The role of diatoms, dissolved silicate and Antarctic glaciation in glacial/interglacial climatic change: a hypothesis     

David E. Pollock 《Global and Planetary Change》1997,14(3-4)

A new theory is proposed to explain global cooling at the onset of Pleistocene glacial periods. Atmospheric CO₂ drawdown is considered to be the driving force behind global cooling, brought about by heightened productivity at the equatorial divergences and along continental margins, particularly in upwelling regions. Eutrophication appears to be triggered when global warming during late interglacial periods causes accelerated melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This would release large reserves of silicate-enriched subglacial meltwaters into the surrounding oceans where entrainment would take place into deep and intermediate currents forming in Antarctic and subantarctic waters. Subsequent advection, mixing and upwelling of silicate-enriched deep and intermediate waters into the coastal zones and open-ocean divergences results in the proliferation of large, rapidly-sinking diatom species with a high affinity for dissolved silicate. These blooms enhance rates of recycling of N and P in upwelling regions and accelerate rates of organic carbon production, export and sequestration in shelf and slope sediments and in the deep sea. The resultant atm. CO₂ drawdown initiates global cooling. Consequent expansion of Northern Hemisphere glaciers lowers sea level, while increased temperature and pressure gradients between equatorial and polar regions intensify meridional winds. The former process exposes nutrient-enriched coastal sediments to wave erosion, thereby releasing new nutrient supplies, while the latter process enhances upwelling. The combined effect is to greatly increase rates of org. C production and export from continental margins and further accelerate atm. CO₂ drawdown. Glacial-period cooling is also enhanced by a number of other positive feedbacks, including changes in albedo, water vapour and cloud cover. Episodic warming intervals during glacial periods may be related to insolation changes associated with orbital precession and tilt cycles, but processes involved in deglaciation and reversion to the interglacial climatic regime are complex and not yet fully understood.  相似文献   

Evaluating the coalbed methane potential of the Gething coals in NE British Columbia, Canada: An example from the Highhat area, Peace River coalfield     

Thomas Gentzis  David Schoderbek  Sharlene Pollock   《International Journal of Coal Geology》2006,68(3-4):135-150

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Changes in Snow Mass Balance in the Canadian Rocky Mountains Caused by CO2 Rise: Regional Atmosphere Model Results     

Edward W. Pollock  Andrew B.G. Bush 《大气与海洋》2013,51(5):505-521

Abstract

This study investigates snow mass balance in the Canadian Rockies under a relatively conservative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenario for the twenty-first century through the use of regional atmosphere modelling. We dynamically downscale results from five 10-year subsets of general circulation model integrations to 6?km resolution to produce a physically consistent representation of the atmosphere at high elevations. Regional model results make evident greater warming with increasing elevation at low to mid-levels of the atmosphere, and a simple thermodynamic explanation of this process is presented. Simulated increases in atmospheric water vapour result in increases in cloud cover and precipitation at high elevations, which temporarily offset the effects of rising temperatures, but by 2100 all model elevations experience reductions in snow mass balance. A simple energy balance model produces reasonable estimates of changes in the elevation of equilibrium net snow accumulation, with increases between 185 and 197?m under an approximate 1.5°C rise in surface temperatures by 2100.  相似文献