Engineering topics

Falkowski, Paul G.

Publications and source records attributed to Falkowski, Paul G..

5 records

DOE OSTI2020

Anoxic photogeochemical oxidation of manganese carbonate yields manganese oxide

The oxidation states of manganese minerals in the geological record have been interpreted as proxies for the evolution of molecular oxygen in the Archean eon. In this paper we report that an Archean manganese mineral, rhodochrosite (MnCO 3 ), can be photochemically oxidized by light under anoxic, abiotic conditions. Rhodochrosite has a calculated bandgap of about 5.4 eV, corresponding to light energy centering around 230 nm. Light at that wavelength would have been present on Earth’s surface in the Archean, prior to the formation of stratospheric ozone. We show experimentally that the photooxidation of rhodochrosite in suspension with light centered at 230 nm produced H 2 gas and manganite (γ-MnOOH) with an apparent quantum yield of 1.37 × 10 –3 moles hydrogen per moles incident photons. Our results suggest that manganese oxides could have formed abiotically on the surface in shallow waters and on continents during the Archean eon in the absence of molecular oxygen.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2003

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap

The NASA Astrobiology Roadmap provides guidance for research and technology development across the NASA enterprises that encompass the space, Earth, and biological sciences. The ongoing development of astrobiology roadmaps embodies the contributions of diverse scientists and technologists from government, universities, and private institutions. The Roadmap addresses three basic questions: How does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Seven Science Goals outline the following key domains of investigation: understanding the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the universe, exploring for habitable environments and life in our own solar system, understanding the emergence of life, determining how early life on Earth interacted and evolved with its changing environment, understanding the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life, determining the principles that will shape life in the future, and recognizing signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth. For each of these goals, Science Objectives outline more specific high-priority efforts for the next 3-5 years. These 18 objectives are being integrated with NASA strategic planning.

Exobiology/methods/trends↗

NASA NTRS1998

SeaWiFS Technical Report Series: Satellite Primary Productivity Data and Algorithm Development: A Science Plan for Mission to Planet Earth - Volume 42

Two issues regarding primary productivity, as it pertains to the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Program and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) are presented in this volume. Chapter 1 describes the development of a science plan for deriving primary production for the world ocean using satellite measurements, by the Ocean Primary Productivity Working Group (OPPWG). Chapter 2 presents discussions by the same group, of algorithm classification, algorithm parameterization and data availability, algorithm testing and validation, and the benefits of a consensus primary productivity algorithm.

Falkowski, Paul G.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Natural versus anthropogenic factors affecting low-level cloud albedo over the North Atlantic

Cloud albedo plays a key role in regulating earth's climate. Cloud albedo depends on column-integrated liquid water content and the density of cloud condensation nuclei, which consists primarily of submicrometer-sized aerosol sulfate particles. A comparison of two independent satellite data sets suggests that, although anthropogenic sulfate emissions may enhance cloud albedo immediately adjacent to the east coast of the United States, over the central North Atlantic Ocean the variability in albedo can be largely accounted for by natural marine and atmospheric processes that probably have remained relatively constant since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Falkowski, Paul G.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Role of eddy pumping in enhancing primary production in the ocean

Eddy pumping is considered to explain the disparity between geochemical estimates and biological measurements of exported production. Episodic nutrient injections from the ocean into the photic zone can be generated by eddy pumping, which biological measurements cannot sample accurately. The enhancement of production is studied with respect to a cyclonic eddy in the subtropical Pacific. A pump-and-probe fluorimeter generates continuous vertical profiles of primary productivity from which the contributions of photochemical and nonphotochemical processes to fluorescence are derived. A significant correlation is observed between the fluorescence measurements and radiocarbon measurements. The results indicate that eddy pumping has an important effect on phytoplankton production and that this production is near the maximum relative specific growth rates. Based on the production enhancement observed in this case, eddy pumping increases total primary production by only 20 percent and does not account for all enhancement.

Falkowski, Paul G.↗