EFFECT OF CRUDE OIL ON MICROBIAL PROCESSES IN MARINE SEDIMENTS

1981 ◽  
Vol 1981 (1) ◽  
pp. 731-735
Author(s):  
G. W. Childers ◽  
R. W. Landers ◽  
H. G. Aranha ◽  
A. H. Ardahl ◽  
M. S. Randolph ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Studies were carried out to detect and quantitate 12 microbial processes occurring in sediments in the north central Gulf of Mexico, and to determine the impact of low-level concentrations of oil on these processes. Under the simulated in situ conditions employed, photosynthesis, nitrification, dentrification, nitrogen fixation, sulfate reduction, and phosphate uptake were minimal, while sulfur oxidation and catabolic carbonaceous processes (heterotrophic activity, lipolysis, proteolysis cellulolysis, and chitinolysis) were present with varying degrees of activity. Little difference in metabolic activity was detected between oil-production platform sites and corresponding control sites, among different sediment types, or among three sampling seasons, and the presence of oil at up to 200 microliter per milliliter sediment had no significant impact on reaction rates. Pure culture studies confirmed that low-level concentrations of crude oil had essentially no effect on these processes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Furqon Alfahmi ◽  
Rizaldi Boer ◽  
Rahmat Hidayat ◽  
Perdinan ◽  
Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan

Indonesian Maritime Continent has the second longest coastline in the world, but the characteristics of offshore rainfall and its relation to coastline type are not clearly understood. As a region with eighty percent being an ocean, knowledge of offshore rainfall is important to support activity over oceans. This study investigates the climatology of offshore rainfall based on TRMM 3B42 composite during 1998-2015 and its dynamical atmosphere which induces high rainfall intensity using WRF-ARW. The result shows that concave coastline drives the increasing rainfall over ocean with Cenderawasih Bay (widest concave coastline) having the highest rainfall offshore intensity (16.5 mm per day) over Indonesian Maritime Continent. Monthly peak offshore rainfall over concave coastline is related to direction of concave coastline and peak of diurnal cycle influenced by the shifting of low level convergence. Concave coastline facing the north has peak during northwesterly monsoonal flow (March), while concave coastline facing the east has peak during easterly monsoonal flow (July). Low level convergence zone shifts from inland during daytime to ocean during nighttime. Due to shape of concave coastline, land breeze strengthens low level convergence and supports merging rainfall over ocean during nighttime. Rainfall propagating from the area around inland to ocean is approximately 5.4 m/s over Cenderawasih Bay and 4.1 m/s over Tolo Bay. Merger rainfall and low level convergence are playing role in increasing offshore rainfall over concave coastline.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 7681-7693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny Finger ◽  
Frank Werner ◽  
Marcus Klingebiel ◽  
André Ehrlich ◽  
Evelyn Jäkel ◽  
...  

Abstract. Spectral upward and downward solar irradiances from vertically collocated measurements above and below a cirrus layer are used to derive cirrus optical layer properties such as spectral transmissivity, absorptivity, reflectivity, and cloud top albedo. The radiation measurements are complemented by in situ cirrus crystal size distribution measurements and radiative transfer simulations based on the microphysical data. The close collocation of the radiative and microphysical measurements, above, beneath, and inside the cirrus, is accomplished by using a research aircraft (Learjet 35A) in tandem with the towed sensor platform AIRTOSS (AIRcraft TOwed Sensor Shuttle). AIRTOSS can be released from and retracted back to the research aircraft by means of a cable up to a distance of 4 km. Data were collected from two field campaigns over the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in spring and late summer 2013. One measurement flight over the North Sea proved to be exemplary, and as such the results are used to illustrate the benefits of collocated sampling. The radiative transfer simulations were applied to quantify the impact of cloud particle properties such as crystal shape, effective radius reff, and optical thickness τ on cirrus spectral optical layer properties. Furthermore, the radiative effects of low-level, liquid water (warm) clouds as frequently observed beneath the cirrus are evaluated. They may cause changes in the radiative forcing of the cirrus by a factor of 2. When low-level clouds below the cirrus are not taken into account, the radiative cooling effect (caused by reflection of solar radiation) due to the cirrus in the solar (shortwave) spectral range is significantly overestimated.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Blanchard ◽  
Florian Pantillon ◽  
Jean-Pierre Chaboureau ◽  
Julien Delanoë

Abstract. Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are warm, moist airstreams of extratropical cyclones leading to widespread clouds and heavy precipitation, where associated diabatic processes can influence midlatitude dynamics. Although WCBs are traditionally seen as continuous slantwise ascents, recent studies have emphasized the presence of embedded convection and the production of mesoscale bands of negative potential vorticity (PV), the impact of which on large-scale dynamics is still debated. Here, detailed cloud and wind measurements obtained with airborne Doppler radar provide unique information on the WCB of the Stalactite cyclone on 2 October 2016 during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment. The measurements are complemented by a convection-permitting simulation, enabling online Lagrangian trajectories and 3-D objects clustering. The simulation reproduces well the mesoscale structure of the cyclone shown by satellite infrared observations, while the location of trajectories rising by 150 hPa during a relatively short 12 h window matches the WCB region expected from high clouds. One third of those trajectories, categorized as fast ascents, further reach a 100 hPa (2h)−1 threshold during their ascent and follow the cyclonic flow mainly at lower levels. In agreement with radar observations, convective updrafts are found in the WCB and are characterized by moderate reflectivity values up to 20 dBz and vertical velocities above 0.3 m s−1. Updraft objects and fast ascents consistently show three main types of convection in the WCB: (i) frontal convection along the surface cold front and the western edge of the low-level jet; (ii) banded convection at about 2 km altitude along the eastern edge of the low-level jet; (iii) mid-level convection below the upper-level jet. Mesoscale PV dipoles with strong positive and negative values are located in the vicinity of convective ascents and appear to accelerate both low-level and upper-level jets. Both convective ascents and negative PV organize into structures with coherent shape, location and evolution, thus suggesting a dynamical linkage. The results show that convection embedded in WCBs occurs in a coherent and organized manner rather than as isolated cells.


2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
pp. 1861-1878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxi Boettcher ◽  
Heini Wernli

Abstract The life cycle of a North Atlantic cyclone in December 2005 that included a rapid propagation phase as a diabatic Rossby wave (DRW) is investigated by means of operational analyses and deterministic forecasts from the ECMWF. A quasigeostrophic omega diagnostic has been applied to assess the impact of upper-level forcing during the genesis, propagation, and intensification phase, respectively. The system was generated in the Gulf of Mexico as a mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) influenced by vertical motion forcing from a nearby upper-level trough. The DRW propagation phase was characterized by a shallow, low-level, diabatically produced potential vorticity (PV) anomaly that rapidly propagated along the southern border of an intense baroclinic zone. No significant upper-level forcing could be identified during this phase of the development. Eventually, explosive intensification occurred as the region of vertical motion forced by an approaching upper-level trough reached the position of the DRW. The rapid intensification of 34 hPa in 24 h led to a mature extratropical cyclone in the central North Atlantic with marked frontal structures associated with a pronounced PV tower. The performance of four operational deterministic ECMWF forecasts has been investigated for the DRW propagation and cyclone intensification. The forecasts showed a highly variable skill. Despite the fact that the DRW was initially well represented in all forecasts, two of them failed to capture the explosive intensification. By applying a DRW tracking tool, the low-level baroclinicity downstream of the DRW and the moisture supply to the south of the DRW could be identified as the key environmental parameters during DRW propagation. The subsequent cyclone intensification went wrong in two of the forecasts because of the missing interaction of the DRW and the upper-level trough. It is shown that this interaction can fail if the intensity of the DRW and/or the approaching upper-level wave are too weak, or in case of an erroneous structure of the upper-level trough leading to a phasing problem of the vertical interaction with the DRW. Therefore, the DRW intensification bears similar characteristics and forecast challenges as the extratropical reintensification of tropical cyclones.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Strachan ◽  
Pier Luigi Vidale ◽  
Kevin Hodges ◽  
Malcolm Roberts ◽  
Marie-Estelle Demory

Abstract The ability to run general circulation models (GCMs) at ever-higher horizontal resolutions has meant that tropical cyclone simulations are increasingly credible. A hierarchy of atmosphere-only GCMs, based on the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 1 (HadGEM1) with horizontal resolution increasing from approximately 270 to 60 km at 50°N, is used to systematically investigate the impact of spatial resolution on the simulation of global tropical cyclone activity, independent of model formulation. Tropical cyclones are extracted from ensemble simulations and reanalyses of comparable resolutions using a feature-tracking algorithm. Resolution is critical for simulating storm intensity and convergence to observed storm intensities is not achieved with the model hierarchy. Resolution is less critical for simulating the annual number of tropical cyclones and their geographical distribution, which are well captured at resolutions of 135 km or higher, particularly for Northern Hemisphere basins. Simulating the interannual variability of storm occurrence requires resolutions of 100 km or higher; however, the level of skill is basin dependent. Higher resolution GCMs are increasingly able to capture the interannual variability of the large-scale environmental conditions that contribute to tropical cyclogenesis. Different environmental factors contribute to the interannual variability of tropical cyclones in the different basins: in the North Atlantic basin the vertical wind shear, potential intensity, and low-level absolute vorticity are dominant, whereas in the North Pacific basins midlevel relative humidity and low-level absolute vorticity are dominant. Model resolution is crucial for a realistic simulation of tropical cyclone behavior, and high-resolution GCMs are found to be valuable tools for investigating the global location and frequency of tropical cyclones.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 617-634
Author(s):  
Nicolas Blanchard ◽  
Florian Pantillon ◽  
Jean-Pierre Chaboureau ◽  
Julien Delanoë

Abstract. Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are warm, moist airstreams of extratropical cyclones leading to widespread clouds and heavy precipitation, where associated diabatic processes can influence midlatitude dynamics. Although WCBs are traditionally seen as continuous slantwise ascents, recent studies have emphasized the presence of embedded convection, the impact of which on large-scale dynamics is still debated. Here, detailed cloud and wind measurements obtained with airborne Doppler radar provide unique information on the WCB of the Stalactite cyclone on 2 October 2016 during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment. The measurements are complemented by a convection-permitting simulation, enabling online Lagrangian trajectories and 3-D objects clustering. Trajectories rising by 150 hPa during a relatively short 12 h window are identified as ascents and examined in the WCB region. One-third take an anticyclonic turn at upper levels, while two-thirds follow the cyclonic flow at lower levels. Identified trajectories that reach a 100 hPa (2 h)−1 threshold are further categorized as fast ascents. They represent one-third of the ascents and are located at lower levels mainly. Both radar observations and simulation reveal the presence of convective updrafts in the WCB region, which are characterized by moderate reflectivity values up to 20 dBZ. Fast ascents and updraft objects with vertical velocities above 0.3 m s−1 consistently show three main types of convection in the WCB region: (i) frontal convection along the surface cold front and the western edge of the low-level jet, (ii) banded convection at about 2 km altitude along the eastern edge of the low-level jet, and (iii) mid-level convection below the upper-level jet. Frontal and banded convection result in shallow ascents, while mid-level convection contributes to the anticyclonic WCB outflow. The results emphasize that convection embedded in WCBs occurs in a coherent and organized manner rather than as isolated cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 26-50
Author(s):  
Ngoc Tran Thi Bich ◽  
Huong Pham Hoang Cam

This paper aims to examine the main determinants of inflation in Vietnam during the period from 2002Q1 to 2013Q2. The cointegration theory and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach are used to examine the impact of domestic credit, interest rate, budget deficit, and crude oil prices on inflation in both long and short terms. The results show that while there are long-term relations among inflation and the others, such factors as oil prices, domestic credit, and interest rate, in the short run, have no impact on fluctuations of inflation. Particularly, the budget deficit itself actually has a short-run impact, but its level is fundamentally weak. The cause of the current inflation is mainly due to public's expectations of the inflation in the last period. Although the error correction, from the long-run relationship, has affected inflation in the short run, the coefficient is small and insignificant. In other words, it means that the speed of the adjustment is very low or near zero. This also implies that once the relationship among inflation, domestic credit, interest rate, budget deficit, and crude oil prices deviate from the long-term trend, it will take the economy a lot of time to return to the equilibrium state.


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