Oxygen Isotope Perturbation and Its Effects on Temperature and Essay

Oxygen Isotope Perturbation and Its Effects on Temperature and Salinity in the Bay of Bengal - Essay Example Oxygen isotope ratio is a climatic proxy, an environmental variable, and it assists climatologists, including paleoclimatologists, to determine certain important climatic parameters, both existing and past, from it. (UNST 232a Mentor Section Assignment 5) Another phenomenon the isotopes are involved in is that oxygen accumulates in the calcium carbonate (CaC) of the shells of marine animals called foraminifera -"Forams". The isotope ratio in the shells depends upon on the temperature and existing isotope ratio of the water in which the animals live or lived. Over periods of time these animals die and their shells descend to the bottom of the sea and form layers that present researchers with important data from which past temperature and isotope ratios can be determined. (UNST 232a Mentor Section Assignment 5) The isotope ratio in any singular stretch of water changes over time. Water molecules made up of the lighter isotope evaporate easily leaving water molecules with the heavier one back in the seawater. When the evaporated water precipitates back into the sea there is little change in the ratio but when the water vapour precipitates on land the lighter isotope is transported to land from where it may come back to the sea via rivers and other waterways or it may remain trapped for thousands of years in the form of ice if it is precipitated as snow on places like the polar icecaps and high mountain tops. (UNST 232a Mentor Section Assignment 5) During normal times the isotope ratio in sea and ocean water is fairly constant but during glacial periods when the icecaps advance beyond normal limits the isotope ratio shifts in favour of for obvious reasons. This is in a comparative sense to normal times. (Oceanography 540, 2002) The isotope ratio is expressed as delta (lower case) with the isotope contents expressed in parts per thousand (per mille) as the following equation demonstrates. = - / x 1000 Higher negativity in indicates greater depletion. (UNST 232a Mentor Section Assignment 5) The standard in this case is of 'Standard Mean Ocean Water' or 'SMOW'. (Oceanography 540, 2002) 3. The 'Foram' Fractionation Factor The foraminifera species being investigated in this report is the planktonic

You can write one that fits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

You can write one that fits - Essay Example It was not unlike a world turned upside down. As the scramble for the new truth set in, the new philosophy was introduced. For thinkers and those who introduced new ideas, it was a necessary change and a tool. For ordinary people who came to be acquainted with it and eventually accepted the new theoretical paradigm, it was a way of coping with the changes around them. This paper explores this new philosophy development and determines its causes and impact, especially its inevitable link with new science. There is an interesting school of thought that figures prominently in the manner by which new philosophy was accepted. The position is that philosophy is critical in validating science. Therefore, these two variables are within a symbiotic relationship wherein one is crucial in the acceptance of the other. Earlier, this was the case with Aristotle’s physics and natural science. They became legitimate when it was backed by Aristotelian philosophy. Several years later, this would be cemented further when Thomas Aquinas reconciled his thoughts with Catholic theology, effectively making Aristotelian science the foundation of European philosophical and intellectual worldview. The position is that new philosophy also functioned the same way. It became inextricably linked with new science. The new philosophy was called for in order for people to accept new science as the new truth or to establish it as valid as opposed to the classical authorities. This is perhaps the case because any pursuit of truth requires a degree of rhetorics and persuasion in order for it to be recognized. There is a great deal of perception involved here wherein the truths cannot merely exist objectively. There was a philosophical statement about whether a tree makes any noise when it falls in the forest when no one could hear it. There is noise, true. But