Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotopic Signatures of Large Atmospheric Ice Conglomerations

Micro-Raman spectroscopic study of extremely large atmospheric ice conglomerations (megacryometeors)

“…Isotopic studies of megacryometeors (Martínez-Frías et al 2005;Martínez-Frías & Delgado 2006;Orellana et al 2008) Martínez-Frías et al 2005. ) are typical of rain water in the Iberian Peninsula (e.g.…”

Monitoring the fall of large atmospheric ice conglomerations: a multianalytical approach to the study of the Mejorada del Campo megacryometeor

“…As previously defined, although several hypotheses have been advanced, no geophysical model is able to adequately give explanation of what factors cause the ice nucleation and growth, or how megacryometeors can be actually formed and maintained in the atmosphere. 6,[9][10][11] However, it is a fact that tropospheric ice chunks, weighing tens of kilograms, do fall provoking verifiable hazards without a clear knowledge about the environmental implication of the whole process that rules their formation in the atmosphere (more or less anthropogenically related). This article offers new data about the Mejorada del Campo megacryometeor and documents the value of having both civil and scientific institutions involved in conducting follow-up investigation of such atmospheric ice falls.…”

“…Nevertheless, any model should involve the existence of an ice-supersaturated region (ISSR), that is, a supersaturated but cloud free airmass, 20,21 connected with extreme atmospheric turbulence, associated with the observed tropopause undulation. 6,11 In this sense, theoretical calculations, based on experimentally-obtained dD SMOW variations, indicate that the vertical trajectory in effective growth of the megacryometeors was lower than 3.2 km. 11 It is important to note that a detailed historical review of such ice fall events verifies that there are many documented references of similar falls of large blocks of ice which go back to the first half of the 19th century (prior to the invention of aircrafts).…”

“…6,11 In this sense, theoretical calculations, based on experimentally-obtained dD SMOW variations, indicate that the vertical trajectory in effective growth of the megacryometeors was lower than 3.2 km. 11 It is important to note that a detailed historical review of such ice fall events verifies that there are many documented references of similar falls of large blocks of ice which go back to the first half of the 19th century (prior to the invention of aircrafts). [22][23][24] It is still too early to ascertain whether there is a real multiplication effect of the number of megacryometeor incident exclusively due to natural causes (now there is a statistical artifact in the analysis as the information circulates very fast and we can know rapidly what is happening in different parts of the world).…”

“…Certain local atmospheric anomalies, such as the formation of unusually large ice conglomerations (megacryometeors), have been proposed to be a potential natural hazard 3 for people and aviation, as well as geoindicators 4 for fingerprinting larger-scale atmospheric chemical and physical changes. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] By the study of atmospheric soundings from NOAA, and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data of the upper troposphere, the formation of megacryometeors has been linked to undulations of the tropopause (mean upper tropospheric temperature gradient for 19 ice fall events occurred for the past five years combined was significantly greater than climate normals), ozone anomalies and strong wind turbulence. 6,9,11,12 This is of relevance from the environmental point of view, given that observations suggest that: (1) the mixing ratio of water vapour in the stratosphere has increased by 20-50% from the 1960s to the mid-1990s 13 and (2) interchanges of water vapour, favoured by tropopause disturbances, can play a central role in atmospheric chemistry, influencing heterogeneous chemical reactions, with subsequent implications in climate change, as part of a global long-term trend.…”