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FROM VOLUME 6, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 1993

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY/OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL

Item #d93jan34

New journal: Palaeoclimates--Data and Modelling, P.J. Valdes, J.T. Parrish, Eds.-in-Chief. Will include both geological and climatological studies, and attempt to bring together both observationalists and modelers. First issue March 1993. Free sample available from Gordon and Breach, Marketing Dept., POB 786 Cooper Sta., New York NY 10276; or POB 90, Reading, Berkshire RG1 8JL, UK.

Item #d93jan35

Two items from Nature, 360(6403), Dec. 3, 1992:

"An Uplifting Experience," D. Rind (NASA Goddard Inst. Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York NY 10025), 414-415. Summarizes a Nov. 1992 conference on mountain uplift and climate. Greenhouse warming concerns have focused attention on the Tertiary period, when the Earth last experienced a very warm climate, but the relevance of that period to any future trace gas warming remains open.

"Ice Age Atmospheric Concentration of Nitrous Oxide from an Ice Core," M. Leuenberger (Phys. Inst., Univ. Bern, Sidlerstr. 5, 3012 Bern, Switz.), U. Siegenthaler, 449-451. Atmospheric concentration of N₂O was about 30% lower during the Last Glacial Maximum than during the Holocene. Present-day concentrations are unprecedented in the past 45 kyr, providing evidence that recent N₂O increases are anthropogenic.

Item #d93jan36

"Micropaleontological Evidence for Increased Meridional Heat Transport in the North Atlantic Ocean during the Pliocene," H.J. Dowsett (U.S. Geolog. Survey, Reston VA 22092), T.M. Cronin et al., Science, 258(5085), 1133-1135, Nov. 13, 1992.

Item #d93jan37

"Glacial-Interglacial Evolution of Greenhouse Gases as Inferred from Ice Core Analysis--A Review of Recent Results," D. Raynaud (Lab. Glaciol., BP 96, F-38402 St. Martin d'Heres, France), J.M. Barnola et al., Quaternary Sci. Reviews, 11(4), 381-386, 1992.

Evaluates changes in CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O over the last 150,000 years. In the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere, CO₂ and CH₄ are well correlated and in phase with the climatic cycle during interglacials, but CH₄ decreases in phase with glacial cooling, while CO₂ lags strikingly behind.

Item #d93jan38

Two items from J. Geophys. Res., 97(D14), Oct. 20, 1992:

"d15N of N2 in Air Trapped in Polar Ice: A Tracer of Gas Transport in the Firn and a Possible Constraint on Ice Age-Gas Age Differences," T. Sowers (Grad. Sch. Oceanog., Univ. Rhode Island, Narragansett RI 02882), M. Bender et al., 15,683-15,697. Records of surface temperature and CO₂ at the Byrd and Vostok stations were used to constrain the ice age-gas age difference throughout the section of the Vostok ice core corresponding to the last glacial termination.

"Relationship of Solar Activity and Climatic Oscillations on the Colorado Plateau," K. Taylor (Desert Res. Inst., Univ. Nevada, Reno NV 89512), M. Rose, G. Lamorey, 15,803-15,811. The spatial coherence and other properties of the power spectra of 12 drought-sensitive tree-ring chronologies were examined, as a basis for understanding short-term climatic fluctuations that may bear on future rapid change with societal impacts. Abrupt changes in power spectra suggest chaotic behavior; certain features suggest a solar-climate interaction.

Item #d93jan39

"Tree Ring Width and Maximum Latewood Density at the North American Tree Line--Parameters of Climatic Change," R.D. Darrigo (Lamont-Doherty Geolog. Observ., Palisades NY 10964), G.C. Jacoby, R.M. Free, Can. J. For. Res., 22(9), 1290-1296, Sep. 1992.

Uses data from five sites across northern Canada to show how different but complementary temperature information can be inferred from annual tree ring width and maximum latewood density. Some, but not all, of the ring width and density series display increases during the recent century's large-scale warming trend.

Item #d93jan40

"A Zonally Averaged, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model for Paleoclimate Studies," T.F. Stocker (Lamont-Doherty Geolog. Observ., Palisades NY 10964), D.G. Wright, L.A. Mysak, J. Clim., 5(8), 773-797, Aug. 1992.

The model emphasizes thermohaline circulations in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and their interconnection, and is applied to the effect of freshwater discharge into the North Atlantic. Reversals of deep circulation were possible in the North Atlantic and the Pacific; four different stable equilibria were realized in the model.

Item #d93jan41

"Enhanced Ventilation of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre Thermocline during the Last Glaciation," N.C. Slowey (Dept. Oceanog., Texas A & M Univ., College Sta. TX 77843), W.B. Curry, Nature, 358(6388), 665-667, Aug. 20, 1992.

Variations in gyre processes should be linked to variations in global climate, and gyres are significant reservoirs of carbon and nutrients. Here measurements of d13C and d18O in foraminifera from the Bahamas are used to produce a detailed reconstruction of nutrient and temperature profiles in the thermocline during the last glaciation.

Item #d93jan42

"Changes in Surface Salinity of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Last Deglaciation," J.C. Duplessy (Ctr. Faibles Radioactiv., Lab. mixte CNRS-CEA, Ave. de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France), L. Labeyrie et al., Nature, 358(6386), 485-488, Aug. 6, 1992.

Uses micropaleontological and stable-isotope records from foraminifera in two cores to generate two continuous, high-resolution records of sea surface temperature and salinity changes over the last 18,000 years, to yield information on abrupt climate changes such as the Younger Dryas.

Item #d93jan43

"Sea-Surface Temperature from Coral Skeletal Strontium/Calcium Ratios," J.W. Beck (Dept. Geol., Univ. Minnesota, Minneapolis MN 55455), R.L. Edwards et al., Science, 257(5070), 644-647, July 31, 1992.

Shows how records of mean monthly SST over the past 105 years can be recovered, using thermal ionization mass spectrometry applied to data from the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Item #d93jan44

"Evidence from Cd/Ca Ratios in Foraminifera for Greater Upwelling off California 4,000 Years Ago," A. van Geen (U.S. Geolog. Surv., MS 465, 345 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Pk. CA 94025), S.N. Luoma et al., Nature, 358(6381), 54-56, July 2, 1992. Shows that foraminiferal Cd/Ca ratios can be used to detect past changes in mean upwelling intensity.

Item #d93jan45

"Molecular Record of Twentieth-Century El Niño Events in Laminated Sediments from the Santa Barbara Basin," J.A. Kennedy (Dept. Geol., Stanford Univ., Stanford CA 94305), S.C. Brassell, Nature, 357(6373), 62-64, May 7, 1992.

Demonstrates how organic molecules preserved in sediments, especially long-chained alkenones, can provide an annually resolved record of oceanic temperature changes, and may constitute a valuable tool for describing and evaluating the history of global climate variability and change.

Item #d93jan46

"Paleotemperatures in the Southwestern United States Derived from Noble Gases in Ground Water," M. Stute (Lamont-Doherty Geolog. Observ., Palisades NY 10964), P. Schlosser et al., Science, 256(5059), 1000-1003, May 15, 1992.

Demonstrates application of a new technique, and shows that the annual mean temperature in the area during the last glacial maximum was about 5·C lower than at present. This contrasts with sea surface temperature deduced for the same time, posing questions concerning our current understanding of paleoclimate and climate processes.

Item #d93jan47

"The GISP2 Ice Core and Snow-Atmosphere Chemical Exchange," R. Bales (Univ. Arizona), J. Dibb, A. Neftel, Eos, p. 213, May 12, 1992. Gives results of a workshop held to develop a 3- to 5-year research program on snow-atmosphere chemical exchange, in conjunction with the GISP2 ice core project. (A workshop report is available from the first author.)

Item #d93jan48

Two items from J. Atmos. Chem., 14(1-4), Apr. 1992:

"Initial Findings of Recent Investigations of Air-Snow Relationships in the Summit Region of the Greenland Ice Sheet," J.E. Dibb (Glacier Res. Group, Univ. New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824), J.-L. Jaffrezo, M. Legrand, 167-180. Early results of work intended to elucidate the relationship between air chemistry and deposited snow and ice show that intense surface inversions can exert a dominant influence on surface-level air chemistry, and that the relation used to deduce snow age from depth may have to be reassessed.

"Gas Phase Measurements of Hydrogen Peroxide in Greenland and Their Meaning for the Interpretation of H2O2 Records in Ice Cores," A. Sigg (Phys. Inst., Sidlerstr. 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switz.), T. Staffelbach, A. Neftel, 223-232. Diurnal behavior, scavenging mechanisms by snow, and the redistribution of H2O2 during firnification are discussed.

Item #d93jan49

"A Review of Terrestrial and Marine Climates in the Cretaceous with Implications for Modelling the `Greenhouse Earth,'" R.A. Spicer (Dept. Earth Sci., Univ. Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PR, UK), R.M. Corfield, Geolog. Mag., 129(2), 169-180, Mar. 1992.

The Cretaceous was an extreme greenhouse world apparently warmer than current conditions. Its geological record provides perspective and constraints against which the success of climate models can be evaluated. Prominent climatic characteristics of the period are discussed.

Item #d93jan50

"Popular Formulations for Modeling Tree Rings from Climate: A Unifying Approach," P.C. Van Deusen (Southern Exper. Sta., USDA For. Serv., 701 Loyola Ave., New Orleans LA 70113), J. Environ. Qual., 20(4), 823-827, Oct.-Dec. 1991. Presents a general formulation that includes most commonly used models as special cases, and demonstrates how to choose among various formulations.