The temperature and thermal properties of shelf sediments from the East Siberian, Laptev, and Kara Seas were determined from field investigations. The sediments were in an unfrozen cryotic state (ice-free) and showed negative temperatures, ranging from-1.0 to-1.4 degrees C. These temperatures imply the presence of widespread subsea permafrost from the shelf to the continental slope of the East Siberian Arctic Seas, reaching-1000-1500 km off the coast. The thermal conductivity and heat capacity of sediments (up to a depth of 0.5 m) from the Eastern Arctic Seas averaged 0.95 W/(m.K) and 3010 kJ/(m(3).K), respectively. We also conducted temperature and thermal conductivity measurements of the upper sediment horizons of the permafrost in the Laptev Sea shelf (drilling depth of 57 m). The analysis of sediment cores ensured the determination of thermal conductivity with depth. We also analyzed the influence of moisture content, density, particle size distribution, salinity, and thermal state on sediment thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of unfrozen cryotic (ice-free) sediments was predominantly dependent on the contents of silt and clay. In general, unfrozen cryotic sandy sediments had a thermal conductivity range 1.7-2.0 W/(m.K), a moisture content of-20%, and a density of 2.0-2.2 g/cm(3). Frozen (ice-containing) sediments showed higher thermal conductivities of 2.5-3.0 W/(m.K), with a density of 1.9-2.0 g/cm(3) and a moisture content exceeding 25-30%. The high thermal conductivity of sand was associated with low salinity (0.1-0.2%), high ice content, and moderate unfrozen water content.

How water could affect thermal transport properties is a key question that needs to be quantified experimentally when it is incorporated as structurally bound hydroxyl groups in the lattice of mantle minerals. In this study, thermal diffusivity (D) and thermal conductivity (kappa) of San Carlos olivine aggregates with various water contents (up to 0.2 wt.% H2O) were measured simultaneously using transient plane-source method up to 873 K and 3 GPa. Experimental results demonstrate that water content can significantly reduce the thermal diffusivity (D) and thermal conductivity (kappa) of olivine aggregate. With the increase of H2O content from 0.08 to 0.2 wt.%, the absolute values of D and kappa for olivine samples decrease by 5-13% and 17-33% and by 3-8% and 14-21%, respectively. D and kappa of olivine aggregate decrease with temperature but increase with pressure. Heat capacity is influenced by pressure negatively. Combining the present data with surface heat flow of the Moon as well as heat production, the calculated temperature profiles provide new constraints on the lunar geotherm and possible H2O content in the lunar interior.

The thermophysical properties of lunar regolith have been thoroughly investigated for temperatures higher than 100 K. For the near-equatorial thermal measurements of the Apollo era, this temperature range was sufficient to generate appropriate models. However, recent measurements from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment have revealed polar temperatures as low as 20 K, with apparently lower thermal inertia than explainable by existing theory. In the absence of comprehensive laboratory measurements of regolith thermal properties at low temperatures (<100 K), we investigate solid state theory and fits to lunar simulant materials to derive a semiempirical model of specific heat and thermal conductivity in lunar regolith in the full range 20-400 K. The primary distinctions between these previous models are (1) the temperature dependence of the solid conduction component of thermal conductivity at low temperatures, (2) the focus on regolith bulk density as the primary variable, and (3) the concept that the composition and modal petrology of grains could significantly influence thermal properties of the bulk regolith. This model predicts that at low temperatures, thermal conductivity is as much as an order of magnitude lower and specific heat is likely higher than expected from current models. The thermal conductivity at low temperature should vary depending on the constituent grain materials, their crystallinity, contributions from phonon scattering modes, bulk porosity, and density. To demonstrate the impact of our finding, we extrapolate the effects of our conductivity model on temperature variations in permanently shadowed regions on the Moon. This work motivates experimental confirmation of thermophysical properties of lunar regolith at low temperature.

Relations among observed changes in global mean surface temperature, ocean heat content, ocean heating rate, and calculated radiative forcing, all as a function of time over the twentieth century, that are based on a two-compartment energy balance model, are used to determine key properties of Earth's climate system. The increase in heat content of the world ocean, obtained as the average of several recent compilations, is found to be linearly related to the increase in global temperature over the period 1965-2009; the slope, augmented to account for additional heat sinks, which is an effective heat capacity of the climate system, is 21.8 +/- A 2.1 W year m(-2) K-1 (one sigma), equivalent to the heat capacity of 170 m of seawater (for the entire planet) or 240 m for the world ocean. The rate of planetary heat uptake, determined from the time derivative of ocean heat content, is found to be proportional to the increase in global temperature relative to the beginning of the twentieth century with proportionality coefficient 1.05 +/- A 0.06 W m(-2) K-1. Transient and equilibrium climate sensitivities were evaluated for six published data sets of forcing mainly by incremental greenhouse gases and aerosols over the twentieth century as calculated by radiation transfer models; these forcings ranged from 1.1 to 2.1 W m(-2), spanning much of the range encompassed by the 2007 assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For five of the six forcing data sets, a rather robust linear proportionality obtains between the observed increase in global temperature and the forcing, allowing transient sensitivity to be determined as the slope. Equilibrium sensitivities determined by two methods that account for the rate of planetary heat uptake range from 0.31 +/- 0.02 to 1.32 +/- 0.31 K (W m(-2))(-1) (CO2 doubling temperature 1.16 +/- 0.09-4.9 +/- 1.2 K), more than spanning the IPCC estimated likely uncertainty range, and strongly anticorrelated with the forcing used to determine the sensitivities. Transient sensitivities, relevant to climate change on the multidecadal time scale, are considerably lower, 0.23 +/- 0.01 to 0.51 +/- 0.04 K (W m(-2))(-1). The time constant characterizing the response of the upper ocean compartment of the climate system to perturbations is estimated as about 5 years, in broad agreement with other recent estimates, and much shorter than the time constant for thermal equilibration of the deep ocean, about 500 years.

Laboratory measurements of physical properties of planetary ices generate information for dynamical models of tectonically active icy bodies in the outer solar system. We review the methods for measuring both flow properties and thermal properties of icy planetary materials in the laboratory, and describe physical theories that are essential for intelligent extrapolation of data from laboratory to planetary conditions. This review is structured with a separate and independent for each of the two sets of physical properties, rheological and thermal. The rheological behaviors of planetary ices are as diverse as the icy moons themselves. High-pressure water ice phases show respective viscosities that vary over four orders of magnitude. Ices of CO2, NH3, as well as clathrate hydrates of CH4 and other gases vary in viscosity by nearly ten orders of magnitude. Heat capacity and thermal conductivity of detected/inferred compositions in outer solar system bodies have been revised. Some low-temperature phases of minerals and condensates have a deviant thermal behavior related to paramount water ice. Hydrated salts have low values of thermal conductivity and an inverse dependence of conductivity on temperature, similar to clathrate hydrates or glassy solids. This striking behavior may suit the dynamics of icy satellites.