Description: Variations in oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) measured from modern precipitation and geologic archives provide a promising tool for understanding modern and past climate dynamics and tracking elevation changes over geologic time. In areas of extreme topography, such as the Tibetan Plateau, the interpretation of δ18O has proven challenging. This study investigates the climate controls on temporal (daily and 6 h intervals) and spatial variations in present-day precipitation δ18O (δ18Op) across the Tibetan Plateau using a 30 year record produced from the European Centre/Hamburg ECHAM5-wiso global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). Results indicate spatial and temporal agreement between model-predicted δ18Op and observations. Large daily δ18Op variations of 25 to +5‰ occur over the Tibetan Plateau throughout the 30 simulation years, along with interannual δ18Op variations of ~2‰. Analysis of extreme daily δ18Op indicates that extreme low values coincide with extreme highs in precipitation amount. During the summer, monsoon vapor transport from the north and southwest of the plateau generally corresponds with high δ18Op, whereas vapor transport from the Indian Ocean corresponds with average to low δ18Op. Thus, vapor source variations are one important cause of the spatial-temporal differences in δ18Op. Comparison of GCM and Rayleigh Distillation Model (RDM)-predicted δ18Op indicates a modest agreement for the Himalaya region (averaged over 86°–94°E), confirming application of the simpler RDM approach for estimating δ18Op lapse rates across Himalaya.

Description: Paleoelevation reconstructions of the North American Cordillera in- ferred from the oxygen (delta 18O) and hydrogen (delta D) isotope ratios of terrestrial paleoclimate proxy materials (soils, ashes, lake sediments) suggest rapid north-to- south migration of topography in the early Cenozoic (pre-49 Ma to 28 Ma). The validation of this reconstruction relies on an accurate understanding of the delta 18Op and the associated regional climate change in response to the uplift of the western North America. Here we study this response using a global climate model (GCM) with explicit delta 18Op diagnostics (ECHAM5-wiso) focusing on the isotopic effects of different types of precipitation, vapor mixing, recycling and moisture source and compare the response against estimates made using a Rayleigh distillation models of moist adiabatic condensation (RDM). Four experiments are performed with Eocene topography inferred from terrestrial stable isotope paleoaltimetry records to investigate how southward propagation of topography affects regional climate (temperature, precipitation and circulation pattern) and dela 18Op over North America. Our experiments predict delta 18Op patterns that are broadly consistent with maps of temporally binned proxy delta 18O and generally support an early Cenozoic north-to-south propagation of high topogra- phy in the North American Cordillera. They do not support the commonly made assumption that isotopic fractionation occurs primarily through rainout following Rayleigh distillation nor the application of modern empirical delta 18Op lapse rates to past environments. In our GCM simulations, precipitation processes and climate changes that are not captured by RDMs substantially affect delta 18Op. These processes include shifts in local precipitation type between convective and large-scale rain and between rain and snow; intensification of low-level vapor recycling particularly on leeward slopes; develop- ment of air mass mixing and changes in wind direction and moisture source. Each of these processes can have significant (〉2‰) influences on delta 18Op that are comparable in magnitude to surface uplift of hundreds or even thousands of meters. In many regions, these processes fortuitously compensate each other, explaining the apparent agreement between ECHAM5-wiso and proxy delta 18O and, more broadly, between RDM estimates and observed delta 18O-elevation relationships. In some regions, compensation is incomplete, and as a result, ECHAM5-wiso delta 18Op does not agree with estimates from the RDM. In these regions, including the interior of the northern cordillera and the eastern flank of the southern Cordillera, moderate adjustments of paleoelevations may be in order.

Description: Author(s): Tingwei Chen, Ya-nan Hao, Fan Jin, Min Wei, Jin Feng, Ran Jia, Zhijun Yi, Michael Rohlfing, Chengbu Liu, and Yuchen Ma Defects play crucial roles in the photonic and chemical activities of TiO 2 . The origin of the deep band-gap defect state S b g in the rutile TiO 2 (110) surface has remained controversial for quite a long time. Using many-body Green's function theory, we believe that S b g can be attributed only to σ bond... [Phys. Rev. B 98, 205135] Published Mon Nov 19, 2018