50 research outputs found

    Evaluation of Dredged Material Proposed for Ocean Disposal from Port Chester, New York

    Get PDF
    Port Chester was one of seven waterways that the US Army Corps of Engineers-New York District requested the Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory to sample and evaluate for dredging and disposal in March 1994. Tests and analyses were conducted on Port Chester sediment core samples. Because the Port Chester area is located on the border between New York and southeast Connecticut, its dredged material may also be considered for disposal at the Central Long Island Sound Disposal Site. The sediment evaluation consisted of bulk sediment chemical analyses, chemical analyses of site water and dredged material elutriate preparations, water-column and benthic acute toxicity tests, and bioaccumulation studies. Individual sediment core samples collected from Port Chester were analyzed for grain size, moisture content, and total organic carbon. In addition, sediment was analyzed for bulk density, specific gravity, metals, chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl congers, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and 1,4-dichlorobenzene

    The geochemical cycling of reactive chlorine through the marine troposphere

    Get PDF
    Heterogeneous reactions involving sea‐salt aerosol in the marine troposphere are the major global source for volatile inorganic chlorine. We measured reactant and product species hypothesized to be associated with these chemical transformations as a function of phase, particle size, and altitude over the North Atlantic Ocean during the summer of 1988. Concentrations of HCl were typically less than 1.0 ppbv near the sea surface and decreased with altitude and with distance from the U.S. east coast. Concentrations of Cl volatilized from aerosols were generally equivalent to the corresponding concentrations of HCl and ranged from less than detection limits to 125 nmol m−3 STP. Highest absolute and percentage losses of particulate Cl were typically associated with elevated concentrations of anthropogenic combustion products. Concentrations of product nss SO42− and N03− in coarse aerosol fractions indicate that on average only 38% of measured Cl− deficits could be accounted for by the combined effects of acid‐base desorption and reactions involving nonacidic N gases. We hypothesize a mechanism for the Cl loss initiated by reaction of O3 at sea‐salt aerosol surfaces, generating Cl2 followed by rapid photochemical conversion of Cl2 to HCl via Cl atoms (Cl˙) and eventual recapture of HCl by the aerosol. Simulations with a zero‐dimension (0‐D) photochemical model suggest that oxidation by Cl˙ may be an important tropospheric sink for dimethyl sulfide and hydrocarbons. Under low‐NOx conditions, the rapid cycling of reactive Cl would provide a catalytic loss mechanism for O3, which would possibly explain the low O3 concentrations often observed above the world\u27s oceans

    Vortex merger near a topographic slope in a homogeneous rotating fluid

    Get PDF
    This work is a contribution to the PHYSINDIEN research program. It was supported by CNRS-RFBR contract PRC 1069/16-55-150001.The effect of a bottom slope on the merger of two identical Rankine vortices is investigated in a two dimensional, quasi-geostrophic, incompressible fluid. When two cyclones initially lie parallel to the slope, and more than two vortex diameters away from the slope, the critical merger distance is unchanged. When the cyclones are closer to the slope, they can merge at larger distances, but they lose more mass into filaments, thus weakening the efficiency of merger. Several effects account for this: the topographic Rossby wave advects the cyclones, reduces their mutual distance and deforms them. This along shelf wave breaks into filaments and into secondary vortices which shear out the initial cyclones. The global motion of fluid towards the shallow domain and the erosion of the two cyclones are confirmed by the evolution of particles seeded both in the cyclone sand near the topographic slope. The addition of tracer to the flow indicates that diffusion is ballistic at early times. For two anticyclones, merger is also facilitated because one vortex is ejected offshore towards the other, via coupling with a topographic cyclone. Again two anticyclones can merge at large distance but they are eroded in the process. Finally, for taller topographies, the critical merger distance is again increased and the topographic influence can scatter or completely erode one of the two initial cyclones. Conclusions are drawn on possible improvements of the model configuration for an application to the ocean.PostprintPeer reviewe

    Long-term climate change commitment and reversibility: an EMIC intercomparison

    Get PDF
    This paper summarizes the results of an intercomparison project with Earth System Models of Intermediate Complexity (EMICs) undertaken in support of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The focus is on long-term climate projections designed to: (i) quantify the climate change commitment of different radiative forcing trajectories, and (ii) explore the extent to which climate change is reversible on human timescales. All commitment simulations follow the four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and their extensions to 2300. Most EMICs simulate substantial surface air temperature and thermosteric sea level rise commitment following stabilization of the atmospheric composition at year-2300 levels. The meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is weakened temporarily and recovers to near pre-industrial values in most models for RCPs 2.6–6.0. The MOC weakening is more persistent for RCP 8.5. Elimination of anthropogenic CO2 emissions after 2300 results in slowly decreasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. At year 3000 atmospheric CO2 is still at more than half its year-2300 level in all EMICs for RCPs 4.5–8.5. Surface air temperature remains constant or decreases slightly and thermosteric sea level rise continues for centuries after elimination of CO2 emissions in all EMICs. Restoration of atmospheric CO2 from RCP to pre-industrial levels over 100–1000 years requires large artificial removal of CO2 from the atmosphere and does not result in the simultaneous return to pre-industrial climate conditions, as surface air temperature and sea level response exhibit a substantial time lag relative to atmospheric CO2
    corecore