Welcome
Scientists from a broad range of disciplines are collaborating at the Linde Center to generate a comprehensive understanding of our global environment—including the impacts of human activities on it. They investigate Earth's atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and biosphere and their mutual interactions, characterizing their present and past states through innovative measurements, developing models to describe their evolution, and synthesizing measurements and models to produce sound predictions of the future. Among the questions addressed at the Linde Center are:
- How has Earth's climate varied in the past and how will it change in the future?
- How does pollution affect air quality locally and far from its sources, and how does it affect cloud cover and climate change?
- What happens to carbon dioxide after it enters the atmosphere?
The Linde Center is located within the unique Linde + Robinson Laboratory, likely the most energy-efficient laboratory building in the United States. The Linde + Robinson Laboratory and nearby buildings house state-of-the art laboratories for oceanography, atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemistry, environmental microbiology, and environmental chemistry and technology.
Featured Event
Solution to the Allusion Hidden in PERCEPTION
The Caltech Community has been stumped and, as a result, $1,000 has been added to the endowment for global environmental science. No one in the Caltech Community came forward within one year with the correct answer to the contest that was announced on January 24, 2012 by alumnus and Vice Chair of Caltech's Board of Trustees, Ronald Linde, at the dedication of Linde+Robinson Laboratory.
Several members of the Caltech community submitted very insightful entries that correctly identified hidden allusions contained in PERCEPTION, and several of the clues were correctly identified. None of the entrants, however, identified the specific allusion that matches all of the clues, as required by the contest rules. Below is the solution:
Solution: The number of parallel hexahedron faces (12) in PERCEPTION equals the number of rare earth elements discovered since Robinson Laboratory was built in 1932. The number of different clues also is 12.
Details: Clues contained in the 'Statement of Clues' are identified below by underlining, with explanations (where deemed helpful) in brackets and red type.
STATEMENT OF CLUES
History
[of
science and of Caltech]
and Mystery: A Number [12]
of Clues for a Test in
PERCEPTION
If Sherlock
Holmes, the fictional master of perception, had been a member of the Caltech
[Caltech's history] community, he would not have
needed a dozen [12 parallel faces/12
discoveries] clues to discover the allusion. At the time of discovery
he characteristically would have exclaimed, "Elementary [pertaining to elements], my dear Watson!"
Science has
progressed enormously since Robinson Laboratory was built. Now the Global Environmental Science
initiative will provide a rare opportunity for Caltech's [same clue as above] divisions, working in concert and
in parallel, to address an impending crisis that faces our planet
[Earth].
Thank you for everyone's participation and interest. For the Artist's Statement, the original Contest and two additional clues announced late in 2012, please click here or visit http://lindecenter.caltech.edu/contest
Recent News
Recent Publications
Kanda, Ravi V. S. and Hetland, Eric A. and Simons, Mark (2013) An asperity model for fault creep and interseismic deformation in northeastern Japan. Geophysical Journal International, 192 (1). pp. 38-57. ISSN 0956-540X
Zhang, Xi and Shia, Run-Lie and Yung, Yuk L. (2013) Jovian Stratosphere as a Chemical Transport System: Benchmark Analytical Solutions. Astrophysical Journal, 767 (2). Art. No. 172. ISSN 0004-637X
Kopf, Sebastian H. and Henny, Cynthia and Newman, Dianne K. (2013) Ligand-Enhanced Abiotic Iron Oxidation and the Effects of Chemical versus Biological Iron Cycling in Anoxic Environments. Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (6). pp. 2602-2611. ISSN 0013-936X
Lòpez-Yglesias, Xerxes and Flagan, Richard C. (2013) Population Balances of Micron-Sized Aerosols in a Bipolar Ion Environment. Aerosol Science and Technology, 47 (6). pp. 681-687. ISSN 0278-6826
Zuend, Andreas and Seinfeld, John H. (2013) A practical method for the calculation of liquid–liquid equilibria in multicomponent organic–water–electrolyte systems using physicochemical constraints. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 337 . pp. 201-213. ISSN 0378-3812
Lόpez-Yglesias, Xerxes and Flagan, Richard C. (2013) Ion–Aerosol Flux Coefficients and the Steady-State Charge Distribution of Aerosols in a Bipolar Ion Environment. Aerosol Science and Technology, 47 (6). pp. 688-704. ISSN 0278-6826
Zhang, Xi and Liang, Mao Chang and Mills, Franklin P. and Belyaev, Denis A. and Yung, Yuk L. (2012) Sulfur chemistry in the middle atmosphere of Venus. Icarus, 217 (2). pp. 714-739. ISSN 0019-1035
Kopf, S. H. and Newman, D. K. (2012) Photomixotrophic growth of Rhodobacter capsulatus SB1003 on ferrous iron. Geobiology, 10 (3). pp. 216-222. ISSN 1472-4677
Chatanantavet, Phairot and Lamb, Michael P. and Nittrouer, Jeffrey A. (2012) Backwater controls of avulsion location on deltas. Geophysical Research Letters, 39 . Art. No. L01402. ISSN 0094-8276
Coggon, M. M. and Sorooshian, A. and Wang, Z. and Metcalf, A. R. and Frossard, A. A. and Lin, J. J. and Craven, J. S. and Nenes, A. and Jonsson, H. H. and Russell, L. M. and Flagan, R. C. and Seinfeld, J. H. (2012) Ship impacts on the marine atmosphere: insights into the contribution of shipping emissions to the properties of marine aerosol and clouds. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 12 (18). pp. 8439-8458. ISSN 1680-7316
Enami, Shinichi and Mishra, Himanshu and Hoffmann, Michael R. and Colussi, Agustín J. (2012) Protonation and Oligomerization of Gaseous Isoprene on Mildly Acidic Surfaces: Implications for Atmospheric Chemistry. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 116 (24). pp. 6027-6032. ISSN 1089-5639
Kite, Edwin S. and Lewis, Kevin W. and Lamb, Michael P. (2012) Growth and form of the mound in Gale Crater, Mars: Slope-wind enhanced erosion and transport. . (Submitted)
Apel, E. C. and Olson, J. R. and Crawford, J. H. and Hornbrook, R. S. and Hills, A. J. and Cantrell, C. A. and Emmons, L. K. and Knapp, D. J. and Hall, S. and Mauldin, R. L., III and Weinheimer, A. J. and Fried, A. and Blake, D. R. and Crounse, J. D. and St. Clair, J. M. and Wennberg, P. O. and Diskin, G. S. and Fuelberg, H. E. and Wisthaler, A. and Milkoviny, T. and Brune, W. and Riemer, D. D. (2012) Impact of the deep convection of isoprene and other reactive trace species on radicals and ozone in the upper troposphere. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 12 (2). pp. 1135-1150. ISSN 1680-7316
Lin, Fan-Chi and Schmandt, Brandon and Tsai, Victor C. (2012) Joint inversion of Rayleigh wave phase velocity and ellipticity using USArray: Constraining velocity and density structure in the upper crust. Geophysical Research Letters, 39 . Art. No. L12303. ISSN 0094-8276
Lamb, Michael P. and Nittrouer, Jeffrey A. and Mohrig, David and Shaw, John (2012) Backwater and river plume controls on scour upstream of river mouths: Implications for fluvio-deltaic morphodynamics. Journal of Geophysical Research F, 117 . Art. No. F01002. ISSN 0148-0227
Levin, Lisa A. and Orphan, Victoria J. and Rouse, Greg W. and Rathburn, Anthony E. and Ussler, William, III and Cook, Geoffrey S. and Goffredi, Shana K. and Perez, Elena M. and Waren, Anders and Grupe, Benjamin M. and Chadwick, Grayson and Strickrott, Bruce (2012) A hydrothermal seep on the Costa Rica margin: middle ground in a continuum of reducing ecosystems. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 279 (1738). pp. 2580-2588. ISSN 0962-8452
John, Seth G. and Adkins, Jess (2012) The vertical distribution of iron stable isotopes in the North Atlantic near Bermuda. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 26 . Art. No. GB2034. ISSN 0886-6236
Bontognali, Tomaso R. R. and Sessions, Alex L. and Allwood, Abigail C. and Fischer, Woodward W. and Grotzinger, John P. and Summons, Roger E. and Eiler, John M. (2012) Sulfur isotopes of organic matter preserved in 3.45-billion-year-old stromatolites reveal microbial metabolism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (38). pp. 15146-15151. ISSN 0027-8424
Kwan, A. J. and Chan, A. W. H. and Ng, N. L. and Kjaergaard, H. G. and Seinfeld, J. H. and Wennberg, P. O. (2012) Peroxy radical chemistry and OH radical production during the NO_3-initiated oxidation of isoprene. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 12 (16). pp. 7499-7515. ISSN 1680-7316
Hsu, Ya-Ju and Ando, Masataka and Yu, Shui-Beih and Simons, Mark (2012) The potential for a great earthquake along the southernmost Ryukyu subduction zone. Geophysical Research Letters, 39 . Art. No. L14302. ISSN 0094-8276
Contact
Linde Center for Global Environmental Science
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd., MC 131-24
Pasadena, CA 91125
Email: lindecenter@caltech.edu
Phone: (626) 395-8731
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