1

The Environment / Is there new observational evidence for solar-climate coupling?

« on: 13/05/2011 15:34:13 »

Didnt want to hijack the geomagnetic activity thread.

Yes...there is evidence from instrumental data.  No...the sun is not the only determinant factor in regards to the climate system.
As a disclaimer, positive evidence for a solar effect on climate is not negative evidence for the effect of CO2 on climate.  These are two separate subjects, and the validity of one is not dependent upon the invalidity of the other (except among ideologues).

yor_on...if you cannot access these through google scholar, please let me know and I will be happy to email the .pdf files to you (or anyone for that matter).  I cant openly post copyrighted material without risking trouble.  These are all from well respected, peer reviewed journals and are leading authors in the field of solar-climate coupling.  None of these authors believes that because the sun has an effect on climate that CO2 does not, however some (not all) of the recent climate changes attributed to CO2 are now being shown to be attributable to solar variability...not because previous authors were dishonest, but because CO2 and solar activity were increasing at the same time...this is the scientific method.  To dig deeper, just look up more papers by the lead authors...it will help if you have access to a scientific search engine such as Web of Science...if not, google scholar will do.

Bond, G., B. Kromer, J. Beer et al. (2001), Persistent solar influence on North Atlantic climate during the Holocene, Science, 294, 2130–2136.

Gleisner, H., and P. Thejll, (2003). Patterns of tropospheric response to solar variability. Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1711.

Haigh, J. D. (2003), The effects of solar variability on the Earth’s climate, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A, 361, 95–111.

Haigh, J. D., M. Blackburn, and R. Day (2005), The response of tropospheric circulation to perturbations in lower stratospheric temperature, J. Clim., 18, 3672–3685.

Lockwood, M., C. Bell, T. Woollings, R. G. Harrison, L. J. Gray, J. D. Haigh (2010b), Top down solar modulation of climate: Evidence for centennial scale change, Environ. Res. Lett., 5, 034008.

Poore, R.Z., Quinn, T.M., and Verardo, S., (2004), Century-scale movement of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone linked to solar variability: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 31, p. L12214.

Roy, I., Haigh, J.D. (2010) Solar cycle signals in sea level pressure and sea surface temperature. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10, 3147-3153.

van Loon, H., Meehl, G.A., Shea, D.J., (2007). Coupled air-sea response to solar forcing in the Pacific region during northern winter. J. Geophys. Res. 112.

There are literally hundreds of papers on the subject...keep digging.

2

Just Chat! / JimBob

« on: 30/08/2010 00:57:48 »

Just to let everyone know, Jim is in the hospital with pacreatitis.  Keep him in your prayers.

3

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Some questions about some minerals!

« on: 19/11/2009 01:31:41 »

Okay...Im trying to finish a lab.

A couple of question:

Is the name for a mineral that is 50% Jadeite and 50% Diopside called Omphacite? (Its a continuous series, but the book is not very clear)

Also, is the mineral that limits the stability of quartz at high pressures Enstatite?

One more...does Forsterite limit the stability of Jadeite?

4

The Environment / Solar jet streams?

« on: 23/06/2009 16:58:56 »

This might belong in the Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology section, but it has climate implications as well.  Looks like we may  finally see the solar cycle ramping up.

http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2009/06/17/nasa-the-mystery-of-the-missing-sunspots-solved/

5

Chemistry / Titration question

« on: 27/03/2009 05:02:06 »

Sorry to ask this guys...its for my homework in my chem lab

We are doing redox titration and one of our post-lab questions is this

Calculate the molarity of a FeSO4 solution if 80.0 ml of this solution requires 74.8 ml of 45.2 mM Na2Cr2O7 for the reaction to go to completion.

I have to write balanced equation and balanced half reactions as well.  I cant for the life of me figure out the balanced equation because I am drawing a blank on what the products would be. Aside from that, Im golden (I think...hehehe...Im an A student in chem...I promise!)

6

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / What are whitings and how do they originate?

« on: 30/10/2008 19:02:55 »

Any carbonate guru's (or, as Neil would say, "Whitingologists") out there that have any idea as to the cause of whitings?  We went over them in class, but the instructor basically said that their cause is a mystery.

7

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Clovis/Megafaunal exctinction, the Younger Dryas, and a wayward Comet

« on: 22/05/2008 03:09:32 »

Ive been looking for this article for some time now.  Finally found it after a quick email to a very helpful gentleman (I use the term "gentleman" loosely here  [] ) spurred my thought processes.  It appears that I was searching for the article before it had actually been published...imagine that.

Anyway, a group of scientists seem to be able to link the disappearance of Clovis man, the North American megafauna (horse, giant sloth, mastodon, short faced/cave bear, etc.), and the 1000+ years of cooling (Younger Dryas) that prolonged the end of the Wisconsin glaciation.

Well...here is the PDF for the journal article from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Its kind of a long and arduous read, so Ill include a popular science article too.

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0706977104v1

Hers a popular science article....there are quite a few of them, but Ill post one.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11909-did-a-comet-wipe-out-prehistoric-americans.html

Many thanks to the gentleman(?) for jogging my increasingly strained memory!

frethack

8

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Books with anatomical drawings of dinosaurs?

« on: 19/05/2008 06:09:16 »

Im looking for a book/journal that contains some anatomical data on dinosaurs, especially in regards to skulls.  Ive started to pick up sketching again, and have always had a bit of a passion for the Mesozoic beasties.  Ive found a few free journal articles (which I REALLY like), but the actual journal subscriptions all seem to cost a pretty penny.  Basically, Im looking to flesh out dino's from their skeletal structure.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Heres a bit of what Ive worked on so far

Carnotaurus


Troodon


Acrocanthosaurus


Again...journals, textbooks, popular science books, websites...whatever! I need more skulls!

frethack

9

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Hunting Fossils

« on: 27/10/2007 10:20:08 »

One of my professors is taking me on a pretty cool dig.  We are going to spend five days hunting Permian fossils (dimetrodons) at the Craddock Ranch in N. Texas...with Robert Bakker. Im still pretty early into my undergrad, so this is my first real excursion onto a larger dig.  Im not really sure what to expect out of it, though Im sure Ill be doing quite a bit of grunt work.  Would anyone have some advice on getting the most out of this experience?

Apparently Im the only student going (well...from my college), and the head of the science department has offered to pay for my transportation, lodging, food, and even an hourly rate for the hours that I put in at the dig.  That certainly helps when youre poor

Has anyone ever met Dr. Bakker?  If so, what can I expect? (besides the scraggly beard, dilapidated cowboy hat, and frenetic personality)

frethack

10

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / Recommended reading?

« on: 20/08/2007 20:24:25 »

Any recommended reading from the Geologists out there to a lowly geo student?

Lately Ive been very into paleoclimate (esp. Quaternary), but I would like to get into some reading that will help other areas of my undergrad studies. (You need impeccable grades when youre poor and cant afford a good grad school without assistance!)  Ive bought some of the basics (Dictionary of Geological Terms, Geology in the Field, etc...saving for copies of AGI Data Sheets, and a glossary of geology), but anything else would be greatly appreciated.

11

Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / geodynamo

« on: 21/06/2007 09:10:57 »

I know this question hasnt been definitively answered yet, but I would like to read any research that anyone can provide.  Ive searched the database at my local library (peer reviewed journal database) but information is not very forthcoming.

Does the friction of liquid metals in the outer core create an electrical field that is turned magnetic by the influence of the Suns magnetic field, or do the created electrostatic charges wrap around the solid inner core through possibly an internal coriolis effect and turn the inner core into a massive electromagnet?  Im sure there are other theories as well.  Im fairly sure that the Curie point only strips natural magnetism, and I know that it is thought that at least the inner core rotates at a slightly faster pace than the exterior portions of the planet, so it seems that there would be some sort of preferred order (latitudinal) of the electric current.  Ive asked two Geo professors in my schools department (one who is a geophysicist) and neither of them seems to know of much new research in that area.  Ive heard of one school (cant remember which...saw it on the Science channel) that is working with liquid metals to attempt a simulation of the outer core and theyve been able to create a weak electric field, but nothing that also involves the inner core as well.

frethack