Why does a conceptual hydrological model fail to correctly predict discharge changes in response to climate change? Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-24-3493-2020 23 July 2020 We investigate why a conceptual hydrological model failed to correctly predict observed discharge changes in response to increasing precipitation and air temperature in 156 Austrian catchments. Simulations indicate that poor model performance is related to two problems, namely a model structure that neglects changes in vegetation dynamics and inhomogeneities in precipitation data caused by changes in stations density with time. Other hypotheses did not improve simulated discharge changes. Read more
On giant shoulders: how a seamount affects the microbial communitycomposition of seawater and sponges Biogeosciences DOI 10.5194/bg-17-3471-2020 21 July 2020 Seamounts are globally abundant submarine structures that offer great potential to study the impacts and interactions of environmental gradients at a single geographic location. In an exemplary way, we describe potential mechanisms by which a seamount can affect the structure of pelagic and benthic (sponge-)associated microbial communities. We conclude that the geology, physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, and microbiology of seamounts are even more closely linked than currently appreciated. Read more
N2O changes from the Last Glacial Maximum to the preindustrial – Part 2: terrestrial N2O emissions and carbon–nitrogen cycle interactions Biogeosciences DOI 10.5194/bg-17-3511-2020 21 July 2020 Results of the first globally resolved simulations of terrestrial carbon and nitrogen (N) cycling and N 2 O emissions over the past 21 000 years are compared with reconstructed N 2 O emissions. Modelled and reconstructed emissions increased strongly during past abrupt warming events. This evidence appears consistent with a dynamic response of biological N fixation to increasing N demand by ecosystems, thereby reducing N limitation of plant productivity and supporting a land sink for atmospheric CO 2 . Read more
The MOSAiC ice floe: sediment-laden survivor from the Siberian shelf The Cryosphere DOI 10.5194/tc-14-2173-2020 16 July 2020 In October 2019 the research vessel Polarstern was moored to an ice floe in order to travel with it on the 1-year-long MOSAiC journey through the Arctic. Here we provide historical context of the floe’s evolution and initial state for upcoming studies. We show that the ice encountered on site was exceptionally thin and was formed on the shallow Siberian shelf. The analyses presented provide the initial state for the analysis and interpretation of upcoming biogeochemical and ecological studies. Read more
The enigmatic curvature of Central Iberia and its puzzling kinematics Solid Earth DOI 10.5194/se-11-1247-2020 16 July 2020 Pangea was assembled during Devonian to early Permian times and resulted in a large-scale and winding orogeny that today transects Europe, northwestern Africa, and eastern North America. This orogen is characterized by an S shape corrugated geometry in Iberia. This paper presents the advances and milestones in our understanding of the geometry and kinematics of the Central Iberian curve from the last decade with particular attention paid to structural and paleomagnetic studies. Read more
Landfast sea ice material properties derived from ice bridge simulations using the Maxwell elasto-brittle rheology The Cryosphere DOI 10.5194/tc-14-2137-2020 14 July 2020 We study the formation of ice arches between two islands using a model that resolves crack initiation and propagation. This model uses a damage parameter to parameterize the presence or absence of cracks in the ice. We find that the damage parameter allows for cracks to propagate in the ice but in a different orientation than predicted by theory. The results call for improvement in how stress relaxation associated with this damage is parameterized. Read more
Twenty-first century ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and upper-ocean nutrient and primary production decline from CMIP6 model projections Biogeosciences DOI 10.5194/bg-17-3439-2020 14 July 2020 We assess 21st century projections of marine biogeochemistry in the CMIP6 Earth system models. These models represent the most up-to-date understanding of climate change. The models generally project greater surface ocean warming, acidification, subsurface deoxygenation, and euphotic nitrate reductions but lesser primary production declines than the previous generation of models. This has major implications for the impact of anthropogenic climate change on marine ecosystems. Read more
Lower-thermosphere response to solar activity: an empirical-mode-decomposition analysis of GOCE 2009–2012 data Annales Geophysicae DOI 10.5194/angeo-38-789-2020 9 July 2020 Forecasting the thermosphere (atmosphere’s uppermost layer from 90 to 800 km altitude) is crucial to space mission design, spacecraft operations and space surveillance. The thermosphere is controlled by the Sun through variable solar extreme-ultraviolet radiation and the solar wind. We show how the solar indices Mg II and Ap may be used in forecasting thermospheric density at 260 km, a very low altitude, where the GOCE satellite operated from 2009 to 2013, during the full rise of solar cycle 24. Read more
Identifying a regional aerosol baseline in the eastern North Atlantic using collocated measurements and a mathematical algorithm to mask high-submicron-number-concentration aerosol events Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics DOI 10.5194/acp-20-7553-2020 9 July 2020 Continuous high-time-resolution ambient data can include periods when aerosol properties do not represent regional aerosol processes due to high-concentration local events. We develop a novel aerosol mask at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility in the eastern North Atlantic (ENA). We use two ground sites to validate the mask, include a comparison with aircraft overflights, and provide guidance to increase data quality at ENA and other locations. Read more
The contribution of microbial communities in polymetallic nodules to thediversity of the deep-sea microbiome of the Peru Basin (4130–4198 mdepth) Biogeosciences DOI 10.5194/bg-17-3203-2020 7 July 2020 Industrial-scale mining of deep-sea polymetallic nodules will remove nodules in large areas of the sea floor. We describe community composition of microbes associated with nodules of the Peru Basin. Our results show that nodules provide a unique ecological niche, playing an important role in shaping the diversity of the benthic deep-sea microbiome and potentially in element fluxes. We believe that our findings are highly relevant to expanding our knowledge of the impact associated with mining. Read more