Publications by authors named "S Osterhus"

Southern ocean carbon and heat impact on climate.

Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci

June 2023

The Southern Ocean greatly contributes to the regulation of the global climate by controlling important heat and carbon exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean. Rates of climate change on decadal timescales are therefore impacted by oceanic processes taking place in the Southern Ocean, yet too little is known about these processes. Limitations come both from the lack of observations in this extreme environment and its inherent sensitivity to intermittent processes at scales that are not well captured in current Earth system models.

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Article Synopsis
  • The movement of heat from the ocean to the Antarctic continental margin is crucial for understanding the Antarctic Ice Sheet's overall stability.
  • Recent models indicate that the most significant heat transfer occurs where heavy shelf waters flow down the continental slope.
  • Our observations using moored instruments support this by showing a connection between the downward flow of dense water and the upward flow of warmer water on the shelf.
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Floating ice shelves are the Achilles' heel of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. They limit Antarctica's contribution to global sea level rise, yet they can be rapidly melted from beneath by a warming ocean. At Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, a decline in sea ice formation may increase basal melt rates and accelerate marine ice sheet mass loss within this century.

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The recycling of nutrients from wastewater and their recovery in the form of valuable products is an effective strategy to accelerate the circular economy concept. Phosphorus recovery from wastewater by struvite crystallization (MgNHPO·6HO) is one of the most applied techniques to compensate for the increasing demand and to slow down the depletion rate of phosphate rocks. Using low-cost magnesium sources, such as seawater, improves the financial sustainability of struvite production.

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Seawater, as an alternative magnesium source, has the potential to improve the overall economics and environmental footprint of struvite production compared to the use of pure magnesium salts. However, the dilution effect and the presence of other ions in seawater can reduce the phosphorus recovery potential and the simultaneous precipitation of other compounds may reduce the quality of the produced struvite. This work presents a comparative study of seawater and MgCl by performing a series of thermodynamic equilibrium modeling and crystallization experiments.

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