1 / 11

Modeling the History of the ‘Great Rivers’ of the World

Modeling the History of the ‘Great Rivers’ of the World. R. A. Bryson, A. H. Ruter, and K. A. McEnaney University of Wisconsin-Madison. International Conference on Rivers and Civilization June 25-28, 2006 in La Crosse, WI. Archaeoclimatology: Macrophysical Climate Modeling (MCM).

knoton
Download Presentation

Modeling the History of the ‘Great Rivers’ of the World

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Modeling the History of the ‘Great Rivers’ of the World R. A. Bryson, A. H. Ruter, and K. A. McEnaney University of Wisconsin-Madison International Conference on Rivers and Civilization June 25-28, 2006 in La Crosse, WI

  2. Archaeoclimatology: Macrophysical Climate Modeling (MCM) • Based on circulation of the atmosphere • Jet stream, sub tropical highs, ITC • Relationship of circulation to local climate • Circulation controlled by incoming solar radiation modulated by volcanic aerosols and surface conditions

  3. Archaeoclimatology: Macrophysical Climate Modeling (MCM) • Stream discharge integrates climate over the catchment • Modern gauging data as input • Robust hypotheses

  4. The Nile River • The Model matches the proxy record quite well

  5. Mississippi & Amazon Rivers • Northern vs. Southern Hemisphere circulation

  6. Congo and Zambezi Rivers • Some rivers are affected by both northern and southern regimes

  7. Tigris and Euphrates • Even neighboring rivers have different histories

  8. Yenisey River, Russia • The spring freshet has gotten later in Siberia - but not linearly so

  9. Fitzroy River, Australia • Seasonality: Wet vs. Dry Months

  10. Preliminary 100-yr resolution (Calibrated Calendar Years) Conclusions • These models provide specific hypotheses • Robust compared to field data • Explanations for timing / size of changes • Geomorphologically testable • Global applicability • Cannot generalize between rivers • Work is underway on 100-yr resolution 250+ Rivers modeled. Contact: rabryson@wisc.edu

  11. Bryson, R. A., K.A. McEnaney, and A.H. Ruter 2006    Modeling the History of the Great Rivers of the World. Paper presented at the International Conference on Rivers and Civilization, June 25-28, La Crosse, WI.

More Related