Russell James M.

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Last Name
Russell
First Name
James M.
ORCID
0000-0002-1329-4613

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Article
    Coordinated hydrological regimes in the Indo-Pacific region during the past two millennia
    (American Geophysical Union, 2010-03-05) Tierney, Jessica E. ; Oppo, Delia W. ; Rosenthal, Yair ; Russell, James M. ; Linsley, Braddock K.
    Instrumental data suggest that major shifts in tropical Pacific atmospheric dynamics and hydrology have occurred within the past century, potentially in response to anthropogenic warming. To better understand these trends, we use the hydrogen isotopic ratios of terrestrial higher plant leaf waxes (δDwax) in marine sediments from southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia, to compile a detailed reconstruction of central Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) hydrologic variability spanning most of the last two millennia. Our paleodata are highly correlated with a monsoon reconstruction from Southeast Asia, indicating that intervals of strong East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) activity are associated with a weaker Indonesian monsoon (IM). Furthermore, the centennial-scale oscillations in our data follow known changes in Northern Hemisphere climate (e.g., the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period) implying a dynamic link between Northern Hemisphere temperatures and IPWP hydrology. The inverse relationship between the EASM and IM suggests that migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and associated changes in monsoon strength caused synoptic hydrologic shifts in the IPWP throughout most of the past two millennia.
  • Preprint
    Effect of continuous light on leaf wax isotope ratios in Betula nana and Eriophorum vaginatum: Implications for Arctic paleoclimate reconstructions
    (Elsevier B.V., 2018-08-22) Daniels, William C. ; Huang, Yongsong ; Russell, James M. ; Giblin, Anne E.
    Reconstructions of climate using leaf wax D/H ratios (δDwax) require accounting for the apparent isotopic fractionation (εapp) between plant source water and waxes. There have been conflicting publications on whether plants in the Arctic growing under 24-hour continuous light, fractionate less than temperate and tropical plants. In this study, we examine the effect of diurnal light (DL) versus 24-hour continuous light (CL) on the isotopic composition of leaf n-alkanes and n-acids in greenhouse experiments using two common Arctic plants (Eriophorum vaginatum, or tussock cottongrass and Betula nana, or dwarf birch). For E. vaginatum, the δDwax values of various wax homologues were 5–11‰ more positive for CL plants relative to their DL counterparts, whereas for B. nana, CL waxes were 3–24‰ more negative, suggesting that daylight length is not a unifying control on leaf wax D/H ratios of Arctic plants. The δ13Cwax of B. nana was more negative for plants grown in continuous light compared to diurnal light, reflecting lower water-use efficiency, associated with prolonged stomatal opening in the CL treatment. We modeled the impact of increasing stomatal conductance and effective flow path lengths (mimicking variable leaf morphologies) on the isotopic composition of leaf waters (δDlw) and find that variations in leaf-water enrichment may explain the variable δDwax responses seen between E. vaginatum and B. nana. We suggest that between-species differences in the δDlw response to light, and differences in the utilization of stored carbohydrates, were important for governing δDwax. Our greenhouse results suggest that Arctic plant leaf waxes do not consistently display reduced εapp values as a result of 24-hour day light, providing additional support for field observations.
  • Article
    North Atlantic cooling triggered a zonal mode over the Indian Ocean during Heinrich Stadial 1
    (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2023-01-04) Du, Xiaojing ; Russell, James M. ; Liu, Zhengyu ; Otto-Bliesner, Bette L. ; Oppo, Delia W. ; Mohtadi, Mahyar ; Zhu, Chenyu ; Galy, Valier V. ; Schefuß, Enno ; Yan, Yan ; Rosenthal, Yair ; Dubois, Nathalie ; Arbuszewski, Jennifer ; Gao, Yu
    Abrupt changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are thought to affect tropical hydroclimate through adjustment of the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) involves the largest AMOC reduction in recent geological time; however, over the tropical Indian Ocean (IO), proxy records suggest zonal anomalies featuring intense, widespread drought in tropical East Africa versus generally wet but heterogeneous conditions in the Maritime Continent. Here, we synthesize proxy data and an isotope-enabled transient deglacial simulation and show that the southward ITCZ shift over the eastern IO during HS1 strengthens IO Walker circulation, triggering an east-west precipitation dipole across the basin. This dipole reverses the zonal precipitation anomalies caused by the exposed Sunda and Sahul shelves due to glacial lower sea level. Our study illustrates how zonal modes of atmosphere-ocean circulation can amplify or reverse global climate anomalies, highlighting their importance for future climate change.