Search results for "cycle"
showing 10 items of 3119 documents
Termini of calving glaciers as self-organized critical systems
2014
Calving margins are highly sensitive to changes in climate and glacier terminus geometry. Numerical modelling suggests that calving glacier termini are self-organized critical systems that are fluctuating between states of advance and retreat. Over the next century, one of the largest contributions to sea level rise will come from ice sheets and glaciers calving ice into the ocean1. Factors controlling the rapid and nonlinear variations in calving fluxes are poorly understood, and therefore difficult to include in prognostic climate-forced land-ice models. Here we analyse globally distributed calving data sets from Svalbard, Alaska (USA), Greenland and Antarctica in combination with simulat…
Sedimentary model and high-frequency cyclicity in a Mediterranean, shallow-shelf, temperate-carbonate environment (uppermost Miocene, Agua Amarga Bas…
1996
Uppermost Tortonian to lower Messinian temperate carbonates crop out in the Agua Amarga Basin (SE Spain). They consist of four units. The lower three units can be tentatively assigned to the lowstand systems tract of a fourth-order sequence, constituting in turn the lowstand (‘megatrough unit’), transgressive (‘breccia unit’) and highstand (‘bedded unit’) stages of a higher-order cycle. All these materials were deposited in a small pull-apart basin related to the sinistral Carboneras strike-slip fault system. The best represented is the bedded unit (up to 25 m thick), which consists of bioclastic, bryozoan/bivalve-dominated calcarenites/calcirudites with abundant fragments of echinoids, bar…
Stratospheric aerosol-Observations, processes, and impact on climate
2016
Interest in stratospheric aerosol and its role in climate have increased over the last decade due to the observed increase in stratospheric aerosol since 2000 and the potential for changes in the sulfur cycle induced by climate change. This review provides an overview about the advances in stratospheric aerosol research since the last comprehensive assessment of stratospheric aerosol was published in 2006. A crucial development since 2006 is the substantial improvement in the agreement between in situ and space-based inferences of stratospheric aerosol properties during volcanically quiescent periods. Furthermore, new measurement systems and techniques, both in situ and space based, have be…
Seasonal variability in silicate weathering signatures recorded by Li isotopes in cave drip-waters
2021
Abstract Silicate weathering is a critical process in Earth’s carbon cycle, but the fundamental controls on weathering are poorly understood and its response to future climate change is uncertain. In particular, the potential for changes in seasonality or extreme weather events to control silicate weathering rates or mechanisms has been little studied. Here, we use lithium (Li) isotope measurements in bimonthly sampled drip-waters from two caves in the Yorkshire Dales (U.K.) to assess the response of silicate weathering processes to changes in temperature and hydrology over seasonal timescales. While the caves are contained in limestone bedrock, the drip-water Li isotope signal predominantl…
A mechanism for brief glacial episodes in the Mesozoic greenhouse
2011
[1] The Mesozoic, perhaps the longest period of warmth during the Phanerozoic Earth history, has been repeatedly affected by short-lived cold interludes lasting about one million years. While the origin of these cold snaps has been classically attributed to a temporary atmospheric CO2 drawdown, quantified mechanisms explaining these instabilities of the carbon cycle are still lacking. Based on a climate carbon cycle model, we show that the general demise of carbonate platforms accompanying these short-lived cold interludes is a powerful mechanism capable of generating a fast atmospheric CO2 decrease and a moderate sea level drop associated with ice sheet buildup. The temporary nature of the…
Control of Seasonality and Interannual to Centennial Climate Variability in the Caribbean During the Holocene—Combining Coral Records, Stalagmite Rec…
2014
This study aimed at quantifying the amplitudes of seasonality and interannual to centennial climate variability in the Caribbean region throughout the Holocene, by using marine (shallow-water corals) and terrestrial (speleothems) climate archives, and climate model simulations (COSMOS). Sea-surface temperature (SST) variability on interdecadal to multidecadal timescales was more pronounced during the mid-Holocene compared to the late Holocene. The amplitude of the SST annual cycle was within the present-day range throughout most of the last 6,000 years. Exceptions include slightly increased SST seasonality at 6,200 years ago, which can be attributed mainly to insolation forcing on orbital t…
Effect of the conversion of grassland to spring wheat field on the CO2 emission characteristics in Inner Mongolia, China
2007
Chinese grasslands have undergone great changes in land use in recent decades. Approximately 18.2% of the present arable land in China originated from the cultivation of grassland, but its impact on the carbon cycle has not been fully understood. This study wasconducted insitu for3yearstoassessthecomprehensive effects ofcultivationof temperatesteppe onsoilorganiccarbon(SOC) and soil respiration rates as well as ecosystem respiration. As compared with those in the Stipa baicalensis steppe, the SOC concentrations at depths of 0‐10 and 10‐20 cm in the spring wheat field were found to have decreased by 38.3 and 17.4% respectively from 29.5 and 21.9 g kg � 1 to 18.2 and 18.1 g kg � 1 after a cul…
G-CLASS: geosynchronous radar for water cycle science – orbit selection and system design
2019
The mission geosynchronous – continental land atmosphere sensing system (G-CLASS) is designed to study thediurnal water cycle, using geosynchronous radar. Although the water cycle is vital to human society, processes on timescalesless than a day are very poorly observed from space. G-CLASS, using C-band geosynchronous radar, could transform this. Itsscience objectives address intense storms and high resolution weather prediction, and significant diurnal processes such assnow melt and soil moisture change, with societal impacts including agriculture, water resource management, flooding, andlandslides. Secondary objectives relate to ground motion observations for earthquake, volcano, and subs…
Imidazolium-2-carboxylate as an afficient, expeditious and eco-friendly organocatalyst for glycerol carbonate synthesis
2009
An improved and greener approach towards the synthesis of glycerol carbonate, via transesterification, using 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-2-carboxylate as catalyst is described. The catalyst loading as low as 1% was sufficient to yield quantitative conversions. A plausible mechanism is proposed for the catalytic cycle leading to product formation.
Organisational Drivers and Challenges in Circular Economy Implementation : An Issue Life Cycle Approach
2022
Business is a significant cause of various global sustainability challenges addressed by the Circular Economy (CE), making companies instrumental in the transition from a linear economic model to a circular one. While drivers and challenges in corporate CE implementation have been researched on an organisational level, a more detailed understanding is needed regarding their contextual nature and interplay with the evolution of CE implementation in a company. Utilising issue life cycle theory, this study contributes to the literature on CE implementation in business by displaying differences in corporate CE implementation drivers and challenges, relating to the time since starting, and the …