Rapid calculation of radiative heating rates and photodissociation rates in inhomogeneous multiple scattering atmospheres
- O. Toon, C. McKay, T. Ackerman, K. Santhanam
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 20 November 1989
The solution of the generalized two-stream approximation for radiative transfer in homogeneous multiple scattering atmospheres is extended to vertically inhomogeneous atmospheres in a manner which is…
Biogenic Methane, Hydrogen Escape, and the Irreversible Oxidation of Early Earth
- D. Catling, K. Zahnle, C. McKay
- PhysicsScience
- 3 August 2001
Expected irreversible oxidation (∼1012 to 1013 moles oxygen per year) may help explain how Earth's surface environment became irreversibly oxidized.
Valley floor climate observations from the McMurdo dry valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2000
[1] Climate observations from the McMurdo dry valleys, East Antarctica are presented from a network of seven valley floor automatic meteorological stations during the period 1986 to 2000. Mean annual…
In situ measurements of the physical characteristics of Titan's environment
- M. Fulchignoni, F. Ferri, J. Zarnecki
- Environmental Science, PhysicsNature
- 8 December 2005
The temperature and density profiles, as determined by the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI), from an altitude of 1,400 km down to the surface were higher than expected and the extent of atmospheric electricity was also hitherto unknown.
Metabolic Activity of Permafrost Bacteria below the Freezing Point
- E. Rivkina, E. Friedmann, C. McKay, D. Gilichinsky
- Environmental ScienceApplied and Environmental Microbiology
- 1 August 2000
It is suggested that the stationary phase, which is generally considered to be reached when the availability of nutrients becomes limiting, was brought on under conditions by the formation of diffusion barriers in the thin layers of unfrozen water known to be present in permafrost soils, the thickness of which depends on temperature.
Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response
- P. Doran, J. Priscu, A. N. Parsons
- Environmental ScienceNature
- 31 January 2002
Data from the dry valleys are presented representing evidence of rapid terrestrial ecosystem response to climate cooling in Antarctica, including decreased primary productivity of lakes and declining numbers of soil invertebrates, which poses challenges to models of climate and ecosystem change.
Numerical simulation of the general circulation of the atmosphere of Titan.
- F. Hourdin, O. Talagrand, R. Sadourny, R. Courtin, D. Gautier, C. McKay
- Environmental Science, PhysicsIcarus (New York, N.Y. )
- 1 October 1995
Diagnostics of the simulated atmospheric circulation underlying the importance of the seasonal cycle and a tentative explanation for the creation and maintenance of the atmospheric superrotation based on a careful angular momentum budget are presented.
Why O2 is required by complex life on habitable planets and the concept of planetary "oxygenation time".
- D. Catling, C. Glein, K. Zahnle, C. McKay
- PhysicsAstrobiology
- 7 June 2005
It is argued that the oxygenation time is likely to be a key rate-limiting step in the evolution of complex life on other habitable planets, including Earth-like planets orbiting short-lived stars that end their main sequence lives before planetary oxygenation takes place.
Mars-Like Soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the Dry Limit of Microbial Life
- R. Navarro‐González, F. Rainey, C. McKay
- Environmental Science, GeologyScience
- 7 November 2003
The presence of Mars-like soils in the extreme arid region of the Atacama Desert is reported and incubation experiments show active decomposition of organic species in these soils by nonbiological processes.
Organic haze on Titan and the early Earth
- M. Trainer, A. Pavlov, M. Tolbert
- Geology, PhysicsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- 28 November 2006
Results show that the aerosols produced in the laboratory can serve as analogs for the observed haze in Titan's atmosphere, and it is estimated that aerosol production on the early Earth may have been on the order of 1014 g·year−1 and thus could have served as a primary source of organic material to the surface.
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