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At least 1,117 records · Page 62

230Th Normalization: New Insights on an Essential Tool for Quantifying Sedimentary Fluxes in the Modern and Quaternary Ocean

230Th normalization is a valuable paleoceanographic tool for reconstructing high‐resolution sediment fluxes during the late Pleistocene (last ~500,000 years). As its application has expanded to ever more diverse marine environments, the nuances of 230Th systematics, with regard to particle type, particle size, lateral advective/diffusive redistribution, and other processes, have emerged. We synthesized over 1000 sedimentary records of 230Th from across the global ocean at two time slices, the late Holocene (0–5,000 years ago, or 0–5 ka) and the Last Glacial Maximum (18.5–23.5 ka), and investigated the spatial structure of 230Th‐normalized mass fluxes. On a global scale, sedimentary mass fluxes were significantly higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (1.79–2.17 g/sq.cmkyr, 95% confidence) relative to the Holocene (1.48–1.68 g/sq.cmkyr, 95% confidence). We then examined the potential confounding influences of boundary scavenging, nepheloid layers, hydrothermal scavenging, size‐dependent sediment fractionation, and carbonate dissolution on the efficacy of 230Th as a constant flux proxy. Anomalous 230Th behavior is sometimes observed proximal to hydrothermal ridges and in continental margins where high particle fluxes and steep continental slopes can lead to the combined effects of boundary scavenging and nepheloid interference. Notwithstanding these limitations, we found that 230Th normalization is a robust tool for determining sediment mass accumulation rates in the majority of pelagic marine settings (>1,000 m water depth).

Costa, Kassandra M.↗

On Development of Modern Software Interface to Glenn Research Center’s Communication Analysis Suite

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program analyzes space communication channels involving satellites in any Earth orbit and deep space for a multitude of operations. Specifically, the SCaN program will power the future of lunar communications in the next decade and beyond. A web based user interface of the static link analysis component of the Glenn Research Center’s Communication Analysis Suite (GCAS) was developed. It is operated through a newly designed front-end application with an easy to use and intuitive web-based user interface that provides accurate satellite communications link analysis capabilities.

link analysis↗

The Foundations of Modern Magnetic Reconnection Research

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process operating in laboratory, space, and astrophysical plasmas. We understand today that it is the mechanism behind the often explosive release of the stored magnetic energy, and that it directly or indirectly powers as diverse a set of phenomena as solar eruptions, stellar flares, geomagnetic storms, the aurora, and even disruption events in fusion machines. It is also the mechanism powering the majority of the deleterious space effects collectively referred to as “space weather.” Owing to its importance, reconnection has been a research focus for many years, culminating in the research based on NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. A major component of foundational research involved studies of the stability and disruption of current sheets by collisionless tearing, which still plays a major role in the dynamical evolution of the interfaces between magnetic fields of different directions. This presentation will illuminate these beginnings, with special focus on the seminal work of Academician A. A. Galeev, and also provide a summary of the present state of knowledge. It will conclude with an outlook toward future reconnection research targets.

Plasma↗

WebGeocalc and Cosmographia: Modern Tools to Access OPS SPICE Data

For more than two decades navigation and other ancillary data from most US and international planetary science missions have been packaged using "SPICE" (Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, Camera-matrix, Events) system data files (a.k.a. SPICE kernels) and, in conjunction with SPICE Toolkit software used by scientists and engineers to compute observation geometry in various ground system tools ranging from mission planning and analysis applications to data production pipelines to science analysis tools. The traditional way for accessing SPICE data is by downloading necessary SPICE kernels to a user’s workstation, installing the SPICE Toolkit software available from NAIF, and writing an application calling APIs from the SPICE Toolkit library to compute numeric geometric parameters of interest. While this approach did and still does provide the greatest flexibility in implementing geometric computations of interest, it proved to be complicated for users with little programming abilities, required data to be always copied to the users’ workstations, and lacked any out-of-the-box visualization capabilities. To address these shortcomings NAIF developed the WebGeocalc (WGC) tool and extended the publicly available Cosmographia program to use SPICE. Employing these two new tools in mission operations enables easier access to SPICE computations and SPICE-based visualizations for a wider variety of mission personnel.

Semenov, Boris V.↗

Global Ocean Primary Production Trends in the Modern Ocean Color Satellite Record (1998-2015)

Ocean primary production (PP), representing the uptake of inorganic carbon through photosynthesis, supports marine life and affects carbon exchange with the atmosphere. It is difficult to ascertain its magnitude, variability, and trends due to our inability to measure it directly at large scales. Yet it is paramount for understanding changes in marine health, fisheries, and the global carbon cycle. Using assimilation of ocean color satellite data into an ocean biogeochemical model, we estimate that global net ocean PP has experienced a small but significant decline −0.8 PgC/y (−2.1%) per decade (P < 0.05) in the 18-year satellite record from 1998 to 2015. This decline is associated with shallowing surface mixed layer depth (−2.4% per decade) and decreasing nitrate concentrations (−3.2% per decade). Relative contributions to PP by various types of ocean phytoplankton have changed, with decreases in production by intermediate-sized phytoplankton represented by chlorophytes (−14.3% per decade). This is partially compensated by increases from the unique, more nutrient-efficient, coccolithophores (8.4% per decade). Geographically, the North and Equatorial Indian Oceans are responsible for much of the decline in PP, falling 0.16 and 0.69 PgC/y per decade, respectively. Reduced production by large, fast-growing diatoms along with chlorophytes characterizes the decline here. In contrast, increases in PP are found in the North and North Central Pacific. The increases here are led by chlorophytes in the North Pacific and the small cyanobacteria in the North Central Pacific. These results suggest that the multi-decadal satellite observational record, coupled with an underlying representation of marine biodiversity in a model, can monitor the uptake of carbon by phytoplankton and that changes, although small, are occurring in the global oceans.

Watson W Gregg↗