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  1. Book ; Online: The paradoxes of the Late Hesperian Mars ocean

    Turbet, Martin / Forget, Francois

    2019  

    Abstract: The long-standing debate on the existence of ancient oceans on Mars has been recently revived by evidence for tsunami resurfacing events that date from the Late Hesperian geological era. It has been argued that these tsunami events originated from the ... ...

    Abstract The long-standing debate on the existence of ancient oceans on Mars has been recently revived by evidence for tsunami resurfacing events that date from the Late Hesperian geological era. It has been argued that these tsunami events originated from the impact of large meteorites on a deglaciated or nearly deglaciated ocean present in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Here we show that the presence of such a late ocean faces a paradox. If cold, the ocean should have been entirely frozen shortly after its formation, thus preventing the formation of tsunami events. If warm, the ice-free ocean should have produced fluvial erosion of Hesperian Mars terrains much more extensively than previously reported. To solve this apparent paradox, we suggest a list of possible tests and scenarios that could help to reconcile constraints from climate models with tsunami hypothesis. These scenarios could be tested in future dedicated studies.

    Comment: Nature Scientific Reports, in press
    Keywords Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ; Physics - Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics ; Physics - Geophysics
    Subject code 551
    Publishing date 2019-04-08
    Publishing country us
    Document type Book ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  2. Article ; Online: Observed glacier and volatile distribution on Pluto from atmosphere-topography processes.

    Bertrand, Tanguy / Forget, François

    Nature

    2016  Volume 540, Issue 7631, Page(s) 86–89

    Abstract: Pluto has a variety of surface frosts and landforms as well as a complex atmosphere. There is ongoing geological activity related to the massive Sputnik Planitia glacier, mostly made of nitrogen ( ... ...

    Abstract Pluto has a variety of surface frosts and landforms as well as a complex atmosphere. There is ongoing geological activity related to the massive Sputnik Planitia glacier, mostly made of nitrogen (N
    Language English
    Publishing date 2016--01
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 120714-3
    ISSN 1476-4687 ; 0028-0836
    ISSN (online) 1476-4687
    ISSN 0028-0836
    DOI 10.1038/nature19337
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  3. Article ; Online: Equatorial mountains on Pluto are covered by methane frosts resulting from a unique atmospheric process.

    Bertrand, Tanguy / Forget, François / Schmitt, Bernard / White, Oliver L / Grundy, William M

    Nature communications

    2020  Volume 11, Issue 1, Page(s) 5056

    Abstract: Pluto is covered by numerous deposits of methane, either diluted in nitrogen or as methane-rich ice. Within the dark equatorial region of Cthulhu, bright frost containing methane is observed coating crater rims and walls as well as mountain tops, ... ...

    Abstract Pluto is covered by numerous deposits of methane, either diluted in nitrogen or as methane-rich ice. Within the dark equatorial region of Cthulhu, bright frost containing methane is observed coating crater rims and walls as well as mountain tops, providing spectacular resemblance to terrestrial snow-capped mountain chains. However, the origin of these deposits remained enigmatic. Here we report that they are composed of methane-rich ice. We use high-resolution numerical simulations of Pluto's climate to show that the processes forming them are likely to be completely different to those forming high-altitude snowpack on Earth. The methane deposits may not result from adiabatic cooling in upwardly moving air like on our planet, but from a circulation-induced enrichment of gaseous methane a few kilometres above Pluto's plains that favours methane condensation at mountain summits. This process could have shaped other methane reservoirs on Pluto and help explain the appearance of the bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-10-13
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2553671-0
    ISSN 2041-1723 ; 2041-1723
    ISSN (online) 2041-1723
    ISSN 2041-1723
    DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-18845-3
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  4. Article ; Online: Planetary science. Alien weather at the poles of Mars.

    Forget, Francois

    Science (New York, N.Y.)

    2004  Volume 306, Issue 5700, Page(s) 1298–1299

    MeSH term(s) Argon ; Atmosphere ; Carbon Dioxide ; Dry Ice ; Extraterrestrial Environment ; Gases ; Mars ; Seasons ; Spectrometry, Gamma ; Temperature ; Weather
    Chemical Substances Dry Ice ; Gases ; Carbon Dioxide (142M471B3J) ; Argon (67XQY1V3KH)
    Language English
    Publishing date 2004-11-19
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Comment ; Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 128410-1
    ISSN 1095-9203 ; 0036-8075
    ISSN (online) 1095-9203
    ISSN 0036-8075
    DOI 10.1126/science.1105669
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  5. Book ; Online: 10 years of temperature and wind observation on a 45 m tower at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau

    Genthon, Christophe / Veron, Dana / Vignon, Etienne / Six, Delphine / Dufresne, Jean-Louis / Madeleine, Jean-Baptiste / Sultan, Emmanuelle / Forget, François

    eISSN: 1866-3516

    2021  

    Abstract: Long-term, continuous in situ observations of the near-surface atmospheric boundary layer are critical for many weather and climate applications. Although there is a proliferation of surface stations globally, especially in and around populous areas, ... ...

    Abstract Long-term, continuous in situ observations of the near-surface atmospheric boundary layer are critical for many weather and climate applications. Although there is a proliferation of surface stations globally, especially in and around populous areas, there are notably fewer tall meteorological towers with multiple instrumented levels. This is particularly true in remote and extreme environments such as the East Antarctic plateau. In the article, we present and analyze 10 years of data from six levels of meteorological instrumentation mounted on a 42 m tower located at Dome C, East Antarctica, near the Concordia research station, producing a unique climatology of the near-surface atmospheric environment (Genthon et al., 2021a, b). Monthly temperature and wind data demonstrate the large seasonal differences in the near-surface boundary layer dynamics, depending on the presence or absence of solar surface forcing. Strong vertical temperature gradients (inversions) frequently develop in calm, winter conditions, while vertical convective mixing occurs in the summer, leading to near-uniform temperatures along the tower. Seasonal variation in wind speed is much less notable at this location than the temperature variation as the winds are less influenced by the solar cycle; there are no katabatic winds as Dome C is quite flat. Harmonic analysis confirms that most of the energy in the power spectrum is at diurnal, annual and semi-annual timescales. Analysis of observational uncertainty and comparison to reanalysis data from the latest generation of ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) reanalyses (ERA5) indicate that wind speed is particularly difficult to measure at this location. Data are distributed on the PANGAEA data repository at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.932512 (Genthon et al., 2021a) and https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.932513 (Genthon et al., 2021b).
    Subject code 551
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-12-10
    Publishing country de
    Document type Book ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  6. Book ; Online: Ten years of temperature and wind observation on a 45-m tower at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau

    Genthon, Christophe / Veron, Dana E. / Vignon, Etienne / Six, Delphine / Dufresne, Jean-Louis / Madeleine, Jean-Baptiste / Sultan, Emmanuelle / Forget, François

    eISSN: 1866-3516

    2021  

    Abstract: Long-term, continuous in situ observations of the near-surface atmospheric boundary layer are critical for many weather and climate applications. Although there is a proliferation of surface stations globally, especially in and around populous areas, ... ...

    Abstract Long-term, continuous in situ observations of the near-surface atmospheric boundary layer are critical for many weather and climate applications. Although there is a proliferation of surface stations globally, especially in and around populous areas, there are notably fewer tall meteorological towers with multiple instrumented levels. This is particularly true in remote and extreme environments such as the Eastern Antarctic plateau. In the article, we present and analyze 10 years of data from 6 levels of meteorological instrumentation mounted on a 42-m tower located at Dome C, East Antarctica near the Concordia research station, producing a unique climatology of the near-surface atmospheric environment (Genthon et al., 2021,a,b). Monthly temperature and wind data demonstrate the large seasonal differences in the near-surface boundary layer dynamics, depending on the presence or absence of solar surface forcing. Strong vertical temperature gradients (inversions) frequently develop in calm, winter conditions, while vertical convective mixing occurs in the summer leading to near-uniform temperatures along the tower. Seasonal variation in wind speed is much less notable at this location than the temperature variation as the winds are less influenced by the solar cycle; there are no katabatic winds as Dome C is quite flat. Harmonic analysis confirms that most of the energy in the power spectrum is at diurnal, annual and semi-annual time scales. Analysis of observational uncertainty and comparison to reanalysis data from ERA-5 indicate that wind speed is particularly difficult to measure at this location. Data are distributed on PANGAEA data repository, see data availability section.
    Subject code 551
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-06-28
    Publishing country de
    Document type Book ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  7. Article ; Online: Observed variations of methane on Mars unexplained by known atmospheric chemistry and physics.

    Lefèvre, Franck / Forget, François

    Nature

    2009  Volume 460, Issue 7256, Page(s) 720–723

    Abstract: The detection of methane on Mars has revived the possibility of past or extant life on this planet, despite the fact that an abiogenic origin is thought to be equally plausible. An intriguing aspect of the recent observations of methane on Mars is that ... ...

    Abstract The detection of methane on Mars has revived the possibility of past or extant life on this planet, despite the fact that an abiogenic origin is thought to be equally plausible. An intriguing aspect of the recent observations of methane on Mars is that methane concentrations appear to be locally enhanced and change with the seasons. However, methane has a photochemical lifetime of several centuries, and is therefore expected to have a spatially uniform distribution on the planet. Here we use a global climate model of Mars with coupled chemistry to examine the implications of the recently observed variations of Martian methane for our understanding of the chemistry of methane. We find that photochemistry as currently understood does not produce measurable variations in methane concentrations, even in the case of a current, local and episodic methane release. In contrast, we find that the condensation-sublimation cycle of Mars' carbon dioxide atmosphere can generate large-scale methane variations differing from those observed. In order to reproduce local methane enhancements similar to those recently reported, we show that an atmospheric lifetime of less than 200 days is necessary, even if a local source of methane is only active around the time of the observation itself. This implies an unidentified methane loss process that is 600 times faster than predicted by standard photochemistry. The existence of such a fast loss in the Martian atmosphere is difficult to reconcile with the observed distribution of other trace gas species. In the case of a destruction mechanism only active at the surface of Mars, destruction of methane must occur with an even shorter timescale of the order of approximately 1 hour to explain the observations. If recent observations of spatial and temporal variations of methane are confirmed, this would suggest an extraordinarily harsh environment for the survival of organics on the planet.
    MeSH term(s) Atmosphere/chemistry ; Carbon Dioxide/analysis ; Climate ; Electrochemistry ; Exobiology ; Extraterrestrial Environment/chemistry ; Mars ; Methane/analysis ; Models, Chemical ; Photochemistry ; Time Factors
    Chemical Substances Carbon Dioxide (142M471B3J) ; Methane (OP0UW79H66)
    Language English
    Publishing date 2009-08-07
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 120714-3
    ISSN 1476-4687 ; 0028-0836
    ISSN (online) 1476-4687
    ISSN 0028-0836
    DOI 10.1038/nature08228
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  8. Book ; Online: Thermal Tides in the Martian Atmosphere near Northern Summer Solstice Observed by ACS/TIRVIM onboard TGO

    Fan, Siteng / Guerlet, Sandrine / Forget, François / Bierjon, Antoine / Millour, Ehouarn / Ignatiev, Nikolay / Shakun, Alexey / Grigoriev, Alexey / Trokhimovskiy, Alexander / Montmessin, Franck / Korablev, Oleg

    2022  

    Abstract: Thermal tides in the Martian atmosphere are analyzed using temperature profiles retrieved from nadir observations obtained by the TIRVIM Fourier-spectrometer, part of the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). The ... ...

    Abstract Thermal tides in the Martian atmosphere are analyzed using temperature profiles retrieved from nadir observations obtained by the TIRVIM Fourier-spectrometer, part of the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). The data is selected near the northern summer solstice at solar longitude (LS) 75{\deg}-105{\deg} of Martian Year (MY) 35. The observations have a full local time coverage, which enables analyses of daily temperature anomalies. The observed zonal mean temperature is lower by 4-6K at ~100Pa, but higher towards the summer pole, compared to the LMD Mars General Circulation Model (GCM). Wave mode decomposition shows dominant diurnal tide and important semi-diurnal tide and diurnal Kelvin wave, with maximal amplitudes of 5K, 3K, and 2.5K, respectively, from tens to hundreds of Pa. The results generally agree well with the LMD Mars GCM, but with noticeable earlier phases of diurnal (~1h) and semi-diurnal (~3h) tides.

    Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted by GRL
    Keywords Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
    Subject code 551
    Publishing date 2022-03-20
    Publishing country us
    Document type Book ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  9. Article ; Online: Late Tharsis formation and implications for early Mars.

    Bouley, Sylvain / Baratoux, David / Matsuyama, Isamu / Forget, Francois / Séjourné, Antoine / Turbet, Martin / Costard, Francois

    Nature

    2016  Volume 531, Issue 7594, Page(s) 344–347

    Abstract: The Tharsis region is the largest volcanic complex on Mars and in the Solar System. Young lava flows cover its surface (from the Amazonian period, less than 3 billion years ago) but its growth started during the Noachian era (more than 3.7 billion years ... ...

    Abstract The Tharsis region is the largest volcanic complex on Mars and in the Solar System. Young lava flows cover its surface (from the Amazonian period, less than 3 billion years ago) but its growth started during the Noachian era (more than 3.7 billion years ago). Its position has induced a reorientation of the planet with respect to its spin axis (true polar wander, TPW), which is responsible for the present equatorial position of the volcanic province. It has been suggested that the Tharsis load on the lithosphere influenced the orientation of the Noachian/Early Hesperian (more than 3.5 billion years ago) valley networks and therefore that most of the topography of Tharsis was completed before fluvial incision. Here we calculate the rotational figure of Mars (that is, its equilibrium shape) and its surface topography before Tharsis formed, when the spin axis of the planet was controlled by the difference in elevation between the northern and southern hemispheres (hemispheric dichotomy). We show that the observed directions of valley networks are also consistent with topographic gradients in this configuration and thus do not require the presence of the Tharsis load. Furthermore, the distribution of the valleys along a small circle tilted with respect to the equator is found to correspond to a southern-hemisphere latitudinal band in the pre-TPW geographical frame. Preferential accumulation of ice or water in a south tropical band is predicted by climate model simulations of early Mars applied to the pre-TPW topography. A late growth of Tharsis, contemporaneous with valley incision, has several implications for the early geological history of Mars, including the existence of glacial environments near the locations of the pre-TPW poles of rotation, and a possible link between volcanic outgassing from Tharsis and the stability of liquid water at the surface of Mars.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2016-03-17
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 120714-3
    ISSN 1476-4687 ; 0028-0836
    ISSN (online) 1476-4687
    ISSN 0028-0836
    DOI 10.1038/nature17171
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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  10. Article ; Online: Increased insolation threshold for runaway greenhouse processes on Earth-like planets.

    Leconte, Jérémy / Forget, Francois / Charnay, Benjamin / Wordsworth, Robin / Pottier, Alizée

    Nature

    2013  Volume 504, Issue 7479, Page(s) 268–271

    Abstract: The increase in solar luminosity over geological timescales should warm the Earth's climate, increasing water evaporation, which will in turn enhance the atmospheric greenhouse effect. Above a certain critical insolation, this destabilizing greenhouse ... ...

    Abstract The increase in solar luminosity over geological timescales should warm the Earth's climate, increasing water evaporation, which will in turn enhance the atmospheric greenhouse effect. Above a certain critical insolation, this destabilizing greenhouse feedback can 'run away' until the oceans have completely evaporated. Through increases in stratospheric humidity, warming may also cause evaporative loss of the oceans to space before the runaway greenhouse state occurs. The critical insolation thresholds for these processes, however, remain uncertain because they have so far been evaluated using one-dimensional models that cannot account for the dynamical and cloud feedback effects that are key stabilizing features of the Earth's climate. Here we use a three-dimensional global climate model to show that the insolation threshold for the runaway greenhouse state to occur is about 375 W m(-2), which is significantly higher than previously thought. Our model is specifically developed to quantify the climate response of Earth-like planets to increased insolation in hot and extremely moist atmospheres. In contrast with previous studies, we find that clouds have a destabilizing feedback effect on the long-term warming. However, subsident, unsaturated regions created by the Hadley circulation have a stabilizing effect that is strong enough to shift the runaway greenhouse limit to higher values of insolation than are inferred from one-dimensional models. Furthermore, because of wavelength-dependent radiative effects, the stratosphere remains sufficiently cold and dry to hamper the escape of atmospheric water, even at large fluxes. This has strong implications for the possibility of liquid water existing on Venus early in its history, and extends the size of the habitable zone around other stars.
    MeSH term(s) Atmosphere/analysis ; Atmosphere/chemistry ; Earth, Planet ; Exobiology ; Greenhouse Effect ; Humidity ; Models, Theoretical ; Planets ; Reproducibility of Results ; Solar Activity ; Stars, Celestial ; Temperature ; Venus ; Water/analysis ; Water Cycle ; Wind
    Chemical Substances Water (059QF0KO0R)
    Language English
    Publishing date 2013-12-15
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 120714-3
    ISSN 1476-4687 ; 0028-0836
    ISSN (online) 1476-4687
    ISSN 0028-0836
    DOI 10.1038/nature12827
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

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