Satellite Evidence for an Arctic Sea Ice Cover in Transformation

Recent research using microwave satellite remote sensing data has established that there has been a reduction of about 3 percent per decade in the areal extent of the Arctic sea ice cover since 1978, although it is unknown whether the nature of the perennial ice pack has changed. These data were used to quantify changes in the ice cover's composition, revealing a substantial reduction of about 14 percent in the area of multiyear ice in winter during the period from 1978 to 1998. There also appears to be a strong correlation between the area of multiyear ice and the spatially averaged thickness of the perennial ice pack, which suggests that the satellite-derived areal decreases represent substantial rather than only peripheral changes. If this apparent transformation continues, it may lead to a markedly different ice regime in the Arctic, altering heat and mass exchanges as well as ocean stratification.     

Mars: Mariner 9 Spectroscopic Evidence for H2O Ice Clouds

Spectral features observed with the Mariner 9 interferometer spectrometer are identified as those of H(2)O ice. The measured spectra are compared with theoretical calculations for the transfer of radiation through clouds of ice particles with variations in size distribution and integrated cloud mass. Comparisons with an observed spectrum from the Tharsis Ridge region indicate H(2)O ice clouds composed of particles with a mean radius of 2.0 micrometers and an integrated cloud mass of 5 x 10(-5) grain per square centimeter.     

Compression of Ice to 210 Gigapascals: Infrared Evidence for a Symmetric Hydrogen-Bonded Phase

Protonated and deuterated ices (H2O and D2O) compressed to a maximum pressure of 210 gigapascals at 85 to 300 kelvin exhibit a phase transition at 60 gigapascals in H2O ice (70 gigapascals in D2O ice) on the basis of their infrared reflectance spectra determined with synchrotron radiation. The transition is characterized by soft-mode behavior of the nu3 O-H or O-D stretch below the transition, followed by a hardening (positive pressure shift) above it. This behavior is interpreted as the transformation of ice phase VII to a structure with symmetric hydrogen bonds. The spectroscopic features of the phase persisted to the maximum pressures (210 gigapascals) of the measurements, although changes in vibrational mode coupling were observed at 150 to 160 gigapascals.     

Scatterers in Triton's Atmosphere: Implications for the Seasonal Volatile Cycle

Nitrogen and methane ices on the surface of Triton, Neptune's largest satellite, are exchanged between the summer and winter hemispheres on a seasonal time scale. Images of the satellite's sky obtained by the Voyager 2 spacecraft show the presence of several types of scattering materials that provide insights into this seasonal cycle of volatiles. Discrete clouds, probably composed of N(2) ice particles, arise in regions of active sublimation. They are found chiefly poleward of 30 degrees S in the southern, summer hemisphere. Haze particles, probably made of hydrocarbon ices, are present above most, but not all places. Recent snowfall may have occurred at low southern latitudes in places where they are absent. The latent heat released in the formation of the discrete clouds may have a major impact on the thermal balance of the lower atmosphere. Triton may have been less red at the time of the Voyager flyby than 12 years earlier due to recent N(2) snowfall at a wide range of latitudes.     

冠状彩晕的模拟实验分析

不同云层中正六角柱状冰晶对称轴取向不同,面内沿各向分布,使非主截面内光线的最小偏向角不同,验曲线,推证出冠状彩晕的形状．太阳上方冰晶对称轴平行于地面且在平行于地面的层形成了冠状彩晕;用充水三棱镜模拟冰三棱镜做出实     

Carbon Monoxide in the Earth's Atmosphere: Increasing Trend

The results of an analysis of more than 60,000 atmospheric measurements of carbon monoxide taken over 3(1/2) years at Cape Meares, Oregon (45 degrees N, 125 degrees W), indicate that the background concentration of this gas is increasing. The rate of increase, although uncertain, is about 6 percent per year on average. Human activities are the likely cause of a substantial portion of this observed increase; however, because of the short atmospheric lifetime of carbon monoxide and the relatively few years of observations, fluctuations of sources and sinks related to the natural variability of climate may have affected the observed trend. Increased carbon monoxide may deplete tropospheric hydroxyl radicals, slowing down the removal of dozens of man-made and anthropogenic trace gases and thus indirectly affecting the earth's climate and possibly the stratospheric ozone layer.     

Caloris Basin: An Enhanced Source for Potassium in Mercury's Atmosphere

Enhanced abundances of neutral potassium (K) in the atmosphere of Mercury have been found above the longitude range containing Caloris Basin. Results of a large data set including six elongations of the planet between June 1986 and January 1988 show typical K column abundances of approximately 5.4 x 10(8) K atoms/cm(2). During the observing period in October 1987, when Caloris Basin was in view, the typical K column was approximately 2.7 x 10(9) K atoms/cm(2). Another large value (2.1 x 10(9) K atoms/cm(2)) was seen over the Caloris antipode in January 1988. This enhancement is consistent with an increased source of K from the well-fractured crust and regolith associated with this large impact basin. The phenomenon is localized because at most solar angles, thermal alkali atoms cannot move more than a few hundred kilometers from their source before being lost to ionization by solar ultraviolet radiation.     

Variations in the Earth's Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages

1) Three indices of global climate have been monitored in the record of the past 450,000 years in Southern Hemisphere ocean-floor sediments. 2) Over the frequency range 10(-4) to 10(-5) cycle per year, climatic variance of these records is concentrated in three discrete spectral peaks at periods of 23,000, 42,000, and approximately 100,000 years. These peaks correspond to the dominant periods of the earth's solar orbit, and contain respectively about 10, 25, and 50 percent of the climatic variance. 3) The 42,000-year climatic component has the same period as variations in the obliquity of the earth's axis and retains a constant phase relationship with it. 4) The 23,000-year portion of the variance displays the same periods (about 23,000 and 19,000 years) as the quasi-periodic precession index. 5) The dominant, 100,000-year climatic [See table in the PDF file] component has an average period close to, and is in phase with, orbital eccentricity. Unlike the correlations between climate and the higher-frequency orbital variations (which can be explained on the assumption that the climate system responds linearly to orbital forcing), an explanation of the correlation between climate and eccentricity probably requires an assumption of nonlinearity. 6) It is concluded that changes in the earth's orbital geometry are the fundamental cause of the succession of Quaternary ice ages. 7) A model of future climate based on the observed orbital-climate relationships, but ignoring anthropogenic effects, predicts that the long-term trend over the next sevem thousand years is toward extensive Northern Hemisphere glaciation.     

Evaporation of Ice in Space: Saturn's Rings

The photosputtering erosion velocity of ice in space is estimated to be 400 centimeters per billion years at 1 astronomical unit.     

GEOPHYSICS: Atmosphere Drives Earth's Tipsiness

For more than a century, geophysicists who track Earth's rotation have sensed a rhythmic unsteadiness about the planet, an ever-so-slight wobbling whose source remained frustratingly mysterious. But researchers have been homing in on the roots of the so-called Chandler wobble, and now a report in the 1 August issue of Geophysical Research Letters fingers the shifting pressures of the deep sea and ultimately the fickle winds of the atmosphere.     

Implications of Solar Evolution for the Earth's Early Atmosphere

The roughly 25 percent increase in luminosity over the life of the sun shared by many different solar models is shown to be a very general result, independent of the uncertainties suggested by the solar neutrino experiment. Superficially, this leads to a conflict with the climatic history of the earth, and if basic concepts of stellar evolution are not fundamentally in error, compensating effects must have occurred, as first pointed out by Sagan and Mullen. One possible interpretation supported by recent detailed models of the earth's atmosphere is that the greenhouse effect was substantially more important than at present even as recently as 1 billion to 2 billion years ago.     

Ice sandwich: functional semipermeable membrane

At a temperature slightly below the freezing point of an aqueous solution, the functions of a nearly perfect semipermeable membrane can be simulated with two nonselective filters with ice sandwiched between them. Potential applications include production of potable water from brackish sources or of highly purified water from tap water.     

大气中多氯联苯的研究进展

对国内外关于大气中多氯联苯（PCBs）的研究情况进行了总结。分别从大气中PCBs浓度的测定、气一粒分配、干一湿沉降和气一水交换、气一土交换等方面对国内外近来的研究进行了总结和概括。通过国内外对比,对我国研究中的不足进行了阐述,并对我国以后的大气PCBs研究提出了建议。     

Ice crystal concentration in cumulus clouds: influence of the drop spectrum

Secondary ice crystals are thrown off when supercooled cloud drops are captured and freeze on a moving target in a cloud at -5 degrees C. The rate of production of these ice crystals is proportional to the rate of accretion of drops of the diameter >/=24 micrometers.