On the observability of chemical and physical aerosol properties by optical observations: Inverse modelling with variational data assimilation     

By MICHAEL KAHNERT 《Tellus. Series B, Chemical and physical meteorology》2009,61(5):747-755

Determining size-resolved chemical composition of aerosols is important for modelling the aerosols' direct and indirect climate impact, for source–receptor modelling, and for understanding adverse health effects of particulate pollutants. Obtaining this kind of information from optical remote sensing observations is an ill-posed inverse problem. It can be solved by variational data assimilation in conjunction with an aerosol transport model. One important question is how much information about the particles' physical and chemical properties is contained in the observations. We perform a numerical experiment to test the observability of size-dependent aerosol composition by remote sensing observations. An aerosol transport model is employed to produce a reference and a perturbed aerosol field. The perturbed field is taken as a proxy for a background estimate subject to uncertainties. The reference result represents the 'true' state of the system. Optical properties are computed from the reference results and are assimilated into the perturbed model. The assimilation results reveal that inverse modelling of optical observations significantly improves the background estimate. However, the optical observations alone do not contain sufficient information for producing a faithful retrieval of the size-resolved aerosol composition. The total mass mixing ratios, on the other hand, are retrieved with remarkable accuracy.  相似文献   

Sedimentary environments and depositional characteristics of the Middle to Upper Eocene whale‐bearing succession in the Fayum Depression,Egypt     

ZAKI A. ABDEL‐FATTAH  MURRAY K. GINGRAS  MICHAEL W. CALDWELL  S. GEORGE PEMBERTON 《Sedimentology》2010,57(2):446-476

The discovery of whale fossils from Eocene strata in the Fayum Depression has provoked interest in the life and lifestyle of early whales. Excellent outcrop exposure also affords the dataset to develop sedimentological and stratigraphic models within the Eocene strata. Previous work generally asserts that the thick, sand‐rich deposits of the Fayum Depression represent shoreface and barrier island successions with fine‐grained lagoonal and fluvial associations capping progradational successions. However, a complete absence of wave‐generated sedimentary structures, a preponderance of thoroughly bioturbated strata and increasingly proximal sedimentary successions upwards are contrary to accepted models of the local sedimentological and stratigraphic development. This study considers data collected from two Middle to Upper Eocene successions exposed in outcrop in the Wadi El‐Hitan and Qasr El‐Sagha areas of the Fayum Depression to determine the depositional affinities of Fayum strata. Based on sedimentological and ichnological data, five facies associations (Facies Association 1 to Facies Association 5) are identified. The biological and sedimentological characteristics of the reported facies associations indicate that the whale‐bearing sandstones (Facies Association 1) record distal positions in a large, open, quiescent marine bay that is abruptly succeeded by a bay‐margin environment (Facies Association 2). Upwards, marginal‐marine lagoonal and shallow‐bay parasequences (Facies Association 3) are overlain by thick deltaic distributary channel deposits (Facies Association 4). The capping unit (Facies Association 5) represents a transgressive estuarine depositional environment. The general stratigraphic evolution resulted from a regional, tectonically controlled second‐order cycle, associated with northward regression of the Tethys. Subordinate cycles (i.e. third‐order and fourth‐order cycles) are evidenced by several Glossifungites‐ichnofacies demarcated discontinuities, which were emplaced at the base of flooding surfaces. The proposed depositional models recognize the importance of identifying and linking ichnological data with physical–sedimentological observations. As such – with the exception of wave‐generated ravinement surfaces – earlier assertions of wave‐dominated sedimentation can be discarded. Moreover, this study provides important data for the recognition of (rarely reported) completely bioturbated sand‐dominated offshore to nearshore sediments (Facies Association 1) and affords excellent characterization of bioturbated inclined heterolithic stratification of deltaic deposits. Another outcome of the study is the recognition that the whales of the Fayum Depression are restricted to the highstand systems tracts, and lived under conditions of low depositional energy, low to moderate sedimentation rates, and (not surprisingly) in fully marine waters characterized by a high biomass.  相似文献   

Active synsedimentary tectonism on a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic continental margin: third‐order sequence stratigraphy of a ramp to basin transition,lower Sekwi Formation,Selwyn Basin,Northwest Territories,Canada     

KELLY A. DILLIARD  MICHAEL C. POPE  MARIO CONIGLIO  STEPHEN T. HASIOTIS  BRUCE S. LIEBERMAN 《Sedimentology》2010,57(2):513-542

The lower part of the Early Cambrian Sekwi Formation in the Selwyn Basin of the Northwest Territories, Canada, is composed of two regional, unconformity‐bounded sequences, S0 and S1, which record the first widespread carbonate deposition during the initial Palaeozoic transgression onto the western margin of Laurentia. These Early Cambrian sequences are unique to the western North American Cordillera, representing the only record of primarily deep‐water deposition on a tectonically active, mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp during this period. More specifically, the geometry of the Sekwi ramp changed during deposition of S0 and S1, from a shallowly dipping homoclinal ramp during the S0 transgressive systems tract to a steeply dipping tectonically modified ramp during the early highstand systems tract of S0. The steeply dipping ramp profile of S0 was preserved into the early transgressive systems tract of S1. The Sekwi ramp returned to a gently sloping ramp during the late highstand systems tract of S1 and remained so throughout the remainder of Sekwi deposition. The evolving shape of the Sekwi ramp is attributed to syndepositional ‘down to the basin’ faulting during deposition of both S0 and S1 and is recorded by: (i) the westward thickening, irregular geometries of S0 and S1; (ii) geographical restriction of deep‐water facies (including sediment gravity flow deposits); (iii) the presence of large allochthonous blocks; and (iv) the clast composition of sediment gravity flow deposits. Sediment gravity flow deposits play an unusually important role in the sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the lower Sekwi Formation, as they delineate depositional packages, including the maximum flooding zone, the transitions between portions of systems tracts, and the inferred locations of syntectonic extensional faults. Syntectonic faults increased accommodation basinward of an extensive ooid‐shoal complex that developed along the Sekwi ramp crest, greatly influencing sequence geometry and initiating the downslope motion of sediment gravity flows. The syndepositional faulting probably was a continuation of extension that began during the latest Neoproterozoic rifting of western Laurentia. The composition of sediment gravity flow deposits track changing accommodation space on the lower Sekwi ramp and can be used to differentiate systems tracts that probably were related more to tectonism than eustasy.  相似文献   

Grain-size sorting within river bars in relation to downstream fining along a wandering channel   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

STEPHEN P. RICE  MICHAEL CHURCH† 《Sedimentology》2010,57(1):232-251

The textural variability of river bed gravels at bar scales is poorly understood, as are the relations between variability at this scale and at reach and river scales. Surface and subsurface grain‐size distributions were therefore examined at reach, bar and bedform scales along lower Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. Grain‐size variations within compound bars are conditioned by longitudinal position, elevation and morphological setting. Surface and subsurface sediments tend to decrease in median size from bar head to bar tail by 33% and 17%, respectively. Sediment size is constrained at some upper limit that is inversely related to bar surface elevation and which is consistent with competence considerations. The surface sediments on unit bars are finer and better sorted than the bed materials in bar‐top channels and along the main bar edges. Secondary unit bars tend to have a lower sand content than other features, a consequence of sediment resorting. Individual unit bars and gravel sheets exhibit streamwise grain‐size fining and lee‐side sand deposition. Over time, significant amounts of cut and fill do not ipso facto cause changes in surface grain sizes; yet, sediment characteristics can change without any significant morphological adjustment taking place. At the reach scale there is a clear downstream fining trend, but local variability is consistently high due to within‐bar variations. The surface median grain‐size range on individual bars is, on average, 25% of that along the entire 50 km reach but is 68% on one bar. While the overall fining trend yields a downstream change in surface median size of 0·76 mm km^?1, the average value for ‘head‐to‐tail’ size reduction on individual bars is 6·3 mm km^?1, an order of magnitude difference that highlights the effectiveness of bar‐scale sorting processes in gravel‐bed rivers. Possibilities for modelling bar‐scale variability and the interaction of the different controls that are identified are discussed.  相似文献   

Late Quaternary palaeoenvironment of northern Guatemala: evidence from deep drill cores and seismic stratigraphy of Lake Petén Itzá     

ANDREAS D. MUELLER  FLAVIO S. ANSELMETTI  DANIEL ARIZTEGUI  MARK BRENNER  DAVID A. HODELL  JASON H. CURTIS  JAIME ESCOBAR  ADRIAN GILLI  DUSTIN A. GRZESIK  THOMAS P. GUILDERSON  STEFFEN KUTTEROLF  MICHAEL PLÖTZE 《Sedimentology》2010,57(5):1220-1245

Long sediment cores were collected in spring 2006 from Lake Petén Itzá, northern Guatemala, in water depths ranging from 30 to 150 m, as part of an International Continental Scientific Drilling Program project. The sediment records from deep water consist mainly of alternating clay, gypsum and carbonate units and, in at least two drill sites, extend back >200 kyr. Most of the lithostratigraphic units are traceable throughout the basin along seismic reflections that serve as seismic stratigraphic boundaries and suggest that the lithostratigraphy can be used to infer regional palaeoenvironmental changes. A revised seismic stratigraphy was established on the basis of integrated lithological and seismic reflection data from the basin. From ca 200 to ca 85 ka, sediments are dominated by carbonate‐clay silt, often interbedded with sandy turbidites, indicating a sediment regime dominated by detrital sedimentation in a relatively humid climate. At ca 85 ka, an exposure horizon consisting of gravels, coarse sand and terrestrial gastropods marks a lake lowstand or partial basin desiccation, indicating dry climate conditions. From ca 85 to ca 48 ka, transgressive carbonate‐clay sediments, overlain by deep‐water clays, suggest a lake level rise and subsequent stabilization at high stage. From ca 48 ka to present, the lithology is characterized by alternating clay and gypsum units. Gypsum deposition correlates with Heinrich Events (i.e. dry climate), whereas clay units coincide with more humid interstadials.  相似文献   

Saharan dust absorption and refractive index from aircraft-based observations during SAMUM 2006   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

By ANDREAS PETZOLD  KATHARINA RASP  BERNADETT WEINZIERL  MICHAEL ESSELBORN  THOMAS HAMBURGER  REAS DÖRNBRACK  KONRAD KANDLER  LOTHAR SCHÜTZ  PETER KNIPPERTZ  MARKUS FIEBIG  AKI VIRKKULA 《Tellus. Series B, Chemical and physical meteorology》2009,61(1):118-130

During the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) conducted in summer 2006 in southeast Morocco, the complex refractive index of desert dust was determined from airborne measurements of particle size distributions and aerosol absorption coefficients at three different wavelengths in the blue (467 nm), green (530 nm) and red (660 nm) spectral regions. The vertical structure of the dust layers was analysed by an airborne high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL). The origin of the investigated dust layers was estimated from trajectory analyses, combined with Meteosat 2nd Generation (MSG) scenes and wind field data analyses. The real part n of the dust refractive index was found almost constant with values between 1.55 and 1.56, independent of the wavelength. The values of the imaginary part k varied between the blue and red spectral regions by a factor of three to ten depending on the dust source region. Absolute values of k ranged from 3.1 × 10⁻³ to 5.2 × 10⁻³ at 450 nm and from 0.3 × 10⁻³ to 2.5 × 10⁻³ at 700 nm. Groupings of k values could be attributed to different source regions.  相似文献   

Observations on nocturnal growth of atmospheric clusters     

HEIKKI JUNNINEN  MIRA HULKKONEN  ILONA RIIPINEN  TUOMO NIEMINEN  ANNE HIRSIKKO  TANJA SUNI  MICHAEL BOY  SHAN-HU LEE  MARKO VANA  HANNES TAMMET  VELI-MATTI KERMINEN  MARKKU KULMALA 《Tellus. Series B, Chemical and physical meteorology》2008,60(3):365-371

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Impact in the Caribbean and death of the dinosaurs     

MICHAEL J. BENTON  CRISPIN T. S. LITTLE 《Geology Today》1994,10(6):222-227

New work on the 65-million-year-old Chicxulub crater in Mexico shows how giant impacts on Earth occurred. The geological evidence for the aftermath of the impact is currently hotly debated.  相似文献   

The Aucellaelv stade at Aucellaelv, the first Weichselian glacier advance in Scoresby Sund, East Greenland     

CARSTEN ISRAEISON  SVEND FUNDER  MICHAEL KELLY 《Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research》1994,23(4):424-431

The first major Weichselian ice advance in Scoresby Sund, during the Aucellaelv stage, deposited thick till beds along the coast of Jameson Land between > 107 ka and 140 ka. and is correlated with isotope substage 5d in the marine record. This is shown by stream-cut sections at the mouth of the Aucellaelv. Jameson Land, which contain a scquence of shallow marine, fluvial and glacigene sediments extending from the Scoresby Sund glaciation (≅Saalian) to the Flakkerhuk stade (Late Weichselian). The sequence is dated by palaeoceanographic correlation with the deep-sea record, U/Th and luminescence dating, and correlated with the record in adjacent areas by mapping of marker horizons, and by mollusc fauna assemblages and amino acid analyses.  相似文献   

John Roger Flenley: Plants, Pollen and People     

PETER HOLLAND  MICHAEL ROCHE 《New Zealand geographer》2001,57(2):6-10

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