Wednesday, September 19, 2018

“Permafrost” and Thermokarst

     As temperatures rise in the arctic, “permafrost,” permanently frozen ground, is defrosting at an increased rate. 




     "However, permafrost isn't the only thing in the arctic that is disappearing. Exposed rock that was once covered in ice is dissolving, eaten away by acid. The effects of this acid bath could have far-reaching impacts on global climate, according to a new study.




     Icy permafrost is rich in minerals, which are released when the ice melts. The minerals then become vulnerable to chemical weathering, or the breakdown of rock through chemical reactions. Scientists investigated areas once covered by permafrost in the western Canadian arctic, finding evidence of weathering caused by sulfuric acid produced by sulfide minerals that were released when the permafrost melted.





     Another type of naturally occurring chemical erosion is caused by carbonic acid, and it also dissolves rock. But although carbonic-acid weathering locks carbon dioxide (CO2) in place, sulfuric-acid erosion releases CO2 into the atmosphere, and it does so in quantities that were not previously accounted for, researchers described.




      Dramatic changes are underway in the Arctic, which is warming about twice as fast as any other location on earth. Sea ice is rapidly dwindling, which reduces the ocean's heat-reflecting cover, accelerating the rise of ocean temperatures. And polar bears, which depend on sea-ice cover to hunt for seals, are losing their hunting grounds, and have a harder time finding enough to eat. 




     On land, melting permafrost is shaping new landscapes, through a process called thermokarst — a term for thawing-driven erosion that originated in Russia, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).




     Thermokarst creates land formations such as lakes, pits, and sinkholes. It was not previously known how this process could affect weathering of exposed minerals, and how that might then impact CO2 release, according to the study.




     "These processes may influence the permafrost carbon-climate feedback, but have received little attention," the researchers reported.




     Over geologic time, weathering caused by carbonic acid can help to regulate climate, by trapping CO2 and restricting its transfer into the atmosphere. But the researchers found that thermokarst in regions that were rich in sulfides drove production of sulfuric acid, rather than carbonic acid, and thereby released quantities of CO2."



      These preliminary findings were published online 9/6/18 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. (The "Plain Language" Abstract is something I've not seen before in professional journals; have you?)

       Thermokarst--easy enough for even kindergartners to understand, eh?
Steph










 


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60 comments:

  1. 60 months of publishing! It seems so much longer than 5 years. . . ;-)

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  2. From cold to hot >>> The steaks are high:

    http://mentalfloss.com/article/64207/watch-geologists-use-molten-lava-grill-some-steaks

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    1. Reminds me of two things:

      John McPhee peeing on a lava stream in Hawaii, page 158 in "The Control of Nature ".

      My college physiology course lab, when we undergrads calculated the oxygen dissociation curve of lobster hemocyanin, while the TAs and prof ate lobster next door.

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    2. I thought of John McPhee also!

      That lobster fest sounds downright crusty, without you undergrads!

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  3. I wonder which is worse: CO2 released from acids dissolving rock, or methane released from long-frozen organic matter? Probably more land area of the first, more intense GWP from the second....

    Too depressing, better to watch some guy doing, well, something on lava. There seem to be more videos of this than you might have imagined.

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    Replies
    1. What is it about guys wanting to pee on hot things?

      https://youtu.be/YOSJRKhIhsc



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    2. Ha! I almost posted something similar. Do y'all think the video jan posted is real streaming?

      As an aside, it would never occur to me to pee in either situation. Ladies?

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    3. Just more evidence of why women live longer than men. There are a lot of these videos.

      My favorite local thermal vacation is Lassen Volcanic National Park (3 of the 4 types of volcanoes), and there's a spot called Bumpass Hell, a truly ironic name. Mr Bumpass (his real name) was an early explorer, and while walking among the boiling mudpots he fell through the thin crust. The scalding water required amputation of his leg, how that was done back then is not in my memory, but with no hospital, or doctor, or town, or anything nearby that's pretty incredible. There are now signs imploring people to stay on the boardwalks, of course.

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    4. Alas, Bumpass Hell is closed for trail renovation until 12/1/18. No “Under the boardwalk” for that trail.

      I trust Old Faithful will not have a trail named after the dumbass who walked off the boardwalk. Apparently, he did the same thing the next day at another hot spring area in Yellowstone; he was later arrested in Cheyenne, WY

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    5. Yeah, I saw they were doing renovations. Soon it will be bone chilling, at least for us weather wimps. August is my favorite time, the horrid mosquitoes of May-June-July have waned.

      One year it was a lovely 75° up there, we returned via Redding (<1 hour) where it was 106°. I'm guessing you have the same in the Rockies, I do remember taking the plunge from the down 34 to Granby in July, but don't remember the temps.

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    6. Yes, we are lucky to have the mountains to escape the heat. We just broke a 10-day string of mid-90’s temps here on the Front Range and that was getting old. We’re all much happier here now.

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  4. And congratulations on 5 years! I haven't been here all that time, but it's good to take a glimpse into all that heathen stuff.

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  5. Replies
    1. So many jokes about pot and pot come to mind. . .

      If it helps the lobsters, why not?

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    2. 4:00 here, 20 minutes to "tea" time. Maybe a little milkweed added today.

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    3. I have not tried milkweed in my tea. It is slightly toxic to humans, yes?

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    4. So they say, depends on how you prep it. We had lots of it around when I was growing up, but we never tried eating it. The sassafras root tea and plentiful mint were much more appealing, as was the honeysuckle. Dandelion milk not so much.

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  6. "(The "Plain Language" Abstract is something I've not seen before in professional journals; have you?)"

    I haven't seen that before, but it's a good idea. So long as it doesn't lead to more stupidification of Americans. Here the original abstract wasn't incomprehensible for reasonably educated adults, but sometimes the abstracts are a bit heavy on the acronyms and jargon - they are written for peers.

    But science journals are no longer the purview of specialists, we don't have to trudge to a large library to find them. This is a response to more people reading these articles, especially students (and idiots like me). It's a good thing to make science accessible, isn't that the raison d'etre of this forum?

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    Replies
    1. Mais oui, making science more accessible is indeed the raison d'être of Partial Ellipsis of the Sun. What surprised me about the two abstracts is that they didn’t seem all that different from each other.

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    2. Agreed, in this case the first abstract was readily understood. But there have been some...

      It probably doesn't help that we jump like hummingbirds from information source to information source, and many don't offer meaningful nectar. [Another entrant for the bad analogy hall of fame].

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    3. “Why not encourage students to put down Nature and pick up Darwin, Dawkins or Dickens?”

      Sweet analogy, eco. ;-)

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    4. I read Darwin and Dickens as a youth - Dawkins was only a rising star at that point. I think the hard part is we have all been re-programmed to read for only short periods of time.

      Do young people sit still and read for 4, 5, 6 hours at a time? I confess of late I haven't, though I must.

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    5. My son read one of the longer, later Harry Potter books on a family weekend trip to Colorado Springs. (He was not interested in the Chihuly exhibit there.) He still loves to read for hours.

      But, I think you are right, most people read in shorter bursts.

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  7. Congrats on five years! I had just read about this topic from a tweet by my environmental-science-major daughter.

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    1. Thanks, Joanne! As I recall, this must be around your fifth anniversary as well. Congrats to you, too!

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  8. Speaking of Permafrost and Thermokarst, it's time to pop the bubbly.

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    Replies
    1. Fascinating and scary. Thanks for the link, eco.

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    2. Speaking of fascinating and scary, this article fits the bill. I've only read partway through, I'll deal with the rest when I have some alcohol nearby.

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    3. The abstract is in plain language but the format of the rest of the text is hard to follow. I will try to wade through more later. Do you think alcohol will help or make it worse?

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    4. I'm a little surprised that the Dept of Commerce still pays for studies like that. I guess Wilbur Ross is getting a bit forgetful at 80.

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    5. Yeah, it's heavy on acronyms and jargon. I decided to try and deal with a non-profit mini crisis instead. 5 out of 9 Supreme Court Justices agree, alcohol makes everything better.

      I suspect Wilbur is too busy working on his financial arrangements.

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  9. Words, science, volcanoes -- right up our alley. (Though I thought "Fat Bastard" and "Banana Boy" would be excellent Secret Service code names.)

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  10. Wow, what painstaking work. The results are striking. Thanks for the article, jan.

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  11. "Rare indeed is a true word woman." -ecoarchitect-

    I so enjoyed your words elsewhere, eco.

    A chart of Ford vs Dodge(r):

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/9/28/17914308/kavanaugh-ford-question-dodge-hearing-chart



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    Replies
    1. Interesting link, Statistics Woman; lawyers are trained to obfuscate and deflect, but that was pathetically obvious.

      Brett did try to portray his life as a Saab story. Let's hope this Alfa male doesn't Triumph. This Cadillac any empathy or good will, and he will allow Trump to rule by Fiat.

      There, I've gotten that out of my system.

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  12. Replies
    1. "Massive perturber" applies to so many other things besides Planet 9.

      Delete
    2. I prefer massive perturbers that are silent and unseen.

      And that display their power through gravity, not "grab a t" (or a p).

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  13. Brett's brother Bird Kavanaugh? At least the police in Gilbert MN have a sense of humor.

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  14. Thanks for the article, eco. Minnesota nice humor? >>>

    “Meanwhile, in Gilbert, police are asking residents to call if they spot Woodstock pushing Snoopy off the doghouse for no apparent reason, Big Bird operating a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner, or the Roadrunner darting in and out of traffic on Main Street. Or, they suggested, any birds making a late-night run to Taco Bell.”

    Bird Kavesnaugh?

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  15. Replies
    1. Of course, I am partial to Brown Bears!

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    2. Around here Cal Bears are popular, not sure why.

      Years ago a black bear very rudely woke me by sharpening his/ her claws on a nearby tree. In my non-bear-claw-proof tent I pondered the intent; fortunately the bear had no interest in me nor my food, imperfectly hung in a tree.

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  16. Replies
    1. Sheesh.

      And somewhat weird that having a Wikipedia page is a such benchmark now, as Wiki just began in 2001.

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    2. Whenever I bemoan our lack of jet packs here in the 21st Century, my wife always insists that I appreciate Wikipedia more than I would a jet pack.

      Would you prefer if we called it Encyclopedia Galactica?

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    3. Yes, I do prefer Encyclopedia Galactica.

      Knowing the source of the loanword wiki helped a little:

      https://www.dictionary.com/e/wikileaks-wikipedia/

      Let me read that by the light of my wiki tiki.

      A fast read . . .but not necessarily one with gravitas. I suppose gravitas is overrated.

      Switching gears, this story about Dr. Ruth Etzel and children’s health is telling:

      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-childrens-health-official-ruth-etzel-epa-kids-disposable/

      Dr. Etzel does not have a Wiki page (not yet anyway).

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    4. Ah, die Nacht der langen Messer. I have a friend who's worked at EPA in SF since the 1990's. She told me they just laid low when W was in office. And she is in waste management/ recycling, ostensibly less political.

      Will history look back at these times with a laugh or a cry? Will there be anyone to write that history?

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    5. Surely with cries. . .

      I am discouraged and angry.

      I will be knocking on doors next weekend to encourage folks to vote 🗳.

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    6. The luxury here is we don't have crazy lunatics that have a chance to win; Saturday 3 of the 4 candidates for City Council solicited my vote at a local event; any of the 3 would be fine.

      Barbara Lee is my congressperson, she usually gets around 85% of the vote. In some ways I'd like to see Dianne Feinstein defeated - California's weird rules take the top 2 from the open primaries, and Feinstein's running against another Democrat - but either one is fine. Barbara Lee's opponent is a Green, there aren't enough Repubs around here to even place second. I don't think the Green has a chance.

      I may vote by mail and go to Fresno during election week to help get out the vote in Devin Nunes' district. Though Fresno is not much fun.

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    7. Got my ballot by mail today. Prop 112 is being outspent 20 to 1 by the oil industry here. It calls for a 2500 foot (previously 1000’) setback from buildings for any new drilling. Any wells drilled before the law goes into effect are grandfathered in. It seems quite reasonable to me but the opposition is saying it will cause the collapse of Colorado’s economy and the sky to fall. I am not buying it.

      eco, a free week in Fresno? You know how to live.

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    8. When Berkeley had the soda tax on the ballot the No campaign (guess who sponsored that?) vastly outspent the Yessers, but it still passed with 70 or 80% of the vote (2/3 was required). So sometimes people come to their senses.

      Are the Prop 112 folks using more relevant examples in their campaign? I think most people can't relate to 1000', but an average person walks that in just over 3 minutes.

      My city block is just over 650' long; Denver's blocks seem to be a little shorter, around 480', but if you tell people oil wells could be 2 blocks from their homes that might be more effective. Or it's 1500' from your State Capitol to City Hall.

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    9. eco, all good ways to talk about Prop 112. However, so far, there has been almost no pro Prop 112 campaigning. But anti Prop 112 is everywhere—yard signs, radio, tv, web presence. Noble Energy is paying for a lot of the pro campaign.

      And, speaking of energy, how about some carbon pricing? >>>

      https://www.smith.edu/news/modeling-carbon-pricing/

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  17. Happy #NationalFossilDay!

    https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/nationalfossilday/

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  18. New post on "Clock This: Dandelion Seeds Have a Detached Vortex Floating Above Their Filaments" is now up.

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