Impact of Data Assimilation And Resolution On Modeling The Gulf Stream Pathway
2011-11-18
currents could be generated by either the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) associated with the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) or by...abyssal gyre centered directly beneath the surface gyre. Figure 7. Meridional overturning circulation stream function for four 1/12° global HYCOM... circulation and have a weak overturning circulation . The Gulf Stream path is poorly simulated without the steering by the abyssal circulation . A
The Baltic haline conveyor belt or the overturning circulation and mixing in the Baltic.
Döös, Kristofer; Meier, H E Markus; Döscher, Ralf
2004-06-01
A study of the water-mass circulation of the Baltic has been undertaken by making use of a three dimensional Baltic Sea model simulation. The saline water from the North Atlantic is traced through the Danish Sounds into the Baltic where it upwells and mixes with the fresh water inflow from the rivers forming a Baltic haline conveyor belt. The mixing of the saline water from the Great Belt and Oresund with the fresh water is investigated making use of overturning stream functions and Lagrangian trajectories. The overturning stream function was calculated as a function of four different vertical coordinates (depth, salinity, temperature and density) in order to understand the path of the water and where it upwells and mixes. Evidence of a fictive depth overturning cell similar to the Deacon Cell in the Southern Ocean was found in the Baltic proper corresponding to the gyre circulation around Gotland, which vanishes when the overturning stream function is projected on density layers. A Lagrangian trajectory study was performed to obtain a better view of the circulation and mixing of the saline and fresh waters. The residence time of the water masses in the Baltic is calculated to be 26-29 years and the Lagrangian dispersion reaches basin saturation after 5 years.
2008-07-06
bathymetry, wind forcing, and a meridional overturning circulation (MOC), the latter specified via ports in the northern and southern boundaries. The...small values below the sill depth in all of the simulations. e The upper ocean northward flow of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is...plus the northward upper ocean flow (14 Sv) of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The mean Gulf Stream IR northwall pathway ±lrr from
Dynamical Evaluation of Ocean Models using the Gulf Stream as an Example
2010-01-01
transport for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) as the 3 nonlinear solutions discussed in Section 2. The model boundary is...Hellerman and Rosenstein (1983) wind stress climatology and the northward upper ocean flow (14 Sv) of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation ... overturning circulation (AMOC) streamfunction with a 5 Sv contour interval from (a) 1/12° Atlantic MICOM, (b) 1/12° Atlantic HYCOM, and (c) 1/12
Dynamical Evaluation of Ocean Models Using the Gulf Stream as an Example
2012-02-10
Hellerman and Rosenstein (1983) wind stress climatology and the northward upper ocean flow (14 Sv) of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation ...30 35 55N 65N Fig. 21.14 Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) streamfunction from the same four simulations as Fig. 21.11. An AMOC...typically develops a northern or southern bias. A shallow bias in the southward abyssal flow of the Atlan- tic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC
The role of the Gulf Stream in European climate.
Palter, Jaime B
2015-01-01
The Gulf Stream carries the warm, poleward return flow of the wind-driven North Atlantic subtropical gyre and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This northward flow drives a significant meridional heat transport. Various lines of evidence suggest that Gulf Stream heat transport profoundly influences the climate of the entire Northern Hemisphere and, thus, Europe's climate on timescales of decades and longer. The Gulf Stream's influence is mediated through feedback processes between the ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere. This review synthesizes paleoclimate archives, model simulations, and the instrumental record, which collectively suggest that decadal and longer-scale variability of the Gulf Stream's heat transport manifests in changes in European temperature, precipitation, and storminess. Given that anthropogenic climate change is projected to weaken the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, associated changes in European climate are expected. However, large uncertainty in the magnitude of the anticipated weakening undermines the predictability of the future climate in Europe.
Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25 degrees N.
Bryden, Harry L; Longworth, Hannah R; Cunningham, Stuart A
2005-12-01
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation carries warm upper waters into far-northern latitudes and returns cold deep waters southward across the Equator. Its heat transport makes a substantial contribution to the moderate climate of maritime and continental Europe, and any slowdown in the overturning circulation would have profound implications for climate change. A transatlantic section along latitude 25 degrees N has been used as a baseline for estimating the overturning circulation and associated heat transport. Here we analyse a new 25 degrees N transatlantic section and compare it with four previous sections taken over the past five decades. The comparison suggests that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation has slowed by about 30 per cent between 1957 and 2004. Whereas the northward transport in the Gulf Stream across 25 degrees N has remained nearly constant, the slowing is evident both in a 50 per cent larger southward-moving mid-ocean recirculation of thermocline waters, and also in a 50 per cent decrease in the southward transport of lower North Atlantic Deep Water between 3,000 and 5,000 m in depth. In 2004, more of the northward Gulf Stream flow was recirculating back southward in the thermocline within the subtropical gyre, and less was returning southward at depth.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hakkinen, Sirpa
1999-01-01
Sea surface height (SSH) from altimeter observations from 1992 on and from modeling results is investigated to determine the modes of variability and the linkages to the state of oceanic circulation in the North Atlantic. First the altimeter and model simulated SSH are analyzed using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. They are found to share a similar leading mode where the center of action is along the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Current with opposite sign anomalies in the subpolar gyre and in the slope waters along the Eastern Seaboard. The time series of the leading EOF mode from the altimeter data shows that between winters of 1995 and 1996, SSH over the Gulf Stream decreased by about 12cm which change is reproduced by the model simulation. Based on the relationship from the model simulations between the time series of the SSH EOF1 and meridional heat transport, it is suggested that associated with this SSH change in 1995-96, the overturning has slowed down from its heights in the early 90's. Furthermore, it is shown that decadal variability in the leading SSH mode originates from the thermal forcing component. This adds confidence to the qualitative relationship between the state of overturning/meridional heat transport and SSH in the limited area described by the EOF1. SSH variability in the eastern side of the North Atlantic basin, outside the western boundary current region, is determined by local and remote (Rossby waves) wind stress curl forcing.
Temporal variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 26.5 degrees N.
Cunningham, Stuart A; Kanzow, Torsten; Rayner, Darren; Baringer, Molly O; Johns, William E; Marotzke, Jochem; Longworth, Hannah R; Grant, Elizabeth M; Hirschi, Joël J-M; Beal, Lisa M; Meinen, Christopher S; Bryden, Harry L
2007-08-17
The vigor of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is thought to be vulnerable to global warming, but its short-term temporal variability is unknown so changes inferred from sparse observations on the decadal time scale of recent climate change are uncertain. We combine continuous measurements of the MOC (beginning in 2004) using the purposefully designed transatlantic Rapid Climate Change array of moored instruments deployed along 26.5 degrees N, with time series of Gulf Stream transport and surface-layer Ekman transport to quantify its intra-annual variability. The year-long average overturning is 18.7 +/- 5.6 sverdrups (Sv) (range: 4.0 to 34.9 Sv, where 1 Sv = a flow of ocean water of 10(6) cubic meters per second). Interannual changes in the overturning can be monitored with a resolution of 1.5 Sv.
Dumas, F; Le Gendre, R; Thomas, Y; Andréfouët, S
2012-01-01
Hydrodynamic functioning and water circulation of the semi-closed deep lagoon of Ahe atoll (Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia) were investigated using 1 year of field data and a 3D hydrodynamical model. Tidal amplitude averaged less than 30 cm, but tide generated very strong currents (2 ms(-1)) in the pass, creating a jet-like circulation that partitioned the lagoon into three residual circulation cells. The pass entirely flushed excess water brought by waves-induced radiation stress. Circulation patterns were computed for climatological meteorological conditions and summarized with stream function and flushing time. Lagoon hydrodynamics and general overturning circulation was driven by wind. Renewal time was 250 days, whereas the e-flushing time yielded a lagoon-wide 80-days average. Tide-driven flush through the pass and wind-driven overturning circulation designate Ahe as a wind-driven, tidally and weakly wave-flushed deep lagoon. The 3D model allows studying pearl oyster larvae dispersal in both realistic and climatological conditions for aquaculture applications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McCarthy, G. D.; Menary, M. B.; Mecking, J. V.; Moat, B. I.; Johns, W. E.; Andrews, M. B.; Rayner, D.; Smeed, D. A.
2017-03-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key process in the global redistribution of heat. The AMOC is defined as the maximum of the overturning stream function, which typically occurs near 30°N in the North Atlantic. The RAPID mooring array has provided full-depth, basinwide, continuous estimates of this quantity since 2004. Motivated by both the need to deliver near real-time data and optimization of the array to reduce costs, we consider alternative configurations of the mooring array. Results suggest that the variability observed since 2004 could be reproduced by a single tall mooring on the western boundary and a mooring to 1500 m on the eastern boundary. We consider the potential future evolution of the AMOC in two generations of the Hadley Centre climate models and a suite of additional CMIP5 models. The modeling studies show that deep, basinwide measurements are essential to capture correctly the future decline of the AMOC. We conclude that, while a reduced array could be useful for estimates of the AMOC on subseasonal to decadal time scales as part of a near real-time data delivery system, extreme caution must be applied to avoid the potential misinterpretation or absence of a climate time scale AMOC decline that is a key motivation for the maintenance of these observations.
The Ocean-Atmosphere Hydrothermohaline Conveyor Belt
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Döös, Kristofer; Kjellsson, Joakim; Zika, Jan; Laliberté, Frédéric; Brodeau, Laurent
2015-04-01
The ocean thermohaline circulation is linked to the hydrothermal circulation of the atmosphere. The ocean thermohaline circulation is expressed in potential temperature-salinity space and comprises a tropical upper-ocean circulation, a global conveyor belt cell and an Antarctic Bottom Water cell. The atmospheric hydrothermal circulation in a potential temperature-specific humidity space unifies the tropical Hadley and Walker cells as well as the midlatitude eddies into a single, global circulation. Superimposed, these thermohaline and hydrothermal stream functions reveal the possibility of a close connection between some parts of the water and air mass conversions. The exchange of heat and fresh water through the sea surface (precipiation-evaporation) and incoming solar radiation act to make near-surface air warm and moist while making surface water warmer and saltier as both air and water travel towards the Equator. In the tropics, air masses can undergo moist convection releasing latent heat by forming precipitation, thus acting to make warm surface water fresher. We propose that the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship for moist near-surface air acts like a lower bound for the atmospheric hydrothermal cell and an upper bound for the ocean thermohaline Conveyor-Belt cell. The analysis is made by combining and merging the overturning circulation of the ocean and atmosphere by relating the salinity of the ocean to the humidity of the atmosphere, where we set the heat and freshwater transports equal in the two stream functions By using simulations integrated with our Climate-Earth system model EC-Earth, we intend to produce the "hydrothermohaline" stream function of the coupled ocean-atmosphere overturning circulation in one single picture. We explore how the oceanic thermohaline Conveyor Belt can be linked to the global atmospheric hydrothermal circulation and if the water and air mass conversions in humidity-temperature-salinity space can be related and linked to each other along a "line" corresponding to the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship. A geographical description of how and where this occurs together with this new hydrothermohaline stream function will be searched for. The net heat and freshwater transport of the ocean and atmosphere can aslo be calculated from the thermohaline and hydrothermal stream functions. The heat transport across isohumes in the atmosphere and isohalines in the ocean as well as the freshwater transport across isotherms in both the atmosphere and ocean are computed. The maximum heat transport is about 16 PW in the atmosphere, while that of the ocean is just about 1 PW. The freshwater transport across isotherms in the atmosphere and ocean are shown to be tightly connected with a net maximum freshwater transport of 4 SV in the atmosphere and 2 Sv in the ocean.
Regional Stratification and Shear of the Various Streams Feeding the Philippine Straits
2010-09-30
Streams Feeding the Philippine Straits Arnold L. Gordon Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory 61 Route 9W Palisades , NY 10964-8000 tele: 845 365-8325...PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,61 Route 9W, Palisades ,NY,10964-8000 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT...and is subsequently exported to the surrounding seas to close the overturning circulation cell . As these waters are reduced in oxygen by the rain of
The North Atlantic Ocean Is in a State of Reduced Overturning
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Smeed, D. A.; Josey, S. A.; Beaulieu, C.; Johns, W. E.; Moat, B. I.; Frajka-Williams, E.; Rayner, D.; Meinen, C. S.; Baringer, M. O.; Bryden, H. L.; McCarthy, G. D.
2018-02-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is responsible for a variable and climatically important northward transport of heat. Using data from an array of instruments that span the Atlantic at 26°N, we show that the AMOC has been in a state of reduced overturning since 2008 as compared to 2004-2008. This change of AMOC state is concurrent with other changes in the North Atlantic such as a northward shift and broadening of the Gulf Stream and altered patterns of heat content and sea surface temperature. These changes resemble the response to a declining AMOC predicted by coupled climate models. Concurrent changes in air-sea fluxes close to the western boundary reveal that the changes in ocean heat transport and sea surface temperature have altered the pattern of ocean-atmosphere heat exchange over the North Atlantic. These results provide strong observational evidence that the AMOC is a major factor in decadal-scale variability of North Atlantic climate.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Jinting; Zhang, Rong
2015-07-01
It has been suggested previously that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) anomaly associated with changes in the North Atlantic Deep Water formation propagates southward with an advection speed north of 34°N. In this study, using Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Coupled Model version 2.1 (GFDL CM2.1), we show that this slow southward propagation of the AMOC anomaly is crucial for the evolution and the enhanced decadal predictability of the AMOC fingerprint—the leading mode of upper ocean heat content (UOHC) in the extratropical North Atlantic. A positive AMOC anomaly in northern high latitudes leads to a convergence/divergence of the Atlantic meridional heat transport (MHT) anomaly in the subpolar/Gulf Stream region, thus warming in the subpolar gyre (SPG) and cooling in the Gulf Stream region after several years. Recent decadal prediction studies successfully predicted the observed warm shift in the SPG in the mid-1990s. Our results here provide the physical mechanism for the enhanced decadal prediction skills in the SPG UOHC.
US Navy Operational Global Ocean and Arctic Ice Prediction Systems
2014-09-01
meridional overturning circulation (Figure 29 in Hurlburt et al., 2011), when comparing a non-assimilative simulation with a data assimilative...boundary current regions of the Gulf Stream ( Atlantic ), the Kuroshio (Pacific), and the Agulhas and Somali Currents (both Indian). Consequently...Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), initially for the North Atlantic (Mehra and
Observed decline of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning circulation 2004 to 2012
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cunningham, Stuart; Smeed, David; Johns, William; Meinen, Chris; Rayner, Darren; Moat, Ben; Duchez, Aurelie; Bryden, Harry; Baringer Molly, O.; McCarthy, Gerard
2014-05-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has been observed continuously at 26° N since April 2004. The AMOC and its component parts are monitored by combining a transatlantic array of moored instruments with submarine-cable based measurements of the Gulf Stream and satellite derived Ekman transport. The time series has recently been extended to October 2012 and the results show a downward trend since 2004. From April~2008 to March 2012 the AMOC was an average of 2.7 Sv weaker than in the first four years of observation (95% confidence that the reduction is 0.3 Sv or more). Ekman transport reduced by about 0.2 Sv and the Gulf Stream by 0.5 Sv but most of the change (2.0 Sv) is due to the mid-ocean geostrophic flow. The change of the mid-ocean geostrophic flow represents a strengthening of the subtropical gyre above the thermocline. The increased southward flow of warm waters is balanced by a decrease in the southward flow of Lower North Atlantic Deep Water below 3000 m. The transport of Lower North Atlantic Deep Water slowed by 7% per year (95% confidence that the rate of slowing is greater than 2.5% per year).
Observed fingerprint of a weakening Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation.
Caesar, L; Rahmstorf, S; Robinson, A; Feulner, G; Saba, V
2018-04-01
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)-a system of ocean currents in the North Atlantic-has a major impact on climate, yet its evolution during the industrial era is poorly known owing to a lack of direct current measurements. Here we provide evidence for a weakening of the AMOC by about 3 ± 1 sverdrups (around 15 per cent) since the mid-twentieth century. This weakening is revealed by a characteristic spatial and seasonal sea-surface temperature 'fingerprint'-consisting of a pattern of cooling in the subpolar Atlantic Ocean and warming in the Gulf Stream region-and is calibrated through an ensemble of model simulations from the CMIP5 project. We find this fingerprint both in a high-resolution climate model in response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, and in the temperature trends observed since the late nineteenth century. The pattern can be explained by a slowdown in the AMOC and reduced northward heat transport, as well as an associated northward shift of the Gulf Stream. Comparisons with recent direct measurements from the RAPID project and several other studies provide a consistent depiction of record-low AMOC values in recent years.
U. S. GODAE: Global Ocean Prediction with the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model
2009-01-01
2008). There are three major contributors to the strength of the Gulf Stream, (1) the wind forcing, (2) the Atlantic meridional overturning ...Smith, 2007. Resolution convergence and sensitivity studies with North Atlantic circulation models. Part I. The western boundary current system...σ-z coordinates, and (3) a baroclinic version of ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC), the latter an unstructured grid model for baroclinic coastal
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kaplan, Michael L.; Huffman, Allan W.; Lux, Kevin M.; Cetola, Jeffrey D.; Charney, Joseph J.; Riordan, Allen J.; Lin, Yuh-Lang; Waight, Kenneth T., III; Proctor, Fred (Technical Monitor)
2003-01-01
Simulation experiments reveal key processes that organize a hydrostatic environment conducive to severe turbulence. The paradigm requires juxtaposition of the entrance region of a curved jet stream, which is highly subgeostrophic, with the entrance region of a straight jet stream, which is highly supergeostrophic. The wind and mass fields become misphased as the entrance regions converge resulting in the significant spatial variation of inertial forcing, centripetal forcing, and along- and cross-stream pressure gradient forcing over a mesobeta scale region. This results in frontogenesis and the along-stream divergence of cyclonic and convergence of cyclonic ageostrophic vertical vorticity. The centripetally forced mesoscale front becomes the locus of large gradients of ageostrophic vertical vorticity along an overturning isentrope. This region becomes favorable for streamwise vorticity gradient formation enhancing the environment for organization of horizontal vortex tubes in the presence of buoyant forcing.
Characterizing turbulent overturns in CTD-data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
van Haren, Hans; Gostiaux, Louis
2014-06-01
We are concerned with the shape of overturns due to irreversible effects of turbulent mixing through internal wave breaking in the ocean. Vertical (z) overturn displacements (d) are computed from ship-borne SeaBird-911 CTD-data using the well-established method of reordering unstable portions in vertical density profiles. When displayed as a function of z, the displacements d(z) reveal a characteristic zigzag shape. Here, we primarily investigate the particular slope (z/d) of this zigzag signature after assigning the displacements to the end-point depths. Using model-overturns we show that this slope equals ½ for a solid-body-rotation, while a more sophisticated Rankine-vortex overturn-model, here employed in the vertical, has slopes slightly >½ in the interior and >1 along the sides. In the case of a near-homogeneous layer, displacement-points fill a parallelogram with side-edges having a slope of 1. The models are used to interpret overturn shapes in NE-Atlantic-Ocean-data from moderately deep, turbulent waters above Rockall Bank (off Ireland) and from deep, weakly stratified waters above Mount Josephine (off Portugal). These are compared with salinity-compensated intrusion data in Mediterranean-outflow-waters in the Canary Basin. Dynamically, most overturns are found to resemble the half-turn Rankine-vortex model and very few a, small-only, solid-body-rotation. Additionally, the usefulness and uselessness of upcast-CTD-data are discussed for overturn characterization.
Erosion and sediment yields in the Transverse Ranges, Southern California
Scott, Kevin M.; Williams, Rhea P.
1978-01-01
Major-storm and long-term erosion rates in mountain watersheds of the western Transverse Ranges of Ventura County, Calif., are estimated to range from low values that would not require the construction of catchments or channel-stabilization structures to values as high as those recorded anywhere for comparable bedrock erodibilities. A major reason for this extreme variability is the high degree of tectonic activity in the area--watersheds are locally being uplifted by at least as much as 25 feet per 1,000 years, yet the maximum extrapolated rate of denudation measured over the longest available period of record is 7.5 feet per 1,000 years adjusted to a drainage area of 0.5 square mile. Evidence of large amounts of uplift continuing into historic time includes structurally overturned strata of Pleistocene age, active thrust faulting, demonstrable stream antecedence, uplifted and deformed terraces, and other results of base-level change seen in stream channels. Such evidence is widespread in the Transverse Ranges, and aspects of the landscape are locally more a function of tectonic activity than of the denudational process. (Woodard-USGS)
U.S. GODAE: Global Ocean Prediction with the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model
2008-09-30
major contributors to the strength of the Gulf Stream, (1) the wind forcing, (2) the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), and (3) a...convergence and sensitivity studies with North Atlantic circulation models. Part I. The western boundary current system. Ocean Model., 16, 141-159...a baroclinic version of ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC), the latter an unstructured grid model for baroclinic coastal/estuarian applications. NCOM is
Observed decline of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation 2004-2012
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Smeed, D. A.; McCarthy, G. D.; Cunningham, S. A.; Frajka-Williams, E.; Rayner, D.; Johns, W. E.; Meinen, C. S.; Baringer, M. O.; Moat, B. I.; Duchez, A.; Bryden, H. L.
2014-02-01
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has been observed continuously at 26° N since April 2004. The AMOC and its component parts are monitored by combining a transatlantic array of moored instruments with submarine-cable-based measurements of the Gulf Stream and satellite derived Ekman transport. The time series has recently been extended to October 2012 and the results show a downward trend since 2004. From April 2008 to March 2012, the AMOC was an average of 2.7 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s-1) weaker than in the first four years of observation (95% confidence that the reduction is 0.3 Sv or more). Ekman transport reduced by about 0.2 Sv and the Gulf Stream by 0.5 Sv but most of the change (2.0 Sv) is due to the mid-ocean geostrophic flow. The change of the mid-ocean geostrophic flow represents a strengthening of the southward flow above the thermocline. The increased southward flow of warm waters is balanced by a decrease in the southward flow of lower North Atlantic deep water below 3000 m. The transport of lower North Atlantic deep water slowed by 7% per year (95% confidence that the rate of slowing is greater than 2.5% per year).
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Min; Zhang, Yuanling; Shu, Qi; Zhao, Chang; Wang, Gang; Wu, Zhaohua; Qiao, Fangli
2017-04-01
Changes in marine phytoplankton are a vital component in global carbon cycling. Despite this far-reaching importance, the variable trend in phytoplankton and its response to climate variability remain unclear. This work presents the spatiotemporal evolution of the chlorophyll a trend in the North Atlantic Ocean by using merged ocean color products for the period 1997-2016. We find a dipole pattern between the subpolar gyre and the Gulf Stream path,and chlorophyll a trend signal propagatedalong the opposite direction of the North Atlantic Current. Such a dipole pattern and opposite propagation of chlorophyll a signal are consistent with the recent distinctive signature of the slowdown of the Atlantic MeridionalOverturning Circulation (AMOC). It is suggested that the spatiotemporal evolution of chlorophyll a during the two most recent decades is a part of the multidecadal variation and regulated byAMOC, which could be used as an indicator of AMOC variations.
Future climate change under RCP emission scenarios with GISS ModelE2
Nazarenko, L.; Schmidt, G. A.; Miller, R. L.; ...
2015-02-24
We examine the anthropogenically forced climate response for the 21st century representative concentration pathway (RCP) emission scenarios and their extensions for the period 2101–2500. The experiments were performed with ModelE2, a new version of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences (GISS) coupled general circulation model that includes three different versions for the atmospheric composition components: a noninteractive version (NINT) with prescribed composition and a tuned aerosol indirect effect (AIE), the TCAD version with fully interactive aerosols, whole-atmosphere chemistry, and the tuned AIE, and the TCADI version which further includes a parameterized first indirect aerosol effect on clouds. Each atmosphericmore » version is coupled to two different ocean general circulation models: the Russell ocean model (GISS-E2-R) and HYCOM (GISS-E2-H). By 2100, global mean warming in the RCP scenarios ranges from 1.0 to 4.5° C relative to 1850–1860 mean temperature in the historical simulations. In the RCP2.6 scenario, the surface warming in all simulations stays below a 2 °C threshold at the end of the 21st century. For RCP8.5, the range is 3.5–4.5° C at 2100. Decadally averaged sea ice area changes are highly correlated to global mean surface air temperature anomalies and show steep declines in both hemispheres, with a larger sensitivity during winter months. By the year 2500, there are complete recoveries of the globally averaged surface air temperature for all versions of the GISS climate model in the low-forcing scenario RCP2.6. TCADI simulations show enhanced warming due to greater sensitivity to CO₂, aerosol effects, and greater methane feedbacks, and recovery is much slower in RCP2.6 than with the NINT and TCAD versions. All coupled models have decreases in the Atlantic overturning stream function by 2100. In RCP2.6, there is a complete recovery of the Atlantic overturning stream function by the year 2500 while with scenario RCP8.5, the E2-R climate model produces a complete shutdown of deep water formation in the North Atlantic.« less
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Yentsch, C. S.; Phinney, D. A.
1985-01-01
The term 'ring' is generally used in the case of a subdivision of ocean eddies. in the present investigation, it denotes mesoscale features which are spawned by the Gulf Stream. This investigation is concerned with the mechanism involved in the regulation of the growth of phytoplankton by the physical oceanographic features of rings. Gulf Stream rings were first observed by Parker (1971) and Fuglister (1972) as a result of extensive temperature measurements from ships in the Gulf Stream. Attention is given to changes in density boundaries associated with the rotation of rings, a synthetic model of a newly formed warm core ring, convection-stabilization, the role of light, the influence of convective overturn in adding nutrients to surface waters of warm core rings, and two major areas which require study.
Regional Stratification and Shear of the Various Streams Feeding the Philippine Straits
2011-09-30
Feeding the Philippine Straits Arnold L. Gordon Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory 61 Route 9W Palisades , NY 10964-8000 tele: (845) 365-8325...ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory,61 Route 9W, Palisades ,NY,10964-8000 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9...mooring time series suggest that the deep overturning circulation amounts to ~0.2 Sv. The westward transport in the upper limb of the shallow cell , as
Observed fingerprint of a weakening Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rahmstorf, S.; Caesar, L.; Feulner, G.; Robinson, A.; Saba, V. S.
2017-12-01
The overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean (AMOC) has a major impact on climate, yet its evolution over the past hundred years or so is poorly known for lack of direct measurements. We use a high-resolution global climate model to derive a characteristic spatial and seasonal fingerprint of AMOC changes and compare this to the observed linear temperature trend since 1870. Both the model and observations show a remarkably similar pattern of a cooling in the subpolar gyre region (most pronounced for the November to May season) and a warming in the Gulf Stream region which in their combination can only be explained by a reduction in the AMOC. We explain the mechanisms that link the pattern to an AMOC slowdown, and use an ensemble of CMIP5 simulations to calibrate the observed decline. This suggests a weakening of the AMOC by 3 Sv ( 16%) since the mid-20th Century. Its recent evolution is consistent with direct measurements in the RAPID project and reaches record low values in recent years.
Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hakkinen, Sirpa; Rhines, Peter; Worthen, Denise L.
2013-01-01
The evolution of nearly 20 years of altimetric sea surface height (SSH) is investigated to understand its association with decadal to multidecadal variability of the North Atlantic heat content. Altimetric SSH is dominated by an increase of about 14 cm in the Labrador and Irminger seas from 1993 to 2011, while the opposite has occurred over the Gulf Stream region over the same time period. During the altimeter period the observed 0-700 m ocean heat content (OHC) in the subpolar gyre mirrors the increased SSH by its dominantly positive trend. Over a longer period, 1955-2011, fluctuations in the subpolar OHC reflect Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) and can be attributed to advection driven by the wind stress ''gyre mode'' bringing more subtropical waters into the subpolar gyre. The extended subpolar warming evident in SSH and OHC during the altimeter period represents transition of the AMV from cold to warm phase. In addition to the dominant trend, the first empirical orthogonal function SSH time series shows an abrupt change 2009-2010 reaching a new minimum in 2010. The change coincides with the change in the meridional overturning circulation at 26.5N as observed by the RAPID (Rapid Climate Change) project, and with extreme behavior of the wind stress gyre mode and of atmospheric blocking. While the general relationship between northern warming and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) volume transport remains undetermined, the meridional heat and salt transport carried by AMOC's arteries are rich with decade-to-century timescale variability.
A stochastic analysis of tractor overturn costs on catfish farms.
Ibendahl, G A; Stephens, W B; Myers, M L
2012-10-01
An area of health and safety risk in agriculture that can be especially dangerous is catfish farming. One of the potential sources of injuries on catfish farms is tractor overturns that often result in crushing injuries. There is likely a higher probability of tractor overturns on a catfish farm than on a traditional crop farm due to the conditions that prevail on catfish farms. A catfish farm requires tractor movement near pond levees and water, and these levees have steep banks. Many of the activities on a catfish farm, such as mowing, feeding, and pond maintenance, require operating a tractor near a pond levee. Rollover protection structures (ROPS) on tractors can help to minimize the injuries caused by tractor overturns. ROPS do not lessen the probability of overturns, but ROPS mitigate the expected injury severity and lower the associated costs of an overturn. Despite the benefits of ROPS, not every tractor is so equipped. Some earlier work indicated that the cost to retrofit older tractors might outweigh the expected benefits. This article uses stochastic (i.e., randomly determined) analysis to determine if risk-averse farmers are more likely than risk-neutral farmers to retrofit tractors with ROPS. For this analysis, a distribution function of injury costs should an overturn occur was developed for both ROPS and non-ROPS tractors, and a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted. Results indicate that many risk-averse producers would be willing to retrofit older tractors with ROPS. However producers who are risk-neutral probably will not retrofit. These results might explain why not all tractors have been retrofitted despite the long-term availability of retrofit kits.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rhines, P. B.; Xu, X.; Chassignet, E.; Schmitz, W. J., Jr.
2016-02-01
An eddy-resolving HYCOM circulation model (driven by a reanalysis atmosphere) shows the structure of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), heat transport (MHT) and freshwater transport (MFWT). We project the zonal-mean lateral volume transport, called V(θ,S,y), onto the potential temperature/salinity (θ/S-) plane, and `collapse' V into four zonally integrated volume-transport stream-functions with respect to potential density σ, θ, S and vertical coordinate. The figure shows V(θ,S,y) at 4 latitudes, y, labeled a-d, with northward volume transport in red, southward in blue; Sverdrups of transport are inscribed in σ-bands. Collapsing V onto overturning streamfunctions loses the connection with classic water masses, the hydrologic cycle and convective mode-water production. It is essential that the model resolve boundary currents and the dense northern overflows: model and observations show the dominance of basin-scale AMOC in both MHT and MFWT with potential density, σ, as the vertical coordinate... but much less so with z as a vertical coordinate. With adequate resolution of deep sinking, the Lower North Atlantic Deep Water contributes significantly to MHT. Time-mean MHT and MFWT are dominated by 5-year mean-fields: contributions from annual cycles of velocity and θ are surprisingly small. Quantitative comparison between model and observations at 26N and in the subpolar gyre is supportive of these results. Yet isopycnal processes involving lateral gyres and wind forcing are important. They concentrate the activity of the MOC near western boundaries where essential water-mass transformation (WMT) takes place. V(θ,S,y) transport adds thermohaline `spice' to the MOC, revealing both isopycnal and diapycnal mixing and transport and connects directly with classical water masses. 3-dimensional maps of diapycnal and isopycnal mixing/transport connect internal and externally driven WMT and transports. Particularly important transformation sites are the downslope overflow regions, boundary current extensions (Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Current), mode-water convection sites, deep western boundary currents where topographic transitions occur, and frontal regions (Newfoundland Basin) where northward and southward AMOC branches brush against one another.
A spatial cluster analysis of tractor overturns in Kentucky from 1960 to 2002
Saman, D.M.; Cole, H.P.; Odoi, A.; Myers, M.L.; Carey, D.I.; Westneat, S.C.
2012-01-01
Background: Agricultural tractor overturns without rollover protective structures are the leading cause of farm fatalities in the United States. To our knowledge, no studies have incorporated the spatial scan statistic in identifying high-risk areas for tractor overturns. The aim of this study was to determine whether tractor overturns cluster in certain parts of Kentucky and identify factors associated with tractor overturns. Methods: A spatial statistical analysis using Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic was performed to identify county clusters at greatest risk for tractor overturns. A regression analysis was then performed to identify factors associated with tractor overturns. Results: The spatial analysis revealed a cluster of higher than expected tractor overturns in four counties in northern Kentucky (RR = 2.55) and 10 counties in eastern Kentucky (RR = 1.97). Higher rates of tractor overturns were associated with steeper average percent slope of pasture land by county (p = 0.0002) and a greater percent of total tractors with less than 40 horsepower by county (p<0.0001). Conclusions: This study reveals that geographic hotspots of tractor overturns exist in Kentucky and identifies factors associated with overturns. This study provides policymakers a guide to targeted county-level interventions (e.g., roll-over protective structures promotion interventions) with the intention of reducing tractor overturns in the highest risk counties in Kentucky. ?? 2012 Saman et al.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
He, Shengping; Gao, Yongqi; Furevik, Tore; Wang, Huijun; Li, Fei
2018-01-01
In contrast to previous studies that have tended to focus on the influence of the total Arctic sea-ice cover on the East Asian summer tripole rainfall pattern, the present study identifies the Barents Sea as the key region where the June sea-ice variability exerts the most significant impacts on the East Asian August tripole rainfall pattern, and explores the teleconnection mechanisms involved. The results reveal that a reduction in June sea ice excites anomalous upward air motion due to strong near-surface thermal forcing, which further triggers a meridional overturning wave-like pattern extending to midlatitudes. Anomalous downward motion therefore forms over the Caspian Sea, which in turn induces zonally oriented overturning circulation along the subtropical jet stream, exhibiting the east-west Rossby wave train known as the Silk Road pattern. It is suggested that the Bonin high, a subtropical anticyclone predominant near South Korea, shows a significant anomaly due to the eastward extension of the Silk Road pattern to East Asia. As a possible descending branch of the Hadley cell, the Bonin high anomaly ultimately triggers a meridional overturning, establishing the Pacific-Japan pattern. This in turn induces an anomalous anticyclone and cyclone pair over East Asia, and a tripole vertical convection anomaly meridionally oriented over East Asia. Consequently, a tripole rainfall anomaly pattern is observed over East Asia. Results from numerical experiments using version 5 of the Community Atmosphere Model support the interpretation of this chain of events.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
He, S.; Gao, Y.; Furevik, T.; Huijun, W.; Li, F.
2017-12-01
In contrast to previous studies that have tended to focus on the influence of the total Arctic sea-ice cover on the East Asian summer tripole rainfall pattern, the present study identifies the Barents Sea as the key region where the June sea-ice variability exerts the most significant impacts on the East Asian August tripole rainfall pattern, and explores the teleconnection mechanisms involved. The results reveal that a reduction in June sea ice excites anomalous upward air motion due to strong near-surface thermal forcing, which further triggers a meridional overturning wave-like pattern extending to midlatitudes. Anomalous downward motion therefore forms over the Caspian Sea, which in turn induces zonally oriented overturning circulation along the subtropical jet stream, exhibiting the east-west Rossby wave train known as the Silk Road pattern. It is suggested that the Bonin high, a subtropical anticyclone predominant near South Korea, shows a significant anomaly due to the eastward extension of the Silk Road pattern to East Asia. As a possible descending branch of the Hadley cell, the Bonin high anomaly ultimately triggers a meridional overturning, establishing the Pacific-Japan pattern. This in turn induces an anomalous anticyclone and cyclone pair over East Asia, and a tripole vertical convection anomaly meridionally oriented over East Asia. Consequently, a tripole rainfall anomaly pattern is observed over East Asia. Results from numerical experiments using version 5 of the Community Atmosphere Model support the interpretation of this chain of events.
Continuous overturn control of compactors/rollers by rollover protective structures
Myers, Melvin L.
2009-01-01
The objective of this article is to report on the effectiveness of Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) in preventing continuous overturns of compactors/rollers. This study is a case-based analysis of government investigation reports of injury-related overturns of compactors/rollers. The overturns were predominately on construction sites including road and embankment construction in the USA. Other sites included driveway and roadway maintenance or repair and transporting of compactors/rollers either by driving or when loading on or unloading from trailers. The principle intervention observed in controlling a continuous overturn (a roll beyond 90° relative to the impact surface) was the presence of a ROPS on a compactor/roller that serves as an anti-roll bar. The main outcome measures are cases of compactor/roller overturns that are restricted to a 90° roll or are continuous (exceed a 90° roll.) All cases of an overturn in which a ROPS was present resulted in no continuous overturn, and the cases involved with no ROPS averaged an overturn of 301°, showing a propensity for a continuous overturn. This case-based analysis identified a ROPS on compactors/rollers as an effective control for reducing the risk of an overturn to 90° relative to the impact plane. PMID:21765649
Silver hake tracks changes in Northwest Atlantic circulation.
Nye, Janet A; Joyce, Terrence M; Kwon, Young-Oh; Link, Jason S
2011-08-02
Recent studies documenting shifts in spatial distribution of many organisms in response to a warming climate highlight the need to understand the mechanisms underlying species distribution at large spatial scales. Here we present one noteworthy example of remote oceanographic processes governing the spatial distribution of adult silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis, a commercially important fish in the Northeast US shelf region. Changes in spatial distribution of silver hake over the last 40 years are highly correlated with the position of the Gulf Stream. These changes in distribution are in direct response to local changes in bottom temperature on the continental shelf that are responding to the same large scale circulation change affecting the Gulf Stream path, namely changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). If the AMOC weakens, as is suggested by global climate models, silver hake distribution will remain in a poleward position, the extent to which could be forecast at both decadal and multidecadal scales.
Aerial Observations of Symmetric Instability at the North Wall of the Gulf Stream
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Savelyev, I.; Thomas, L. N.; Smith, G. B.; Wang, Q.; Shearman, R. K.; Haack, T.; Christman, A. J.; Blomquist, B.; Sletten, M.; Miller, W. D.; Fernando, H. J. S.
2018-01-01
An unusual spatial pattern on the ocean surface was captured by thermal airborne swaths taken across a strong sea surface temperature front at the North Wall of the Gulf Stream. The thermal pattern on the cold side of the front resembles a staircase consisting of tens of steps, each up to ˜200 m wide and up to ˜0.3°C warm. The steps are well organized, clearly separated by sharp temperature gradients, mostly parallel and aligned with the primary front. The interpretation of the airborne imagery is aided by oceanographic measurements from two research vessels. Analysis of the in situ observations indicates that the front was unstable to symmetric instability, a type of overturning instability that can generate coherent structures with similar dimensions to the temperature steps seen in the airborne imagery. It is concluded that the images capture, for the first time, the surface temperature field of symmetric instability turbulence.
On the Role of Mantle Overturn during Magma Ocean Solidification
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Boukaré, C. E.; Parmentier, E.; Parman, S. W.
2017-12-01
Solidification of potential global magma ocean(s) (MO) early in the history of terrestrial planets may play a key role in the evolution of planetary interiors by setting initial conditions for their long-term evolution. Constraining this initial structure of solid mantles is thus crucial but remains poorly understood. MO fractional crystallization has been proposed to generate gravitationally unstable Fe-Mg chemical stratification capable of driving solid-state mantle overturn. Fractional solidification and overturn hypothesis, while only an ideal limiting case, can explain important geochemical features of both the Moon and Mars. Current overturn models consider generally post-MO overturn where the cumulate pile remains immobile until the end of MO solidification. However, if the cumulate pile overturns during MO solidification, the general picture of early planet evolution might differ significantly from the static crystallization models. We show that the timing of mantle overturn can be characterized with a dimensionless number measuring the ratio of the MO solidification time and the purely compositional overturn timescale. Syn-solidification overturn occurs if this dimensionless parameter, Rc, exceeds a critical value. Rc is mostly affected by the competition between the MO solidification time and mantle viscosity. Overturn that occurs during solidification can result in smaller scales of mantle chemical heterogeneity that could persist for long times thus influencing the whole evolution of a planetary body. We will discuss the effects of compaction/percolation on mantle viscosity. If partially molten cumulate do not have time to compact during MO solidification, viscosity of cumulates would be significantly lower as the interstitcial melt fraction would be large. Both solid mantle remelting during syn-solidification overturn and porous convection of melt retained with the cumulates are expected to reduce the degree of fractional crystallization. Syn-solidification overturn of a sluggish mantle can thus be an alternative to solid-state post-MO solidification overturn.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Plancherel, Yves
2015-01-01
Comparison of the volumetric θ/S distribution of models participating in the Climate Model Intercomparison Project 3 (CMIP3) indicates that these models differ widely in their ability to represent the thermohaline properties of water masses. Relationships between features of the quasi-equilibrium hydrographic mean state of these models and aspects of their overturning circulations are investigated. This is achieved quantitatively with the help of seven diagnostic hydrographic stations. These few stations were specifically selected to provide a minimalist schematic of the global water mass system. Relationships between hydrographic conditions in the North Atlantic measured with a subset of these stations suggest that hydrographic properties in the subpolar North Atlantic are set by the circulation field of each model, pointing towards deficiencies in the models ability to resolve the Gulf Stream-North Atlantic Current system as a major limitation. Since diapycnal mixing and viscosity parameterizations differ across CMIP3 models and exert a strong control on the overturning, it is likely that these architectural differences ultimately explain the main across-model differences in overturning circulation, temperature and salinity in the North Atlantic. The analysis of properties across the quasi-equilibrium states of the CMIP3 models agrees with previously reported relationships between meridional steric height gradients or horizontal density contrasts at depth and the strength of the deep water cell. Robust relationships are also found in the Southern Ocean linking measures of vertical stratification with the strength of the abyssal circulations across the CMIP3 models. Consistent correlations between aspects of the quasi-equilibrium hydrography in the Southern Ocean and the sensitivity of the abyssal cell to increasing radiative forcing by 2100 were found. Using these relations in conjunction with modern hydrographic observations to interpolate the fate of the abyssal cell suggests that the Southern abyssal cell may decrease by roughly 20 % by the end of the century. Similar systematic relationships between the quasi-equilibrium hydrographic states of the models and the sensitivity of their Atlantic deep water cell could not be found.
2009-06-30
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in Depth and Quasi-Isopycnic Coordinate Global Ocean...2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Salinity Boundary Conditions and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in Depth and Quasi-Isopycnic Coordinate... Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in global simulations performed with the depth coordinate Parallel Ocean Program (POP) ocean
Sensitivity of the Meridional Overturning Circulation to the Pattern of the Surface Density Flux
2010-09-01
Atlantic alone, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) transports over 1015 W of heat (Ganachaud and Wunsch 2000) poleward...Phys. Oceanogr., 17, 970–985. Bryden, H. L., H. Longworth, and S. Cunningham, 2005: Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25...Rahmstorf, 2007: On the driving processes of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation . Rev. Geophys., 45, RG2001, doi:
The Pattern and Dynamics of the Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Upper Ocean
2008-09-01
Atlantic . Figure 4a shows that the center of meridional overturning circulation occurs at a level of about one kilometer. Circulation is weak at...maintenance of the meridional overturning circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. 5. Global Simulation The most exciting experiment would be to fully model the...mechanisms responsible for the strength and maintenance of the meridional overturning circulation in the Atlantic Ocean are not
Timing of mantle overturn during magma ocean solidification
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Boukaré, C.-E.; Parmentier, E. M.; Parman, S. W.
2018-06-01
Solidification of magma oceans (MOs) formed early in the evolution of planetary bodies sets the initial condition for their evolution on much longer time scales. Ideal fractional crystallization would generate an unstable chemical stratification that subsequently overturns to form a stably stratified mantle. The simplest model of overturn assumes that cumulates remain immobile until the end of MO solidification. However, overturning of cumulates and thermal convection during solidification may act to reduce this stratification and introduce chemical heterogeneity on scales smaller than the MO thickness. We explore overturning of cumulates before the end of MO crystallization and the possible consequences for mantle structure and composition. In this model, increasingly dense iron-rich layers, crystallized from the overlying residual liquid MO, are deposited on a thickening cumulate layer. Overturn during solidification occurs if the dimensionless parameter, Rc, measuring the ratio of the MO time of crystallization τMO to the timescale associated with compositional overturn τov = μ / ΔρgH exceeds a threshold value. If overturn did not occur until after solidification, this implies that the viscosity of the solidified mantle must have been sufficiently high (possibly requiring efficient melt extraction from the cumulate) for a given rate of solidification. For the lunar MO, possible implications for the generation of the Mg-suites and mare basalt are suggested.
Evidence of a Weakening Gulf Stream from In-situ Expendable Bathythermograph Data, 1996-2013
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roupe, L.; Baringer, M. O.
2014-12-01
A weakening of the Gulf Stream, the upper branch of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation system, has been hypothesized to accelerate sea level rise on the east coast of the United States, caused by changes in the Gulf Stream strength and, hence, sea level difference across the current. It still remains unclear if the Gulf Stream has in fact weakened or remains stable, along with the potential role of natural long-term variability. Tide gauges along the east coast show an accelerated sea level rise from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod that is 3-4 times higher than global sea level rise. Satellite altimetry shows a weakening gradient in Gulf Stream sea surface height that is highly correlated (r=-0.85) with east coast sea level rise, however, direct velocity measurements showed no significant decrease in Gulf Stream strength over a similar time period. We introduce another in-situ dataset to examine the issues between these conflicting results. Expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) measure temperature at depth directly, and then depth and salinity can be inferred, along with geostrophic velocity and transport. XBT data has been used to measure transport in various current systems, however, the Gulf Stream transport has not been analyzed using the newest high-density XBT data made available since 1996. The trend in sea level difference is determined to be 3.3 +/- 3.2 mm/yr, resulting in an overall decrease of 5.2 cm in sea level from 1996-2013. This result agrees with satellite altimetry results that show a significant decrease in recent years. This data also shows a changing Gulf Stream core position, based on the 15°C isotherm at 200 m, of 0.03°N/yr that is negatively correlated with surface transport (r=-0.25). Issues remain in defining the core and width of the Gulf Stream and with eliminating the possibility of natural variability in the current system.
Episodic large-scale overturn of two-layer mantles in terrestrial planets
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Herrick, D. L.; Parmentier, E. M.
1994-01-01
It is usually assumed that the upper and lower mantles of a chemically stratified planet are arranged so that the upper mantle is chemically less dense and that these layers convect separately. Possible buoyant overturn of the two mantle layers has not previously been considered. Such overturn would initially occur when thermal expansion of a chemically denser lower mantle more than offsets the compositional density difference between the layers, reversing the relative sense of buoyancy. Once overturn has occurred, the chemically denser, but thermally less dense upper mantle cools more efficiently than the lower mantle and loses its relative thermal buoyancy. If mixing is slow, this leads to repeated overturns that result in thermal histories that differ radically from those obtained without this large-scale overturning. Thermal evolution calculations, for a two-layer mantle over a wide range of parameter space, show that large-scale overturn occurs cyclically with a well-defined period. This period depends most strongly on the viscosity of the lower mantle, to which it is approximately proportional. Geologically interesting overturn periods on the order of 107 to 109 years result for lower mantle viscosities of 1022 to 1024 Pa s for the Earth and Venus, and 1021 to 1023 Pa s for Mars. The mantles of Mercury and the Moon are too thin to permit two-layer convection, and therefore the model is not appropriate for them. Overturn cannot occur on Earth or Venus if the compositional density difference between the layers exceeds about 4%, or on Mars if it exceeds about 2%. Large-scale mantle overturn could have significant tectonic consequences such as the initiation of a new plate tectonic cycle on the Earth or a major resurfacing event on Mars or Venus. Such episodic events in the evolution of a planet are not easily explained by whole mantle thermal convection.
Episodic large-scale overturn of two-layer mantles in terrestrial planets
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Herrick, David L.; Parmentier, E. M.
1994-01-01
It is usually assumed that the upper and lower mantles of a chemically stratified planet are arranged so that the upper mantle is chemically less dense and that these layers convect separately. Possible buoyant overturn of the two mantle layers has not previously been considered. Such overturn would initially occur when thermal expansion of a chemically denser lower mantle more than offsets the compositional density difference between the layers, reversing the relative sense of buoyancy. Once overturn has occurred, the chemically denser, but thermally less dense upper mantle cools more efficiently than the lower mantle and loses its relative thermal buoyancy. If mixing is slow, this leads to repeated overturns that result in thermal histories that differ radically from those obtained without this large-scale overturning. Thermal evolution calculations, for a two-layer mantle over a wide range of parameter space, show that large-scale overturn occurs cyclically with a well-defined period. This period depends most strongly on the viscosity of the lower mantle, to which it is approximately proportional. Geologically interesting overturn periods on the order of 10(exp 7) to 10(exp 9) years result for lower mantle viscosities of 10(exp 22) to 10(exp 24) Pa s for the Earth and Venus, and 10(exp 21) to 10(exp 23) Pa s for Mars. The mantles of Mercury and the Moon are too thin to permit two-layer convection, and therefore the model is not appropriate for them. Overturn cannot occur on Earth or Venus if the compositional density difference between the layers exceeds about 4%, or on Mars if it exceeds about 2%. Large-scale mantle overturn could have significant tectonic consequences such as the initiation of a new plate tectonic cycle on the Earth or a major resurfacing event on Mars or Venus. Such episodic events in the evolution of a planet are not easily explained by whole mantle thermal convection.
The impacts of the atmospheric annular mode on the AMOC and its feedback in an idealized experiment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Santis, Wlademir; Aimola, Luis; Campos, Edmo J. D.; Castellanos, Paola
2018-03-01
The interdecadal variability of the atmospheric and oceanic meridional overturning circulation is studied, using a coupled model with two narrow meridional barriers representing the land and a flat bottomed Aquaplanet. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis are used in the atmospheric and oceanic meridional overturning cells, revealing the atmospheric interdecadal variability is dominated by an annular mode, in both hemispheres, which introduces in the ocean a set of patterns of variability. The most energetic EOFs in the ocean are the barotropic responses from the annular mode. The interaction between the heat anomalies, due to the barotropic response, and the thermohaline circulation of each basin leads to a resonance mechanism that feeds back to the atmospheric forcing, modulating the annular mode spectrum. Besides the barotropic response, the annular mode introduces anomalies of salinity and temperature in the subtropical Atlantic that affects its upper buoyancy. These anomalies are incorporated within the ocean circulation and advected until the areas of deep sinking in the northern Atlantic, impacting on its overturning circulation as well.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kring, D. A.; Needham, D. H.
2018-05-01
Observed melt composition within the SPA basin are consistent with an impact prior to mantle overturn, when the upper mantle contained clinopyroxene rather than olivine. Potentially, the impact triggered mantle overturn.
Sensitivity of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation to surface buoyancy forcing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morrison, A.; Hogg, A.; Ward, M.
2011-12-01
The southern limb of the ocean's meridional overturning circulation plays a key role in the Earth's response to climate change. The rise in atmospheric CO2 during glacial-interglacial transitions has been attributed to outgassing of enhanced upwelling water masses in the Southern Ocean. However a dynamical understanding of the physical mechanisms driving the change in overturning is lacking. Previous modelling studies of the Southern Ocean have focused on the effect of wind stress forcing on the overturning, while largely neglecting the response of the upper overturning cell to changes in surface buoyancy forcing. Using a series of eddy-permitting, idealised simulations of the Southern Ocean, we show that surface buoyancy forcing in the mid-latitudes is likely to play a significant role in setting the strength of the overturning circulation. Air-sea fluxes of heat and precipitation over the Antarctic Circumpolar Current region act to convert dense upwelled water masses into lighter waters at the surface. Additional fluxes of heat or freshwater thereby facilitate the meridional overturning up to a theoretical limit derived from Ekman transport. The sensitivity of the overturning to surface buoyancy forcing is strongly dependent on the relative locations of the wind stress profile, buoyancy forcing and upwelling region. The idealised model results provide support for the hypothesis that changes in upwelling during deglaciations may have been driven by changes in heat and freshwater fluxes, instead of, or in addition to, changes in wind stress. Morrison, A. K., A. M. Hogg, and M. L. Ward (2011), Sensitivity of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation to surface buoyancy forcing,
Decadal Prediction Skill in the GEOS-5 Forecast System
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ham, Yoo-Geun; Rienecker, Michele M.; Suarez, Max J.; Vikhliaev, Yury; Zhao, Bin; Marshak, Jelena; Vernieres, Guillaume; Schubert, Siegfried D.
2013-01-01
A suite of decadal predictions has been conducted with the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office's (GMAO's) GEOS-5 Atmosphere-Ocean general circulation model. The hind casts are initialized every December 1st from 1959 to 2010, following the CMIP5 experimental protocol for decadal predictions. The initial conditions are from a multivariate ensemble optimal interpolation ocean and sea-ice reanalysis, and from GMAO's atmospheric reanalysis, the modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications. The mean forecast skill of a three-member-ensemble is compared to that of an experiment without initialization but also forced with observed greenhouse gases. The results show that initialization increases the forecast skill of North Atlantic sea surface temperature compared to the uninitialized runs, with the increase in skill maintained for almost a decade over the subtropical and mid-latitude Atlantic. On the other hand, the initialization reduces the skill in predicting the warming trend over some regions outside the Atlantic. The annual-mean Atlantic meridional overturning circulation index, which is defined here as the maximum of the zonally-integrated overturning stream function at mid-latitude, is predictable up to a 4-year lead time, consistent with the predictable signal in upper ocean heat content over the North Atlantic. While the 6- to 9-year forecast skill measured by mean squared skill score shows 50 percent improvement in the upper ocean heat content over the subtropical and mid-latitude Atlantic, prediction skill is relatively low in the sub-polar gyre. This low skill is due in part to features in the spatial pattern of the dominant simulated decadal mode in upper ocean heat content over this region that differ from observations. An analysis of the large-scale temperature budget shows that this is the result of a model bias, implying that realistic simulation of the climatological fields is crucial for skillful decadal forecasts.
McManus, J F; Francois, R; Gherardi, J-M; Keigwin, L D; Brown-Leger, S
2004-04-22
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is widely believed to affect climate. Changes in ocean circulation have been inferred from records of the deep water chemical composition derived from sedimentary nutrient proxies, but their impact on climate is difficult to assess because such reconstructions provide insufficient constraints on the rate of overturning. Here we report measurements of 231Pa/230Th, a kinematic proxy for the meridional overturning circulation, in a sediment core from the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. We find that the meridional overturning was nearly, or completely, eliminated during the coldest deglacial interval in the North Atlantic region, beginning with the catastrophic iceberg discharge Heinrich event H1, 17,500 yr ago, and declined sharply but briefly into the Younger Dryas cold event, about 12,700 yr ago. Following these cold events, the 231Pa/230Th record indicates that rapid accelerations of the meridional overturning circulation were concurrent with the two strongest regional warming events during deglaciation. These results confirm the significance of variations in the rate of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation for abrupt climate changes.
Understanding variability of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation in CORE-II models
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Downes, S. M.; Spence, P.; Hogg, A. M.
2018-03-01
The current generation of climate models exhibit a large spread in the steady-state and projected Southern Ocean upper and lower overturning circulation, with mechanisms for deep ocean variability remaining less well understood. Here, common Southern Ocean metrics in twelve models from the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiment Phase II (CORE-II) are assessed over a 60 year period. Specifically, stratification, surface buoyancy fluxes, and eddies are linked to the magnitude of the strengthening trend in the upper overturning circulation, and a decreasing trend in the lower overturning circulation across the CORE-II models. The models evolve similarly in the upper 1 km and the deep ocean, with an almost equivalent poleward intensification trend in the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. However, the models differ substantially in their eddy parameterisation and surface buoyancy fluxes. In general, models with a larger heat-driven water mass transformation where deep waters upwell at the surface ( ∼ 55°S) transport warmer waters into intermediate depths, thus weakening the stratification in the upper 2 km. Models with a weak eddy induced overturning and a warm bias in the intermediate waters are more likely to exhibit larger increases in the upper overturning circulation, and more significant weakening of the lower overturning circulation. We find the opposite holds for a cool model bias in intermediate depths, combined with a more complex 3D eddy parameterisation that acts to reduce isopycnal slope. In summary, the Southern Ocean overturning circulation decadal trends in the coarse resolution CORE-II models are governed by biases in surface buoyancy fluxes and the ocean density field, and the configuration of the eddy parameterisation.
Can the Ocean's Heat Engine Control Horizontal Circulation? Insights From the Caspian Sea
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bruneau, Nicolas; Zika, Jan; Toumi, Ralf
2017-10-01
We investigate the role of the ocean's heat engine in setting horizontal circulation using a numerical model of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea can be seen as a virtual laboratory—a compromise between realistic global models that are hampered by long equilibration times and idealized basin geometry models, which are not constrained by observations. We find that increases in vertical mixing drive stronger thermally direct overturning and consequent conversion of available potential to kinetic energy. Numerical solutions with water mass structures closest to observations overturn 0.02-0.04 × 106 m3/s (sverdrup) representing the first estimate of Caspian Sea overturning. Our results also suggest that the overturning is thermally forced increasing in intensity with increasing vertical diffusivity. Finally, stronger thermally direct overturning is associated with a stronger horizontal circulation in the Caspian Sea. This suggests that the ocean's heat engine can strongly impact broader horizontal circulations in the ocean.
Impact of GODAE Products on Nested HYCOM Simulations of the West Florida Shelf
2009-01-20
circulation and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation . For temperature, the non-assimilative outer model had a cold...associated with the basin-scale wind-driven gyres and with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is incor- rectly represented. In contrast...not contain realistic LC transport variability associated with the wind-driven gyre circulation and the Atlantic Meridio- nal Overturning Circulation
Encinas Fernández, Jorge; Peeters, Frank; Hofmann, Hilmar
2014-07-01
Changes in the budget of dissolved methane measured in a small temperate lake over 1 year indicate that anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion and the autumn overturn period represent key factors for the overall annual methane emissions from lakes. During periods of stable stratification, large amounts of methane accumulate in anoxic deep waters. Approximately 46% of the stored methane was emitted during the autumn overturn, contributing ∼80% of the annual diffusive methane emissions to the atmosphere. After the overturn period, the entire water column was oxic, and only 1% of the original quantity of methane remained in the water column. Current estimates of global methane emissions assume that all of the stored methane is released, whereas several studies of individual lakes have suggested that a major fraction of the stored methane is oxidized during overturns. Our results provide evidence that not all of the stored methane is released to the atmosphere during the overturn period. However, the fraction of stored methane emitted to the atmosphere during overturn may be substantially larger and the fraction of stored methane oxidized may be smaller than in the previous studies suggesting high oxidation losses of methane. The development or change in the vertical extent and duration of the anoxic hypolimnion, which can represent the main source of annual methane emissions from small lakes, may be an important aspect to consider for impact assessments of climate warming on the methane emissions from lakes.
Relating Agulhas Leakage to the Agulhas Current Retroflection Location
2009-11-03
branch return flow of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Gordon, 1986; Weijer et al., 1999; Peeters et al., 2004; Biastoch et al., 2008a...demonstrated that the mesoscale dynamics reflected in the decadal variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Biastoch et al...Lutjeharms, J. R. E.: Agulhas leakage dynamics affects decadal variability in Atlantic overturn - ing circulation , Nature, 456, 489–492, 2008a. Biastoch, A
Parameterized and resolved Southern Ocean eddy compensation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Poulsen, Mads B.; Jochum, Markus; Nuterman, Roman
2018-04-01
The ability to parameterize Southern Ocean eddy effects in a forced coarse resolution ocean general circulation model is assessed. The transient model response to a suite of different Southern Ocean wind stress forcing perturbations is presented and compared to identical experiments performed with the same model in 0.1° eddy-resolving resolution. With forcing of present-day wind stress magnitude and a thickness diffusivity formulated in terms of the local stratification, it is shown that the Southern Ocean residual meridional overturning circulation in the two models is different in structure and magnitude. It is found that the difference in the upper overturning cell is primarily explained by an overly strong subsurface flow in the parameterized eddy-induced circulation while the difference in the lower cell is mainly ascribed to the mean-flow overturning. With a zonally constant decrease of the zonal wind stress by 50% we show that the absolute decrease in the overturning circulation is insensitive to model resolution, and that the meridional isopycnal slope is relaxed in both models. The agreement between the models is not reproduced by a 50% wind stress increase, where the high resolution overturning decreases by 20%, but increases by 100% in the coarse resolution model. It is demonstrated that this difference is explained by changes in surface buoyancy forcing due to a reduced Antarctic sea ice cover, which strongly modulate the overturning response and ocean stratification. We conclude that the parameterized eddies are able to mimic the transient response to altered wind stress in the high resolution model, but partly misrepresent the unperturbed Southern Ocean meridional overturning circulation and associated heat transports.
Impact-Driven Overturn of Lunar Regolith: A Refreshed Approach
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Costello, E.; Ghent, R. R.; Lucey, P. G.; Tai Udovicic, C. J.
2016-12-01
Meteoritic impactors churn up lunar regolith, the layer of heterogeneous grains that covers nearly the entire lunar surface to a depth of tens to hundreds of meters, and affect its geologic, petrographic and chemical makeup. An understanding of the physical characteristics of the regolith and how they change through time is fundamentally important to our ability to interpret underlying geological processes from surface observations. Characterizing impact-driven regolith overturn in particular could help us understand the lifetime of rays, ejecta blankets, and stratigraphic layering. Several probabilistic models exist that describe the meteoritic impact-driven overturn process, including that presented by Gault et. al. in their paper `Mixing of the Lunar Regolith.' We re-visit this oft-cited model, updating the constants used with more modern laboratory impact experiments and time variable meteoritic flux estimates. Further, we compare the results of Gault's model to new approaches using remote sensing datasets and Monte Carlo cratering simulations that include conditions Gault's model did not such as the erosion, seismic settling, and degradation that result from the superposition of craters. From this work we present an updated understanding of overturn as a function of time and depth. Gault et. al. showed that the upper millimeter of regolith is mixed with great frequency and the rate of turnover drops off sharply at depth. Our work elaborates on this idea, addressing the sensitivity of this result to variations in parameters including meteoritic flux, impactor mass, velocity, angle of impact and crater geometry. In addition, we use these new methods and parameters to characterize the "mixing layer," as well as those less mixed layers below in an attempt to quantitatively match the new insights on spatial variation of the change in density with depth derived by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer.
2009-02-01
the largest zonal current in the world, which links the Atlantic , Indian and Pacific Oceans. The associated Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC...formed in polar regions (Wunsch and Ferrari, 2004). Mixing is especially important in the Southern Ocean where the Meridional Overturning Circulation ...general circulation of the ocean and an important driver of the lower cell of the Meridional Overturning Circulation . Wunsch (1998) estimated that the
The Seasonal and Interannual Variability of the West Greenland Current System in the Labrador Sea
2010-06-01
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation ”, Nature, 459 [6] P. Brandt, F. Schott, A. Funk, and C. Sena Martins (2004). “Seasonal to inter- annual...variations in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and its relationship with the net northward heat transport in the South Atlantic ”, Geophys...water formation, plays an important role in the Meridional Overturning Circulation . While the interior of the Labrador Sea, where the deepest convection
Seasonal overturning circulation in the Red Sea: 2. Winter circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yao, Fengchao; Hoteit, Ibrahim; Pratt, Larry J.; Bower, Amy S.; Köhl, Armin; Gopalakrishnan, Ganesh; Rivas, David
2014-04-01
The shallow winter overturning circulation in the Red Sea is studied using a 50 year high-resolution MITgcm (MIT general circulation model) simulation with realistic atmospheric forcing. The overturning circulation for a typical year, represented by 1980, and the climatological mean are analyzed using model output to delineate the three-dimensional structure and to investigate the underlying dynamical mechanisms. The horizontal model circulation in the winter of 1980 is dominated by energetic eddies. The climatological model mean results suggest that the surface inflow intensifies in a western boundary current in the southern Red Sea that switches to an eastern boundary current north of 24°N. The overturning is accomplished through a cyclonic recirculation and a cross-basin overturning circulation in the northern Red Sea, with major sinking occurring along a narrow band of width about 20 km along the eastern boundary and weaker upwelling along the western boundary. The northward pressure gradient force, strong vertical mixing, and horizontal mixing near the boundary are the essential dynamical components in the model's winter overturning circulation. The simulated water exchange is not hydraulically controlled in the Strait of Bab el Mandeb; instead, the exchange is limited by bottom and lateral boundary friction and, to a lesser extent, by interfacial friction due to the vertical viscosity at the interface between the inflow and the outflow.
Bradtmiller, Louisa I; McManus, Jerry F; Robinson, Laura F
2014-12-18
The strength of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is believed to affect the climate over glacial-interglacial and millennial timescales. The marine sedimentary (231)Pa/(230)Th ratio is a promising paleocirculation proxy, but local particle effects may bias individual reconstructions. Here we present new Atlantic sedimentary (231)Pa/(230)Th data from the Holocene, the last glacial maximum and Heinrich Stadial 1, a period of abrupt cooling ca. 17,500 years ago. We combine our results with published data from these intervals to create a spatially distributed sedimentary (231)Pa/(230)Th database. The data reveal a net (231)Pa deficit during each period, consistent with persistent (231)Pa export. In highly resolved cores, Heinrich (231)Pa/(230)Th ratios exceed glacial ratios at nearly all depths, indicating a significant reduction, although not cessation, of overturning during Heinrich Stadial 1. These results support the inference that weakened overturning was a driver of Heinrich cooling, while suggesting that abrupt climate oscillations do not necessarily require a complete shutdown of overturning.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sargsyan, K.; Safta, C.; Debusschere, B.; Najm, H.
2010-12-01
Uncertainty quantification in complex climate models is challenged by the sparsity of available climate model predictions due to the high computational cost of model runs. Another feature that prevents classical uncertainty analysis from being readily applicable is bifurcative behavior in climate model response with respect to certain input parameters. A typical example is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The predicted maximum overturning stream function exhibits discontinuity across a curve in the space of two uncertain parameters, namely climate sensitivity and CO2 forcing. We outline a methodology for uncertainty quantification given discontinuous model response and a limited number of model runs. Our approach is two-fold. First we detect the discontinuity with Bayesian inference, thus obtaining a probabilistic representation of the discontinuity curve shape and location for arbitrarily distributed input parameter values. Then, we construct spectral representations of uncertainty, using Polynomial Chaos (PC) expansions on either side of the discontinuity curve, leading to an averaged-PC representation of the forward model that allows efficient uncertainty quantification. The approach is enabled by a Rosenblatt transformation that maps each side of the discontinuity to regular domains where desirable orthogonality properties for the spectral bases hold. We obtain PC modes by either orthogonal projection or Bayesian inference, and argue for a hybrid approach that targets a balance between the accuracy provided by the orthogonal projection and the flexibility provided by the Bayesian inference - where the latter allows obtaining reasonable expansions without extra forward model runs. The model output, and its associated uncertainty at specific design points, are then computed by taking an ensemble average over PC expansions corresponding to possible realizations of the discontinuity curve. The methodology is tested on synthetic examples of discontinuous model data with adjustable sharpness and structure. This work was supported by the Sandia National Laboratories Seniors’ Council LDRD (Laboratory Directed Research and Development) program. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Head, James W.; Parmentier, E. M.; Hess, P. C.
1993-01-01
Observations from Magellan show that: (1) the surface of Venus is generally geologically young, (2) there is no evidence for widespread recent crustal spreading or subduction, (3) the crater population permits the hypothesis that the surface is in production, and (4) relatively few impact craters appear to be embayed by volcanic deposits suggesting that the volcanic flux has drastically decreased as a function of time. These observations have led to consideration of hypotheses suggesting that the geological history of Venus may have changed dramatically as a function of time due to general thermal evolution, and/or thermal and chemical evolution of a depleted mantle layer, perhaps punctuated by catastrophic overturn of upper layers or episodic plate tectonics. We have previously examined the geological implications of some of these models, and here we review the predictions associated with two periods of Venus history. Stationary thick lithosphere and depleted mantle layer, and development of regional to global development of regional to global instabilities, and compare these predictions to the geological characteristics of Venus revealed by Magellan.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hata, Naoki; Seki, Hirokazu; Koyasu, Yuichi; Hori, Yoichi
Aged people and disabled people who have difficulty in walking are increasing. As one of mobility support, significance of a power assisted wheelchair which assists driving force using electric motors and spreads their living areas has been enhanced. However, the increased driving force often causes a dangerous overturn of wheelchair. This paper proposes a novel control method to prevent power assisted wheelchair from overturning. The man-wheelchair system can be regarded as an inverse pendulum model when the front wheels are rising. The center-of-gravity (COG) angle of the model is the most important information directly-linked to overturn. Behavior of the system can be analyzed using phase plane as shown in this paper. The COG angle cannot be directly measured using a sensor, therefore, COG observer based on its velocity is proposed. On the basis of the analysis on phase plane, a novel control method with variable assistance ratio to prevent a dangerous overturn is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the practical experiments on the flat ground and uphill slope.
Dynamic magnification factors for tree blow-down by powder snow avalanche air blasts
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bartelt, Perry; Bebi, Peter; Feistl, Thomas; Buser, Othmar; Caviezel, Andrin
2018-03-01
We study how short duration powder avalanche blasts can break and overturn tall trees. Tree blow-down is often used to back-calculate avalanche pressure and therefore constrain avalanche flow velocity and motion. We find that tall trees are susceptible to avalanche air blasts because the duration of the air blast is near to the period of vibration of tall trees, both in bending and root-plate overturning. Dynamic magnification factors for bending and overturning failures should therefore be considered when back-calculating avalanche impact pressures.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kilbourne, K H; Quinn, T M; Guilderson, T P
Water that forms the Florida Current, and eventually the Gulf Stream, coalesces in the Caribbean from both subtropical and equatorial sources. The equatorial sources are made up of, in part, South Atlantic water moving northward and compensating for southward flow at depth related to meridional overturning circulation. Subtropical surface water contains relatively high amounts of radiocarbon ({sup 14}C), whereas equatorial waters are influenced by the upwelling of low {sup 14}C water and have relatively low concentrations of {sup 14}C. We use a 250-year record of {Delta}{sup 14}C in a coral from southwestern Puerto Rico along with previously published coral {Delta}{supmore » 14}C records as tracers of subtropical and equatorial water mixing in the northern Caribbean. Data generated in this study and from other studies indicate that the influence of either of the two water masses can change considerably on interannual to interdecadal time scales. Variability due to ocean dynamics in this region is large relative to variability caused by atmospheric {sup 14}C changes, thus masking the Suess effect at this site. A mixing model produced using coral {Delta}{sup 14}C illustrates the time varying proportion of equatorial versus subtropical waters in the northern Caribbean between 1963 and 1983. The results of the model are consistent with linkages between multidecadal thermal variability in the North Atlantic and meridional overturning circulation. Ekman transport changes related to tradewind variability are proposed as a possible mechanism to explain the observed switches between relatively low and relatively high {Delta}{sup 14}C values in the coral radiocarbon records.« less
The Deep Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Indian Ocean Inferred from the GECCO Synthesis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, W.; Koehl, A.; Stammer, D.
2012-04-01
The meridional overturning circulation in the Indian Ocean and its temporal variability in the GECCO ocean synthesis are being investigated. An analysis of the integrated circulation in different layers suggests that, on time average, 2.1 Sv enter the Indian Ocean in the bottom layer (>3200m) from the south and that 12.3 Sv leave the Indian Ocean in the upper and intermediate layers (<1500m), composed of the up-welled bottom layer inflow water, augmented by 9.6 Sv Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) water. The GECCO time-mean results differ significantly from those obtained by box inverse models, which, being based on individual hydrographic sections, are susceptible to aliasing. The GECCO solution has a large seasonal variation in its meridional overturning caused by the seasonal reversal of monsoon-related wind stress forcing. Associated seasonal variations of the deep meridional overturning range from -7 Sv in boreal winter to 3 Sv in summer. In addition, the upper and bottom transports across 34°S section show pronounced interannual variability with roughly biennial variations superimposed by strong anomalies during each La Niña phase as well as the ITF, which mainly affect the upper layer transports. On decadal and longer timescale, the meridional overturning variability as well as long-term trends differ before and after 1980. Notably, our analysis shows a rather stable trend for the period 1960-1979 and significant changes in the upper and bottom layer for the period 1980-2001. By means of a multivariate EOF analysis, the importance of Ekman dynamics as driving forces of the deep meridional overturning of the Indian Ocean on the interannual timescale is highlighted. The leading modes of the zonal and meridional wind stress favour a basin-wide meridional overturning mode via Ekman upwelling or downwelling mostly in the central and eastern Indian Ocean. Moreover, tropical zonal wind stress along the equator and alongshore wind stress off the Sumatra-Java coast contributes to evolution of IOD events.
No inter-gyre pathway for sea-surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic.
Foukal, Nicholas P; Lozier, M Susan
2016-04-22
Recent Lagrangian analyses of surface drifters have questioned the existence of a surface current connecting the Gulf Stream (GS) to the subpolar gyre (SPG) and have cast doubt on the mechanism underlying an apparent pathway for sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies between the two regions. Here we use modelled Lagrangian trajectories to determine the fate of surface GS water and satellite SST data to analyse pathways of GS SST anomalies. Our results show that only a small fraction of the surface GS water reaches the SPG, the water that does so mainly travels below the surface mixed layer, and GS SST anomalies do not propagate into the SPG on interannual timescales. Instead, the inter-gyre heat transport as part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation must be accomplished via subsurface pathways. We conclude that the SST in the SPG cannot be predicted by tracking SST anomalies along the GS.
No inter-gyre pathway for sea-surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic
Foukal, Nicholas P.; Lozier, M. Susan
2016-01-01
Recent Lagrangian analyses of surface drifters have questioned the existence of a surface current connecting the Gulf Stream (GS) to the subpolar gyre (SPG) and have cast doubt on the mechanism underlying an apparent pathway for sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies between the two regions. Here we use modelled Lagrangian trajectories to determine the fate of surface GS water and satellite SST data to analyse pathways of GS SST anomalies. Our results show that only a small fraction of the surface GS water reaches the SPG, the water that does so mainly travels below the surface mixed layer, and GS SST anomalies do not propagate into the SPG on interannual timescales. Instead, the inter-gyre heat transport as part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation must be accomplished via subsurface pathways. We conclude that the SST in the SPG cannot be predicted by tracking SST anomalies along the GS. PMID:27103496
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hayes, Floyd W., III
In technologically advanced American society, the black struggle for education is rooted in the historical struggle to overturn racial oppression, economic exploitation, and cultural/ideological domination. In this society, where the state functions to perpetuate existing structures of political, economic, and ideological dominance, education has…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Nan; Dygert, Nick; Liang, Yan; Parmentier, E. M.
2017-07-01
Lunar cumulate mantle overturn and the subsequent upwelling of overturned mantle cumulates provide a potential framework for understanding the first-order thermochemical evolution of the Moon. Upwelling of ilmenite-bearing cumulates (IBCs) after the overturn has a dominant influence on the dynamics and long-term thermal evolution of the lunar mantle. An important parameter determining the stability and convective behavior of the IBC is its viscosity, which was recently constrained through rock deformation experiments. To examine the effect of IBC viscosity on the upwelling of overturned lunar cumulate mantle, here we conduct three-dimensional mantle convection models with an evolving core superposed by an IBC-rich layer, which resulted from mantle overturn after magma ocean solidification. Our modeling shows that a reduction of mantle viscosity by 1 order of magnitude, due to the presence of ilmenite, can dramatically change convective planform and long-term lunar mantle evolution. Our model results suggest a relatively stable partially molten IBC layer that has surrounded the lunar core to the present day.
Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium
Wanamaker, Alan D.; Butler, Paul G.; Scourse, James D.; Heinemeier, Jan; Eiríksson, Jón; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Richardson, Christopher A.
2012-01-01
Despite numerous investigations, the dynamical origins of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age remain uncertain. A major unresolved issue relating to internal climate dynamics is the mode and tempo of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability, and the significance of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning the past 1,350 years, to reconstruct changes in surface ocean circulation and climate. The water mass tracer data presented here from the North Icelandic shelf, combined with previously published data from the Arctic and subtropical Atlantic, show that surface Atlantic meridional overturning circulation dynamics likely amplified the relatively warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the relatively cool conditions during the Little Ice Age within the North Atlantic sector. PMID:22692542
Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium.
Wanamaker, Alan D; Butler, Paul G; Scourse, James D; Heinemeier, Jan; Eiríksson, Jón; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Richardson, Christopher A
2012-06-12
Despite numerous investigations, the dynamical origins of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age remain uncertain. A major unresolved issue relating to internal climate dynamics is the mode and tempo of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability, and the significance of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning the past 1,350 years, to reconstruct changes in surface ocean circulation and climate. The water mass tracer data presented here from the North Icelandic shelf, combined with previously published data from the Arctic and subtropical Atlantic, show that surface Atlantic meridional overturning circulation dynamics likely amplified the relatively warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the relatively cool conditions during the Little Ice Age within the North Atlantic sector.
The Effect of Fe-Ti-rich Cumulate Overturn on Evolution of the Lunar Interior
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mallik, A.; Ejaz, T.; Shcheka, S.; Garapic, G.; Petitgirard, S.; Blanchard, I.
2017-12-01
The last 5% of magma ocean crystallized Fe-Ti rich cumulates (FTC) emplaced below the anorthitic crust [1]. Due to gravitational instability, FTC underwent diapiric downwelling [2], associated with overturn of the lunar mantle. Petrological studies on Apollo basalts with variable TiO2 place their sources between 1.5-3 GPa. This indicates the presence of heterogeneous Ti-rich domains in the lunar interior which could either be produced by inefficient overturn and mixing [3], or due to post-overturn upwelling of FTC from the core-mantle boundary (CMB) [4]. Also, a seismically attenuating layer at the CMB ( 4.5 GPa) maybe associated with partial melt of overturned FTC [5]. Thus, it is important to investigate the phase equilibria of FTC with and without assimilation with the surrounding mantle, to understand better the effect of the overturn process on lunar evolution. We performed phase equilibria experiments at 2 and 4.5 GPa, 1230 to 1700 °C using a multi-anvil apparatus on FTC and a 1:1 mixture of FTC and mantle composition. FTC produced Fe-Ti rich (FeO 13-26 wt.%, TiO2 11-18 wt.%), Mg-poor (MgO 6-10 wt.%) basalts with residues of clinopyroxene+quartz+Fe-metal±spinel, while the mixture of FTC and mantle produced Fe-Ti-Mg rich (FeO 10-13 wt.%, TiO2 5-11 wt.% and MgO 20-30 wt.%) basalts with residues of orthopyroxene+olivine+Fe-metal±spinel±garnet. We find that partial melting of overturned cumulates within the lunar mantle can reproduce certain chemical attributes of Apollo high Ti basalts. Also, to test whether the partial melt of overturned cumulates can be stable at the CMB to produce the attenuating layer, we estimated the densities of these melt compositions using the published range of KT and K' of high Fe-Ti picrites. We find that the densities obtained from the published spread in K' and KT values yield inconclusive results about the stability of these partial melts at the CMB. This is being resolved by in-situ experimental determination of the densities of the high Fe-Ti melt compositions, currently underway. If these partial melts are indeed stable at the CMB, they bracket the present-day CMB temperature between 1300-1490 °C (5 to 30% partial melting [5]).[1] Snyder et al. (1992), GCA [2] Hess & Permentier (1995), EPSL [3] Brown & Grove (2015), GCA [4] Zhong et al. (2000), EPSL [5] Weber et al. (2011), Science
The strength of the meridional overturning circulation of the stratosphere
Linz, Marianna; Plumb, R. Alan; Gerber, Edwin P.; Haenel, Florian J.; Stiller, Gabriele; Kinnison, Douglas E.; Ming, Alison; Neu, Jessica L.
2017-01-01
The distribution of gases such as ozone and water vapour in the stratosphere — which affect surface climate — is influenced by the meridional overturning of mass in the stratosphere, the Brewer–Dobson circulation. However, observation-based estimates of its global strength are difficult to obtain. Here we present two calculations of the mean strength of the meridional overturning of the stratosphere. We analyze satellite data that document the global diabatic circulation between 2007– 2011, and compare these to three re-analysis data sets and to simulations with a state-of-the-art chemistry-climate model. Using measurements of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrous oxide, we calculate the global mean diabatic overturning mass flux throughout the stratosphere. In the lower stratosphere, these two estimates agree, and at a potential temperature level of 460 K (about 20 km or 60 hPa in tropics), the global circulation strength is 6.3–7.6 × 109 kg/s. Higher in the atmosphere, only the SF6-based estimate is available, and it diverges from the re-analysis data and simulations. Interpretation of the SF6 data-based estimate is limited because of a mesospheric sink of SF6; however, the reanalyses also differ substantially from each other. We conclude that the uncertainty in the mean meridional overturning circulation strength at upper levels of the stratosphere amounts to at least 100 %. PMID:28966661
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sallée, J.-B.; Shuckburgh, E.; Bruneau, N.; Meijers, A. J. S.; Bracegirdle, T. J.; Wang, Z.; Roy, T.
2013-04-01
The ability of the models contributing to the fifth Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to represent the Southern Ocean hydrological properties and its overturning is investigated in a water mass framework. Models have a consistent warm and light bias spread over the entire water column. The greatest bias occurs in the ventilated layers, which are volumetrically dominated by mode and intermediate layers. The ventilated layers have been observed to have a strong fingerprint of climate change and to impact climate by sequestrating a significant amount of heat and carbon dioxide. The mode water layer is poorly represented in the models and both mode and intermediate water have a significant fresh bias. Under increased radiative forcing, models simulate a warming and lightening of the entire water column, which is again greatest in the ventilated layers, highlighting the importance of these layers for propagating the climate signal into the deep ocean. While the intensity of the water mass overturning is relatively consistent between models, when compared to observation-based reconstructions, they exhibit a slightly larger rate of overturning at shallow to intermediate depths, and a slower rate of overturning deeper in the water column. Under increased radiative forcing, atmospheric fluxes increase the rate of simulated upper cell overturning, but this increase is counterbalanced by diapycnal fluxes, including mixed-layer horizontal mixing, and mostly vanishes.
Automatic Monitoring System Design and Failure Probability Analysis for River Dikes on Steep Channel
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chang, Yin-Lung; Lin, Yi-Jun; Tung, Yeou-Koung
2017-04-01
The purposes of this study includes: (1) design an automatic monitoring system for river dike; and (2) develop a framework which enables the determination of dike failure probabilities for various failure modes during a rainstorm. The historical dike failure data collected in this study indicate that most dikes in Taiwan collapsed under the 20-years return period discharge, which means the probability of dike failure is much higher than that of overtopping. We installed the dike monitoring system on the Chiu-She Dike which located on the middle stream of Dajia River, Taiwan. The system includes: (1) vertical distributed pore water pressure sensors in front of and behind the dike; (2) Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) to measure the displacement of dike; (3) wireless floating device to measure the scouring depth at the toe of dike; and (4) water level gauge. The monitoring system recorded the variation of pore pressure inside the Chiu-She Dike and the scouring depth during Typhoon Megi. The recorded data showed that the highest groundwater level insides the dike occurred 15 hours after the peak discharge. We developed a framework which accounts for the uncertainties from return period discharge, Manning's n, scouring depth, soil cohesion, and friction angle and enables the determination of dike failure probabilities for various failure modes such as overtopping, surface erosion, mass failure, toe sliding and overturning. The framework was applied to Chiu-She, Feng-Chou, and Ke-Chuang Dikes on Dajia River. The results indicate that the toe sliding or overturning has the highest probability than other failure modes. Furthermore, the overall failure probability (integrate different failure modes) reaches 50% under 10-years return period flood which agrees with the historical failure data for the study reaches.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Carracedo, L. I.; Pérez, F. F.; Gilcoto, M.; Velo, A.; Padín, A.; Rosón, G.
2018-02-01
Climatology-based storage rate of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant, referred to year 2000) in the North-East Atlantic (53 ± 9 kmol s-1, 0.020 ± 0.003 Pg-C yr-1) is described on annual mean terms. Cant advection (32 ± 14 kmol s-1) occurs mostly in the upper 1800 m and contributes to 60% of the Cant storage rate. The Azores and Portugal Currents act as 'Cant streams' importing 389 ± 90 kmol s-1, most of which recirculates southwards with the Canary Current (-214 ± 34 kmol s-1). The Azores Counter Current (-79 ± 36 kmol s-1) and the northward-flowing Mediterranean Water advective branch (-31 ± 12 kmol s-1) comprise secondary Cant export routes. By means of Cant transport decomposition, we find horizontal circulation to represent 11% of the Cant storage rate, while overturning circulation is the main driver (48% of the Cant storage rate). Within the domain of this study, overturning circulation is a key mechanism by which Cant in the upper layer (0-500 dbar) is drawdown (74 ± 14 kmol s-1) to intermediate levels (500-2000 dbar), and entrained (37 ± 7 kmol s-1) into the Mediterranean Outflow Water to form Mediterranean Water. This newly formed water mass partly exports Cant to the North Atlantic at a rate of -39 ± 9 kmol s-1 and partly contributes to the Cant storage in the North-East Atlantic (with up to 0.015 ± 0.006 Pg-C yr-1). Closing the Cant budget, 40% of the Cant storage in the North-East Atlantic is attributable to anthropogenic CO2 uptake from the atmosphere (21 ± 10 kmol s-1).
Bed inventory overturn in a circulating fluid bed riser with pant-leg structure
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Jinjing Li; Wei Wang; Hairui Yang
2009-05-15
The special phenomenon, nominated as bed inventory overturn, in circulating fluid bed (CFB) riser with pant-leg structure was studied with model calculation and experimental work. A compounded pressure drop mathematic model was developed and validated with the experimental data in a cold experimental test rig. The model calculation results agree well with the measured data. In addition, the intensity of bed inventory overturn is directly proportional to the fluidizing velocity and is inversely proportional to the branch point height. The results in the present study provide significant information for the design and operation of a CFB boiler with pant-leg structure.more » 15 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.« less
Interior Pathways to Dissipation of Mesoscale Energy
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Nadiga, Balasubramanya T.
This talk at Goethe University asks What Powers Overturning Circulation? How does Ocean Circulation Equilibrate? There is a HUGE reservoir of energy sitting in the interior ocean. Can fluid dynamic instabilities contribute to the mixing required to drive global overturning circulation? Study designed to eliminate distinguished horizontal surfaces such as bottom BL and surface layer
Decline of the marine ecosystem caused by a reduction in the Atlantic overturning circulation.
Schmittner, Andreas
2005-03-31
Reorganizations of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation were associated with large and abrupt climatic changes in the North Atlantic region during the last glacial period. Projections with climate models suggest that similar reorganizations may also occur in response to anthropogenic global warming. Here I use ensemble simulations with a coupled climate-ecosystem model of intermediate complexity to investigate the possible consequences of such disturbances to the marine ecosystem. In the simulations, a disruption of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation leads to a collapse of the North Atlantic plankton stocks to less than half of their initial biomass, owing to rapid shoaling of winter mixed layers and their associated separation from the deep ocean nutrient reservoir. Globally integrated export production declines by more than 20 per cent owing to reduced upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water and gradual depletion of upper ocean nutrient concentrations. These model results are consistent with the available high-resolution palaeorecord, and suggest that global ocean productivity is sensitive to changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.
Contribution of topographically generated submesoscale turbulence to Southern Ocean overturning
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ruan, Xiaozhou; Thompson, Andrew F.; Flexas, Mar M.; Sprintall, Janet
2017-11-01
The ocean's global overturning circulation regulates the transport and storage of heat, carbon and nutrients. Upwelling across the Southern Ocean's Antarctic Circumpolar Current and into the mixed layer, coupled to water mass modification by surface buoyancy forcing, has been highlighted as a key process in the closure of the overturning circulation. Here, using twelve high-resolution hydrographic sections in southern Drake Passage, collected with autonomous ocean gliders, we show that Circumpolar Deep Water originating from the North Atlantic, known as Lower Circumpolar Deep Water, intersects sloping topography in narrow and strong boundary currents. Observations of strong lateral buoyancy gradients, enhanced bottom turbulence, thick bottom mixed layers and modified water masses are consistent with growing evidence that topographically generated submesoscale flows over continental slopes enhance near-bottom mixing, and that cross-density upwelling occurs preferentially over sloping topography. Interactions between narrow frontal currents and topography occur elsewhere along the path of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which leads us to propose that such interactions contribute significantly to the closure of the overturning in the Southern Ocean.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hordoir, Robinson; Höglund, Anders; Pemberton, Per; Schimanke, Semjon
2018-02-01
An ocean model covering the Baltic Sea area is forced by several climate scenarios for a period extending from 1961 to 2100. The Baltic Sea overturning circulation is then analyzed. The analysis shows that this circulation decreases between the end of the 20th century and the end of the 21st century, and that the decrease is amplified in the case of the strongest greenhouse gas emission scenarios, which corresponds with the highest warming cases. The reasons behind this decrease in overturning circulation are investigated. A strong increase of thermal stratification is noticed at the level of the Baltic Sea mixed layer. Based on buoyancy flux considerations, we demonstrate that the decrease in overturning circulation coincides with the increase of thermal stratification. Evidence shows that the underlying process is linked to a smaller erosion of the halocline due to a higher shielding, itself linked with a stronger and longer seasonal thermocline. This theory works if surface wind mixing is not taken into account directly in the computation of buoyancy fluxes.
Application of 3D Laser Scanner to Forensic Engineering.
Park, Chan-Seong; Jeon, Hong-Pil; Choi, Kwang-Soo; Kim, Jin-Pyo; Park, Nam-Kyu
2018-05-01
In the case of building collapses and overturned structures, a three-dimensional (3D) collapse or overturn model is required to reconstruct the accident. As construction sites become increasingly complex and large, 3D laser scanning is sometimes the best tool to accurately document and store the site conditions. This case report presents one case of a structure collapse and one case of an overturned crane reconstructed by a 3D laser scanner. In the case of structural collapse of a prefabricated shoring system, a 3D model reconstructed all the members successfully, a task that is nearly impossible using a scale such as a tape measure. The reconstructed prefabricated shoring system was verified through a structural analysis through comparison with the construction drawings to investigate faults in construction. In the case of the overturned crane, the jib angle and other major dimensions were successfully acquired through 3D laser scanning and used to estimate the working radius. As a result, the propriety of the working radius with the given lifting load was successfully determined. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Active Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) during the warm Pliocene.
Burls, Natalie J; Fedorov, Alexey V; Sigman, Daniel M; Jaccard, Samuel L; Tiedemann, Ralf; Haug, Gerald H
2017-09-01
An essential element of modern ocean circulation and climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which includes deep-water formation in the subarctic North Atlantic. However, a comparable overturning circulation is absent in the Pacific, the world's largest ocean, where relatively fresh surface waters inhibit North Pacific deep convection. We present complementary measurement and modeling evidence that the warm, ~400-ppmv (parts per million by volume) CO 2 world of the Pliocene supported subarctic North Pacific deep-water formation and a Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) cell. In Pliocene subarctic North Pacific sediments, we report orbitally paced maxima in calcium carbonate accumulation rate, with accompanying pigment and total organic carbon measurements supporting deep-ocean ventilation-driven preservation as their cause. Together with high accumulation rates of biogenic opal, these findings require vigorous bidirectional communication between surface waters and interior waters down to ~3 km in the western subarctic North Pacific, implying deep convection. Redox-sensitive trace metal data provide further evidence of higher Pliocene deep-ocean ventilation before the 2.73-Ma (million years) transition. This observational analysis is supported by climate modeling results, demonstrating that atmospheric moisture transport changes, in response to the reduced meridional sea surface temperature gradients of the Pliocene, were capable of eroding the halocline, leading to deep-water formation in the western subarctic Pacific and a strong PMOC. This second Northern Hemisphere overturning cell has important implications for heat transport, the ocean/atmosphere cycle of carbon, and potentially the equilibrium response of the Pacific to global warming.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dermody, B. J.; de Boer, H. J.; Bierkens, M. F. P.; Weber, S. L.; Wassen, M. J.; Dekker, S. C.
2012-03-01
We present a reconstruction of the change in climatic humidity around the Mediterranean between 3000-1000 yr BP. Using a range of proxy archives and model simulations we demonstrate that climate during this period was typified by a millennial-scale seesaw in climatic humidity between Spain and Israel on one side and the Central Mediterranean and Turkey on the other, similar to precipitation anomalies associated with the East Atlantic/West Russia pattern in current climate. We find that changes in the position and intensity of the jet stream indicated by our analysis correlate with millennial changes in North Atlantic sea surface temperature. A model simulation indicates the proxies of climatic humidity used in our analysis were unlikely to be influenced by climatic aridification caused by deforestation during the Roman Period. That finding is supported by an analysis of the distribution of archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean which exhibits no evidence that human habitation distribution changed since ancient times as a result of climatic aridification. Therefore we conclude that changes in climatic humidity over the Mediterranean during the Roman Period were primarily caused by a modification of the jet stream linked to sea surface temperature change in the North Atlantic. Based on our findings, we propose that ocean-atmosphere coupling may have contributed to regulating Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation intensity during the period of analysis.
Isentropic Analysis of Convective Motions
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Pauluis, Olivier M.; Mrowiec, Agnieszka A.
2013-01-01
This paper analyzes the convective mass transport by sorting air parcels in terms of their equivalent potential temperature to determine an isentropic streamfunction. By averaging the vertical mass flux at a constant value of the equivalent potential temperature, one can compute an isentropic mass transport that filters out reversible oscillatory motions such as gravity waves. This novel approach emphasizes the fact that the vertical energy and entropy transports by convection are due to the combination of ascending air parcels with high energy and entropy and subsiding air parcels with lower energy and entropy. Such conditional averaging can be extended to other dynamic and thermodynamic variables such as vertical velocity, temperature, or relative humidity to obtain a comprehensive description of convective motions. It is also shown how this approach can be used to determine the mean diabatic tendencies from the three-dimensional dynamic and thermodynamic fields. A two-stream approximation that partitions the isentropic circulation into a mean updraft and a mean downdraft is also introduced. This offers a straightforward way to identify the mean properties of rising and subsiding air parcels. The results from the two-stream approximation are compared with two other definitions of the cloud mass flux. It is argued that the isentropic analysis offers a robust definition of the convective mass transport that is not tainted by the need to arbitrarily distinguish between convection and its environment, and that separates the irreversible convective overturning fromoscillations associated with gravity waves.
Influence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current on the Atlantic Meriodional Circulation
2009-03-01
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation . Rev. Geophys., 45, 2004RG000166. Marshall, J., and T. Radko (2003): Residual...ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT ON THE ATLANTIC MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION by David J. Widener March 2009 Thesis Advisor: Timour Radko...distribution is unlimited 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) The physics of the Meridional Overturning Circulation and
Active Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) during the warm Pliocene
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Burls, Natalie J.; Fedorov, Alexey V.; Sigman, Daniel M.
An essential element of modern ocean circulation and climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which includes deep-water formation in the subarctic North Atlantic. However, a comparable overturning circulation is absent in the Pacific, theworld’s largest ocean,where relatively fresh surface waters inhibitNorth Pacific deep convection. We present complementary measurement and modeling evidence that the warm, ~400–ppmv (parts per million by volume) CO 2 world of the Pliocene supported subarctic North Pacific deep-water formation and a Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) cell. In Pliocene subarctic North Pacific sediments, we report orbitally paced maxima in calcium carbonate accumulation rate, with accompanyingmore » pigment and total organic carbon measurements supporting deep-ocean ventilation-driven preservation as their cause. Together with high accumulation rates of biogenic opal, these findings require vigorous bidirectional communication between surface waters and interior waters down to ~3 km in the western subarctic North Pacific, implying deep convection. Redoxsensitive trace metal data provide further evidence of higher Pliocene deep-ocean ventilation before the 2.73-Ma (million years) transition. This observational analysis is supported by climate modeling results, demonstrating that atmospheric moisture transport changes, in response to the reduced meridional sea surface temperature gradients of the Pliocene, were capable of eroding the halocline, leading to deep-water formation in the western subarctic Pacific and a strong PMOC. This second Northern Hemisphere overturning cell has important implications for heat transport, the ocean/atmosphere cycle of carbon, and potentially the equilibrium response of the Pacific to global warming.« less
Active Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) during the warm Pliocene
Burls, Natalie J.; Fedorov, Alexey V.; Sigman, Daniel M.; Jaccard, Samuel L.; Tiedemann, Ralf; Haug, Gerald H.
2017-01-01
An essential element of modern ocean circulation and climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which includes deep-water formation in the subarctic North Atlantic. However, a comparable overturning circulation is absent in the Pacific, the world’s largest ocean, where relatively fresh surface waters inhibit North Pacific deep convection. We present complementary measurement and modeling evidence that the warm, ~400–ppmv (parts per million by volume) CO2 world of the Pliocene supported subarctic North Pacific deep-water formation and a Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) cell. In Pliocene subarctic North Pacific sediments, we report orbitally paced maxima in calcium carbonate accumulation rate, with accompanying pigment and total organic carbon measurements supporting deep-ocean ventilation-driven preservation as their cause. Together with high accumulation rates of biogenic opal, these findings require vigorous bidirectional communication between surface waters and interior waters down to ~3 km in the western subarctic North Pacific, implying deep convection. Redox-sensitive trace metal data provide further evidence of higher Pliocene deep-ocean ventilation before the 2.73-Ma (million years) transition. This observational analysis is supported by climate modeling results, demonstrating that atmospheric moisture transport changes, in response to the reduced meridional sea surface temperature gradients of the Pliocene, were capable of eroding the halocline, leading to deep-water formation in the western subarctic Pacific and a strong PMOC. This second Northern Hemisphere overturning cell has important implications for heat transport, the ocean/atmosphere cycle of carbon, and potentially the equilibrium response of the Pacific to global warming. PMID:28924606
A frozen record of density-driven crustal overturn in lava lakes: The example of Kilauea Iki 1959
Stovall, W.K.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Harris, A.J.L.; Swanson, D.A.
2009-01-01
Lava lakes are found at basaltic volcanoes on Earth and other planetary bodies. Density-driven crustal foundering leading to surface renewal occurs repeatedly throughout the life of a lava lake. This process has been observed and described in a qualitative sense, but due to dangerous conditions, no data has been acquired to evaluate the densities of the units involved. Kilauea Iki pit crater in Hawai'i houses a lava lake erupted during a 2 month period in 1959. Part of the surface of the Kilauea Iki lake now preserves the frozen record of a final, incomplete, crustal-overturn cycle. We mapped this region and sampled portions of the foundering crust, as well as overriding and underlying lava, to constrain the density of the units involved in the overturn process. Overturn is driven by the advance of a flow front of fresh, low-density lava over an older, higher density surface crust. The advance of the front causes the older crust to break up, founder, and dive downwards into the lake to expose new, hot, low-density lava. We find density differences of 200 to 740 kg/m3 between the foundering crust and over-riding and under-lying lava respectively. In this case, crustal overturn is driven by large density differences between the foundering and resurfacing units. These differences lead, inevitably, to frequent crustal renewal: simple density differences between the surface crust and underlying lake lava make the upper layers of the lake highly unstable. ?? Springer-Verlag 2008.
Active Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) during the warm Pliocene
Burls, Natalie J.; Fedorov, Alexey V.; Sigman, Daniel M.; ...
2017-09-13
An essential element of modern ocean circulation and climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which includes deep-water formation in the subarctic North Atlantic. However, a comparable overturning circulation is absent in the Pacific, theworld’s largest ocean,where relatively fresh surface waters inhibitNorth Pacific deep convection. We present complementary measurement and modeling evidence that the warm, ~400–ppmv (parts per million by volume) CO 2 world of the Pliocene supported subarctic North Pacific deep-water formation and a Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) cell. In Pliocene subarctic North Pacific sediments, we report orbitally paced maxima in calcium carbonate accumulation rate, with accompanyingmore » pigment and total organic carbon measurements supporting deep-ocean ventilation-driven preservation as their cause. Together with high accumulation rates of biogenic opal, these findings require vigorous bidirectional communication between surface waters and interior waters down to ~3 km in the western subarctic North Pacific, implying deep convection. Redoxsensitive trace metal data provide further evidence of higher Pliocene deep-ocean ventilation before the 2.73-Ma (million years) transition. This observational analysis is supported by climate modeling results, demonstrating that atmospheric moisture transport changes, in response to the reduced meridional sea surface temperature gradients of the Pliocene, were capable of eroding the halocline, leading to deep-water formation in the western subarctic Pacific and a strong PMOC. This second Northern Hemisphere overturning cell has important implications for heat transport, the ocean/atmosphere cycle of carbon, and potentially the equilibrium response of the Pacific to global warming.« less
Ocean and atmosphere feedbacks affecting AMOC hysteresis in a GCM
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jackson, L. C.; Smith, R. S.; Wood, R. A.
2017-07-01
Theories suggest that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) can exhibit a hysteresis where, for a given input of fresh water into the north Atlantic, there are two possible states: one with a strong overturning in the north Atlantic (on) and the other with a reverse Atlantic cell (off). A previous study showed hysteresis of the AMOC for the first time in a coupled general circulation model (Hawkins et al. in Geophys Res Lett. doi: 10.1029/2011GL047208, 2011). In this study we show that the hysteresis found by Hawkins et al. (2011) is sensitive to the method with which the fresh water input is compensated. If this compensation is applied throughout the volume of the global ocean, rather than at the surface, the region of hysteresis is narrower and the off states are very different: when the compensation is applied at the surface, a strong Pacific overturning cell and a strong Atlantic reverse cell develops; when the compensation is applied throughout the volume there is little change in the Pacific and only a weak Atlantic reverse cell develops. We investigate the mechanisms behind the transitions between the on and off states in the two experiments, and find that the difference in hysteresis is due to the different off states. We find that the development of the Pacific overturning cell results in greater atmospheric moisture transport into the North Atlantic, and also is likely responsible for a stronger Atlantic reverse cell. These both act to stabilize the off state of the Atlantic overturning.
The Scientific Attack on Brown v. Board of Education, 1954-1964
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jackson, John P.
2004-01-01
Psychologists' work was cited in the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). One criticism of the citation was that psychology could be used to overturn the Brown decision and return the country to segregation. A historical examination of such an attempt to overturn Brown in the early 1960s on the basis of new psychological…
Balanced and Unbalanced Aspects of Tropical Cyclone Intensification
2009-10-06
axisymmetric balance theory. The secondary ( overturning ) circulation and balanced tendency for the primary circulation are obtained by solving a...balance theory. The secondary ( overturning ) circulation and balanced tendency for the primary circulation are obtained by solving a general form of the... meridional circulation . This equation is often referred to as the Sawyer–Eliassen (SE) equation (Willoughby, 1979; Shapiro and Willoughby, 1982). For
Ice-shelf collapse from subsurface warming as a trigger for Heinrich events
Marcott, Shaun A.; Clark, Peter U.; Padman, Laurie; Klinkhammer, Gary P.; Springer, Scott R.; Liu, Zhengyu; Otto-Bliesner, Bette L.; Carlson, Anders E.; Ungerer, Andy; Padman, June; He, Feng; Cheng, Jun; Schmittner, Andreas
2011-01-01
Episodic iceberg-discharge events from the Hudson Strait Ice Stream (HSIS) of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, referred to as Heinrich events, are commonly attributed to internal ice-sheet instabilities, but their systematic occurrence at the culmination of a large reduction in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) indicates a climate control. We report Mg/Ca data on benthic foraminifera from an intermediate-depth site in the northwest Atlantic and results from a climate-model simulation that reveal basin-wide subsurface warming at the same time as large reductions in the AMOC, with temperature increasing by approximately 2 °C over a 1–2 kyr interval prior to a Heinrich event. In simulations with an ocean model coupled to a thermodynamically active ice shelf, the increase in subsurface temperature increases basal melt rate under an ice shelf fronting the HSIS by a factor of approximately 6. By analogy with recent observations in Antarctica, the resulting ice-shelf loss and attendant HSIS acceleration would produce a Heinrich event. PMID:21808034
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Paegle, J.; Kalnay-Rivas, E.; Baker, W. E.
1981-01-01
By examining the vertical structure of the low order spherical harmonics of the divergence and vorticity fields, the relative contribution of tropical and monsoonal circulations upon the global wind fields was estimated. This indicates that the overall flow over North America and the Pacific between January and February is quite distinct both in the lower and upper troposphere. In these longitudes there is a stronger tropical overturning and subtropical jet stream in January than February. The divergent flow reversed between 850 and 200 mb. Poleward rotational flow at upper levels is associated with an equatorward rotational flow at low levels. This suggests that the monsoon and other tropical circulations project more amplitude upon low order (global scale) representations of the flow than do the typical midlatitude circulations and that their structures show conspicuous changes on a time scale of a week or less.
Predicting and generalizing the refuge function of intermittent and ephemeral streams
Intermittent and ephemeral streams can provide important functions within stream networks. For fish, intermittent and ephemeral streams can contribute energy and materials to downstream perennial waters, serve as seasonal habitats, and/or provide refuge functions. Understanding t...
Two different streams form the dorsal visual system: anatomy and functions.
Rizzolatti, Giacomo; Matelli, Massimo
2003-11-01
There are two radically different views on the functional role of the dorsal visual stream. One considers it as a system involved in space perception. The other is of a system that codes visual information for action organization. On the basis of new anatomical data and a reconsideration of previous functional and clinical data, we propose that the dorsal stream and its recipient parietal areas form two distinct functional systems: the dorso-dorsal stream (d-d stream) and the ventro-dorsal stream (v-d stream). The d-d stream is formed by area V6 (main d-d extrastriate visual node) and areas V6A and MIP of the superior parietal lobule. Its major functional role is the control of actions "on line". Its damage leads to optic ataxia. The v-d stream is formed by area MT (main v-d extrastriate visual node) and by the visual areas of the inferior parietal lobule. As the d-d stream, v-d stream is responsible for action organization. It, however, also plays a crucial role in space perception and action understanding. The putative mechanisms linking action and perception in the v-d stream is discussed.
Ren, Ze; Wang, Fang; Qu, Xiaodong; Elser, James J.; Liu, Yang; Chu, Limin
2017-01-01
Understanding microbial communities in terms of taxon and function is essential to decipher the biogeochemical cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Lakes and their input streams are highly linked. However, the differences between microbial assemblages in streams and lakes are still unclear. In this study, we conducted an intensive field sampling of microbial communities from lake water and stream biofilms in the Qinghai Lake watershed, the largest lake in China. We determined bacterial communities using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and predicted functional profiles using PICRUSt to determine the taxonomic and functional differences between microbial communities in stream biofilms and lake water. The results showed that stream biofilms and lake water harbored distinct microbial communities. The microbial communities were different taxonomically and functionally between stream and lake. Moreover, streams biofilms had a microbial network with higher connectivity and modularity than lake water. Functional beta diversity was strongly correlated with taxonomic beta diversity in both the stream and lake microbial communities. Lake microbial assemblages displayed greater predicted metabolic potentials of many metabolism pathways while the microbial assemblages in stream biofilms were more abundant in xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism and lipid metabolism. Furthermore, lake microbial assemblages had stronger predicted metabolic potentials in amino acid metabolism, carbon fixation, and photosynthesis while stream microbial assemblages were higher in carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and nitrogen metabolism. This study adds to our knowledge of stream-lake linkages from the functional and taxonomic composition of microbial assemblages. PMID:29213266
Intermittent and ephemeral (IE) streams can provide important functions within stream networks. Understanding the relative benefit provided to downstream waters is needed to better inform watershed management. Although the potential functions of IE streams are relatively well kn...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What procedures allow the Administrator to object to a proposed small system variance or overturn a granted small system variance for a public water system serving 3,300 or fewer persons? 142.311 Section 142.311 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false What procedures allow the Administrator to object to a proposed small system variance or overturn a granted small system variance for a public water system serving 3,300 or fewer persons? 142.311 Section 142.311 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER...
Climate Change Planning for Military Installations: Findings and Implications
2010-10-01
Meridional Overturning Circulation ARFORGEN Army Force Generation BASH Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard BLM Bureau of Land Management BOR Bureau of Reclamation...Cover and Land Use Change LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory MOC Meridional Overturning Circulation NASA National Aeronautics and Space...to discern effects of climate change. D.7.9 Bureau of Land Management BLM is responsible for managing much of the federal land affected by
Coastal Microstructure: From Active Overturn to Fossil Turbulence
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tau Leung, Pak
2011-11-01
The Remote Anthropogenic Sensing Program was a five year effort (2001- 2005) to examine subsurface phenomena related to a sewage outfall off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. This research has implications for basic ocean hydrodynamics, particularly for a greatly improved understanding of the evolution of turbulent patches. It was the first time a microstructure measurement was used to study such a buoyancy-driven turbulence generated by a sea-floor diffuser. In 2004, two stations were selected to represent the near field and ambient conditions. They have nearly identical bathymetrical and hydrographical features and provide an ideal environment for a control experiment. Repeated vertical microstructure measurements were performed at both stations for 20 days. A time series of physical parameters was collected and used for statistical analysis. After comparing the data from both stations, it can be concluded that the turbulent mixing generated by the diffuser contributes to the elevated dissipation rate observed in the pycnocline and bottom boundary layer. To further understand the mixing processes in both regions, data were plotted on a Hydrodynamic Phase Diagram. The overturning stages of the turbulent patches are identified by Hydrodynamic Phase Diagram. This technique provides detailed information on the evolution of the turbulent patches from active overturns to fossilized scalar microstructures in the water column. Results from this study offer new evidence to support the fossil turbulence theory. This study concluded that: 1. Field Data collected near a sea-floor outfall diffuser show that turbulent patches evolve from active (overturning) to fossil (buoyancy-inhibited) stages, consistent with the process of turbulent patch evolution proposed by fossil turbulence theory. 2. The data show that active (overturning) and fossil (buoyancy-inhibited) patches have smaller length scales than the active+fossil (intermediate) stage of patch evolution, consistent with fossil turbulence theory and with laboratory studies. 3. Compared to a far-field reference, elevated dissipation rates near the diffuser were found in the seasonal pycnocline as well as in the bottom boundary layer. 4. More than 90% of the turbulent patches observed in the water column were non- overturning (active+fossil and fossil). Such patches can provide significant mixing in the interior of the ocean, far from surface and bottom boundary layers.
Timescale of Destabilization of a Magma Ocean Cumulate
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morison, A.; Labrosse, S.; Deguen, R.; Alboussiere, T.
2017-12-01
A common scenario considered during the formation of terrestrial planets is the crystallization of a global magma ocean from the bottom-up. The crystallization of the surface magma ocean is expected to be rapid, on a timescale of the order of 1 Myr. This has lead several authors to assume convection in the solid part of the crystallizing mantle only sets out after the complete solidification of the surface magma ocean. Assuming fractionnal crystallization of this ocean, the magma (and resulting solid) is more and more enriched in FeO as the crystallization progresses. This leads to an unstable stratification and an overturn. After overturn, the resulting solid mantle would be strongly compositionally stratified. The present study tests the assumption that solid-state mantle overturn only occurs after complete crystallization of the surface magma ocean. We model convection in the solid part of the mantle only and parametrize the presence of a magma ocean with boundary conditions. Our model includes through these boundary conditions the possibility for matter to cross the boundary between the solid shell and the magma ocean by melting and freezing. We perfomed a linear stability analysis with respect to the temperature and compositional profiles obtained in a growing magma ocean cumulate to assess the destabilization timescale of such profiles as a function of the crystallized thickness. By comparing this timescale with a model of surface magma ocean crystallization, we deduce the time and crystallized thickness at which the convection timescale is comparable to the age of the solid crystallizing mantle. This time is found to be small ( 1 kyr) compared to the time needed to crystallize the entire surface magma ocean ( 1 Myr).
Recent changes in the North Atlantic.
Dickson, Robert R; Curry, Ruth; Yashayaev, Igor
2003-09-15
It has long been recognized that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is potentially sensitive to greenhouse-gas and other climate forcing, and that changes in the MOC have the potential to cause abrupt climate change. However, the mechanisms remain poorly understood and our ability to detect these changes remains incomplete. Four main (interrelated) types of ocean change in particular are associated in the literature with greenhouse-gas forcing. These are: a slowing of MOC overturning rate; changes in northern seas which might effect a change in Atlantic overturning, including changes in the freshwater flux from the Arctic, and changes in the transport and/or hydrographic character of the northern overflows which ventilate the deep Atlantic; a change in the trans-ocean gradients of steric height (both zonal and meridional) which might accompany a change in the MOC; and an intensification of the global water cycle. Though as yet we have no direct measure of the freshwater flux passing from the Arctic to the Atlantic either via the Canadian Arctic Archipelago or along the East Greenland Shelf, and no direct measure yet of the Atlantic overturning rate, we examine a wide range of time-series from the existing hydrographic record for oceanic evidence of the other anticipated responses. Large amplitude and sustained changes are found (or indicated by proxy) over the past three to four decades in the southward transport of fresh waters along the Labrador shelf and slope, in the hydrography of the deep dense overflows from Nordic seas, in the transport of the eastern overflow through Faroe Bank Channel, and in the global hydrologic cycle. Though the type and scale of changes in ocean salinity are consistent with an amplification of the water cycle, we find no convincing evidence of any significant, concerted slowdown in the Atlantic overturning circulation.
Risk analysis of tractor overturns on catfish farms.
Stephens, Walter B; Ibendahl, Gregory A; Myers, Melvin L; Cole, Henry P
2010-10-01
Fatal and nonfatal injuries occur on catfish farms as a result of tractor overturns, but these injuries can be greatly mitigated when a tractor is equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) and seatbelt. This study analyzed the proportion of tractors on catfish farms in Mississippi not equipped with ROPS and the cost of retrofitting those tractors with a ROPS and seatbelt as compared to the expected benefits gained from adding the protection. To determine if farmers have the financial incentive to retrofit older tractors, a net present value framework was used because the expected benefits occur over a number of years. The ROPS retrofit is a one-time cost that occurs immediately, and thus the present value does not need to be calculated, i.e., time period 0. According to this study adding ROPS will provide a net benefit of $22,877 in the event of an overturn. When dealing with small farms (<125 acres) where an average tractor is used for approximately twice as many hours compared to an average tractor on large farms, the extra hours worked by a single tractor resulted in total benefits of retrofitting ROPS of $9.45 per year, whereas for large farms the net benefit is $4.70 (=125 acres). Given that the least expensive retrofit is $147, it would take 15.5 years of tractor use on the small farms for the expected benefits to outweigh the cost. Given the large range of costs that could occur due to an overturn, there could be a significant premium for not having ROPS protection. In other words, there likely is a smaller range of costs from an overturn with ROPS than without ROPS because ROPS reduces the more serious incidents.
Synchronization and chaotic dynamics of coupled mechanical metronomes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ulrichs, Henning; Mann, Andreas; Parlitz, Ulrich
2009-12-01
Synchronization scenarios of coupled mechanical metronomes are studied by means of numerical simulations showing the onset of synchronization for two, three, and 100 globally coupled metronomes in terms of Arnol'd tongues in parameter space and a Kuramoto transition as a function of coupling strength. Furthermore, we study the dynamics of metronomes where overturning is possible. In this case hyperchaotic dynamics associated with some diffusion process in configuration space is observed, indicating the potential complexity of metronome dynamics.
Seasonal Overturning Circulation in the Red Sea
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yao, F.; Hoteit, I.; Koehl, A.
2010-12-01
The Red Sea exhibits a distinct seasonal overturning circulation. In winter, a typical two-layer exchange structure, with a fresher inflow from the Gulf of Aden on top of an outflow from the Red Sea, is established. In summer months (June to September) this circulation pattern is changed to a three-layer structure: a surface outflow from the Red Sea on top of a subsurface intrusion of the Gulf of Aden Intermediate Water and a weakened deep outflow. This seasonal variability is studied using a general circulation model, MITgcm, with 6 hourly NCEP atmospheric forcing. The model is able to reproduce the observed seasonal variability very well. The forcing mechanisms of the seasonal variability related to seasonal surface wind stress and buoyancy flux, and water mass transformation processes associated with the seasonal overturning circulation are analyzed and presented.
Stories or statistics? Farmers' attitudes toward messages in an agricultural safety campaign.
Morgan, S E; Cole, H P; Struttmann, T; Piercy, L
2002-05-01
Farming is the second most hazardous occupation in the U.S. The high mortality rate is due in large part to farm equipment hazards, particularly tractor overturns. Injuries and deaths associated with tractor overturns could be prevented with the use of a rollover protective structure (ROPS). In spite of the known dangers associated with overturn incidents, farmers are reluctant to retrofit ROPS on older tractors. Few agricultural safety campaigns target the issue of ROPS retrofits, and none have been evaluated systematically. This article reports a study that examines a set of messages that were central to the Community Partners for Healthy Farming project. This study indicates that narrative-based messages and messages incorporating fear appeals are more favorably evaluated by farmers than messages that simply inform farmers or messages that rely on statistics.
Vecchi, Gabriel A; Msadek, Rym; Delworth, Thomas L; Dixon, Keith W; Guilyardi, Eric; Hawkins, Ed; Karspeck, Alicia R; Mignot, Juliette; Robson, Jon; Rosati, Anthony; Zhang, Rong
2012-11-02
Matei et al. (Reports, 6 January 2012, p. 76) claim to show skillful multiyear predictions of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, these claims are not justified, primarily because the predictions of AMOC transport do not outperform simple reference forecasts based on climatological annual cycles. Accordingly, there is no justification for the "confident" prediction of a stable AMOC through 2014.
Seasonal Variability of Salt Transport During the Indian Ocean Monsoons
2011-08-27
Wunsch, J. Marotzkc, and J. Toolc (2000). Meridional overturning and large-scale circulation of the Indian Ocean, J. Geophvs Res., W5(C\\ 1), 26,117...and II. Hasumi (2006), Effects of model resolution on salt transport through northern high-latitude passages and Atlantic meridional overturning ...affects meridional circulation and aids the transport of salt [Sevellec et ai, 2008; Czaja, 2009]. Deep convection could be inhibited by the freshening
Inner-core Vacillation Cycles during the Intensification of Hurricane Katrina
2011-04-01
symmetric overturning circulation draws air from outer radii above the boundary layer while conserving absolute angular momentum. This symmetric...azimuthal momentum by the mean overturning circulation . The resulting increase in the vertical shear of the azimuthal-mean tangential wind that develops in... meridional circulation in a circular vortex. Astrophysica Norvegica 5: 19–60. Elsberry R, Frank W, Holland G, Jarrel J, Southern R. 1987. A Global
Recent slowing of Atlantic overturning circulation as a recovery from earlier strengthening
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jackson, Laura C.; Peterson, K. Andrew; Roberts, Chris D.; Wood, Richard A.
2016-07-01
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has weakened substantially over the past decade. Some weakening may already have occurred over the past century, and global climate models project further weakening in response to anthropogenic climate change. Such a weakening could have significant impacts on the surface climate. However, ocean model simulations based on historical conditions have often found an increase in overturning up to the mid-1990s, followed by a decrease. It is therefore not clear whether the observed weakening over the past decade is part of decadal variability or a persistent weakening. Here we examine a state-of-the-art global-ocean reanalysis product, GloSea5, which covers the years 1989 to 2015 and closely matches observations of the AMOC at 26.5° N, capturing the interannual variability and decadal trend with unprecedented accuracy. The reanalysis data place the ten years of observations--April 2004 to February 2014--into a longer-term context and suggest that the observed decrease in the overturning circulation is consistent with a recovery following a previous increase. We find that density anomalies that propagate southwards from the Labrador Sea are the most likely cause of these variations. We conclude that decadal variability probably played a key role in the decline of the AMOC observed over the past decade.
Dittinger, Eva; Valizadeh, Seyed Abolfazl; Jäncke, Lutz; Besson, Mireille; Elmer, Stefan
2018-02-01
Current models of speech and language processing postulate the involvement of two parallel processing streams (the dual stream model): a ventral stream involved in mapping sensory and phonological representations onto lexical and conceptual representations and a dorsal stream contributing to sound-to-motor mapping, articulation, and to how verbal information is encoded and manipulated in memory. Based on previous evidence showing that music training has an influence on language processing, cognitive functions, and word learning, we examined EEG-based intracranial functional connectivity in the ventral and dorsal streams while musicians and nonmusicians learned the meaning of novel words through picture-word associations. In accordance with the dual stream model, word learning was generally associated with increased beta functional connectivity in the ventral stream compared to the dorsal stream. In addition, in the linguistically most demanding "semantic task," musicians outperformed nonmusicians, and this behavioral advantage was accompanied by increased left-hemispheric theta connectivity in both streams. Moreover, theta coherence in the left dorsal pathway was positively correlated with the number of years of music training. These results provide evidence for a complex interplay within a network of brain regions involved in semantic processing and verbal memory functions, and suggest that intensive music training can modify its functional architecture leading to advantages in novel word learning. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
2009-05-20
in the meridional overturning circulation of the midlatitude North Atlantic Ocean. J. dim. 21. 6599-6615. Blanke, B., Raynaud. S„ 1997. Kinematics of...Indian to the Atlantic Ocean in the warm upper-branch return flow of the thermohaline circulation (Cordon, 1985). The three numerical data sets...35. L20602. Biastoch, A., Boning. C.W.. Lutjeharms, J.RE., 2008b. Agulhas leakage dynamics affects decadal variability in Atlantic overturning
Effects of Small-Scale Bathymetric Roughness on the Global Internal Wave Field
2008-09-30
Navy. Much of the interest stems from the suggestion by Munk and Wunsch (1998) that the strength of the meridional overturning circulation is controlled... meridional overturning circulation . Journal of Physical Oceanography 32, 3578-3595. St. Laurent, L.C., 1999. Diapycnal advection by double diffusion...waves generated by flows over the rough seafloor. On the time scales of internal waves, mesoscale eddies and the general circulation can be regarded as
Impact of slowdown of Atlantic overturning circulation on heat and freshwater transports
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kelly, Kathryn A.; Drushka, Kyla; Thompson, LuAnne; Le Bars, Dewi; McDonagh, Elaine L.
2016-07-01
Recent measurements of the strength of the Atlantic overturning circulation at 26°N show a 1 year drop and partial recovery amid a gradual weakening. To examine the extent and impact of the slowdown on basin wide heat and freshwater transports for 2004-2012, a box model that assimilates hydrographic and satellite observations is used to estimate heat transport and freshwater convergence as residuals of the heat and freshwater budgets. Using an independent transport estimate, convergences are converted to transports, which show a high level of spatial coherence. The similarity between Atlantic heat transport and the Agulhas Leakage suggests that it is the source of the surface heat transport anomalies. The freshwater budget in the North Atlantic is dominated by a decrease in freshwater flux. The increasing salinity during the slowdown supports modeling studies that show that heat, not freshwater, drives trends in the overturning circulation in a warming climate.
Does Southern Ocean Surface Forcing Shape the Global Ocean Overturning Circulation?
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sun, Shantong; Eisenman, Ian; Stewart, Andrew L.
2018-03-01
Paleoclimate proxy data suggest that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was shallower at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) than its preindustrial (PI) depth. Previous studies have suggested that this shoaling necessarily accompanies Antarctic sea ice expansion at the LGM. Here the influence of Southern Ocean surface forcing on the AMOC depth is investigated using ocean-only simulations from a state-of-the-art climate model with surface forcing specified from the output of previous coupled PI and LGM simulations. In contrast to previous expectations, we find that applying LGM surface forcing in the Southern Ocean and PI surface forcing elsewhere causes the AMOC to shoal only about half as much as when LGM surface forcing is applied globally. We show that this occurs because diapycnal mixing renders the Southern Ocean overturning circulation more diabatic than previously assumed, which diminishes the influence of Southern Ocean surface buoyancy forcing on the depth of the AMOC.
Abyssal ocean overturning shaped by seafloor distribution.
de Lavergne, C; Madec, G; Roquet, F; Holmes, R M; McDougall, T J
2017-11-08
The abyssal ocean is broadly characterized by northward flow of the densest waters and southward flow of less-dense waters above them. Understanding what controls the strength and structure of these interhemispheric flows-referred to as the abyssal overturning circulation-is key to quantifying the ocean's ability to store carbon and heat on timescales exceeding a century. Here we show that, north of 32° S, the depth distribution of the seafloor compels dense southern-origin waters to flow northward below a depth of about 4 kilometres and to return southward predominantly at depths greater than 2.5 kilometres. Unless ventilated from the north, the overlying mid-depths (1 to 2.5 kilometres deep) host comparatively weak mean meridional flow. Backed by analysis of historical radiocarbon measurements, the findings imply that the geometry of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic basins places a major external constraint on the overturning structure.
Abyssal ocean overturning shaped by seafloor distribution
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
de Lavergne, C.; Madec, G.; Roquet, F.; Holmes, R. M.; McDougall, T. J.
2017-11-01
The abyssal ocean is broadly characterized by northward flow of the densest waters and southward flow of less-dense waters above them. Understanding what controls the strength and structure of these interhemispheric flows—referred to as the abyssal overturning circulation—is key to quantifying the ocean’s ability to store carbon and heat on timescales exceeding a century. Here we show that, north of 32° S, the depth distribution of the seafloor compels dense southern-origin waters to flow northward below a depth of about 4 kilometres and to return southward predominantly at depths greater than 2.5 kilometres. Unless ventilated from the north, the overlying mid-depths (1 to 2.5 kilometres deep) host comparatively weak mean meridional flow. Backed by analysis of historical radiocarbon measurements, the findings imply that the geometry of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic basins places a major external constraint on the overturning structure.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nelson, Norman B.; Siegel, David A.; Carlson, Craig A.; Swan, Chantal M.
2010-02-01
Basin-scale distributions of light absorption by chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) are positively correlated (R2 > 0.8) with apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) within the top kilometer of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. However, a much weaker correspondence is found for the Atlantic (R2 < 0.05). Strong correlation between CDOM and AOU indicates that CDOM is created as a byproduct of the oxidation of organic matter from sinking particles. The observed meridional-depth sections of CDOM result from a balance between biogeochemical processes (autochthonous production and solar bleaching) and the meridional overturning circulation. Rapid mixing in the Atlantic dilutes CDOM in the interior and implies that the time scale for CDOM accumulation is greater than ˜50 years. CDOM emerges as a unique tracer for diagnosing changes in biogeochemistry and the overturning circulation, similar to dissolved oxygen, with the additional feature that it can be quantified from satellite observation.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Seki, Hirokazu; Hata, Naoki; Koyasu, Yuichi; Hori, Yoichi
Aged people and disabled people who have difficulty in walking are increasing. As one of mobility support, significance of power assisted wheelchair which assists driving force using electric motors and spreads their living areas has been enhanced. However, the increased driving force often causes a dangerous overturn of wheelchair. In this paper, control method to prevent power assisted wheelchair from overturning is proposed. It is found the front wheels rising is caused by magnitude and rapid increase of assisted torque. Therefore, feedforward control method to limit the assisted torque by tuning its magnitude or time constant is proposed. In order to emphasize safety and feeling of security, these methods make the front wheels no rise. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the practical experiments and field test based performance evaluation using many trial subjects.
Greenland meltwater experiments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Olsen, S. M.; Schmith, T.
2012-04-01
We explore the climatic response to additional Greenland Ice Sheet melting in the EC-EARTH coupled climate model. As reference runs, we use an ensemble of two simulations from 1850 to present with historic forcing. For each of these we pick the years 1935,1950 and 1965, respectively as initial conditions for perturbed experiments with an additional freshwater forcing of 0.1 Sv distributed uniformly around Greenland , a plausible value in the upper end of future Greenland ice sheet melt estimates. We find give no evidence for abrupt transitions associated with tipping points in the Atlantic overturning circulation and mid-latitude heat transport. In fact, modelled decline in overturning in response to the additional forcing does not project onto a comparable reduction in the mid latitude (36N) ocean heat transport. This result points to an ongoing watermass transformation in the subpolar region and Arctic Mediterranean as a whole and a continued thermal mode of operation of the overturning. At the northern boundary of the subpolar region (60N) the response in overturning shows a contrasting increase in intensity along with an increase in heat transport. Whereas the latter may be expected as a result of freshwater capping and subsurface warming in the subpolar region, the increased overturning at 60N is more difficult to explain. In order to assess this in more detail we have quantified the individual thermohaline exchange components of light and dense water masses across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. We find that the intensified overturning at 60N is reflected in increased transports of light Atlantic Water to the Nordic Seas. However, the vertical, thermohalinie overturning loop is not equally strengthened. On the contrary, we model a decline in the denser parts of the outflow, the overflows in the Denmark Strait and Faroe Bank Channel and a strong increase in the polar outflow in the Denmark Strait. We observe a gradual transition from a vertical mode of operation with 70% of the Atlantic Inflow being transformed to dense overflow towards a state approaching an equal contribution of the vertical and horizontal thermohaline circulation loops after 20-30 years. Along with this transition we find an overall decline in the intensity of the barotropic gyre circulation of the Nordic Seas reflecting in part a reduced winter deepening of the mixed layer. Thus, we may seek to explain this transition as a result of more efficient lateral mixing of the Atlantic Inflow during its cyclonic circulation around the basin margins. Finally, we show that the associated atmospheric response is a standing Rossby wave train reflected in the mean tropospheric thickness anomaly field with a through over Labrador Sea, a ridge over Barents Sea and a minor through over eastern Europe. Corresponding anomalies are found in the surface temperature field.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sanabria, Diego Ignacio
2001-07-01
Detailed outcrop analysis of the Lower Jurassic Kayenta Formation provides the basis for the formulation of a new sequence stratigraphic model for arid to semi-arid continental deposits and the generation of a comprehensive set of sedimentologic criteria for the recognition of ephemeral stream deposits. Criteria for the recognition of ephemeral deposits in the ancient record were divided into three categories according to the scale of the feature being considered. The first category takes into account sedimentary structures commonly found in the record of ephemeral stream deposits including hyperconcentrated and debris flow deposits, planar parallel bedding, sigmoidal cross-bedding, hummocky cross-bedding, climbing ripple lamination, scour-and-fill structures, convolute bedding, overturned cross-bedding, ball-and-pillow structures, pocket structures, pillars, mud curls, flaser lamination, algal lamination, termite nests, and vertebrate tracks. The second category is concerned with the mesoscale facies architecture of ephemeral stream deposits and includes waning flow successions, bedform climb, downstream accretion, terminal wadi splays, and channel-fill successions indicating catastrophic flooding. At the large-scale facies architecture level, the third category, ephemeral stream deposits are commonly arranged in depositional units characterized by a downstream decrease in grain size and scale of sedimentary structures resulting from deposition in terminal fan systems. Outcrops of the Kayenta Formation and its transition to the Navajo Sandstone along the Vermilion and Echo Cliffs of Northern Arizona indicate that wet/dry climatic cyclicity exerted a major control on regional facies architecture. Two scales of wet/dry climatic cyclicity can be recognized in northern Arizona. Three sequence sets composed of rocks accumulated under predominantly dry or wet conditions are the expression of long-term climatic cyclicity. Short-term climatic cyclicity, on the other hand, is represented by high-frequency sequences composed of eolian or ephemeral fluvial deposits overlain by perennial fluvial sediments. Increased evapotranspiration rates, depressed water tables, and accumulation of eolian or ephemeral fluvial deposits characterize the dry portion of these cycles. The wet part of the cycles is marked by an increase in precipitation and the establishment of perennial fluvial systems and lacustrine basins. This depositional model constitutes a valuable tool for correlation of similar deposits in the subsurface.
Rowe, David K; Parkyn, Stephanie; Quinn, John; Collier, Kevin; Hatton, Chris; Joy, Michael K; Maxted, John; Moore, Stephen
2009-06-01
A method was developed to score the ecological condition of first- to third-order stream reaches in the Auckland region of New Zealand based on the performance of their key ecological functions. Such a method is required by consultants and resource managers to quantify the reduction in ecological condition of a modified stream reach relative to its unmodified state. This is a fundamental precursor for the determination of fair environmental compensation for achieving no-net-loss in overall stream ecological value. Field testing and subsequent use of the method indicated that it provides a useful measure of ecological condition related to the performance of stream ecological functions. It is relatively simple to apply compared to a full ecological study, is quick to use, and allows identification of the degree of impairment of each of the key ecological functions. The scoring system was designed so that future improvements in the measurement of stream functions can be incorporated into it. Although the methodology was specifically designed for Auckland streams, the principles can be readily adapted to other regions and stream types.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dygert, N. J.; Liang, Y.
2017-12-01
Lunar basalts maintain an important record of the composition of the lunar interior. Much of our understanding of the Moon's early evolution comes from studying their petrogenesis. Recent experimental work has advanced our knowledge of major and trace element fractionation during lunar magma ocean (LMO) crystallization [e.g., 1-3], which produced heterogeneous basalt sources in the Moon's mantle. With the new experimental constraints, we can evaluate isotopic and trace element signatures in lunar basalts in unprecedented detail, refining inferences about the Moon's dynamic history. Two petrogenetic models are invoked to explain the compositions of the basalts. The assimilation model argues they formed as primitive melts of early LMO cumulates that assimilated late LMO cumulates as they migrated upward. The cumulate overturn model argues that dense LMO cumulates sank into the lunar interior, producing hybridized sources that melted to form the basalts. Here we compare predicted Ce/Yb and Hf and Nd isotopes of partial melts of LMO cumulates with measured compositions of lunar basalts to evaluate whether they could have formed by end-member petrogenetic models. LMO crystallization models suggest all LMO cumulates have chondrite normalized Ce/Yb <1. Residual liquid from the magma ocean has Ce/Yb 1.5. Many primitive lunar basalts have Ce/Yb>1.5; these could not have formed by assimilation of any LMO cumulate or residual liquid (or KREEP basalt, which has isotopically negative ɛNd and ɛHf). In contrast, basalt REE patterns and isotopes can easily be modeled assuming partial melting of hybridized mantle sources, indicating overturn may be required. A chemical requirement for overturn independently confirms that late LMO cumulates are sufficiently low in viscosity to sink into the lunar interior, as suggested by recent rock deformation experiments [4]. Overturned, low viscosity late LMO cumulates would be relatively stable around the core [5]. High Ce/Yb basalts require that overturned cumulates were mixed back into the overlying mantle by convection within a few hundred Myr. [1] Dygert et al. (2014), GCA 132, 170-186. [2] Sun et al. (2017), GCA 206, 273-295. [3] Lin et al. (2017), EPSL 471, 104-116. [4] Dygert et al. (2016), GRL 43, 10.1002/2015GL066546. [5] Zhang et al. (2017), GRL 44, 10.1002/2017GL073702.
Godoy, B S; Simião-Ferreira, J; Lodi, S; Oliveira, L G
2016-04-01
Stream ecology studies see to understand ecological dynamics in lotic systems. The characterization of streams into Functional Process Zones (FPZ) has been currently debated in stream ecology because aquatic communities respond to functional processes of river segments. Therefore, we tested if different functional process zones have different number of genera and trophic structure using the aquatic insect community of Neotropical streams. We also assessed whether using physical and chemical variables may complement the approach of using FPZ to model communities of aquatic insects in Cerrado streams. This study was conducted in 101 streams or rivers from the central region of the state of Goiás, Brazil. We grouped the streams into six FPZ associated to size of the river system, presence of riparian forest, and riverbed heterogeneity. We used Bayesian models to compare number of genera and relative frequency of the feeding groups between FPZs. Streams classified in different FPZs had a different number of genera, and the largest and best preserved rivers had an average of four additional genera. Trophic structure exhibited low variability among FPZs, with little difference both in the number of genera and in abundance. Using functional process zones in Cerrado streams yielded good results for Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera communities. Thus, species distribution and community structure in the river basin account for functional processes and not necessarily for the position of the community along a longitudinal dimension of the lotic system.
Rapid subtropical North Atlantic salinity oscillations across Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles.
Schmidt, Matthew W; Vautravers, Maryline J; Spero, Howard J
2006-10-05
Geochemical and sedimentological evidence suggest that the rapid climate warming oscillations of the last ice age, the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles, were coupled to fluctuations in North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation through its regulation of poleward heat flux. The balance between cold meltwater from the north and warm, salty subtropical gyre waters from the south influenced the strength and location of North Atlantic overturning circulation during this period of highly variable climate. Here we investigate how rapid reorganizations of the ocean-atmosphere system across these cycles are linked to salinity changes in the subtropical North Atlantic gyre. We combine Mg/Ca palaeothermometry and oxygen isotope ratio measurements on planktonic foraminifera across four Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles (spanning 45.9-59.2 kyr ago) to generate a seawater salinity proxy record from a subtropical gyre deep-sea sediment core. We show that North Atlantic gyre surface salinities oscillated rapidly between saltier stadial conditions and fresher interstadials, covarying with inferred shifts in the Tropical Atlantic hydrologic cycle and North Atlantic overturning circulation. These salinity oscillations suggest a reduction in precipitation into the North Atlantic and/or reduced export of deep salty thermohaline waters during stadials. We hypothesize that increased stadial salinities preconditioned the North Atlantic Ocean for a rapid return to deep overturning circulation and high-latitude warming by contributing to increased North Atlantic surface-water density on interstadial transitions.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Megann, A.; New, A.; Blaker, A.
2012-04-01
Vellinga and Wu (2004) and others have identified feedback cycles governing the decadal variability of the North Atlantic overturning circulation, in which modulation of tropical rainfall creates near-surface salinity anomalies that propagate northward to the winter convection regions, where they affect the wintertime convection through changes in surface density. Freshwater "hosing" experiments, in which 0.1 Sv of extra freshwater is added to the convection region, are described using two climate models: the UK Met Office's HadCM3; and CHIME, which is identical to HadCM3 except for the replacement of the z-coordinate ocean component of HadCM3 with the hybrid isopycnic model HYCOM. While HadCM3 shows an unambiguous weakening of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) by 5 Sv, the MOC in CHIME initially starts to decrease but returns to a value close to that in the control experiment after 40-50 years even though the hosing flux is still being applied. It will be shown that the recovery of the overturning in CHIME is mainly due to enhanced advective transport of salt from the subtropics by salinity anomalies. These are found to be substantially more coherent meridionally in CHIME than in HadCM3, consistent with the known superior ability of the isopycnic model formulation to preserve watermass properties over long distances.
Kurtz, Bruce E
2014-01-01
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is the northward flow of surface water to subpolar latitudes where deepwater is formed, balanced by southward abyssal flow and upwelling in the vicinity of the Southern Ocean. It is generally accepted that AMOC flow oscillates with a period of 60-80 years, creating a regular variation in North Atlantic sea surface temperature known as the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO). This article attempts to answer two questions: how is the AMOC driven and why does it oscillate? Using methods commonly employed by chemical engineers for analyzing processes involving flowing liquids, apparently not previously applied to trying to understand the AMOC, an equation is developed for AMOC flow as a function of the meridional density gradient or the corresponding temperature gradient. The equation is based on the similarity between the AMOC and an industrial thermosyphon loop cooler, which circulates a heat transfer liquid without using a mechanical pump. Extending this equation with an analogy between the flow of heat and electricity explains why the AMOC flow oscillates and what determines its period. Calculated values for AMOC flow and AMO oscillation period are in good agreement with measured values.
Kurtz, Bruce E.
2014-01-01
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is the northward flow of surface water to subpolar latitudes where deepwater is formed, balanced by southward abyssal flow and upwelling in the vicinity of the Southern Ocean. It is generally accepted that AMOC flow oscillates with a period of 60–80 years, creating a regular variation in North Atlantic sea surface temperature known as the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO). This article attempts to answer two questions: how is the AMOC driven and why does it oscillate? Using methods commonly employed by chemical engineers for analyzing processes involving flowing liquids, apparently not previously applied to trying to understand the AMOC, an equation is developed for AMOC flow as a function of the meridional density gradient or the corresponding temperature gradient. The equation is based on the similarity between the AMOC and an industrial thermosyphon loop cooler, which circulates a heat transfer liquid without using a mechanical pump. Extending this equation with an analogy between the flow of heat and electricity explains why the AMOC flow oscillates and what determines its period. Calculated values for AMOC flow and AMO oscillation period are in good agreement with measured values. PMID:24940739
Spatiotemporal evolution of the chlorophyll a trend in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Zhang, Min; Zhang, Yuanling; Shu, Qi; Zhao, Chang; Wang, Gang; Wu, Zhaohua; Qiao, Fangli
2018-01-15
Analyses of the chlorophyll a concentration (chla) from satellite ocean color products have suggested the decadal-scale variability of chla linked to the climate change. The decadal-scale variability in chla is both spatially and temporally non-uniform. We need to understand the spatiotemporal evolution of chla in decadal or multi-decadal timescales to better evaluate its linkage to climate variability. Here, the spatiotemporal evolution of the chla trend in the North Atlantic Ocean for the period 1997-2016 is analyzed using the multidimensional ensemble empirical mode decomposition method. We find that this variable trend signal of chla shows a dipole pattern between the subpolar gyre and along the Gulf Stream path, and propagation along the opposite direction of the North Atlantic Current. This propagation signal has an overlapping variability of approximately twenty years. Our findings suggest that the spatiotemporal evolution of chla during the two most recent decades is part of the multidecadal variations and possibly regulated by the changes of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, whereas the mechanisms of such evolution patterns still need to be explored. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moore, Kent; Renfrew, Ian; Bromwich, David; Wilson, Aaron; Vage, Kjetil; Bai, Lesheng
2017-04-01
Open ocean convection, where a loss of surface buoyancy leads to an overturning of the water column, occurs in four distinct regions of the North Atlantic and is an integral component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The overturning typically occurs during cold air outbreaks characterized by large surface turbulent heat fluxes and convective roll cloud development. Here we compare the statistics of the air-sea interaction over these convection sites as represented in three reanalyses with horizontal grid sizes ranging from 80km to 15km. We show that increasing the resolution increases the magnitude and frequency of the most extreme total turbulent heat fluxes, as well as displacing the maxima downstream away from the ice edges. We argue that these changes are a result of the higher resolution reanalysis being better able to represent mesoscale processes that occur within the atmospheric boundary layer during cold air outbreaks.
Methane Emissions from Small Lakes: Dynamics and Distribution Patterns
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Encinas Fernández, J. M.; Peeters, F.; Hofmann, H.
2014-12-01
The dynamics of dissolved methane were measured during three years in five small lakes with different surface areas and maximum water depth. We analyze and compare the horizontal and vertical distribution of dissolved methane within these lakes during different time periods: the stratified period in summer, the autumn overturn, the winter mixing period, and the period from spring to summer stratification. The horizontal distributions of dissolved methane within the lakes suggest that the relation between surface area and maximum water-depth is a key factor determining the heterogeneity of methane concentrations in the surface water. During most of the year littoral zones are the main source of the methane that is emitted to the atmosphere except for the overturn periods. The vertical distributions of temperature and dissolved oxygen within the different seasons affect the vertical distribution of dissolved methane and thus the methane budget within lakes. Anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion and the intense mixing during overturn periods are key factors for the overall annual methane emissions from lakes.
Increased ventilation of Antarctic deep water during the warm mid-Pliocene.
Zhang, Zhongshi; Nisancioglu, Kerim H; Ninnemann, Ulysses S
2013-01-01
The mid-Pliocene warm period is a recent warm geological period that shares similarities with predictions of future climate. It is generally held the mid-Pliocene Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation must have been stronger, to explain a weak Atlantic meridional δ(13)C gradient and large northern high-latitude warming. However, climate models do not simulate such stronger Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, when forced with mid-Pliocene boundary conditions. Proxy reconstructions allow for an alternative scenario that the weak δ(13)C gradient can be explained by increased ventilation and reduced stratification in the Southern Ocean. Here this alternative scenario is supported by simulations with the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM-L), which simulate an intensified and slightly poleward shifted wind field off Antarctica, giving enhanced ventilation and reduced stratification in the Southern Ocean. Our findings challenge the prevailing theory and show how increased Southern Ocean ventilation can reconcile existing model-data discrepancies about Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation while explaining fundamental ocean features.
Antarctic contribution to meltwater pulse 1A from reduced Southern Ocean overturning.
Golledge, N R; Menviel, L; Carter, L; Fogwill, C J; England, M H; Cortese, G; Levy, R H
2014-09-29
During the last glacial termination, the upwelling strength of the southern polar limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation varied, changing the ventilation and stratification of the high-latitude Southern Ocean. During the same period, at least two phases of abrupt global sea-level rise--meltwater pulses--took place. Although the timing and magnitude of these events have become better constrained, a causal link between ocean stratification, the meltwater pulses and accelerated ice loss from Antarctica has not been proven. Here we simulate Antarctic ice sheet evolution over the last 25 kyr using a data-constrained ice-sheet model forced by changes in Southern Ocean temperature from an Earth system model. Results reveal several episodes of accelerated ice-sheet recession, the largest being coincident with meltwater pulse 1A. This resulted from reduced Southern Ocean overturning following Heinrich Event 1, when warmer subsurface water thermally eroded grounded marine-based ice and instigated a positive feedback that further accelerated ice-sheet retreat.
Increased ventilation of Antarctic deep water during the warm mid-Pliocene
Zhang, Zhongshi; Nisancioglu, Kerim H.; Ninnemann, Ulysses S.
2013-01-01
The mid-Pliocene warm period is a recent warm geological period that shares similarities with predictions of future climate. It is generally held the mid-Pliocene Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation must have been stronger, to explain a weak Atlantic meridional δ13C gradient and large northern high-latitude warming. However, climate models do not simulate such stronger Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, when forced with mid-Pliocene boundary conditions. Proxy reconstructions allow for an alternative scenario that the weak δ13C gradient can be explained by increased ventilation and reduced stratification in the Southern Ocean. Here this alternative scenario is supported by simulations with the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM-L), which simulate an intensified and slightly poleward shifted wind field off Antarctica, giving enhanced ventilation and reduced stratification in the Southern Ocean. Our findings challenge the prevailing theory and show how increased Southern Ocean ventilation can reconcile existing model-data discrepancies about Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation while explaining fundamental ocean features. PMID:23422667
Jenkins, P L; Sorensen, J A; Yoder, A; Myers, M; Murphy, D; Cook, G; Wright, F; Bayes, B; May, J J
2012-04-01
Tractor overturns contribute significantly to the number of work-related deaths that occur every year on U.S. farms. Although the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries have the highest fatality rates of any industries, researchers predict that the elimination of tractor overturn fatalities could result in a noticeable reduction in the farm fatality rate. Rollover protection structures (ROPS) are 99% effective in preventing overturn fatalities. However, roughly 50% of U.S. tractors do not have a ROPS. In order to identify prominent barriers and motivators to installing ROPS, a phone survey was conducted with a random sample of farmers (n = 327) in Vermont and Pennsylvania, two states interested in developing ROPS installation programs. Results indicated that cost and perceived need were the most frequently highly rated barriers to ROPS installation in both states, while working near hills or ditches and concerns regarding liability were the most frequently highly rated motivators for installing ROPS. Additionally, older farmers identified limited use of a tractor as a highly rated barrier.
Mid-Pliocene Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Not Unlike Modern
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Zhang, Z.-S.; Nisancioglu, K. H.; Chandler, M. A.; Haywood, A. M.; Otto-Bliesner, B. L.; Ramstein, G.; Stepanek, C.; Abe-Ouchi, A.; Chan, W. -L.; Sohl, L. E.
2013-01-01
In the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP), eight state-of-the-art coupled climate models have simulated the mid-Pliocene warm period (mPWP, 3.264 to 3.025 Ma). Here, we compare the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), northward ocean heat transport and ocean stratification simulated with these models. None of the models participating in PlioMIP simulates a strong mid-Pliocene AMOC as suggested by earlier proxy studies. Rather, there is no consistent increase in AMOC maximum among the PlioMIP models. The only consistent change in AMOC is a shoaling of the overturning cell in the Atlantic, and a reduced influence of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) at depth in the basin. Furthermore, the simulated mid-Pliocene Atlantic northward heat transport is similar to the pre-industrial. These simulations demonstrate that the reconstructed high-latitude mid-Pliocene warming can not be explained as a direct response to an intensification of AMOC and concomitant increase in northward ocean heat transport by the Atlantic.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tokano, Tetsuya; Lorenz, Ralph D.
2016-05-01
Density-driven circulation in Titan's seas forced by solar heating and methane evaporation/precipitation is simulated by an ocean circulation model. If the sea is transparent to sunlight, solar heating can induce anti-clockwise gyres near the sea surface and clockwise gyres near the sea bottom. The gyres are in geostrophic balance between the radially symmetric pressure gradient force and Coriolis force. If instead the sea is turbid and most sunlight is absorbed near the sea surface, the sea gets stratified in warm seasons and the circulation remains weak. Precipitation causes compositional stratification of the sea to an extent that the sea surface temperature can be lower than the sea interior temperature without causing a convective overturning. Non-uniform precipitation can also generate a latitudinal gradient in the methane mole fraction and density, which drives a meridional overturning with equatorward currents near the sea surface and poleward currents near the sea bottom. However, gyres are more ubiquitous than meridional overturning.
Catchment land use-dependent effects of barrage fishponds on the functioning of headwater streams.
Four, Brian; Arce, Evelyne; Danger, Michaël; Gaillard, Juliette; Thomas, Marielle; Banas, Damien
2017-02-01
Extensive fish production systems in continental areas are often created by damming headwater streams. However, these lentic systems favour autochthonous organic matter production. As headwater stream functioning is essentially based on allochthonous organic matter (OM) supply, the presence of barrage fishponds on headwater streams might change the main food source for benthic communities. The goal of this study was thus to identify the effects of barrage fishponds on the functioning of headwater streams. To this end, we compared leaf litter breakdown (a key ecosystem function in headwater streams), their associated invertebrate communities and fungal biomass at sites upstream and downstream of five barrage fishponds in two dominant land use systems (three in forested catchments and two in agricultural catchments). We observed significant structural and functional differences between headwater stream ecosystems in agricultural catchments and those in forested catchments. Leaf litter decay was more rapid in forest streams, with a moderate, but not significant, increase in breakdown rate downstream from the barrage fishponds. In agricultural catchments, the trend was opposite with a 2-fold lower leaf litter breakdown rate at downstream sites compared to upstream sites. Breakdown rates observed at all sites were closely correlated with fungal biomass and shredder biomass. No effect of barrage fishponds were observed in this study concerning invertebrate community structure or functional feeding groups especially in agricultural landscapes. In forest streams, we observed a decrease in organic pollution (OP)-intolerant taxa at downstream sites that was correlated with an increase in OP-tolerant taxa. These results highlighted that the influence of barrage fishponds on headwater stream functioning is complex and land use dependent. It is therefore necessary to clearly understand the various mechanisms (competition for food resources, complementarities between autochthonous and allochthonous OM) that control ecosystem functioning in different contexts in order to optimize barrage fishpond management.
Aflalo, T. N.
2011-01-01
How is the macaque monkey extrastriate cortex organized? Is vision divisible into separate tasks, such as object recognition and spatial processing, each emphasized in a different anatomical stream? If so, how many streams exist? What are the hierarchical relationships among areas? The present study approached the organization of the extrastriate cortex in a novel manner. A principled relationship exists between cortical function and cortical topography. Similar functions tend to be located near each other, within the constraints of mapping a highly dimensional space of functions onto the two-dimensional space of the cortex. We used this principle to re-examine the functional organization of the extrastriate cortex given current knowledge about its topographic organization. The goal of the study was to obtain a model of the functional relationships among the visual areas, including the number of functional streams into which they are grouped, the pattern of informational overlap among the streams, and the hierarchical relationships among areas. To test each functional description, we mapped it to a model cortex according to the principle of optimal continuity and assessed whether it accurately reconstructed a version of the extrastriate topography. Of the models tested, the one that best reconstructed the topography included four functional streams rather than two, six levels of hierarchy per stream, and a specific pattern of informational overlap among streams and areas. A specific mixture of functions was predicted for each visual area. This description matched findings in the physiological literature, and provided predictions of functional relationships that have yet to be tested physiologically. PMID:21068269
Holitzki, Tara M; MacKenzie, Richard A; Wiegner, Tracy N; McDermid, Karla J
2013-09-01
Poeciliids, one of the most invasive species worldwide, are found on almost every continent and have been identified as an "invasive species of concern" in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Despite their global prevalence, few studies have quantified their impacts on tropical stream ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity. Utilizing Hawaiian streams as model ecosystems, we documented how ecological structure, function, and native species abundance differed between poeciliid-free and poeciliid-invaded tropical streams. Stream nutrient yields, benthic biofilm biomass, densities of macroinvertebrates and fish, and community structures of benthic algae, macroinvertebrates, and fish were compared between streams with and without established poeciliid populations on the island of Hawai'i, Hawaii, USA. Sum nitrate (sigmaNO3(-) = NO3(-) + NO2(-)), total nitrogen, and total organic carbon yields were eight times, six times, and five times higher, respectively, in poeciliid streams than in poeciliid-free streams. Benthic biofilm ash-free dry mass was 1.5x higher in poeciliid streams than in poeciliid-free streams. Percentage contributions of chironomids and hydroptilid caddisflies to macroinvertebrate densities were lower in poeciliid streams compared to poeciliid-free streams, while percentage contributions of Cheumatopsyche analis caddisflies, Dugesia sp. flatworms, and oligochaetes were higher. Additionally, mean densities of native gobies were two times lower in poeciliid streams than in poeciliid-free ones, with poeciliid densities being approximately eight times higher than native fish densities. Our results, coupled with the wide distribution of invasive poeciliids across Hawaii and elsewhere in the tropics, suggest that poeciliids may negatively impact the ecosystem structure, function, and native species abundance of tropical streams they invade. This underscores the need for increased public awareness to prevent future introductions and for developing and implementing effective eradication and restoration strategies.
Wilhelm, Linda; Besemer, Katharina; Fragner, Lena; Peter, Hannes; Weckwerth, Wolfram; Battin, Tom J
2015-01-01
Resources structure ecological communities and potentially link biodiversity to energy flow. It is commonly believed that functional traits (generalists versus specialists) involved in the exploitation of resources depend on resource availability and environmental fluctuations. The longitudinal nature of stream ecosystems provides changing resources to stream biota with yet unknown effects on microbial functional traits and community structure. We investigated the impact of autochthonous (algal extract) and allochthonous (spruce extract) resources, as they change along alpine streams from above to below the treeline, on microbial diversity, community composition and functions of benthic biofilms. Combining bromodeoxyuridine labelling and 454 pyrosequencing, we showed that diversity was lower upstream than downstream of the treeline and that community composition changed along the altitudinal gradient. We also found that, especially for allochthonous resources, specialisation by biofilm bacteria increased along that same gradient. Our results suggest that in streams below the treeline biofilm diversity, specialisation and functioning are associated with increasing niche differentiation as potentially modulated by divers allochthonous and autochthonous constituents contributing to resources. These findings expand our current understanding on biofilm structure and function in alpine streams. PMID:25978543
A Function-Based Framework for Stream Assessment & Restoration Projects
This report lays out a framework for approaching stream assessment and restoration projects that focuses on understanding the suite of stream functions at a site in the context of what is happening in the watershed.
Sheth, Bhavin R; Young, Ryan
2016-01-01
Evidence is strong that the visual pathway is segregated into two distinct streams-ventral and dorsal. Two proposals theorize that the pathways are segregated in function: The ventral stream processes information about object identity, whereas the dorsal stream, according to one model, processes information about either object location, and according to another, is responsible in executing movements under visual control. The models are influential; however recent experimental evidence challenges them, e.g., the ventral stream is not solely responsible for object recognition; conversely, its function is not strictly limited to object vision; the dorsal stream is not responsible by itself for spatial vision or visuomotor control; conversely, its function extends beyond vision or visuomotor control. In their place, we suggest a robust dichotomy consisting of a ventral stream selectively sampling high-resolution/ focal spaces, and a dorsal stream sampling nearly all of space with reduced foveal bias. The proposal hews closely to the theme of embodied cognition: Function arises as a consequence of an extant sensory underpinning. A continuous, not sharp, segregation based on function emerges, and carries with it an undercurrent of an exploitation-exploration dichotomy. Under this interpretation, cells of the ventral stream, which individually have more punctate receptive fields that generally include the fovea or parafovea, provide detailed information about object shapes and features and lead to the systematic exploitation of said information; cells of the dorsal stream, which individually have large receptive fields, contribute to visuospatial perception, provide information about the presence/absence of salient objects and their locations for novel exploration and subsequent exploitation by the ventral stream or, under certain conditions, the dorsal stream. We leverage the dichotomy to unify neuropsychological cases under a common umbrella, account for the increased prevalence of multisensory integration in the dorsal stream under a Bayesian framework, predict conditions under which object recognition utilizes the ventral or dorsal stream, and explain why cells of the dorsal stream drive sensorimotor control and motion processing and have poorer feature selectivity. Finally, the model speculates on a dynamic interaction between the two streams that underscores a unified, seamless perception. Existing theories are subsumed under our proposal.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fisher, Karl B.
1995-08-01
The relation between the galaxy correlation functions in real-space and redshift-space is derived in the linear regime by an appropriate averaging of the joint probability distribution of density and velocity. The derivation recovers the familiar linear theory result on large scales but has the advantage of clearly revealing the dependence of the redshift distortions on the underlying peculiar velocity field; streaming motions give rise to distortions of θ(Ω0.6/b) while variations in the anisotropic velocity dispersion yield terms of order θ(Ω1.2/b2). This probabilistic derivation of the redshift-space correlation function is similar in spirit to the derivation of the commonly used "streaming" model, in which the distortions are given by a convolution of the real-space correlation function with a velocity distribution function. The streaming model is often used to model the redshift-space correlation function on small, highly nonlinear, scales. There have been claims in the literature, however, that the streaming model is not valid in the linear regime. Our analysis confirms this claim, but we show that the streaming model can be made consistent with linear theory provided that the model for the streaming has the functional form predicted by linear theory and that the velocity distribution is chosen to be a Gaussian with the correct linear theory dispersion.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Fedorov, Alexey
2013-11-23
The central goal of this research project is to understand the properties of the ocean meridional overturning circulation (MOC) – a topic critical for understanding climate variability and stability on a variety of timescales (from decadal to centennial and longer). Specifically, we have explored various factors that control the MOC stability and decadal variability in the Atlantic and the ocean thermal structure in general, including the possibility abrupt climate change. We have also continued efforts on improving the performance of coupled ocean-atmosphere GCMs.
Ontario appellate court overturns judgment for plaintiffs infected through tainted blood.
Elliott, Richard
2002-03-01
On 29 November 2001, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued a lengthy decision overturning a lower-court judgment in favour of three hemophiliacs infected with HIV in 1985 through contaminated blood-factor concentrate. The joint decision in the three cases of Robb, Rintoul, and Farrow is the latest decision in litigation dating back to 1992. The plaintiffs alleged negligence by the Canadian Red Cross Society and the Canadian government for delays in introducing heat-treated concentrate after the risks posed by unheated product were known.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
O'Connor, B. L.; Carr, A.; Patton, T.; Hamada, Y.
2011-12-01
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Energy are preparing a joint programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) assessing the potential impacts of utility-scale solar energy development on BLM-administered lands in six southwestern states. One of the alternatives considered in the PEIS involves development within identified solar energy zones (SEZs) that individually cover approximately 10 to 1,000 km2, located primarily in desert valleys of the Basin and Range physiographic region. Land-disturbing activities in these alluvium-filled valleys have the potential to adversely affect ephemeral streams with respect to their hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecologic functions. Regulation and management of ephemeral streams typically falls under the spectrum of federal, state, and local programs, but scientifically based guidelines for protecting ephemeral streams with respect to land-development activities are largely nonexistent. The PEIS analysis attempts to identify critical ephemeral streams by evaluating the integral functions of flood conveyance, sediment transport, groundwater recharge, and supporting ecological habitats. The initial approach to classifying critical ephemeral streams involved identifying large, erosional features using available flood hazards mapping, historical peak discharges, and aerial photographs. This approach identified ephemeral features not suitable for development (based primarily on the likelihood of damaging floods and debris flows) to address flood conveyance and sediment transport functions of ephemeral streams. Groundwater recharge and the maintenance of riparian vegetation and wildlife habitats are other functions of ephemeral streams. These functions are typically associated with headwater reaches rather than large-scale erosional features. Recognizing that integral functions of ephemeral streams occur over a range of spatial scales and are driven by varying climatic-hydrologic events, the PEIS analysis assesses ephemeral streams according to their position in the basin, stream order, and the recurrence intervals of runoff events in the basin. A key constraint on this approach is the lack of high-resolution hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological data for ephemeral streams in remote desert basins of the southwest United States. Consultation with stakeholders and management agencies is an additional component to assist with our analysis where data limitations exist. Results from these analyses identify critical ephemeral stream reaches to be avoided during development activities based on a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures. Long-term monitoring of these systems is needed to assess the avoidance criteria and to help advance development of the tools needed to help manage and protect the integral functions of ephemeral stream networks in arid environments.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
O'Connor, B. L.; Hamada, Y.; Bowen, E. E.; Wuthrich, K. K.; Grippo, M. A.
2013-12-01
Land development and associated disturbances in arid environments can adversely affect the ecological functionality of ephemeral stream channels. Land use managers have limited methodologies available for assessing low-impact development plans, or for monitoring changes in stream functionality as land use changes are implemented. The development of utility-scale solar energy facilities is underway in the southwestern United States. Federal and state agencies have developed plans to concentrate facilities in specific regions to minimize transmission limitations (e.g., the Bureau of Land Management's Solar Energy Zones cover 1,100 km2). However, multiple facility footprints in a single desert valley have the potential to drastically alter the natural pattern of ephemeral stream networks. This study focuses on quantifying the sensitivity of ephemeral streams with respect to land disturbance impacts on flow and sediment conveyance, groundwater recharge, and the loss of soil and vegetative habitats. An initial assessment used publicly-available geospatial data (typically 10- to 30-m resolution) on topography, surficial geology, and soil characteristics, as well as data on historical peak discharges and aerial photographs. These datasets were used to inform a professional judgment, score-based ranking of potential land disturbance impacts on the functionality of ephemeral streams. The results were limited to mapped stream channels in the National Hydrography Dataset, but suggested that hydrological and geomorphic impacts were a greater concern in valley piedmont regions, and that habitat concerns were greater in the valley regions where vegetation is sparsely distributed. Current efforts are focused on using a remote sensing approach to obtain high-resolution information on topography, soil, and vegetation in order to map detailed ephemeral stream networks, measure channel bathymetry characteristics, and use spectral indices of soil and vegetation to develop surrogate measures of stream ecological functionality. The initial results for a small watershed (110 km2) using stereoscopic, sub-meter resolution aerial images, detected an increase of more than 100% in identified ephemeral stream channels and habitat patterns were more spatially correlated with ephemeral stream networks than was observed for the initial assessment approach. The eventual goal of these efforts is to refine the methodology for quantifying the disturbance sensitivity of ephemeral streams, from professional judgment rankings to spectral indices of stream functionality, and to close the spatial gap between the need for large-scale assessments for land management planning and the small-scale analyses and data requirements for quantifying ephemeral stream functionality.
Sheth, Bhavin R.; Young, Ryan
2016-01-01
Evidence is strong that the visual pathway is segregated into two distinct streams—ventral and dorsal. Two proposals theorize that the pathways are segregated in function: The ventral stream processes information about object identity, whereas the dorsal stream, according to one model, processes information about either object location, and according to another, is responsible in executing movements under visual control. The models are influential; however recent experimental evidence challenges them, e.g., the ventral stream is not solely responsible for object recognition; conversely, its function is not strictly limited to object vision; the dorsal stream is not responsible by itself for spatial vision or visuomotor control; conversely, its function extends beyond vision or visuomotor control. In their place, we suggest a robust dichotomy consisting of a ventral stream selectively sampling high-resolution/focal spaces, and a dorsal stream sampling nearly all of space with reduced foveal bias. The proposal hews closely to the theme of embodied cognition: Function arises as a consequence of an extant sensory underpinning. A continuous, not sharp, segregation based on function emerges, and carries with it an undercurrent of an exploitation-exploration dichotomy. Under this interpretation, cells of the ventral stream, which individually have more punctate receptive fields that generally include the fovea or parafovea, provide detailed information about object shapes and features and lead to the systematic exploitation of said information; cells of the dorsal stream, which individually have large receptive fields, contribute to visuospatial perception, provide information about the presence/absence of salient objects and their locations for novel exploration and subsequent exploitation by the ventral stream or, under certain conditions, the dorsal stream. We leverage the dichotomy to unify neuropsychological cases under a common umbrella, account for the increased prevalence of multisensory integration in the dorsal stream under a Bayesian framework, predict conditions under which object recognition utilizes the ventral or dorsal stream, and explain why cells of the dorsal stream drive sensorimotor control and motion processing and have poorer feature selectivity. Finally, the model speculates on a dynamic interaction between the two streams that underscores a unified, seamless perception. Existing theories are subsumed under our proposal. PMID:27920670
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mcgill, George E.; Shrady, Catherine H.
1986-01-01
The Michipicoten Greenstone Belt extends for about 150 km ENE from the northeastern angle of Lake Superior. In common with many other Archean greenstone belts, it is characterized by generally steep bedding dips and a distribution of major lithologic types suggesting a crudely synclinal structure for the belt as a whole. Detailed mapping and determination of structural sequence demonstrates that the structure is much more complex. The Archean history of the belt includes formation of at least three regionally significant cleavages, kilometer-scale overturning, extensive shearing, and diabase intrusion. Most well defined, mappable 'packages' of sedimentary rocks appear to be bounded by faults. These faults were active relatively early in the structural history of the belt, when extensive overturning also occurred. Steepening of dips, NW-SE shortening, development of steep NE cleavage, and pervasive shearing all postdate the early faulting and the regional overturning, obscuring much of the detail needed to define the geometry of the earlier structures. The results obtained so far suggest, however, that the Michipicoten Greenstone Belt underwent an early stage of thrusting and associated isoclinal folding, probably in a convergent tectonic environment.
H. Li; X. Deng; Andy Dolloff; E. P. Smith
2015-01-01
A novel clustering method for bivariate functional data is proposed to group streams based on their waterâair temperature relationship. A distance measure is developed for bivariate curves by using a time-varying coefficient model and a weighting scheme. This distance is also adjusted by spatial correlation of streams via the variogram. Therefore, the proposed...
Jonathan P. Benstead; James G. March; Catherine M. Pringle; Katherine C. Ewel; John W. Short
2009-01-01
Pacific island stream communities are species-poor because of the effects of extreme geographic isolation on colonization rates of taxa common to continental regions. The effects of such low species richness on stream ecosystem function are not well understood. Here, we provide data on community structure and leaf litter breakdown rate in a virtually pristine stream on...
O'Connor, Ben L; Hamada, Yuki; Bowen, Esther E; Grippo, Mark A; Hartmann, Heidi M; Patton, Terri L; Van Lonkhuyzen, Robert A; Carr, Adrianne E
2014-11-01
Large areas of public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and located in arid regions of the southwestern United States are being considered for the development of utility-scale solar energy facilities. Land-disturbing activities in these desert, alluvium-filled valleys have the potential to adversely affect the hydrologic and ecologic functions of ephemeral streams. Regulation and management of ephemeral streams typically falls under a spectrum of federal, state, and local programs, but scientifically based guidelines for protecting ephemeral streams with respect to land-development activities are largely nonexistent. This study developed an assessment approach for quantifying the sensitivity to land disturbance of ephemeral stream reaches located in proposed solar energy zones (SEZs). The ephemeral stream assessment approach used publicly-available geospatial data on hydrology, topography, surficial geology, and soil characteristics, as well as high-resolution aerial imagery. These datasets were used to inform a professional judgment-based score index of potential land disturbance impacts on selected critical functions of ephemeral streams, including flow and sediment conveyance, ecological habitat value, and groundwater recharge. The total sensitivity scores (sum of scores for the critical stream functions of flow and sediment conveyance, ecological habitats, and groundwater recharge) were used to identify highly sensitive stream reaches to inform decisions on developable areas in SEZs. Total sensitivity scores typically reflected the scores of the individual stream functions; some exceptions pertain to groundwater recharge and ecological habitats. The primary limitations of this assessment approach were the lack of high-resolution identification of ephemeral stream channels in the existing National Hydrography Dataset, and the lack of mechanistic processes describing potential impacts on ephemeral stream functions at the watershed scale. The primary strength of this assessment approach is that it allows watershed-scale planning for low-impact development in arid ecosystems; the qualitative scoring of potential impacts can also be adjusted to accommodate new geospatial data, and to allow for expert and stakeholder input into decisions regarding the identification and potential avoidance of highly sensitive stream reaches.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
O’Connor, Ben L.; Hamada, Yuki; Bowen, Esther E.
2014-08-17
Large areas of public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and located in arid regions of the southwestern United States are being considered for the development of utility-scale solar energy facilities. Land-disturbing activities in these desert, alluvium-filled valleys have the potential to adversely affect the hydrologic and ecologic functions of ephemeral streams. Regulation and management of ephemeral streams typically falls under a spectrum of federal, state, and local programs, but scientifically based guidelines for protecting ephemeral streams with respect to land-development activities are largely nonexistent. This study developed an assessment approach for quantifying the sensitivity to land disturbancemore » of ephemeral stream reaches located in proposed solar energy zones (SEZs). The ephemeral stream assessment approach used publicly-available geospatial data on hydrology, topography, surficial geology, and soil characteristics, as well as highresolution aerial imagery. These datasets were used to inform a professional judgment-based score index of potential land disturbance impacts on selected critical functions of ephemeral streams, including flow and sediment conveyance, ecological habitat value, and groundwater recharge. The total sensitivity scores (sum of scores for the critical stream functions of flow and sediment conveyance, ecological habitats, and groundwater recharge) were used to identify highly sensitive stream reaches to inform decisions on developable areas in SEZs. Total sensitivity scores typically reflected the scores of the individual stream functions; some exceptions pertain to groundwater recharge and ecological habitats. The primary limitations of this assessment approach were the lack of high-resolution identification of ephemeral stream channels in the existing National Hydrography Dataset, and the lack of mechanistic processes describing potential impacts on ephemeral stream functions at the watershed scale.The primary strength of this assessment approach is that it allows watershed-scale planning for low-impact development in arid ecosystems; the qualitative scoring of potential impacts can also be adjusted to accommodate new geospatial data, and to allow for expert and stakeholder input into decisions regarding the identification and potential avoidance of highly sensitive stream reaches.« less
Rudebeck, Peter H; Murray, Elisabeth A
2014-12-17
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has long been associated with the flexible control of behavior and concepts such as behavioral inhibition, self-control, and emotional regulation. These ideas emphasize the suppression of behaviors and emotions, but OFC's affirmative functions have remained enigmatic. Here we review recent work that has advanced our understanding of this prefrontal area and how its functions are shaped through interaction with subcortical structures such as the amygdala. Recent findings have overturned theories emphasizing behavioral inhibition as OFC's fundamental function. Instead, new findings indicate that OFC provides predictions about specific outcomes associated with stimuli, choices, and actions, especially their moment-to-moment value based on current internal states. OFC function thereby encompasses a broad representation or model of an individual's sensory milieu and potential actions, along with their relationship to likely behavioral outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
To Stimulate or Inhibit? That Is the Question for the Function of Abscisic Acid.
Humplík, Jan F; Bergougnoux, Véronique; Van Volkenburgh, Elizabeth
2017-10-01
Physiologically, abscisic acid (ABA) is believed to be a general inhibitor of plant growth, including during the crucial early development of seedlings. However, this view contradicts many reports of stimulatory effects of ABA that, so far, have not been considered in the debate concerning ABA's function in plant development. To address this apparent contradiction, we propose a hypothetical mechanism to explain how ABA might contribute to the promotion of cell expansion. We wish to overturn conventional views on ABA's role during juvenile plant development and put forward the idea that, as for other phytohormones, the role of ABA is determined by dose and sensitivity and ranges from stimulatory to inhibitory effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean; Adkins, Jess F; Curry, William B; Dokken, Trond; Hall, Ian R; Herguera, Juan Carlos; Hirschi, Joël J-M; Ivanova, Elena V; Kissel, Catherine; Marchal, Olivier; Marchitto, Thomas M; McCave, I Nicholas; McManus, Jerry F; Mulitza, Stefan; Ninnemann, Ulysses; Peeters, Frank; Yu, Ein-Fen; Zahn, Rainer
2007-04-06
The circulation of the deep Atlantic Ocean during the height of the last ice age appears to have been quite different from today. We review observations implying that Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum was neither extremely sluggish nor an enhanced version of present-day circulation. The distribution of the decay products of uranium in sediments is consistent with a residence time for deep waters in the Atlantic only slightly greater than today. However, evidence from multiple water-mass tracers supports a different distribution of deep-water properties, including density, which is dynamically linked to circulation.
Convective instability within the Tibetan Lithospheric Mantle (Invited)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Houseman, G. A.; Molnar, P. H.; Evans, L.; England, P. C.
2013-12-01
Studies of seismic surface waves in Asia show that shear-wave speeds at depths of ~120-250km beneath the Tibetan Plateau are higher than is generally observed for continents, other than beneath Archaean cratons. The high-speed layer has been interpreted as continental lithosphere that was thickened during the convergence between India and Asia. This interpretation contradicts conceptual models in which gravitational instabilities remove a significant fraction of the mantle lithosphere beneath Tibet during that convergence. In contrast, the suggestion of relatively recent (post-early-Miocene) surface uplift of the Plateau, inferred from the onset of normal faulting across the plateau, synchronous increased rates of compressional deformation in the surroundings of the the plateau, and widespread volcanism in the northern part of the plateau, implies action of a mechanism that increased the gravitational potential energy of, and temperatures within, the Tibetan lithosphere in a way that would not occur if the mantle lithosphere had simply thickened continually throughout the India-Asia convergence. A resolution to this paradox is suggested by the observation that, while shear-wave speeds are indeed high at depths of 120-250 km beneath the Tibetan plateau, they are anomalously low at shallower depths, implying a temperature inversion that is hard to reconcile with uninterrupted lithospheric thickening. We suggest that the ensemble of observations may be explained by the convective overturn of a lithospheric root that is depleted in iron such that it remains buoyant with respect to normal upper mantle. The increased rate of strain within the Tibetan lithosphere once convergence began reduced its effective viscosity, and continuing convergence thickened the lithospheric root. These conditions led to convective overturn, similar to the original conceptual models, with the difference that the overturn was confined within the root, which remains buoyant with respect to the deeper upper mantle. The intrinsic density difference between the root and underlying asthenosphere need only be as large as the density difference due to ~600 K temperature contrast (i.e., ~ 60 kg/m^3) in order that the lithospheric layer remains in place during convective overturn. Such an overturn can occur on a short geological time scale (~ 10 Myr), with the wavelength of the convective flow field likely to be a small multiple of the ~130 km thickness of the depleted lithospheric layer. The horizontal variations of density and temperature implied by this process would not be detectable using typical surface wave analyses, which lack the necessary horizontal resolution at such depths, but may be detectable using body wave tomography given a sufficiently dense ray coverage from a large aperture surface array. Internal convective overturn is a process that can explain the horizontally averaged depth variation of velocity and an abrupt but delayed heating event at the base of the crust.
Robert M. Northington; Jackson R. Webster
2017-01-01
SummaryForested headwater streams are connected to their surrounding catchments by a reliance on terrestrial subsidies. Changes in precipitation patterns and stream flow represent a potential disruption in stream ecosystem function, as the delivery of terrestrial detritus to aquatic consumers and...
Hydrogeologic controls on summer stream temperatures in the McKenzie River basin, Oregon
Christina Tague; Michael Farrell; Gordon Grant; Sarah Lewis; Serge Rey
2007-01-01
Stream temperature is a complex function of energy inputs including solar radiation and latent and sensible heat transfer. In streams where groundwater inputs are significant, energy input through advection can also be an important control on stream temperature. For an individual stream reach, models of stream temperature can take advantage of direct measurement or...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gulis, V.; Ferreira, V. J.; Graca, M. A.
2005-05-01
Traditional approaches to assess stream ecosystem health rely on structural parameters, e.g. a variety of biotic indices. The goal of the Europe-wide RivFunction project is to develop methodology that uses functional parameters (e.g. plant litter decomposition) to this end. Here we report on decomposition experiments carried out in Portugal in five pairs of streams that differed in dissolved inorganic nutrients. On average, decomposition rates of alder and oak leaves were 2.8 and 1.4 times higher in high nutrient streams in coarse and fine mesh bags, respectively, than in corresponding reference streams. Breakdown rate correlated better with stream water SRP concentration rather than TIN. Fungal biomass and sporulation rates of aquatic hyphomycetes associated with decomposing leaves were stimulated by higher nutrient levels. Both fungal parameters measured at very early stages of decomposition (e.g. days 7-13) correlated well with overall decomposition rates. Eutrophication had no significant effect on shredder abundances in leaf bags but species richness was higher in disturbed streams. Decomposition is a key functional parameter in streams integrating many other variables and can be useful in assessing stream ecosystem health. We also argue that because decomposition is often controlled by fungal activity, microbial parameters can also be useful in bioassessment.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Odier, Philippe; Ecke, Robert E.
Stratified shear flows occur in many geophysical contexts, from oceanic overflows and river estuaries to wind-driven thermocline layers. In this study, we explore a turbulent wall-bounded shear flow of lighter miscible fluid into a quiescent fluid of higher density with a range of Richardson numbersmore » $$0.05\\lesssim Ri\\lesssim 1$$. In order to find a stability parameter that allows close comparison with linear theory and with idealized experiments and numerics, we investigate different definitions of$Ri$$. We find that a gradient Richardson number defined on fluid interface sections where there is no overturning at or adjacent to the maximum density gradient position provides an excellent stability parameter, which captures the Miles–Howard linear stability criterion. For small $$Ri$$ the flow exhibits robust Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, whereas for larger $$Ri$$ interfacial overturning is more intermittent with less frequent Kelvin–Helmholtz events and emerging Holmboe wave instability consistent with a thicker velocity layer compared with the density layer. We compute the perturbed fraction of interface as a quantitative measure of the flow intermittency, which is approximately 1 for the smallest $$Ri$$ but decreases rapidly as $$Ri$ increases, consistent with linear theory. For the perturbed regions, we use the Thorpe scale to characterize the overturning properties of these flows. The probability distribution of the non-zero Thorpe length yields a universal exponential form, suggesting that much of the overturning results from increasingly intermittent Kelvin–Helmholtz instability events. Finally, the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy, conditioned on the intermittency fraction, has a similar form, suggesting an explanation for the universal scaling collapse of the Thorpe length distribution.« less
Odier, Philippe; Ecke, Robert E.
2017-02-21
Stratified shear flows occur in many geophysical contexts, from oceanic overflows and river estuaries to wind-driven thermocline layers. In this study, we explore a turbulent wall-bounded shear flow of lighter miscible fluid into a quiescent fluid of higher density with a range of Richardson numbersmore » $$0.05\\lesssim Ri\\lesssim 1$$. In order to find a stability parameter that allows close comparison with linear theory and with idealized experiments and numerics, we investigate different definitions of$Ri$$. We find that a gradient Richardson number defined on fluid interface sections where there is no overturning at or adjacent to the maximum density gradient position provides an excellent stability parameter, which captures the Miles–Howard linear stability criterion. For small $$Ri$$ the flow exhibits robust Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, whereas for larger $$Ri$$ interfacial overturning is more intermittent with less frequent Kelvin–Helmholtz events and emerging Holmboe wave instability consistent with a thicker velocity layer compared with the density layer. We compute the perturbed fraction of interface as a quantitative measure of the flow intermittency, which is approximately 1 for the smallest $$Ri$$ but decreases rapidly as $$Ri$ increases, consistent with linear theory. For the perturbed regions, we use the Thorpe scale to characterize the overturning properties of these flows. The probability distribution of the non-zero Thorpe length yields a universal exponential form, suggesting that much of the overturning results from increasingly intermittent Kelvin–Helmholtz instability events. Finally, the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy, conditioned on the intermittency fraction, has a similar form, suggesting an explanation for the universal scaling collapse of the Thorpe length distribution.« less
Surface Salinity Variability in the North Atlantic During Recent Decades
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Haekkinen, Sirpa
2001-01-01
The sea surface salinity (SSS) variability in the North Atlantic is investigated using numerical model simulations for the last 50 years based on atmospheric forcing variability from Comprehensive Atmosphere Ocean Data Set (COADS) and National Center for Environmental Prediction / National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis. The largest interannual and longer term variability occurs in two regions: the Labrador Sea and the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) region. In both regions the seasonality of the surface salinity variability is prominent with the maximum standard deviation occurring in the summer/fall period. In the Labrador Sea the summer SSS anomalies far exceed those of wintertime in amplitude. The interannual SSS variability in the subpolar gyre can be attributed to two factors: excess ice melt and heat flux (i.e. deep mixing) variations. On the other hand, heat flux variability can also lead to meridional overturning changes on decadal time scales such that weak overturning is manifested in fresh surface conditions in the subpolar gyre. The overturning changes also influence the NECC region SSS variability. Moreover, the subpolar freshening events are expected to occur during the negative phase of North Atlantic Oscillation which is associated with a weak wintertime surface heat loss in the subpolar gyre. No excess sea ice melt or precipitation is necessary for the formation of the fresh anomalies, because with the lack of wide-spread deep mixing, the fresh water that would be expected based on climatology, would accumulate at the surface. Thus, the fresh water 'conveyor' in the Atlantic operates via the overturning circulation such that deep mixing inserts fresh water while removing heat from the water column.
Meridional Transect of Atlantic Overturning Circulation across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Goldstein, S. L.; Pena, L. D.; Seguí, M. J.; Kim, J.; Yehudai, M.; Farmer, J. R.; Ford, H. L.; Haynes, L.; Hoenisch, B.; Raymo, M. E.; Ferretti, P.; Bickert, T.
2016-12-01
The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) marked a major transition in glacial-interglacial periodicity from dominantly 41 kyr to 100 kyr cycles between 1.3-0.7 Ma. From Nd isotope records in the South Atlantic, Pena and Goldstein (Science, 2014) concluded that the Atlantic overturning circulation circulation experienced major weakening between 950-850 ka (MIS 25-21), which generated the climatic conditions that intensified cold periods, prolonged their duration, and stabilized 100 kyr cycles. Such weakening would provide a mechanism for decreased atmospheric CO2 (Hönisch et al., Science, 2009) by allowing for additional atmospheric CO2 to be stored in the deep ocean. We present a summary of work in-progress to generate two dimensional representations of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, from the north Atlantic to the Southern Ocean, at different time slices over the past 2Ma, including the MPT, based on Nd isotope ratios measured on Fe-Mn-oxide encrusted foraminifera and fish debris. Thus far we are analyzing samples from DSDP/ODP Sites 607, 1063 from the North Atlantic, 926 from the Equatorial Atlantic, 1264, 1267, 1088, 1090 in the South Atlantic, and 1094 from the Southern Ocean. Our data generated thus far support important changes in the overturning circulation during the MPT, and greater glacial-interglacial variability in the 100 kyr world compared with the 40 kyr world. In addition, the data indicate a North Atlantic-sourced origin for the ocean circulation disruption during the MPT. Comparison with ɛNd records in different ocean basins and with benthic foraminiferal δ13C and B/Ca ratios will also allow us to understand the links between deep ocean circulation changes and the global carbon cycle.
The Southern Ocean's role in ocean circulation and climate transients
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Thompson, A. F.; Stewart, A.; Hines, S.; Adkins, J. F.
2017-12-01
The ventilation of deep and intermediate density classes at the surface of the Southern Ocean impacts water mass modification and the air-sea exchange of heat and trace gases, which in turn influences the global overturning circulation and Earth's climate. Zonal variability occurs along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Antarctic margins related to flow-topography interactions, variations in surface boundary conditions, and exchange with northern basins. Information about these zonal variations, and their impact on mass and tracer transport, are suppressed when the overturning is depicted as a two-dimensional (depth-latitude) streamfunction. Here we present an idealized, multi-basin, time-dependent circulation model that applies residual circulation theory in the Southern Ocean and allows for zonal water mass transfer between different ocean basins. This model efficiently determines the temporal evolution of the ocean's stratification, ventilation and overturning strength in response to perturbations in the external forcing. With this model we explore the dynamics that lead to transitions in the circulation structure between multiple, isolated cells and a three-dimensional, "figure-of-eight," circulation in which traditional upper and lower cells are interleaved. The transient model is also used to support a mechanistic explanation of the hemispheric asymmetry and phase lag associated with Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events during the last glacial period. In particular, the 200 year lag in southern hemisphere temperatures, following a perturbation in North Atlantic deep water formation, depends critically on the migration of Southern Ocean isopycnal outcropping in response to low-latitude stratification changes. Our results provide a self-consistent dynamical framework to explain various ocean overturning transitions that have occurred over the Earth's last 100,000 years, and motivate an exploration of these mechanisms in more sophisticated climate models.
Wind-driven variations in an overturning circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bringedal, Carina; Eldevik, Tor; Spall, Michael
2017-04-01
The Atlantic overturning circulation and poleward heat transport is balanced by northern heat loss to the atmosphere and corresponding water mass transformation. The structure of this circulation and transformation is particularly manifested - and observed - at the Greenland-Scotland ridge. There is however a rich variability in the exchanges across the ridge on seasonal and yearly time scales. This variability has been almost perfectly captured in atmospherically forced ocean GCMs (e.g. Olsen et al 2008, Sandø et al 2012), suggesting that on shorter time scales the variability of the exchanges are connected to sea level pressure and corresponding wind stress forcing. Focusing on seasonal and yearly time scales, we accordingly propose that the connection between the exchanges of overturning waters across the Greenland-Scotland ridge and the sea level pressure must be direct and simple, and we use idealized simulations to support this hypothesis. The mechanisms underlying the connection are formulated through conceptual models. Although the models and simulations are simplified with respect to bathymetry and hydrography, they can reproduce the main features of the overturning circulation in the Nordic seas. In the observations, the variable exchanges can largely be related to sea level pressure variations and large scale wind patterns, and the idealized simulations and accompanying conceptual models show how these impacts can manifest via coastal downwelling and gyre circulation. S. M. Olsen, B. Hansen, D. Quadfasel and S. Østerhus, Observed and modelled stability of overflow across the Greenland-Scotland ridge, Nature 455, (2008) A. B. Sandø, J. E. Ø. Nilsen, T. Eldevik and M. Bentsen, Mechanisms for variable North Atlantic-Nordic seas exchanges, Journal of Geophysical Research 117, (2012)
Goeller, Brandon C; Febria, Catherine M; Harding, Jon S; McIntosh, Angus R
2016-05-01
Around the world, artificially drained agricultural lands are significant sources of reactive nitrogen to stream ecosystems, creating substantial stream health problems. One management strategy is the deployment of denitrification enhancement tools. Here, we evaluate the factors affecting the potential of denitrifying bioreactors to improve stream health and ecosystem services. The performance of bioreactors and the structure and functioning of stream biotic communities are linked by environmental parameters like dissolved oxygen and nitrate-nitrogen concentrations, dissolved organic carbon availability, flow and temperature regimes, and fine sediment accumulations. However, evidence of bioreactors' ability to improve waterway health and ecosystem services is lacking. To improve the potential of bioreactors to enhance desirable stream ecosystem functioning, future assessments of field-scale bioreactors should evaluate the influences of bioreactor performance on ecological indicators such as primary production, organic matter processing, stream metabolism, and invertebrate and fish assemblage structure and function. These stream health impact assessments should be conducted at ecologically relevant spatial and temporal scales. Bioreactors have great potential to make significant contributions to improving water quality, stream health, and ecosystem services if they are tailored to site-specific conditions and implemented strategically with land-based and stream-based mitigation tools within watersheds. This will involve combining economic, logistical, and ecological information in their implementation. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.
The effect of the solar field reversal on the modulation of galactic cosmic rays
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Thomas, B. T.; Goldstein, B. E.
1983-01-01
There is now a growing awareness that solar cycle related changes in the large-scale structure of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) may play an important role in the modulation of galactic cosmic rays. To date, attention focussed on two aspects of the magnetic field structure: large scale compression regions produced by fast solar wind streams and solar flares, both of which are known to vary in intensity and number over the solar cycle, and the variable warp of the heliospheric current sheet. It is suggested that another feature of the solar cycle is worthy of consideration: the field reversal itself. If the Sun reverses its polarity by simply overturning the heliospheric current sheet (northern fields migrating southward and vice-versa) then there may well be an effect on cosmic ray intensity. However, such a simple picture of solar reversal seems improbable. Observations of the solar corona suggest the existence of not one but several current sheets in the heliosphere at solar maximum. The results of a simple calculation to demonstrate that the variation in cosmic ray intensities that will result can be as large as is actually observed over the solar cycle are given.
Environmental controls of wood entrapment in upper Midwestern streams
Merten, Eric C.; Finlay, Jacques; Johnson, Lucinda; Newman, Raymond; Stefan, Heinz; Vondracek, Bruce C.
2011-01-01
Wood deposited in streams provides a wide variety of ecosystem functions, including enhancing habitat for key species in stream food webs, increasing geomorphic and hydraulic heterogeneity and retaining organic matter. Given the strong role that wood plays in streams, factors that influence wood inputs, retention and transport are critical to stream ecology. Wood entrapment, the process of wood coming to rest after being swept downstream at least 10 m, is poorly understood, yet important for predicting stream function and success of restoration efforts. Data on entrapment were collected for a wide range of natural wood pieces (n = 344), stream geomorphology and hydraulic conditions in nine streams along the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. Locations of pieces were determined in summer 2007 and again following an overbank stormflow event in fall 2007. The ratio of piece length to effective stream width (length ratio) and the weight of the piece were important in a multiple logistic regression model that explained 25% of the variance in wood entrapment. Entrapment remains difficult to predict in natural streams, and often may simply occur wherever wood pieces are located when high water recedes. However, this study can inform stream modifications to discourage entrapment at road crossings or other infrastructure by applying the model formula to estimate the effective width required to pass particular wood pieces. Conversely, these results could also be used to determine conditions (e.g. pre-existing large, stable pieces) that encourage entrapment where wood is valued for ecological functions.
Upper Ocean Circulation in the Glacial Northeast Atlantic during Heinrich Stadials Ice-Sheet Retreat
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Toucanne, S.; Soulet, G.; Bosq, M.; Marjolaine, S.; Zaragosi, S.; Bourillet, J. F.; Bayon, G.
2016-12-01
Intermediate ocean water variability is involved in climate changes over geological timescales. As a prominent example, changes in North Atlantic subsurface water properties (including warming) during Heinrich Stadials may have triggered the so-called Heinrich events through ice-shelf loss and attendant ice-stream acceleration. While the origin of Heinrich Stadials and subsequent iceberg calving remains controversial, paleoceanographic research efforts mainly focus on the deep Atlantic overturning, leaving the upper ocean largely unexplored. To further evaluate variability in upper ocean circulation and its possible relationship with ice-sheet instabilities, a depth-transect of eight cores (BOBGEO and GITAN-TANDEM cruises) from the Northeast Atlantic (down to 2 km water depth) have been used to investigate kinematic and chemical changes in the upper ocean during the last glacial period. Our results reveal that near-bottom flow speeds (reconstructed by using sortable silt mean grain-size and X-ray fluorescence core-scanner Zr/Rb ratio) and water-masses chemistry (carbon and neodymium isotopes performed on foraminifera) substantially changed in phase with the millennial-scale climate changes recognized in the ice-core records. Our results are compared with paleoceanographic reconstructions of the 'Western Boundary Undercurrent' in order to discuss regional hydrographic differences at both sides of the North Atlantic, as well as with the fluctuations of both the marine- (through ice-rafted debris) and terrestrial-terminating ice-streams (through meltwater discharges) of the circum-Atlantic ice-sheets. Particular attention will be given to the Heinrich Stadials and concomitant Channel River meltwater discharges into the Northeast Atlantic in response to the melting of the European Ice-Sheet. This comparison helps to disentangle the cryosphere-ocean interactions throughout the last ice age, and the sequence of events occurring in the course of the Heinrich Stadials.
Ice dynamics of Heinrich events: Insights and implications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alley, R. B.; Parizek, B. R.; Anandakrishnan, S.
2017-12-01
Physical understanding of ice flow provides important constraints on Heinrich (H) events, which in turn provide lessons for ice dynamics and future sea-level change. Iceberg-rafted debris (IRD), the defining feature of H events, is a complex indicator; however, in cold climates with extensive marine-ending ice, increased IRD flux records ice-shelf loss. Ice shelves fed primarily by inflow from grounded ice experience net basal melting, giving sub-ice-sedimentation rather than open-ocean IRD. Ice-shelf loss has been observed recently in response to atmospheric warming increasing surface meltwater that wedged open crevasses (Larsen B), but also by break-off following thinning from warming of waters reaching the grounding line (Jakobshavn). The H events consistently occurred during cold times resulting from reduced North Atlantic overturning circulation ("conveyor"), but as argued by Marcott et al. (PNAS 2011), this was accompanied by delayed warming at grounding-line depths of the Hudson Strait ice stream, the source of the Heinrich layers, implicating oceanic control. As shown in a rich literature, additional considerations involving thermal state of the ice-stream bed, isostasy and probably other processes influenced why some reduced-conveyor events triggered H-events while others did not. Ice shelves, including the inferred Hudson Strait ice shelf, typically exist in high-salinity, cold waters produced by brine rejection from sea-ice formation, which are the coldest abundant waters in the world ocean. Thus, almost any change in air or ocean temperature, winds or currents can remove ice shelves, because "replacement" water masses are typically warmer. And, because ice shelves almost invariably slow flow of non-floating ice into the ocean, climatic perturbations to regions with ice shelves typically lead to sea-level rise, with important implications.
Anatomy of Heinrich Layer 1 and its role in the last deglaciation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hodell, David A.; Nicholl, Joseph A.; Bontognali, Tomaso R. R.; Danino, Steffan; Dorador, Javier; Dowdeswell, Julian A.; Einsle, Joshua; Kuhlmann, Holger; Martrat, Belen; Mleneck-Vautravers, Maryline J.; Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco Javier; Röhl, Ursula
2017-03-01
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning and X-ray computed tomography data were measured every 1 mm to study the structure of Heinrich Event 1 during the last deglaciation at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1308. Heinrich Layer 1 comprises two distinct layers of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), which are rich in detrital carbonate (DC) and poor in foraminifera. Each DC layer consists of poorly sorted, coarse-grained clasts of IRD embedded in a dense, fine-grained matrix of glacial rock flour that is partially cemented. The radiocarbon ages of foraminifera at the base of the two layers indicate a difference of 1400 14C years, suggesting that they are two distinct events, but the calendar ages depend upon assumptions made for surface reservoir ages. The double peak indicates at least two distinct stages of discharge of the ice streams that drained the Laurentide Ice Sheet through Hudson Strait during HE1 or, alternatively, the discharge of two independent ice streams containing detrital carbonate. Heinrich Event 1.1 was the larger of the two events and began at 16.2 ka (15.5-17.1 ka) when the polar North Atlantic was already cold and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) weakened. The younger peak (H1.2) at 15.1 ka (14.3 to 15.9 ka) was a weaker event than H1.1 that was accompanied by minor cooling. Our results support a complex history for Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) with reduction in AMOC during the early part ( 20-16.2 ka) possibly driven by melting of European ice sheets, whereas the Laurentide Ice Sheet assumed a greater role during the latter half ( 16.2-14.7 ka).
Stream Assessment and Mitigation Protocols: A Review of Commonalities and Differences
Various stream assessment and stream mitigation protocols in use by federal and state agencies nationwide were compiled and evaluated to determine the degree to which they presented unique, comprehensive procedures to assess stream and riparian functions.
Leaf litter breakdown, microbial respiration and shredder production in metal-polluted streams
Carlisle, D.M.; Clements, W.H.
2005-01-01
1. If species disproportionately influence ecosystem functioning and also differ in their sensitivities to environmental conditions, the selective removal of species by anthropogenic stressors may lead to strong effects on ecosystem processes. We evaluated whether these circumstances held for several Colorado, U.S.A. streams stressed by Zn. 2. Benthic invertebrates and chemistry were sampled in five second-third order streams for 1 year. Study streams differed in dissolved metal concentrations, but were otherwise similar in chemical and physical characteristics. Secondary production of leaf-shredding insects was estimated using the increment summation and size-frequency methods. Leaf litter breakdown rates were estimated by retrieving litter-bags over a 171 day period. Microbial activity on leaf litter was measured in the laboratory using changes in oxygen concentration over a 48 h incubation period. 3. Dissolved Zn concentrations varied eightfold among two reference and three polluted streams. Total secondary production of shredders was negatively associated with metal contamination. Secondary production in reference streams was dominated by Taenionema pallidum. Results of previous studies and the current investigation demonstrate that this shredder is highly sensitive to metals in Colorado headwater streams. Leaf litter breakdown rates were similar between reference streams and declined significantly in the polluted streams. Microbial respiration at the most contaminated site was significantly lower than at reference sites. 4. Our results supported the hypothesis that some shredder species contribute disproportionately to leaf litter breakdown. Furthermore, the functionally dominant taxon was also the most sensitive to metal contamination. We conclude that leaf litter breakdown in our study streams lacked functional redundancy and was therefore highly sensitive to contaminant-induced alterations in community structure. We argue for the necessity of simultaneously measuring community structure and ecosystem function in anthropogenically stressed ecosystems.
Columnar Segregation of Magnocellular and Parvocellular Streams in Human Extrastriate Cortex
2017-01-01
Magnocellular versus parvocellular (M-P) streams are fundamental to the organization of macaque visual cortex. Segregated, paired M-P streams extend from retina through LGN into V1. The M stream extends further into area V5/MT, and parts of V2. However, elsewhere in visual cortex, it remains unclear whether M-P-derived information (1) becomes intermixed or (2) remains segregated in M-P-dominated columns and neurons. Here we tested whether M-P streams exist in extrastriate cortical columns, in 8 human subjects (4 female). We acquired high-resolution fMRI at high field (7T), testing for M- and P-influenced columns within each of four cortical areas (V2, V3, V3A, and V4), based on known functional distinctions in M-P streams in macaque: (1) color versus luminance, (2) binocular disparity, (3) luminance contrast sensitivity, (4) peak spatial frequency, and (5) color/spatial interactions. Additional measurements of resting state activity (eyes closed) tested for segregated functional connections between these columns. We found M- and P-like functions and connections within and between segregated cortical columns in V2, V3, and (in most experiments) area V4. Area V3A was dominated by the M stream, without significant influence from the P stream. These results suggest that M-P streams exist, and extend through, specific columns in early/middle stages of human extrastriate cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The magnocellular and parvocellular (M-P) streams are fundamental components of primate visual cortical organization. These streams segregate both anatomical and functional properties in parallel, from retina through primary visual cortex. However, in most higher-order cortical sites, it is unknown whether such M-P streams exist and/or what form those streams would take. Moreover, it is unknown whether M-P streams exist in human cortex. Here, fMRI evidence measured at high field (7T) and high resolution revealed segregated M-P streams in four areas of human extrastriate cortex. These results suggest that M-P information is processed in segregated parallel channels throughout much of human visual cortex; the M-P streams are more than a convenient sorting property in earlier stages of the visual system. PMID:28724749
B.G. Lockaby; R.H. Jones; R.G. Clawson; J.S. Meadows; John A. Stanturf; F.C. Thornton
1997-01-01
The influence of both aerial and ground-based harvesting on functions of forested floodplains of low-order streams was studied during a two-year period. The study sites were associated with low-order, blackwater streams with infertile and primarily organic soils. Responses to harvesting were assessed in relation to water quality, denitrification, hydrology,...
Mountaintop removal and valley filling is a method of coal mining that buries Central Appalachian headwater streams. A 2007 federal court ruling highlighted the need for measurement of both ecosystem structure and function when assessing streams for mitigaton. Rapid functional as...
Headwater streams represent the majority of U.S. stream miles. As a consequence of being abundant and widespread, the alteration and loss of headwater streams may have impacts on downstream waterbodies. These streams are frequently the subject of proposed dredge and fill projects...
Bingham, Dennis N.; Wilding, Bruce M.; McKellar, Michael G.
2002-01-01
A process for the separation and liquefaction of component gasses from a pressurized mix gas stream is disclosed. The process involves cooling the pressurized mixed gas stream in a heat exchanger so as to condensing one or more of the gas components having the highest condensation point; separating the condensed components from the remaining mixed gas stream in a gas-liquid separator; cooling the separated condensed component stream by passing it through an expander; and passing the cooled component stream back through the heat exchanger such that the cooled component stream functions as the refrigerant for the heat exchanger. The cycle is then repeated for the remaining mixed gas stream so as to draw off the next component gas and further cool the remaining mixed gas stream. The process continues until all of the component gases are separated from the desired gas stream. The final gas stream is then passed through a final heat exchanger and expander. The expander decreases the pressure on the gas stream, thereby cooling the stream and causing a portion of the gas stream to liquify within a tank. The portion of the gas which is hot liquefied is passed back through each of the heat exchanges where it functions as a refrigerant.
Bingham, Dennis N.; Wilding, Bruce M.; McKellar, Michael G.
2000-01-01
A process for the separation and liquefaction of component gasses from a pressurized mix gas stream is disclosed. The process involves cooling the pressurized mixed gas stream in a heat exchanger so as to condense one or more of the gas components having the highest condensation point; separating the condensed components from the remaining mixed gas stream in a gas-liquid separator; cooling the separated condensed component stream by passing it through an expander; and passing the cooled component stream back through the heat exchanger such that the cooled component stream functions as the refrigerant for the heat exchanger. The cycle is then repeated for the remaining mixed gas stream so as to draw off the next component gas and further cool the remaining mixed gas stream. The process continues until all of the component gases are separated from the desired gas stream. The final gas stream is then passed through a final heat exchanger and expander. The expander decreases the pressure on the gas stream, thereby cooling the stream and causing a portion of the gas stream to liquify within a tank. The portion of the gas which is not liquefied is passed back through each of the heat exchanges where it functions as a refrigerant.
Horizontal convection with mechanical stirring
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Griffiths, Ross; Stewart, Kial; Hughes, Graham
2012-11-01
The effects of turbulent mixing on convective circulation forced by a horizontal gradient of buoyancy at the surface is examined using laboratory experiments in which a salt flux is introduced at the surface, at one end of a box, and a freshwater buoyancy condition is applied over the rest of the surface. Horizontal rods are oscillated and yo-yoed continuously through the water column, providing a diffusivity that can be calibrated. The convection reaches a stationary state having zero net salt flux. We find that for small stirring rates the small but finite volume flux from the dense source is significant and a virtual source correction is required to take this into account. The density stratification and overturning volume transport are consistent with a theoretical model for high Rayleigh numbers: the transport ψ increases with diffusivity κ (ψg ~ gκ 1 / 4) . The results show that vertical mixing in the boundary layer is important, particularly in setting the density of the interior and the overturning rate. However, interior mixing is unimportant, which raises an interesting question over whether abyssal mixing rates in the ocean play any significant role in setting the abyssal ocean density or the transport in the Meridional Overturning Circulation.
Atlantic freshwater balance in the hysteresis of the meridional overturning circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gregory, J. M.; Saenko, O. A.
2003-04-01
We have studied the hysteresis behaviour of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMO) in the UVic climate model, which comprises an ocean GCM coupled to an energy-moisture balance atmosphere model and a dynamic-thermodynamic sea ice model, all with a resolution of 3.6x1.8 degrees. As with some other models, we find that a slowly increasing freshwater flux applied to the north Atlantic causes the AMO to collapse rapidly when it passes a threshold, and that it returns equally quickly when the freshwater forcing falls below a negative freshwater flux threshold. During the collapse, the Atlantic becomes less saline because of the import of about 80 Sv yr of freshwater by the ocean across 30S; during the switch-on this freshwater is exported again. These abrupt import and export of freshwater at 30S of the Atlantic are associated with, respectively, the appearance and disappearance of a shallower reverse overturning circulation south of the Equator. Qualitatively similar hysteresis behaviour, with the same salinity flip-flop, can be produced by an internal transfer of water within the Atlantic from low to high latitudes, with no net freshwater forcing input north of 30S.
Brian J. Palik; Stephen W. Golladay; P. Charles Goebel; Brad W. Taylor
1998-01-01
Large floods are an important process controlling the structure and function of stream ecosystems. One of the ways floods affect streams is through the recruitment of coarse woody debris from stream-side forests. Stream valley geomorphology may mediate this interaction by altering flood velocity, depth, and duration. Little research has examined how floods and...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lautz, L.; Gordon, R.; Daniluk, T.; Zimmer, M. A.; Endreny, T. A.; McGrath, K.
2014-12-01
Society is increasingly recognizing the value of stream ecosystem functions, as evidenced by the enormous economic investment being made in stream restoration across the United States. Stream restoration projects have a variety of goals, including improvement in water quality and in-stream habitat. Popular approaches to restoration (such as Natural Channel Design, or NCD) aim to move degraded streams along a trajectory toward a dynamic ecological endpoint that represents natural conditions. Project designs primarily focus on channel form and function, but stream-groundwater exchanges of water and solutes are not typically a design consideration, although a primary component of fully functioning stream ecosystems. Here, we synthesize results from field investigations of the impact of NCD stream restoration on stream-groundwater exchanges by (1) comparing restored sites to reference reaches, which serve as the basis for the restoration design, (2) characterizing multiple restored sites to determine universal characteristics of streams restored by NCD, and (3) monitoring a stream pre- and post- restoration. NCD restoration creates hot spots of rapid hyporheic exchange upstream of channel spanning structures, with water fluxes across the bed interface up to an order of magnitude higher than at pre-restoration or reference reaches. Elevated flux rates result in short hyporheic residence times, which are not sufficiently long to generate net changes in nutrient concentrations. Hot spots of biogeochemical transformations are instead located around secondary bedforms, such as pool-riffle sequences, where gross water exchange rates are more moderate. Reference reaches show greater evidence of groundwater discharge to the hyporheic zone relative to restored reaches, although observations before and after restoration suggest NCD can modify the spatial extent of groundwater discharge zones. Gross water exchange across the streambed interface along restored reaches is a small percentage of stream discharge, suggesting the primary impact of restoration on stream-groundwater exchange is promoting biochemical heterogeneity in the subsurface, rather than longitudinal net changes in stream solute concentrations. Results inform future design to achieve restoration goals.
Ludwig, Karin; Sterzer, Philipp; Kathmann, Norbert; Hesselmann, Guido
2016-10-01
As a functional organization principle in cortical visual information processing, the influential 'two visual systems' hypothesis proposes a division of labor between a dorsal "vision-for-action" and a ventral "vision-for-perception" stream. A core assumption of this model is that the two visual streams are differentially involved in visual awareness: ventral stream processing is closely linked to awareness while dorsal stream processing is not. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with human observers, we directly probed the stimulus-related information encoded in fMRI response patterns in both visual streams as a function of stimulus visibility. We parametrically modulated the visibility of face and tool stimuli by varying the contrasts of the masks in a continuous flash suppression (CFS) paradigm. We found that visibility - operationalized by objective and subjective measures - decreased proportionally with increasing log CFS mask contrast. Neuronally, this relationship was closely matched by ventral visual areas, showing a linear decrease of stimulus-related information with increasing mask contrast. Stimulus-related information in dorsal areas also showed a dependency on mask contrast, but the decrease rather followed a step function instead of a linear function. Together, our results suggest that both the ventral and the dorsal visual stream are linked to visual awareness, but neural activity in ventral areas more closely reflects graded differences in awareness compared to dorsal areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Urban, Nathan M.; Keller, Klaus
2010-10-01
How has the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) varied over the past centuries and what is the risk of an anthropogenic AMOC collapse? We report probabilistic projections of the future climate which improve on previous AMOC projection studies by (i) greatly expanding the considered observational constraints and (ii) carefully sampling the tail areas of the parameter probability distribution function (pdf). We use a Bayesian inversion to constrain a simple model of the coupled climate, carbon cycle and AMOC systems using observations to derive multicentury hindcasts and projections. Our hindcasts show considerable skill in representing the observational constraints. We show that robust AMOC risk estimates can require carefully sampling the parameter pdfs. We find a low probability of experiencing an AMOC collapse within the 21st century for a business-as-usual emissions scenario. The probability of experiencing an AMOC collapse within two centuries is 1/10. The probability of crossing a forcing threshold and triggering a future AMOC collapse (by 2300) is approximately 1/30 in the 21st century and over 1/3 in the 22nd. Given the simplicity of the model structure and uncertainty in the forcing assumptions, our analysis should be considered a proof of concept and the quantitative conclusions subject to severe caveats.
The behaviour of 39 pesticides in surface waters as a function of scale
Capel, P.D.; Larson, S.J.; Winterstein, T.A.
2001-01-01
A portion of applied pesticides runs off agricultural fields and is transported through surface waters. In this study, the behaviour of 39 pesticides is examined as a function of scale across 14 orders of magnitude from the field to the ocean. Data on pesticide loads in streams from two US Geological Survey programs were combined with literature data from field and watershed studies. The annual load as percent of use (LAPU) was quantified for each of the fields and watersheds and was used as the normalization factor across watersheds and compounds. The in-stream losses of each pesticide were estimated for a model stream with a 15 day travel time (similar in characteristics to the upper Mississippi River). These estimated in-stream losses agreed well with the observed changes in apparent LAPU values as a function of watershed area. In general, herbicides applied to the soil surface had the greatest LAPU values and minimal in-stream losses. Soil-incorporated herbicides had smaller LAPU values and substantial in-stream losses. Insecticides generally had LAPU values similar to the incorporated herbicides, but had more variation in their in-stream losses. On the basis of the LAPU values of the 39 pesticides as a function of watershed area, a generalized conceptual model of the movement of pesticides from the field to the ocean is suggested. The importance of considering both field runoff and in-stream losses is discussed in relation to interpreting monitoring data and making regulatory decisions.
Hydrology of Channelized and Natural Headwater Streams
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Understanding hydrology is paramount for optimal ecologic function and management of headwater streams. The objective of this study was to characterize and compare headwater streams within the Upper Big Walnut Creek watershed in Ohio. Two channelized and two unchannelized streams were instrumented w...
Secular Change and Inter-annual Variability of the Gulf Stream Position, 1993-2013, 70°-55°W
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bisagni, J. J.; Gangopadhyay, A.
2016-12-01
The Gulf Stream (GS) is the northeastward-flowing surface limb of the Atlantic Ocean meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) "conveyer belt" that flows towards Europe and the Nordic Seas. Changes in the GS position after its separation from the coast at Cape Hatteras, i.e., from 75°W to 50°W, may be key to understanding the AMOC, sea level variability and ecosystem behavior along the east coast of North America. In this study we compare secular change and inter-annual variability (IAV) of annual mean Gulf Stream North Wall (GSNW) position with equator-ward Labrador Current (LC) transport along the southwestern Grand Banks near 52° W using 21 years (1993-2013) of satellite altimeter data. Results at 70°, 65°, 60° and 55° W show a southward secular trend for the GSNW, decreasing to the west. IAV of de-trended GSNW position residuals also decreases to the west. The long-term secular trend of annual mean upper layer LC transport increases near 52° W. Furthermore, IAV of LC transport residuals near 52° W is significantly correlated with GSNW position residuals at 55° W at a lag of +1-year. Spectral analysis reveals inter-annual peaks at 5-7 years and 2-3 years for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), GSNW (65°-55°W) and LC transport for 1993-2013. A volume calculation using the LC rms residual of +1.04 Sv near 52° W results in an estimated GSNW residual of 79 km, or 63% of the observed 125.6 km (1.13°) rms value at 55° W. A similar volume calculation using the positive long-term, upper-layer LC transport trend accounts for 68% of the observed southward shift of the GSNW over the 1993-2013 period. Our work provides observational evidence of direct interaction between the upper layers of the sub-polar and sub-tropical gyres within the North Atlantic over secular and inter-annual time scales as suggested by previous workers.
Small stream ecosystem variability in the Sierra Nevada of California
C.T. Hunsaker; S.M. Eagan
2003-01-01
The quality of aquatic and riparian ecosystems is a function of their condition and the integrity of adjacent uplands in their watersheds. While small streams make up a large proportion of the overall stream network, our knowledge of how they function is still limited. The Kings River Experimental Watershed (KREW) was initiated in 2000 to quantify the variability in...
Simulation of probabilistic wind loads and building analysis
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shah, Ashwin R.; Chamis, Christos C.
1991-01-01
Probabilistic wind loads likely to occur on a structure during its design life are predicted. Described here is a suitable multifactor interactive equation (MFIE) model and its use in the Composite Load Spectra (CLS) computer program to simulate the wind pressure cumulative distribution functions on four sides of a building. The simulated probabilistic wind pressure load was applied to a building frame, and cumulative distribution functions of sway displacements and reliability against overturning were obtained using NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structure Under Stress), a stochastic finite element computer code. The geometry of the building and the properties of building members were also considered as random in the NESSUS analysis. The uncertainties of wind pressure, building geometry, and member section property were qualified in terms of their respective sensitivities on the structural response.
Slope failure as an upslope source of stream wood
Daniel Miller
2013-01-01
Large woody debris is recognized as an important component of stream geomorphology and stream ecosystem function, and forest-land management is recognized as an important control on the quantity (and size and species distributions) of wood available for recruitment to streams. Much of the wood present in streams comes from adjacent forests, and riparian management...
Relations between overturning length scales at the Spanish planetary boundary layer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
López, Pilar; Cano, José L.
2016-04-01
We analyze the behavior of the maximum Thorpe displacement (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LTat the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), extending previous research with new data and improving our studies related to the novel use of the Thorpe method applied to ABL. The maximum Thorpe displacements vary between -900 m and 950 m for the different field campaigns. The maximum Thorpe displacement is always greater under convective conditions than under stable ones, independently of its sign. The Thorpe scale LT ranges between 0.2 m and 680 m for the different data sets which cover different stratified mixing conditions (turbulence shear-driven and convective regions). The Thorpe scale does not exceed several tens of meters under stable and neutral stratification conditions related to instantaneous density gradients. In contrast, under convective conditions, Thorpe scales are relatively large, they exceed hundreds of meters which may be related to convective bursts. We analyze the relation between (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LT and we deduce that they verify a power law. We also deduce that there is a difference in exponents of the power laws for convective conditions and shear-driven conditions. These different power laws could identify overturns created under different mechanisms. References Cuxart, J., Yagüe, C., Morales, G., Terradellas, E., Orbe, J., Calvo, J., Fernández, A., Soler, M., Infante, C., Buenestado, P., Espinalt, Joergensen, H., Rees, J., Vilà, J., Redondo, J., Cantalapiedra, I. and Conangla, L.: Stable atmospheric boundary-layer experiment in Spain (Sables 98). A report, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 96, 337-370, 2000. Dillon, T. M.: Vertical Overturns: A Comparison of Thorpe and Ozmidov Length Scales, J. Geophys. Res., 87(C12), 9601-9613, 1982. Itsweire, E. C.: Measurements of vertical overturns in stably stratified turbulent flow, Phys. Fluids, 27(4), 764-766, 1984. Kitade, Y., Matsuyama, M. and Yoshida, J.: Distribution of overturn induced by internal tides and Thorpe scale in Uchiura Bay, Journal of Oceanography, 59, 845-850, 2003. López P., Cano J. L., Cano D. and Tijera M.: Thorpe method applied to planetary boundary layer data, Il Nuovo Cimento, 31C(5-6), 881-892, 2008. DOI: 10.1393/ncc/i2009-10338-3. Lorke A. and Wüest A.: Probability density of displacement and overturning length scales under diverse stratification, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (C12), 3214-3225, 2002. Piera, J., Roget, E. and Catalan, J.: Turbulent patch identification in microstructure profiles: a method based on wavelet denoising and Thorpe displacement analysis, J. Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 19, 1390-1402, 2002. Piera, J.: Signal processing of microstructure profiles: integrating turbulent spatial scales in aquatic ecological modelling, Ph. D. Thesis, Gerona University, Spain, 2004. Smyth, W. D. and Moum, J. N.: Length scales of turbulence in stably stratified mixing layers, Phys. Fluids., 12, 1327-1342, 2000. Thorpe, S.A.: Turbulence and Mixing in a Scottish Loch, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London (Ser. A), 286(1334), 125-18, 1977.
Leaf Litter Decomposition as a Functional Assessment of a Natural Stream Channel Design Project
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gentry, A.; Word, D.; Carreiro, M.; Jack, J.
2005-05-01
In October 2003, a 965m reach of Wilson Creek (Bernheim Research Forest, Kentucky, USA) was relocated, and meanders and riffle-pool sequences were restored, providing a unique opportunity to measure the re-establishment of post-restoration stream functions. Leaf litter bags were placed across riffles in the restored reach, in an upstream reference site and in two reference streams. Bags were collected for nine months, and mass loss, N dynamics and fungal ergosterol were measured. Daily mass loss rates in the restored and reference riffles in Wilson Creek were faster (k= -0.00759 and k= -0.00855, respectively) than those of the two reference streams (k= -0.00511 and k= -0.00308). This is equivalent to litter mean residence times of 132 days for the restored reach in Wilson, 117 days in the upstream reference site, and 196 and 325 days for the reference streams. It appears that the decay rate in the restored reach is similar to the upstream portion of Wilson Creek, indicating rapid mass loss recovery in the restored reach. We also determined that same-stream reference sites are important for evaluating the restoration of stream functions, because of high decay rate variation among nearby streams within the same watershed.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Considerable public funds are annually expended on stream restoration projects, but available science suggests that stream restoration as currently practiced is not effective in recovering ecosystem functional integrity. The physical scale of most stream restoration projects is insufficient because...
National and regional comparisons between Strahler order and stream size
Water body size is one of the most important factors affecting the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. The categorical variable, Strahler stream order, is frequently used as an indirect estimate of stream size. Other indirect estimates of stream size, such as catchmen...
Method of synchronizing independent functional unit
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kim, Changhoan
A system for synchronizing parallel processing of a plurality of functional processing units (FPU), a first FPU and a first program counter to control timing of a first stream of program instructions issued to the first FPU by advancement of the first program counter; a second FPU and a second program counter to control timing of a second stream of program instructions issued to the second FPU by advancement of the second program counter, the first FPU is in communication with a second FPU to synchronize the issuance of a first stream of program instructions to the second stream ofmore » program instructions and the second FPU is in communication with the first FPU to synchronize the issuance of the second stream program instructions to the first stream of program instructions.« less
Method of synchronizing independent functional unit
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kim, Changhoan
2017-05-16
A system for synchronizing parallel processing of a plurality of functional processing units (FPU), a first FPU and a first program counter to control timing of a first stream of program instructions issued to the first FPU by advancement of the first program counter; a second FPU and a second program counter to control timing of a second stream of program instructions issued to the second FPU by advancement of the second program counter, the first FPU is in communication with a second FPU to synchronize the issuance of a first stream of program instructions to the second stream ofmore » program instructions and the second FPU is in communication with the first FPU to synchronize the issuance of the second stream program instructions to the first stream of program instructions.« less
Method of synchronizing independent functional unit
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kim, Changhoan
2017-02-14
A system for synchronizing parallel processing of a plurality of functional processing units (FPU), a first FPU and a first program counter to control timing of a first stream of program instructions issued to the first FPU by advancement of the first program counter; a second FPU and a second program counter to control timing of a second stream of program instructions issued to the second FPU by advancement of the second program counter, the first FPU is in communication with a second FPU to synchronize the issuance of a first stream of program instructions to the second stream ofmore » program instructions and the second FPU is in communication with the first FPU to synchronize the issuance of the second stream program instructions to the first stream of program instructions.« less
Biophysical Controls on Carbon Cycling in Restored and Unrestored Urban Streams
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Larsen, L. G.; Harvey, J. W.; Singh, J. D.; Sinclair, G. A.; Langston, T.; Maglio, M. M.
2012-12-01
Stream restoration is a multibillion dollar industry, yet how restoration impacts the ecological functioning of streams remains poorly understood. Because stream restoration may alter numerous biophysical controls, including light availability (through tree removal during bank regrading), hydraulics, sediment characteristics, and/or nutrient concentrations, it can be challenging to achieve a general understanding of how different aspects of stream restoration design influence ecosystem function (e.g., carbon cycling). In this study we combined strategies of continuously monitoring hydrology, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen at a station with spatially distributed but temporally sparse synoptic sampling to understand how restoration and land-use impact carbon fixation and respiration in urban streams. The study was performed over three years in three adjacent 3rd-4th order stream reaches in the urban Chesapeake Bay watershed, one of which was restored in 2002 using the ubiquitous Natural Channel Design method. By parsing the dissolved oxygen time series into contributions from respiration and gross primary production, we found the unrestored urban reach to be the most heterotrophic. It removed two times more carbon from the stream to the atmosphere than an unrestored suburban stream that was nutrient impacted and five times more carbon than the restored urban stream. The synoptic sampling revealed that nutrients, light, and hydrodynamic disturbance were the primary controls on carbon fixation and respiration, with fine sediment also exhibiting importance, likely as a vehicle for nutrient transport. Low rates of net carbon removal in the restored stream arose from high light availability resulting in high primary production, combined with low fine sediment availability restricting respiration. Thus, while restoration may have been effective for stream stabilization, it has decreased the functionality of the stream for net carbon removal to the atmosphere. Surprisingly, streambed potential respiration rates were indistinguishable between different geomorphic zones within the streams, suggesting that large-scale factors (i.e., nutrient and fine sediment supply) were more dominant controls than geomorphically controlled local variability.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hamada, Y.; O'Connor, B. L.
2012-12-01
Development in arid environments often results in the loss and degradation of the ephemeral streams that provide habitat and critical ecosystem functions such as water delivery, sediment transport, and groundwater recharge. Quantification of these ecosystem functions is challenging because of the episodic nature of runoff events in desert landscapes and the large spatial scale of watersheds that potentially can be impacted by large-scale development. Low-impact development guidelines and regulatory protection of ephemeral streams are often lacking due to the difficulty of accurately mapping and quantifying the critical functions of ephemeral streams at scales larger than individual reaches. Renewable energy development in arid regions has the potential to disturb ephemeral streams at the watershed scale, and it is necessary to develop environmental monitoring applications for ephemeral streams to help inform land management and regulatory actions aimed at protecting and mitigating for impacts related to large-scale land disturbances. This study focuses on developing remote sensing methodologies to identify and monitor impacts on ephemeral streams resulting from the land disturbance associated with utility-scale solar energy development in the desert southwest of the United States. Airborne very high resolution (VHR) multispectral imagery is used to produce stereoscopic, three-dimensional landscape models that can be used to (1) identify and map ephemeral stream channel networks, and (2) support analyses and models of hydrologic and sediment transport processes that pertain to the critical functionality of ephemeral streams. Spectral and statistical analyses are being developed to extract information about ephemeral channel location and extent, micro-topography, riparian vegetation, and soil moisture characteristics. This presentation will demonstrate initial results and provide a framework for future work associated with this project, for developing the necessary field measurements necessary to verify remote sensing landscape models, and for generating hydrologic models and analyses.
Beyond cool: adapting upland streams for climate change using riparian woodlands.
Thomas, Stephen M; Griffiths, Siân W; Ormerod, Steve J
2016-01-01
Managed adaptation could reduce the risks of climate change to the world's ecosystems, but there have been surprisingly few practical evaluations of the options available. For example, riparian woodland is advocated widely as shade to reduce warming in temperate streams, but few studies have considered collateral effects on species composition or ecosystem functions. Here, we use cross-sectional analyses at two scales (region and within streams) to investigate whether four types of riparian management, including those proposed to reduce potential climate change impacts, might also affect the composition, functional character, dynamics and energetic resourcing of macroinvertebrates in upland Welsh streams (UK). Riparian land use across the region had only small effects on invertebrate taxonomic composition, while stable isotope data showed how energetic resources assimilated by macroinvertebrates in all functional guilds were split roughly 50:50 between terrestrial and aquatic origins irrespective of riparian management. Nevertheless, streams draining the most extensive deciduous woodland had the greatest stocks of coarse particulate matter (CPOM) and greater numbers of 'shredding' detritivores. Stream-scale investigations showed that macroinvertebrate biomass in deciduous woodland streams was around twice that in moorland streams, and lowest of all in streams draining non-native conifers. The unexpected absence of contrasting terrestrial signals in the isotopic data implies that factors other than local land use affect the relative incorporation of allochthonous subsidies into riverine food webs. Nevertheless, our results reveal how planting deciduous riparian trees along temperate headwaters as an adaptation to climate change can modify macroinvertebrate function, increase biomass and potentially enhance resilience by increasing basal resources where cover is extensive (>60 m riparian width). We advocate greater urgency in efforts to understand the ecosystem consequences of climate change adaptation to guide future actions. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Recovery of a tropical stream after a harvest-related chlorine poisoning event.
EFFIE A. GREATHOUSE; JAMES G. MARCH; PRINGLE; CATHERINE M.
2005-01-01
1. Harvest-related poisoning events are common in tropical streams, yet research on stream recovery has largely been limited to temperate streams and generally does not include any measures of ecosystem function, such as leaf breakdown. 2. We assessed recovery of a second-order, high-gradient stream draining the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, 3 months after...
Posterior Parietal Cortex Drives Inferotemporal Activations During Three-Dimensional Object Vision.
Van Dromme, Ilse C; Premereur, Elsie; Verhoef, Bram-Ernst; Vanduffel, Wim; Janssen, Peter
2016-04-01
The primate visual system consists of a ventral stream, specialized for object recognition, and a dorsal visual stream, which is crucial for spatial vision and actions. However, little is known about the interactions and information flow between these two streams. We investigated these interactions within the network processing three-dimensional (3D) object information, comprising both the dorsal and ventral stream. Reversible inactivation of the macaque caudal intraparietal area (CIP) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reduced fMRI activations in posterior parietal cortex in the dorsal stream and, surprisingly, also in the inferotemporal cortex (ITC) in the ventral visual stream. Moreover, CIP inactivation caused a perceptual deficit in a depth-structure categorization task. CIP-microstimulation during fMRI further suggests that CIP projects via posterior parietal areas to the ITC in the ventral stream. To our knowledge, these results provide the first causal evidence for the flow of visual 3D information from the dorsal stream to the ventral stream, and identify CIP as a key area for depth-structure processing. Thus, combining reversible inactivation and electrical microstimulation during fMRI provides a detailed view of the functional interactions between the two visual processing streams.
Posterior Parietal Cortex Drives Inferotemporal Activations During Three-Dimensional Object Vision
Van Dromme, Ilse C.; Premereur, Elsie; Verhoef, Bram-Ernst; Vanduffel, Wim; Janssen, Peter
2016-01-01
The primate visual system consists of a ventral stream, specialized for object recognition, and a dorsal visual stream, which is crucial for spatial vision and actions. However, little is known about the interactions and information flow between these two streams. We investigated these interactions within the network processing three-dimensional (3D) object information, comprising both the dorsal and ventral stream. Reversible inactivation of the macaque caudal intraparietal area (CIP) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reduced fMRI activations in posterior parietal cortex in the dorsal stream and, surprisingly, also in the inferotemporal cortex (ITC) in the ventral visual stream. Moreover, CIP inactivation caused a perceptual deficit in a depth-structure categorization task. CIP-microstimulation during fMRI further suggests that CIP projects via posterior parietal areas to the ITC in the ventral stream. To our knowledge, these results provide the first causal evidence for the flow of visual 3D information from the dorsal stream to the ventral stream, and identify CIP as a key area for depth-structure processing. Thus, combining reversible inactivation and electrical microstimulation during fMRI provides a detailed view of the functional interactions between the two visual processing streams. PMID:27082854
AN INDICATOR OF POTENTIAL STREAM WOOD CONTRIBUTION FOR RIPARIAN FORESTS
In northwestern Oregon a key function of riparian forests is to provide wood to the stream network. This function is a prominent feature of Federal and State forest practices in the region. Thus, defining indicators which are associated with this function are important for desi...
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
McPherron, Robert L.; Weygand, James
2006-01-01
Corotating interaction regions during the declining phase of the solar cycle are the cause of recurrent geomagnetic storms and are responsible for the generation of high fluxes of relativistic electrons. These regions are produced by the collision of a high-speed stream of solar wind with a slow-speed stream. The interface between the two streams is easily identified with plasma and field data from a solar wind monitor upstream of the Earth. The properties of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field are systematic functions of time relative to the stream interface. Consequently the coupling of the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere produces a predictable sequence of events. Because the streams persist for many solar rotations it should be possible to use terrestrial observations of past magnetic activity to predict future activity. Also the high-speed streams are produced by large unipolar magnetic regions on the Sun so that empirical models can be used to predict the velocity profile of a stream expected at the Earth. In either case knowledge of the statistical properties of the solar wind and geomagnetic activity as a function of time relative to a stream interface provides the basis for medium term forecasting of geomagnetic activity. In this report we use lists of stream interfaces identified in solar wind data during the years 1995 and 2004 to develop probability distribution functions for a variety of different variables as a function of time relative to the interface. The results are presented as temporal profiles of the quartiles of the cumulative probability distributions of these variables. We demonstrate that the storms produced by these interaction regions are generally very weak. Despite this the fluxes of relativistic electrons produced during those storms are the highest seen in the solar cycle. We attribute this to the specific sequence of events produced by the organization of the solar wind relative to the stream interfaces. We also show that there are large quantitative differences in various parameters between the two cycles.
Evolution of Autonomous Self-Righting Behaviors for Articulated Nanorovers
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Tunstel, Edward
1999-01-01
Miniature rovers with articulated mobility mechanisms are being developed for planetary surface exploration on Mars and small solar system bodies. These vehicles are designed to be capable of autonomous recovery from overturning during surface operations. This paper describes a computational means of developing motion behaviors that achieve the autonomous recovery function. It proposes a control software design approach aimed at reducing the effort involved in developing self-righting behaviors. The approach is based on the integration of evolutionary computing with a dynamics simulation environment for evolving and evaluating motion behaviors. The automated behavior design approach is outlined and its underlying genetic programming infrastructure is described.
Oliveira, João M.; Segurado, Pedro; Santos, José M.; Teixeira, Amílcar; Ferreira, Maria T.; Cortes, Rui V.
2012-01-01
Identifying the environmental gradients that control the functional structure of biological assemblages in reference conditions is fundamental to help river management and predict the consequences of anthropogenic stressors. Fish metrics (density of ecological guilds, and species richness) from 117 least disturbed stream reaches in several western Iberia river basins were modelled with generalized linear models in order to investigate the importance of regional- and local-scale abiotic gradients to variation in functional structure of fish assemblages. Functional patterns were primarily associated with regional features, such as catchment elevation and slope, rainfall, and drainage area. Spatial variations of fish guilds were thus associated with broad geographic gradients, showing (1) pronounced latitudinal patterns, affected mainly by climatic factors and topography, or (2) at the basin level, strong upstream-downstream patterns related to stream position in the longitudinal gradient. Maximum native species richness was observed in midsize streams in accordance with the river continuum concept. The findings of our study emphasized the need to use a multi-scale approach in order to fully assess the factors that govern the functional organization of biotic assemblages in ‘natural’ streams, as well as to improve biomonitoring and restoration of fluvial ecosystems. PMID:23029242
We quantified benthic macroinvertebrates in six small (1st order) Alabama piedmont streams from 1994-1998. Streams spanned a gradient of hydrologic permanence from typically intermittent to perennial, the degree of permanence for a given stream depending on water year. Initial sa...
Urbanization has resulted in extensive burial and channelization of headwater streams, yet little is known about impacts on stream ecosystem functions critical for reducing downstream nitrogen pollution. To characterize the biogeochemical impact of stream burial, we measured NO3...
Wagner, Chad R.; Tighe, Kirsten C.; Terziotti, Silvia
2009-01-01
StreamStats is a Web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) application that was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) to provide access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management. StreamStats allows users to easily obtain streamflow statistics, basin characteristics, and descriptive information for USGS data-collection sites and selected ungaged sites. StreamStats also allows users to identify stream reaches upstream and downstream from user-selected sites and obtain information for locations along streams where activities occur that can affect streamflow conditions. This functionality can be accessed through a map-based interface with the user's Web browser or through individual functions requested remotely through other Web applications.
Court overturns verdict in suit alleging contaminated Coke.
2000-01-21
After [name removed] and [name removed] saw a gelatinous mass in the bottle of Coca-Cola they were drinking, they assumed the substance was a condom. They sued the Coca-Cola Bottling Company because they thought they may have ingested HIV, and won a $58,000 award. However, the Florida appeals court overturned the verdict, saying that the women failed to demonstrate any physical injuries that occurred as a result. The women also failed to prove that there was a condom in the bottle, and did not have the contents tested for HIV. Further, they failed to provide any evidence that HIV could be acquired by ingesting the virus in a beverage.
A Microscale View of Mixing and Overturning Across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Naveira Garabato, A.; Polzin, K. L.; Ferrari, R. M.; Zika, J. D.; Forryan, A.
2014-12-01
The meridional overturning circulation and stratication of the global ocean are shaped critically by processes in the Southern Ocean. The zonally unblocked nature of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) confers the region with a set of special dynamics that ultimately results in the focussing therein of large vertical exchanges between layers spanning the global ocean pycnocline. These vertical exchanges are thought to be mediated by oceanic turbulent motions (associated with mesoscale eddies and small-scale turbulence), yet the vastness of the Southern Ocean and the sparse and intermittent nature of turbulent processes make their relative roles and large-scale impacts extremely difficult to assess.Here, we address the problem from a new angle, and use measurements of the centimetre-scale signatures of mesoscale eddies and small-scale turbulence obtained during the DIMES experiment to determine the contributions of those processes to sustaining large-scale meridional overturning across the ACC. We find that mesoscale eddies and small-scale turbulence play complementary roles in forcing a meridional circulation of O(1 mm / s) across the Southern Ocean, and that their roles are underpinned by distinct and abrupt variations in the rates at which they mix water parcels. The implications for our understanding of the Southern Ocean circulation's sensitivity to climatic change will be discussed.
Earth's oldest stable crust in the Pilbara Craton formed by cyclic gravitational overturns
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wiemer, Daniel; Schrank, Christoph E.; Murphy, David T.; Wenham, Lana; Allen, Charlotte M.
2018-05-01
During the early Archaean, the Earth was too hot to sustain rigid lithospheric plates subject to Wilson Cycle-style plate tectonics. Yet by that time, up to 50% of the present-day continental crust was generated. Preserved continental fragments from the early Archaean have distinct granite-dome/greenstone-keel crust that is interpreted to be the result of a gravitationally unstable stratification of felsic proto-crust overlain by denser mafic volcanic rocks, subject to reorganization by Rayleigh-Taylor flow. Here we provide age constraints on the duration of gravitational overturn in the East Pilbara Terrane. Our U-Pb ages indicate the emplacement of 3,600-3,460-million-year-old granitoid rocks, and their uplift during an overturn event ceasing about 3,413 million years ago. Exhumation and erosion of this felsic proto-crust accompanied crustal reorganization. Petrology and thermodynamic modelling suggest that the early felsic magmas were derived from the base of thick ( 43 km) basaltic proto-crust. Combining our data with regional geochronological studies unveils characteristic growth cycles on the order of 100 million years. We propose that maturation of the early crust over three of these cycles was required before a stable, differentiated continent emerged with sufficient rigidity for plate-like behaviour.
Orndorff, Randall C.
2012-01-01
The method of emplacement and sequential deformation of major thrust zones may be deciphered by detailed geologic mapping of these important structures. Thrust fault zones may have added complexity when horse blocks are contained within them. However, these horses can be an important indicator of the fault development holding information on fault-propagation folding or fold-to-fault progression. The North Mountain fault zone of the Central Appalachians, USA, was studied in order to better understand the relationships of horse blocks to hanging wall and footwall structures. The North Mountain fault zone in northwestern Virginia and eastern panhandle of West Virginia is the Late Mississippian to Permian Alleghanian structure that developed after regional-scale folding. Evidence for this deformation sequence is a consistent progression of right-side up to overturned strata in horses within the fault zone. Rocks on the southeast side (hinterland) of the zone are almost exclusively right-side up, whereas rocks on the northwest side (foreland) of the zone are almost exclusively overturned. This suggests that the fault zone developed along the overturned southeast limb of a syncline to the northwest and the adjacent upright limb of a faulted anticline to the southeast.
Ocean array alters view of Atlantic conveyor
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kornei, Katherine
2018-02-01
Oceanographers have put a stethoscope on the coursing circulatory system of the Atlantic Ocean, and they have found a skittish pulse that's surprisingly strong in the waters east of Greenland—discoveries that should improve climate models. The powerful currents known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are an engine in Earth's climate. The AMOC's shallower limbs—which include the Gulf Stream—move warm water from the tropics northward, warming Western Europe. In the north, the waters cool and sink, forming deeper limbs that transport the cold water back south—and sequester anthropogenic carbon in the process. Last week, at the American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences meeting, scientists presented the first data from an array of instruments moored in the subpolar North Atlantic, a $35 million, seven-nation project known as the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP). Since 2004, researchers have gathered data from another array, at 26°N, stretching from Florida to Africa. But OSNAP is the first to monitor the circulation farther north, where a critical aspect of the overturning occurs. The observations reveal unexpected eddies and strong variability in the AMOC currents. They also show that the currents east of Greenland contribute the most to the total AMOC flow. Climate models, on the other hand, have emphasized the currents west of Greenland in the Labrador Sea.
A mental picture of the greenhouse effect. A pedagogic explanation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Benestad, Rasmus E.
2017-05-01
The popular picture of the greenhouse effect emphasises the radiation transfer but fails to explain the observed climate change. An old conceptual model for the greenhouse effect is revisited and presented as a useful resource in climate change communication. It is validated against state-of-the-art data, and nontraditional diagnostics show a physically consistent picture. The earth's climate is constrained by well-known and elementary physical principles, such as energy balance, flow, and conservation. Greenhouse gases affect the atmospheric optical depth for infrared radiation, and increased opacity implies higher altitude from which earth's equivalent bulk heat loss takes place. Such an increase is seen in the reanalyses, and the outgoing long-wave radiation has become more diffuse over time, consistent with an increased influence of greenhouse gases on the vertical energy flow from the surface to the top of the atmosphere. The reanalyses further imply increases in the overturning in the troposphere, consistent with a constant and continuous vertical energy flow. The increased overturning can explain a slowdown in the global warming, and the association between these aspects can be interpreted as an entanglement between the greenhouse effect and the hydrological cycle, where reduced energy transfer associated with increased opacity is compensated by tropospheric overturning activity.
The effects of road crossings on prairie stream habitat and function
Bouska, Wesley W.; Keane, Timothy; Paukert, Craig P.
2010-01-01
Improperly designed stream crossing structures may alter the form and function of stream ecosystems and habitat and prohibit the movement of aquatic organisms. Stream sections adjoining five concrete box culverts, five low-water crossings (concrete slabs vented by one or multiple culverts), and two large, single corrugated culvert vehicle crossings in eastern Kansas streams were compared to reference reaches using a geomorphologic survey and stream classification. Stream reaches were also compared upstream and downstream of crossings, and crossing measurements were used to determine which crossing design best mimicked the natural dimensions of the adjoining stream. Four of five low-water crossings, three of five box culverts, and one of two large, single corrugated pipe culverts changed classification from upstream to downstream of the crossings. Mean riffle spacing upstream at low-water crossings (8.6 bankfull widths) was double that of downstream reaches (mean 4.4 bankfull widths) but was similar upstream and downstream of box and corrugated pipe culverts. There also appeared to be greater deposition of fine sediments directly upstream of these designs. Box and corrugated culverts were more similar to natural streams than low-water crossings at transporting water, sediments, and debris during bankfull flows.
The Influence of Ice-Ocean Interactions on Europa's Overturning Circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhu, P.; Manucharyan, G. E.; Thompson, A. F.; Goodman, J. C.; Vance, S.
2016-12-01
Jupiter's moon Europa appears to have a global liquid ocean, which is located beneath an ice shell that covers the moon's entire surface. Linking ocean dynamics and ice-ocean interactions is crucial to understanding observed surface features on Europa as well as other satellite measurements. Ocean properties and circulation may also provide clues as to whether the moon has the potential to support extraterrestrial life through chemical transport governed by ice-ocean interactions. Previous studies have identified a Hadley cell-like overturning circulation extending from the equator to mid latitudes. However, these model simulations do not consider ice-ocean interactions. In this study, our goal is to investigate how the ocean circulation may be affected by ice. We study two ice-related processes by building idealized models. One process is horizontal convection driven by an equator-to-pole buoyancy difference due to latitudinal ice transport at the ocean surface, which is found to be much weaker than the convective overturning circulation. The second process we consider is the freshwater layer formed by ice melting at the equator. A strong buoyancy contrast between the freshwater layer and the underlying water suppresses convection and turbulent mixing, which may modify the surface heat flux from the ocean to the bottom of the ice. We find that the salinity of the ocean below the freshwater layer tends to be homogeneous both vertically and horizontally with the presence of an overturning circulation. Critical values of circulation strength constrain the freshwater layer depth, and this relationship is sensitive to the average salinity of the ocean. Further coupling of temperature and salinity of the ice and the ocean that includes mutual influences between the surface heat flux and the freshwater layer may provide additional insights into the ice-ocean feedback, and its influence on the latitudinal difference of heat transport.
Brune, J.N.; Anooshehpoor, A.; Shi, B.; Zheng, Yen
2004-01-01
Precariously balanced rocks and overturned transformers in the vicinity of the White Wolf fault provide constraints on ground motion during the 1952 Ms 7.7 Kern County earthquake, a possible analog for an anticipated large earthquake in the Los Angeles basin (Shaw et al., 2002; Dolan et al., 2003). On the northeast part of the fault preliminary estimates of ground motion on the footwall give peak accelerations considerably lower than predicted by standard regression curves. On the other hand, on the hanging-wall, there is evidence of intense ground shattering and lack of precarious rocks, consistent with the intense hanging-wall accelerations suggested by foam-rubber modeling, numerical modeling, and observations from previous thrust fault earthquakes. There is clear evidence of the effects of rupture directivity in ground motions on the hanging-wall side of the fault (from both precarious rocks and numerical simulations). On the southwest part of the fault, which is covered by sediments, the thrust fault did not reach the surface ("blind" thrust). Overturned and damaged transformers indicate significant transfer of energy from the hanging wall to the footwall, an effect that may not be as effective when the rupture reaches the surface (is not "blind"). Transformers near the up-dip projection of the fault tip have been damaged or overturned on both the hanging-wall and footwall sides of the fault. The transfer of energy is confirmed in a numerical lattice model and could play an important role in a similar situation in Los Angeles. We suggest that the results of this study can provide important information for estimating the effects of a large thrust fault rupture in the Los Angeles basin, specially given the fact that there is so little instrumental data from large thrust fault earthquakes.
Villalobos, Michele E.; Mizuno, Akiko; Dahl, Branelle C.; Kemmotsu, Nobuko; Müller, Ralph-Axel
2010-01-01
Some recent evidence has suggested abnormalities of the dorsal stream and possibly the mirror neuron system in autism, which may be responsible for impairments of joint attention, imitation, and secondarily for language delays. The current study investigates functional connectivity along the dorsal stream in autism, examining interregional blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal cross-correlation during visuomotor coordination. Eight high-functioning autistic men and 8 handedness and age-matched controls were included. Visually prompted button presses were performed with the preferred hand. For each subject, functional connectivity was computed in terms of BOLD signal correlation with the mean time series in bilateral visual area 17. Our hypothesis of reduced dorsal stream connectivity in autism was only in part confirmed. Functional connectivity with superior parietal areas was not significantly reduced. However, the autism group showed significantly reduced connectivity with bilateral inferior frontal area 44, which is compatible with the hypothesis of mirror neuron defects in autism. More generally, our findings suggest that dorsal stream connectivity in autism may not be fully functional. PMID:15808991
Villalobos, Michele E; Mizuno, Akiko; Dahl, Branelle C; Kemmotsu, Nobuko; Müller, Ralph-Axel
2005-04-15
Some recent evidence has suggested abnormalities of the dorsal stream and possibly the mirror neuron system in autism, which may be responsible for impairments of joint attention, imitation, and secondarily for language delays. The current study investigates functional connectivity along the dorsal stream in autism, examining interregional blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal cross-correlation during visuomotor coordination. Eight high-functioning autistic men and eight handedness and age-matched controls were included. Visually prompted button presses were performed with the preferred hand. For each subject, functional connectivity was computed in terms of BOLD signal correlation with the mean time series in bilateral visual area 17. Our hypothesis of reduced dorsal stream connectivity in autism was only in part confirmed. Functional connectivity with superior parietal areas was not significantly reduced. However, the autism group showed significantly reduced connectivity with bilateral inferior frontal area 44, which is compatible with the hypothesis of mirror neuron defects in autism. More generally, our findings suggest that dorsal stream connectivity in autism may not be fully functional.
Sato, Takuya; Egusa, Tomohiro; Fukushima, Keitaro; Oda, Tomoki; Ohte, Nobuhito; Tokuchi, Naoko; Watanabe, Katsutoshi; Kanaiwa, Minoru; Murakami, Isaya; Lafferty, Kevin D
2012-08-01
Nematomorph parasites manipulate crickets to enter streams where the parasites reproduce. These manipulated crickets become a substantial food subsidy for stream fishes. We used a field experiment to investigate how this subsidy affects the stream community and ecosystem function. When crickets were available, predatory fish ate fewer benthic invertebrates. The resulting release of the benthic invertebrate community from fish predation indirectly decreased the biomass of benthic algae and slightly increased leaf break-down rate. This is the first experimental demonstration that host manipulation by a parasite can reorganise a community and alter ecosystem function. Nematomorphs are common, and many other parasites have dramatic effects on host phenotypes, suggesting that similar effects of parasites on ecosystems might be widespread. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.
Sato, T.; Egusa, T.; Fukushima, K.; Oda, T.; Ohte, N.; Tokuchi, Naoko; Watanabe, Katsutoshi; Kanaiwa, Minoru; Murakami, Isaya; Lafferty, Kevin D.
2012-01-01
Nematomorph parasites manipulate crickets to enter streams where the parasites reproduce. These manipulated crickets become a substantial food subsidy for stream fishes. We used a field experiment to investigate how this subsidy affects the stream community and ecosystem function. When crickets were available, predatory fish ate fewer benthic invertebrates. The resulting release of the benthic invertebrate community from fish predation indirectly decreased the biomass of benthic algae and slightly increased leaf break-down rate. This is the first experimental demonstration that host manipulation by a parasite can reorganise a community and alter ecosystem function. Nematomorphs are common, and many other parasites have dramatic effects on host phenotypes, suggesting that similar effects of parasites on ecosystems might be widespread.
Linares, Marden Seabra; Callisto, Marcos; Marques, João Carlos
2018-02-01
Riparian vegetation cover influences benthic assemblages structure and functioning in headwater streams, as it regulates light availability and autochthonous primary production in these ecosystems.Secondary production, diversity, and exergy-based indicators were applied in capturing how riparian cover influences the structure and functioning of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in tropical headwater streams. Four hypotheses were tested: (1) open canopy will determine the occurrence of higher diversity in benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages; (2) streams with open canopy will exhibit more complex benthic macroinvertebrate communities (in terms of information embedded in the organisms' biomass); (3) in streams with open canopy benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages will be more efficient in using the available resources to build structure, which will be reflected by higher eco-exergy values; (4) benthic assemblages in streams with open canopy will exhibit more secondary productivity. We selected eight non-impacted headwater streams, four shaded and four with open canopy, all located in the Neotropical savannah (Cerrado) of southeastern Brazil. Open canopy streams consistently exhibited significantly higher eco-exergy and instant secondary production values, exemplifying that these streams may support more complex and productive benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Nevertheless, diversity indices and specific eco-exergy were not significantly different in shaded and open canopy streams. Since all the studied streams were selected for being considered as non-impacted, this suggests that the potential represented by more available food resources was not used to build a more complex dissipative structure. These results illustrate the role and importance of the canopy cover characteristics on the structure and functioning of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in tropical headwater streams, while autochthonous production appears to play a crucial role as food source for benthic macroinvertebrates. This study also highlights the possible application of thermodynamic based indicators as tools to guide environmental managers in developing and implementing policies in the neotropical savannah. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A simple-harmonic model for depicting the annual cycle of seasonal temperatures of streams
Steele, Timothy Doak
1978-01-01
Due to economic or operational constraints, stream-temperature records cannot always be collected at all sites where information is desired or at frequencies dictated by continuous or near-continuous surveillance requirements. For streams where only periodic measurements are made during the year, and that are not appreciably affected by regulation or by thermal loading , a simple harmonic function may adequately depict the annual seasonal cycle of stream temperature at any given site. Resultant harmonic coefficients obtained from available stream-temperature records may be used in the following ways: (1) To interpolate between discrete measurements by solving the harmonic function at specified times, thereby filling in estimates of stream-temperature values; (2) to characterize areal or regional patterns of natural stream-temperature values; (2) to characterize areal or regional patterns of natural stream-temperature conditions; and (3) to detect and to assess any significant at a site brought about by streamflow regulation or basin development. Moreover, less-than-daily or sampling frequencies at a given site may give estimates of annual variation of stream temperatures that are statistically comparable to estimates obtained from a daily or continuous sampling scheme. The latter procedure may result in potential savings of resources in network operations, with negligible loss in information on annual stream-temperature variations. (Woodard -USGS)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
McCaul, Eugene W., Jr.; Cohen, Charles; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)
2001-01-01
The sensitivities of convective storm structure and intensity to changes in the altitudes of the prestorm environmental lifted condensation level and level of free convection axe studied using a full-physics three-dimensional cloud model. Matrices of simulations are conducted for a range of LCL=LFC altitudes, using a single moderately-sheared curved hodograph trace in conjunction with 1 convective available potential energy values of either 800 or 2000 J/kg, with the matrices consisting of all four combinations of two distinct choices of buoyancy and shear profile shape. For each value of CAPE, the LCL=LFC altitudes are also allowed to vary in a series of simulations based on the most highly compressed buoyancy and shear profiles for that CAPE, with the environmental buoyancy profile shape, subcloud equivalent potential temperature, subcloud lapse rates of temperature and moisture, and wind profile held fixed. For each CAPE, one final simulation is conducted using a near optimal LFC, but a lowered LCL, with a neutrally buoyant environmental thermal profile specified in between. Results show that, for the buoyancy-starved small-CAPE environments, the simulated storms are supercells and are generally largest and most intense when LCL=LFC altitudes lie in the approximate range 1.5-2.5 km above the surface. The simulations show similar trends for the shear-starved large-CAPE environments, except that conversion from supercell to multicell morphology frequently occurs when the LCL is high. For choices of LCL=LFC height within the optimal 1.5-2.5 km range, peak storm updraft overturning efficiency may approaches unity relative to parcel theory, while for lower LCL=LFC heights, overturning efficiency is reduced significantly. The enhancements of overturning efficiency and updraft diameter with increasing LFC height are shown to be the result of systematic increases in the mean equivalent potential temperature of the updraft at cloud base. For the shear-starved environments, the tendency for outflow dominance is eliminated, but a large overturning efficiency maintained, when a low LCL is used in conjunction with a high LFC. The result regarding outflow dominance at high LCL is consistent with expectations, but the beneficial effect of a high LFC on convective overturning efficiency has not previously been widely recognized. The simulation findings here also appear to be consistent with statistics from previous severe storm environment climatologies, but provide a new framework for interpreting those statistics.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tackley, Paul
2014-05-01
Here we extend the models of [1]. Numerical convection models of the thermochemical evolution of Venus are compared to present-day topography and geoid, recent resurfacing history and surface deformation. The models include melting, magmatism, decaying heat-producing elements, core cooling, realistic temperature-dependent viscosity and either stagnant lid or episodic lithospheric overturn. In [1] it was found that in stagnant lid convection the dominant mode of heat loss is magmatic heat pipe, which requires massive magmatism and produces very thick, cold crust, inconsistent with observations. Partitioning of heat-producing elements into the crust helps but does not help enough. Episodic lid overturn interspersed by periods of quiescence effectively loses Venus's heat while giving lower rates of volcanism and a thinner crust. Calculations predict 5-8 overturn events over Venus's history, each lasting ˜150 Myr, initiating in one place and then spreading globally. During quiescent periods convection keeps the lithosphere thin. Magmatism keeps the mantle temperature constant over Venus's history. Crustal recycling occurs by entrainment in stagnant lid convection, and by lid overturn in episodic mode. Venus-like amplitudes of topography and geoid can be produced in either stagnant or episodic modes, with a viscosity profile that is Earth-like but shifted to higher values. The basalt density inversion below the olivine-perovskite transition causes compositional stratification around 730 km; breakdown of this layering increases episodicity but far less than episodic lid overturn. The classical stagnant lid mode with interior temperature approximately a rheological temperature scale lower than T_CMB is not reached because mantle temperature is controlled by magmatism while the core cools slowly from a superheated start. Core heat flow decreases with time, possibly shutting off the dynamo, particularly in episodic cases. Here we extend [1] by considering intrusive magmatism as an alternative to the purely extrusive magmatism assumed in [1]. Intrusive magmatism warms and weakens the crust, resulting in substantial surface deformation and a thinner crust. This is further enhanced by using a basaltic rheology for the crust instead of assuming the same rheological parameters as for the mantle. Here we quantitatively analyse the resulting surface deformation and other signatures, and compare to observations in order to constrain the likely ratio of intrusive to extrusive magmatism. [1] Armann, M., and P. J. Tackley (2012), Simulating the thermochemical magmatic and tectonic evo- lution of Venus's mantle and lithosphere: Two-dimensional models, J. Geophys. Res., 117, E12003, doi:10.1029/2012JE004231.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Martin, Erika C.; Gido, Keith B.; Bello, Nora
Stream fish can regulate their environment through direct and indirect pathways, and the relative influence of communities with different taxonomic and functional richness on ecosystem properties likely depends on habitat structure. Given this complexity, it is not surprising that observational studies of how stream fish communities influence ecosystems have shown mixed results. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an observed gradient of taxonomic (zero, one, two or three species) and functional (zero, one or two groups) richness of fishes on several key ecosystem properties in experimental stream mesocosms. Our study simulated small (less than two metres wide) headwatermore » prairie streams with a succession of three pool-riffle structures (upstream, middle and downstream) per mesocosm. Additionally, ecosystem responses included chlorophyll a from floating algal mats and benthic algae, benthic organic matter, macroinvertebrates (all as mass per unit area), algal filament length and stream metabolism (photosynthesis and respiration rate). Ecosystem responses were analysed individually using general linear mixed models. Significant treatment (taxonomic and functional richness) by habitat (pools and riffles) interactions were found for all but one ecosystem response variable. After accounting for location (upstream, middle and downstream) effects, the presence of one or two grazers resulted in shorter mean algal filament lengths in pools compared to no-fish controls. These observations suggest grazers can maintain short algal filaments in pools, which may inhibit long filaments from reaching the surface. Accordingly, floating algal mats decreased in mid- and downstream locations in grazer treatment relative to no-fish controls. At the scale of the entire reach, gross primary productivity and respiration were greater in treatments with two grazer species compared to mixed grazer/insectivore or control treatments. Lastly, the distribution of stream resources across habitat types and locations within a reach can therefore be influenced by the taxonomic and functional composition of fishes in small prairie streams. Thus, disturbances that alter diversity of these systems might have unexpected ecosystem-level consequences.« less
Martin, Erika C.; Gido, Keith B.; Bello, Nora; ...
2016-04-06
Stream fish can regulate their environment through direct and indirect pathways, and the relative influence of communities with different taxonomic and functional richness on ecosystem properties likely depends on habitat structure. Given this complexity, it is not surprising that observational studies of how stream fish communities influence ecosystems have shown mixed results. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an observed gradient of taxonomic (zero, one, two or three species) and functional (zero, one or two groups) richness of fishes on several key ecosystem properties in experimental stream mesocosms. Our study simulated small (less than two metres wide) headwatermore » prairie streams with a succession of three pool-riffle structures (upstream, middle and downstream) per mesocosm. Additionally, ecosystem responses included chlorophyll a from floating algal mats and benthic algae, benthic organic matter, macroinvertebrates (all as mass per unit area), algal filament length and stream metabolism (photosynthesis and respiration rate). Ecosystem responses were analysed individually using general linear mixed models. Significant treatment (taxonomic and functional richness) by habitat (pools and riffles) interactions were found for all but one ecosystem response variable. After accounting for location (upstream, middle and downstream) effects, the presence of one or two grazers resulted in shorter mean algal filament lengths in pools compared to no-fish controls. These observations suggest grazers can maintain short algal filaments in pools, which may inhibit long filaments from reaching the surface. Accordingly, floating algal mats decreased in mid- and downstream locations in grazer treatment relative to no-fish controls. At the scale of the entire reach, gross primary productivity and respiration were greater in treatments with two grazer species compared to mixed grazer/insectivore or control treatments. Lastly, the distribution of stream resources across habitat types and locations within a reach can therefore be influenced by the taxonomic and functional composition of fishes in small prairie streams. Thus, disturbances that alter diversity of these systems might have unexpected ecosystem-level consequences.« less
Dissociation and Convergence of the Dorsal and Ventral Visual Streams in the Human Prefrontal Cortex
Takahashi, Emi; Ohki, Kenichi; Kim, Dae-Shik
2012-01-01
Visual information is largely processed through two pathways in the primate brain: an object pathway from the primary visual cortex to the temporal cortex (ventral stream) and a spatial pathway to the parietal cortex (dorsal stream). Whether and to what extent dissociation exists in the human prefrontal cortex (PFC) has long been debated. We examined anatomical connections from functionally defined areas in the temporal and parietal cortices to the PFC, using noninvasive functional and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) received converging input from both streams, while the right superior frontal gyrus received input only from the dorsal stream. Interstream functional connectivity to the IFG was dynamically recruited only when both object and spatial information were processed. These results suggest that the human PFC receives dissociated and converging visual pathways, and that the right IFG region serves as an integrator of the two types of information. PMID:23063444
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harvey, L. D. Danny
1992-06-01
A two-dimensional (latitude-depth) deep ocean model is presented which is coupled to a sea ice model and an Energy Balance Climate Model (EBCM), the latter having land-sea and surface-air resolution. The processes which occur in the ocean model are thermohaline overturning driven by the horizontal density gradient, shallow wind-driven overturning cells, convective overturning, and vertical and horizontal diffusion of heat and salt. The density field is determined from the temperature and salinity fields using a nonlinear equation of state. Mixed layer salinity is affected by evaporation, precipitation, runoff from continents, and sea ice freezing and melting, as well as by advective, convective, and diffusive exchanges with the deep ocean. The ocean model is first tested in an uncoupled mode, in which hemispherically symmetric mixed layer temperature and salinity, or salinity flux, are specified as upper boundary conditions. An experiment performed with previous models is repeated in which a mixed layer salinity perturbation is introduced in the polar half of one hemisphere after switching from a fixed salinity to a fixed salinity flux boundary condition. For small values of the vertical diffusion coefficient KV, the model undergoes self-sustained oscillations with a period of about 1500 years. With larger values of KV, the model locks into either an asymmetric mode with a single overturning cell spanning both hemispheres, or a symmetric quiescent state with downwelling near the equator, upwelling at high latitudes, and a warm deep ocean (depending on the value of KV). When the ocean model is forced with observed mixed layer temperature and salinity, no oscillations occur. The model successfully simulates the very weak meridional overturning and strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current at the latitudes of the Drake Passage. The coupled EBCM-deep ocean model displays internal oscillations with a period of 3000 years if the ocean fraction is uniform with latitude and KV and the horizontal diffusion coefficient in the mixed layer are not too large. Globally averaged atmospheric temperature changes of 2 K are driven by oscillations in the heat flux into or out of the deep ocean, with the sudden onset of a heat flux out of the deep ocean associated with the rapid onset of thermohaline overturning after a quiescent period, and the sudden onset of a heat flux into the deep ocean associated with the collapse of thermohaline overturning. When the coupled model is run with prescribed parameters (such as land-sea fraction and precipitation) varying with latitude based on observations, the model does not oscillate and produces a reasonable deep ocean temperature field but a completely unrealistic salinity field. Resetting the mixed layer salinity to observations on each time step (equivalent to the "flux correction" method used in atmosphere-ocean general circulation models) is sufficient to give a realistic salinity field throughout the ocean depth, but dramatically alters the flow field and associated heat transport. Although the model is highly idealized, the finding that the maximum perturbation in globally averaged heat flux from the deep ocean to the surface over a 100-year period is 1.4 W m-2 suggests that effect of continuing greenhouse gas increases, which could result in a heating perturbation of 10 W m-2 by the end of the next century, will swamp possible surface heating perturbations due to changes in oceanic circulation. On the other hand, the extreme sensitivity of the oceanic flow field to variations in precipitation and evaporation suggests that it will not be possible to produce accurate projections of regional climatic change in the near term, if at all.
Alteration of stream temperature by natural and artificial beaver dams.
Weber, Nicholas; Bouwes, Nicolaas; Pollock, Michael M; Volk, Carol; Wheaton, Joseph M; Wathen, Gus; Wirtz, Jacob; Jordan, Chris E
2017-01-01
Beaver are an integral component of hydrologic, geomorphic, and biotic processes within North American stream systems, and their propensity to build dams alters stream and riparian structure and function to the benefit of many aquatic and terrestrial species. Recognizing this, beaver relocation efforts and/or application of structures designed to mimic the function of beaver dams are increasingly being utilized as effective and cost-efficient stream and riparian restoration approaches. Despite these verities, the notion that beaver dams negatively impact stream habitat remains common, specifically the assumption that beaver dams increase stream temperatures during summer to the detriment of sensitive biota such as salmonids. In this study, we tracked beaver dam distributions and monitored water temperature throughout 34 km of stream for an eight-year period between 2007 and 2014. During this time the number of natural beaver dams within the study area increased by an order of magnitude, and an additional 4 km of stream were subject to a restoration manipulation that included installing a high-density of Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) structures designed to mimic the function of natural beaver dams. Our observations reveal several mechanisms by which beaver dam development may influence stream temperature regimes; including longitudinal buffering of diel summer temperature extrema at the reach scale due to increased surface water storage, and creation of cool-water channel scale temperature refugia through enhanced groundwater-surface water connectivity. Our results suggest that creation of natural and/or artificial beaver dams could be used to mitigate the impact of human induced thermal degradation that may threaten sensitive species.
Alteration of stream temperature by natural and artificial beaver dams
Bouwes, Nicolaas; Pollock, Michael M.; Volk, Carol; Wheaton, Joseph M.; Wathen, Gus; Wirtz, Jacob; Jordan, Chris E.
2017-01-01
Beaver are an integral component of hydrologic, geomorphic, and biotic processes within North American stream systems, and their propensity to build dams alters stream and riparian structure and function to the benefit of many aquatic and terrestrial species. Recognizing this, beaver relocation efforts and/or application of structures designed to mimic the function of beaver dams are increasingly being utilized as effective and cost-efficient stream and riparian restoration approaches. Despite these verities, the notion that beaver dams negatively impact stream habitat remains common, specifically the assumption that beaver dams increase stream temperatures during summer to the detriment of sensitive biota such as salmonids. In this study, we tracked beaver dam distributions and monitored water temperature throughout 34 km of stream for an eight-year period between 2007 and 2014. During this time the number of natural beaver dams within the study area increased by an order of magnitude, and an additional 4 km of stream were subject to a restoration manipulation that included installing a high-density of Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) structures designed to mimic the function of natural beaver dams. Our observations reveal several mechanisms by which beaver dam development may influence stream temperature regimes; including longitudinal buffering of diel summer temperature extrema at the reach scale due to increased surface water storage, and creation of cool—water channel scale temperature refugia through enhanced groundwater—surface water connectivity. Our results suggest that creation of natural and/or artificial beaver dams could be used to mitigate the impact of human induced thermal degradation that may threaten sensitive species. PMID:28520714
Wagner, Karoline; Besemer, Katharina; Burns, Nancy R.; Battin, Tom J.
2015-01-01
Summary Changes in riparian vegetation or water turbidity and browning in streams alter the local light regime with potential implications for stream biofilms and ecosystem functioning. We experimented with biofilms in microcosms grown under a gradient of light intensities (range: 5–152 μmole photons s−1 m−2) and combined 454‐pyrosequencing and enzymatic activity assays to evaluate the effects of light on biofilm structure and function. We observed a shift in bacterial community composition along the light gradient, whereas there was no apparent change in alpha diversity. Multifunctionality, based on extracellular enzymes, was highest under high light conditions and decoupled from bacterial diversity. Phenol oxidase activity, involved in the degradation of polyphenolic compounds, was twice as high on average under the lowest compared with the highest light condition. This suggests a shift in reliance of microbial heterotrophs on biofilm phototroph‐derived organic matter under high light availability to more complex organic matter under low light. Furthermore, extracellular enzyme activities correlated with nutrient cycling and community respiration, supporting the link between biofilm structure–function and biogeochemical fluxes in streams. Our findings demonstrate that changes in light availability are likely to have significant impacts on biofilm structure and function, potentially affecting stream ecosystem processes. PMID:26013911
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cabanes, Cecile; Lee, Tong; Fu, Lee-Lueng
2008-01-01
The authors investigate the nature of the interannual variability of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) of the North Atlantic Ocean using an Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) assimilation product for the period of 1993-2003. The time series of the first empirical orthogonal function of the MOC is found to be correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, while the associated circulation anomalies correspond to cells extending over the full ocean depth. Model sensitivity experiments suggest that the wind is responsible for most of this interannual variability, at least south of 40(deg)N. A dynamical decomposition of the meridional streamfunction allows a further look into the mechanisms. In particular, the contributions associated with 1) the Ekman flow and its depth-independent compensation, 2) the vertical shear flow, and 3) the barotropic gyre flowing over zonally varying topography are examined. Ekman processes are found to dominate the shorter time scales (1.5-3 yr), while for longer time scales (3-10 yr) the MOC variations associated with vertical shear flow are of greater importance. The latter is primarily caused by heaving of the pycnocline in the western subtropics associated with the stronger wind forcing. Finally, how these changes in the MOC affect the meridional heat transport (MHT) is examined. It is found that overall, Ekman processes explain a larger part of interannual variability (3-10 yr) for MHT (57%) than for the MOC (33%).
An alternative to the TEM (Transformed Eulerian Mean) equations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gaßmann, Almut
2013-04-01
The TEM equations constitute a powerful means to get access to the residual circulation. However, due to their foundation on the wave perspective, they deliver only a zonally averaged picture without access to the three-dimensional structure or the local origins of the residual circulation. Therefore it is worth to investigate whether there are alternatives. The pathway followed here is to perform a transformation of the momentum and the potential temperature equation before taking the zonal mean. This is done by removing the steady state ideal wind solution vid = ?×?B-(?±P) from the equations (? - potential temperature, B - Bernoulli function, P - Ertel's potential vorticity EPV, ?± - density). The advantage of that approach is that the total EPV-flux does no longer contain an explicitly visible 'do-nothing-flux'. This flux, ?? ×?B, does only vanish when averaging on isentropic surfaces, but not on other isosurfaces. Here we find the reason why the conventional zonal mean on isentropes delivers a direct overturning cell on each hemisphere, whereas on other isosurfaces we obtain the typical three-cell structure with Headley, Ferrel, and polar cells. It will be demonstrated and made visible through idealized climate experiments with the ICON-IAP model that the zonal averages of the nonideal wind components vnid = v - vid and wnid = w - wid constitute similar direct overturning cells on non-isentropic surfaces as obtained with the TEM-generated v* and w*. It is also interesting to inspect fields of local nonideal wind components, the very origin of the residual circulation.
Pyne, Matthew I; Poff, N LeRoy
2017-01-01
Shifts in biodiversity and ecological processes in stream ecosystems in response to rapid climate change will depend on how numerically and functionally dominant aquatic insect species respond to changes in stream temperature and hydrology. Across 253 minimally perturbed streams in eight ecoregions in the western USA, we modeled the distribution of 88 individual insect taxa in relation to existing combinations of maximum summer temperature, mean annual streamflow, and their interaction. We used a heat map approach along with downscaled general circulation model (GCM) projections of warming and streamflow change to estimate site-specific extirpation likelihood for each taxon, allowing estimation of whole-community change in streams across these ecoregions. Conservative climate change projections indicate a 30-40% loss of taxa in warmer, drier ecoregions and 10-20% loss in cooler, wetter ecoregions where taxa are relatively buffered from projected warming and hydrologic change. Differential vulnerability of taxa with key functional foraging roles in processing basal resources suggests that climate change has the potential to modify stream trophic structure and function (e.g., alter rates of detrital decomposition and algal consumption), particularly in warmer and drier ecoregions. We show that streamflow change is equally as important as warming in projected risk to stream community composition and that the relative threat posed by these two fundamental drivers varies across ecoregions according to projected gradients of temperature and hydrologic change. Results also suggest that direct human modification of streams through actions such as water abstraction is likely to further exacerbate loss of taxa and ecosystem alteration, especially in drying climates. Management actions to mitigate climate change impacts on stream ecosystems or to proactively adapt to them will require regional calibration, due to geographic variation in insect sensitivity and in exposure to projected thermal warming and hydrologic change. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Disruptive Technology: An Uncertain Future
2005-05-21
Technology that overturns market -- Military - Technology that causes a fundamental change in force structure, basing, and capability balance * Disruptive Technologies may arise from systems or enabling technology.
Multiyear prediction of monthly mean Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N.
Matei, Daniela; Baehr, Johanna; Jungclaus, Johann H; Haak, Helmuth; Müller, Wolfgang A; Marotzke, Jochem
2012-01-06
Attempts to predict changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) have yielded little success to date. Here, we demonstrate predictability for monthly mean AMOC strength at 26.5°N for up to 4 years in advance. This AMOC predictive skill arises predominantly from the basin-wide upper-mid-ocean geostrophic transport, which in turn can be predicted because we have skill in predicting the upper-ocean zonal density difference. Ensemble forecasts initialized between January 2008 and January 2011 indicate a stable AMOC at 26.5°N until at least 2014, despite a brief wind-induced weakening in 2010. Because AMOC influences many aspects of climate, our results establish AMOC as an important potential carrier of climate predictability.
Gent, Peter R
2016-01-01
Observations show that the Southern Hemisphere zonal wind stress maximum has increased significantly over the past 30 years. Eddy-resolving ocean models show that the resulting increase in the Southern Ocean mean flow meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is partially compensated by an increase in the eddy MOC. This effect can be reproduced in the non-eddy-resolving ocean component of a climate model, providing the eddy parameterization coefficient is variable and not a constant. If the coefficient is a constant, then the Southern Ocean mean MOC change is balanced by an unrealistically large change in the Atlantic Ocean MOC. Southern Ocean eddy compensation means that Southern Hemisphere winds cannot be the dominant mechanism driving midlatitude North Atlantic MOC variability.
A Southern Ocean trigger for Northwest Pacific ventilation during the Holocene?
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rella, S. F.; Uchida, M.
2014-02-01
Holocene ocean circulation is poorly understood due to sparsity of dateable marine archives with submillennial-scale resolution. Here we present a record of mid-depth water radiocarbon contents in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean over the last 12.000 years, which shows remarkable millennial-scale variations relative to changes in atmospheric radiocarbon inventory. Apparent decoupling of these variations from regional ventilation and mixing processes leads us to the suggestion that the mid-depth NW Pacific may have responded to changes in Southern Ocean overturning forced by latitudinal displacements of the southern westerly winds. By inference, a tendency of in-phase related North Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning would argue against the development of a steady bipolar seesaw regime during the Holocene.
A Southern Ocean trigger for Northwest Pacific ventilation during the Holocene?
Rella, S F; Uchida, M
2014-02-17
Holocene ocean circulation is poorly understood due to sparsity of dateable marine archives with submillennial-scale resolution. Here we present a record of mid-depth water radiocarbon contents in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean over the last 12.000 years, which shows remarkable millennial-scale variations relative to changes in atmospheric radiocarbon inventory. Apparent decoupling of these variations from regional ventilation and mixing processes leads us to the suggestion that the mid-depth NW Pacific may have responded to changes in Southern Ocean overturning forced by latitudinal displacements of the southern westerly winds. By inference, a tendency of in-phase related North Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning would argue against the development of a steady bipolar seesaw regime during the Holocene.
UF insulation ban overturned by federal appeals court: but safety still in doubt
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Betts, M.
1983-05-02
Unless the federal appeals court honors a US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) request to reconsider, the ban on sales of urea-formaldehyde (UF) foam for insulation will be lifted for want of evidence that it constitutes a health threat. The CPSC defends its analysis of flu-like symptoms and a form of cancer in laboratory animals which led to the ban on sales for school and home use, a ban which effectively eliminated all UF markets. Some buildings have replaced the foam with fiber and cellulose products at considerable expense. In overturning the ban, the court agreed with the UF foammore » industry challenge of CPSC evidence, but made no claim about UF safety. (DCK)« less
Deconstructing the conveyor belt.
Lozier, M Susan
2010-06-18
For the past several decades, oceanographers have embraced the dominant paradigm that the ocean's meridional overturning circulation operates like a conveyor belt, transporting cold waters equatorward at depth and warm waters poleward at the surface. Within this paradigm, the conveyor, driven by changes in deepwater production at high latitudes, moves deep waters and their attendant properties continuously along western boundary currents and returns surface waters unimpeded to deepwater formation sites. A number of studies conducted over the past few years have challenged this paradigm by revealing the vital role of the ocean's eddy and wind fields in establishing the structure and variability of the ocean's overturning. Here, we review those studies and discuss how they have collectively changed our view of the simple conveyor-belt model.
A Southern Ocean trigger for Northwest Pacific ventilation during the Holocene?
Rella, S. F.; Uchida, M.
2014-01-01
Holocene ocean circulation is poorly understood due to sparsity of dateable marine archives with submillennial-scale resolution. Here we present a record of mid-depth water radiocarbon contents in the Northwest (NW) Pacific Ocean over the last 12.000 years, which shows remarkable millennial-scale variations relative to changes in atmospheric radiocarbon inventory. Apparent decoupling of these variations from regional ventilation and mixing processes leads us to the suggestion that the mid-depth NW Pacific may have responded to changes in Southern Ocean overturning forced by latitudinal displacements of the southern westerly winds. By inference, a tendency of in-phase related North Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning would argue against the development of a steady bipolar seesaw regime during the Holocene. PMID:24509792
Secondary production of benthic insects in three cold-desert streams
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Gaines, W.L.
1987-07-01
Aquatic insect production was studied in three cold-desert streams in eastern Washington (Douglas Creek, Snively Springs, and Rattlesnake Springs). The size-frequency method was applied to individual taxa to estimate total insect production. production was also assessed for functional groups and trophic levels in each stream. Optioservus sp. (riffle beetles) and Baetis sp. (mayflies) accounted for 72% of the total insect numbers and 50% of the total biomass in Douglas Creek. Baetis sp. accounted for 42% of the total insect numbers and 25% of the total biomass in Snively Springs. Simulium sp. (blackflies) and Baetis sp. comprised 74% of the totalmore » insect numbers and 55% of the total biomass in Rattlesnake Springs. Grazer-scrapers (49%) and collectors (48%) were the most abundant functional groups in Douglas Creek. Collectors were the most abundant functional group in Snively Springs and Rattlesnake Springs. Herbivores and detritivores were the most abundant trophic level in Snively Springs and Rattlesnake Springs. Dipterans (midges and blackflies) were the most productive taxa within the study streams, accounting for 40% to 70% of the total community production. Production by collectors and detritivores was the highest of all functional groups and trophic levels in all study streams.« less
Regional sea level variability in a high-resolution global coupled climate model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Palko, D.; Kirtman, B. P.
2016-12-01
The prediction of trends at regional scales is essential in order to adapt to and prepare for the effects of climate change. However, GCMs are unable to make reliable predictions at regional scales. The prediction of local sea level trends is particularly critical. The main goal of this research is to utilize high-resolution (HR) (0.1° resolution in the ocean) coupled model runs of CCSM4 to analyze regional sea surface height (SSH) trends. Unlike typical, lower resolution (1.0°) GCM runs these HR runs resolve features in the ocean, like the Gulf Stream, which may have a large effect on regional sea level. We characterize the variability of regional SSH along the Atlantic coast of the US using tide gauge observations along with fixed radiative forcing runs of CCSM4 and HR interactive ensemble runs. The interactive ensemble couples an ensemble mean atmosphere with a single ocean realization. This coupling results in a 30% decrease in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation; therefore, the HR interactive ensemble is analogous to a HR hosing experiment. By characterizing the variability in these high-resolution GCM runs and observations we seek to understand what processes influence coastal SSH along the Eastern Coast of the United States and better predict future SLR.
MODELING STREAM-AQUIFIER INTERACTIONS WITH LINEAR RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
The problem of stream-aquifer interactions is pertinent to conjunctive-use management of water resources and riparian zone hydrology. Closed form solutions are derived for stream-aquifer interactions in rates and volumes expressed as convolution integrals of impulse response and ...
COMPARTMENTAL MODEL OF NITRATE RETENTION IN STREAMS
A compartmental modeling approach is presented to route nitrate retention along a cascade of stream reach sections. A process transfer function is used for transient storage equations with first order reaction terms to represent nitrate uptake in the free stream, and denitrifica...
Benjamin, J.R.; Fausch, K.D.; Baxter, C.V.
2011-01-01
Replacement of a native species by a nonnative can have strong effects on ecosystem function, such as altering nutrient cycling or disturbance frequency. Replacements may cause shifts in ecosystem function because nonnatives establish at different biomass, or because they differ from native species in traits like foraging behavior. However, no studies have compared effects of wholesale replacement of a native by a nonnative species on subsidies that support consumers in adjacent habitats, nor quantified the magnitude of these effects. We examined whether streams invaded by nonnative brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in two regions of the Rocky Mountains, USA, produced fewer emerging adult aquatic insects compared to paired streams with native cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii), and whether riparian spiders that depend on these prey were less abundant along streams with lower total insect emergence. As predicted, emergence density was 36% lower from streams with the nonnative fish. Biomass of brook trout was higher than the cutthroat trout they replaced, but even after accounting for this difference, emergence was 24% lower from brook trout streams. More riparian spiders were counted along streams with greater total emergence across the water surface. Based on these results, we predicted that brook trout replacement would result in 6-20% fewer spiders in the two regions. When brook trout replace cutthroat trout, they reduce cross-habitat resource subsidies and alter ecosystem function in stream-riparian food webs, not only owing to increased biomass but also because traits apparently differ from native cutthroat trout. ?? 2011 Springer-Verlag.
Sensation-to-Cognition Cortical Streams in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Carmona, Susana; Hoekzema, Elseline; Castellanos, Francisco X.; García-García, David; Lage-Castellanos, Agustín; Dijk, Koene R.A.Van; Navas-Sánchez, Francisco J.; Martínez, Kenia; Desco, Manuel; Sepulcre, Jorge
2015-01-01
We sought to determine whether functional connectivity streams that link sensory, attentional, and higher-order cognitive circuits are atypical in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We applied a graph-theory method to the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 120 children with ADHD and 120 age-matched typically developing children (TDC). Starting in unimodal primary cortex—visual, auditory, and somatosensory—we used stepwise functional connectivity to calculate functional connectivity paths at discrete numbers of relay stations (or link-step distances). First, we characterized the functional connectivity streams that link sensory, attentional, and higher-order cognitive circuits in TDC and found that systems do not reach the level of integration achieved by adults. Second, we searched for stepwise functional connectivity differences between children with ADHD and TDC. We found that, at the initial steps of sensory functional connectivity streams, patients display significant enhancements of connectivity degree within neighboring areas of primary cortex, while connectivity to attention-regulatory areas is reduced. Third, at subsequent link-step distances from primary sensory cortex, children with ADHD show decreased connectivity to executive processing areas and increased degree of connections to default mode regions. Fourth, in examining medication histories in children with ADHD, we found that children medicated with psychostimulants present functional connectivity streams with higher degree of connectivity to regions subserving attentional and executive processes compared to medication-naïve children. We conclude that predominance of local sensory processing and lesser influx of information to attentional and executive regions may reduce the ability to organize and control the balance between external and internal sources of information in ADHD. PMID:25821110
Aquifer response to stream-stage and recharge variations. I. Analytical step-response functions
Moench, A.F.; Barlow, P.M.
2000-01-01
Laplace transform step-response functions are presented for various homogeneous confined and leaky aquifer types and for anisotropic, homogeneous unconfined aquifers interacting with perennial streams. Flow is one-dimensional, perpendicular to the stream in the confined and leaky aquifers, and two-dimensional in a plane perpendicular to the stream in the water-table aquifers. The stream is assumed to penetrate the full thickness of the aquifer. The aquifers may be semi-infinite or finite in width and may or may not be bounded at the stream by a semipervious streambank. The solutions are presented in a unified manner so that mathematical relations among the various aquifer configurations are clearly demonstrated. The Laplace transform solutions are inverted numerically to obtain the real-time step-response functions for use in the convolution (or superposition) integral. To maintain linearity in the case of unconfined aquifers, fluctuations in the elevation of the water table are assumed to be small relative to the saturated thickness, and vertical flow into or out of the zone above the water table is assumed to occur instantaneously. Effects of hysteresis in the moisture distribution above the water table are therefore neglected. Graphical comparisons of the new solutions are made with known closed-form solutions.Laplace transform step-response functions are presented for various homogeneous confined and leaky aquifer types and for anisotropic, homogeneous unconfined aquifers interacting with perennial streams. Flow is one-dimensional, perpendicular to the stream in the confined and leaky aquifers, and two-dimensional in a plane perpendicular to the stream in the water-table aquifers. The stream is assumed to penetrate the full thickness of the aquifer. The aquifers may be semi-infinite or finite in width and may or may not be bounded at the stream by a semipervious streambank. The solutions are presented in a unified manner so that mathematical relations among the various aquifer configurations are clearly demonstrated. The Laplace transform solutions are inverted numerically to obtain the real-time step-response functions for use in the convolution (or superposition) integral. To maintain linearity in the case of unconfined aquifers, fluctuations in the elevation of the water table are assumed to be small relative to the saturated thickness, and vertical flow into or out of the zone above the water table is assumed to occur instantaneously. Effects of hysteresis in the moisture distribution above the water table are therefore neglected. Graphical comparisons of the new solutions are made with known closed-form solutions.
Coupled Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Solute Transport, Metabolism and Nutrient Uptake in Streams
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kurz, M. J.; Schmidt, C.
2017-12-01
Slower flow velocities and longer residence times within stream transient storage (TS) zones facilitate interaction between solutes and microbial communities, potentially increasing local rates of metabolic activity. Multiple factors, including channel morphology and substrate, variable hydrology, and seasonal changes in biological and physical parameters, result in changes in the solute transport dynamics and reactivity of TS zones over time and space. These changes would be expected to, in turn, influence rates of whole-stream ecosystem functions such as metabolism and nutrient uptake. However, the linkages between solute transport and ecosystem functioning within TS zones, and the contribution of TS zones to whole-stream functioning, are not always so straight forward. This may be due, in part, to methodological challenges. In this study we investigated the influence of stream channel hydro-morphology and substrate type on reach (103 m) and sub-reach (102 m) scale TS and ecosystem functioning. Patterns in solute transport, metabolism and nitrate uptake were tracked from April through October in two contrasting upland streams using several methods. The two streams, located in the Harz Mountains, Germany, are characterized by differing size (0.02 vs. 0.3 m3/s), dominant stream channel substrate (bedrock vs. alluvium) and sub-reach morphology (predominance of pools, riffles and glides). Solute transport parameters and respiration rates at the reach and sub-reach scale were estimated monthly from coupled pulse injections of the reactive tracer resazurin (Raz) and conservative tracers uranine and salt. Raz, a weakly fluorescent dye, irreversibly transforms to resorufin (Rru) under mildly reducing conditions, providing a proxy for aerobic respiration. Daily rates of primary productivity, respiration and nitrate retention at the reach scale were estimated using the diel cycles in dissolved oxygen and nitrate concentrations measured by in-situ sensors. Preliminary results indicate distinct differences in common metrics of TS and Raz transformation rates within and between the two streams. However, transformation rates and TS metrics are not well correlated, indicating complexities in the relationship between solute transport dynamics and metabolism in streams.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Smucker, N. J.; Detenbeck, N. E.; Kuhn, A.
2013-12-01
Watershed development is a leading cause of stream impairment and increasingly threatens the availability, quality, and sustainability of freshwater resources. In a recent global meta-analysis, we found that measures of desirable ecological structure (e.g., algal, macroinvertebrate, and fish communities) and functions (e.g., metabolism, nutrient uptake, and denitrification) in streams with developed watersheds were only 23% and 34%, respectively, of those in minimally disturbed reference streams. As humans continue to alter watersheds in response to growing and migrating populations, characterizing ecological responses to watershed development and management practices is urgently needed to inform future development practices, decisions, and policy. In a study of streams in New England, we found that measures of macroinvertebrate and algal communities had threshold responses between 1-10% and 1-5% impervious cover, respectively. Macroinvertebrate communities had decreases in sensitive taxa and predators occurring from 1-3.5% and transitions in trophic and habitat guilds from 4-9% impervious cover. Sensitive algal taxa declined at 1%, followed by increases in tolerant taxa at 3%. Substantially altered algal communities persisted above 5% impervious cover and were dominated by motile taxa (sediment resistant) and those with high nutrient demands. Boosted regression tree analysis showed that sites with >65% and ideally >80% forest and wetland cover in near-stream buffers were associated with a 13-34% decrease in the effects of watershed impervious cover on algal communities. While this reduction is substantial, additional out-of-stream management efforts are needed to protect and restore stream ecosystems (e.g., created wetlands and stormwater ponds), but understanding their effectiveness is greatly limited by sparse ecological monitoring. Our meta-analysis found that restoration improved ecological structure and functions in streams by 48% and 14%, respectively, when compared to streams with developed watersheds and no management practices in place. However, ecosystem measures at restored sites were still only 53% of those in minimally disturbed reference streams. Some of our ongoing work further examines how watershed development and riparian condition affect stream ecosystem functions by altering the sources and delivery of nutrients and carbon. Our results can help inform management priorities and expectations, and they emphasize the importance of implementing mindful development and protective actions in a watershed context, especially in watersheds near impervious cover thresholds. Continued research on linked terrestrial-aquatic systems, improved BMP tracking, and ongoing monitoring will be essential to conserving and restoring the mechanisms that sustain valued ecological attributes and ecosystem services of streams.
Woody plant communities along urban, suburban, and rural streams in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
R. Jonathan White; Margaret M. Carreiro; Wayne C. Zipperer
2014-01-01
Anthropogenic changes in land use and cover (LULC) in stream catchments can alter the composition of riparian plant communities, which can affect ecosystem functions of riparian areas and streams from local to landscape scales.We conducted a study to determine if woody plant species composition and abundance along headwater streams were correlated with categorical and...
The importance of wood in headwater streams of the Oregon Coast Range
May, Christine; Gresswell, Robert E.; Erickson, Janet L.
2004-01-01
Although headwater streams comprise the majority of stream length in mountainous regions, little is known about their form and function in comparison to higher-order rivers. A better understanding of the role of headwater streams in routing water, wood, and sediment is needed to clarify the physical and biological connections among uplands, riparian zones, and downstream reaches.
Emma L. Witt; Christopher D. Barton; Jeffrey W. Stringer; Daniel W. Bowker; Randall K. Kolka
2011-01-01
Most states in the United States have established forestry best management practices to protect water quality and maintain aquatic habitat in streams. However, guidelines are generally focused on minimizing impacts to perennial streams. Ephemeral channels (or streams), which function as important delivery systems for carbon, nutrients, and sediment to perennial streams...
PROCESS TRANSFER FUNCTIONS TO RELATE STREAM ECOLOGICAL CONDITION METRICS TO NITRATE RETENTION
Ecologists have developed hydrological metrics to characterize the nutrient processing capability of streams. In most cases these are used qualitatively to draw inferences on ecological function. In this work, several of these metrics have been integrated in a nonsteady state adv...
Metathesis process for preparing an alpha, omega-functionalized olefin
Burdett, Kenneth A.; Mokhtarzadeh, Morteza; Timmers, Francis J.
2010-10-12
A cross-metathesis process for preparing an .alpha.,.omega.-functionalized olefin, such as methyl 9-decenoate, and an .alpha.-olefin having three or more carbon atoms, such as 1-decene. The process involves contacting in a first reaction zone an .alpha.-functionalized internal olefin, such as methyl oleate, and an .alpha.-olefinic monomer having three or more carbon atoms, such as 1-decene, with a first metathesis catalyst to prepare an effluent stream containing the .alpha.,.omega.-functionalized olefin, such as methyl 9-decenoate, an unfunctionalized internal olefin, such as 9-octadecene, unconverted reactant olefins, and optionally, an .alpha.,.omega.-difunctionalized internal olefinic dimer, such as dimethyl 9-octadecen-1,18-dioate; separating said effluent streams; then contacting in a second reaction zone the unfunctionalized internal olefin with ethylene in the presence of a second metathesis catalyst to obtain a second product effluent containing the .alpha.-olefinic monomer having three or more carbon atoms; and cycling a portion of the .alpha.-olefinic monomer stream(s) to the first zone.
Hydrology and Hyporheic Nitrogen Biogeochemistry in a Geomorphically Degraded Urban Stream
Few studies have investigated the relationship between hydrology and nitrogen biogeochemistry in hyporheic zones of degraded urban streams despite significant national efforts to restore such streams in attempts to improve the nutrient uptake functions in these ecosystems. We ex...
rapid assessments provided in this guidebook utilize structural components of streams and their watershed and can be used in conjunction with assessment of water quality and biotic communities if desired.
Simulated variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bentsen, M.; Drange, H.; Furevik, T.; Zhou, T.
To examine the multi-annual to decadal scale variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) we conducted a four-member ensemble with a daily reanalysis forced, medium-resolution global version of the isopycnic coordinate ocean model MICOM, and a 300-years integration with the fully coupled Bergen Climate Model (BCM). The simulations of the AMOC with both model systems yield a long-term mean value of 18 Sv and decadal variability with an amplitude of 1-3 Sv. The power spectrum of the inter-annual to decadal scale variability of the AMOC in BCM generally follows the theoretical red noise spectrum, with indications of increased power near the 20-years period. Comparison with observational proxy indices for the AMOC, e.g. the thickness of the Labrador Sea Water, the strength of the baroclinic gyre circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean, and the surface temperature anomalies along the mean path of the Gulf Stream, shows similar trends and phasing of the variability, indicating that the simulated AMOC variability is robust and real. Mixing indices have been constructed for the Labrador, the Irminger and the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian (GIN) seas. While convective mixing in the Labrador and the GIN seas are in opposite phase, and linked to the NAO as observations suggest, the convective mixing in the Irminger Sea is in phase with or leads the Labrador Sea. Newly formed deep water is seen as a slow, anomalous cold and fresh, plume flowing southward along the western continental slope of the Atlantic Ocean, with a return flow of warm and saline water on the surface. In addition, fast-travelling topographically trapped waves propagate southward along the continental slope towards equator, where they go east and continue along the eastern rim of the Atlantic. For both types of experiments, the Northern Hemisphere sea level pressure and 2 m temperature anomaly patterns computed based on the difference between climate states with strong and weak AMOC yields a NAO-like pattern with intensified Icelandic low and Azores high, and a warming of 0.25-0.5 °C of the central North Atlantic sea-surface temperature (SST). The reanalysis forced simulations indicate a coupling between the Labrador Sea Water production rate and an equatorial Atlantic SST index in accordance with observations. This coupling is not identified in the coupled simulation.
2010-07-01
VCCANOPY applies to the habitat function only. Channel canopy cover affects the temperature, nutrient cycling, and habitat of riparian and stream...altering amphibian habitat. Changes in canopy cover and composition affect the quality of stream inputs from the riparian zone (Wipfli et al. 2007) and the...systems (Mulholland 1992). Riparian plant communities provide habitat and are affected by canopy shading, with shade-tolerant species germinating
streamgap-pepper: Effects of peppering streams with many small impacts
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bovy, Jo; Erkal, Denis; Sanders, Jason
2017-02-01
streamgap-pepper computes the effect of subhalo fly-bys on cold tidal streams based on the action-angle representation of streams. A line-of-parallel-angle approach is used to calculate the perturbed distribution function of a given stream segment by undoing the effect of all impacts. This approach allows one to compute the perturbed stream density and track in any coordinate system in minutes for realizations of the subhalo distribution down to 10^5 Msun, accounting for the stream's internal dispersion and overlapping impacts. This code uses galpy (ascl:1411.008) and the streampepperdf.py galpy extension, which implements the fast calculation of the perturbed stream structure.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Heng, Kevin; Kitzmann, Daniel, E-mail: kevin.heng@csh.unibe.ch, E-mail: daniel.kitzmann@csh.unibe.ch
We present a novel generalization of the two-stream method of radiative transfer, which allows for the accurate treatment of radiative transfer in the presence of strong infrared scattering by aerosols. We prove that this generalization involves only a simple modification of the coupling coefficients and transmission functions in the hemispheric two-stream method. This modification originates from allowing the ratio of the first Eddington coefficients to depart from unity. At the heart of the method is the fact that this ratio may be computed once and for all over the entire range of values of the single-scattering albedo and scattering asymmetrymore » factor. We benchmark our improved two-stream method by calculating the fraction of flux reflected by a single atmospheric layer (the reflectivity) and comparing these calculations to those performed using a 32-stream discrete-ordinates method. We further compare our improved two-stream method to the two-stream source function (16 streams) and delta-Eddington methods, demonstrating that it is often more accurate at the order-of-magnitude level. Finally, we illustrate its accuracy using a toy model of the early Martian atmosphere hosting a cloud layer composed of carbon dioxide ice particles. The simplicity of implementation and accuracy of our improved two-stream method renders it suitable for implementation in three-dimensional general circulation models. In other words, our improved two-stream method has the ease of implementation of a standard two-stream method, but the accuracy of a 32-stream method.« less
Wang, Quanxin; Burkhalter, Andreas
2013-01-23
Previous studies of intracortical connections in mouse visual cortex have revealed two subnetworks that resemble the dorsal and ventral streams in primates. Although calcium imaging studies have shown that many areas of the ventral stream have high spatial acuity whereas areas of the dorsal stream are highly sensitive for transient visual stimuli, there are some functional inconsistencies that challenge a simple grouping into "what/perception" and "where/action" streams known in primates. The superior colliculus (SC) is a major center for processing of multimodal sensory information and the motor control of orienting the eyes, head, and body. Visual processing is performed in superficial layers, whereas premotor activity is generated in deep layers of the SC. Because the SC is known to receive input from visual cortex, we asked whether the projections from 10 visual areas of the dorsal and ventral streams terminate in differential depth profiles within the SC. We found that inputs from primary visual cortex are by far the strongest. Projections from the ventral stream were substantially weaker, whereas the sparsest input originated from areas of the dorsal stream. Importantly, we found that ventral stream inputs terminated in superficial layers, whereas dorsal stream inputs tended to be patchy and either projected equally to superficial and deep layers or strongly preferred deep layers. The results suggest that the anatomically defined ventral and dorsal streams contain areas that belong to distinct functional systems, specialized for the processing of visual information and visually guided action, respectively.
Impact of storm events on the structure of a stream microbiome
The microbial structural and/or functional state in a stream community is assumed to be in relative stasis until a perturbation (e.g., runoff event with entrained pollutants) affects the community structure and its functional state. Quantifying these changes and resolving the spe...
Influence of multi-scale hydrologic controls on river network connectivity and riparian function
The ecological functions of rivers and streams and their associated riparian zones are strongly influenced by surface and subsurface hydrologic routing of water within river basins and river networks. Hydrologic attributes of the riparian area for a given stream reach are typica...
Ecological Realism of U.S. EPA Experimental Stream Facility Studies
The USEPA’s Experimental Stream Facility (ESF) conducts meso-scale ecotoxicology studies that account for both structural and functional responses of whole stream communities to contaminants or other stressors. The 16 mesocosms of ESF are indoors and consist of a tiled run sectio...
Behavioral Measures of Auditory Streaming in Ferrets (Mustela putorius)
Ma, Ling; Yin, Pingbo; Micheyl, Christophe; Oxenham, Andrew J.; Shamma, Shihab A.
2015-01-01
An important aspect of the analysis of auditory “scenes” relates to the perceptual organization of sound sequences into auditory “streams.” In this study, we adapted two auditory perception tasks, used in recent human psychophysical studies, to obtain behavioral measures of auditory streaming in ferrets (Mustela putorius). One task involved the detection of shifts in the frequency of tones within an alternating tone sequence. The other task involved the detection of a stream of regularly repeating target tones embedded within a randomly varying multitone background. In both tasks, performance was measured as a function of various stimulus parameters, which previous psychophysical studies in humans have shown to influence auditory streaming. Ferret performance in the two tasks was found to vary as a function of these parameters in a way that is qualitatively consistent with the human data. These results suggest that auditory streaming occurs in ferrets, and that the two tasks described here may provide a valuable tool in future behavioral and neurophysiological studies of the phenomenon. PMID:20695663
Punctuated Shutdown of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during Greenland Stadial 1.
Hogg, Alan; Southon, John; Turney, Chris; Palmer, Jonathan; Bronk Ramsey, Christopher; Fenwick, Pavla; Boswijk, Gretel; Friedrich, Michael; Helle, Gerhard; Hughen, Konrad; Jones, Richard; Kromer, Bernd; Noronha, Alexandra; Reynard, Linda; Staff, Richard; Wacker, Lukas
2016-05-19
The Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; ~12.9 to 11.65 kyr cal BP) was a period of North Atlantic cooling, thought to have been initiated by North America fresh water runoff that caused a sustained reduction of North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), resulting in an antiphase temperature response between the hemispheres (the 'bipolar seesaw'). Here we exploit sub-fossil New Zealand kauri trees to report the first securely dated, decadally-resolved atmospheric radiocarbon ((14)C) record spanning GS-1. By precisely aligning Southern and Northern Hemisphere tree-ring (14)C records with marine (14)C sequences we document two relatively short periods of AMOC collapse during the stadial, at ~12,920-12,640 cal BP and 12,050-11,900 cal BP. In addition, our data show that the interhemispheric atmospheric (14)C offset was close to zero prior to GS-1, before reaching 'near-modern' values at ~12,660 cal BP, consistent with synchronous recovery of overturning in both hemispheres and increased Southern Ocean ventilation. Hence, sustained North Atlantic cooling across GS-1 was not driven by a prolonged AMOC reduction but probably due to an equatorward migration of the Polar Front, reducing the advection of southwesterly air masses to high latitudes. Our findings suggest opposing hemispheric temperature trends were driven by atmospheric teleconnections, rather than AMOC changes.
Punctuated Shutdown of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during Greenland Stadial 1
Hogg, Alan; Southon, John; Turney, Chris; Palmer, Jonathan; Bronk Ramsey, Christopher; Fenwick, Pavla; Boswijk, Gretel; Friedrich, Michael; Helle, Gerhard; Hughen, Konrad; Jones, Richard; Kromer, Bernd; Noronha, Alexandra; Reynard, Linda; Staff, Richard; Wacker, Lukas
2016-01-01
The Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; ~12.9 to 11.65 kyr cal BP) was a period of North Atlantic cooling, thought to have been initiated by North America fresh water runoff that caused a sustained reduction of North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), resulting in an antiphase temperature response between the hemispheres (the ‘bipolar seesaw’). Here we exploit sub-fossil New Zealand kauri trees to report the first securely dated, decadally-resolved atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) record spanning GS-1. By precisely aligning Southern and Northern Hemisphere tree-ring 14C records with marine 14C sequences we document two relatively short periods of AMOC collapse during the stadial, at ~12,920-12,640 cal BP and 12,050-11,900 cal BP. In addition, our data show that the interhemispheric atmospheric 14C offset was close to zero prior to GS-1, before reaching ‘near-modern’ values at ~12,660 cal BP, consistent with synchronous recovery of overturning in both hemispheres and increased Southern Ocean ventilation. Hence, sustained North Atlantic cooling across GS-1 was not driven by a prolonged AMOC reduction but probably due to an equatorward migration of the Polar Front, reducing the advection of southwesterly air masses to high latitudes. Our findings suggest opposing hemispheric temperature trends were driven by atmospheric teleconnections, rather than AMOC changes. PMID:27194601
Eastern Pacific cooling and Atlantic overturning circulation during the last deglaciation.
Kienast, Markus; Kienast, Stephanie S; Calvert, Stephen E; Eglinton, Timothy I; Mollenhauer, Gesine; François, Roger; Mix, Alan C
2006-10-19
Surface ocean conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean could hold the clue to whether millennial-scale global climate change during glacial times was initiated through tropical ocean-atmosphere feedbacks or by changes in the Atlantic thermohaline circulation. North Atlantic cold periods during Heinrich events and millennial-scale cold events (stadials) have been linked with climatic changes in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and South America, as well as the Indian and East Asian monsoon systems, but not with tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures. Here we present a high-resolution record of sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific derived from alkenone unsaturation measurements. Our data show a temperature drop of approximately 1 degrees C, synchronous (within dating uncertainties) with the shutdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich event 1, and a smaller temperature drop of approximately 0.5 degrees C synchronous with the smaller reduction in the overturning circulation during the Younger Dryas event. Both cold events coincide with maxima in surface ocean productivity as inferred from 230Th-normalized carbon burial fluxes, suggesting increased upwelling at the time. From the concurrence of equatorial Pacific cooling with the two North Atlantic cold periods during deglaciation, we conclude that these millennial-scale climate changes were probably driven by a reorganization of the oceans' thermohaline circulation, although possibly amplified by tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction as suggested before.
Petrology and Physics of Magma Ocean Crystallization
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.; Parmentier, E. M.; Hess, P. C.
2003-01-01
Early Mars is thought to have been melted significantly by the conversion of kinetic energy to heat during accretion of planetesimals. The processes of solidification of a magma ocean determine initial planetary compositional differentiation and the stability of the resulting mantle density profile. The stability and compositional heterogeneity of the mantle have significance for magmatic source regions, convective instability, and magnetic field generation. Significant progress on the dynamical problem of magma ocean crystallization has been made by a number of workers. The work done under the 2003 MFRP grant further explored the implications of early physical processes on compositional heterogeneity in Mars. Our goals were to connect early physical processes in Mars evolution with the present planet's most ancient observable characteristics, including the early, strong magnetic field, the crustal dichotomy, and the compositional characteristics of the SNC meteorite's source regions as well as their formation as isotopically distinct compositions early in Mars's evolution. We had already established a possible relationship between the major element compositions of SNC meteorite sources and processes of Martian magma ocean crystallization and overturn, and under this grant extended the analysis to the crucial trace element and isotopic SNC signatures. This study then demonstrated the ability to create and end the magnetic field through magma ocean cumulate overturn and subsequent cooling, as well as the feasibility of creating a compositionally- and volumetrically-consistent crustal dichotomy through mode-1 overturn and simultaneous adiabatic melting.
Uthman, Olalekan A; van der Windt, Danielle A; Jordan, Joanne L; Dziedzic, Krysia S; Healey, Emma L; Peat, George M; Foster, Nadine E
2014-11-01
Which types of exercise intervention are most effective in relieving pain and improving function in people with lower limb osteoarthritis? As of 2002 sufficient evidence had accumulated to show significant benefit of exercise over no exercise. An approach combining exercises to increase strength, flexibility, and aerobic capacity is most likely to be effective for relieving pain and improving function. Current international guidelines recommend therapeutic exercise (land or water based) as "core" and effective management of osteoarthritis. Evidence from this first network meta-analysis, largely based on studies in knee osteoarthritis, indicates that an intervention combining strengthening exercises with flexibility and aerobic exercise is most likely to improve outcomes of pain and function. Further trials of exercise versus no exercise are unlikely to overturn this positive result. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
Ecoregions and stream morphology in eastern Oklahoma
Splinter, D.K.; Dauwalter, D.C.; Marston, R.A.; Fisher, W.L.
2010-01-01
Broad-scale variables (i.e., geology, topography, climate, land use, vegetation, and soils) influence channel morphology. How and to what extent the longitudinal pattern of channel morphology is influenced by broad-scale variables is important to fluvial geomorphologists and stream ecologists. In the last couple of decades, there has been an increase in the amount of interdisciplinary research between fluvial geomorphologists and stream ecologists. In a historical context, fluvial geomorphologists are more apt to use physiographic regions to distinguish broad-scale variables, while stream ecologists are more apt to use the concept of an ecosystem to address the broad-scale variables that influence stream habitat. For this reason, we designed a study using ecoregions, which uses physical and biological variables to understand how landscapes influence channel processes. Ecoregions are delineated by similarities in geology, climate, soils, land use, and potential natural vegetation. In the fluvial system, stream form and function are dictated by processes observed throughout the fluvial hierarchy. Recognizing that stream form and function should differ by ecoregion, a study was designed to evaluate how the characteristics of stream channels differed longitudinally among three ecoregions in eastern Oklahoma, USA: Boston Mountains, Ozark Highlands, and Ouachita Mountains. Channel morphology of 149 stream reaches was surveyed in 1st- through 4th-order streams, and effects of drainage area and ecoregion on channel morphology was evaluated using multiple regressions. Differences existed (?????0.05) among ecoregions for particle size, bankfull width, and width/depth ratio. No differences existed among ecoregions for gradient or sinuosity. Particle size was smallest in the Ozark Highlands and largest in the Ouachita Mountains. Bankfull width was larger in the Ozark Highlands than in the Boston Mountains and Ouachita Mountains in larger streams. Width/depth ratios of the Boston Mountains and Ozark Highlands were not statistically different. Significant differences existed, however, between the Boston Mountains and Ozark Highlands when compared individually to the Ouachita Mountains. We found that ecoregions afforded a good spatial structure that can help in understanding longitudinal trends in stream reach morphology surveyed at the reach scale. The hierarchy of the fluvial system begins within a broad, relatively homogenous setting that imparts control on processes that affect stream function. Ecoregions provide an adequate regional division to begin a large-scale geomorphic study of processes in stream channels. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.
James R. Thibault; Douglas L. Moyer; Clifford N. Dahm; H. Maurice Valett; Michael C. Marshall
1999-01-01
Land-use practices such as livestock grazing influence the structure and function of riparian/stream ecosystems. In New Mexico, four streams were selected to determine the impact of moderate livestock grazing on morphology, solute transport, and nutrient retention. Each stream contained a reach currently exposed to grazing and an exclosed, ungrazed reach. Channel width...
Gothe, Emma; Sandin, Leonard; Allen, Craig R.; Angeler, David G.
2014-01-01
The distribution of functional traits within and across spatiotemporal scales has been used to quantify and infer the relative resilience across ecosystems. We use explicit spatial modeling to evaluate within- and cross-scale redundancy in headwater streams, an ecosystem type with a hierarchical and dendritic network structure. We assessed the cross-scale distribution of functional feeding groups of benthic invertebrates in Swedish headwater streams during two seasons. We evaluated functional metrics, i.e., Shannon diversity, richness, and evenness, and the degree of redundancy within and across modeled spatial scales for individual feeding groups. We also estimated the correlates of environmental versus spatial factors of both functional composition and the taxonomic composition of functional groups for each spatial scale identified. Measures of functional diversity and within-scale redundancy of functions were similar during both seasons, but both within- and cross-scale redundancy were low. This apparent low redundancy was partly attributable to a few dominant taxa explaining the spatial models. However, rare taxa with stochastic spatial distributions might provide additional information and should therefore be considered explicitly for complementing future resilience assessments. Otherwise, resilience may be underestimated. Finally, both environmental and spatial factors correlated with the scale-specific functional and taxonomic composition. This finding suggests that resilience in stream networks emerges as a function of not only local conditions but also regional factors such as habitat connectivity and invertebrate dispersal.
In Vivo Reprogramming for CNS Repair: Regenerating Neurons from Endogenous Glial Cells
Li, Hedong; Chen, Gong
2017-01-01
Neuroregeneration in the central nervous system (CNS) has proven to be difficult despite decades of research. The old dogma that CNS neurons cannot be regenerated in the adult mammalian brain has been overturned; however, endogenous adult neurogenesis appears to be insufficient for brain repair. Stem cell therapy once held promise for generating large quantities of neurons in the CNS, but immunorejection and long-term functional integration remain major hurdles. In this perspective, we discuss the use of in vivo reprogramming as an emerging technology to regenerate functional neurons from endogenous glial cells inside the brain and spinal cord. Besides the CNS, in vivo reprogramming has been demonstrated successfully in the pancreas, heart and liver, and may be adopted in other organs. Although challenges remain for translating this technology into clinical therapies, we anticipate that in vivo reprogramming may revolutionize regenerative medicine by using a patient’s own internal cells for tissue repair. PMID:27537482
Mapping the core of the Arabidopsis circadian clock defines the network structure of the oscillator.
Huang, W; Pérez-García, P; Pokhilko, A; Millar, A J; Antoshechkin, I; Riechmann, J L; Mas, P
2012-04-06
In many organisms, the circadian clock is composed of functionally coupled morning and evening oscillators. In Arabidopsis, oscillator coupling relies on a core loop in which the evening oscillator component TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1 (TOC1) was proposed to activate a subset of morning-expressed oscillator genes. Here, we show that TOC1 does not function as an activator but rather as a general repressor of oscillator gene expression. Repression occurs through TOC1 rhythmic association to the promoters of the oscillator genes. Hormone-dependent induction of TOC1 and analysis of RNA interference plants show that TOC1 prevents the activation of morning-expressed genes at night. Our study overturns the prevailing model of the Arabidopsis circadian clock, showing that the morning and evening oscillator loops are connected through the repressing activity of TOC1.
Commensal Fungi Recapitulate the Protective Benefits of Intestinal Bacteria.
Jiang, Tony T; Shao, Tzu-Yu; Ang, W X Gladys; Kinder, Jeremy M; Turner, Lucien H; Pham, Giang; Whitt, Jordan; Alenghat, Theresa; Way, Sing Sing
2017-12-13
Commensal intestinal microbes are collectively beneficial in preventing local tissue injury and augmenting systemic antimicrobial immunity. However, given the near-exclusive focus on bacterial species in establishing these protective benefits, the contributions of other types of commensal microbes remain poorly defined. Here, we show that commensal fungi can functionally replace intestinal bacteria by conferring protection against injury to mucosal tissues and positively calibrating the responsiveness of circulating immune cells. Susceptibility to colitis and influenza A virus infection occurring upon commensal bacteria eradication is efficiently overturned by mono-colonization with either Candida albicans or Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The protective benefits of commensal fungi are mediated by mannans, a highly conserved component of fungal cell walls, since intestinal stimulation with this moiety alone overrides disease susceptibility in mice depleted of commensal bacteria. Thus, commensal enteric fungi safeguard local and systemic immunity by providing tonic microbial stimulation that can functionally replace intestinal bacteria. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Coherent Motion Sensitivity Predicts Individual Differences in Subtraction
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boets, Bart; De Smedt, Bert; Ghesquiere, Pol
2011-01-01
Recent findings suggest deficits in coherent motion sensitivity, an index of visual dorsal stream functioning, in children with poor mathematical skills or dyscalculia, a specific learning disability in mathematics. We extended these data using a longitudinal design to unravel whether visual dorsal stream functioning is able to "predict"…
EFFECTS OF COPPER ON COMMUNITY, FUNCTIONAL, AND BEHAVIORAL ENDPOINTS IN AN ARTIFICIAL STREAM STUDY
A study of the effects of copper on biota and behavioral endpoints was carried out at the U.S. EPA's Experimental Stream Facility (ESF), Milford OH. The objective of the study was to identify relationships between structural (macrobenthos and periphyton indices), functional (inte...
Downstream variation in bankfull width of wadeable streams across the conterminous United States
Bankfull channel width is a fundamental measure of stream size and a key parameter of interest for many applications in hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and stream ecology. We developed downstream hydraulic geometry relationships for bankfull channel width w as a function of dra...
Headwater streams dominate natural landscapes and provide essential functions for downstream waters. However, because of minimal legal protection, they often are piped or buried to accommodate urban growth. Urbanization also alters stream base flows. The combined impact of these ...
Sensation-to-cognition cortical streams in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Carmona, Susana; Hoekzema, Elseline; Castellanos, Francisco X; García-García, David; Lage-Castellanos, Agustín; Van Dijk, Koene R A; Navas-Sánchez, Francisco J; Martínez, Kenia; Desco, Manuel; Sepulcre, Jorge
2015-07-01
We sought to determine whether functional connectivity streams that link sensory, attentional, and higher-order cognitive circuits are atypical in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We applied a graph-theory method to the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 120 children with ADHD and 120 age-matched typically developing children (TDC). Starting in unimodal primary cortex-visual, auditory, and somatosensory-we used stepwise functional connectivity to calculate functional connectivity paths at discrete numbers of relay stations (or link-step distances). First, we characterized the functional connectivity streams that link sensory, attentional, and higher-order cognitive circuits in TDC and found that systems do not reach the level of integration achieved by adults. Second, we searched for stepwise functional connectivity differences between children with ADHD and TDC. We found that, at the initial steps of sensory functional connectivity streams, patients display significant enhancements of connectivity degree within neighboring areas of primary cortex, while connectivity to attention-regulatory areas is reduced. Third, at subsequent link-step distances from primary sensory cortex, children with ADHD show decreased connectivity to executive processing areas and increased degree of connections to default mode regions. Fourth, in examining medication histories in children with ADHD, we found that children medicated with psychostimulants present functional connectivity streams with higher degree of connectivity to regions subserving attentional and executive processes compared to medication-naïve children. We conclude that predominance of local sensory processing and lesser influx of information to attentional and executive regions may reduce the ability to organize and control the balance between external and internal sources of information in ADHD. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Linear perturbation theory for tidal streams and the small-scale CDM power spectrum
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bovy, Jo; Erkal, Denis; Sanders, Jason L.
2017-04-01
Tidal streams in the Milky Way are sensitive probes of the population of low-mass dark matter subhaloes predicted in cold dark matter (CDM) simulations. We present a new calculus for computing the effect of subhalo fly-bys on cold streams based on the action-angle representation of streams. The heart of this calculus is a line-of-parallel-angle approach that calculates the perturbed distribution function of a stream segment by undoing the effect of all relevant impacts. This approach allows one to compute the perturbed stream density and track in any coordinate system in minutes for realizations of the subhalo distribution down to 105 M⊙, accounting for the stream's internal dispersion and overlapping impacts. We study the statistical properties of density and track fluctuations with large suites of simulations of the effect of subhalo fly-bys. The one-dimensional density and track power spectra along the stream trace the subhalo mass function, with higher mass subhaloes producing power only on large scales, while lower mass subhaloes cause structure on smaller scales. We also find significant density and track bispectra that are observationally accessible. We further demonstrate that different projections of the track all reflect the same pattern of perturbations, facilitating their observational measurement. We apply this formalism to data for the Pal 5 stream and make a first rigorous determination of 10^{+11}_{-6} dark matter subhaloes with masses between 106.5 and 109 M⊙ within 20 kpc from the Galactic centre [corresponding to 1.4^{+1.6}_{-0.9} times the number predicted by CDM-only simulations or to fsub(r < 20 kpc) ≈ 0.2 per cent] assuming that the Pal 5 stream is 5 Gyr old. Improved data will allow measurements of the subhalo mass function down to 105 M⊙, thus definitively testing whether dark matter is clumpy on the smallest scales relevant for galaxy formation.
Dissolved Organic Carbon in the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
Fontela, Marcos; García-Ibáñez, Maribel I; Hansell, Dennis A; Mercier, Herlé; Pérez, Fiz F
2016-05-31
The quantitative role of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export is evaluated by combining DOC measurements with observed water mass transports. In the eastern subpolar North Atlantic, both upper and lower limbs of the AMOC transport high-DOC waters. Deep water formation that connects the two limbs of the AMOC results in a high downward export of non-refractory DOC (197 Tg-C·yr(-1)). Subsequent remineralization in the lower limb of the AMOC, between subpolar and subtropical latitudes, consumes 72% of the DOC exported by the whole Atlantic Ocean. The contribution of DOC to the carbon sequestration in the North Atlantic Ocean (62 Tg-C·yr(-1)) is considerable and represents almost a third of the atmospheric CO2 uptake in the region.
Dissolved Organic Carbon in the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Fontela, Marcos; García-Ibáñez, Maribel I.; Hansell, Dennis A.; Mercier, Herlé; Pérez, Fiz F.
2016-01-01
The quantitative role of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export is evaluated by combining DOC measurements with observed water mass transports. In the eastern subpolar North Atlantic, both upper and lower limbs of the AMOC transport high-DOC waters. Deep water formation that connects the two limbs of the AMOC results in a high downward export of non-refractory DOC (197 Tg-C·yr−1). Subsequent remineralization in the lower limb of the AMOC, between subpolar and subtropical latitudes, consumes 72% of the DOC exported by the whole Atlantic Ocean. The contribution of DOC to the carbon sequestration in the North Atlantic Ocean (62 Tg-C·yr−1) is considerable and represents almost a third of the atmospheric CO2 uptake in the region. PMID:27240625
Srokosz, M A; Bryden, H L
2015-06-19
The importance of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) heat transport for climate is well acknowledged. Climate models predict that the AMOC will slow down under global warming, with substantial impacts, but measurements of ocean circulation have been inadequate to evaluate these predictions. Observations over the past decade have changed that situation, providing a detailed picture of variations in the AMOC. These observations reveal a surprising degree of AMOC variability in terms of the intraannual range, the amplitude and phase of the seasonal cycle, the interannual changes in strength affecting the ocean heat content, and the decline of the AMOC over the decade, both of the latter two exceeding the variations seen in climate models. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Whatever happened to the 'mad, bad' scientist? Overturning the stereotype.
Haynes, Roslynn D
2016-01-01
The cluster of myths relating to the pursuit of knowledge has perpetuated the archetype of the alchemist/scientist as sinister, dangerous, possibly mad and threatening to society's values. Shelley's Frankenstein provided imagery and a vocabulary universally invoked in relation to scientific discoveries and technological innovation. The reasons for the longevity of this seemingly antiquated, semiotic imagery are discussed. In the twenty-first century, this stereotype has been radically revised, even overturned. Scientists are now rarely objects of fear or mockery. Mathematicians, both real-life and fictional, are discussed here as being representative of scientists now depicted empathically. This article examines possible sociological reasons for this reversal; what the revisionist image suggests about society's changed attitudes to science; and what might be the substitute fears and sources of horror. © The Author(s) 2014.
Arroita, Maite; Aristi, Ibon; Flores, Lorea; Larrañaga, Aitor; Díez, Joserra; Mora, Juanita; Romaní, Anna M; Elosegi, Arturo
2012-12-01
Breakdown of organic matter is a key process in streams and rivers, and thus, it has potential to assess functional impairment of river ecosystems. Because the litter-bag method commonly used to measure leaf breakdown is time consuming and expensive, several authors proposed to measure breakdown of wooden sticks instead. Nevertheless, currently there is little information on the performance of wooden sticks versus that of leaves. We compared the breakdown of tongue depressors made of untreated poplar wood, to that of six common leaf species in two large streams in the Basque Country (northern Spain), one polluted and the other unpolluted. Breakdown rates ranged from 0.0011 to 0.0120 day(-1), and were significantly lower in the polluted stream. Wooden sticks performed very similarly to leaves, but were less affected by flood-induced physical abrasion. The ranking of the materials according to their breakdown rate was consistent, irrespective of the stream. The experiments with leaves were 10 times more costly for breakdown rate, 4 times if we include the rest of the variables measured. Therefore wooden sticks offer a promising tool to assess river ecosystem functioning, although more research is necessary to define the thresholds for ecosystem functional impairment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Ross, R.M.; Bennett, R.M.; Snyder, C.D.; Young, J.A.; Smith, D.R.; Lemarie, D.P.
2003-01-01
Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) forest of the eastern U.S. are in decline due to invasion by the exotic insect hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Aquatic biodiversity in hemlock ecosystems has not been documented; thus the true impact of the infestation cannot be assessed. We compared ichthyofaunal assemblages and trophic structure of streams draining hemlock and hardwood forests by sampling first- and second-order streams draining 14 paired hemlock and hardwood stands during base flows in July 1997 at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Over 1400 fish of 15 species and 7 families were collected, but hemlock and hardwood streams individually harbored only one to four species. Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) were two to three times as prevalent in hemlock than hardwood streams. Insectivorous fishes occurred in significantly higher proportion in streams of hardwood (0.90) than hemlock (0.46) stands, while piscivores occurred more often in hemlock (0.85) than hardwood (0.54) stands. Functional (trophic) diversity of fishes in hemlock and second-order streams was numerically greater than that of hardwood and first-order streams. Species composition also differed by stream order and terrain type. Biodiversity is threatened at several levels within hemlock ecosystems at risk to the hemlock woolly adelgid in eastern U.S. forests.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Battin, Tom J.; Dzubakova, Katharina; Boodoo, Kyle; Ulseth, Amber
2017-04-01
Streams and rivers are increasingly exposed to environmental change across various spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, ecosystem health and integrity are becoming compromised. Most management strategies designed to recover and maintain stream ecosystem health involve engineering measures of geomorphology. The success of such engineering measures relies on a thorough understanding of the underlying physical, chemical and biological process coupling across scales. First, we present results from experimental work unraveling the relevance of streambed heterogeneity for the resilience of phototrophic biofilms. This is critical as phototrophic biofilms are key for nutrient removal and hence for keeping the water clean. These biofilms are also the machinery of primary production and related carbon fluxes in stream ecosystems. Next, we show how climate change may affect primary production, including CO2, in streams and the networks they form. In fact, streams are now recognized as major sources of CO2 to the atmosphere and contributors to the global carbon cycle. Despite this, we do not yet understand how geomorphological features, themselves continuously reworked by hydrology and sedimentary dynamics, affect CO2 fluxes in streams. We show that gravel bars, clearly conspicuous geomorphological features, are hotspots of CO2 fluxes compared to the streamwater itself. This has major implications for carbon cycling and stream ecosystem functioning. Finally, we discuss what stream management could learn from ecohydraulic insights from young scientists doing excellent basic research.
Edgeworth streaming model for redshift space distortions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Uhlemann, Cora; Kopp, Michael; Haugg, Thomas
2015-09-01
We derive the Edgeworth streaming model (ESM) for the redshift space correlation function starting from an arbitrary distribution function for biased tracers of dark matter by considering its two-point statistics and show that it reduces to the Gaussian streaming model (GSM) when neglecting non-Gaussianities. We test the accuracy of the GSM and ESM independent of perturbation theory using the Horizon Run 2 N -body halo catalog. While the monopole of the redshift space halo correlation function is well described by the GSM, higher multipoles improve upon including the leading order non-Gaussian correction in the ESM: the GSM quadrupole breaks down on scales below 30 Mpc /h whereas the ESM stays accurate to 2% within statistical errors down to 10 Mpc /h . To predict the scale-dependent functions entering the streaming model we employ convolution Lagrangian perturbation theory (CLPT) based on the dust model and local Lagrangian bias. Since dark matter halos carry an intrinsic length scale given by their Lagrangian radius, we extend CLPT to the coarse-grained dust model and consider two different smoothing approaches operating in Eulerian and Lagrangian space, respectively. The coarse graining in Eulerian space features modified fluid dynamics different from dust while the coarse graining in Lagrangian space is performed in the initial conditions with subsequent single-streaming dust dynamics, implemented by smoothing the initial power spectrum in the spirit of the truncated Zel'dovich approximation. Finally, we compare the predictions of the different coarse-grained models for the streaming model ingredients to N -body measurements and comment on the proper choice of both the tracer distribution function and the smoothing scale. Since the perturbative methods we considered are not yet accurate enough on small scales, the GSM is sufficient when applied to perturbation theory.
Experimental Analysis of Cell Function Using Cytoplasmic Streaming
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Janssens, Peter; Waldhuber, Megan
2012-01-01
This laboratory exercise investigates the phenomenon of cytoplasmic streaming in the fresh water alga "Nitella". Students use the fungal toxin cytochalasin D, an inhibitor of actin polymerization, to investigate the mechanism of streaming. Students use simple statistical methods to analyze their data. Typical student data are provided. (Contains 3…
The effect of timber harvesting on streams is assessed using two measures of ecosystem function: nutrient ad community metabolism. This research is being conducted in streams of the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, the Cascad...
Dong, Xiaoyu; Li, Bin; He, Fengzhi; Gu, Yuan; Sun, Meiqin; Zhang, Haomiao; Tan, Lu; Xiao, Wen; Liu, Shuoran; Cai, Qinghua
2016-04-19
Stream metacommunities are structured by a combination of local (environmental filtering) and regional (dispersal) processes. The unique characters of high mountain streams could potentially determine metacommunity structuring, which is currently poorly understood. Aiming at understanding how these characters influenced metacommunity structuring, we explored the relative importance of local environmental conditions and various dispersal processes, including through geographical (overland), topographical (across mountain barriers) and network (along flow direction) pathways in shaping benthic diatom communities. From a trait perspective, diatoms were categorized into high-profile, low-profile and motile guild to examine the roles of functional traits. Our results indicated that both environmental filtering and dispersal processes influenced metacommunity structuring, with dispersal contributing more than environmental processes. Among the three pathways, stream corridors were primary pathway. Deconstructive analysis suggested different responses to environmental and spatial factors for each of three ecological guilds. However, regardless of traits, dispersal among streams was limited by mountain barriers, while dispersal along stream was promoted by rushing flow in high mountain stream. Our results highlighted that directional processes had prevailing effects on metacommunity structuring in high mountain streams. Flow directionality, mountain barriers and ecological guilds contributed to a better understanding of the roles that mountains played in structuring metacommunity.
Comparisons of fish species traits from small streams to large rivers
Goldstein, R.M.; Meador, M.R.
2004-01-01
To examine the relations between fish community function and stream size, we classified 429 lotic freshwater fish species based on multiple categories within six species traits: (1) substrate preference, (2) geomorphic preference, (3) trophic ecology, (4) locomotion morphology, (5) reproductive strategy, and (6) stream size preference. Stream size categories included small streams, small, medium, and large rivers, and no size preference. The frequencies of each species trait category were determined for each stream size category based on life history information from the literature. Cluster analysis revealed the presence of covarying groups of species trait categories. One cluster (RUN) included the traits of planktivore and herbivore feeding ecology, migratory reproductive behavior and broadcast spawning, preferences for main-channel habitats, and a lack of preferences for substrate type. The frequencies of classifications for the RUN cluster varied significantly across stream size categories (P = 0.009), being greater for large rivers than for small streams and rivers. Another cluster (RIFFLE) included the traits of invertivore feeding ecology, simple nester reproductive behavior, a preference for riffles, and a preference for bedrock, boulder, and cobble-rubble substrate. No significant differences in the frequency of classifications among stream size categories were detected for the RIFFLE cluster (P = 0.328). Our results suggest that fish community function is structured by large-scale differences in habitat and is different for large rivers than for small streams and rivers. Our findings support theoretical predictions of variation in species traits among stream reaches based on ecological frameworks such as landscape filters, habitat templates, and the river continuum concept. We believe that the species trait classifications presented here provide an opportunity for further examination of fish species' relations to physical, chemical, and biological factors in lotic habitats ranging from small streams to large rivers.
Diagnostic calculations of the circulation in the Martian atmosphere
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Santee, Michelle L.; Crisp, David
1995-01-01
The circulation of the Martian atmosphere during late southern summer is derived from atmospheric temperature and dust distributions retrieved from a subset of the Mariner 9 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) thermal emission spectra (LS = 343-348 deg) (Santee and Crisp, 1933). Zonal-mean zonal winds are calculated by assuming gradient wind balance and zero surface zonal wind. Both hemispheres have intense midlatitude westerly jets with velocities of 80-90 m/s near 50 km; in the southern tropics the winds are easterly with velocities of 40 m/s near 50 km. The net effect of the zonal-mean meridional circulation and large-scale waves can be approximated by the diabatic ciculation, which is defined from the atmospheric thermal structure and net radiative heating rates. The radiative transfer model described by Crisp (1990) and Santee (1993) is used to compute solar heating and thermal cooling rates from diurnal averages of the retrieved IRIS temperature and dust distributions. At pressures below 4 mbar, there are large net radiative heating rates (up to 5 K/d) in the equatorial region and large net radiative cooling rates (up to 12 K/d) in the polar regions. These net radiative heating rates are used in a diagnostic stream function model which solves for the meridonal and vertical components of the diabatic circulation simultaneously. We find a two cell circulation, with rising motion over the equator, poleward flow in both hemispheres, sinking motion over both polar regions, and return flow in the lowest atmospheric levels. The maximum poleward velocity is 3 m/s in the tropics at approximately 55 km altitude, and the maximum vertical velocity is 2.5 cm/s downward over the north pole at approximately 60 km altitude. If these large transport rates are sustained for an entire season, the Martian atmosphere above the 1-mbar level is overturned in about 38 days. This diabatic circulation is qualitatively similar to the terrestial diabatic circulation at the comparable season, but is more vigorous.
Diagnostic calculations of the circulation in the Martian atmosphere
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Santee, Michelle L.; Crisp, David
1995-03-01
The circulation of the Martian atmosphere during late southern summer is derived from atmospheric temperature and dust distributions retrieved from a subset of the Mariner 9 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) thermal emission spectra (LS = 343-348 deg) (Santee and Crisp, 1933). Zonal-mean zonal winds are calculated by assuming gradient wind balance and zero surface zonal wind. Both hemispheres have intense midlatitude westerly jets with velocities of 80-90 m/s near 50 km; in the southern tropics the winds are easterly with velocities of 40 m/s near 50 km. The net effect of the zonal-mean meridional circulation and large-scale waves can be approximated by the diabatic ciculation, which is defined from the atmospheric thermal structure and net radiative heating rates. The radiative transfer model described by Crisp (1990) and Santee (1993) is used to compute solar heating and thermal cooling rates from diurnal averages of the retrieved IRIS temperature and dust distributions. At pressures below 4 mbar, there are large net radiative heating rates (up to 5 K/d) in the equatorial region and large net radiative cooling rates (up to 12 K/d) in the polar regions. These net radiative heating rates are used in a diagnostic stream function model which solves for the meridonal and vertical components of the diabatic circulation simultaneously. We find a two cell circulation, with rising motion over the equator, poleward flow in both hemispheres, sinking motion over both polar regions, and return flow in the lowest atmospheric levels. The maximum poleward velocity is 3 m/s in the tropics at approximately 55 km altitude, and the maximum vertical velocity is 2.5 cm/s downward over the north pole at approximately 60 km altitude. If these large transport rates are sustained for an entire season, the Martian atmosphere above the 1-mbar level is overturned in about 38 days. This diabatic circulation is qualitatively similar to the terrestial diabatic circulation at the comparable season, but is more vigorous.
Diagnostic calculations of the circulation in the Martian atmosphere
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Santee, Michelle L.; Crisp, David
1995-01-01
The circulation of the Martian atmosphere during late southern summer is derived from atmospheric temperature and dust distributions retrieved from a subset of the Mariner 9 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) thermal emission spectra (L(sub s) = 343-348 deg). Zonal-mean zonal winds are calculated by assuming gradient wind balance and zero surface zonal wind. Both hemispheres have intense midlatitude westerly jets with velocities of 80-90 m/s near 50 km; in the southern tropics the winds are easterly with velocities of 40 m/s near 50 km. The net effect of the zonal mean meridional circulation and large-scale waves can be approximated by the diabatic circulation, which is defined from the atmospheric thermal structure and net radiative heating rates. The radiative transfer model described by Crisp (1990) and Santee (1993) is used to compute solar heating and thermal cooling rates from diurnal averages of the retrieved IRIS temperature and dust distributions. At pressures below 4 mbar, there are large net radiative heating rates (up to 5 K/d) in the equatorial region and large net radiative cooling rates (up to 12 K/d) in the polar regions. These net radiative heating rates are used in a diagnostic stream function model which solves for the meridional and vertical components of the diabatic circulation simultaneously. We find a two-cell circulation, with rising motion over the equator, poleward flow in both hemispheres, sinking motion over both polar regions, and return flow in the lowest atmospheric levels. The maximum poleward velocity is 3 m/s in the tropics at approx. 55 km altitude, and the maximum vertical velocity is 2.5 cm/s downward over the north pole at approx. 60 km altitude. If these large transport rates are sustained for an entire season, the Martian atmosphere above the 1-mbar level is overturned in about 38 days. This diabatic circulation is qualitatively similar to the terrestrial diabatic circulation at the comparable season, but is more vigorous.
The Function of Consciousness in Multisensory Integration
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Palmer, Terry D.; Ramsey, Ashley K.
2012-01-01
The function of consciousness was explored in two contexts of audio-visual speech, cross-modal visual attention guidance and McGurk cross-modal integration. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 utilized a novel cueing paradigm in which two different flash suppressed lip-streams cooccured with speech sounds matching one of these streams. A visual target was…
The relative importance of regional, watershed, and in-stream environmental factors on stream fish assemblage structure and function was investigated as part of a comparative watershed project in the western Lake Superior basin. We selected 48 second and third order watersheds fr...
The deep meridional overturning circulation in the Indian Ocean inferred from the GECCO synthesis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Weiqiang; Köhl, Armin; Stammer, Detlef
2012-11-01
The deep time-varying meridional overturning circulation (MOC) in the Indian Ocean in the German “Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean” consortium efforts (GECCO) ocean synthesis is being investigated. An analysis of the integrated circulation suggests that, on time average, 2.1 Sv enter the Indian Ocean in the bottom layer (>3200 m) from the south and that 12.3 Sv leave the Indian Ocean in the upper and intermediate layers (<1500 m), composed of the up-welled bottom layer inflow water, augmented by 9.6 Sv Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) water. The GECCO time-mean results differ substantially from those obtained by inverse box models, which being based on individual hydrographic sections and due to the strong seasonal cycle are susceptible to aliasing. The GECCO solution shows a large seasonal variation in its deep MOC caused by the seasonal reversal of monsoon-related wind stress forcing. The associated seasonal variations of the deep MOC range from -7 Sv in boreal winter to 3 Sv in summer. In addition, the upper and bottom transports across the 34°S section show pronounced interannual variability with roughly biennial variations superimposed by strong anomalies during each La Niña phase as well as the ITF, which mainly affect the upper layer transports. On decadal and longer timescale, the meridional overturning variability as well as long-term trends differs before and after 1980. GECCO shows a stable trend for the period 1960-1979 and substantial changes in the upper and bottom layer for the period 1980-2001. By means of an extended EOF analysis, the importance of Ekman dynamics as driving forces of the deep MOC of the Indian Ocean on the interannual timescale is highlighted. The leading modes of the zonal and meridional wind stress favour a basin-wide meridional overturning mode via Ekman upwelling or downwelling mostly in the central and eastern Indian Ocean. Moreover, tropical zonal wind stress along the equator and alongshore wind stress off the Sumatra-Java coast contribute to the evolution of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) events.
Global view of sea-ice production in polynyas and its linkage to dense/bottom water formation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ohshima, Kay I.; Nihashi, Sohey; Iwamoto, Katsushi
2016-12-01
Global overturning circulation is driven by density differences. Saline water rejected during sea-ice formation in polynyas is the main source of dense water, and thus sea-ice production is a key factor in the overturning circulation. Due to difficulties associated with in situ observation, sea-ice production and its interannual variability have not been well understood until recently. Methods to estimate sea-ice production on large scales have been developed using heat flux calculations based on satellite microwave radiometer data. Using these methods, we present the mapping of sea-ice production with the same definition and scale globally, and review the polynya ice production and its relationship with dense/bottom water. The mapping demonstrates that ice production rate is high in Antarctic coastal polynyas, in contrast to Arctic coastal polynyas. This is consistent with the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), the densest water mass which occupies the abyssal layer of the global ocean. The Ross Ice Shelf polynya has by far the highest ice production in the Southern Hemisphere. The Cape Darnley polynya (65°E-69°E) is found to be the second highest production area and recent observations revealed that this is the missing (fourth) source of AABW. In the region off the Mertz Glacier Tongue (MGT), the third source of AABW, sea-ice production decreased by as much as 40 %, due to the MGT calving in early 2010, resulting in a significant decrease in AABW production. The Okhotsk Northwestern polynya exhibits the highest ice production in the Northern Hemisphere, and the resultant dense water formation leads to overturning in the North Pacific, extending to the intermediate layer. Estimates of its ice production show a significant decrease over the past 30-50 years, likely causing the weakening of the North Pacific overturning. These regions demonstrate the strong linkage between variabilities of sea-ice production and bottom/intermediate water formation. The mapping has also provided surface boundary conditions and validation data of heat- and salt-flux associated with sea-ice formation/melting for various ocean and coupled models.
Global mapping of sea-ice production from the satellite microwaves
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ohshima, K. I.; Nihashi, S.; Iwamoto, K.; Tamaru, N.; Nakata, K.; Tamura, T.
2016-12-01
Global overturning circulation is driven by density differences. Saline water rejected by sea-ice production in coastal polynyas is the main source of dense water, and thus sea-ice production is a key factor in the overturning circulation. However, until recently sea-ice production and its interannual variability have not been well understood due to difficulties of in situ observation. The most effective means of detection of thin-ice area and estimation of sea-ice production on large scales is satellite remote sensing using passive microwave sensors, specifically the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer. This is based upon their ability to gain complete polar coverage on a daily basis irrespective of clouds and darkness. We have estimated sea-ice production globally based on heat flux calculations using the satellite-derived thin ice thickness data. The mapping demonstrates that ice production rate is high in Antarctic coastal polynyas, in contrast to Arctic coastal polynyas. This is consistent with the formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). The Ross Ice Shelf polynya has by far the highest ice production in the Southern Hemisphere. The mapping has revealed that the Cape Darnley polynya is the second highest production area, leading to the discovery of the missing (fourth) source of AABW in this region. In the region off the Mertz Glacier Tongue, sea-ice production decreased by as much as 40 %, due to the glacier calving in early 2010, resulting in a significant decrease in AABW production. The Okhotsk Northwestern polynya exhibits the highest ice production in the Northern Hemisphere, and the resultant dense water formation leads to overturning in the North Pacific. Estimates of its ice production show a significant decrease over the past 30-50 years, likely causing the weakening of the North Pacific overturning. The mapping also provides surface boundary conditions and validation data of heat- and salt-flux associated with sea-ice formation/melting for various ocean and coupled models. Improvement of thin ice microwave algorithm including the comparison with the polynya mooring data is now being made for higher accuracy estimate of sea-ice production.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cadieux, Sarah B.; White, Jeffrey R.; Pratt, Lisa M.
2017-02-01
In thermally stratified lakes, the greatest annual methane emissions typically occur during thermal overturn events. In July of 2012, Greenland experienced significant warming that resulted in substantial melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and enhanced runoff events. This unusual climate phenomenon provided an opportunity to examine the effects of short-term natural heating on lake thermal structure and methane dynamics and compare these observations with those from the following year, when temperatures were normal. Here, we focus on methane concentrations within the water column of five adjacent small lakes on the ice-free margin of southwestern Greenland under open-water and ice-covered conditions from 2012-2014. Enhanced warming of the epilimnion in the lakes under open-water conditions in 2012 led to strong thermal stability and the development of anoxic hypolimnia in each of the lakes. As a result, during open-water conditions, mean dissolved methane concentrations in the water column were significantly (p < 0.0001) greater in 2012 than in 2013. In all of the lakes, mean methane concentrations under ice-covered conditions were significantly (p < 0.0001) greater than under open-water conditions, suggesting spring overturn is currently the largest annual methane flux to the atmosphere. As the climate continues to warm, shorter ice cover durations are expected, which may reduce the winter inventory of methane and lead to a decrease in total methane flux during ice melt. Under open-water conditions, greater heat income and warming of lake surface waters will lead to increased thermal stratification and hypolimnetic anoxia, which will consequently result in increased water column inventories of methane. This stored methane will be susceptible to emissions during fall overturn, which may result in a shift in greatest annual efflux of methane from spring melt to fall overturn. The results of this study suggest that interannual variation in ground-level air temperatures may be the primary driver of changes in methane dynamics because it controls both the duration of ice cover and the strength of thermal stratification.
Ward, Irene; Pivko, Susan; Brooks, Gary; Parkin, Kate
2011-11-01
To demonstrate sensitivity to change of the Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement (STREAM) as well as the concurrent and predictive validity of the STREAM in an acute rehabilitation setting. Prospective cohort study. Acute, in-patient rehabilitation department within a tertiary-care teaching hospital in the United States. Thirty adults with a newly diagnosed, first ischemic stroke. Clinical assessments were conducted on admission and then again on discharge from the rehabilitation hospital with the STREAM (total STREAM and upper extremity, lower extremity, and mobility subscales), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and Stroke Impact Scale-16 (SIS-16). Sensitivity to change was determined with the Wilcoxon signed rank test and by the calculation of standardized response means. Spearman correlations were used to assess concurrent validity of the total STREAM and STREAM subscales with the FIM and SIS-16 on admission and discharge. We determined predictive validity for all instruments by correlating admission scores with actual and predicted length of stay and by testing associations between admission scores and discharge destination (home vs subacute facility). Not applicable. For all instruments, there was statistically significant improvement from admission to discharge. The standardized response means for the total STREAM and STREAM subscales were large. Spearman correlations between the total STREAM and STREAM subscales and the FIM and SIS-16 were moderate to excellent, both on admission and discharge. Among change scores, only the SIS-16 correlated with the total STREAM. All 3 instruments were significantly associated with discharge destination; however, the associations were strongest for the total STREAM and STREAM subscales. All instruments showed moderate-to-excellent correlations with predicted and actual length of stay. The STREAM is sensitive to change and demonstrates good concurrent and predictive validity as compared with the FIM and SIS-16 in the acute inpatient rehabilitation population. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Laurentide glacial landscapes: the role of ice streams
Patterson, C.J.
1998-01-01
Glacial landforms of the North American prairie can be divided into two suites that result from different styles of ice flow: 1) a lowland suite of level-to-streamlined till consistent with formation beneath ice streams, and 2) an upland and lobe-margin suite of thick, hummocky till and glacial thrust blocks consistent with formation at ice-stream and ice-lobe margins. Southern Laurentide ice lobes hypothetically functioned as outlets of ice streams. Broad branching lowlands bounded by escarpments mark the stable positions of the ice streams that fed the lobes. If the lobes and ice streams were similar to modern ice streams, their fast flow was facilitated by high subglacial water pressure. Favorable geology and topography in the midcontinent encouraged nonuniform ice flow and controlled the location of ice streams and outlet lobes.
Findlay, S; Sinsabaugh, R L
2006-10-01
We examined bacterial metabolic activity and community similarity in shallow subsurface stream sediments distributed across three regions of the eastern United States to assess whether there were parallel changes in functional and structural attributes at this large scale. Bacterial growth, oxygen consumption, and a suite of extracellular enzyme activities were assayed to describe functional variability. Community similarity was assessed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns. There were significant differences in streamwater chemistry, metabolic activity, and bacterial growth among regions with, for instance, twofold higher bacterial production in streams near Baltimore, MD, compared to Hubbard Brook, NH. Five of eight extracellular enzymes showed significant differences among regions. Cluster analyses of individual streams by metabolic variables showed clear groups with significant differences in representation of sites from different regions among groups. Clustering of sites based on randomly amplified polymorphic DNA banding resulted in groups with generally less internal similarity although there were still differences in distribution of regional sites. There was a marginally significant (p = 0.09) association between patterns based on functional and structural variables. There were statistically significant but weak (r2 approximately 30%) associations between landcover and measures of both structure and function. These patterns imply a large-scale organization of biofilm communities and this structure may be imposed by factor(s) such as landcover and covariates such as nutrient concentrations, which are known to also cause differences in macrobiota of stream ecosystems.
Salinity stratification of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian crisis: A first model analysis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Simon, Dirk; Meijer, Paul Th.
2017-12-01
In the late Miocene, a thick and complex sequence of evaporites was deposited in the Mediterranean Sea during an interruption of normal marine sedimentation known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Because the related deposits are mostly hidden from scrutiny in the deep basin, correlation between onshore and offshore sediments is difficult, hampering the development of a comprehensive stratigraphic model. Since the various facies correspond to different salinities of the basin waters, it would help to have physics-based understanding of the spatial distribution of salt concentration. Here, we focus on modelling salinity as a function of depth, i.e., on the stratification of the water column. A box model is set up that includes a simple representation of a haline overturning circulation and of mixing. It is forced by Atlantic exchange and evaporative loss and is used to systematically explore the degree of stratification that results under a wide range of combinations of parameter values. The model demonstrates counterintuitive behaviour close to the saturation of halite. For parameter values that may well be realistic for the Messinian, we show that a significantly stratified Mediterranean water column can be established. In this case, Atlantic connectivity is limited but may be closer to modern magnitudes than previously thought. In addition, a slowing of Mediterranean overturning and a larger deep-water formation region (both in comparison to the present day) are required. Under these conditions, we would expect a longer duration of halite deposition than currently considered in the MSC stratigraphic consensus model.
Stream temperature monitoring and modeling: Recent advances and new tools for managers
Daniel J. Isaak
2011-01-01
Stream thermal regimes are important within regulatory contexts, strongly affect the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, and are a primary determinant of habitat suitability for many sensitive species. The diverse landscapes and topographies inherent to National Forests and Grasslands create mosaics of stream thermal conditions that are intermingled with strong...
Richard. D. Wood-Smith; John M. Buffington
1996-01-01
Multivariate statistical analyses of geomorphic variables from 23 forest stream reaches in southeast Alaska result in successful discrimination between pristine streams and those disturbed by land management, specifically timber harvesting and associated road building. Results of discriminant function analysis indicate that a three-variable model discriminates 10...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chinello, Alessandro; Cattani, Veronica; Bonfiglioli, Claudia; Dehaene, Stanislas; Piazza, Manuela
2013-01-01
In the primate brain, sensory information is processed along two partially segregated cortical streams: the ventral stream, mainly coding for objects' shape and identity, and the dorsal stream, mainly coding for objects' quantitative information (including size, number, and spatial position). Neurophysiological measures indicate that such…
Zeglin, Lydia H.
2015-01-01
The importance of microbial activity to ecosystem function in aquatic ecosystems is well established, but microbial diversity has been less frequently addressed. This review and synthesis of 100s of published studies on stream microbial diversity shows that factors known to drive ecosystem processes, such as nutrient availability, hydrology, metal contamination, contrasting land-use and temperature, also cause heterogeneity in bacterial diversity. Temporal heterogeneity in stream bacterial diversity was frequently observed, reflecting the dynamic nature of both stream ecosystems and microbial community composition. However, within-stream spatial differences in stream bacterial diversity were more commonly observed, driven specifically by different organic matter (OM) compartments. Bacterial phyla showed similar patterns in relative abundance with regard to compartment type across different streams. For example, surface water contained the highest relative abundance of Actinobacteria, while epilithon contained the highest relative abundance of Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes. This suggests that contrasting physical and/or nutritional habitats characterized by different stream OM compartment types may select for certain bacterial lineages. When comparing the prevalence of physicochemical effects on stream bacterial diversity, effects of changing metal concentrations were most, while effects of differences in nutrient concentrations were least frequently observed. This may indicate that although changing nutrient concentrations do tend to affect microbial diversity, other environmental factors are more likely to alter stream microbial diversity and function. The common observation of connections between ecosystem process drivers and microbial diversity suggests that microbial taxonomic turnover could mediate ecosystem-scale responses to changing environmental conditions, including both microbial habitat distribution and physicochemical factors. PMID:26042102
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gardner, W. P.
2017-12-01
A model which simulates tracer concentration in surface water as a function the age distribution of groundwater discharge is used to characterize groundwater flow systems at a variety of spatial scales. We develop the theory behind the model and demonstrate its application in several groundwater systems of local to regional scale. A 1-D stream transport model, which includes: advection, dispersion, gas exchange, first-order decay and groundwater inflow is coupled a lumped parameter model that calculates the concentration of environmental tracers in discharging groundwater as a function of the groundwater residence time distribution. The lumped parameters, which describe the residence time distribution, are allowed to vary spatially, and multiple environmental tracers can be simulated. This model allows us to calculate the longitudinal profile of tracer concentration in streams as a function of the spatially variable groundwater age distribution. By fitting model results to observations of stream chemistry and discharge, we can then estimate the spatial distribution of groundwater age. The volume of groundwater discharge to streams can be estimated using a subset of environmental tracers, applied tracers, synoptic stream gauging or other methods, and the age of groundwater then estimated using the previously calculated groundwater discharge and observed environmental tracer concentrations. Synoptic surveys of SF6, CFC's, 3H and 222Rn, along with measured stream discharge are used to estimate the groundwater inflow distribution and mean age for regional scale surveys of the Berland River in west-central Alberta. We find that groundwater entering the Berland has observable age, and that the age estimated using our stream survey is of similar order to limited samples from groundwater wells in the region. Our results show that the stream can be used as an easily accessible location to constrain the regional scale spatial distribution of groundwater age.
Local Geomorphology as a Determinant of Macrofaunal Production in a Mountain Stream.
Huryn, Alexander D; Wallace, J Bruce
1987-12-01
By comparing distributions of functional group production among different habitats in an Appalachian mountain stream, the influence of site-specific geomorphology upon the overall functional group composition of the animal community was demonstrated. By replicated monthly sampling, substrate particle size distributions, current velocity, standing crops of benthic organic matter, and production of macrofauna were measured in each of three principal habitats: bedrock-outcrop, riffle, and pool. Samples were taken at randomly assigned locations and the relative number of samples taken from each habitat was assumed to be proportional to the area of the habitat within the stream. These proportions were used to weight production measured in each habitat and the resulting values were summed to obtain production per unit area of average stream bed. The bedrock-outcrop habitat was characterized by high material entertainment and export as indicated by significantly higher current velocities and lower standing crops of detritus compared to the riffle and pool habitats. Pools were sites of low entertainment and high retention of organic matter as demonstrated by significantly lower current velocities and higher accumulations of detritus than other habitats. The riffle habitat was intermediate to the bedrock-outcrop and pool habitats in all parameters measured. Annual production of collector-filterers was highest in the bedrock-outcrop (ash-free dry mass 1920 mg/m 2 ), followed by riffle (278 mg/m 2 ) and pool (32 mg/m 2 ). Although constituting only 19% of the stream area, the bedrock-outcrop habitat contributed 68% of the habitat-weighted collector-filterer production. Annual production of shredders was highest in pools (2616 mg/m 2 ), followed by riffles (1657 mg/m 2 ) and bedrock-outcrop (579 mg/m 2 ). The pool habitat, constituting 23% of stream area, contributed 36% of shredder production. Annual production of scrapers was highest in the riffle habitat (905 mg/m 2 ), followed by bedrock-outcrop (517-mg/m 2 ) and pool (238 mg/m 2 ). Riffles constituted 58% of total stream area and were the source of 77% of the habitat-weighted scraper production. Annual production of engulfing predators was greatest in the pool habitat (2313 mg/m 2 ), followed by riffles (1765 mg/m 2 ) and bedrock-outcrop (687 mg/m 2 ). The relatively lower production of engulfing predators in the bedrock-outcrop habitat reflects a functional shift in mode of resource acquisition by predators, with predaceous collector-filterers (Arcto-psychinae: Trichoptera) predominating in the bedrock-outcrop. Collector-gatherer production was more evenly distributed, with the bedrock-outcrop, riffle, and pool habitats each contributing 14, 54, and 33% to the habitat-weighted production, respectively. Unlike all other functional groups, this distribution was not significantly different from the distribution of stream area among habitats and reflected lack of dependence on specific physical attributes of the local environment for access to food by members of this functional group. Local geomorphology determined the diversity and spatial distribution of bedrock-outcrops, riffles, and pools in the study stream. In turn, the functional structure of the macrofauna, when viewed holistically, was the result of the integration of the relative contributions of each habitat type of total stream area. Total habitat-weighted annual production in the study stream was estimated at 5093 and 1921 mg/m 2 for primary and secondary consumers, respectively. The distribution of habitat-weighted production among functional groups was: collector-gatherers (39%), followed by shredders (225), engulfing predators (22%), scrapers (13%), and collector-filterers (8%). This functional structure agrees favorably with current conceptual models of head water streams draining forested catchments. © 1987 by the Ecological Society of America.
Earth science: Extraordinary world
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Day, James M. D.
2016-09-01
The isotopic compositions of objects that formed early in the evolution of the Solar System have been found to be similar to Earth's composition -- overturning notions of our planet's chemical distinctiveness. See Letters p.394 & p.399
Factors influencing wood mobilization in Minnesota streams
Merten, Eric; Finlay, Jacques; Johnson, Lucinda; Newman, Raymond; Stefan, Heinz; Vondracek, Bruce C.
2010-01-01
Natural pieces of wood provide a variety of ecosystem functions in streams including habitat, organic matter retention, increased hyporheic exchange and transient storage, and enhanced hydraulic and geomorphic heterogeneity. Wood mobilization is a critical process in determining the residence time of wood. We documented the characteristics and locations of 865 natural wood pieces (>0.05 m in diameter for a portion >1 m in length) in nine streams along the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. We determined the locations of the pieces again after an overbank stormflow event to determine the factors that influenced mobilization of stationary wood pieces in natural streams. Seven of 11 potential predictor variables were identified with multiple logistic regression as significant to mobilization: burial, effective depth, ratio of piece length to effective stream width (length ratio), bracing, rootwad presence, downstream force ratio, and draft ratio. The final model (P< 0.001, r2 = 0.39) indicated that wood mobilization under natural conditions is a complex function of both mechanical factors (burial, length ratio, bracing, rootwad presence, draft ratio) and hydraulic factors (effective depth, downstream force ratio). If stable pieces are a goal for stream management then features such as partial burial, low effective depth, high length relative to channel width, bracing against other objects (e.g., stream banks, trees, rocks, or larger wood pieces), and rootwads are desirable. Using the model equation from this study, stewards of natural resources can better manage in-stream wood for the benefit of stream ecosystems.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aglipay, Mary Roxanne I.; Konagai, Kazuo; Kyokawa, Hiroyuki; Keshab, Sharma
On March 11th, 2011, Minami-Sanriku, located in the northeastern coast of Japan was severely inundated by the tsunami that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Road bridges near the coastlines in this area have been extensively damaged with their decks being overturned or carried over long distances. An attempt was made to deduce as rational scenarios as possible before remaining debris was cleaned up. Though the reasons for the washout of bridges can be many and complex, it is to be noted that bridge decks have hollows for the optimum light-weight solution, which fact eventually allowed the bridge decks to be carried over remarkable distances. Poor connection details and cavities, hollows between deck beams, are considered to have facilitated overturning due to uplift forces.
Interhemispheric Atlantic seesaw response during the last deglaciation.
Barker, Stephen; Diz, Paula; Vautravers, Maryline J; Pike, Jennifer; Knorr, Gregor; Hall, Ian R; Broecker, Wallace S
2009-02-26
The asynchronous relationship between millennial-scale temperature changes over Greenland and Antarctica during the last glacial period has led to the notion of a bipolar seesaw which acts to redistribute heat depending on the state of meridional overturning circulation within the Atlantic Ocean. Here we present new records from the South Atlantic that show rapid changes during the last deglaciation that were instantaneous (within dating uncertainty) and of opposite sign to those observed in the North Atlantic. Our results demonstrate a direct link between the abrupt changes associated with variations in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the more gradual adjustments characteristic of the Southern Ocean. These results emphasize the importance of the Southern Ocean for the development and transmission of millennial-scale climate variability and highlight its role in deglacial climate change and the associated rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Influence of Sea Ice on the Thermohaline Circulation in the Arctic-North Atlantic Ocean
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mauritzen, Cecilie; Haekkinen, Sirpa
1997-01-01
A fully prognostic coupled ocean-ice model is used to study the sensitivity of the overturning cell of the Arctic-North-Atlantic system to sea ice forcing. The strength of the thermohaline cell will be shown to depend on the amount of sea ice transported from the Arctic to the Greenland Sea and further to the subpolar gyre. The model produces a 2-3 Sv increase of the meridional circulation cell at 25N (at the simulation year 15) corresponding to a decrease of 800 cu km in the sea ice export from the Arctic. Previous modeling studies suggest that interannual and decadal variability in sea ice export of this magnitude is realistic, implying that sea ice induced variability in the overturning cell can reach 5-6 Sv from peak to peak.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cessi, Paola; Wolfe, Christopher L.
This project concerned the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), its stability, variability and sensitivity to atmospheric forcing, both mechanical (wind-stress) and thermodynamical (heat and freshwater surface fluxes). The focus of the study is the interhemispheric cell in the largely adiabatic regime, where the flow is characterized by a descending branch in the high latitudes of the North Atlantic and the upwelling branch in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) region of the Southern Ocean. These two end points are connected by shared isopycnals along which the flow takes place. The approach is to systematically study the amplitude and frequency of themore » AMOC’s response to localized buoyancy with an ocean-only model in both coarse and high-resolution configurations, analyzed with innovative diagnostics, focused on the “residual overturning circulation” (ROC), which is the proper measure of the transport of heat and other tracers.« less
Geochemical proxies of North American freshwater routing during the Younger Dryas cold event.
Carlson, Anders E; Clark, Peter U; Haley, Brian A; Klinkhammer, Gary P; Simmons, Kathleen; Brook, Edward J; Meissner, Katrin J
2007-04-17
The Younger Dryas cold interval represents a time when much of the Northern Hemisphere cooled from approximately 12.9 to 11.5 kiloyears B.P. The cause of this event, which has long been viewed as the canonical example of abrupt climate change, was initially attributed to the routing of freshwater to the St. Lawrence River with an attendant reduction in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. However, this mechanism has recently been questioned because current proxies and dating techniques have been unable to confirm that eastward routing with an increase in freshwater flux occurred during the Younger Dryas. Here we use new geochemical proxies (DeltaMg/Ca, U/Ca, and (87)Sr/(86)Sr) measured in planktonic foraminifera at the mouth of the St. Lawrence estuary as tracers of freshwater sources to further evaluate this question. Our proxies, combined with planktonic delta(18)O(seawater) and delta(13)C, confirm that routing of runoff from western Canada to the St. Lawrence River occurred at the start of the Younger Dryas, with an attendant increase in freshwater flux of 0.06 +/- 0.02 Sverdrup (1 Sverdrup = 10(6) m(3).s(-1)). This base discharge increase is sufficient to have reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and caused the Younger Dryas cold interval. In addition, our data indicate subsequent fluctuations in the freshwater flux to the St. Lawrence River of approximately 0.06-0.12 Sverdrup, thus explaining the variability in the overturning circulation and climate during the Younger Dryas.
Geochemical proxies of North American freshwater routing during the Younger Dryas cold event
Carlson, A.E.; Clark, P.U.; Haley, B.A.; Klinkhammer, G.P.; Simmons, K.; Brook, E.J.; Meissner, K.J.
2007-01-01
The Younger Dryas cold interval represents a time when much of the Northern Hemisphere cooled from ???12.9 to 11.5 kiloyears B.P. The cause of this event, which has long been viewed as the canonical example of abrupt climate change, was initially attributed to the routing of freshwater to the St. Lawrence River with an attendant reduction in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. However, this mechanism has recently been questioned because current proxies and dating techniques have been unable to confirm that eastward routing with an increase in freshwater flux occurred during the Younger Dryas. Here we use new geochemical proxies (??Mg/Ca, U/Ca, and 87Sr/86Sr) measured in planktonic foraminifera at the mouth of the St. Lawrence estuary as tracers of freshwater sources to further evaluate this question. Our proxies, combined with planktonic ??18Oseawater and ??13C, confirm that routing of runoff from western Canada to the St. Lawrence River occurred at the start of the Younger Dryas, with an attendant increase in freshwater flux of 0.06 ?? 0.02 Sverdrup (1 Sverdrup = 106 m3??s-1). This base discharge increase is sufficient to have reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and caused the Younger Dryas cold interval. In addition, our data indicate subsequent fluctuations in the freshwater flux to the St. Lawrence River of ???0.06-0.12 Sverdrup, thus explaining the variability in the overturning circulation and climate during the Younger Dryas. ?? 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
Isentropic Analysis of a Simulated Hurricane
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mrowiec, Agnieszka A.; Pauluis, Olivier; Zhang, Fuqing
2016-01-01
Hurricanes, like many other atmospheric flows, are associated with turbulent motions over a wide range of scales. Here the authors adapt a new technique based on the isentropic analysis of convective motions to study the thermodynamic structure of the overturning circulation in hurricane simulations. This approach separates the vertical mass transport in terms of the equivalent potential temperature of air parcels. In doing so, one separates the rising air parcels at high entropy from the subsiding air at low entropy. This technique filters out oscillatory motions associated with gravity waves and separates convective overturning from the secondary circulation. This approach is applied here to study the flow of an idealized hurricane simulation with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. The isentropic circulation for a hurricane exhibits similar characteristics to that of moist convection, with a maximum mass transport near the surface associated with a shallow convection and entrainment. There are also important differences. For instance, ascent in the eyewall can be readily identified in the isentropic analysis as an upward mass flux of air with unusually high equivalent potential temperature. The isentropic circulation is further compared here to the Eulerian secondary circulation of the simulated hurricane to show that the mass transport in the isentropic circulation is much larger than the one in secondary circulation. This difference can be directly attributed to the mass transport by convection in the outer rainband and confirms that, even for a strongly organized flow like a hurricane, most of the atmospheric overturning is tied to the smaller scales.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nikurashin, Maxim; Gunn, Andrew
2017-04-01
The meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is a planetary-scale oceanic flow which is of direct importance to the climate system: it transports heat meridionally and regulates the exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere. The MOC is forced by wind and heat and freshwater fluxes at the surface and turbulent mixing in the ocean interior. A number of conceptual theories for the sensitivity of the MOC to changes in forcing have recently been developed and tested with idealized numerical models. However, the skill of the simple conceptual theories to describe the MOC simulated with higher complexity global models remains largely unknown. In this study, we present a systematic comparison of theoretical and modelled sensitivity of the MOC and associated deep ocean stratification to vertical mixing and southern hemisphere westerlies. The results show that theories that simplify the ocean into a single-basin, zonally-symmetric box are generally in a good agreement with a realistic, global ocean circulation model. Some disagreement occurs in the abyssal ocean, where complex bottom topography is not taken into account by simple theories. Distinct regimes, where the MOC has a different sensitivity to wind or mixing, as predicted by simple theories, are also clearly shown by the global ocean model. The sensitivity of the Indo-Pacific, Atlantic, and global basins is analysed separately to validate the conceptual understanding of the upper and lower overturning cells in the theory.
Colour discrimination and categorisation in Williams syndrome.
Farran, Emily K; Cranwell, Matthew B; Alvarez, James; Franklin, Anna
2013-10-01
Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) present with impaired functioning of the dorsal visual stream relative to the ventral visual stream. As such, little attention has been given to ventral stream functions in WS. We investigated colour processing, a predominantly ventral stream function, for the first time in nineteen individuals with Williams syndrome. Colour discrimination was assessed using the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test. Colour categorisation was assessed using a match-to-sample test and a colour naming task. A visual search task was also included as a measure of sensitivity to the size of perceptual colour difference. Results showed that individuals with WS have reduced colour discrimination relative to typically developing participants matched for chronological age; performance was commensurate with a typically developing group matched for non-verbal ability. In contrast, categorisation was typical in WS, although there was some evidence that sensitivity to the size of perceptual colour differences was reduced in this group. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How much dead wood in channels is enough?
T. E. Lisle
2002-01-01
Abstract - Private forest managers often seek guidelines on how much dead wood should be retained in streams in order to adequately fulfill ecosystem functions. There are three approaches to answering this question for a particular reach of channel. The first approach uses an understanding of ecologic functions of dead wood in streams to determine the amount needed to...
William J. Matthews; A. Maria Miller-Lemke; Melvin L. Warren; Donna Cobb; Jeffery G. Stewart; Betty Crump; Frances P. Gelwick
2004-01-01
Abstract - Fish play diverse and important roles in stream ecosystems, but details about ecosystem effects are poorly known for many freshwater fish species. A requisite first step to understanding functional roles of individual species is information on their trophic ecology in the context of particular environmental settings. Stomach contents were...
'What' and 'where' in the human brain.
Ungerleider, L G; Haxby, J V
1994-04-01
Multiple visual areas in the cortex of nonhuman primates are organized into two hierarchically organized and functionally specialized processing pathways, a 'ventral stream' for object vision and a 'dorsal stream' for spatial vision. Recent findings from positron emission tomography activation studies have localized these pathways within the human brain, yielding insights into cortical hierarchies, specialization of function, and attentional mechanisms.
A new stream function formulation for the Euler equations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Atkins, H. L.; Hassan, H. A.
1983-01-01
A new stream function formulation is developed for the solution of Euler's equations in the transonic flow region. The stream function and the density are the dependent variables in this method, while the governing equations for adiabatic flow are the momentum equations which are solved in the strong conservation law form. The application of this method does not require a knowledge of the vorticity. The algorithm is combined with the automatic grid solver (GRAPE) of Steger and Sorenson (1979) in order to study arbitrary geometries. Results of the application of this method are presented for the NACA 0012 airfoil at various Mach numbers and angles of attack, and cylinders. In addition, detailed comparisons are made with other solutions of the Euler equations.
Poliva, Oren; Bestelmeyer, Patricia E G; Hall, Michelle; Bultitude, Janet H; Koller, Kristin; Rafal, Robert D
2015-09-01
To use functional magnetic resonance imaging to map the auditory cortical fields that are activated, or nonreactive, to sounds in patient M.L., who has auditory agnosia caused by trauma to the inferior colliculi. The patient cannot recognize speech or environmental sounds. Her discrimination is greatly facilitated by context and visibility of the speaker's facial movements, and under forced-choice testing. Her auditory temporal resolution is severely compromised. Her discrimination is more impaired for words differing in voice onset time than place of articulation. Words presented to her right ear are extinguished with dichotic presentation; auditory stimuli in the right hemifield are mislocalized to the left. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine cortical activations to different categories of meaningful sounds embedded in a block design. Sounds activated the caudal sub-area of M.L.'s primary auditory cortex (hA1) bilaterally and her right posterior superior temporal gyrus (auditory dorsal stream), but not the rostral sub-area (hR) of her primary auditory cortex or the anterior superior temporal gyrus in either hemisphere (auditory ventral stream). Auditory agnosia reflects dysfunction of the auditory ventral stream. The ventral and dorsal auditory streams are already segregated as early as the primary auditory cortex, with the ventral stream projecting from hR and the dorsal stream from hA1. M.L.'s leftward localization bias, preserved audiovisual integration, and phoneme perception are explained by preserved processing in her right auditory dorsal stream.
Cadenasso, M L; Pickett, S T A; Groffman, P M; Band, L E; Brush, G S; Galvin, M F; Grove, J M; Hagar, G; Marshall, V; McGrath, B P; O'Neil-Dunne, J P M; Stack, W P; Troy, A R
2008-01-01
Conservation in urban areas typically focuses on biodiversity and large green spaces. However, opportunities exist throughout urban areas to enhance ecological functions. An important function of urban landscapes is retaining nitrogen thereby reducing nitrate pollution to streams and coastal waters. Control of nonpoint nitrate pollution in urban areas was originally based on the documented importance of riparian zones in agricultural and forested ecosystems. The watershed and boundary frameworks have been used to guide stream research and a riparian conservation strategy to reduce nitrate pollution in urban streams. But is stream restoration and riparian-zone conservation enough? Data from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and other urban stream research indicate that urban riparian zones do not necessarily prevent nitrate from entering, nor remove nitrate from, streams. Based on this insight, policy makers in Baltimore extended the conservation strategy throughout larger watersheds, attempting to restore functions that no longer took place in riparian boundaries. Two urban revitalization projects are presented as examples aimed at reducing nitrate pollution to stormwater, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. An adaptive cycle of ecological urban design synthesizes the insights from the watershed and boundary frameworks, from new data, and from the conservation concerns of agencies and local communities. This urban example of conservation based on ameliorating nitrate water pollution extends the initial watershed-boundary approach along three dimensions: 1) from riparian to urban land-water-scapes; 2) from discrete engineering solutions to ecological design approaches; and 3) from structural solutions to inclusion of individual, household, and institutional behavior.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hawley, R. J.; Vietz, G. J.; Wooten, M. S.
2016-12-01
The threshold discharge that initiates streambed mobilization (Qcritical) is one of the most mechanistically-important flows for geomorphic function and biological integrity in stream ecosystems. Increased frequency and duration of flows that exceed Qcritical are a dominant driver of geomorphic instability and excess benthic disturbance in urban/suburban streams (i.e. the urban disturbance regime). Qcritical frequency also corresponds to measures of stream integrity in reference streams, with both geomorphic stability and biological indices significantly correlated to time since a Qcritical event in one 7-y study. Indeed, reference site macroinvertebrate communities during years with atypically frequent Qcritical events were more similar to sites draining watersheds with 30% imperviousness than to reference site communities of more typical rainfall years. Despite its biophysical relevance to stream ecosystems, Qcritical is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood flows in the stormwater management and stream restoration fields. Regional stormwater policies and stream restoration design guidance are often based on the misplaced assumption that streambed erosion does not occur at sub-bankfull events (often assumed to correspond to the 1-y recurrence discharge). Using an international database of nearly 200 sites we show that Qcritical varies by several orders of magnitude as a function of streambed particle size. Qcritical in sand-dominated streams is likely to be orders of magnitude less than the 1-yr discharge, whereas Qcritical in cobble/boulder dominated streams could be much larger than the 1-yr discharge, implying that stormwater/restoration policies focused on the 1-yr event could lack efficacy in many stream settings. Qcritical is a geomorphically- and biologically-relevant discharge threshold when developing stormwater management policies intended to protect streams from excess erosion, designing watershed-scale restoration efforts to restore a more natural disturbance regime, or reconstructing stream reaches designed to restore sediment continuity. Incorporation of Qcritical into such restoration and management efforts ensures that designs are actually tailored to the mechanisms that drive channel erosion and disturbance to the benthos.
Impact of riparian land use on stream insects of Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka state, India.
Subramanian, K A; Sivaramakrishnan, K G; Gadgil, Madhav
2005-12-31
The impact of riparian land use on the stream insect communities was studied at Kudremukh National Park located within Western Ghats, a tropical biodiversity hotspot in India. The diversity and community composition of stream insects varied across streams with different riparian land use types. The rarefied family and generic richness was highest in streams with natural semi evergreen forests as riparian vegetation. However, when the streams had human habitations and areca nut plantations as riparian land use type, the rarefied richness was higher than that of streams with natural evergreen forests and grasslands. The streams with scrub lands and iron ore mining as the riparian land use had the lowest rarefied richness. Within a landscape, the streams with the natural riparian vegetation had similar community composition. However, streams with natural grasslands as the riparian vegetation, had low diversity and the community composition was similar to those of paddy fields. We discuss how stream insect assemblages differ due to varied riparian land use patterns, reflecting fundamental alterations in the functioning of stream ecosystems. This understanding is vital to conserve, manage and restore tropical riverine ecosystems.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ward, N. D.; Keil, R. G.; Medeiros, P. M.; Brito, D.; Krusche, A. V.; Richey, J. E.
2012-12-01
The most abundant biochemicals on land are cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Lignin, alone, composes roughly 30% of the organic carbon (OC) in the terrestrial biosphere (Boerjan et al., 2003) and a significant portion of the OC mobilized into stream and river networks worldwide. Here we present a synthesis of several studies examining (i) the mobilization dynamics/compositional changes in dissolved lignin during rapid storm events in small temperate streams (Hood Canal, WA, USA), and (ii) the respiration dynamics/biological overturning of dissolved (and particulate) lignin in the Amazon River mainstem. Rapid sampling (3 hour intervals) during short-term rainfall events has revealed that the concentration of dissolved lignin phenols (as well as DOC) in small temperate streams is strongly correlated with river discharge (Ward et al., 2012). Additionally, rapid discharge increases resulted in an increase in Ad/Al and C/V ratios and decrease in the S/V ratio of dissolved lignin phenols, indicating a mobilization of relatively degraded non-woody/gymnosperm-derived material in the dissolved phase during storms occurring after a long dry period. We hypothesize that sorption to soil surfaces imparts an additional control on lignin mobilization: degraded phenols are relatively more soluble than their non-degraded counterparts and are easily mobilized by rapid flow, whereas non-degraded phenols are slowly mobilized by base flow and continuously degraded in soils. Once lignin is mobilized into the aquatic setting it is often assumed to be refractory. However, evidence in the Amazon River mainstem suggests the contrary. We have assessed the biodegradability of dissolved (and particulate) lignin, as well as a vast suite (~120) of similar phenolic compounds with a series of incubation experiments performed on four Amazon River cruises. We estimate that on average the degradation of lignin and similar phenolic compounds supports 30-50% of bulk respiration rates in the river, implying that lignin may be a highly important organic matter fuel for CO2 outgassing from the world's inland waters. Contrary to bulk respiration rates, which poorly correlate with bulk OC concentrations, the respiration of lignin appears to be almost entirely controlled by substrate composition. Lignin (and OC) concentrations and lignin degradation rates both correlate well with the seasonal hydrograph in the Amazon (Ward et al., submitted). Based on the measurements made here, and by others (Hedges et al., 1988; Field et al., 1998; Houghton et al., 2001; Malhi et al., 2008; Bose et al., 2009) we estimate that roughly 80 Tg C of lignin is sequestered in Amazonian soils annually, roughly 40% of this lignin is respired in soils, 55% is respired within the river continuum, and less than 5% is delivered to the ocean.
A synoptic survey of ecosystem services from headwater catchments in the United States
Brian H. Hill; Randall K. Kolka; Frank H. McCormick; Matthew A. Starry
2014-01-01
Ecosystem production functions for water supply, climate regulation, and water purification were estimated for 568 headwater streams and their catchments. Results are reported for nine USA ecoregions. Headwater streams represented 74-80% of total catchment stream length. Water supply per unit catchment area was highest in the Northern Appalachian Mountains ecoregion...
Hand Path Priming in Manual Obstacle Avoidance: Rapid Decay of Dorsal Stream Information
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jax, Steven A.; Rosenbaum, David A.
2009-01-01
The dorsal, action-related, visual stream has been thought to have little or no memory. This hypothesis has seemed credible because functions related to the dorsal stream have been generally unsusceptible to priming from previous experience. Tests of this claim have yielded inconsistent results, however. We argue that these inconsistencies may be…
Emergence of kinetic behavior in streaming ultracold neutral plasmas
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McQuillen, P.; Castro, J.; Bradshaw, S. J.
2015-04-15
We create streaming ultracold neutral plasmas by tailoring the photoionizing laser beam that creates the plasma. By varying the electron temperature, we control the relative velocity of the streaming populations, and, in conjunction with variation of the plasma density, this controls the ion collisionality of the colliding streams. Laser-induced fluorescence is used to map the spatially resolved density and velocity distribution function for the ions. We identify the lack of local thermal equilibrium and distinct populations of interpenetrating, counter-streaming ions as signatures of kinetic behavior. Experimental data are compared with results from a one-dimensional, two-fluid numerical simulation.
Atkinson, Janette; Braddick, Oliver
2011-01-01
Visual information is believed to be processed through two distinct, yet interacting cortical streams. The ventral stream performs the computations needed for recognition of objects and faces ("what" and "who"?) and the dorsal stream the computations for registering spatial relationships and for controlling visually guided actions ("where" and "how"?). We initially proposed a model of spatial deficits in Williams syndrome (WS) in which visual abilities subserved by the ventral stream, such as face recognition, are relatively well developed (although not necessarily in exactly the same way as in typical development), whereas dorsal-stream functions, such as visuospatial actions, are markedly impaired. Since these initial findings in WS, deficits of motion coherence sensitivity, a dorsal-stream function has been found in other genetic disorders such as Fragile X and autism, and as a consequence of perinatal events (in hemiplegia, perinatal brain anomalies following very premature birth), leading to the proposal of a general "dorsal-stream vulnerability" in many different conditions of abnormal human development. In addition, dorsal-stream systems provide information used in tasks of visuospatial memory and locomotor planning, and these systems are closely coupled to networks for attentional control. We and several other research groups have previously shown deficits of frontal and parietal lobe function in WS individuals for specific attention tasks [e.g., Atkinson, J., Braddick, O., Anker, S., Curran, W., & Andrew, R. (2003). Neurobiological models of visuospatial cognition in children with Williams Syndrome: Measures of dorsal-stream and frontal function. Developmental Neuropsychology, 23(1/2), 141-174.]. We have used the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) which aims to attempt to separate components of attention with distinct brain networks (selective attention, sustained attention, and attention control-executive function) testing a group of older children with WS, but this test battery is too demanding for many children and adults with WS. Consequently, we have devised a new set of tests of attention, the Early Childhood Attention Battery (ECAB). This uses similar principles to the TEA-Ch, but adapted for mental ages younger than 6 years. The ECAB shows a distinctive attention profile for WS individuals relative to their overall cognitive development, with relative strength in tasks of sustained attention and poorer performance on tasks of selective attention and executive control. These profiles, and the characteristic developmental courses, also show differences between children with Down's syndrome and WS. This chapter briefly reviews new research findings on WS in these areas, relating the development of brain systems in WS to evidence from neuroimaging in typically developing infants, children born very preterm, and normal adults. The hypothesis of "dorsal-stream(s) vulnerability" which will be discussed includes a number of interlinked brain networks, subserving not only global visual processing and formulation of visuomotor actions but interlinked networks of attention. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Biotic Drivers of Spatial Heterogeneity and Implications for River Ecosystems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wohl, Ellen
2017-04-01
Rivers throughout the northern hemisphere have been simplified and homogenized by the removal of beavers and instream wood, along with numerous forms of channel engineering and flow regulation. Loss of spatial heterogeneity in river corridors - channels and floodplains - affects downstream fluxes of water, sediment, organic matter, and nutrients, as well as stream metabolism, biomass, and biodiversity. Recent work in streams of the Colorado Rocky Mountains illustrates how the presence of beavers and instream wood can facilitate spatial heterogeneity by creating stable, persistent, multithread channel planform and high channel-floodplain and channel-hyporheic zone connectivity. This spatial heterogeneity facilitates retention of water in pools, floodplain wetlands, and hyporheic storage. Suspended sediment, particulate organic matter (POM), and solutes are also more likely to be retained in these stream segments than in more uniform stream segments with greater downstream conveyance. Retention of POM and solutes equates to greater volumes of organic carbon storage per unit valley length and greater rates of nitrogen uptake. Spatially heterogeneous stream segments also exhibit greater biomass and biodiversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates, salmonid fish, and riparian spiders than do more uniform stream segments. These significant differences in stream form and function are unlikely to be unique to this field area and can provide a conceptual model for understanding and restoring ecosystem functions in other rivers.
Testing ecological tradeoffs of a new tool for removing fine sediment in a spring-fed stream
Sepulveda, Adam; Sechrist, Juddson D.; Marczak, Laurie B
2014-01-01
Excessive fine sediment is a focus of stream restoration work because it can impair the structure and function of streams, but few methods exist for removing sediment in spring-fed streams. We tested a novel method of sediment removal with the potential to have minimal adverse effects on the biological community during the restoration process. The Sand Wand system, a dredgeless vacuum developed by Streamside Technologies, was used to experimentally remove fine sediment from Kackley Springs, a spring creek in southeastern Idaho. We assessed the effects of the Sand Wand on stream physical habitat and macroinvertebrate composition for up to 60 days after the treatment. We documented changes in multiple habitat variables, including stream depth, median particle size, and the frequency of embedded substrate in stream reaches that were treated with the Sand Wand. We also found that macroinvertebrate composition was altered even though common macroinvertebrate metrics changed little after the treatment. Our results suggest that the Sand Wand was effective at removing fine sediments in Kackley Springs and did minimal harm to macroinvertebrate function, but the Sand Wand was not ultimately effective in improving substrate composition to desired conditions. Additional restoration techniques are still needed to decrease the amount of fine sediment.
What puts the how in where? Tool use and the divided visual streams hypothesis.
Frey, Scott H
2007-04-01
An influential theory suggests that the dorsal (occipito-parietal) visual stream computes representations of objects for purposes of guiding actions (determining 'how') independently of ventral (occipito-temporal) stream processes supporting object recognition and semantic processing (determining 'what'). Yet, the ability of the dorsal stream alone to account for one of the most common forms of human action, tool use, is limited. While experience-dependent modifications to existing dorsal stream representations may explain simple tool use behaviors (e.g., using sticks to extend reach) found among a variety of species, skillful use of manipulable artifacts (e.g., cups, hammers, pencils) requires in addition access to semantic representations of objects' functions and uses. Functional neuroimaging suggests that this latter information is represented in a left-lateralized network of temporal, frontal and parietal areas. I submit that the well-established dominance of the human left hemisphere in the representation of familiar skills stems from the ability for this acquired knowledge to influence the organization of actions within the dorsal pathway.
Defining the cortical visual systems: "what", "where", and "how"
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Creem, S. H.; Proffitt, D. R.; Kaiser, M. K. (Principal Investigator)
2001-01-01
The visual system historically has been defined as consisting of at least two broad subsystems subserving object and spatial vision. These visual processing streams have been organized both structurally as two distinct pathways in the brain, and functionally for the types of tasks that they mediate. The classic definition by Ungerleider and Mishkin labeled a ventral "what" stream to process object information and a dorsal "where" stream to process spatial information. More recently, Goodale and Milner redefined the two visual systems with a focus on the different ways in which visual information is transformed for different goals. They relabeled the dorsal stream as a "how" system for transforming visual information using an egocentric frame of reference in preparation for direct action. This paper reviews recent research from psychophysics, neurophysiology, neuropsychology and neuroimaging to define the roles of the ventral and dorsal visual processing streams. We discuss a possible solution that allows for both "where" and "how" systems that are functionally and structurally organized within the posterior parietal lobe.
Meltwater pulse recorded in Last Interglacial mollusk shells from Bermuda
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Winkelstern, Ian Z.; Rowe, Mark P.; Lohmann, Kyger C.; Defliese, William F.; Petersen, Sierra V.; Brewer, Aaron W.
2017-02-01
The warm climate of Bermuda today is modulated by the nearby presence of the Gulf Stream current. However, iceberg scours in the Florida Strait and the presence of ice-rafted debris in Bermuda Rise sediments indicate that, during the last deglaciation, icebergs discharged from the Laurentide Ice Sheet traveled as far south as subtropical latitudes. We present evidence that an event of similar magnitude affected the subtropics during the Last Interglacial, potentially due to melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Using the clumped isotope paleothermometer, we found temperatures 10°C colder and seawater δ18O values 2‰ lower than modern in Last Interglacial Cittarium pica shells from Grape Bay, Bermuda. In contrast, Last Interglacial shells from Rocky Bay, Bermuda, record temperatures only slightly colder and seawater δ18O values similar to modern, likely representing more typical Last Interglacial conditions in Bermuda outside of a meltwater event. The significantly colder ocean temperatures observed in Grape Bay samples illustrate the extreme sensitivity of Bermudian climate to broad-scale ocean circulation changes. They indicate routine meltwater transport in the North Atlantic to near-equatorial latitudes, which would likely have resulted in disruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. These data demonstrate that future melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a potential source of the Last Interglacial meltwater event, could have dramatic climate effects outside of the high latitudes.
2014-04-01
perennial streams than in intermittent streams (Feminella 1996 ; Fritz and Dodds 2005; Meyer and Meyer 2000; Pond et al. 2003; del Rosario and Resh 2000...Williams 1996 ; Wood et al. 2005; Wright et al. 1984). Lower invertebrate diversity and abundance estimates have been documented in headwater streams...transformations occurring through biogeochemical cycling (Benfield 1996 ; Aerts 1997). Organic carbon provides for maintenance of plant communities
Noah R. Lottig; H. Maurice Valett; Madeline E. Schreiber; Jackson R. Webster
2007-01-01
We investigated the influence of flooding and chronic arsenic contamination on ecosystem structure and function in a headwater stream adjacent to an abandoned arsenic (As) mine using an upstream (reference) and downstream (mine-influenced) comparative reach approach. In this study, floods were addressed as a pulse disturbance, and the abandoned As mine was...
Damon T. Ely; J. Bruce Wallace
2010-01-01
Clear-cut logging rapidly affects stream macroinvertebrates through substantial alteration of terrestrialâaquatic resource linkages; however, lesser known are the long-term influences of forest succession on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, which play key roles in stream ecosystem function. We compared secondary production and standing crops of detritus in two...
Ocean data assimilation using optimal interpolation with a quasi-geostrophic model
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rienecker, Michele M.; Miller, Robert N.
1991-01-01
A quasi-geostrophic (QG) stream function is analyzed by optimal interpolation (OI) over a 59-day period in a 150-km-square domain off northern California. Hydrographic observations acquired over five surveys were assimilated into a QG open boundary ocean model. Assimilation experiments were conducted separately for individual surveys to investigate the sensitivity of the OI analyses to parameters defining the decorrelation scale of an assumed error covariance function. The analyses were intercompared through dynamical hindcasts between surveys. The best hindcast was obtained using the smooth analyses produced with assumed error decorrelation scales identical to those of the observed stream function. The rms difference between the hindcast stream function and the final analysis was only 23 percent of the observation standard deviation. The two sets of OI analyses were temporally smoother than the fields from statistical objective analysis and in good agreement with the only independent data available for comparison.
Assessment of infrastructure functional damages caused by natural-technological disasters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Massabò, Marco; Trasforini, Eva; Traverso, Stefania; Rudari, Roberto; De Angeli, Silvia; Cecinati, Francesca; Cerruti, Valentina
2013-04-01
The assessment of infrastructure damages caused by technological disaster poses several challenges, from gathering needed information on the territorial system to the definition of functionality curves for infrastructures elements (such as, buildings, road school) that are exposed to both natural and technological event. Moreover, areas affected by natural or natech (technological disasters triggered by natural events) disasters have often very large extensions and a rapid survey of them to gather all the needed information is a very difficult task, for many reasons, not least the difficult access to the existing databases and resources. We use multispectral optical imagery with other geographical and unconventional data to identify and characterize exposed elements. Our efforts in the virtual survey and during the investigation steps have different aims: to identify the vulnerability of infrastructures, buildings or activities; to execute calculations of exposition to risk; to estimate physical and functional damages. Subsequently, we apply specific algorithms to estimate values of acting forces and physical and functional damages. The updated picture of target areas in terms of risk-prone people, infrastructures and their connections is very important. It is possible to develop algorithms providing values of systemic functionality for each network element. The methodology is here applied to a natech disaster, arising from the combination of a flood event (specifically, the January 2010 flooding of Drin and Buna rivers, with a worsening in the road safety levels in the Shkoder area) with and the subsequent overturning of a truck transporting hazardous material. The accident causes the loss of containment and the total material release. Once the release has taken place, the evolution will depend on the physical state of the substance spilled (liquid, gas or dust). As a specific case we consider the rupture of a trucks transporting liquid fuels such as gasoline through Shkoder downtown. Goods entering in Albania from north pass through Shkoder, indeed a high traffic road that connects Albania with Montenegro and Kosovo crosses Shkoder downtown. We consider a truck overturned in downtown Shkoder during the flooding of January 2010; the gasoline transported by the truck is completely released and a pool fire develops damaging roads. We use the model CHESRM (Chemical Spill Risk Mapper) for identify the threat zones of the accident and as a basis for assessing the potential leads to functional damages to other elements of the considered system. The application of the methodology shows the potential use not only on real time emergency management or prevention but also during post-event management for the evaluation of the functional damage to the affected infrastructure (villages isolated from the rest of the network, villages unable to reach schools, hospitals or other services...) and to set a hierarchy in restoration activities, giving priority to the reconstruction of links between primary nodes.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Poff, N.L.; Matthews, R.A.
1984-01-01
Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure and functional groups on leaf detritus in a thermal, post-thermal and an undisturbed stream, and in the Savannah River immediately downstream from each stream mouth, were compared over a 7 wk (48d) period from December 1982 to February 1983. Ambient temperatures n the post-thermal and undisturbed streams ranged from 4 to 8 and 4 to 11/sup 0/C, respectively, and from 7 to 12/sup 0/C in the Savannah River. Temperatures in the thermal stream fluctuated irregularly between 7 to 31/sup 0/C and in the river below this stream mouth between 7 to 22/sup 0/C. A total ofmore » 13,993 macroinvertebrates representing at least 51 families and 84 genera was collected. Numbers of organisms and taxa were depressed at the thermal stream site, whereas numbers of both organisms and taxa increased at the river site receiving thermal influence. Chironomids of the subfamily Orthocladiinae comprised 46 to 60% of the fauna at all sites except in the thermal stream, where they comprised 5%. Physa (Gastropoda), Ablabesmyia (Tanypodinae) and Tanytarsus (Chironominae) each contributed over 20% of the fauna at the thermal stream. Cheumatopsyche (Trichoptera) represented 12 to 13% of the riverine fauna at the ambient sites, but 25% at the thermally-perturbed site. Collectors (mostly gatherers) contributed 51 to 75% at all sites except the thermal stream where scrapers dominated with 39%. Filterer relative abundance increased from 16 to 19% at the ambient river sites to 29% at the thermally-perturbed river site, suggesting that suspended carbon transport from the thermal stream occurred and subsidized the macroinvertebrate community in the Savannah River. 48 references, 3 figures, 2 tables.« less
Chemical heterogeneities in the interior of terrestrial bodies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Plesa, Ana-Catalina; Maurice, Maxime; Tosi, Nicola; Breuer, Doris
2016-04-01
Mantle chemical heterogeneities that can strongly influence the interior dynamics have been inferred for all terrestrial bodies of the Solar System and range from local to global scale. Seismic data for the Earth, differences in surface mineral compositions observed in data sets from space missions, and isotopic variations identified in laboratory analyses of meteorites or samples indicate chemically heterogeneous systems. One way to generate large scale geochemical heterogeneities is through the fractional crystallization of a liquid magma ocean. The large amount of energy available in the early stages of planetary evolution can cause melting of a significant part or perhaps even the entire mantle of a terrestrial body resulting in a liquid magma ocean. Assuming fractional crystallization, magma ocean solidification proceeds from the core-mantle boundary to the surface where dense cumulates tend to form due to iron enrichment in the evolving liquid. This process leads to a gravitationally unstable mantle, which is prone to overturn. Following cumulate overturn, a stable stratification may be reached that prevents efficient material transport. As a consequence, mantle reservoirs may be kept separate, possibly for the entire thermo-chemical evolution of a terrestrial body. Scenarios assuming fractional crystallization of a liquid magma ocean have been suggested to explain lavas with distinct composition on Mercury's surface [1], the generation of the Moon's mare basalts by sampling a reservoir consisting of overturned ilmenite-bearing cumulates [2], and the preservation of Mars' geochemical reservoirs as inferred by isotopic analysis of the SNC meteorites [3]. However, recent studies have shown that the style of the overturn as well as the subsequent density stratification are of extreme importance for the subsequent thermo-chemical evolution of a planetary body and may have a major impact on the later surface tectonics and volcanic history. The rapid formation of a stagnant lid that traps the uppermost dense cumulates close to the surface and prevents them from sinking into the mantle or the difficulty to initiate thermal convection because of the stable compositional gradient established after the overturn are difficult to reconcile with observations [4, 5]. More recent results show that the crystallization achieved upon solidification of a liquid magma ocean is considerably more complex than previously assumed. In fact, the onset of solid-state convection prior to complete crystallization of the mantle can efficiently reduce mantle chemical heterogeneities [5]. We thus conclude that mantle mixing may partly or even completely erase the effects of fractional crystallization well before complete solidification. Nevertheless, the subsequent differentiation caused by partial melting, may introduce additional heterogeneities between residual and primitive mantle that could explain compositional differences observed over the surface of terrestrial bodies [6]. References: [1] Charlier et al., 2013, EPSL; [2] Elkins-Tanton et al., 2011, EPSL; [3] Elkins-Tanton et al., 2005, JGR; [4] Tosi et al., 2013, JGR; [5] Plesa et al., 2014, EPSL; [5] Maurice et al, 2015, EGU; [6] Plesa & Breuer, 2014, PSS.
Effects of watershed history on dissolved organic matter characteristics in headwater streams
Youhei Yamashita; Brian D. Kloeppel; Jennifer Knoepp; Gregory L. Zausen; Rudolf Jaffe'
2011-01-01
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is recognized as a major component in the global carbon cycle and is an important driver in aquatic ecosystem function. Climate, land use, and forest cover changes all impact stream DOM and alter biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial environments. We determined the temporal variation in DOM quantity and quality in headwater streams at a...
Kelly E. Crook; Catherine M. Pringle; Mary C. Freeman
2009-01-01
1. One way in which dams affect ecosystem function is by altering the distribution and abundance of aquatic species. 2. Previous studies indicate that migratory shrimps have significant effects on ecosystem processes in Puerto Rican streams, but are vulnerable to impediments to upstream or downstream passage, such as dams and associated water intakes where stream water...
Brian H. Hill; Frank H. McCormick
2004-01-01
The effect of timber harvesting on streams is assessed using two measures of ecosystem function: nutrient spiraling and community metabolism. This research is being conducted in streams of the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, and the redwood forests of northern California, in order to...
Oechslin, Mathias S; Gschwind, Markus; James, Clara E
2018-04-01
As a functional homolog for left-hemispheric syntax processing in language, neuroimaging studies evidenced involvement of right prefrontal regions in musical syntax processing, of which underlying white matter connectivity remains unexplored so far. In the current experiment, we investigated the underlying pathway architecture in subjects with 3 levels of musical expertise. Employing diffusion tensor imaging tractography, departing from seeds from our previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study on music syntax processing in the same participants, we identified a pathway in the right ventral stream that connects the middle temporal lobe with the inferior frontal cortex via the extreme capsule, and corresponds to the left hemisphere ventral stream, classically attributed to syntax processing in language comprehension. Additional morphometric consistency analyses allowed dissociating tract core from more dispersed fiber portions. Musical expertise related to higher tract consistency of the right ventral stream pathway. Specifically, tract consistency in this pathway predicted the sensitivity for musical syntax violations. We conclude that enduring musical practice sculpts ventral stream architecture. Our results suggest that training-related pathway plasticity facilitates the right hemisphere ventral stream information transfer, supporting an improved sound-to-meaning mapping in music.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Weitzell, R.; Guinn, S. M.; Elmore, A. J.
2012-12-01
The process of directing streams into culverts, pipes, or concrete-lined ditches during urbanization, known as stream burial, alters the primary physical, chemical, and biological processes of streams. Knowledge of the cumulative impacts of reduced structure and ecological function within buried stream networks is crucial for informing management of stream ecosystems, in light of continued growth in urban areas, and the uncertain response of freshwater ecosystems to the stresses of global climate change. To address this need, we utilized recently improved stream maps for the Potomac River Basin (PRB) to describe the extent and severity of stream burial across the basin. Observations of stream burial made from high resolution aerial photographs (>1% of total basin area) and a decision tree using spatial statistics from impervious cover data were used to predict stream burial at 4 time-steps (1975, 1990, 2001, 2006). Of the roughly 95,500 kilometers (km) of stream in the PRB, approximately 4551 km (4.76%) were buried by urban development as of 2001. Analysis of county-level burial trends shows differential patterns in the timing and rates of headwater stream burial, which may be due to local development policies, topographical constraints, and/or time since development. Consistently higher rates of stream burial were observed for small streams, decreasing with stream order. Headwater streams (1st-2nd order) are disproportionately affected, with burial rates continuing to increase over time in relation to larger stream orders. Beyond simple habitat loss, headwater burial decreases connectivity among headwater populations and habitats, with potential to affect a wide range of important ecological processes. To quantify changes to regional headwater connectivity we applied a connectivity model based on electrical circuit theory. Circuit-theoretical models function by treating the landscape as a resistance surface, representing hypothesized relationships between landscape features and their differential "resistance" to movement by organisms. A landscape resistance layer was developed and fine-tuned in terms of the habitat use/needs of aquatic invertebrates with terrestrial adult stages, organisms of critical importance to riparian and aquatic ecosystem health. Initial results show significant increases in landscape resistance (isolation) among headwater systems, and corresponding decreases in current flow (movement of organisms) across the increasingly urbanized PRB landscape. Of particular interest, the circuit model highlighted the importance of stream confluences and zero-order (non-channel) headwater areas for movement of organisms between headwater systems that are otherwise highly disconnected, and for which the latter currently receives no legal protection from development.
Bovine Milk as a Source of Functional Oligosaccharides for Improving Human Health12
Zivkovic, Angela M.; Barile, Daniela
2011-01-01
Human milk oligosaccharides are complex sugars that function as selective growth substrates for specific beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal system. Bovine milk is a potentially excellent source of commercially viable analogs of these unique molecules. However, bovine milk has a much lower concentration of these oligosaccharides than human milk, and the majority of the molecules are simpler in structure than those found in human milk. Specific structural characteristics of milk-derived oligosaccharides are crucial to their ability to selectively enrich beneficial bacteria while inhibiting or being less than ideal substrates for undesirable and pathogenic bacteria. Thus, if bovine milk products are to provide human milk–like benefits, it is important to identify specific dairy streams that can be processed commercially and cost-effectively and that can yield specific oligosaccharide compositions that will be beneficial as new food ingredients or supplements to improve human health. Whey streams have the potential to be commercially viable sources of complex oligosaccharides that have the structural resemblance and diversity of the bioactive oligosaccharides in human milk. With further refinements to dairy stream processing techniques and functional testing to identify streams that are particularly suitable for enriching beneficial intestinal bacteria, the future of oligosaccharides isolated from dairy streams as a food category with substantiated health claims is promising. PMID:22332060
Bovine milk as a source of functional oligosaccharides for improving human health.
Zivkovic, Angela M; Barile, Daniela
2011-05-01
Human milk oligosaccharides are complex sugars that function as selective growth substrates for specific beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal system. Bovine milk is a potentially excellent source of commercially viable analogs of these unique molecules. However, bovine milk has a much lower concentration of these oligosaccharides than human milk, and the majority of the molecules are simpler in structure than those found in human milk. Specific structural characteristics of milk-derived oligosaccharides are crucial to their ability to selectively enrich beneficial bacteria while inhibiting or being less than ideal substrates for undesirable and pathogenic bacteria. Thus, if bovine milk products are to provide human milk-like benefits, it is important to identify specific dairy streams that can be processed commercially and cost-effectively and that can yield specific oligosaccharide compositions that will be beneficial as new food ingredients or supplements to improve human health. Whey streams have the potential to be commercially viable sources of complex oligosaccharides that have the structural resemblance and diversity of the bioactive oligosaccharides in human milk. With further refinements to dairy stream processing techniques and functional testing to identify streams that are particularly suitable for enriching beneficial intestinal bacteria, the future of oligosaccharides isolated from dairy streams as a food category with substantiated health claims is promising.
Effects of selenium on mallard duck reproduction and immune function
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Whiteley, P.L.; Yuill, T.M.; Fairbrother, A.
Selenium from irrigation drain water and coal-fired power stations is a significant environmental contaminant in some regions of the USA. The objectives were to examine whether selenium-exposed waterfowl had altered immune function, disease resistance, or reproduction. Pairs of adult mallards were exposed for 95-99 days on streams with sodium selenite-treated water at 10 and 30 ppb, or on untreated streams. Selenium biomagnified through the food chain to the ducks. Disease resistance was decreased in ducklings hatched on the streams and challenged with duck hepatitis virus 1 (DHV1) when 15-days old. Liver selenium concentrations for these ducklings on the 10 andmore » 30 ppb streams was 3.6 and 7.6 ppm dry weight, respectively. Mortality of ducklings purchased when 7-days old, exposed to selenium for 14 days, and challenged when 22-days old was not affected. However, their selenium exposure was lower (liver selenium 4.1 ppm dry weight for the 30 ppb stream). Five parameters of immune function were measured in adult ducks. Phagocytosis of killed Pasteurella multocida by blood heterophils and monocytes, and blood monocyte concentrations were higher in adult males following 84 days exposure to 30 ppb selenium. Their liver selenium concentrations were 11.1 ppm dry weight after 95-99 days exposure.« less
US bill seeks to overturn NIH research-archiving rule
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gwynne, Peter
2012-03-01
A bipartisan bill introduced in the US House of Representatives aims to reverse 2008 legislation that requires recipients of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to make copies of their peer-reviewed papers freely available online.
13 CFR 127.604 - How will SBA process an EDWOSB or WOSB status protest?
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-01-01
... ADMINISTRATION WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS FEDERAL CONTRACT ASSISTANCE PROCEDURES Protests § 127.604 How will SBA... determination. SBA's determination is effective immediately and is final unless overturned by OHA on appeal...
Performance of pile supported sign structures : final report.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2015-01-01
Foundations for sign structures are subjected primarily to overturning loads, but published methods for designing driven pile groups only address groups subjected either to compression or uplift, not both simultaneously. A lateral load test of two fo...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Qian; Dixon, Timothy H.; Myers, Paul G.; Bonin, Jennifer; Chambers, Don; van den Broeke, M. R.
2016-01-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is an important component of ocean thermohaline circulation. Melting of Greenland's ice sheet is freshening the North Atlantic; however, whether the augmented freshwater flux is disrupting the AMOC is unclear. Dense Labrador Sea Water (LSW), formed by winter cooling of saline North Atlantic water and subsequent convection, is a key component of the deep southward return flow of the AMOC. Although LSW formation recently decreased, it also reached historically high values in the mid-1990s, making the connection to the freshwater flux unclear. Here we derive a new estimate of the recent freshwater flux from Greenland using updated GRACE satellite data, present new flux estimates for heat and salt from the North Atlantic into the Labrador Sea and explain recent variations in LSW formation. We suggest that changes in LSW can be directly linked to recent freshening, and suggest a possible link to AMOC weakening.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Boulton, Chris A.; Allison, Lesley C.; Lenton, Timothy M.
2014-12-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) exhibits two stable states in models of varying complexity. Shifts between alternative AMOC states are thought to have played a role in past abrupt climate changes, but the proximity of the climate system to a threshold for future AMOC collapse is unknown. Generic early warning signals of critical slowing down before AMOC collapse have been found in climate models of low and intermediate complexity. Here we show that early warning signals of AMOC collapse are present in a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, subject to a freshwater hosing experiment. The statistical significance of signals of increasing lag-1 autocorrelation and variance vary with latitude. They give up to 250 years warning before AMOC collapse, after ~550 years of monitoring. Future work is needed to clarify suggested dynamical mechanisms driving critical slowing down as the AMOC collapse is approached.
Arctic sea-ice decline weakens the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sévellec, Florian; Fedorov, Alexey V.; Liu, Wei
2017-08-01
The ongoing decline of Arctic sea ice exposes the ocean to anomalous surface heat and freshwater fluxes, resulting in positive buoyancy anomalies that can affect ocean circulation. In this study, we use an optimal flux perturbation framework and comprehensive climate model simulations to estimate the sensitivity of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) to such buoyancy forcing over the Arctic and globally, and more generally to sea-ice decline. It is found that on decadal timescales, flux anomalies over the subpolar North Atlantic have the largest impact on the AMOC, while on multi-decadal timescales (longer than 20 years), flux anomalies in the Arctic become more important. These positive buoyancy anomalies spread to the North Atlantic, weakening the AMOC and its poleward heat transport. Therefore, the Arctic sea-ice decline may explain the suggested slow-down of the AMOC and the `Warming Hole’ persisting in the subpolar North Atlantic.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hsu, C. W.; Velicogna, I.
2016-12-01
Terrestrial water cycle has a significant role in the long-term changes of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). With the fresh water input over the ocean from the river runoff or ice melting at the higher latitude, AMOC transport has been predicted to slow down at the end of the century. We compare ocean bottom pressure measured from the GRACE satellite data with the conventional density derived transport observations from the RAPID MOC/MOCHA array to study the impact of the terrestrial water cycle on the seasonal and inter annual AMOC variability detected by the RAPID MOC/MOCHA array observations. We propose that the observed short-term variability is due to coupling of wind driven and terrestrial water cycle changes. We show that the proposed mechanism explains a significant portion of the transport variance and we present new possible mechanism that can explain the residual transport signal in AMOC.
Impact of Greenland orography on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Davini, Paolo; von Hardenberg, Jost; Filippi, Luca; Provenzale, Antonello
2015-04-01
We show that the absence of the Greenland Ice Sheet would have important consequences on the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, even without taking into account the effect of the freshwater input from ice melting. These effects are investigated in a 200-year long coupled ocean-atmosphere simulation with the high-resolution global climate model EC-Earth 3.0.1. Once a new equilibrium is established, cooling of Eurasia and of the North Atlantic and poleward shift of the subtropical jet are observed. These hemispheric changes are ascribed to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) by about 20%. Such slowdown is associated to the freshening of the Arctic basin and to the related reduction in the freshwater export through the Fram Strait, as a result of the new wind pattern generated by the lower orography. This idealized experiment reveals the possibility of decreasing the AMOC by locally changing the surface winds.
Boulton, Chris A.; Allison, Lesley C.; Lenton, Timothy M.
2014-01-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) exhibits two stable states in models of varying complexity. Shifts between alternative AMOC states are thought to have played a role in past abrupt climate changes, but the proximity of the climate system to a threshold for future AMOC collapse is unknown. Generic early warning signals of critical slowing down before AMOC collapse have been found in climate models of low and intermediate complexity. Here we show that early warning signals of AMOC collapse are present in a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, subject to a freshwater hosing experiment. The statistical significance of signals of increasing lag-1 autocorrelation and variance vary with latitude. They give up to 250 years warning before AMOC collapse, after ~550 years of monitoring. Future work is needed to clarify suggested dynamical mechanisms driving critical slowing down as the AMOC collapse is approached. PMID:25482065
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation slowdown cooled the subtropical ocean
Cunningham, Stuart A; Roberts, Christopher D; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor; Johns, William E; Hobbs, Will; Palmer, Matthew D; Rayner, Darren; Smeed, David A; McCarthy, Gerard
2013-01-01
[1] Observations show that the upper 2 km of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean cooled throughout 2010 and remained cold until at least December 2011. We show that these cold anomalies are partly driven by anomalous air-sea exchange during the cold winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 and, more surprisingly, by extreme interannual variability in the ocean's northward heat transport at 26.5°N. This cooling driven by the ocean's meridional heat transport affects deeper layers isolated from the atmosphere on annual timescales and water that is entrained into the winter mixed layer thus lowering winter sea surface temperatures. Here we connect, for the first time, variability in the northward heat transport carried by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to widespread sustained cooling of the subtropical North Atlantic, challenging the prevailing view that the ocean plays a passive role in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system on monthly-to-seasonal timescales. PMID:26074634
On the stability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.
Hofmann, Matthias; Rahmstorf, Stefan
2009-12-08
One of the most important large-scale ocean current systems for Earth's climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Here we review its stability properties and present new model simulations to study the AMOC's hysteresis response to freshwater perturbations. We employ seven different versions of an Ocean General Circulation Model by using a highly accurate tracer advection scheme, which minimizes the problem of numerical diffusion. We find that a characteristic freshwater hysteresis also exists in the predominantly wind-driven, low-diffusion limit of the AMOC. However, the shape of the hysteresis changes, indicating that a convective instability rather than the advective Stommel feedback plays a dominant role. We show that model errors in the mean climate can make the hysteresis disappear, and we investigate how model innovations over the past two decades, like new parameterizations and mixing schemes, affect the AMOC stability. Finally, we discuss evidence that current climate models systematically overestimate the stability of the AMOC.
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation slowdown cooled the subtropical ocean.
Cunningham, Stuart A; Roberts, Christopher D; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor; Johns, William E; Hobbs, Will; Palmer, Matthew D; Rayner, Darren; Smeed, David A; McCarthy, Gerard
2013-12-16
[1] Observations show that the upper 2 km of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean cooled throughout 2010 and remained cold until at least December 2011. We show that these cold anomalies are partly driven by anomalous air-sea exchange during the cold winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 and, more surprisingly, by extreme interannual variability in the ocean's northward heat transport at 26.5°N. This cooling driven by the ocean's meridional heat transport affects deeper layers isolated from the atmosphere on annual timescales and water that is entrained into the winter mixed layer thus lowering winter sea surface temperatures. Here we connect, for the first time, variability in the northward heat transport carried by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to widespread sustained cooling of the subtropical North Atlantic, challenging the prevailing view that the ocean plays a passive role in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system on monthly-to-seasonal timescales.
Enhanced sea-ice export from the Arctic during the Younger Dryas.
Not, Christelle; Hillaire-Marcel, Claude
2012-01-31
The Younger Dryas cold spell of the last deglaciation and related slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation have been linked to a large array of processes, notably an influx of fresh water into the North Atlantic related to partial drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz. Here we observe a major drainage event, in marine sediment cores raised from the Lomonosov Ridge, in the central Arctic Ocean marked by a pulse in detrital dolomitic-limestones. This points to an Arctic-Canadian sediment source area with about fivefold higher Younger Dryas ice-rafting deposition rate, in comparison with the Holocene. Our findings thus support the hypothesis of a glacial drainage event in the Canadian Arctic area, at the onset of the Younger Dryas, enhancing sea-ice production and drifting through the Arctic, then export through Fram Strait, towards Atlantic meridional overturning circulation sites of the northern North Atlantic.
Boulton, Chris A; Allison, Lesley C; Lenton, Timothy M
2014-12-08
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) exhibits two stable states in models of varying complexity. Shifts between alternative AMOC states are thought to have played a role in past abrupt climate changes, but the proximity of the climate system to a threshold for future AMOC collapse is unknown. Generic early warning signals of critical slowing down before AMOC collapse have been found in climate models of low and intermediate complexity. Here we show that early warning signals of AMOC collapse are present in a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, subject to a freshwater hosing experiment. The statistical significance of signals of increasing lag-1 autocorrelation and variance vary with latitude. They give up to 250 years warning before AMOC collapse, after ~550 years of monitoring. Future work is needed to clarify suggested dynamical mechanisms driving critical slowing down as the AMOC collapse is approached.
Gradual onset and recovery of the Younger Dryas abrupt climate event in the tropics.
Partin, J W; Quinn, T M; Shen, C-C; Okumura, Y; Cardenas, M B; Siringan, F P; Banner, J L; Lin, K; Hu, H-M; Taylor, F W
2015-09-02
Proxy records of temperature from the Atlantic clearly show that the Younger Dryas was an abrupt climate change event during the last deglaciation, but records of hydroclimate are underutilized in defining the event. Here we combine a new hydroclimate record from Palawan, Philippines, in the tropical Pacific, with previously published records to highlight a difference between hydroclimate and temperature responses to the Younger Dryas. Although the onset and termination are synchronous across the records, tropical hydroclimate changes are more gradual (>100 years) than the abrupt (10-100 years) temperature changes in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The abrupt recovery of Greenland temperatures likely reflects changes in regional sea ice extent. Proxy data and transient climate model simulations support the hypothesis that freshwater forced a reduction in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, thereby causing the Younger Dryas. However, changes in ocean overturning may not produce the same effects globally as in Greenland.
The formation of the ocean’s anthropogenic carbon reservoir
Iudicone, Daniele; Rodgers, Keith B.; Plancherel, Yves; Aumont, Olivier; Ito, Takamitsu; Key, Robert M.; Madec, Gurvan; Ishii, Masao
2016-01-01
The shallow overturning circulation of the oceans transports heat from the tropics to the mid-latitudes. This overturning also influences the uptake and storage of anthropogenic carbon (Cant). We demonstrate this by quantifying the relative importance of ocean thermodynamics, circulation and biogeochemistry in a global biochemistry and circulation model. Almost 2/3 of the Cant ocean uptake enters via gas exchange in waters that are lighter than the base of the ventilated thermocline. However, almost 2/3 of the excess Cant is stored below the thermocline. Our analysis shows that subtropical waters are a dominant component in the formation of subpolar waters and that these water masses essentially form a common Cant reservoir. This new method developed and presented here is intrinsically Lagrangian, as it by construction only considers the velocity or transport of waters across isopycnals. More generally, our approach provides an integral framework for linking ocean thermodynamics with biogeochemistry. PMID:27808101
Yang, Qian; Dixon, Timothy H; Myers, Paul G; Bonin, Jennifer; Chambers, Don; van den Broeke, M R
2016-01-22
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is an important component of ocean thermohaline circulation. Melting of Greenland's ice sheet is freshening the North Atlantic; however, whether the augmented freshwater flux is disrupting the AMOC is unclear. Dense Labrador Sea Water (LSW), formed by winter cooling of saline North Atlantic water and subsequent convection, is a key component of the deep southward return flow of the AMOC. Although LSW formation recently decreased, it also reached historically high values in the mid-1990s, making the connection to the freshwater flux unclear. Here we derive a new estimate of the recent freshwater flux from Greenland using updated GRACE satellite data, present new flux estimates for heat and salt from the North Atlantic into the Labrador Sea and explain recent variations in LSW formation. We suggest that changes in LSW can be directly linked to recent freshening, and suggest a possible link to AMOC weakening.
Thermohaline circulation at three key sections in the North Atlantic over 1985-2002
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Marsh, Robert; de Cuevas, Beverly A.; Coward, Andrew C.; Bryden, Harry L.; Álvarez, Marta
2005-05-01
Efforts are presently underway to monitor the Thermohaline Circulation (THC) in the North Atlantic. A measuring strategy has been designed to monitor both the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) in the subtropics and dense outflows at higher latitudes. To provide a historical context for these new observations, we diagnose an eddy-permitting ocean model simulation of the period 1985-2002. We present time series of the THC, MOC and heat transport, at key hydrographic sections in the subtropics, the northeast Atlantic and the Labrador Sea. The simulated THC compares well with observations. We find considerable variability in the THC on each section, most strikingly in the Labrador Sea during the early 1990's, consistent with observed changes. Overturning in the northeast Atlantic declines by ~20% over the 1990's, coincident with an increase in the subtropics. We speculate that MOC weakening may soon be detected in the subtropics, if the decline continues in mid-latitudes.
North Atlantic ocean circulation and abrupt climate change during the last glaciation.
Henry, L G; McManus, J F; Curry, W B; Roberts, N L; Piotrowski, A M; Keigwin, L D
2016-07-29
The most recent ice age was characterized by rapid and hemispherically asynchronous climate oscillations, whose origin remains unresolved. Variations in oceanic meridional heat transport may contribute to these repeated climate changes, which were most pronounced during marine isotope stage 3, the glacial interval 25 thousand to 60 thousand years ago. We examined climate and ocean circulation proxies throughout this interval at high resolution in a deep North Atlantic sediment core, combining the kinematic tracer protactinium/thorium (Pa/Th) with the deep water-mass tracer, epibenthic δ(13)C. These indicators suggest reduced Atlantic overturning circulation during every cool northern stadial, with the greatest reductions during episodic Hudson Strait iceberg discharges, while sharp northern warming followed reinvigorated overturning. These results provide direct evidence for the ocean's persistent, central role in abrupt glacial climate change. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Atlantic-Pacific Asymmetry in Deep Water Formation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ferreira, David; Cessi, Paola; Coxall, Helen K.; de Boer, Agatha; Dijkstra, Henk A.; Drijfhout, Sybren S.; Eldevik, Tor; Harnik, Nili; McManus, Jerry F.; Marshall, David P.; Nilsson, Johan; Roquet, Fabien; Schneider, Tapio; Wills, Robert C.
2018-05-01
While the Atlantic Ocean is ventilated by high-latitude deep water formation and exhibits a pole-to-pole overturning circulation, the Pacific Ocean does not. This asymmetric global overturning pattern has persisted for the past 2–3 million years, with evidence for different ventilation modes in the deeper past. In the current climate, the Atlantic-Pacific asymmetry occurs because the Atlantic is more saline, enabling deep convection. To what extent the salinity contrast between the two basins is dominated by atmospheric processes (larger net evaporation over the Atlantic) or oceanic processes (salinity transport into the Atlantic) remains an outstanding question. Numerical simulations have provided support for both mechanisms; observations of the present climate support a strong role for atmospheric processes as well as some modulation by oceanic processes. A major avenue for future work is the quantification of the various processes at play to identify which mechanisms are primary in different climate states.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Galbraith, Eric D.; Merlis, Timothy M.; Palter, Jaime B.
2016-08-01
During each of the dramatic global warmings that ended the Pleistocene ice ages, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was disrupted. It is not clear whether this was a contributing cause or simply an effect of deglaciation. Here we show that in an ensemble of simulations with a global climate model, AMOC disruption causes a consistent and sustained positive radiative imbalance of 0.4 W m-2. The imbalance is accommodated by heat accumulation in the ocean interior, representing an overall planetary warming, subsequently released by deep convection in the North Atlantic when the AMOC resumes. The results suggest a means by which AMOC disruptions could have helped to tip the planet out of stable glaciated states. However, the fact that AMOC disruptions occurred during prior Heinrich Stadials without causing deglaciation shows that other factors, such as ice sheet dynamics, or controls on CO2, were also key for deglaciation.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and Abrupt Climate Change.
Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean
2017-01-03
Abrupt changes in climate have occurred in many locations around the globe over the last glacial cycle, with pronounced temperature swings on timescales of decades or less in the North Atlantic. The global pattern of these changes suggests that they reflect variability in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). This review examines the evidence from ocean sediments for ocean circulation change over these abrupt events. The evidence for changes in the strength and structure of the AMOC associated with the Younger Dryas and many of the Heinrich events is strong. Although it has been difficult to directly document changes in the AMOC over the relatively short Dansgaard-Oeschger events, there is recent evidence supporting AMOC changes over most of these oscillations as well. The lack of direct evidence for circulation changes over the shortest events leaves open the possibility of other driving mechanisms for millennial-scale climate variability.
Cheng, Jun; Liu, Zhengyu; Zhang, Shaoqing; Liu, Wei; Dong, Lina; Liu, Peng; Li, Hongli
2016-03-22
Interdecadal variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC-IV) plays an important role in climate variation and has significant societal impacts. Past climate reconstruction indicates that AMOC-IV has likely undergone significant changes. Despite some previous studies, responses of AMOC-IV to global warming remain unclear, in particular regarding its amplitude and time scale. In this study, we analyze the responses of AMOC-IV under various scenarios of future global warming in multiple models and find that AMOC-IV becomes weaker and shorter with enhanced global warming. From the present climate condition to the strongest future warming scenario, on average, the major period of AMOC-IV is shortened from ∼50 y to ∼20 y, and the amplitude is reduced by ∼60%. These reductions in period and amplitude of AMOC-IV are suggested to be associated with increased oceanic stratification under global warming and, in turn, the speedup of oceanic baroclinic Rossby waves.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tokano, T.; Lorenz, R. D.
2015-10-01
Density-driven circulation in Titan's seas forced by solar heating and methane evaporation/precipitation is simulated by an ocean circulation model. If the sea is transparent to sunlight, solar heating can induce anti-clockwise gyres near the sea surface and clockwise gyres near the sea bottom. The gyres are in geostrophic balance between the radially symmetric pressure gradient force and Coriolis force. If instead the sea is turbid and most sunlight is absorbed near the sea surface, the sea gets stratified in warm seasons and the circulation remains weak. Strong summer precipitation at high latitudes causes compositional stratification and increase of the nearsurface methane mole fraction towards the north pole. The resultant latitudinal density contrast drives a meridional overturning with equatorward currents near the sea surface and poleward currents near the sea bottom. Weak precipitation induces gyres rather than meridional overturning.
Rossby waves, extreme fronts, and wildfires in southeastern Australia
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Reeder, Michael J.; Spengler, Thomas; Musgrave, Ruth
2015-03-01
The most catastrophic fires in recent history in southern Australia have been associated with extreme cold fronts. Here an extreme cold front is defined as one for which the maximum temperature at 2 m is at least 17°C lower on the day following the front. An anticyclone, which precedes the cold front, directs very dry northerlies or northwesterlies from the interior of the continent across the region. The passage of the cold front is followed by strong southerlies or southwesterlies. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ERA-Interim Reanalyses show that this regional synoptic pattern common to all strong cold fronts, and hence severe fire conditions, is a consequence of propagating Rossby waves, which grow to large amplitude and eventually irreversibly overturn. The process of overturning produces the low-level anticyclone and dry conditions over southern Australia, while simultaneously producing an upper level trough and often precipitation in northeastern Australia.
Lunar ferroan anorthosites and mare basalt sources - The mixed connection
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Ryder, Graham
1991-01-01
Global overturn of a hot, gravitationally unstable lunar mantle immediately following the solidification of a magma ocean explains several characteristics of lunar petrology. Lunar mare basalt sources are inferred to be depleted in europium and alumina. These depletions are consensually attributed to complementary plagioclase floating from a magma ocean. However, in contrast to the mare basalt source parent magma, the ferroan anorthosite parent magma was more evolved by virtue of its lower Mg/Fe ratio and Ni abundances, although less evolved in its poverty of clinopyroxene constituents, flat rare earth pattern, and lower incompatible element abundances. The europium anomaly in mare sources is inferred to be present at 400 km depth, too deep to have been directly influenced by plagioclase crystallization. Massive overturning of the post-magma ocean mantle would have carried down clinopyroxene, ilmenite, and phases containing fractionated rare earths, europium anomalies, and some heat-producing radionuclides.
Overturning dogma: tolerance of insects to mixed-sterol diets is not universal.
Behmer, Spencer T
2017-10-01
Insects cannot synthesize sterols de novo, but like all eukaryotes they use them as cell membrane inserts where they influence membrane fluidity and rigidity. They also use a small amount for metabolic purposes, most notably as essential precursors for steroid hormones. It has been a long-held view that most insects require a small amount of specific sterol (often cholesterol) for metabolic purposes, but for membrane purposes (where the bulk of sterols are used) specificity in sterol structure was less important. Under this model, it was assumed that insects could tolerate mixed-sterol diets as long as a small amount of cholesterol was available. In the current paper this dogma is overturned, using data from plant-feeding insects that were fed mixed-sterol diets with different amounts and ratios of dietary sterols. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Ackers, D; Buchen, B; Hejnowicz, Z; Sievers, A
2000-06-01
The spatial pattern of acropetal and basipetal cytoplasmic streaming velocities has been studied by laser-Doppler-velocimetry (LDV) in the positively gravitropic (downward growing) rhizoids of Chara globularis Thuill. and for the first time in the negatively gravitropic (upward growing) protonemata. The LDV method proved to be precise and yielded reproducible results even when tiny differences in velocities were measured. In the apical parts of the streaming regions of both cell types, acropetal streaming was faster than basipetal streaming. Starting at the apical reversal point of streaming, the velocity increased basipetally with the distance from that point and became fairly constant close to the basal reversal point; subsequently, the velocity decreased slightly acropetally as the apical reversal point was again approached. There was no change in velocity at the basal reversal point. However, at the apical reversal point there was an abrupt decrease in velocity. The pattern of the ratio of acropetal to basipetal streaming velocity (VR) was a function of the relative distance of the site of measurement from the apical reversal point rather than a function of the absolute distance. Upon inversion of the rhizoids, the VR decreased on average by 3.8% (+/- 0.4%), indicating that the effect of gravity on the streaming velocity was merely physical and without a physiological amplification. Rhizoids that had developed on the slowly rotating horizontal axis of a clinostat, and had never experienced a constant gravity vector, were similar to normally grown rhizoids with respect to VR pattern. In protonemata, the VR pattern was not significantly different from that in rhizoids although the direction of growth was inverse. In rhizoids, oryzalin caused the polar organization of the cell to disappear and nullified the differences in streaming velocities, and cytochalasin D decreased the velocity of basipetal streaming slightly more than that of acropetal streaming. Cyclopiazonic acid, known as an inhibitor of the Ca2+-ATPase of the endoplasmic reticulum, also reduced the streaming velocities in rhizoids, but had slightly more effect on the acropetal stream. It is possible that the endogenous difference in streaming velocities in both rhizoids and protonemata is caused by differences in the cytoskeletal organization of the opposing streams and/or loading of inhibitors (like Ca2+) from the apical/subapical zone into the basipetally streaming endoplasm.
The ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms.
Battin, Tom J; Besemer, Katharina; Bengtsson, Mia M; Romani, Anna M; Packmann, Aaron I
2016-04-01
Streams and rivers form dense networks, shape the Earth's surface and, in their sediments, provide an immensely large surface area for microbial growth. Biofilms dominate microbial life in streams and rivers, drive crucial ecosystem processes and contribute substantially to global biogeochemical fluxes. In turn, water flow and related deliveries of nutrients and organic matter to biofilms constitute major constraints on microbial life. In this Review, we describe the ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms and highlight the influence of physical and ecological processes on their structure and function. Recent advances in the study of biofilm ecology may pave the way towards a mechanistic understanding of the effects of climate and environmental change on stream biofilms and the biogeochemistry of stream ecosystems.
Here, there and everywhere: higher visual function and the dorsal visual stream.
Cooper, Sarah Anne; O'Sullivan, Michael
2016-06-01
The dorsal visual stream, often referred to as the 'where' stream, represents the pathway taken by visual information from the primary visual cortex to the posterior parietal lobe and onwards. It partners the ventral or 'what' stream, the subject of a previous review and largely a temporal-based system. Here, we consider the dorsal stream disorders of perception (simultanagnosia, akinetopsia) along with their consequences on action (eg, optic ataxia and oculomotor apraxia, along with Balint's syndrome). The role of the dorsal stream in blindsight and hemispatial neglect is also considered. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
Bowles, Ann E; Grebner, Dawn M; Musser, Whitney B; Nash, Juliette S; Crance, Jessica L
2015-02-01
Stereotyped pulsed calls were attributed to 11 killer whales (Orcinus orca) with and without synchronous bubble streams in three datasets collected from two facilities from 1993 to 2012. Calls with and without synchronous bubble streams and divergent overlapping high frequency components ("biphonic" vs "monophonic") were compared. Subjects produced bubbles significantly more often when calls had divergent high frequency components. However, acoustic features in one biphonic call shared by five subjects provided little evidence for an acoustic effect of synchronous bubble flow. Disproportionate bubbling supported other evidence that biphonic calls form a distinct category, but suggested a function in short-range communication.
Impact of riparian land use on stream insects of Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka state, India
Subramanian, K.A.; Sivaramakrishnan, K.G.; Gadgil, Madhav
2005-01-01
The impact of riparian land use on the stream insect communities was studied at Kudremukh National Park located within Western Ghats, a tropical biodiversity hotspot in India. The diversity and community composition of stream insects varied across streams with different riparian land use types. The rarefied family and generic richness was highest in streams with natural semi evergreen forests as riparian vegetation. However, when the streams had human habitations and areca nut plantations as riparian land use type, the rarefied richness was higher than that of streams with natural evergreen forests and grasslands. The streams with scrub lands and iron ore mining as the riparian land use had the lowest rarefied richness. Within a landscape, the streams with the natural riparian vegetation had similar community composition. However, streams with natural grasslands as the riparian vegetation, had low diversity and the community composition was similar to those of paddy fields. We discuss how stream insect assemblages differ due to varied riparian land use patterns, reflecting fundamental alterations in the functioning of stream ecosystems. This understanding is vital to conserve, manage and restore tropical riverine ecosystems. PMID:17119631
Turunen, Jarno; Louhi, Pauliina; Mykrä, Heikki; Aroviita, Jukka; Putkonen, Emmi; Huusko, Ari; Muotka, Timo
2018-06-06
The effects of anthropogenic stressors on community structure and ecosystem functioning can be strongly influenced by local habitat structure and dispersal from source communities. Catchment land uses increase the input of fine sediments into stream channels, clogging the interstitial spaces of benthic habitats. Aquatic macrophytes enhance habitat heterogeneity and mediate important ecosystem functions, being thus a key component of habitat structure in many streams. Therefore, the recovery of macrophytes following in-stream habitat modification may be prerequisite for successful stream restoration. Restoration success is also affected by dispersal of organisms from the source community, with potentially strongest responses in relatively isolated headwater sites that receive limited amount of dispersing individuals. We used a factorial design in a set of stream mesocosms to study the independent and combined effects of an anthropogenic stressor (sand sedimentation), local habitat (macrophytes, i.e. moss transplants) and enhanced dispersal (two levels: high vs. low) on organic matter retention, algal accrual rate, leaf decomposition and macroinvertebrate community structure. Overall, all responses were simple additive effects with no interactions between treatments. Sand reduced algal accumulation, total invertebrate density and density of a few individual taxa. Mosses reduced algal accrual rate and algae-grazing invertebrates, but enhanced organic matter retention and detritus- and filter-feeders. Mosses also reduced macroinvertebrate diversity by increasing the dominance by a few taxa. Mosses also reduced leaf-mass loss, possibly because the organic matter retained by mosses provided an additional food source for leaf-shredding invertebrates and thus reduced shredder aggregation into leaf packs. The effect of mosses on macroinvertebrate communities and ecosystem functioning was distinct irrespective of the level of dispersal, suggesting strong environmental control of community structure. The strong environmental control of macroinvertebrate community composition even under enhanced dispersal suggests that re-establishing key habitat features, such as natural stream vegetation, could aid ecosystem recovery in boreal streams. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Rodríguez-Lozano, Pablo; Verkaik, Iraima; Rieradevall, Maria; Prat, Narcís
2015-01-01
Top predator loss is a major global problem, with a current trend in biodiversity loss towards high trophic levels that modifies most ecosystems worldwide. Most research in this area is focused on large-bodied predators, despite the high extinction risk of small-bodied freshwater fish that often act as apex consumers. Consequently, it remains unknown if intermittent streams are affected by the consequences of top-predators’ extirpations. The aim of our research was to determine how this global problem affects intermittent streams and, in particular, if the loss of a small-bodied top predator (1) leads to a ‘mesopredator release’, affects primary consumers and changes whole community structures, and (2) triggers a cascade effect modifying the ecosystem function. To address these questions, we studied the top-down effects of a small endangered fish species, Barbus meridionalis (the Mediterranean barbel), conducting an enclosure/exclosure mesocosm experiment in an intermittent stream where B. meridionalis became locally extinct following a wildfire. We found that top predator absence led to ‘mesopredator release’, and also to ‘prey release’ despite intraguild predation, which contrasts with traditional food web theory. In addition, B. meridionalis extirpation changed whole macroinvertebrate community composition and increased total macroinvertebrate density. Regarding ecosystem function, periphyton primary production decreased in apex consumer absence. In this study, the apex consumer was functionally irreplaceable; its local extinction led to the loss of an important functional role that resulted in major changes to the ecosystem’s structure and function. This study evidences that intermittent streams can be affected by the consequences of apex consumers’ extinctions, and that the loss of small-bodied top predators can lead to large ecosystem changes. We recommend the reintroduction of small-bodied apex consumers to systems where they have been extirpated, to restore ecosystem structure and function. PMID:25714337
Sex, Preference, and Family - Essays on Law and Nature
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Estlund, David M.; Nussbaum, Marth C.
1998-06-01
The public furor over issues of same sex marriages, gay rights, pornography, and single-parent families has erupted with a passion not seen since the 1960s. This book gathers seventeen eminent philosophers and legal scholars who offer commentary on sexuality (including sexual behavior, sexual orientation, and the role of pornography in shaping sexuality), on the family (including both same-sex and single-parent families), and on the proper role of law in these areas. The essayists are all fiercely independent thinkers and offer the reader a range of bold and thought-provoking proposals. Susan Moller Okin argues, for instance, that gender ought to be done away with--that differences in biological sex ought to have "no more social relevance than one's eye color or the length of one's toes"--and she urges that we look to same-sex couples as a model for households and families in a gender-free society. And Cass Sunstein suggests that the Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia (which overthrew the ban on interracial marriages in Virginia) might be a precedent for overturning laws that bar same-sex marriage: just as Loving overturned miscegenation laws because they were at the service of white supremacy, Sunstein shows, the laws against same-sex marriages and homosexuality are at the service of male supremacy, and might also be overturned. Of vital importance to anyone interested in sexuality, homosexuality, gender, feminism, and the family. Sex, Preference, and the Family both clarifies the current debate and points the way toward a less divisive future.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Howe, Jacob N. W.; Huang, Kuo-Fang; Oppo, Delia W.; Chiessi, Cristiano M.; Mulitza, Stefan; Blusztajn, Jurek; Piotrowski, Alexander M.
2018-05-01
The delivery of freshwater to the North Atlantic during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) is thought to have fundamentally altered the operation of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Although benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope records from the mid-depth Atlantic show a pronounced excursion to lower values during HS1, whether these shifts correspond to changes in water mass proportions, advection, or shifts in the carbon cycle remains unclear. Here we present new deglacial records of authigenic neodymium isotopes - a water mass tracer that is independent of the carbon cycle - from two cores in the mid-depth South Atlantic. We find no change in neodymium isotopic composition, and thus water mass proportions, between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and HS1, despite large decreases in carbon isotope values at the onset of HS1 in the same cores. We suggest that the excursions of carbon isotopes to lower values were likely caused by the accumulation of respired organic matter due to slow overturning circulation, rather than to increased southern-sourced water, as typically assumed. The finding that there was little change in water mass provenance in the mid-depth South Atlantic between the LGM and HS1, despite decreased overturning, suggests that the rate of production of mid-depth southern-sourced water mass decreased in concert with decreased production of northern-sourced intermediate water at the onset of HS1. Consequently, we propose that even drastic changes in the strength of AMOC need not cause a significant change in South Atlantic mid-depth water mass proportions.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ma, Xiaolin; Tian, Jun; Ma, Wentao; Li, Ke; Yu, Jimin
2018-02-01
East Antarctic ice sheet expansion (EAIE) at ∼13.9 Ma in the middle Miocene represents a major climatic event during the long-term Cenozoic cooling, but ocean circulation and carbon cycle changes during this event remain unclear. Here, we present new fish teeth isotope (εNd) and benthic foraminiferal B/Ca records from the South China Sea (SCS), newly integrated meridional Pacific benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C records and simulated results from a biogeochemical box model to explore the responses of deep Pacific Ocean circulation and carbon cycle across EAIE. The εNd and meridional benthic δ13C records reveal a more isolated Pacific Deep Water (PDW) and a sluggish Pacific meridional overturning circulation during the post-EAIE with respect to the pre-EAIE owing to weakened southern-sourced deep water formation. The deep-water [CO23-] and calcium carbonate mass accumulation rate in the SCS display markedly similar increases followed by recoveries to the pre-EAIE level during EAIE, which were probably caused by a shelf-basin shift of CaCO3 deposition and strengthened weathering due to a sea level fall within EAIE. The model results show that the ∼1‰ positive δ13C excursion during EAIE could be attributed to increased weathering of high-δ13C shelf carbonates and a terrestrial carbon reservoir expansion. The drawdown of atmospheric CO2 over the middle Miocene were probably caused by combined effects of increased shelf carbonate weathering, expanded land biosphere carbon storage and a sluggish deep Pacific meridional overturning circulation.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cabrera, V. D.; Jankowski, K.; Neill, C.; Macedo, M.; Deegan, L.; Brando, P. M.; Nascimento, S.; Nascimento, E.; Rocha, S.; Coe, M. T.; Nunes, D.
2015-12-01
Globalization and the increasing demand for food create pressure to both expand and intensify agriculture. These changes have potentially large consequences for the solute concentrations and functioning of streams. In the Brazilian Amazon, crop agriculture expanded greatly during the last 20 years. More recently, farmers have intensified production on existing cropland by double cropping of soy and maize during the same year. Maize, a novel crop for the region, requires much higher applications of nitrogen (N) fertilizer than soybeans. To determine whether this novel land use and associated N addition influenced N concentrations in groundwater and stream water, we measured N concentrations in groundwater wells and streams from small headwater watersheds across three land uses (soy-maize, soy, and tropical forest) in the Upper Xingu Basin, a region of rapid cropland intensification in the southern Amazon. Each watershed contained six groundwater wells arranged in a transect reaching cropland field edge on either side of the stream. Total inorganic N concentrations were higher in wells adjacent to fields where double cropping occurred, while stream concentrations did not differ overall among land uses. This suggests the riparian zones are critical in the removal of N, but as the intensification of agriculture continues the ability of the riparian zone to prevent N from traveling to streams is unknown. Their protection is critical to the functioning of tropical watersheds.
Stephen D. Sebestyen; Elizabeth W. Boyer; James B. Shanley; Carol Kendall; Daniel H. Doctor; George R. Aiken; Nobuhito Ohte
2008-01-01
We explored catchment processes that control stream nutrient concentrations at an upland forest in northeastern Vermont, USA, where inputs of nitrogen via atmospheric deposition are among the highest in the nation and affect ecosystem functioning. We traced sources of water, nitrate, and dissolved organic matter (DOM) using stream water samples collected at high...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eckes, S. W.; Shepherd, S. L.
2017-12-01
Accurately characterizing subsurface structure and function of remediated floodplains is indispensable in understanding the success of stream restoration projects. Although many of these projects are designed to address increased storm water runoff due to urbanization, long term monitoring and assessment are often limited in scope and methodology. Common monitoring practices include geomorphic surveys, stream discharge, and suspended sediment loads. These data are comprehensive for stream monitoring but they do not address floodplain function in terms of infiltration and through flow. Developing noninvasive methods for monitoring floodplain moisture transfer and distribution will aid in current and future stream restoration endeavors. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been successfully used in other physiographic regions for noninvasive and continuous monitoring of (1) natural geomorphic environments including subsurface structure and landform change and (2) soil and turf management to monitor subsurface moisture content. We are testing the viability of these existing methods to expand upon the broad capabilities of GPR. Determining suitability will be done in three parts using GPR to (1) find known buried objects of typical materials used in remediation at measured depths, (2) understand GPR functionality in varying soil moisture content thresholds on turf plots, and (3) model reference, remediated, and impacted floodplains in a case study in the D'Olive Creek watershed located in Baldwin County, Alabama. We hypothesize that these methods will allow us to characterize moisture transfer from precipitation and runoff to the floodplain which is a direct function of floodplain health. The need for a methodology to monitor floodplains is widespread and with increased resolution and mobility, expanding GPR applications may help streamline remediation and monitoring practices.
Action Learning: a new method to increase tractor rollover protective structure (ROPS) adoption.
Biddle, Elyce Anne; Keane, Paul R
2012-01-01
Action Learning is a problem-solving process that is used in various industries to address difficult problems. This project applied Action Learning to a leading problem in agricultural safety. Tractor overturns are the leading cause of fatal injury to farmworkers. This cause of injury is preventable using rollover protective structures (ROPS), protective equipment that functions as a roll bar structure to protect the operator in the event of an overturn. For agricultural tractors manufactured after 1976 and employee operated, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation requires employers to equip them with ROPS and seat belts. By the mid-1980s, US tractor manufacturers began adding ROPS on all farm tractors over 20 horsepower sold in the United States (http://www.nasdonline.org/document/113/d001656/rollover-protection-for-farm-tractor-operators.html). However, many older tractors remain in use without ROPS, putting tractor operators at continued risk for traumatic injury and fatality. For many older tractor models ROPS are available for retrofit, but for a variety of reasons, tractor owners have not chosen to retrofit those ROPS. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) attempted various means to ameliorate this occupational safety risk, including the manufacture of a low-cost ROPS for self-assembly. Other approaches address barriers to adoption. An Action Learning approach to increasing adoption of ROPS was followed in Virginia and New York, with mixed results. Virginia took action to increase the manufacturing and adoption of ROPS, but New York saw problems that would be insurmountable. Increased focus on team composition might be needed to establish effective Action Learning teams to address this problem.
Action Learning: A New Method to Increase Tractor Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) Adoption
Biddle, Elyce Anne; Keane, Paul R.
2016-01-01
Action Learning is a problem-solving process that is used in various industries to address difficult problems. This project applied Action Learning to a leading problem in agricultural safety. Tractor overturns are the leading cause of fatal injury to farmworkers. This cause of injury is preventable using rollover protective structures (ROPS), protective equipment that functions as a roll bar structure to protect the operator in the event of an overturn. For agricultural tractors manufactured after 1976 and employee operated, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation requires employers to equip them with ROPS and seat belts. By the mid-1980s, US tractor manufacturers began adding ROPS on all farm tractors over 20 horsepower sold in the United States (http://www.nasdonline.org/document/113/d001656/rollover-protection-for-farm-tractor-operators.html). However, many older tractors remain in use without ROPS, putting tractor operators at continued risk for traumatic injury and fatality. For many older tractor models ROPS are available for retrofit, but for a variety of reasons, tractor owners have not chosen to retrofit those ROPS. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) attempted various means to ameliorate this occupational safety risk, including the manufacture of a low-cost ROPS for self-assembly. Other approaches address barriers to adoption. An Action Learning approach to increasing adoption of ROPS was followed in Virginia and New York, with mixed results. Virginia took action to increase the manufacturing and adoption of ROPS, but New York saw problems that would be insurmountable. Increased focus on team composition might be needed to establish effective Action Learning teams to address this problem. PMID:22994641
Summer Stratification and Fall Overturn--In a Jar.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Foley, Arlene F.
1984-01-01
Provided are procedures for a demonstration which illustrates the concept of summer stratification of lakes in the temperate zone as maintained by thermal resistance to mixing. The demonstration requires only food coloring, water, and common laboratory equipment. (JN)
Crash in Australian outback ends NASA ballooning season
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harris, Margaret
2010-06-01
NASA has temporarily suspended all its scientific balloon launches after the balloon-borne Nuclear Compton Tele scope (NCT) crashed during take-off, scattering a trail of debris across the remote launch site and overturning a nearby parked car.
Butler, Georgina S; Overall, Christopher M
2009-11-24
Shotgun proteomics techniques are conceptually unbiased, but data interpretation and follow-up experiments are often constrained by dogma, established beliefs that are accepted without question, that can dilute the power of proteomics and hinder scientific progress. Proteomics and degradomics, the characterization of all proteases, inhibitors, and protease substrates by genomic and proteomic techniques, have exponentially expanded the known substrate repertoire of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), even to include intracellular proteins with newly recognized extracellular functions. Thus, the dogma that MMPs are dowdy degraders of extracellular matrix has been resolutely overturned, and the metamorphosis of MMPs into modulators of multiple signaling pathways has been facilitated. Here we review progress made in the field of degradomics and present a current view of the MMP degradome.
Terrestrial–aquatic linkages in spring-fed and snowmelt-dominated streams
Sepulveda, Adam
2017-01-01
The importance of trophic linkages between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is predicted to vary as a function of subsidy quantity and quality relative to in situ resources. To test this prediction, I used multi-year diet data from Bonneville cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki Utah in spring-fed and snowmelt-driven streams in the high desert of western North America. I documented that trout in spring-fed streams consumed more (number and weight) aquatic than terrestrial invertebrates, while trout in snowmelt-driven streams consumed a similar number of both prey types but consumed more terrestrial than aquatic invertebrates by weight. Trout in spring-fed streams consumed more aquatic invertebrates than trout in snowmelt streams and trout consumed more terrestrial invertebrates in snowmelt than in spring-fed streams. Up to 93% of trout production in spring-fed streams and 60% in snowmelt streams was fueled by aquatic invertebrates, while the remainder of trout production in each stream type was from terrestrial production. I found that the biomass and occurrence of consumed terrestrial invertebrates were not related to our measures of in situ resource quality or quantity in either stream type. These empirical data highlight the importance of autotrophic-derived production to trout in xeric regions.
Dynamic Object Representations in Infants with and without Fragile X Syndrome
Farzin, Faraz; Rivera, Susan M.
2009-01-01
Our visual world is dynamic in nature. The ability to encode, mentally represent, and track an object's identity as it moves across time and space is critical for integrating and maintaining a complete and coherent view of the world. Here we investigated dynamic object processing in typically developing (TD) infants and infants with fragile X syndrome (FXS), a single-gene disorder associated with deficits in dorsal stream functioning. We used the violation of expectation method to assess infants’ visual response to expected versus unexpected outcomes following a brief dynamic (dorsal stream) or static (ventral stream) occlusion event. Consistent with previous reports of deficits in dorsal stream-mediated functioning in individuals with this disorder, these results reveal that, compared to mental age-matched TD infants, infants with FXS could maintain the identity of static, but not dynamic, object information during occlusion. These findings are the first to experimentally evaluate visual object processing skills in infants with FXS, and further support the hypothesis of dorsal stream difficulties in infants with this developmental disorder. PMID:20224809
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bachrudin, A.; Mohamed, N. B.; Supian, S.; Sukono; Hidayat, Y.
2018-03-01
Application of existing geostatistical theory of stream networks provides a number of interesting and challenging problems. Most of statistical tools in the traditional geostatistics have been based on a Euclidean distance such as autocovariance functions, but for stream data is not permissible since it deals with a stream distance. To overcome this autocovariance developed a model based on the distance the flow with using convolution kernel approach (moving average construction). Spatial model for a stream networks is widely used to monitor environmental on a river networks. In a case study of a river in province of West Java, the objective of this paper is to analyze a capability of a predictive on two environmental variables, potential of hydrogen (PH) and temperature using ordinary kriging. Several the empirical results show: (1) The best fit of autocovariance functions for temperature and potential hydrogen (ph) of Citarik River is linear which also yields the smallest root mean squared prediction error (RMSPE), (2) the spatial correlation values between the locations on upstream and on downstream of Citarik river exhibit decreasingly
Distribution of model uncertainty across multiple data streams
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wutzler, Thomas
2014-05-01
When confronting biogeochemical models with a diversity of observational data streams, we are faced with the problem of weighing the data streams. Without weighing or multiple blocked cost functions, model uncertainty is allocated to the sparse data streams and possible bias in processes that are strongly constraint is exported to processes that are constrained by sparse data streams only. In this study we propose an approach that aims at making model uncertainty a factor of observations uncertainty, that is constant over all data streams. Further we propose an implementation based on Monte-Carlo Markov chain sampling combined with simulated annealing that is able to determine this variance factor. The method is exemplified both with very simple models, artificial data and with an inversion of the DALEC ecosystem carbon model against multiple observations of Howland forest. We argue that the presented approach is able to help and maybe resolve the problem of bias export to sparse data streams.
Method for removing impurities from an impurity-containing fluid stream
Ginosar, Daniel M.; Fox, Robert V.
2010-04-06
A method of removing at least one polar component from a fluid stream. The method comprises providing a fluid stream comprising at least one nonpolar component and at least one polar component. The fluid stream is contacted with a supercritical solvent to remove the at least one polar component. The at least one nonpolar component may be a fat or oil and the at least one polar component may be water, dirt, detergents, or mixtures thereof. The supercritical solvent may decrease solubility of the at least one polar component in the fluid stream. The supercritical solvent may function as a solvent or as a gas antisolvent. The supercritical solvent may dissolve the nonpolar components of the fluid stream, such as fats or oils, while the polar components may be substantially insoluble. Alternatively, the supercritical solvent may be used to increase the nonpolarity of the fluid stream.
Tara Holitzki; Richard A. MacKenzie; Tracy N. Wiegner; Karla J. McDermid
2013-01-01
Poeciliids, one of the most invasive species worldwide, are found on almost every continent and have been identified as an ââinvasive species of concernââ in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Despite their global prevalence, few studies have quantified their impacts on tropical stream ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity. Utilizing Hawaiian...
POTENTIAL AQUATIC COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT THROUGH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY STORMWATER MANAGEMENT EXPERIMENT
Small-scale urban stream restoration efforts (e.g., riparian planting and in-stream habitat structures) often fail to improve ecological structure and function due the continuous hydrologic and chemical disturbances posed by impervious surfaces upstream. Decentralized stormwater...
Patterns and drivers for wetland connections in the Prairie Pothole Region, United States
Vanderhoof, Melanie; Christensen, Jay R.; Alexander, Laurie C.
2017-01-01
Ecosystem function in rivers, lakes and coastal waters depends on the functioning of upstream aquatic ecosystems, necessitating an improved understanding of watershed-scale interactions including variable surface-water flows between wetlands and streams. As surface water in the Prairie Pothole Region expands in wet years, surface-water connections occur between many depressional wetlands and streams. Minimal research has explored the spatial patterns and drivers for the abundance of these connections, despite their potential to inform resource management and regulatory programs including the U.S. Clean Water Act. In this study, wetlands were identified that did not intersect the stream network, but were shown with Landsat images (1990–2011) to become merged with the stream network as surface water expanded. Wetlands were found to spill into or consolidate with other wetlands within both small (2–10 wetlands) and large (>100 wetlands) wetland clusters, eventually intersecting a stream channel, most often via a riparian wetland. These surface-water connections occurred over a wide range of wetland distances from streams (averaging 90–1400 m in different ecoregions). Differences in the spatial abundance of wetlands that show a variable surface-water connection to a stream were best explained by smaller wetland-to-wetland distances, greater wetland abundance, and maximum surface-water extent. This analysis demonstrated that wetland arrangement and surface water expansion are important mechanisms for depressional wetlands to connect to streams and provides a first step to understanding the frequency and abundance of these surface-water connections across the Prairie Pothole Region.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Troia, Matthew J.; Gido, Keith B.
Trade-offs among functional traits produce multi-trait strategies that shape species interactions with the environment and drive the assembly of local communities from regional species pools. Stream fish communities vary along stream size gradients and among hierarchically structured habitat patches, but little is known about how the dispersion of strategies varies along environmental gradients and across spatial scales. We used null models to quantify the dispersion of reproductive life history, feeding, and locomotion strategies in communities sampled at three spatial scales in a prairie stream network in Kansas, USA. Strategies were generally underdispersed at all spatial scales, corroborating the longstanding notionmore » of abiotic filtering in stream fish communities. We tested for variation in strategy dispersion along a gradient of stream size and between headwater streams draining different ecoregions. Reproductive life history strategies became increasingly underdispersed moving from downstream to upstream, suggesting that abiotic filtering is stronger in headwaters. This pattern was stronger among reaches compared to mesohabitats, supporting the premise that differences in hydrologic regime among reaches filter reproductive life history strategies. Feeding strategies became increasingly underdispersed moving from upstream to downstream, indicating that environmental filters associated with stream size affect the dispersion of feeding and reproductive life history in opposing ways. Weak differences in strategy dispersion were detected between ecoregions, suggesting that different abiotic filters or strategies drive community differences between ecoregions. Lastly, given the pervasiveness of multi-trait strategies in plant and animal communities, we conclude that the assessment of strategy dispersion offers a comprehensive approach for elucidating mechanisms of community assembly.« less
Functional Objectives for Stream Restoration
2006-09-01
Gorman, O. T ., and Karr, J. R . (1978) “Habitat structure and stream fish communities,” Ecology, 59-3, 507-515. Increasing community and habitat...frequency and density. Comparison of above- and below- ground biomass R /S ratio. Biomass production of stream- dependant species. Biomass profile...M., Hauer, F. R ., Lee, L. C., Nutter, W. L., Rheinhardt, R . D., Smith, R . D., and Whigham, D. (1995) “A guidebook for application of
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hunte-Brown, M. E.; Kilham, S. S.; Whiles, M. R.; Lips, K.; Pringle, C.; Colon, C.; Brenes, R.; Connelly, S.
2005-05-01
Amphibian populations are declining globally in uplands. Stream-dwelling tadpoles are potentially important herbivores, and their loss is expected to cause significant changes in structure and function of lotic ecosystems. This study is part of a collaborative effort to measure changes in trophic structure associated with amphibian extirpations. We used stable isotopes to elucidate trends in Panamanian highland streams at two locations, El Cope and Fortuna, which are differentially affected by the declines. Generally, the nitrogen source in the Fortuna stream, where amphibians have already declined, is primarily atmospheric, whereas it is more recycled in El Cope where tadpoles are still abundant. FBOM is an important food resource in El Cope, and because of the recycled N from tadpole feces, the delta N15 values of the periphyton are higher in the pools than in the riffles in El Cope. Generally, the delta N15 signal of similar trophic groups is lower at Fortuna than at El Cope. The delta N15 signals also tend to fall with increased rainfall. Leaf packs are apparently under-utilized in these systems. Results allow for an assessment of trophic structure in highland neotropical streams and suggest that stream-breeding anuran extirpations may alter nutrient cycling and energy flow.
The devil is in the tails: the role of globular cluster mass evolution on stream properties
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Balbinot, Eduardo; Gieles, Mark
2018-02-01
We present a study of the effects of collisional dynamics on the formation and detectability of cold tidal streams. A semi-analytical model for the evolution of the stellar mass function was implemented and coupled to a fast stellar stream simulation code, as well as the synthetic cluster evolution code EMACSS for the mass evolution as a function of a globular cluster orbit. We find that the increase in the average mass of the escaping stars for clusters close to dissolution has a major effect on the observable stream surface density. As an example, we show that Palomar 5 would have undetectable streams (in an SDSS-like survey) if it was currently three times more massive, despite the fact that a more massive cluster loses stars at a higher rate. This bias due to the preferential escape of low-mass stars is an alternative explanation for the absence of tails near massive clusters, than a dark matter halo associated with the cluster. We explore the orbits of a large sample of Milky Way globular clusters and derive their initial masses and remaining mass fraction. Using properties of known tidal tails, we explore regions of parameter space that favour the detectability of a stream. A list of high-probability candidates is discussed.
Cumulate Mantle Dynamics Response to Magma Ocean Cooling Rate
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Boukare, C.-E.; Parmentier, E. M.; Parman, S. W.
2018-05-01
We investigate the issue of the cumulate compaction during magma ocean solidification. We show that the cooling rate of the magma ocean affects the amount and distribution of retained melt in the cumulate layers and the timing of cumulate overturn.
López-Barroso, Diana; de Diego-Balaguer, Ruth
2017-01-01
Dorsal and ventral pathways connecting perisylvian language areas have been shown to be functionally and anatomically segregated. Whereas the dorsal pathway integrates the sensory-motor information required for verbal repetition, the ventral pathway has classically been associated with semantic processes. The great individual differences characterizing language learning through life partly correlate with brain structure and function within these dorsal and ventral language networks. Variability and plasticity within these networks also underlie inter-individual differences in the recovery of linguistic abilities in aphasia. Despite the division of labor of the dorsal and ventral streams, studies in healthy individuals have shown how the interaction of them and the redundancy in the areas they connect allow for compensatory strategies in functions that are usually segregated. In this mini-review we highlight the need to examine compensatory mechanisms between streams in healthy individuals as a helpful guide to choosing the most appropriate rehabilitation strategies, using spared functions and targeting preserved compensatory networks for brain plasticity. PMID:29021751
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Erez, Mattan; Dally, William J.
Stream processors, like other multi core architectures partition their functional units and storage into multiple processing elements. In contrast to typical architectures, which contain symmetric general-purpose cores and a cache hierarchy, stream processors have a significantly leaner design. Stream processors are specifically designed for the stream execution model, in which applications have large amounts of explicit parallel computation, structured and predictable control, and memory accesses that can be performed at a coarse granularity. Applications in the streaming model are expressed in a gather-compute-scatter form, yielding programs with explicit control over transferring data to and from on-chip memory. Relying on these characteristics, which are common to many media processing and scientific computing applications, stream architectures redefine the boundary between software and hardware responsibilities with software bearing much of the complexity required to manage concurrency, locality, and latency tolerance. Thus, stream processors have minimal control consisting of fetching medium- and coarse-grained instructions and executing them directly on the many ALUs. Moreover, the on-chip storage hierarchy of stream processors is under explicit software control, as is all communication, eliminating the need for complex reactive hardware mechanisms.
Impacts of urban landuse on macroinvertebrate communities in southeastern Wisconsin streams
Stepenuck, K.F.; Crunkilton, R.L.; Wang, L.
2002-01-01
Macroinvertebrates were used to assess the impact of urbanization on stream quality across a gradient of watershed imperviousness in 43 southeastern Wisconsin streams. The percentage of watershed connected imperviousness was chosen as the urbanization indicator to examine impact of urban land uses on macroinvertebrate communities. Most urban land uses were negatively correlated with the Shannon diversity index, percent of pollution intolerant Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera individuals, and generic richness. Nonurban land uses were positively correlated with these same metrics. The Hilsenhoff biotic index indicated that stream quality declined with increased urbanization. Functional feeding group metrics varied across a gradient of urbanization, suggesting changes in stream quality. Proportions of collectors and gatherers increased, while proportions of filterers, scrapers, and shredders decreased with increased watershed imperviousness. This study demonstrated that urbanization severely degraded stream macroinvertebrate communities, hence stream quality. Good stream quality existed where imperviousness was less than 8 percent, but less favorable assessments were inevitable where imperviousness exceeded 12 to 20 percent. Levels of imperviousness between 8 and 12 percent represented a threshold where minor increases in urbanization were associated with sharp declines in stream quality.
Urbanization reduces and homogenizes trait diversity in stream macroinvertebrate communities.
Barnum, Thomas R; Weller, Donald E; Williams, Meghan
2017-12-01
More than one-half of the world's population lives in urban areas, so quantifying the effects of urbanization on ecological communities is important for understanding whether anthropogenic stressors homogenize communities across environmental and climatic gradients. We examined the relationship of impervious surface coverage (a marker of urbanization) and the structure of stream macroinvertebrate communities across the state of Maryland and within each of Maryland's three ecoregions: Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Appalachian, which differ in stream geomorphology and community composition. We considered three levels of trait organization: individual traits, unique combinations of traits, and community metrics (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) and three levels of impervious surface coverage (low [<2.5%], medium [2.5% to 10%], and high [>10%]). The prevalence of an individual trait differed very little between low impervious surface and high impervious surface sites. The arrangement of trait combinations in community trait space for each ecoregion differed when impervious surface coverage was low, but the arrangement became more similar among ecoregions as impervious surface coverage increased. Furthermore, trait combinations that occurred only at low or medium impervious surface coverage were clustered in a subset of the community trait space, indicating that impervious surface affected the presence of only a subset of trait combinations. Functional richness declined with increasing impervious surface, providing evidence for environmental filtering. Community metrics that include abundance were also sensitive to increasing impervious surface coverage: functional divergence decreased while functional evenness increased. These changes demonstrate that increasing impervious surface coverage homogenizes the trait diversity of macroinvertebrate communities in streams, despite differences in initial community composition and stream geomorphology among ecoregions. Community metrics were also more sensitive to changes in the abundance rather than the gain or loss of trait combinations, showing the potential for trait-based approaches to serve as early warning indicators of environmental stress for monitoring and biological assessment programs. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.
Venarsky, Michael P; Walters, David M; Hall, Robert O; Livers, Bridget; Wohl, Ellen
2018-05-01
In the Colorado Front Range (USA), disturbance history dictates stream planform. Undisturbed, old-growth streams have multiple channels and large amounts of wood and depositional habitat. Disturbed streams (wildfires and logging < 200 years ago) are single-channeled with mostly erosional habitat. We tested how these opposing stream states influenced organic matter, benthic macroinvertebrate secondary production, emerging aquatic insect flux, and riparian spider biomass. Organic matter and macroinvertebrate production did not differ among sites per unit area (m -2 ), but values were 2 ×-21 × higher in undisturbed reaches per unit of stream valley (m -1 valley) because total stream area was higher in undisturbed reaches. Insect emergence was similar among streams at the per unit area and per unit of stream valley. However, rescaling insect emergence to per meter of stream bank showed that the emerging insect biomass reaching the stream bank was lower in undisturbed sites because multi-channel reaches had 3 × more stream bank than single-channel reaches. Riparian spider biomass followed the same pattern as emerging aquatic insects, and we attribute this to bottom-up limitation caused by the multi-channeled undisturbed sites diluting prey quantity (emerging insects) reaching the stream bank (riparian spider habitat). These results show that historic landscape disturbances continue to influence stream and riparian communities in the Colorado Front Range. However, these legacy effects are only weakly influencing habitat-specific function and instead are primarily influencing stream-riparian community productivity by dictating both stream planform (total stream area, total stream bank length) and the proportional distribution of specific habitat types (pools vs riffles).
Effects of urban stream burial on nitrogen uptake and ...
Urbanization has resulted in extensive burial and channelization of headwater streams, yet little is known about impacts on stream ecosystem functions critical for reducing downstream nitrogen pollution. To characterize the biogeochemical impact of stream burial, we measured NO3- uptake, using 15N-NO3- isotope tracer releases, and whole stream metabolism, during four seasons in three paired buried and open streams reaches within the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long-term Ecological Research Network. Stream burial increased NO3- uptake lengths, by a factor of 7.5 (p < 0.01) and decreased nitrate uptake velocity and areal nitrate uptake rate by factors of 8.2 (p = 0.01) and 9.6 (p < 0.001), respectively. Stream burial decreased gross primary productivity by a factor of 9.2 (p < 0.05) and decreased ecosystem respiration by a factor of 4.2 (p = 0.06). From statistical analysis of Excitation Emissions Matrices (EEMs), buried streams were also found to have significantly less labile dissolved organic matter. Furthermore, buried streams had significantly lower transient storage and water temperatures. Overall, differences in NO3- uptake and metabolism were primarily explained by decreased transient storage and light availability in buried streams. We estimate that stream burial increases daily watershed nitrate export by as much as 500% due to decreased in-stream retention and may considerably decrease carbon export via decreased primary production. These results
TRACE GAS CONCENTRATIONS IN STREAMS - EARLY WARNING INDICATORS OF STREAM IMPAIRMENT?
Surface water contamination and resultant impairment of aquatic ecosystem functioning are serious environmental problems, caused in large part by land use changes and excess organic waste inputs associated with agriculture and residential and industrial development. Headwater st...
SCIENCE TO INFORM POLICY ON PROTECTION OF HEADWATER STREAMS
Recent court cases concerning the definition of jurisdictional waters under the Clean Water Act have illuminated a need to better understand characteristics and functions of headwater streams (and associated riparian and wetland habitats). Research is needed to better quantify 1...
Water: Wisconsin lakes, streams and wetlands
Wisconsin has a tremendous diversity of aquatic habitat: headwater streams, large rivers, inland lakes, and two Great Lakes. Knowing the fundamentals of aquatic ecosystem science is critical to understand how these ecosystems function and to predict how they will respond to human...
StreamStats in North Carolina: a water-resources Web application
Weaver, J. Curtis; Terziotti, Silvia; Kolb, Katharine R.; Wagner, Chad R.
2012-01-01
A statewide StreamStats application for North Carolina was developed in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Transportation following completion of a pilot application for the upper French Broad River basin in western North Carolina (Wagner and others, 2009). StreamStats for North Carolina, available at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/streamstats/north_carolina.html, is a Web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) application developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in consultation with Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (Esri) to provide access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management (Ries and others, 2008). The StreamStats application provides an accurate and consistent process that allows users to easily obtain streamflow statistics, basin characteristics, and descriptive information for USGS data-collection sites and user-selected ungaged sites. In the North Carolina application, users can compute 47 basin characteristics and peak-flow frequency statistics (Weaver and others, 2009; Robbins and Pope, 1996) for a delineated drainage basin. Selected streamflow statistics and basin characteristics for data-collection sites have been compiled from published reports and also are immediately accessible by querying individual sites from the web interface. Examples of basin characteristics that can be computed in StreamStats include drainage area, stream slope, mean annual precipitation, and percentage of forested area (Ries and others, 2008). Examples of streamflow statistics that were previously available only through published documents include peak-flow frequency, flow-duration, and precipitation data. These data are valuable for making decisions related to bridge design, floodplain delineation, water-supply permitting, and sustainable stream quality and ecology. The StreamStats application also allows users to identify stream reaches upstream and downstream from user-selected sites and obtain information for locations along streams where activities occur that may affect streamflow conditions. This functionality can be accessed through a map-based interface with the user’s Web browser, or individual functions can be requested remotely through Web services (Ries and others, 2008).
Fabian, Jenny; Zlatanović, Sanja; Mutz, Michael; Grossart, Hans-Peter; van Geldern, Robert; Ulrich, Andreas; Gleixner, Gerd; Premke, Katrin
2018-01-01
In aquatic ecosystems, light availability can significantly influence microbial turnover of terrestrial organic matter through associated metabolic interactions between phototrophic and heterotrophic communities. However, particularly in streams, microbial functions vary significantly with the structure of the streambed, that is the distribution and spatial arrangement of sediment grains in the streambed. It is therefore essential to elucidate how environmental factors synergistically define the microbial turnover of terrestrial organic matter in order to better understand the ecological role of photo-heterotrophic interactions in stream ecosystem processes. In outdoor experimental streams, we examined how the structure of streambeds modifies the influence of light availability on microbial turnover of leaf carbon (C). Furthermore, we investigated whether the studied relationships of microbial leaf C turnover to environmental conditions are affected by flow intermittency commonly occurring in streams. We applied leaves enriched with a 13C-stable isotope tracer and combined quantitative and isotope analyses. We thereby elucidated whether treatment induced changes in C turnover were associated with altered use of leaf C within the microbial food web. Moreover, isotope analyses were combined with measurements of microbial community composition to determine whether changes in community function were associated with a change in community composition. In this study, we present evidence, that environmental factors interactively determine how phototrophs and heterotrophs contribute to leaf C turnover. Light availability promoted the utilization of leaf C within the microbial food web, which was likely associated with a promoted availability of highly bioavailable metabolites of phototrophic origin. However, our results additionally confirm that the structure of the streambed modifies light-related changes in microbial C turnover. From our observations, we conclude that the streambed structure influences the strength of photo-heterotrophic interactions by defining the spatial availability of algal metabolites in the streambed and the composition of microbial communities. Collectively, our multifactorial approach provides valuable insights into environmental controls on the functioning of stream ecosystems.
Impacts of drought and crayfish invasion on stream ecosystem structure and function
Magoulick, Daniel D.
2014-01-01
Drought and seasonal drying can be important disturbance events in many small streams, leading to intermittent or isolated habitats. Many small streams contain crayfish populations that are often keystone or dominant species in these systems. I conducted an experiment in stream mesocosms to examine the effects of drought and potential ecological redundancy of a native and invasive crayfish species. I examined the effects of drought (drought or control) and crayfish presence (none, native crayfish Orconectes eupunctus or invasive crayfish Orconectes neglectus) on stream mesocosm structure and function (leaf breakdown, community metabolism, periphyton, sediment and chironomid densities) in a fully factorial design. Each mesocosm contained a deep and shallow section, and drought treatments had surface water present (5-cm depth) in deep sections where tiles and leaf packs were placed. Drought and crayfish presence did not interact for any response variable. Drought significantly reduced leaf breakdown, and crayfish presence significantly increased leaf breakdown. However, the native and invasive crayfish species did not differ significantly in their effects on leaf breakdown. Drought significantly reduced primary production and community respiration overall, whereas crayfish presence did not significantly affect primary production and community respiration. Neither drought nor crayfish presence significantly affected periphyton overall. However, drought significantly reduced autotrophic index (AI), and crayfish presence increased AI. Inorganic sediment and chironomid density were not affected by drought, but both were significantly reduced by crayfish presence. O. eupunctus reduced AI and sediment more than O. neglectus did. Neither drought nor crayfish species significantly affected crayfish growth or survival. Drought can have strong effects on ecosystem function, but weaker effects on benthic structure. Crayfish can have strong effects on ecosystem structure and function regardless of drought. In stream mesocosms, native and invasive crayfish species appeared largely ecologically redundant, although subtle differences in crayfish effects could cascade throughout the food web, and further research is needed to address this question.
Aquifer response to stream-stage and recharge variations. II. Convolution method and applications
Barlow, P.M.; DeSimone, L.A.; Moench, A.F.
2000-01-01
In this second of two papers, analytical step-response functions, developed in the companion paper for several cases of transient hydraulic interaction between a fully penetrating stream and a confined, leaky, or water-table aquifer, are used in the convolution integral to calculate aquifer heads, streambank seepage rates, and bank storage that occur in response to streamstage fluctuations and basinwide recharge or evapotranspiration. Two computer programs developed on the basis of these step-response functions and the convolution integral are applied to the analysis of hydraulic interaction of two alluvial stream-aquifer systems in the northeastern and central United States. These applications demonstrate the utility of the analytical functions and computer programs for estimating aquifer and streambank hydraulic properties, recharge rates, streambank seepage rates, and bank storage. Analysis of the water-table aquifer adjacent to the Blackstone River in Massachusetts suggests that the very shallow depth of water table and associated thin unsaturated zone at the site cause the aquifer to behave like a confined aquifer (negligible specific yield). This finding is consistent with previous studies that have shown that the effective specific yield of an unconfined aquifer approaches zero when the capillary fringe, where sediment pores are saturated by tension, extends to land surface. Under this condition, the aquifer's response is determined by elastic storage only. Estimates of horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity, specific yield, specific storage, and recharge for a water-table aquifer adjacent to the Cedar River in eastern Iowa, determined by the use of analytical methods, are in close agreement with those estimated by use of a more complex, multilayer numerical model of the aquifer. Streambank leakance of the semipervious streambank materials also was estimated for the site. The streambank-leakance parameter may be considered to be a general (or lumped) parameter that accounts not only for the resistance of flow at the river-aquifer boundary, but also for the effects of partial penetration of the river and other near-stream flow phenomena not included in the theoretical development of the step-response functions.Analytical step-response functions, developed for several cases of transient hydraulic interaction between a fully penetrating stream and a confined, leaky, or water-table aquifer, are used in the convolution integral to calculate aquifer heads, streambank seepage rates, and bank storage that occur in response to stream-stage fluctuations and basinwide recharge or evapotranspiration. Two computer programs developed on the basis of these step-response functions and the convolution integral are applied to the analysis of hydraulic interaction of two alluvial stream-aquifer systems. These applications demonstrate the utility of the analytical functions and computer programs for estimating aquifer and streambank seepage rates and bank storage.
Magma mixing during caldera forming eruptions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kennedy, B.; Jellinek, M.; Stix, J.
2006-12-01
During explosive caldera-forming eruptions magma erupts through a ring dyke. Flow is driven, in part, by foundering of a magma chamber roof into underlying buoyant magma. One intriguing and poorly understood characteristic of deposits from calderas is that bulk ignimbrite, pumices, and crystals can show complex stratigraphic zonation. We propose that zonation patterns can be explained by different, and temporally evolving subsidence styles, and that the geometry imposed by subsidence can affect flow and cause mixing in the chamber and ring dyke. We use two series of laboratory experiments to investigate aspects of the mixing properties of flow in the chamber and ring dike during caldera collapse. In the first series, cylindrical blocks of height, h, and diameter, d, are released into circular analog magma chambers of diameter D and height H, containing buoyant fluids with viscosities that we vary. Subsidence occurs as a result of flow through the annular gap (ring dike) between the block and the wall of the surrounding tank of width, w = D-d. Three dimensionless parameters characterize the nature and evolution of the subsidence, and the resulting flow: A Reynolds number, Re, a tilt number, T = w/h and a subsidence number, S = w/H. Whereas Re indicates the importance of inertia for flow and mixing, T and S are geometric parameters that govern the extent of roof tilting, the spatial variation in w during collapse and the wavelength and structure of fluid motions. On the basis of field observations and theoretical arguments we fix T ≍ 0.14 and characterize subsidence and the corresponding flow over a wide range of Re - S parameter space appropriate to silicic caldera systems. Where S < 2 and Re < 103 the roof can rotate or tilt as it sinks and a spectrum of fluid mechanical behavior within the ring dike are observed. The combination of roof rotation and tilting drives unsteady, 3D overturning motions within the ring dike that are inferred to cause extensive mixing. In the absence of tilting and rotation flow is quasi-steady, there is negligible overturning and mixing. Where S > 2 and Re < 10^1 there is a "locking regime" in which the roof the roof rotates as it sinks but does not settle to the floor. The resulting flow leads to little overturning and mixing. Where S > 2 and Re > 10^1 the roof block settles with negligible tilting. Unsteady laminar overturning (Re < 102) and turbulent motions (Re > 103) produce extensive mixing in the ring dike. In a second series of experiments, motivated by the "piecemeal" collapse of many calderas, we investigate additional effects arising in the presence of two blocks. In contrast to the single-block case, the relative motions of the blocks cause extensive overturning and mixing in the chamber as well as the ring dike. Our experimental results are applied to understand the subsidence behavior and the mixing properties of a number of natural cases. Our work suggests that during most caldera-forming eruptions mixing is an inevitable consequence of synchronous eruption and subsidence. In addition, extensive mechanical mixing within the ring dike can explain the cumulate and mingled textures characteristic of many ring dikes.
Venarsky, Michael P.; Walters, David M.; Hall, Robert O.; Livers, Bridget; Wohl, Ellen
2018-01-01
In the Colorado Front Range (USA), disturbance history dictates stream planform. Undisturbed, old-growth streams have multiple channels and large amounts of wood and depositional habitat. Disturbed streams (wildfires and logging < 200 years ago) are single-channeled with mostly erosional habitat. We tested how these opposing stream states influenced organic matter, benthic macroinvertebrate secondary production, emerging aquatic insect flux, and riparian spider biomass. Organic matter and macroinvertebrate production did not differ among sites per unit area (m−2), but values were 2 ×–21 × higher in undisturbed reaches per unit of stream valley (m−1 valley) because total stream area was higher in undisturbed reaches. Insect emergence was similar among streams at the per unit area and per unit of stream valley. However, rescaling insect emergence to per meter of stream bank showed that the emerging insect biomass reaching the stream bank was lower in undisturbed sites because multi-channel reaches had 3 × more stream bank than single-channel reaches. Riparian spider biomass followed the same pattern as emerging aquatic insects, and we attribute this to bottom-up limitation caused by the multi-channeled undisturbed sites diluting prey quantity (emerging insects) reaching the stream bank (riparian spider habitat). These results show that historic landscape disturbances continue to influence stream and riparian communities in the Colorado Front Range. However, these legacy effects are only weakly influencing habitat-specific function and instead are primarily influencing stream–riparian community productivity by dictating both stream planform (total stream area, total stream bank length) and the proportional distribution of specific habitat types (pools vs riffles).
Leaf breakdown in streams differing in catchment land use
Paul, M.J.; Meyer, J.L.; Couch, C.A.
2006-01-01
1. The impact of changes in land use on stream ecosystem function is poorly understood. We studied leaf breakdown, a fundamental process of stream ecosystems, in streams that represent a range of catchment land use in the Piedmont physiographic province of the south-eastern United States. 2. We placed bags of chalk maple (Acer barbatum) leaves in similar-sized streams in 12 catchments of differing dominant land use: four forested, three agricultural, two suburban and three urban catchments. We measured leaf mass, invertebrate abundance and fungal biomass in leaf bags over time. 3. Leaves decayed significantly faster in agricultural (0.0465 day-1) and urban (0.0474 day-1) streams than in suburban (0.0173 day-1) and forested (0.0100 day-1) streams. Additionally, breakdown rates in the agricultural and urban streams were among the fastest reported for deciduous leaves in any stream. Nutrient concentrations in agricultural streams were significantly higher than in any other land-use type. Fungal biomass associated with leaves was significantly lower in urban streams; while shredder abundance in leaf bags was significantly higher in forested and agricultural streams than in suburban and urban streams. Storm runoff was significantly higher in urban and suburban catchments that had higher impervious surface cover than forested or agricultural catchments. 4. We propose that processes accelerating leaf breakdown in agricultural and urban streams were not the same: faster breakdown in agricultural streams was due to increased biological activity as a result of nutrient enrichment, whereas faster breakdown in urban streams was a result of physical fragmentation resulting from higher storm runoff. ?? 2006 The Authors.
A new display stream compression standard under development in VESA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jacobson, Natan; Thirumalai, Vijayaraghavan; Joshi, Rajan; Goel, James
2017-09-01
The Advanced Display Stream Compression (ADSC) codec project is in development in response to a call for technologies from the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). This codec targets visually lossless compression of display streams at a high compression rate (typically 6 bits/pixel) for mobile/VR/HDR applications. Functionality of the ADSC codec is described in this paper, and subjective trials results are provided using the ISO 29170-2 testing protocol.
Thomaz, Edivaldo L; Peretto, Gustavo T
2016-04-15
Unpaved roads are ubiquitous features that have been transforming the landscape through human history. Unpaved roads affect the water and sediment pathways through a catchment and impacts the aquatic ecosystem. In this study, we describe the effect of unpaved road on the hydrogeomorphic connectivity at the rural headwater scale. Measurement was based on the stream crossing approach, i.e., road superimposing the drainage system. We installed a Parshall flume coupled with single-stage suspended sediment sampler at each stream crossing. In addition, we displayed our monitoring scheme with an upscaling perspective from second-order to third-order stream. We concluded that the road-stream coupling dramatically changed the stream dynamic. The increase of discharge caused by roads at the headwater was 50% larger compared to unaffected streams. Additionally, suspended sediment concentration enhancement at stream crossings ranged from to 413% at second-order streams to 145% at third-order streams. The landform characteristics associated with the road network produced an important hydrogeomorphic disruption in the landscape. As a result, the sediment filter function of the riparian zone was reduced dramatically. Therefore, we recommend that projects for aquatic system restoration or conservation in rural landscape consider the role of the road network on stream dynamics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Managing fish habitat for flow and temperature extremes ...
Summer low flows and stream temperature maxima are key drivers affecting the sustainability of fish populations. Thus, it is critical to understand both the natural templates of spatiotemporal variability, how these are shifting due to anthropogenic influences of development and climate change, and how these impacts can be moderated by natural and constructed green infrastructure. Low flow statistics of New England streams have been characterized using a combination of regression equations to describe long-term averages as a function of indicators of hydrologic regime (rain- versus snow-dominated), precipitation, evapotranspiration or temperature, surface water storage, baseflow recession rates, and impervious cover. Difference equations have been constructed to describe interannual variation in low flow as a function of changing air temperature, precipitation, and ocean-atmospheric teleconnection indices. Spatial statistical network models have been applied to explore fine-scale variability of thermal regimes along stream networks in New England as a function of variables describing natural and altered energy inputs, groundwater contributions, and retention time. Low flows exacerbate temperature impacts by reducing thermal inertia of streams to energy inputs. Based on these models, we can construct scenarios of fish habitat suitability using current and projected future climate and the potential for preservation and restoration of historic habitat regimes th
Effects of Resource Chemistry on the Composition and Function of Stream Hyporheic Biofilms
Hall, E. K.; Besemer, K.; Kohl, L.; Preiler, C.; Riedel, K.; Schneider, T.; Wanek, W.; Battin, T. J.
2012-01-01
Fluvial ecosystems process large quantities of dissolved organic matter as it moves from the headwater streams to the sea. In particular, hyporheic sediments are centers of high biogeochemical reactivity due to their elevated residence time and high microbial biomass and activity. However, the interaction between organic matter and microbial dynamics in the hyporheic zone remains poorly understood. We evaluated how variance in resource chemistry affected the microbial community and its associated activity in experimentally grown hyporheic biofilms. To do this we fed beech leaf leachates that differed in chemical composition to a series of bioreactors filled with sediment from a sub-alpine stream. Differences in resource chemistry resulted in differences in diversity and phylogenetic origin of microbial proteins, enzyme activity, and microbial biomass stoichiometry. Specifically, increased lignin, phenolics, and manganese in a single leachate resulted in increased phenoloxidase and peroxidase activity, elevated microbial biomass carbon:nitrogen ratio, and a greater proportion of proteins of Betaproteobacteria origin. We used this model system to attempt to link microbial form (community composition and metaproteome) with function (enzyme activity) in order to better understand the mechanisms that link resource heterogeneity to ecosystem function in stream ecosystems. PMID:22347877
Effects of resource chemistry on the composition and function of stream hyporheic biofilms.
Hall, E.K.; Besemer, K.; Kohl, L.; Preiler, C.; Reidel, K.; Schneider, T.; Wanek, W.; Battin, T.J.
2012-01-01
Fluvial ecosystems process large quantities of dissolved organic matter as it moves from the headwater streams to the sea. In particular, hyporheic sediments are centers of high biogeochemical reactivity due to their elevated residence time and high microbial biomass and activity. However, the interaction between organic matter and microbial dynamics in the hyporheic zone remains poorly understood. We evaluated how variance in resource chemistry affected the microbial community and its associated activity in experimentally grown hyporheic biofilms. To do this we fed beech leaf leachates that differed in chemical composition to a series of bioreactors filled with sediment from a sub-alpine stream. Differences in resource chemistry resulted in differences in diversity and phylogenetic origin of microbial proteins, enzyme activity, and microbial biomass stoichiometry. Specifically, increased lignin, phenolics, and manganese in a single leachate resulted in increased phenoloxidase and peroxidase activity, elevated microbial biomass carbon:nitrogen ratio, and a greater proportion of proteins of Betaproteobacteria origin. We used this model system to attempt to link microbial form (community composition and metaproteome) with function (enzyme activity) in order to better understand the mechanisms that link resource heterogeneity to ecosystem function in stream ecosystems.
Neuronal basis of speech comprehension.
Specht, Karsten
2014-01-01
Verbal communication does not rely only on the simple perception of auditory signals. It is rather a parallel and integrative processing of linguistic and non-linguistic information, involving temporal and frontal areas in particular. This review describes the inherent complexity of auditory speech comprehension from a functional-neuroanatomical perspective. The review is divided into two parts. In the first part, structural and functional asymmetry of language relevant structures will be discus. The second part of the review will discuss recent neuroimaging studies, which coherently demonstrate that speech comprehension processes rely on a hierarchical network involving the temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes. Further, the results support the dual-stream model for speech comprehension, with a dorsal stream for auditory-motor integration, and a ventral stream for extracting meaning but also the processing of sentences and narratives. Specific patterns of functional asymmetry between the left and right hemisphere can also be demonstrated. The review article concludes with a discussion on interactions between the dorsal and ventral streams, particularly the involvement of motor related areas in speech perception processes, and outlines some remaining unresolved issues. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Human Auditory Neuroimaging. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sonam, Sonam; Jain, Vikrant
2017-04-01
River long profile is one of the fundamental geomorphic parameters which provides a platform to study interaction of geological and geomorphic processes at different time scales. Long profile shape is governed by geological processes at 10 ^ 5 - 10 ^ 6 years' time scale and it controls the modern day (10 ^ 0 - 10 ^ 1 years' time scale) fluvial processes by controlling the spatial variability of channel slope. Identification of an appropriate model for river long profile may provide a tool to analyse the quantitative relationship between basin geology, profile shape and its geomorphic effectiveness. A systematic analysis of long profiles has been carried for the Himalayan tributaries of the Ganga River basin. Long profile shape and stream power distribution pattern is derived using SRTM DEM data (90 m spatial resolution). Peak discharge data from 34 stations is used for hydrological analysis. Lithological variability and major thrusts are marked along the river long profile. The best fit of long profile is analysed for power, logarithmic and exponential function. Second order exponential function provides the best representation of long profiles. The second order exponential equation is Z = K1*exp(-β1*L) + K2*exp(-β2*L), where Z is elevation of channel long profile, L is the length, K and β are coefficients of the exponential function. K1 and K2 are the proportion of elevation change of the long profile represented by β1 (fast) and β2 (slow) decay coefficients of the river long profile. Different values of coefficients express the variability in long profile shapes and is related with the litho-tectonic variability of the study area. Channel slope of long profile is estimated taking the derivative of exponential function. Stream power distribution pattern along long profile is estimated by superimposing the discharge and long profile slope. Sensitivity analysis of stream power distribution with decay coefficients of the second order exponential equation is evaluated for a range of coefficient values. Our analysis suggests that the amplitude of stream power peak value is dependent on K1, the proportion of elevation change coming under the fast decay exponent and the location of stream power peak is dependent of the long profile decay coefficient (β1). Different long profile shapes owing to litho-tectonic variability across the Himalayas are responsible for spatial variability of stream power distribution pattern. Most of the stream power peaks lie in the Higher Himalaya. In general, eastern rivers have higher stream power in hinterland area and low stream power in the alluvial plains. This is responsible for, 1) higher erosion rate and sediment supply in hinterland of eastern rivers, 2) the incised and stable nature of channels in the western alluvial plains and 3) aggrading channels with dynamic nature in the eastern alluvial plains. Our study shows that the spatial variability of litho-units defines the coefficients of long profile function which in turn controls the position and magnitude of stream power maxima and hence the geomorphic variability in a fluvial system.
Restoring “hot spots” of denitrification along hydrologic flow-paths
Objectives: What are the relationships among N, C, and hydrology in degraded streams? What level of biogeochemical function remains with respect to N transformation processes (i.e. denitrification)? What could the results tell us about effectively restoring streams to process ...
Niyogi, Dev K.; Lewis, William M.; McKnight, Diane M.
2002-01-01
This paper proposes a hypothesis that relates biodi- versity, community biomass, and ecosystem func- tion to a gradient of stress. According to this hy- pothesis, biodiversity has a low threshold of response to stress, whereas biomass and function are stable or increase under low to moderate stress and decrease only under high stress. This hypothe- sis was tested by examining communities of pri- mary producers in streams under stress from mine drainage in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA. Mine drainage exerts chemical stress (low pH, dis- solved metals) as well as physical stress (deposition of metal oxides) on stream biota. Diversity of pri- mary producers was usually more sensitive to stress from mine drainage than community biomass (chlorophyll a) or primary production. Diversity was negatively related to all stresses from mine drainage, but it was especially low in streams with low pH or high concentration of dissolved zinc. Biomass and production were high in streams with only chemical stress, but they were often low in streams with physical stress caused by metal oxide deposition. Stream sites with aluminum oxide dep- osition usually had very little algal biomass. The rate of metal oxide deposition, presence of alumi- num oxides, and pH together explained 65% of the variation in biomass. The rate of net primary pro- duction was highly correlated with biomass and had a similar response to stress from mine drainage. Overall, chemical stresses (low pH, high concentra- tion of zinc) generally led to the hypothesized trends in our model of ecosystems under stress. Physical stress (deposition of metal oxides), how- ever, led to variable responses, and often decreased biomass and function even at low intensity, con- trary to the original hypothesis. Thus, the nature of ecosystem response to stress may differ for chemical and physical stresses
Do Coupled Climate Models Correctly SImulate the Upward Branch of the Deept Ocean Global Conveyor?
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Sarmiento, Jorge L; Downes, Stephanie; Bianchi, Daniele
The large-scale meridional overturning circulation (MOC) connects the deep ocean, a major reservoir of carbon, to the other components of the climate system and must therefore be accurately represented in Earth System Models. Our project aims to address the specific question of the pathways and mechanisms controlling the upwelling branch of the MOC, a subject of significant disagreement between models and observational syntheses, and among general circulation models. Observations of these pathways are limited, particularly in regions of complex hydrography such as the Southern Ocean. As such, we rely on models to examine theories of the overturning circulation, both physicallymore » and biogeochemically. This grant focused on a particular aspect of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) where there is currently significant disagreement between models and observationally based analyses of the MOC, and amongst general circulation models. In particular, the research focused on addressing the following questions: 1. Where does the deep water that sinks in the polar regions rise to the surface? 2. What processes are responsible for this rise? 3. Do state-of-the-art coupled GCMs capture these processes? Our research had three key components: observational synthesis, model development and model analysis. In this final report we outline the key results from these areas of research for the 2007 to 2012 grant period. The research described here was carried out primarily by graduate student, Daniele Bianchi (now a Postdoc at McGill University, Canada), and Postdoc Stephanie Downes (now a Research Fellow at The Australian national University, Australia). Additional support was provided for programmers Jennifer Simeon as well as Rick Slater.« less
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Olson, R.; An, S. I.
2016-12-01
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the ocean might slow down in the future, which can lead to a host of climatic effects in North Atlantic and throughout the world. Despite improvements in climate models and availability of new observations, AMOC projections remain uncertain. Here we constrain CMIP5 multi-model ensemble output with observations of a recently developed AMOC index to provide improved Bayesian predictions of future AMOC. Specifically, we first calculate yearly AMOC index loosely based on Rahmstorf et al. (2015) for years 1880—2004 for both observations, and the CMIP5 models for which relevant output is available. We then assign a weight to each model based on a Bayesian Model Averaging method that accounts for differential model skill in terms of both mean state and variability. We include the temporal autocorrelation in climate model errors, and account for the uncertainty in the parameters of our statistical model. We use the weights to provide future weighted projections of AMOC, and compare them to un-weighted ones. Our projections use bootstrapping to account for uncertainty in internal AMOC variability. We also perform spectral and other statistical analyses to show that AMOC index variability, both in models and in observations, is consistent with red noise. Our results improve on and complement previous work by using a new ensemble of climate models, a different observational metric, and an improved Bayesian weighting method that accounts for differential model skill at reproducing internal variability. Reference: Rahmstorf, S., Box, J. E., Feulner, G., Mann, M. E., Robinson, A., Rutherford, S., & Schaffernicht, E. J. (2015). Exceptional twentieth-century slowdown in atlantic ocean overturning circulation. Nature Climate Change, 5(5), 475-480. doi:10.1038/nclimate2554
Strong and deep Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last glacial cycle.
Böhm, E; Lippold, J; Gutjahr, M; Frank, M; Blaser, P; Antz, B; Fohlmeister, J; Frank, N; Andersen, M B; Deininger, M
2015-01-01
Extreme, abrupt Northern Hemisphere climate oscillations during the last glacial cycle (140,000 years ago to present) were modulated by changes in ocean circulation and atmospheric forcing. However, the variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which has a role in controlling heat transport from low to high latitudes and in ocean CO2 storage, is still poorly constrained beyond the Last Glacial Maximum. Here we show that a deep and vigorous overturning circulation mode has persisted for most of the last glacial cycle, dominating ocean circulation in the Atlantic, whereas a shallower glacial mode with southern-sourced waters filling the deep western North Atlantic prevailed during glacial maxima. Our results are based on a reconstruction of both the strength and the direction of the AMOC during the last glacial cycle from a highly resolved marine sedimentary record in the deep western North Atlantic. Parallel measurements of two independent chemical water tracers (the isotope ratios of (231)Pa/(230)Th and (143)Nd/(144)Nd), which are not directly affected by changes in the global cycle, reveal consistent responses of the AMOC during the last two glacial terminations. Any significant deviations from this configuration, resulting in slowdowns of the AMOC, were restricted to centennial-scale excursions during catastrophic iceberg discharges of the Heinrich stadials. Severe and multicentennial weakening of North Atlantic Deep Water formation occurred only during Heinrich stadials close to glacial maxima with increased ice coverage, probably as a result of increased fresh-water input. In contrast, the AMOC was relatively insensitive to submillennial meltwater pulses during warmer climate states, and an active AMOC prevailed during Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials (Greenland warm periods).
Meridional overturning circulation conveys fast acidification to the deep Atlantic Ocean.
Perez, Fiz F; Fontela, Marcos; García-Ibáñez, Maribel I; Mercier, Herlé; Velo, Anton; Lherminier, Pascale; Zunino, Patricia; de la Paz, Mercedes; Alonso-Pérez, Fernando; Guallart, Elisa F; Padin, Xose A
2018-02-22
Since the Industrial Revolution, the North Atlantic Ocean has been accumulating anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and experiencing ocean acidification, that is, an increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions (a reduction in pH) and a reduction in the concentration of carbonate ions. The latter causes the 'aragonite saturation horizon'-below which waters are undersaturated with respect to a particular calcium carbonate, aragonite-to move to shallower depths (to shoal), exposing corals to corrosive waters. Here we use a database analysis to show that the present rate of supply of acidified waters to the deep Atlantic could cause the aragonite saturation horizon to shoal by 1,000-1,700 metres in the subpolar North Atlantic within the next three decades. We find that, during 1991-2016, a decrease in the concentration of carbonate ions in the Irminger Sea caused the aragonite saturation horizon to shoal by about 10-15 metres per year, and the volume of aragonite-saturated waters to reduce concomitantly. Our determination of the transport of the excess of carbonate over aragonite saturation ( xc [CO 3 2- ])-an indicator of the availability of aragonite to organisms-by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation shows that the present-day transport of carbonate ions towards the deep ocean is about 44 per cent lower than it was in preindustrial times. We infer that a doubling of atmospheric anthropogenic CO 2 levels-which could occur within three decades according to a 'business-as-usual scenario' for climate change-could reduce the transport of xc [CO 3 2- ] by 64-79 per cent of that in preindustrial times, which could severely endanger cold-water coral habitats. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would also export this acidified deep water southwards, spreading corrosive waters to the world ocean.
Tide, Ocean and Climate on Exoplanets
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Si, Y.; Yang, J.
2017-12-01
On Earth, tide is a main part of the driving force for the deep ocean overturning circulation. For habitable planets around low-mass stars, the tidal force is expected to be much stronger than that on Earth, due to the fact that the habitable zone is very close to the host stars and that tide force is inversely proportional to the orbital distance cubed. The deep ocean overturning circulation on this type of planets is therefore expected to be much stronger than that on Earth, if all else being equal. We test this hypothesis using a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean model, the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). Our results show that the intensity of oceanic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is approximately proportional to κ1/3, where κ is the mixing coefficient across density interfaces and it is mainly determined by the strength of the tidal force. As a result of the enhanced MOC, more heat is transported to dark regions and sea ice melts completely there, and meanwhile more heat is mixed from the surface to the deep ocean and thereby the entire ocean becomes much warmer (Fig. 1). A positive cloud feedback further warms the global ocean and atmosphere. These results imply that one planet with a stronger tidal force will likely enter a globally ice-covered snowball state at a lower stellar flux and enter a moist greenhouse or runaway greenhouse state at also a lower stellar flux, meaning that the tidal force acts to push the habitable zone outward. This study significantly improves our understanding of the possible coupling between planetary orbit, ocean, climate, and habitability on exoplanets.
Meridional overturning circulation conveys fast acidification to the deep Atlantic Ocean
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Perez, Fiz F.; Fontela, Marcos; García-Ibáñez, Maribel I.; Mercier, Herlé; Velo, Anton; Lherminier, Pascale; Zunino, Patricia; de La Paz, Mercedes; Alonso-Pérez, Fernando; Guallart, Elisa F.; Padin, Xose A.
2018-02-01
Since the Industrial Revolution, the North Atlantic Ocean has been accumulating anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) and experiencing ocean acidification, that is, an increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions (a reduction in pH) and a reduction in the concentration of carbonate ions. The latter causes the ‘aragonite saturation horizon’—below which waters are undersaturated with respect to a particular calcium carbonate, aragonite—to move to shallower depths (to shoal), exposing corals to corrosive waters. Here we use a database analysis to show that the present rate of supply of acidified waters to the deep Atlantic could cause the aragonite saturation horizon to shoal by 1,000-1,700 metres in the subpolar North Atlantic within the next three decades. We find that, during 1991-2016, a decrease in the concentration of carbonate ions in the Irminger Sea caused the aragonite saturation horizon to shoal by about 10-15 metres per year, and the volume of aragonite-saturated waters to reduce concomitantly. Our determination of the transport of the excess of carbonate over aragonite saturation (xc[CO32-])—an indicator of the availability of aragonite to organisms—by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation shows that the present-day transport of carbonate ions towards the deep ocean is about 44 per cent lower than it was in preindustrial times. We infer that a doubling of atmospheric anthropogenic CO2 levels—which could occur within three decades according to a ‘business-as-usual scenario’ for climate change—could reduce the transport of xc[CO32-] by 64-79 per cent of that in preindustrial times, which could severely endanger cold-water coral habitats. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would also export this acidified deep water southwards, spreading corrosive waters to the world ocean.
Seasonal pattern of anthropogenic salinization in temperate forested headwater streams.
Timpano, Anthony J; Zipper, Carl E; Soucek, David J; Schoenholtz, Stephen H
2018-04-15
Salinization of freshwaters by human activities is of growing concern globally. Consequences of salt pollution include adverse effects to aquatic biodiversity, ecosystem function, human health, and ecosystem services. In headwater streams of the temperate forests of eastern USA, elevated specific conductance (SC), a surrogate measurement for the major dissolved ions composing salinity, has been linked to decreased diversity of aquatic insects. However, such linkages have typically been based on limited numbers of SC measurements that do not quantify intra-annual variation. Effective management of salinization requires tools to accurately monitor and predict salinity while accounting for temporal variability. Toward that end, high-frequency SC data were collected within the central Appalachian coalfield over 4 years at 25 forested headwater streams spanning a gradient of salinity. A sinusoidal periodic function was used to model the annual cycle of SC, averaged across years and streams. The resultant model revealed that, on average, salinity deviated approximately ±20% from annual mean levels across all years and streams, with minimum SC occurring in late winter and peak SC occurring in late summer. The pattern was evident in headwater streams influenced by surface coal mining, unmined headwater reference streams with low salinity, and larger-order salinized rivers draining the study area. The pattern was strongly responsive to varying seasonal dilution as driven by catchment evapotranspiration, an effect that was amplified slightly in unmined catchments with greater relative forest cover. Evaluation of alternative sampling intervals indicated that discrete sampling can approximate the model performance afforded by high-frequency data but model error increases rapidly as discrete sampling intervals exceed 30 days. This study demonstrates that intra-annual variation of salinity in temperate forested headwater streams of Appalachia USA follows a natural seasonal pattern, driven by interactive influences on water quantity and quality of climate, geology, and terrestrial vegetation. Because climatic and vegetation dynamics vary annually in a seasonal, cyclic manner, a periodic function can be used to fit a sinusoidal model to the salinity pattern. The model framework used here is broadly applicable in systems with streamflow-dependent chronic salinity stress. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Estimation of stream depletion using values of capacitance
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Baldenkov, Mikhail; Filimonova, Elena
2014-05-01
Compensation pumping is used to alleviate deficiencies in streamflow discharge during dry seasons. Short-term groundwater pumping can use aquifer storage instead of catchment-zone water until the drawdown reaches the edge of the stream. Stream-aquifer interactions are the key component of the hydrologic budgets and estimation of stream depletion has top-priority when evaluating the effectiveness of application of seasonal compensation pumping. Numerous analytical equations have been developed to assess the influence of groundwater pumping on nearby streams (C.V. Theis, R.E. Glover, C.G. Balmer, M.S. Hantush, C.T. Jenkins, B. Hunt, J. Bredehoeft, V.A. Zlotnik, E.L. Minkin, N.N. Lapshin, F.M. Bochever and other researchers). R.B. Wallace and Y. Darama obtained solution for cyclic conditions groundwater pumping. Numerical model approaches used in difficult hydrogeological conditions. It is offered to estimate stream depletion by seasonal pumping using values of capacitance (complex, dimensionless parameter of an aquifer system that defines the delayed effect on steamflow when there is groundwater pumping). Capacitance (C) is determined by the following equation: ( ) L* C = f( °---) , TS-Δt where S and T are the aquifer specific yield (or storage coefficient for a confined aquifer) and transmissivity, respectively; Δt is the pumping time inside one cycle, L* is the summarizing distance between the compensation well and stream edge; in some cases it can involve a function of the stream leakance and vertical leakance of the impermeable layer. Three typical hydraulic cases of compensation pumping were classified depending on their capacitance structure (i.e. the relationship between surface water and groundwater): (a) perfect hydraulic connection between the stream and aquifer; (b) imperfect hydraulic connection between the stream and aquifer; and (c) essentially imperfect hydraulic connection between the stream and the underlying confined aquifer. The form of capacitance was obtained for all three cases and is a function of aquifer hydraulic characteristics, pumping time and distance between the well and stream edge. The distance in the first and the second cases is the sum of the shortest distance between stream edge and the well and the stream leakance; in case; and in the third case, it is the sum of real distance, stream leakance and vertical leakance through the impermeable layer. A regression test between unit stream depletion (i.e. the ratio of stream reduction to pumping rate stream depletion and capacitance was performed, and power dependences were obtained in the form of Y = a + bC-0.5 The drained storage cannot be absolutely recovered by natural processes that cause 'residual' stream depletion (RSD) even in condition of perfect hydraulic connection between the stream and aquifer. The impact of various hydraulic characteristics and engineering factors on RSD was examined by numerical modeling. It was realized lack of correlation between capacitance and RSD, but exponential dependences between capacitance and the annual amplitudes of stream depletion (A) were obtained in the form of: A = 0.95 exp(- 0.776C ) Although this approach cannot assess stream-aquifer interactions to the same degree of accuracy as analytical equations of detail as a numerical model, it can provide forecast estimation with the level of primary available data.
Habitat Restoration and Monitoring in Urban Streams: The Case of Tryon Creek in Portland, OR
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rios Touma, B. P.; Prescott, C.; Axtell, S.; Kondolf, G. M.
2013-12-01
Habitat enhancement in urban streams can be important for threatened species but challenging, because of altered catchment hydrology and urban encroachment on floodplains and channel banks. In Portland (OR) restoration actions have been undertaken at the watershed scale (e.g.: storm water management, protection of sites with high watershed value) to improve water quality, and at reach scale, when water quality and quantity are adequate, to increase habitat heterogeneity and stabilize banks. To evaluate reach-scale restoration projects in the Tryon Creek watershed, we sampled benthic macroinvertebrates and conducted habitat quality surveys pre-project and over 4 years post- project. Species sensitive to pollution and diversity of trophic groups increased after restoration. Although taxonomical diversity increased after restoration, but was still low compared to reference streams. We found no significant changes in trait proportions and functional diversity. Functional diversity, proportion of shredders and semivoltine invertebrates were significantly higher in reference streams than the restored stream reaches. We hypothesized that inputs of coarse particulate organic matter and land use at watershed scale may explain the differences in biodiversity between restored and reference stream reaches. Variables such as substrate composition, canopy cover or large wood pieces did not change from pre- to post-project, so could not explain the changes in the community. This may have been partly attributable to insensitivity of the visual estimate methods used, but likely also reflects an importance influence of watershed variables on aquatic biota - suggesting watershed actions may be more effective for the ecological recovery of streams. For future projects, we recommend multihabitat benthic sampling supported by studies of channel geomorphology to better understand stream response to restoration actions.
Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters ...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Office of Research and Development has finalized the report Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence. The report reviews more than 1,200 peer-reviewed publications and summarizes current scientific understanding about the connectivity and mechanisms by which streams and wetlands, singly or in aggregate, affect the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of downstream waters. The focus of the report is on surface and shallow subsurface connections by which small or temporary streams, nontidal wetlands, and open waters affect larger waters such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries. This report represents the state-of-the-science on the connectivity and isolation of waters in the United States. It makes five major conclusions, summarized below, that are drawn from a broad range of peer reviewed scientific literature. The scientific literature unequivocally demonstrates that streams, regardless of their size or frequency of flow, are connected to downstream waters and strongly influence their function. The scientific literature clearly shows that wetlands and open waters in riparian areas (transitional areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems) and floodplains are physically, chemically, and biologically integrated with rivers via functions that improve downstream water quality. These system
PREDICTIONS OF STREAM WOOD RECRUITMENT FROM RIPARIAN FORESTS: EFFECTS OF DATA RESOLUTION
We evaluate whether different levels of detail of riparian forest characterizations result in different predictions of stream wood recruitment from riparian forests in northwestern Oregon. If less detailed information provides the same estimate of this function as more detailed i...
Identifying, Protecting, and Restoring (?) Fine-Scale Thermal Heterogeneity in Streams
The functional role of thermal heterogeneity to fish in warm streams has been well recognized in the scientific literature, and is increasingly invoked as an important aspect of biodiversity conservation. Water temperature standards designed to protect cold-water taxa are also be...
Rogers, Holly; Schmidt, Travis S.; Dabney, Brittanie L.; Hladik, Michelle; Mahler, Barbara J.; Van Metre, Peter C.
2016-01-01
Direct and indirect ecological effects of the widely used insecticide bifenthrin on stream ecosystems are largely unknown. To investigate such effects, a manipulative experiment was conducted in stream mesocosms that were colonized by aquatic insect communities and exposed to bifenthrin-contaminated sediment; implications for natural streams were interpreted through comparison of mesocosm results to a survey of 100 Midwestern streams, USA. In the mesocosm experiment, direct effects of bifenthrin exposure included reduced larval macroinvertebrate abundance, richness, and biomass at concentrations (EC50s ranged 197.6 – 233.5 ng bifenthrin/ g organic carbon) previously thought safe for aquatic life. Indirect effects included a trophic cascade in which periphyton abundance increased after macroinvertebrate scrapers decreased. Adult emergence dynamics and corresponding terrestrial subsidies were altered at all bifenthrin concentrations tested. Extrapolating these results to the Midwestern stream assessment suggests pervasive ecological effects, with altered emergence dynamics likely in 40% of streams and a trophic cascade in 7% of streams. This study provides new evidence that a common pyrethroid might alter aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem function at the regional scale.
Rogers, Holly A; Schmidt, Travis S; Dabney, Brittanie L; Hladik, Michelle L; Mahler, Barbara J; Van Metre, Peter C
2016-11-01
Direct and indirect ecological effects of the widely used insecticide bifenthrin on stream ecosystems are largely unknown. To investigate such effects, a manipulative experiment was conducted in stream mesocosms that were colonized by aquatic insect communities and exposed to bifenthrin-contaminated sediment; implications for natural streams were interpreted through comparison of mesocosm results to a survey of 100 Midwestern streams, USA. In the mesocosm experiment, direct effects of bifenthrin exposure included reduced larval macroinvertebrate abundance, richness, and biomass at concentrations (EC 50 's ranged from 197.6 to 233.5 ng bifenthrin/g organic carbon) previously thought safe for aquatic life. Indirect effects included a trophic cascade in which periphyton abundance increased after macroinvertebrate scrapers decreased. Adult emergence dynamics and corresponding terrestrial subsidies were altered at all bifenthrin concentrations tested. Extrapolating these results to the Midwestern stream assessment suggests pervasive ecological effects, with altered emergence dynamics likely in 40% of streams and a trophic cascade in 7% of streams. This study provides new evidence that a common pyrethroid might alter aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem function at the regional scale.
Simple Scaling of Mulit-Stream Jet Plumes for Aeroacoustic Modeling
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bridges, James
2016-01-01
When creating simplified, semi-empirical models for the noise of simple single-stream jets near surfaces it has proven useful to be able to generalize the geometry of the jet plume. Having a model that collapses the mean and turbulent velocity fields for a range of flows allows the problem to become one of relating the normalized jet field and the surface. However, most jet flows of practical interest involve jets of two or more coannular flows for which standard models for the plume geometry do not exist. The present paper describes one attempt to relate the mean and turbulent velocity fields of multi-stream jets to that of an equivalent single-stream jet. The normalization of single-stream jets is briefly reviewed, from the functional form of the flow model to the results of the modeling. Next, PIV data from a number of multi-stream jets is analyzed in a similar fashion. The results of several single-stream approximations of the multi-stream jet plume are demonstrated, with a best approximation determined and the shortcomings of the model highlighted.
Simple Scaling of Multi-Stream Jet Plumes for Aeroacoustic Modeling
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bridges, James
2015-01-01
When creating simplified, semi-empirical models for the noise of simple single-stream jets near surfaces it has proven useful to be able to generalize the geometry of the jet plume. Having a model that collapses the mean and turbulent velocity fields for a range of flows allows the problem to become one of relating the normalized jet field and the surface. However, most jet flows of practical interest involve jets of two or more co-annular flows for which standard models for the plume geometry do not exist. The present paper describes one attempt to relate the mean and turbulent velocity fields of multi-stream jets to that of an equivalent single-stream jet. The normalization of single-stream jets is briefly reviewed, from the functional form of the flow model to the results of the modeling. Next, PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) data from a number of multi-stream jets is analyzed in a similar fashion. The results of several single-stream approximations of the multi-stream jet plume are demonstrated, with a 'best' approximation determined and the shortcomings of the model highlighted.
On the marginal instability threshold condition of the aperiodic ordinary mode
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Schlickeiser, R.; Yoon, P. H.; School of Space Research, Kyung Hee University, Yongin
2014-07-15
The purely growing ordinary (O) mode instability has recently received renewed attention owing to its potential applicability to the solar wind plasma. Here, an analytical marginal instability condition is derived for counter-streaming bi-Maxwellian plasma particle distribution functions. The derived marginal instability condition as a function of the temperature anisotropy and plasma beta agrees remarkably well with the numerically determined instability condition. The existence of a new instability domain of the O-mode at small plasma beta values is confirmed with the leading A∝β{sub ∥}{sup −1}-dependence, if the counter-stream parameter P{sub e} exceeds a critical value. At small plasma beta values atmore » large enough counter-stream parameter, the O-mode also operates for temperature anisotropies A = T{sub ⊥}/T{sub ∥} > 1 even larger than unity, as the parallel counter-stream free energy exceeds the perpendicular bi-Maxwellian free energy.« less
Freimann, Remo; Bürgmann, Helmut; Findlay, Stuart EG; Robinson, Christopher T
2013-01-01
Glaciated alpine floodplains are responding quickly to climate change through shrinking ice masses. Given the expected future changes in their physicochemical environment, we anticipated variable shifts in structure and ecosystem functioning of hyporheic microbial communities in proglacial alpine streams, depending on present community characteristics and landscape structures. We examined microbial structure and functioning during different hydrologic periods in glacial (kryal) streams and, as contrasting systems, groundwater-fed (krenal) streams. Three catchments were chosen to cover an array of landscape features, including interconnected lakes, differences in local geology and degree of deglaciation. Community structure was assessed by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis and microbial function by potential enzyme activities. We found each catchment to contain a distinct bacterial community structure and different degrees of separation in structure and functioning that were linked to the physicochemical properties of the waters within each catchment. Bacterial communities showed high functional plasticity, although achieved by different strategies in each system. Typical kryal communities showed a strong linkage of structure and function that indicated a major prevalence of specialists, whereas krenal sediments were dominated by generalists. With the rapid retreat of glaciers and therefore altered ecohydrological characteristics, lotic microbial structure and functioning are likely to change substantially in proglacial floodplains in the future. The trajectory of these changes will vary depending on contemporary bacterial community characteristics and landscape structures that ultimately determine the sustainability of ecosystem functioning. PMID:23842653
Data-driven analysis of functional brain interactions during free listening to music and speech.
Fang, Jun; Hu, Xintao; Han, Junwei; Jiang, Xi; Zhu, Dajiang; Guo, Lei; Liu, Tianming
2015-06-01
Natural stimulus functional magnetic resonance imaging (N-fMRI) such as fMRI acquired when participants were watching video streams or listening to audio streams has been increasingly used to investigate functional mechanisms of the human brain in recent years. One of the fundamental challenges in functional brain mapping based on N-fMRI is to model the brain's functional responses to continuous, naturalistic and dynamic natural stimuli. To address this challenge, in this paper we present a data-driven approach to exploring functional interactions in the human brain during free listening to music and speech streams. Specifically, we model the brain responses using N-fMRI by measuring the functional interactions on large-scale brain networks with intrinsically established structural correspondence, and perform music and speech classification tasks to guide the systematic identification of consistent and discriminative functional interactions when multiple subjects were listening music and speech in multiple categories. The underlying premise is that the functional interactions derived from N-fMRI data of multiple subjects should exhibit both consistency and discriminability. Our experimental results show that a variety of brain systems including attention, memory, auditory/language, emotion, and action networks are among the most relevant brain systems involved in classic music, pop music and speech differentiation. Our study provides an alternative approach to investigating the human brain's mechanism in comprehension of complex natural music and speech.
Freimann, Remo; Bürgmann, Helmut; Findlay, Stuart E G; Robinson, Christopher T
2013-12-01
Glaciated alpine floodplains are responding quickly to climate change through shrinking ice masses. Given the expected future changes in their physicochemical environment, we anticipated variable shifts in structure and ecosystem functioning of hyporheic microbial communities in proglacial alpine streams, depending on present community characteristics and landscape structures. We examined microbial structure and functioning during different hydrologic periods in glacial (kryal) streams and, as contrasting systems, groundwater-fed (krenal) streams. Three catchments were chosen to cover an array of landscape features, including interconnected lakes, differences in local geology and degree of deglaciation. Community structure was assessed by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis and microbial function by potential enzyme activities. We found each catchment to contain a distinct bacterial community structure and different degrees of separation in structure and functioning that were linked to the physicochemical properties of the waters within each catchment. Bacterial communities showed high functional plasticity, although achieved by different strategies in each system. Typical kryal communities showed a strong linkage of structure and function that indicated a major prevalence of specialists, whereas krenal sediments were dominated by generalists. With the rapid retreat of glaciers and therefore altered ecohydrological characteristics, lotic microbial structure and functioning are likely to change substantially in proglacial floodplains in the future. The trajectory of these changes will vary depending on contemporary bacterial community characteristics and landscape structures that ultimately determine the sustainability of ecosystem functioning.
U.S. Judge's Ruling Sets Up New Battle over Care of Lab Animals.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burd, Stephen
1993-01-01
A federal court decision overturning federal regulations requiring research institutions to present plans for care and use of laboratory animals has renewed debate over laboratory animal welfare. University scientists fear new, stricter Department of Agriculture regulations will result. (MSE)
Informed consent and federal funding for stem cell research.
Streiffer, Robert
2008-01-01
A review of the consent forms signed by those who donated embryos for the NIH-approved embryonic stem cell lines reveals several problems, providing ethical as well as scientific reasons to overturn the Bush administration's restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research.
24 CFR 200.1545 - Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-04-01
...): MAP Lender Quality Assurance Enforcement § 200.1545 Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions. (a... information included in the administrative record and any new information presented at the appeal conference... to overturn will be posted on HUD's MAP Web site. ...
24 CFR 200.1545 - Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-04-01
...): MAP Lender Quality Assurance Enforcement § 200.1545 Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions. (a... information included in the administrative record and any new information presented at the appeal conference... to overturn will be posted on HUD's MAP Web site. ...
24 CFR 200.1545 - Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-04-01
...): MAP Lender Quality Assurance Enforcement § 200.1545 Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions. (a... information included in the administrative record and any new information presented at the appeal conference... to overturn will be posted on HUD's MAP Web site. ...
24 CFR 200.1545 - Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-04-01
...): MAP Lender Quality Assurance Enforcement § 200.1545 Appeals of MAP Lender Review Board decisions. (a... information included in the administrative record and any new information presented at the appeal conference... to overturn will be posted on HUD's MAP Web site. ...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldblatt, Steven M.; Piele, Philip K.
This chapter reviews 1982 cases related to school property. Cases involving citizen efforts to overturn school board decisions to close schools dominate the property chapter, and courts continue to uphold school board authority to close schools, transfer students, and sell or lease the buildings. Ten cases involving detachment and attachment of…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meinen, Christopher S.; Speich, Sabrina; Piola, Alberto R.; Ansorge, Isabelle; Campos, Edmo; Kersalé, Marion; Terre, Thierry; Chidichimo, Maria Paz; Lamont, Tarron; Sato, Olga T.; Perez, Renellys C.; Valla, Daniel; van den Berg, Marcel; Le Hénaff, Matthieu; Dong, Shenfu; Garzoli, Silvia L.
2018-05-01
Six years of simultaneous moored observations near the western and eastern boundaries of the South Atlantic are combined with satellite winds to produce a daily time series of the basin-wide meridional overturning circulation (MOC) volume transport at 34.5°S. The results demonstrate that barotropic and baroclinic signals at both boundaries cause significant transport variations, and as such must be concurrently observed. The data, spanning 20 months during 2009-2010 and 4 years during 2013-2017, reveal a highly energetic MOC record with a temporal standard deviation of 8.3 Sv, and strong variations at time scales ranging from a few days to years (peak-to-peak range = 54.6 Sv). Seasonal transport variations are found to have both semiannual (baroclinic) and annual (Ekman and barotropic) timescales. Interannual MOC variations result from both barotropic and baroclinic changes, with density profile changes at the eastern boundary having the largest impact on the year-to-year variations.
Observations of a diapycnal shortcut to adiabatic upwelling of Antarctic Circumpolar Deep Water
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Silvester, J. Mead; Lenn, Yueng-Djern; Polton, Jeff A.; Rippeth, Tom P.; Maqueda, M. Morales
2014-11-01
In the Southern Ocean, small-scale turbulence causes diapycnal mixing which influences important water mass transformations, in turn impacting large-scale ocean transports such as the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), a key controller of Earth's climate. We present direct observations of mixing over the Antarctic continental slope between water masses that are part of the Southern Ocean MOC. A 12 h time series of microstructure turbulence measurements, hydrography, and velocity observations off Elephant Island, north of the Antarctic Peninsula, reveals two concurrent bursts of elevated dissipation of O(10-6) W kg-1, resulting in heat fluxes ˜10 times higher than basin-integrated Drake Passage estimates. This occurs across the boundary between adjacent adiabatic upwelling and downwelling overturning cells. Ray tracing to nearby topography shows mixing between 300 and 400 m is consistent with the breaking of locally generated internal tidal waves. Since similar conditions extend to much of the Antarctic continental slope where these water masses outcrop, diapycnal mixing may contribute significantly to upwelling.
Boundary-layer diabatic processes, the virtual effect, and convective self-aggregation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, D.
2017-12-01
The atmosphere can self-organize into long-lasting large-scale overturning circulations over an ocean surface with uniform temperature. This phenomenon is referred to as convective self-aggregation and has been argued to be important for tropical weather and climate systems. Here we use a 1D shallow water model and a 2D cloud-resolving model (CRM) to show that boundary-layer diabatic processes are essential for convective self-aggregation. We will show that boundary-layer radiative cooling, convective heating, and surface buoyancy flux help convection self-aggregate because they generate available potential energy (APE), which sustains the overturning circulation. We will also show that evaporative cooling in the boundary layer (cold pool) inhibits convective self-aggregation by reducing APE. Both the shallow water model and CRM results suggest that the enhanced virtual effect of water vapor can lead to convective self-aggregation, and this effect is mainly in the boundary layer. This study proposes new dynamical feedbacks for convective self-aggregation and complements current studies that focus on thermodynamic feedbacks.
Impact of Greenland orography on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Davini, P.; Hardenberg, J.; Filippi, L.; Provenzale, A.
2015-02-01
We show that the absence of the Greenland ice sheet would have important consequences on the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, even without taking into account the effect of the freshwater input to the ocean from ice melting. These effects are investigated in a 600year long coupled ocean-atmosphere simulation with the high-resolution global climate model EC-Earth 3.0.1. Once a new equilibrium is established, a cooling of Eurasia and of the North Atlantic and a poleward shift of the subtropical jet are observed. These hemispheric changes are ascribed to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) by about 12%. We attribute this slowdown to a reduction in salinity of the Arctic basin and to the related change of the mass and salt transport through the Fram Strait—a consequence of the new surface wind pattern over the lower orography. This idealized experiment illustrates the sensitivity of the AMOC to local surface winds.
Exceptional twentieth-century slowdown in Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rahmstorf, Stefan; Box, Jason E.; Feulner, Georg; Mann, Michael E.; Robinson, Alexander; Rutherford, Scott; Schaffernicht, Erik J.
2015-05-01
Possible changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) provide a key source of uncertainty regarding future climate change. Maps of temperature trends over the twentieth century show a conspicuous region of cooling in the northern Atlantic. Here we present multiple lines of evidence suggesting that this cooling may be due to a reduction in the AMOC over the twentieth century and particularly after 1970. Since 1990 the AMOC seems to have partly recovered. This time evolution is consistently suggested by an AMOC index based on sea surface temperatures, by the hemispheric temperature difference, by coral-based proxies and by oceanic measurements. We discuss a possible contribution of the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet to the slowdown. Using a multi-proxy temperature reconstruction for the AMOC index suggests that the AMOC weakness after 1975 is an unprecedented event in the past millennium (p > 0.99). Further melting of Greenland in the coming decades could contribute to further weakening of the AMOC.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liu, W.; Fedorov, A. V.
2017-12-01
A recent study (Sevellec, Fedorov, Liu 2017, Nature Climate Change) has suggested that Arctic sea ice decline can lead to a slow-down of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Here, we build on this previous work and explore the relationship between Arctic sea ice and the AMOC in climate models. We find that the current Arctic sea ice decline can contribute about 40% to the AMOC weakening over the next 60 years. This effect is related to the warming and freshening of the upper ocean in the Arctic, and the subsequent spread of generated buoyancy anomalies downstream where they affect the North Atlantic deep convection sites and hence the AMOC on multi-decadal timescales. The weakening of the AMOC and its poleward heat transport, in turn, sustains the "Warming Hole" - a region in the North Atlantic with anomalously weak (or even negative) warming trends. We discuss the key factors that control this robust AMOC response to changes in Arctic sea ice.
Liu, Wei; Xie, Shang-Ping; Liu, Zhengyu; Zhu, Jiang
2017-01-01
Changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) are moderate in most climate model projections under increasing greenhouse gas forcing. This intermodel consensus may be an artifact of common model biases that favor a stable AMOC. Observationally based freshwater budget analyses suggest that the AMOC is in an unstable regime susceptible for large changes in response to perturbations. By correcting the model biases, we show that the AMOC collapses 300 years after the atmospheric CO 2 concentration is abruptly doubled from the 1990 level. Compared to an uncorrected model, the AMOC collapse brings about large, markedly different climate responses: a prominent cooling over the northern North Atlantic and neighboring areas, sea ice increases over the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian seas and to the south of Greenland, and a significant southward rain-belt migration over the tropical Atlantic. Our results highlight the need to develop dynamical metrics to constrain models and the importance of reducing model biases in long-term climate projection.
Overlooked possibility of a collapsed Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in warming climate
Liu, Wei; Xie, Shang-Ping; Liu, Zhengyu; Zhu, Jiang
2017-01-01
Changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) are moderate in most climate model projections under increasing greenhouse gas forcing. This intermodel consensus may be an artifact of common model biases that favor a stable AMOC. Observationally based freshwater budget analyses suggest that the AMOC is in an unstable regime susceptible for large changes in response to perturbations. By correcting the model biases, we show that the AMOC collapses 300 years after the atmospheric CO2 concentration is abruptly doubled from the 1990 level. Compared to an uncorrected model, the AMOC collapse brings about large, markedly different climate responses: a prominent cooling over the northern North Atlantic and neighboring areas, sea ice increases over the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian seas and to the south of Greenland, and a significant southward rain-belt migration over the tropical Atlantic. Our results highlight the need to develop dynamical metrics to constrain models and the importance of reducing model biases in long-term climate projection. PMID:28070560
An extreme event of sea-level rise along the Northeast Coast of North America in 2009-2010.
Goddard, Paul B; Yin, Jianjun; Griffies, Stephen M; Zhang, Shaoqing
2015-02-24
The coastal sea levels along the Northeast Coast of North America show significant year-to-year fluctuations in a general upward trend. The analysis of long-term tide gauge records identified an extreme sea-level rise (SLR) event during 2009-10. Within this 2-year period, the coastal sea level north of New York City jumped by 128 mm. This magnitude of interannual SLR is unprecedented (a 1-in-850 year event) during the entire history of the tide gauge records. Here we show that this extreme SLR event is a combined effect of two factors: an observed 30% downturn of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during 2009-10, and a significant negative North Atlantic Oscillation index. The extreme nature of the 2009-10 SLR event suggests that such a significant downturn of the Atlantic overturning circulation is very unusual. During the twenty-first century, climate models project an increase in magnitude and frequency of extreme interannual SLR events along this densely populated coast.
Yan, Xiaoqin; Zhang, Rong; Knutson, Thomas R
2017-11-22
Observed Atlantic major hurricane frequency has exhibited pronounced multidecadal variability since the 1940s. However, the cause of this variability is debated. Using observations and a coupled earth system model (GFDL-ESM2G), here we show that the decline of the Atlantic major hurricane frequency during 2005-2015 is associated with a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) inferred from ocean observations. Directly observed North Atlantic sulfate aerosol optical depth has not increased (but shows a modest decline) over this period, suggesting the decline of the Atlantic major hurricane frequency during 2005-2015 is not likely due to recent changes in anthropogenic sulfate aerosols. Instead, we find coherent multidecadal variations involving the inferred AMOC and Atlantic major hurricane frequency, along with indices of Atlantic Multidecadal Variability and inverted vertical wind shear. Our results provide evidence for an important role of the AMOC in the recent decline of Atlantic major hurricane frequency.
On the stability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
Hofmann, Matthias; Rahmstorf, Stefan
2009-01-01
One of the most important large-scale ocean current systems for Earth's climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Here we review its stability properties and present new model simulations to study the AMOC's hysteresis response to freshwater perturbations. We employ seven different versions of an Ocean General Circulation Model by using a highly accurate tracer advection scheme, which minimizes the problem of numerical diffusion. We find that a characteristic freshwater hysteresis also exists in the predominantly wind-driven, low-diffusion limit of the AMOC. However, the shape of the hysteresis changes, indicating that a convective instability rather than the advective Stommel feedback plays a dominant role. We show that model errors in the mean climate can make the hysteresis disappear, and we investigate how model innovations over the past two decades, like new parameterizations and mixing schemes, affect the AMOC stability. Finally, we discuss evidence that current climate models systematically overestimate the stability of the AMOC. PMID:19897722
Yang, Qian; Dixon, Timothy H.; Myers, Paul G.; Bonin, Jennifer; Chambers, Don; van den Broeke, M. R.; Ribergaard, Mads H.; Mortensen, John
2016-01-01
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is an important component of ocean thermohaline circulation. Melting of Greenland's ice sheet is freshening the North Atlantic; however, whether the augmented freshwater flux is disrupting the AMOC is unclear. Dense Labrador Sea Water (LSW), formed by winter cooling of saline North Atlantic water and subsequent convection, is a key component of the deep southward return flow of the AMOC. Although LSW formation recently decreased, it also reached historically high values in the mid-1990s, making the connection to the freshwater flux unclear. Here we derive a new estimate of the recent freshwater flux from Greenland using updated GRACE satellite data, present new flux estimates for heat and salt from the North Atlantic into the Labrador Sea and explain recent variations in LSW formation. We suggest that changes in LSW can be directly linked to recent freshening, and suggest a possible link to AMOC weakening. PMID:26796579
Large Scale Supernova Structure from Pre- and Post-Explosion Convection
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Young, Patrick A.; Vance, Gregory; Ellinger, Carola; Fryer, Chris
2017-06-01
We present results of 3D supernova simulations with initial conditions drawn from 3D models of late stage stellar convection. Simulations are performed with the supernova-optimized smooth particle hydrodynamics code SNSPH and postprocessed using a 522 isotope nuclear reaction network. The simulations also have a non-fixed central compact object that is free to accrete momentum from fall back material. It has been established that neutrino-driven convection can produce large asymmetries in the explosion, but the effects caused by convective anisotropies in late burning shells in the progenitor star and time-varying gravitational potential after the explosion are less well explored. We find that convective motions can result in highly asymmetric overturn of deep layers that are not susceptible to large effects from explosion generated Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmeyer-Meshkov instabilities. Such overturn can produce regions with a strong alpha-rich freezeout and high iron abundances morphologically similar to the iron-rich structure in the southeast quadrant of Cassiopeia A.
Contribution of Surface Thermal Forcing to Mixing in the Ocean
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Fei; Huang, Shi-Di; Xia, Ke-Qing
2018-02-01
A critical ingredient of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is vertical mixing, which causes dense waters in the deep sea to rise throughout the stratified interior to the upper ocean. Here, we report a laboratory study aimed at understanding the contributions from surface thermal forcing (STF) to this mixing process. Our study reveals that the ratio of the thermocline thickness to the fluid depth largely determines the mixing rate and the mixing efficiency in an overturning flow driven by STF. By applying this finding to a hypothetical MOC driven purely by STF, we obtain a mixing rate of O(10-6 m2/s) and a corresponding meridional heat flux of O(10-2 petawatt, PW), which are far smaller than the values found for real oceans. These results provide quantitative support for the notion that STF alone is not sufficient to drive the MOC, which essentially acts as a heat conveyor belt powered by other energy sources.
Toomey, Michael; Korty, Robert L.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; van Hengstum, Peter J.; Curry, William B.
2017-01-01
The risk posed by intensification of North Atlantic hurricane activity remains controversial, in part due to a lack of available storm proxy records that extend beyond the relatively stable climates of the late Holocene. Here we present a record of storm-triggered turbidite deposition offshore the Dry Tortugas, south Florida, USA, that spans abrupt transitions in North Atlantic sea-surface temperature and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during the Younger Dryas (12.9–11.7 ka). Despite potentially hostile conditions for cyclogenesis in the tropical North Atlantic at that time, our record and numerical experiments suggest that strong hurricanes may have regularly affected Florida. Less severe surface cooling at mid-latitudes (∼20°–40°N) than across much of the tropical North Atlantic (∼10°–20°N) in response to AMOC reduction may best explain strong hurricane activity during the Younger Dryas near the Dry Tortugas and possibly along the entire southeastern coast of the United States.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Kun; Yang, Haijun; Dai, Haijin; Wang, Yuxing; Li, Qing
2015-04-01
Effects of wind and fresh water on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are investigated in a fully coupled climate model (CESM1.0). The AMOC can change significantly when perturbing either the wind stress or fresh water flux in the northern North Atlantic. This work pays special attention on the wind stress effect. Our model results show that the wind forcing is a crucial element in maintaining the AMOC. When the wind-stress is reduced, the vertical convection and diffusion are weakened immediately, triggering a salt deficit in the northern North Atlantic that prevents the deep water formation there. The salinity advection from the south, however, plays a contrary role to salt the upper ocean. As the AMOC weakens, the sea ice expends southward and melts, freshening the upper ocean that weakens the AMOC further. There is a positive feedback between the sea ice melting and AMOC strength, which eventually determines the AMOC strength in the reduced wind world.
Is the residual vertical velocity a good proxy for stratosphere-troposphere exchange of ozone?
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hsu, Juno; Prather, Michael J.
Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) of ozone (O 3) is key in the budget of tropospheric O 3, in turn affecting climate forcing and global air quality. We compare three commonly used diagnostics meant to quantify cross-tropopause O 3 fluxes with a Chemistry-Transport Model driven by two distinct European Centre forecast fields. Here, our reference case calculates accurate, geographically resolved net transport across an isosurface in artificial tracer e90 representing the tropopause. Hemispheric fluxes derived from the ozone mass budget of the lowermost stratosphere yield similar results. Use of the Brewer-Dobson residual vertical velocity as a scaled proxy for ozone flux, however,more » fails to capture the interannual variability. Thus, the common notion that the strength of stratospheric overturning circulation is a good measure for global STE does not apply to O 3. Finally, climatic variability in the modeled O 3 flux needs to be diagnosed directly rather than indirectly through the overturning circulation.« less
Is the residual vertical velocity a good proxy for stratosphere-troposphere exchange of ozone?
Hsu, Juno; Prather, Michael J.
2014-12-20
Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) of ozone (O 3) is key in the budget of tropospheric O 3, in turn affecting climate forcing and global air quality. We compare three commonly used diagnostics meant to quantify cross-tropopause O 3 fluxes with a Chemistry-Transport Model driven by two distinct European Centre forecast fields. Here, our reference case calculates accurate, geographically resolved net transport across an isosurface in artificial tracer e90 representing the tropopause. Hemispheric fluxes derived from the ozone mass budget of the lowermost stratosphere yield similar results. Use of the Brewer-Dobson residual vertical velocity as a scaled proxy for ozone flux, however,more » fails to capture the interannual variability. Thus, the common notion that the strength of stratospheric overturning circulation is a good measure for global STE does not apply to O 3. Finally, climatic variability in the modeled O 3 flux needs to be diagnosed directly rather than indirectly through the overturning circulation.« less