(Table 1) Moisture content of buried snowpack deposit samples from Pearse Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys

Buried snowpack deposits are found within the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, which offers the opportunity to study these layered structures of sand and ice within a polar desert environment. Four discrete buried snowpacks are studied within Pearse Valley, Antarctica, through in situ observations, sample analyses, O-H isotope measurements and numerical modelling of snowpack stability and evolution. The buried snowpack deposits evolve throughout the year and undergo deposition, melt, refreeze, and sublimation. We demonstrate how the deposition and subsequent burial of snow can preserve the snowpacks in the Dry Valleys. The modelled lifetimes of the buried snowpacks are dependent upon subsurface stratigraphy but are typically less than one year if the lag thickness is less than c. 7 cm and snow thickness is less than c. 10 cm, indicating that some of the Antarctic buried snowpacks form annually. Buried snowpacks in the Antarctic polar desert may serve as analogues for similar deposits on Mars and may be applicable to observations of the north polar erg, buried ice at the Mars Phoenix landing site, and observations of buried ice throughout the martian Arctic. Numerical modelling suggests that seasonal snows and subsequent burial are not required to preserve the snow and ice on Mars.

(Table 3) Boron and chlorine in atmospheric moisture and rain water collected on the shore of the Golubaya Bay in 1970

Boron and chlorine were determined in rain water and in atmospheric moisture condensed in a "Saratov" refrigerator. Ocean is the main source of boron on the earth surface. Boron evaporates from the ocean and enriches atmospheric precipitation: B/Cl ratio of ocean water (0.00024) increases by factor of 10-15. Assuming that the average Cl content in global river runoff is 7.8 mg/l and boron content 0.013 mgl, B/Cl ratio in this runoff is 0.0017. The average B/Cl ratio in rain water of the Golubaya (Blue) Bay (Gelendzhik, Black Sea region) is 0.0026 and in condensates of atmospheric moisture during onshore and offshore winds in the same region it averages from 0.0029 to 0.0033. The maximum boron content in the condensates of this region during onshore winds was 0.032 mg/l and the minimum during offshore winds, 0.004 mg/l. /Cl ratio in sea water over the Atlantic Ocean and in the Gelendzhik area of the Black Sea varied within narrow range, mostly from 0.0025 to 0.0035. Similar B/Cl ratio (0.0024) was found for atmospheric precipitation on the slope of the Terskei Ala-Tau near the Issyk-Kul Lake in 1969. Thus, although chemistries of boron and chlorine (in chlorides) are very different, the B/Cl ratio in the atmosphere is fairly constant. This can be taken as a confirmation of an assumption that salt composition of sea water passes into the atmosphere in molecularly dispersed state. Supposing that the ocean-atmosphere system is in equilibrium as regards to the boron budget, it can be assumed that the same amount of boron passes from the ocean into bottom sediments and from lithosphere rocks and soils into the hydrosphere.

Age determination and clay content of sediment core GeoB5804-4

Paleosalinity and terrigenous sediment input changes reconstructed on two sediment cores from the northernmost Red Sea were used to infer hydrological changes at the southern margin of the Mediterranean climate zone during the Holocene. Between approximately 9.25 and 7.25 thousand years ago, about 3 per mil reduced surface water salinities and enhanced fluvial sediment input suggest substantially higher rainfall and freshwater runoff, which thereafter decreased to modern values. The northern Red Sea humid interval is best explained by enhancement and southward extension of rainfall from Mediterranean sources, possibly involving strengthened early-Holocene Arctic Oscillation patterns and a regional monsoon-type circulation induced by increased land-sea temperature contrasts. We conclude that Afro-Asian monsoonal rains did not cross the subtropical desert zone during the early to mid-Holocene.

Isotope ratios, IRD and planktonic foraminifera content during marine isotope stage 5 of sediment cores MD99-2303, MD99-2304 and MD95-2010

Variable climatic and oceanographic conditions characterized the last interglacial at high northern latitudes, probably related to changes in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The magnitudes of these changes are comparable to the Holocene variability, and were thus significantly subdued compared to glacial climate changes. A thermal optimum occurred during the early part of the interglacial, followed by a period of reduced Atlantic inflow to the northernmost Nordic Seas. Subsequently, a new period with increased strength of the AMOC occurred. Significant amounts of Ice-Rafted Debris (IRD) were deposited in the northernmost Nordic Seas before any major change of the global ice volume. This implies an early onset of local ice sheet growth, probably the result of enhanced inflow of Atlantic water to the northernmost Nordic Seas contemporary with a Northern Hemisphere summer insolation minimum. Contrasting sea-land conditions provided large moisture fluxes towards land, giving rise to rapid, early glacial growth. Throughout the glacial part of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, millennial-scale cold events occurred along the axis of the warm water transport, from the subtropics all the way to the northernmost Nordic Seas. Correlation of IRD events from sites in the Fram Strait, on the Voring Plateau, and in the North Atlantic provides evidence that the major Northern Hemisphere ice sheets at times responded coherently to the same forcing. The widespread distribution of these events highlights the importance of the oceanic influence on the regional climate system.