a whole organic profile, permitting cross-horizon exchange of substrates during the incubation. The soils were incubated at 5 and 15 ∘C for over 430 d. Enhanced microbial use of labile C-rich, but not N-rich, substrates were responsible for enhanced, whole-horizon respiratory responses to temperature relative to individual soil horizons. This impact of a labile C priming mechanism was most emergent in soils from the warmer region, consistent with these soils' lower C bioreactivity relative to soils from the colder region. Specifically, cross-horizon exchange within whole soil profiles prompted increases in mineralization of carbohydrates and more 13C-enriched substrates and increased soil respiratory responses to warming relative to soil horizons incubated in isolation. These findings highlight that soil horizon connectivity can impact microbial substrate use in ways that affect how soil effluxes of CO2 are controlled by temperature. The degree to which this mechanism exerts itself in other soils remains unknown, but these results highlight the importance of understanding mechanisms that operate in intact soil profiles – only rarely studied – in regulating a key soil–climate feedback.

Description: Plumes from the boreal spring biomass burning (BB) in northern peninsular Southeast Asia (nPSEA) are lifted into the subtropical jet stream and transported and deposited across nPSEA, South China, Taiwan and even the western North Pacific Ocean. This paper as part of the Seven SouthEast Asian Studies (7-SEAS) project effort attempts to improve the chemical weather prediction capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting coupled with the Community Multiscale for Air Quality (WRF–CMAQ) model over a vast region, from the mountainous near-source burning sites at nPSEA to its downwind region. Several sensitivity analyses of plume rise are compared in the paper, and it is discovered that the initial vertical allocation profile of BB plumes and the plume rise module (PLMRIM) are the main reasons causing the inaccuracies of the WRF–CMAQ simulations. The smoldering emission from the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) empirical algorithm included has improved the accuracies of PM10, O3 and CO at the source. The best performance at the downwind sites is achieved with the inline PLMRIM, which accounts for the atmospheric stratification at the mountainous source region with the FINN burning emission dataset. Such a setup greatly improves not only the BB aerosol concentration prediction over near-source and receptor ground-based measurement sites but also the aerosol vertical distribution and column aerosol optical depth of the BB aerosol along the transport route. The BB aerosols from nPSEA are carried by the subtropical westerlies in the free troposphere to the western North Pacific, while BB aerosol has been found to interact with the local pollutants in the Taiwan region through three conditions: (a) overpassing western Taiwan and entering the central mountain area, (b) mixing down to western Taiwan, (c) transport of local pollutants upwards and mixing with a BB plume on higher ground. The second condition, which involves the prevailing high-pressure system from Asian cold surge, is able to impact most of the population in Taiwan.

Description: The German Bight located within the central North Sea is a hydro- and morphodynamically highly complex system of estuaries, barrier islands, and part of the world's largest coherent tidal flats, the Wadden Sea. To identify and understand challenges faced by coastal stakeholders, such as harbor operators or governmental agencies, to maintain waterways and employ numerical models for further analyses, it is imperative to have a consistent database for both bathymetry and surface sedimentology. Current commercial and public data products are insufficient in spatial and temporal resolution and coverage for recent analysis methods. Thus, this first part of a two-part publication series of the German joint project EasyGSH-DB describes annual bathymetric digital terrain models at a 10 m gridded resolution for the German North Sea coast and German Bight from 1996 to 2016 (Sievers et al., 2020a, https://doi.org/10.48437/02.2020.K2.7000.0001), as well as surface sedimentological models of discretized cumulative grain size distribution functions for 1996, 2006, and 2016 on 100 m grids (Sievers et al., 2020b, https://doi.org/10.48437/02.2020.K2.7000.0005). Furthermore, basic morphodynamic and sedimentological processing analyses, such as the estimation of, for example, bathymetric stability or surface maps of sedimentological parameters, are provided (Sievers et al., 2020a, b, see respective download links).

Description: The Phanerozoic tectonothermal evolution of the SW slope of the East European Platform (EEP) in Poland is reconstructed by means of thermal maturity, low-temperature thermochronometry, and thermal modelling. We provide a set of new thermochronometric data and integrate stratigraphic and thermal maturity information to constrain the burial and thermal history of sediments. Apatite fission track (AFT) analysis and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) thermochronology have been carried out on samples of sandstones, bentonites, diabase, and crystalline basement rocks collected from 17 boreholes located in central and NE Poland. They penetrated sedimentary cover of the EEP subdivided from the north to south into the Baltic, Podlasie, and Lublin basins. The average ZHe ages from Proterozoic basement rocks as well as Ordovician to Silurian bentonites and Cambrian to lower Carboniferous sandstones range from 848 ± 81 to 255 ± 22 Ma with a single early Permian age of 288 Ma, corresponding to cooling after a thermal event. The remaining ZHe ages represent partial reset or source ages. The AFT ages of samples are dispersed in the range of 235.8 ± 17.3 Ma (Middle Triassic) to 42.1 ± 11.1 Ma (Paleogene) providing a record of Mesozoic and Cenozoic cooling. The highest frequency of the AFT ages is in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous prior to Alpine basin inversion. Thermal maturity results are consistent with the SW-ward increase of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments thickness. An important break in a thermal maturity profile exists across the base Permian–Mesozoic unconformity. Thermal modelling showed that significant heating of Ediacaran to Carboniferous sedimentary successions occurred before the Permian with maximum paleotemperatures in the earliest and latest Carboniferous for Baltic–Podlasie and Lublin basins, respectively. The results obtained suggest an important role of early Carboniferous uplift and exhumation at the SW margin of the EEP. The SW slope of the latter was afterward overridden in the Lublin Basin by the Variscan orogenic wedge. Its tectonic loading interrupted Carboniferous uplift and caused resumption of sedimentation in the late Viséan. Consequently, a thermal history of the Lublin Basin is different from that in the Podlasie and Baltic basins but similar to other sections of the Variscan foreland, characterized by maximum burial at the end of Carboniferous. The Mesozoic thermal history was characterized by gradual cooling from peak temperatures at the transition from Triassic to Jurassic due to decreasing heat flow. Burial caused maximum paleotemperatures in the SW part of the study area, where the EEP was covered by an extensive sedimentary pile. However, further NE, due to low temperatures caused by shallow burial, the impact of fluids can be detected by vitrinite reflectance, illite/smectite, and thermochronological data. Our new results emphasize the importance of using multiple low-temperature thermochronometers and thermal modelling in connection with thermal maturity analysis to elucidate the near-surface evolution of platform margins.

Description: Snow stands out from materials at the Earth’s surface owing to its unique optical properties. Snow optical properties are sensitive to the snow microstructure, triggering potent climate feedbacks. The impacts of snow microstructure on its optical properties such as reflectance are, to date, only partially understood. However, precise modelling of snow reflectance, particularly bidirectional reflectance, are required in many problems, e.g. to correctly process satellite data over snow-covered areas. This study presents a dataset that combines bidirectional reflectance measurements over 500–2500 nm and the X-ray tomography of the snow microstructure for three snow samples of two different morphological types. The dataset is used to evaluate the stereological approach from Malinka (2014) that relates snow optical properties to the chord length distribution in the snow microstructure. The mean chord length and specific surface area (SSA) retrieved with this approach from the albedo spectrum and those measured by the X-ray tomography are in excellent agreement. The analysis of the 3D images has shown that the random chords of the ice phase obey the gamma distribution with the shape parameter m taking the value approximately equal to or a little greater than 2. For weak and intermediate absorption (high and medium albedo), the simulated bidirectional reflectances reproduce the measured ones accurately but tend to slightly overestimate the anisotropy of the radiation. For such absorptions the use of the exponential law for the ice chord length distribution instead of the one measured with the X-ray tomography does not affect the simulated reflectance. In contrast, under high absorption (albedo of a few percent), snow microstructure and especially facet orientation at the surface play a significant role in the reflectance, particularly at oblique viewing and incidence.

Description: Attribution in its general definition aims to quantify drivers of change in a system. According to IPCC Working Group II (WGII) a change in a natural, human or managed system is attributed to climate change by quantifying the difference between the observed state of the system and a counterfactual baseline that characterizes the system's behavior in the absence of climate change, where “climate change refers to any long-term trend in climate, irrespective of its cause” (IPCC, 2014). Impact attribution following this definition remains a challenge because the counterfactual baseline, which characterizes the system behavior in the hypothetical absence of climate change, cannot be observed. Process-based and empirical impact models can fill this gap as they allow us to simulate the counterfactual climate impact baseline. In those simulations, the models are forced by observed direct (human) drivers such as land use changes, changes in water or agricultural management but a counterfactual climate without long-term changes. We here present ATTRICI (ATTRIbuting Climate Impacts), an approach to construct the required counterfactual stationary climate data from observational (factual) climate data. Our method identifies the long-term shifts in the considered daily climate variables that are correlated to global mean temperature change assuming a smooth annual cycle of the associated scaling coefficients for each day of the year. The produced counterfactual climate datasets are used as forcing data within the impact attribution setup of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP3a). Our method preserves the internal variability of the observed data in the sense that factual and counterfactual data for a given day have the same rank in their respective statistical distributions. The associated impact model simulations allow for quantifying the contribution of climate change to observed long-term changes in impact indicators and for quantifying the contribution of the observed trend in climate to the magnitude of individual impact events. Attribution of climate impacts to anthropogenic forcing would need an additional step separating anthropogenic climate forcing from other sources of climate trends, which is not covered by our method.

Description: Biocides used in film protection products leaching from facades are known to be a potential threat to the environment. This study identifies individual sources and entry pathways in a small-scale urban area. We investigate emissions of commonly used biocides (terbutryn, diuron, and octylisothiazolinone – OIT) and some of their transformation products (TPs; diuron-desmethyl, terbumeton, terbuthylazine-2-hydroxy, and terbutryn-desethyl) from a 2 ha residential area 13 years after construction has ended. Sampling utilizes existing urban water infrastructure representative for decentralized storm water management in central and northern Europe and applies a two-step approach to (a) determine the occurrence of biocides above water quality limits (i.e., predicted no-effect concentration, PNEC) and (b) identify source areas and characterize entry pathways into surface and groundwater. Monitoring focuses on the analysis of selected biocides and TPs by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in water samples taken from facades, rainwater pipes, drainage, and storm water infiltration systems. In standing water in a swale, we found high concentrations of diuron (174 ng L−1) and terbutryn (40 ng L−1) above PNEC for surface water. We confirmed expected sources, i.e., facades. Sampling of rain downpipes from flat roofs identified additional sources of all biocides and two TPs of terbutryn and one TP of diuron. Diuron and terbutryn were found in three drainage pipes representing different entry pathways of biocides. In one drainage pipe collecting road runoff, only diuron-desmethyl and terbutryn-desethyl were detected. In two other drainage pipes collecting infiltrated water through soil, terbuthylazine-2-hydroxy was additionally detected. One of the pipes collecting infiltrated water through soil concentration showed the highest concentrations of terbutryn and two of its TPs (terbutryn-desethyl and terbuthylazine-2-hydroxy). This suggests a high leaching potential of terbutryn. The applied two-step approach determined sources and pathways of biocide and their TPs. This study contributes to expanding knowledge on their entry and distribution and, thus, eventually towards reducing emissions.

Description: Regional anomalies of steric sea level are either due to redistribution of heat and freshwater anomalies or due to ocean–atmosphere buoyancy fluxes. Interannual to decadal variability in sea level across the tropical Pacific is mainly due to steric variations driven by wind stress anomalies. The importance of air–sea buoyancy fluxes is less clear. We use a global, eddy-permitting ocean model and a series of sensitivity experiments with quasi-climatological momentum and buoyancy fluxes to identify the contribution of buoyancy fluxes for interannual to decadal sea level variability in the tropical Pacific. We find their contribution on interannual timescales to be strongest in the central tropical Pacific at around a 10∘ latitude in both hemispheres and also relevant in the very east of the tropical domain. Buoyancy-flux-forced anomalies are correlated with variations driven by wind stress changes, but their effect on the prevailing anomalies and the importance of heat and freshwater fluxes vary locally. In the eastern tropical basin, interannual sea level variability is amplified by anomalous heat fluxes, while the importance of freshwater fluxes is small, and neither has any impact on decadal timescales. In the western tropical Pacific, the variability on interannual and decadal timescales is dampened by both heat and freshwater fluxes. The mechanism involves westward-propagating Rossby waves that are triggered during El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events by anomalous buoyancy fluxes in the central tropical Pacific and counteract the prevailing sea level anomalies once they reach the western part of the basin.

Description: The Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glacier (also known as the 79∘ North Glacier) drains approximately 8 % of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Supraglacial lakes (SGLs), or surface melt ponds, are a persistent summertime feature and are thought to drain rapidly to the base of the glacier and influence seasonal ice velocity. However, seasonal development and spatial distribution of SGLs in the north-east of Greenland are poorly understood, leaving a substantial error in the estimate of meltwater and its impacts on ice velocity. Using results from an automated detection of melt ponds, atmospheric and surface mass balance modelling, and reanalysis products, we investigate the role of specific climatic conditions in melt onset, extent, and duration from 2016 to 2019. The summers of 2016 and 2019 were characterised by above-average air temperatures, particularly in June, as well as a number of rainfall events, which led to extensive melt ponds to elevations up to 1600 m. Conversely, 2018 was particularly cold, with a large accumulated snowpack, which limited the development of lakes to altitudes less than 800 m. There is evidence of inland expansion and increases in the total area of lakes compared to the early 2000s, as projected by future global warming scenarios.

Description: Coincident wide-angle and multi-channel seismic data acquired within the scope of the PAMELA Moz3-5 project allow us to reconsider the formation mechanism of East African margins offshore of southern Mozambique. This study specifically focuses on the sedimentary and deep-crustal architecture of the Limpopo margin (LM) that fringes the eastern edge of the Mozambique’s Coastal Plain (MCP) and its offshore southern prolongation the North Natal Valley (NNV). It relies primarily on the MZ3 profile that runs obliquely from the northeastern NNV towards the Mozambique basin (MB) with additional inputs from a tectonostratigraphy analysis of industrial onshore–offshore seismic lines and nearby or crossing velocity models from companion studies. Over its entire N–S extension the LM appears segmented into (1) a western domain that shows the progressive eastward crustal thinning and termination of the MCP/NNV continental crust and its overlying pre-Neocomian volcano-sedimentary basement and (2) a central corridor of anomalous crust bounded to the east by the Mozambique fracture zone (MFZ) and the oceanic crust of the MB. A prominent basement high marks the boundary between these two domains. Its development was most probably controlled by a steep and deeply rooted fault, i.e., the Limpopo fault. We infer that strike-slip or slightly transtensional rifting occurred along the LM and was accommodated along this Limpopo fault. At depth we propose that ductile shearing was responsible for the thinning of the continental crust and an oceanward flow of lower crustal material. This process was accompanied by intense magmatism that extruded to form the volcanic basement and gave the corridor its peculiar structure and mixed nature. The whole region remained at a relative high level during the rifting period and a shallow marine environment dominated the pre-Neocomian period during the early phase of continent–ocean interaction. It is only some time after break-up in the MB and the initiation of the MFZ that decoupling occurred between the MCP/NNV and the corridor, allowing for the latter to subside and become covered by deep marine sediments. A scenario for the early evolution and formation of the LM is proposed taking into account both recent kinematic and geological constraints. It implies that no or little change in extensional direction occurred between the intra-continental rifting and subsequent phase of continent–ocean interaction.

Description: Models are an important tool to predict Earth system dynamics. An accurate prediction of future states of ecosystems depends on not only model structures but also parameterizations. Model parameters can be constrained by data assimilation. However, applications of data assimilation to ecology are restricted by highly technical requirements such as model-dependent coding. To alleviate this technical burden, we developed a model-independent data assimilation (MIDA) module. MIDA works in three steps including data preparation, execution of data assimilation, and visualization. The first step prepares prior ranges of parameter values, a defined number of iterations, and directory paths to access files of observations and models. The execution step calibrates parameter values to best fit the observations and estimates the parameter posterior distributions. The final step automatically visualizes the calibration performance and posterior distributions. MIDA is model independent, and modelers can use MIDA for an accurate and efficient data assimilation in a simple and interactive way without modification of their original models. We applied MIDA to four types of ecological models: the data assimilation linked ecosystem carbon (DALEC) model, a surrogate-based energy exascale earth system model: the land component (ELM), nine phenological models and a stand-alone biome ecological strategy simulator (BiomeE). The applications indicate that MIDA can effectively solve data assimilation problems for different ecological models. Additionally, the easy implementation and model-independent feature of MIDA breaks the technical barrier of applications of data–model fusion in ecology. MIDA facilitates the assimilation of various observations into models for uncertainty reduction in ecological modeling and forecasting.

Description: The Rockalliadae, a new family of Cytheracean Ostracoda, is erected based on Rockallia Whatley, Frame & Whittaker, 1978 and an undescribed genus from the Tertiary of Argentinian Patagonia. Rockallia, hitherto monotypic, is augmented by the description herein of five new species: R. eocenica, R. vscripta and R. inceptiocelata from the Eocene, Neogene and Quaternary of the S.W. Pacific respectively and R. woutersi and R. sp. from the Oligocene and Miocene of N.W. Europe. The older species seem to have lived in relatively shallow water while the younger species are exclusively bathyal and abyssal. The genus is rediagnosed and its origins, evolutionary development and dispersal are discussed.

Description: Geometrical models of unit volume are used to examine the effects of differing rates of chamber or test volume expansion, growth plan, chamber shape and apertural form upon internal-external lines of communication within foraminiferid tests. The main quantitative measure is the minimum line of communication (MinLOC) from the back of the proloculus to the nearest aperture in contact with the external milieu. The Parsimony Index (PI) is a qualitative measure, here used to illustrate some basic changes in foraminiferid architecture through time. Three general trends from longer to shorter MinLOC are indicated, particularly in shallow water tropical carbonate facies, with climaxes in the Devonian, the Carboniferous to Permian and the Cretaceous to Recent.

Description: During the past decade, transmitted light microscopy of dispersed organic particles has become an important tool for assessing the petroleum potential of sedimentary basins. The main components of palynofacies and the colours of the microfossils preserved therein are widely used in the oil industry to aid the determination of organic maturation level and source rock potential for hydrocarbons. Less well known is the technique of integrating palynofacies and sedimentological data to facilitate the identification of depositional environments. While not a new development in the field of palynology, the subject has recently come of age. Selected palynofacies from the English Wealden (Lower Cretaceous) and elsewhere are briefly described and illustrated in order to emphasise the value of palynofacies studies to both palynologists and petroleum geologists.

Description: A new megaspore genus Triangupapillaesporites is described from Lower Carboniferous deposits of northern England. The genus is characterised by a three layered exine wall, the innermost layer bearing? papillae.

Description: Data on modern foraminifera provide the basis for the palaeoecological interpretation of fossil forms. The validity of the use of living, dead, and total (living plus dead) assemblages is discussed. It is concluded that ecological studies can be carried out only on living assemblages and that it is important to determine the production and postmortem influences which lead to the formation of the dead assemblage. The use of total assemblages is shown to be ill-founded.

Description: The earliest British record of fossil dinoflagellate cysts is shown to have been published in 1838, in an appendix to Mantell’s The Wonders of Geology. A biography of its author, the Reverend Joseph Bancroft Reade (1801–1870), is presented; it is shown that his discoveries resulted from an awareness of earlier work in Germany and France. Reade is shown, not only to have stimulated Mantell’s interest in these microfossils, but also to have perceived their potential value as biostratigraphical indices. The present taxonomic placement of the forms illustrated by Reade in the 1838 note, and in his better-known paper published later in the same year, is summarized.

Description: Foraminifera and Ostracoda are recorded from two Mesozoic fissures in the Eastern Mendips (Cloford and Holwell). The microfaunas are indicative of the Early Sinemurian (bucklandi–semicostatum Zones), and provide the first evidence for the former presence of sediments of this age on the Mendip “swell”.

Description: As Cretaceous species previously placed in Bigenerina, Siphotextularia, and Textularia differ from typical Cenozoic representatives of these genera in having solid non-canaliculate walls, 16 species from the Fredericksburg and Washita Groups (Albian-Cenomanian) of Texas and Oklahoma have been restudied. The new genera Heterantyx with type species H. antonovae sp. nov. and Quasispiroplectammina with type species Spiroplectammina longa are assigned to the family Spiroplectamminidae. A new family Textulariopsidae is proposed for basically biserial taxa with solid walls and includes Plectinella, Textulariopsis, of which two species T. lechriosa and T. texhomensis are new, the reinstated genus Bimonilina, with a new species B. reciprocata, and three new genera, Aaptoioichus, Haimasiella and Minyaichme.

Description: A small fauna represented by 17 species of ostracods, belonging to 13 genera, has been obtained from white oolitic limestones of probable Washitan (late Albian-early Cenomanian) age in 11 deep wells in Collier, Lee, Monroe, Pinellas, Palm Beach, Hendry, and Highlands Counties, central and southern Florida. Both marine and presumed brackish-water and/or fresh-water species are represented in the fauna. Five of the species are new; Clithrocytheridea? medioreticulata, C.? paucipunctata, C.? holoreticulata, Eocytheropteron highlandsensis and Cytheropteron? pinellensis.

Description: Special environmental conditions developed in the Tarfayan Basin of southwestern Morocco during the Cenomanian to Coniacian, presumably in response to eustatic changes of sea-level. The passage of V. rotunda to V. rahhalii took place over approximately 2 × 105 years, the appearance of the new species being heralded by the development of a new morph displaying some of the properties of the descendant species. This morph coexisted with the normal morph of V. rotunda. Using methods of quantitative genetics it is shown that speciation could have occurred either by weak selection or by random genetic drift in a deme of moderate size. The phenotype is regionally stable, hence the observed morphological changes in the lineage are of genetic origin. The morphological trend is regional.

Description: Several thousands of specimens of arenaceous foraminifera have been collected from two sections in Shropshire that span the Llandovery/Wenlock boundary. Preservation in limestone samples is superior to that in shales, but both lithologies yielded abundant specimens. The uppermost Purple Shales, of Llandovery age, contain numerous Ammodiscus exsertus, together with Webbinelloidea tholus, Psammosphaera cava, Hemisphaerammina and Hyperammina. A faunal change occurs close to the base of the Wenlock, with the lower beds of the Buildwas Formation containing rather fewer foraminifera; assemblages here are dominated by Hyperammina, Lagenammina and Lituotuba? This event probably reflects a change in sea-floor environment, with habitats favoured by epifaunal encrusters and browsers contracting at the end of the Llandovery.

Description: The first detailed investigation of the vertical distribution of ostracods inhabiting intertidal algae is presented herein. A study was made of the ostracod faunas obtained from samples of Corallina collected at various levels along transects of the intertidal zone at Gore Point in the Bristol Channel. A total of 28 species were recorded, including four new species presently left in open nomenclature. Both the composition of the ostracod fauna and the population age structure of individual species were found to vary considerably according to tidal level. The development of instars apparently proceeds at a faster rate at higher tidal levels, probably due to higher mean annual water temperatures. Among the factors which may determine the percentage composition of the ostracod fauna at a given level are temperature, pH, and the life-cycles and migratory habits of individual species.

Description: The ostracod fauna of a thin unit of shelly mudstones encountered directly beneath the Great Oolite Group in a recently drilled borehole in north Lincolnshire confirms the presence of the Scarborough Formation, formerly thought of as being confined to the Cleveland Basin. Sandstones and coals separating the Scarborough Formation from typical upper Lincolnshire Limestone calcarenites were probably deposited by delta progradation and are correlated with the regressive Yons Nab Beds and lower Gristhorpe Member of the Cleveland Basin.Discovery of the Gristhorpe Member and the Scarborough Formation beneath the basal Great Oolite unconformity on the East Midlands Shelf suggests that the youngest limestone facies of the Lincolnshire Limestone can be no younger than earliest sauzei Zone, and that the erosional event which preceded deposition of the Great Oolite is of late humphriesianum Zone or younger age.A revised palaeogeography for Scarborough Formation times envisages that following initial westward marine transgression along the axis of the Cleveland Basin, the sea broadened and at its maximum extent covered much of the Market Weighton Block.

Description: In 1980, several new species of dinoflagellate cyst taxa were validly published and named from the Kimmeridge Clay of England as part of a larger study on Kimmeridgian-Valanginian dinoflagellate cyst assemblages (Fisher & Riley, 1980); this study was originally presented at the IV International Palynological Conference, Lucknow in 1976–77. This note, necessitated by the long publication delay and numerous printing errors, comprises taxonomic re-allocations, taking account of subsequent studies (Norris, 1978; Stover & Evitt, 1978; Davey, 1979; Riley, 1979) and corrects inadvertent taxonomic errors.

Description: Die paläomagnetische Vermessung von 5 Kernbohrungen aus der Sedimentfüllung des Oberen Messenischen Beckens erwies die Verwendbarkeit der benutzten Methode (Heye) und erbrachte für alle Bohrungen Sedimentalter, die bis mindestens in die Matuyama-Epoche reichen. Schwierigkeiten bei der Parallelisierung der verschiedenen Bohrungen können durch tektonisch bedingte Absenkungen und damit verbundene unterschiedliche Sedimentationsraten interpretiert werden.

Description: Im weichselzeitlichen Moränengebiet südlich von Kiel sind häufig fossile Reste eemzeitlicher Parabraunerden auf warthezeitlichen Schmelzwassersedimenten oder Geschiebemergel aufgeschlossen. Die Bodenreste werden von der kalkhaltigen weichselzeitlichen Sedimentserie überlagert. Mittels makro- und mikromorphologischer Untersuchungen konnten die ursprünglichen Merkmale intensiver Tonverlagerung rekonstruiert werden. Pedochemische Analysen belegen eine große und tiefreichende Verwitterungsintensität. Der Klimaentwicklung im Eem-Interglazial entsprechend wurden die Parabraunerden gegen Ende der Warmzeit durch lokale Vergleyung überprägt. Noch vor dem ersten Vorstoß des weichselzeitlichen Inlandeises kam es zu einer periglazialen Überprägung der Böden und während der Vergletscherung zur Gefügeverdichtung und häufig zu Verknetungen durch Eisdruck und Eisschub.

Description: Der Feinheitsgrad ist eine Kennzahl, die eine Aussage über die Zusammensetzung einer Sedimentprobe gibt und zum schnelleren Vergleich von Proben untereinander dient. Mit Hilfe des Feinheitsgrades können Sedimente klassifiziert (Erstellung von Sedimentnomenklaturen) und Sedimentationsräume gegliedert werden. Ferner kann man mit dem Feinheitsgrad die Rekonstruktion paläogeographischer Windverhältnisse vornehmen und die Bodenart bestimmen.

Description: Aufbau und Verbreitung der Kieskörper der Harzflüsse Sieber und Oder werden beschrieben, sowie verschiedene Erosionsterrassen ohne eigenen Kieskörper. Das Alter der Kiese und der Erosionsstufen kann mit den sich teilweise verzahnenden und überlagernden Lössen und deren Böden und auf biostratigraphischem Wege bestimmt bzw. eingeengt werden. Hierbei ergeben sich folgende Alter: Oberterrasse mindestens Elster, Ältere Mittelterrasse mindestens Drenthe, Mittelterrasse mindestens Warthe, Aue-Berg-Terrasse II Altweichsel, Ältere Niederterrasse Altweichsel bis Jungweichsel. Der Komplex der Weichsel-zeitlichen Kieskörper setzt sich in Subrosionsgebieten aus einer ersten bedeutenden Akkumulation im Altweichsel (Aue-Berg-Terrasse II und unterer Kieskörper der Älteren Niederterrasse) und neben mehreren kleineren Erosions- und Akkumulationsphasen aus einem Kieskörper der Jungweichsel-Zeit zusammen (oberer Kieskörper der Älteren Niederterrasse). Aus der Verzahnung mit den Lössen und ihren Derivaten folgt, daß der größte Teil der Terrassen-Kiese im Untersuchungsgebiet unter feucht-kaltem Solifluktionsklima gebildet worden ist (Aue-Berg-Terrasse II, unterer Kieskörper der Älteren Niederterrasse, vielleicht auch Oberterrasse), jedoch hat es auch bedeutende Akkumulationen unter trocken-kalten Klimaverhältnissen gegeben (oberer Kieskörper der Älteren Niederterrasse, vermutlich auch Mittelterrasse). Erosionsphasen unter kaltem Klima — teilweise Tundrenklima — wurden festgestellt (Beginn von Mittel-, Jung-und Spätweichsel, vermutlich auch nach der Sedimentation der Älteren Mittelterrasse). Eine Bifurkation der Sieber nach Verlassen des Harzes ist für fast alle Akkumulationsphasen belegt. In den Eintiefungsphasen während des Eem-Interglazials und vermutlich auch vor der Akkumulation der Mittelterrasse wurde jedoch, wie auch heute, der konsequent verlaufende Sieberarm aufgegeben (Aue-Tal) und nur der Talabschnitt im Zechstein benutzt (Hördener Tal). Das Hördener Tal ist in den Interglazialen jeweils aufgrund von Subrosions- und Erosionsprozessen übertieft worden. Es gibt zwei Typen von fluviatil geprägten Subrosionssenken. Die subrosive Absenkung kann überwiegend synchron mit der Kiessedimentation verlaufen (synsedimentäre Subrosion), oder sie kann überwiegend zeitgleich mit der Fluß-Erosion wirken (synerosive Subrosion). Synsedimentäre Subrosion hat im Altweichsel im Pöhlder Becken die Bildung eines über 50 m mächtigen Kieslagers verursacht. Synerosive Subrosion hat im Eem-Interglazial, wie auch heute westlich von Herzberg, eine Ubertiefung des Siebertales ausgelöst. Im nachfolgenden Weichsel-Glazial ist dann in dem übertieften Talabschnitt der übernormal mächtige Kieskörper der Älteren Niederterrasse sedimentiert worden.

Description: Die San Andreas-Verwerfung zwischen Valyermo und Wrightwood ist durch eine Hauptverwerfungslinie charakterisiert, die durch Verwerfungskliffe und -senken und tektonische Depressionen mit Alluvionen, Sumpfland, Torfmooren und Teichen gekennzeichnet sind, ferner durch versetzte und verstellte Abflußrinnen, Querriegel und verstellte Hügel, vertonte Zerrüttungszonen, Stufen, Quellen, Vegetationskontraste und durch von Erdbeben verstellte Bäume. Sekundäre Verwerfungslinien divergieren und konvergieren mit der Hauptverwerfungslinie; bezeichnend für sie sind lithologische Kontraste zu unmittelbar benachbarten Schichten, orientierte Täler und vertonte Zerrüttungszonen. Die relative Rechts-Horizontalverschiebung beträgt mindestens 20 m und ist wahrscheinlich zum Teil durch das Fort Tejon-Erdbeben von 1857 verursacht. Die Rechtsverschiebung von verstellten Abflußrinnen variiert zwischen 20 und einigen hundert Metern. Die Verteilung des Older Alluvium (Jungpleistozän?) deutet auf eine kumulative scheinbare Rechtsverschiebung von etwa 3,5 km hin.

Description: Die Altmoräne des Rheingletschergebiets östlich von Biberach kann folgendermaßen gegliedert werden (von außen nach innen): Mindelmoräne (M), sehr flache, mehr als 4 m tief verwitterte Moränenwälle. Älteres Riß (= Zungenriß, Rz), Kiese, Kiesmoräne und Geschiebemergeldecken mit geringer Verwitterungstiefe (Mittleres Riß (= Doppelwall-Riß, Rd). Zwei deutliche, kiesige Endmoränenwälle mit geringer Verwitterung. Die Moränen von Rz und Rd sind im Rißtal mit den mächtigen Kiesen der Typlokalität Riß zu verknüpfen. Jüngeres Riß (nicht näher untersucht). „Jungriß"-Terrasse im Riß- und Donautal und vielleicht dazugehörende Moränenwälle 4 bis 6 km innerhalb von Rd. Die unterschiedliche Verwitterungstiefe zwischen Mindel- und Rißmoränen wurde durch Bohrungen auf allseitig abfallenden Kuppen ermittelt. Geröllanalysen und fossile Böden unterstützen die Gliederung.

Description: Aus dem Küstenraum West-Galizien (NW-Spanien) werden von mehreren Lokalitäten Sedimentfolgen beschrieben, die einen ähnlichen Aufbau zeigen. Neue C14-Datierungen (43500 +2000 / -1600 BP; 41500 +2200 / -1700 BP; 28000 +/- 450 BP; 26450 +/- 230 BP; 18030 +/- 160 BP) lassen zusammen mit drei weiteren C14-Daten von Nonn (1966, 1969) und Franz (1967) erstmals eine vollständige würmzeitliche Sedimentfolge etwa seit dem Moershoofd-Interstadial erkennen, die eine weite Verbreitung aufweist. Es werden mehrere Umdeutungen der Sedimente gegenüber Franz (1967) vorgenommen: Braunerden auf silikatischem Gestein und daraus entstandenen Schuttdecken erweisen sich als die typischen holozänen und jungpleistozänen Böden ab dem Denekamp-Interstadial.

Description: Durch die ESR-Altersbestimmungsmethode (Elektronenspin Resonanz) sowie die 230Th/234U-Datierung fossiler Muscheln bei Tarquinia (Latium) konnte die stratigraphische Einordnung tektonisch verstellter thyrrenzeitlicher mariner Terrassen geklärt werden. Zwischen den Flüssen Mignone und Marta liegt die Terrasse des Euthyrren I (100 000—120 000 BP) heute in einer Höhe von 40—45 m ü. M. und die Küstenlinie des Euthyrren II (200 000—220 000 BP) ca. 65m ü. M. Sie liegen damit deutlich höher als alle bisher gefundenen euthyrrenzeitlichen Terrassen in Mittelitalien.

Description: Aus einer Sandgrube bei Krempel (Elbe-Weser-Dreieck) werden periglaziäre Sedimente und Reste zweier fossiler Böden des Pleistozäns, eingelagert in eine fossile Hohlform, beschrieben. Aus der Reliefentwicklung ließ sich ein schematischer Zyklus hinsichtlich Klima, Transport- bzw. Bildungsvorgang und Sediment bzw. Bildungsprodukt ableiten: Stadial 〉 Abspülung 〉 geschichtete Sande und Kiese; Hochstadial/-glazial 〉 Solifluktion 〉 Fließerde; Interstadial/-glazial 〉 Bodenbildung 〉 Boden. Das Schema sollte an anderer Stelle auf seine Allgemeingültigkeit überprüft werden.

Description: Auf den Plateaus der Paderborner Hochfläche haben sich im Jungpleistozän Terrae calcis entwickelt. Aus den Mergelkalksteinen des Cenoman 2 sind Hottensteinverwitterungsdecken hervorgegangen. Die Mergelkalksteine des Turon 2 und 3 sind demgegenüber zu Böden vom Typ der Terra fusca verwittert. Beide Bodenbildungen treten nur fossil auf; sie sind von Lößlehmen bedeckt. Bei den Terrae calcis der Briloner Hochfläche handelt es sich dagegen meist um praecenomane Bildungen. Hier sind Böden vom Typ der Terra rossa und Terra fusca in Taschen und Spalten des Massenkalks durch cenomane Ablagerungen plombiert worden. Erst im Pliozän und Pleistozän sind diese Bodenbildungen infolge von Abtragungsvorgängen exhumiert worden.

Description: Zwischen Gaza und Beer Sheva treten äolische Ablagerungen auf mit küstennahem Sand (Kurkar), landeinwärts sandigem Tonlöß und schließlich Tonlöß. Gemäß der faziellen Anordnung und der Schwermineralassoziation war die eiszeitliche Küstenzone Lieferquelle des äolischen Materials. Es wurde in Zeiten der Meeresregression ausgeweht. In Zeiten der Transgression haben sich makromorphologisch sehr kräftige Böden (Hamra) gebildet, nämlich ein Bodenkomplex, der das letzte Interglazial und das frühe Würm umfaßt, ferner ein „mittelpaläolithischer Boden". Etwas weiter nördlich ist zudem ein „epipaläolithischer Bodenkomplex" vorhanden. Ein Vergleich mit dem Periglazialraum nördlich der Alpen zeigt prinzipiell die nämliche Entwicklung, wobei absolute Datierungen von Höhlensintern und Travertinen ein zeitliches Grundgerüst liefern.

Description: Die stratigraphische und fazielle Gliederung der holozänen klastischen Sedimente des mittleren und nordwestlichen Teils der Deutschen Bucht wurde überprüft. Die hier vorgeschlagene Gliederung fußt auf dem von Barckhausen, Preuss & Streif (1977) für das Küstenholozän aufgestellten lithologischen Ordnungsprinzip. Sie untergliedert die Klastische Sequenz (qhK) in folgende 3 Teilsequenzen: küstennahe Stillwasser-Ablagerungen (qhKl), küstennahe Bewegtwasser-Ablagerungen (qhK2), küstenferne Stillwasser- bis Bewegtwasser-Ablagerungen (qhK3). Die Grenzen zwischen diesen 3 Einheiten sind meist makroskopisch durch litho- und biofazielle Wechsel, teilweise sogar durch ± deutliche Erosionsdiskordanzen, Schichtlücken und „lag-deposits" erkennbar. Entsprechend der WALTER'schen Regel werden die Teilsequenzen paläogeographisch benachbarten Faziesräumen zugeordnet. Die Gliederung basiert auf den vorwiegend hydrodynamisch bedingten Unterschieden zwischen küstennahen Bereichen (1) mit fehlender bis geringer Wasserzirkulation und Gezeitenbewegung, (2) mit starkem Einfluß durch Wellen- und Gezeitenbewegung und (3) einem küstenfernen Bereich mit geringer, bei Stürmen starker Wasserbewegung unterhalb der Wellenbasis. Die Basis der qhK3-Teilsequenz bildet den besten lithostratigraphischen Leithorizont im Holozän der südöstlichen Nordsee, der erosiv verschieden alten Schichten des Neogens und Quartärs auflagert. Dieser meist als Schill ausgebildete Basishorizont zeichnet sich durch hohe Resediment-Gehalte aus. Die Einfrachtung allochthonen Materials spielt in der qhK2- wie in der qhK3-Teilsequenz eine bedeutende, bislang vielfach unterschätzte Rolle. Unter diesem Aspekt werden die detaillierten Befunde von Kern 26 der Station 3 (Kolp 1974—1976) diskutiert. Die Untersuchung der Foraminiferen-Fauna der Teilsequenzen ergab eine Gliederung in 8 ökostratigraphische Einheiten: Ammonia batavus var.a.-Ökozone. Elphidium gunteri-Ökozone, Elphidium williamsoni-Ökozone, Elphidium excavatum-Ökozone, „allochthone küstennahe Biofazies", Ökozone der „Abroll-Foraminiferen" (Ammonia batavus-Ökozone), Übergangszone und Eggerelloides scaber-Ökozone. Paraökologische (aktuopaläontologische) Verteilungsmuster liefern die Grundlage für detaillierte Interpretation des Paläo-Milieus in der Klastischen Sequenz.

Description: Die Küsten des nördlichen Hokkaidos gehören zu den äquatornächsten Bereichen, die in saisonalem Wechsel einer wellen- und strömungsdominierten Sommerformung (8—10 Monate) und einer packeis- und frostinduzierten Winterformung (2—4 Monate) unterliegen. Es werden für diesen Raum die typischen Prozesse der Sommer- und Wintermonate beschrieben. Im Sommer werden die Küsten wesentlich stärker geformt als im Winter und die durch Eispressung entstandenen Formen an den Stränden und Dünen überdauern nur in Relikten. Dennoch kann die Zone der saisonal vereisten Küsten klimageomorphologisch von den Küsten wärmerer Breiten abgegrenzt werden, da nur hier ein derart großer Kontrast zwischen Sommer- und Winterformung existiert. Diese Grenze ist allerdings ein breiter Saum und kein schmaler Übergang, wie es für solche physisch geographischen Grenzen die Regel ist.

Description: Die Schweizerische Meteorologische Anstalt wird im Rahmen des Werkes «Klima der Schweiz» ein Kartenwerk in Form eines Kimaatlasses herausgeben. Es ist vorgesehen, sowohl kleinmaßstäbliche Klimaübersichtskarten im nationalen Raster als auch regionale Klimauntersuchungen für typische Räume unseres Landes in größeren Maßstäben darzustellen. Im vorliegenden Bericht wird das Projekt «Klimaatlas der Schweiz» vorgestellt. Dann folgt ein Überblick über grundsätzliche Fragen, wie sie bei der Bearbeitung langjähriger Meßreihen im Hinblick auf eine räumliche Darstellung auftreten. Die angeführten Sachfragen betreffend Messung, Aufbereitung und Darstellung von Klimadaten werden hernach am Beispiel der Lufttemperatur ausführlich dargelegt.

Description: The pine forests of the Rhone Valley are severely damaged. Possible causative agents are fluoride and other harmful gases such as S02, HCl and NOx in the emissions of nearby aluminium smelters and chemical plants. Drought and aging may also have contributed to the damage. Core samples and trunk discs from damaged and undamaged Stands near Martigny were investigated using annual ring analysis. After Visual dating of the samples by means of «pointer» rings formed during dry years, growth disturbances were pinpointed. Radiodensitometrical measurements followed, and age trends were eliminated using mathematical growth functions. A model of the relationship between annual ring, temperature and precipitation was constructed for the emission-free period 1874–1940 and extrapolated to give the values expected for the last hundred years if growth were influenced by climatic factors only. Annual increments for the period 1941–1979 were 20–30% below the expected value, regardless of tree age, indicating a harmful factor not primarily related to drought or aging. Growth disturbances occurred most commonly during the droughts of the forties and may be regarded as resulting from the emissions which began in 1938 when a new aluminium smelter was built in the main valley: it stood in the mainstream of the prevailing winds and was without filters until 1965. The harmful emissions of the late thirties may have damaged the trees to such an extent that they could no longer withstand natural Stresses and finally died 30–40 years later. Although the fluoride emissions are not causally related to the forest damage, they provide a valid explanation of the results.

Description: Im vorliegenden Bericht wird erstmals die Dynamik der Brachlandentwicklung in einer Bergregion untersucht. Dabei lassen sich zwischen 1970 und 1980 zwei räumliche Prozesse beobachten: 1. Zunahme des Brachlandes auf den ehemaligen Ackerbauflächen 2. Abnahme des Brachlandes infolge zunehmender Weidenutzung Diese Prozesse sind ursächlich miteinander verknüpft. Am Beispiel von Niederwald werden zudem die Veränderungen mit der im Jahre 1970 mit Hilfe eines Modelles errechneten Brachlandentwicklung verglichen. Der gewählte Modellansatz erweist sich in der Prognostizierung des Überganges von Mähwiesen zu Brachland als brauchbar. Die abschließende Beurteilung und der Maßnahmenkatalog orientieren sich an den Zielvorstellungen der Regionalplanung und an den Folgen der beiden Prozesse im Landschaftshaushalt.

Description: An urban climate and air pollution study in the small town of Biel (Switzerland; population: 85000 including suburbs) aims not only at the analysis of a very dense distribution of emissions, dispersion climate and depositions, but also attempts to correlate these factors with selected effects on man. These effects include the impacts on children's respiratory organs and the growth of plants (liehen). The findings of this study will have direct application in land use planning and related political decisions for new highway Systems, selection of new housing developments and industrial districts, as well as future fuel supply options. Initial results show that future activities should concentrate on case studies during anticyclonic wintertime weather types with north-northeasterly synoptic flow. These weather types are associated with cold air advection, weak winds, strong temperature inversions and consequently, high air pollution rates in the Biel area. A first draft of a very dense analysis of the air pollution potential for a similar weather type has been worked out (figure 5). This analysis will be used for the design of additional mobile measurements and modeling studies.

Description: The northern Antarctic Peninsula (NAP) is a highly dynamic transitional zone between the subpolar-polar and oceanic-coastal environments, and it is located in an area affected by intense climate change, including intensification and spatial shifts of the westerlies as well as atmospheric and oceanic warming. In the NAP area, the water masses originate mainly from the Bellingshausen and Weddell seas, which create a marked regional dichotomy thermohaline characteristic. Although the NAP area has relatively easy access when compared to other Southern Ocean environments, our understanding of the water masses' distribution and the dynamical processes affecting the variability of the region is still limited. That limitation is closely linked to the sparse data coverage, as is commonly the case in most Southern Ocean environments. This work provides a novel seasonal three-dimensional high-resolution hydrographic gridded data set for the NAP (version 1), namely the NAPv1.0. Hydrographic measurements from 1990 to 2019 comprising data collected by conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) casts; sensors from the Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole (MEOP) consortium; and Argo floats have been optimally interpolated to produce maps of in situ temperature, practical salinity, and dissolved oxygen at ∼ 10 km spatial resolution and 90 depth levels. The water masses and oceanographic features in this regional gridded product are more accurate than other climatologies and state estimate products currently available. The data sets are available in netCDF format at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4420006 (Dotto et al., 2021). The novel and comprehensive data sets presented here for the NAPv1.0 product are a valuable tool to be used in studies addressing climatological changes in the unique NAP region since they provide accurate initial conditions for ocean models and improve the end of the 20th- and early 21st-century ocean mean-state representation for that area.

Description: Time shapes every single human–environment relationship and is inherent in 21st-century global challenges such as climate change and the urgent move towards global sustainability. Nonetheless, the concept of time is still insufficiently addressed in climate justice debates. This paper aims to help fill this gap by presenting empirical results about experiences of climate change in farming communities in Tamil Nadu, South India, and fishing communities on the Lofoten Islands, Norway. With the help of the five dimensions of affectedness, rhythms and rituals, slow motion, care, and health and well-being, it exemplifies how time matters to issues of climate injustices faced by the communities. The paper promotes a qualitative understanding of time and climate change. Thereby, it may stimulate greater relatability to climate change, as well as discussion likely to lead to conceptual advances.

Description: A method is proposed for determining the height of the turbulent mixing layer on the basis of the vertical profiles of the dissipation rate of turbulent energy, which is estimated from lidar measurements of the radial wind velocity using conical scanning by a probe beam around the vertical axis. The accuracy of the proposed method is discussed in detail. It is shown that for the estimation of the mixing layer height (MLH) with the acceptable relative error not exceeding 20 %, the signal-to-noise ratio should be no less than −16 dB, when the relative error of lidar estimation of the dissipation rate does not exceed 30 %. The method was tested in a 6 d experiment in which the wind velocity turbulence was estimated in smog conditions due to forest fires in Siberia in summer 2019. The results of the experiment reveal that the relative error of determination of the MLH time series obtained by this method does not exceed 10 % in the period of turbulence development. The estimates of the turbulent mixing layer height by the proposed method are in a qualitative agreement with the MLH estimated from the distributions of the Richardson number in height and time obtained during the comparison experiment in spring 2020.

Description: In the 2019/2020 austral summer, the surface melt duration and extent on the northern George VI Ice Shelf (GVIIS) was exceptional compared to the 31 previous summers of distinctly lower melt. This finding is based on analysis of near-continuous 41-year satellite microwave radiometer and scatterometer data, which are sensitive to meltwater on the ice shelf surface and in the near-surface snow. Using optical satellite imagery from Landsat 8 (2013 to 2020) and Sentinel-2 (2017 to 2020), record volumes of surface meltwater ponding were also observed on the northern GVIIS in 2019/2020, with 23 % of the surface area covered by 0.62 km3 of ponded meltwater on 19 January. These exceptional melt and surface ponding conditions in 2019/2020 were driven by sustained air temperatures ≥0 ∘C for anomalously long periods (55 to 90 h) from late November onwards, which limited meltwater refreezing. The sustained warm periods were likely driven by warm, low-speed (≤7.5 m s−1) northwesterly and northeasterly winds and not by foehn wind conditions, which were only present for 9 h total in the 2019/2020 melt season. Increased surface ponding on ice shelves may threaten their stability through increased potential for hydrofracture initiation; a risk that may increase due to firn air content depletion in response to near-surface melting.

Description: In the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PlioMIP2), coupled climate models have been used to simulate an interglacial climate during the mid-Piacenzian warm period (mPWP; 3.264 to 3.025 Ma). Here, we compare the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), poleward ocean heat transport and sea surface warming in the Atlantic simulated with these models. In PlioMIP2, all models simulate an intensified mid-Pliocene AMOC. However, there is no consistent response in the simulated Atlantic ocean heat transport nor in the depth of the Atlantic overturning cell. The models show a large spread in the simulated AMOC maximum, the Atlantic ocean heat transport and the surface warming in the North Atlantic. Although a few models simulate a surface warming of ∼ 8–12 ∘C in the North Atlantic, similar to the reconstruction from Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) version 4, most models appear to underestimate this warming. The large model spread and model–data discrepancies in the PlioMIP2 ensemble do not support the hypothesis that an intensification of the AMOC, together with an increase in northward ocean heat transport, is the dominant mechanism for the mid-Pliocene warm climate over the North Atlantic.

Description: A ground-based network of more than 1200 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) was analysed using GIPSY-OASIS II software package for the documentation of time and space variations of water vapor in atmosphere during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream impact EXperiment (NAWDEX) during fall 2016. The network extends throughout the North Atlantic, from the Caribbeans to Morocco through Greenland. This paper presents the methodology used for GNSS data processing, screening, and conversion of Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD) estimates to Integrated Water Vapor content (IWV) using surface parameters from reanalysis. The retrieved IWV are used to evaluate the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalyses ERAI and ERA5. ERA5 shows an overall improvement over ERAI in representing the spatial and temporal variability of IWV over the study area. The mean bias is decreased from 0.31±0.63 to 0.19±0.56 kg m−2 (mean ±1σ over all stations) and the standard deviation reduced from 2.17±0.67 to 1.64±0.53 kg m−2 combined with a slight improvement in correlation coefficient from 0.95 to 0.97. At regional scale, both reanalyses show a general wet bias at mid and northern latitudes but a dry bias in the Caribbeans. We hypothesize this results from the different nature of data being assimilated over the tropical oceans. This GNSS IWV data set is intended to be used for a better description of the high impact weather events that occurred during the NAWDEX experiment.

Description: The deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) is a well-known feature of the global ocean. However, its description and the study of its formation are a challenge, especially in the peculiar environment that is the Black Sea. The retrieval of chlorophyll a (chl a) from fluorescence (Fluo) profiles recorded by Biogeochemical Argo (BGC-Argo) floats is not trivial in the Black Sea, due to the very high content of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) which contributes to the fluorescence signal and produces an apparent increase in the chl a concentration with depth. Here, we revised Fluo correction protocols for the Black Sea context using co-located in situ high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and BGC-Argo measurements. The processed set of chl a data (2014–2019) is then used to provide a systematic description of the seasonal DCM dynamics in the Black Sea and to explore different hypotheses concerning the mechanisms underlying its development. Our results show that the corrections applied to the chl a profiles are consistent with HPLC data. In the Black Sea, the DCM begins to form in March, throughout the basin, at a density level set by the previous winter mixed layer. During a first phase (April–May), the DCM remains attached to this particular layer. The spatial homogeneity of this feature suggests a hysteresis mechanism, i.e. that the DCM structure locally influences environmental conditions rather than adapting instantaneously to external factors. In a second phase (July–September), the DCM migrates upward, where there is higher irradiance, which suggests the interplay of biotic factors. Overall, the DCM concentrates around 45 % to 65 % of the total chlorophyll content within a 10 m layer centred around a depth of 30 to 40 m, which stresses the importance of considering DCM dynamics when evaluating phytoplankton productivity at basin scale.

Description: A normal contact stiffness model considering 3D topography and elastic–plastic contact of rough surfaces is presented in this paper. The asperities are generated from the measured surfaces using the watershed segmentation and a modified nine-point rectangle. The topography parameters, including the asperity locations, heights, and radii of the summit, are obtained. Asperity shoulder–shoulder contact is considered. The relationship of the contact parameters, such as the contact force, the deformation, and the mean separation of two surfaces, is modelled in the three different contact regimes, namely elastic, elastic–plastic and fully plastic. The asperity contact state is determined, and if the contact occurs, the stiffness of the single asperity pair is calculated and summed as the total normal stiffness of two contact surfaces. The developed model is validated using experimental tests conducted on two types of specimens and is compared with published theoretical models.

Description: In four study areas within different lithological settings and rockfall activity, lidar data were applied for a morphometric analysis of block sizes, block shapes and talus cone characteristics. This information was used to investigate the dependencies between block size, block shape and lithology on the one hand and runout distances on the other hand. In our study, we were able to show that lithology seems to have an influence on block size and shape and that gravitational sorting did not occur on all of the studied debris cones but that other parameters apparently control the runout length of boulders. Such a parameter seems to be the block shape, as it plays the role of a moderating parameter in two of the four study sites, while we could not confirm this for our other study sites. We also investigated the influence of terrain parameters such as slope inclination, profile curvature and roughness. The derived roughness values show a clear difference between the four study sites and seem to be a good proxy for block size distribution on the talus cones and thus could be used in further studies to analyse a larger sample of block size distribution on talus cones with different lithologies.

Description: Understanding the vertical distribution of aerosol helps to reduce the uncertainty in the aerosol life cycle and therefore in the estimation of the direct and indirect aerosol forcing. To improve our understanding, we use measurements from four deployments of the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) field campaign (ATom1–4) which systematically sampled aerosol and trace gases over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans with near pole-to-pole coverage. We evaluate the UK Earth System Model (UKESM1) against ATom observations in terms of joint biases in the vertical profile of three variables related to new particle formation: total particle number concentration (NTotal), sulfur dioxide (SO2) mixing ratio and the condensation sink. The NTotal, SO2 and condensation sink are interdependent quantities and have a controlling influence on the vertical profile of each other; therefore, analysing them simultaneously helps to avoid getting the right answer for the wrong reasons. The simulated condensation sink in the baseline model is within a factor of 2 of observations, but the NTotal and SO2 show much larger biases mainly in the tropics and high latitudes. We performed a series of model sensitivity tests to identify atmospheric processes that have the strongest influence on overall model performance. The perturbations take the form of global scaling factors or improvements to the representation of atmospheric processes in the model, for example by adding a new boundary layer nucleation scheme. In the boundary layer (below 1 km altitude) and lower troposphere (1–4 km), inclusion of a boundary layer nucleation scheme (Metzger et al., 2010) is critical to obtaining better agreement with observations. However, in the mid (4–8 km) and upper troposphere (〉 8 km), sub-3 nm particle growth, pH of cloud droplets, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) emissions, upper-tropospheric nucleation rate, SO2 gas-scavenging rate and cloud erosion rate play a more dominant role. We find that perturbations to boundary layer nucleation, sub-3 nm growth, cloud droplet pH and DMS emissions reduce the boundary layer and upper tropospheric model bias simultaneously. In a combined simulation with all four perturbations, the SO2 and condensation sink profiles are in much better agreement with observations, but the NTotal profile still shows large deviations, which suggests a possible structural issue with how nucleation or gas/particle transport or aerosol scavenging is handled in the model. These perturbations are well-motivated in that they improve the physical basis of the model and are suitable for implementation in future versions of UKESM.

Description: Stratospheric ozone and water vapour are key components of the Earth system, and past and future changes to both have important impacts on global and regional climate. Here, we evaluate long-term changes in these species from the pre-industrial period (1850) to the end of the 21st century in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) models under a range of future emissions scenarios. There is good agreement between the CMIP multi-model mean and observations for total column ozone (TCO), although there is substantial variation between the individual CMIP6 models. For the CMIP6 multi-model mean, global mean TCO has increased from ∼ 300 DU in 1850 to ∼ 305 DU in 1960, before rapidly declining in the 1970s and 1980s following the use and emission of halogenated ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). TCO is projected to return to 1960s values by the middle of the 21st century under the SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, SSP4-3.4, SSP4-6.0, and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, and under the SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios TCO values are projected to be ∼ 10 DU higher than the 1960s values by 2100. However, under the SSP1-1.9 and SSP1-1.6 scenarios, TCO is not projected to return to the 1960s values despite reductions in halogenated ODSs due to decreases in tropospheric ozone mixing ratios. This global pattern is similar to regional patterns, except in the tropics where TCO under most scenarios is not projected to return to 1960s values, either through reductions in tropospheric ozone under SSP1-1.9 and SSP1-2.6, or through reductions in lower stratospheric ozone resulting from an acceleration of the Brewer–Dobson circulation under other Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). In contrast to TCO, there is poorer agreement between the CMIP6 multi-model mean and observed lower stratospheric water vapour mixing ratios, with the CMIP6 multi-model mean underestimating observed water vapour mixing ratios by ∼ 0.5 ppmv at 70 hPa. CMIP6 multi-model mean stratospheric water vapour mixing ratios in the tropical lower stratosphere have increased by ∼ 0.5 ppmv from the pre-industrial to the present-day period and are projected to increase further by the end of the 21st century. The largest increases (∼ 2 ppmv) are simulated under the future scenarios with the highest assumed forcing pathway (e.g. SSP5-8.5). Tropical lower stratospheric water vapour, and to a lesser extent TCO, shows large variations following explosive volcanic eruptions.

Description: High-quality and long-term soil moisture products are significant for hydrologic monitoring and agricultural management. However, the acquired daily Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) soil moisture products are incomplete in global land (just about 30 %–80 % coverage ratio), due to the satellite orbit coverage and the limitations of soil moisture retrieval algorithms. To solve this inevitable problem, we develop a novel spatio-temporal partial convolutional neural network (CNN) for AMSR2 soil moisture product gap-filling. Through the proposed framework, we generate the seamless daily global (SGD) AMSR2 long-term soil moisture products from 2013 to 2019. To further validate the effectiveness of these products, three verification methods are used as follows: (1) in situ validation, (2) time-series validation, and (3) simulated missing-region validation. Results show that the seamless global daily soil moisture products have reliable cooperativity with the selected in situ values. The evaluation indexes of the reconstructed (original) dataset are a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.685 (0.689), root-mean-squared error (RMSE) of 0.097 (0.093), and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.079 (0.077). The temporal consistency of the reconstructed daily soil moisture products is ensured with the original time-series distribution of valid values. The spatial continuity of the reconstructed regions is in accordance with the spatial information (R: 0.963–0.974, RMSE: 0.065–0.073, and MAE: 0.044–0.052). This dataset can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4417458 (Zhang et al., 2021).