Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land
International audience In this paper the basic geophysical and ecological principles are jointly analyzed that allow the landmasses of Earth to remain moistened sufficiently for terrestrial life to be possible. 1. Under gravity, land inevitably loses water to the ocean. To keep land moistened, the g...
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ftinsu:oai:HAL:hal-00298762v1 2023-11-12T04:28:05+01:00 Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land Makarieva, A. M. Gorshkov, V. G. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute 2006-08-30 https://hal.science/hal-00298762 https://hal.science/hal-00298762/document https://hal.science/hal-00298762/file/hessd-3-2621-2006.pdf en eng HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union hal-00298762 https://hal.science/hal-00298762 https://hal.science/hal-00298762/document https://hal.science/hal-00298762/file/hessd-3-2621-2006.pdf info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1812-2108 EISSN: 1812-2116 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00298762 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2006, 3 (4), pp.2621-2673 [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2006 ftinsu 2023-10-25T16:27:50Z International audience In this paper the basic geophysical and ecological principles are jointly analyzed that allow the landmasses of Earth to remain moistened sufficiently for terrestrial life to be possible. 1. Under gravity, land inevitably loses water to the ocean. To keep land moistened, the gravitational water runoff must be continuously compensated by the atmospheric ocean-to-land moisture transport. Using data for five terrestrial transects of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program we show that the mean distance to which the passive geophysical air fluxes can transport moisture over non-forested areas, does not exceed several hundred kilometers; precipitation decreases exponentially with distance from the ocean. 2. In contrast, precipitation over extensive natural forests does not depend on the distance from the ocean along several thousand kilometers, as illustrated for the Amazon and Yenisey river basins and Equatorial Africa. This points to the existence of an active biotic pump transporting atmospheric moisture inland from the ocean. 3. Physical principles of the biotic moisture pump are investigated based on the previously unstudied properties of atmospheric water vapor, which can be either in or out of hydrostatic equilibrium depending on the lapse rate of air temperature. A novel physical principle is formulated according to which the low-level air moves from areas with weak evaporation to areas with more intensive evaporation. Due to the high leaf area index, natural forests maintain high transpiration fluxes, which support the ascending air motion over the forest and "suck in" moist air from the ocean, which is the essence of the biotic pump of atmospheric moisture. In the result, the gravitational runoff water losses from the optimally moistened forest soil can be fully compensated by the biotically enhanced precipitation at any distance from the ocean. 4. It is discussed how a continent-scale biotic water pump mechanism could be produced by natural selection acting on individual ... Article in Journal/Newspaper yenisey river Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Yenisey ENVELOPE(82.680,82.680,71.828,71.828) |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences Makarieva, A. M. Gorshkov, V. G. Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
topic_facet |
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces environment [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
description |
International audience In this paper the basic geophysical and ecological principles are jointly analyzed that allow the landmasses of Earth to remain moistened sufficiently for terrestrial life to be possible. 1. Under gravity, land inevitably loses water to the ocean. To keep land moistened, the gravitational water runoff must be continuously compensated by the atmospheric ocean-to-land moisture transport. Using data for five terrestrial transects of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program we show that the mean distance to which the passive geophysical air fluxes can transport moisture over non-forested areas, does not exceed several hundred kilometers; precipitation decreases exponentially with distance from the ocean. 2. In contrast, precipitation over extensive natural forests does not depend on the distance from the ocean along several thousand kilometers, as illustrated for the Amazon and Yenisey river basins and Equatorial Africa. This points to the existence of an active biotic pump transporting atmospheric moisture inland from the ocean. 3. Physical principles of the biotic moisture pump are investigated based on the previously unstudied properties of atmospheric water vapor, which can be either in or out of hydrostatic equilibrium depending on the lapse rate of air temperature. A novel physical principle is formulated according to which the low-level air moves from areas with weak evaporation to areas with more intensive evaporation. Due to the high leaf area index, natural forests maintain high transpiration fluxes, which support the ascending air motion over the forest and "suck in" moist air from the ocean, which is the essence of the biotic pump of atmospheric moisture. In the result, the gravitational runoff water losses from the optimally moistened forest soil can be fully compensated by the biotically enhanced precipitation at any distance from the ocean. 4. It is discussed how a continent-scale biotic water pump mechanism could be produced by natural selection acting on individual ... |
author2 |
Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Makarieva, A. M. Gorshkov, V. G. |
author_facet |
Makarieva, A. M. Gorshkov, V. G. |
author_sort |
Makarieva, A. M. |
title |
Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
title_short |
Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
title_full |
Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
title_fullStr |
Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
title_sort |
biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00298762 https://hal.science/hal-00298762/document https://hal.science/hal-00298762/file/hessd-3-2621-2006.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(82.680,82.680,71.828,71.828) |
geographic |
Yenisey |
geographic_facet |
Yenisey |
genre |
yenisey river |
genre_facet |
yenisey river |
op_source |
ISSN: 1812-2108 EISSN: 1812-2116 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00298762 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2006, 3 (4), pp.2621-2673 |
op_relation |
hal-00298762 https://hal.science/hal-00298762 https://hal.science/hal-00298762/document https://hal.science/hal-00298762/file/hessd-3-2621-2006.pdf |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1782341433573769216 |