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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Abrupt Climate Transitions, Christine J. Ramadhin
Abrupt Climate Transitions, Christine J. Ramadhin
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The Earth’s climate system displays a long history of nonlinear abrupt transitions which have resulted in significant ecosystem disruption and are recorded in the geologic data. Today significant anthropogenic changes are occurring in many Earth systems that seem to be pushing these toward critical thresholds. Thus, increasing the possibility of a transition to alternative states which can have unfavorable consequences. Therefore, it becomes compelling to forecast when and how these transitions will occur so that decision-makers can devise appropriate strategies to avoid or cope with the effects of a changeover to a new alternative state. However, due to the highly …
The Distribution, Fractionation, And Application Of The 210po/210pb System: Insights From Three Geotraces Transects, Yi Tang
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The sinking flux of particles is an important pathway for the removal of carbon and other elements from the surface ocean via the biological pump. The 210Po/210Pb disequilibrium method can be used to study particle export at high spatial resolution over the time scale of months. The distribution of 210Po and 210Pb activity was measured during two GEOTRACES transects of the North Atlantic and one GEOTRACES transect of the eastern tropical South Pacific. This dissertation aimed to advance the knowledge and improve methods of the application of the 210Po/210Pb pair to quantify …
Wind Flow Dynamics Over Complex Terrain, Eric Kutter
Wind Flow Dynamics Over Complex Terrain, Eric Kutter
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Understanding the exchange of energy, moisture, and trace gases between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere over complex terrain is a fundamental goal in achieving a complete model of global or regional climate. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide is often a crucial input into climate models, and is also used as a means of validating regional model outputs. Calculations obtained from eddy flux tower data provide some of the best quality sources of NEE values; however, the standard formulation of the eddy covariance method is incomplete in terrain that includes common features such as hills, forests, cities, or …