Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : On the Mediterranean continental shelves the post-glacial transgressive succession is a complex picture composed by seaward progradations, related to sea level stillstands and/or increased sediment supply to the coasts, and minor flooding surfaces, associated to phases of enhanced rates of sea level rise. Among Late Pleistocene examples, major mid-shelf progradations have been related to the short-term climatic reversal of the Younger Dryas event, a period during which the combination of increased sediment supply from rivers and reduced rates of sea level rise promoted the formation of progradations up to tens-meter thick. While the documentation of coastal and subaqueous progradations recording the Younger Dryas interval are widely reported in the literature, the model of compound progradation within transgressive deposits is not proposed so far. Here we present the documentation of a deltaic system where both delta front sands and related fine-grained subaqueous progradations (prodeltaic to shallow marine) have been preserved. The Paleo Gargano Compound Delta (PGCD) formed offshore the modern Gargano Promontory (southern Adriatic Sea), and is composed by a coastal coarse-grained delta of reduced thickness and a muddy subaqueous clinoform, up to 30 meters thick. The PGCD, probably the first worldwide documentation of a compound delta within the transgressive record, provides the opportunity to investigate the processes controlling the formation of a compound delta system during an overall sea level rise and the factors that allowed its preservation. The finding of the PGCD provides the opportunity of a comparison with modern worldwide compound systems.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2015-04 , Vol. 362 , P. 43-59

Droits : 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00250/36158/34714.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2015.01.010
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00250/36158/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Timor Island was at time considered as an example of "accretionary prism" linked to the collision between the Australian block and the Banda arc. However, its geological evolution is more complex. Five main superimposed structural units are distinguished in West Timor. The today structure is the result of three main tectonic events that occurred during the Late Oligocene, Late Early Pliocene and Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene times, respectively. Our field investigations in the 1990 to 2000 decade completed with geochemical analyses and K-Ar datings (Jurassic and Miocene ages) of magmatism allow to precise the geodynamic evolution of Timor that can be summarized as follows: a first block was detached from Gondwana (unit 2) and drifted to the Asiatic margin until the Late Oligocene when it collided with the Asiatic active margin (unit 3). Then, the new block formed by both 2 and 3 units drifted to the south during the Miocene and the Early Pliocene until it collided with the Australian margin (ASM), by the Late Early Pliocene. Then, the Australian and Timor blocks moved together towards the North-North East during the Late Pliocene until they collided with the Banda fore-arc (unit 4). Later on (Pleistocene), Timor island was capped by the "autochthon" (unit 5) and then on (Quaternary?) by the Banda volcanic arc northward thrusted over the South Banda basin. Taking in consideration its close relationships with both the Australian plate and the Eurasian one. Timor may be considered as a key area for building this geodynamical scenario of Indonesia.
Bulletin Société Géologique de France

insu-00933548
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00933548
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.6.569

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
P>Tehran is one of the largest cities in the world (12 million people) facing seismic hazard. Standing at the foothills of Alborz Mountains, the capital of Iran is exposed to potential earthquakes associated with several nearby active faults. Classically mentioned as active features, the Kahrizak, the North Rey and the South Rey scarps cross the town itself and would be the sources of several destructive historical earthquakes. However, the nature of these topographic scarps remains uncertain. To assess whether these features correspond to active faults, we carried out a morphological and stratigraphic study. Our results show that the three scarps define horizontal scarp lines that follow contour lines matching ancient shorelines further East. This point, associated with other morphological characteristics such as the flatness of the upper and the lower surfaces, the long and regular streams that incised the upslope upper surfaces and the fact that the deposits are horizontal and without deformations, suggests in fact that the Kahrizak, the North Rey and the South Rey scarps correspond most likely to ancient shore lines and are not fault scarps.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-00496390
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00496390
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2010.00938.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : The Zagros Simply Folded Belt (ZSFB) is an active fold-and-thrust belt resulting from the still continuing continental collision between the Arabian plate and the Iranian plate, which probably started in the Oligocene. The present-day shortening (N25°) is well documented by focal mechanisms of earthquakes and global positioning system (GPS) surveys. We propose in this study a comparison of published palaeostress markers, including magnetic fabric, brittle deformation and calcite twinning data. In addition, we describe the magnetic fabric from Palaeocene carbonates (10 sites) and Mio-Pliocene clastic deposits (15 sites). The magnetic fabrics are intermediate, with magnetic foliation parallel to the bedding, and a magnetic lineation mostly at right angles to the shortening direction. This suggests that the magnetic fabric retains the record of an early layer-parallel shortening (LPS) that occurred prior to folding. The record of LPS allows the identification of originally oblique folds such as the Mand Fold, which have developed in front of the Kazerun Fault. The shape parameter of the magnetic fabric indicates a weak strain compatible with the development of detachment folds in the ZSFB. The palaeostress datasets, covering the Palaeocene to Pleistocene time interval, support several folding episodes accompanied by a counter-clockwise rotation of the stress field direction. The Palaeocene carbonates in the ZSFB record a N47 LPS during early to middle Miocene detachment folding in the High Zagros Belt (HZB). The Mio-Pliocene clastic deposits recorded a N38 LPS prior to and during detachment folding within the ZSFB at the end of the Miocene-Pliocene. Similarly, fault slip and calcite twin data from the ZSFB also support a counter-clockwise rotation from NE to N20 between the pre-folding stage and the late rejuvenation of folds. This counter-clockwise trend of palaeostress data agrees with fault slip data from the HZB. During the late stage of folding in the ZSFB, the Plio-Quaternary palaeostress trends are consistently parallel to the present-day shortening direction.
Tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of Zagros and Makran during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic

hal-00545036
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545036
DOI : 10.1144/SP330.6

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The rollback of a segmented slab of oceanic lithosphere is typically accompanied by vertical lithospheric tear fault(s) along the lateral slab edge(s) and by strike slip movement in the upper plate, defined as a STEP fault (Subduction Tear Edge Propagator). The Neogene evolution of the Central Mediterranean is dominated by the interaction between the slow Africa–Eurasia convergence and the SE-ward rollback of the Ionian slab, that leads to the back-arc opening of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Here, we present post-stack time migrated and pre-stack depth migrated Archimede (1997) multichannel seismic lines, that were acquired offshore eastern Sicily, at the foot of the Malta escarpment. First, we identify the recent deformation along the lateral ramp of the Calabrian accretionary wedge. Towards the east, the Calabrian wedge is formed by the accretion of the post-evaporitic sediments, above a decollement at the base of the Messinian evaporites. At the latitude of Syracuse, 50 km east of the Malta escarpment, a major N150°E trending crustal scale and vertical fault slices through the entire accretionary wedge. This fault cuts by several kilometers, through the pre-evaporitic Messinian sediments and into the basement. The vertical offset along this vertical fault decreases from north to south, and the fault is no longer observed on the seismic lines, 50 km SE of the Alfeo seamount. A previously published Moho depth isocontour map, offshore Sicily and the recent GPS data, combined with the presence of strike slip movements NE onshore Sicily, allow us to identify this 200 km long crustal-scale fault as the surface expression of a STEP fault. The presence of syntectonic Pleistocene sediments on top this crustal-scale fault suggests a recent lithospheric vertical movement of the STEP fault, in response to the rollback of the Ionian slab and to the SE-ward advance of the Calabria-Peloritan block
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2013-08 , Vol. 602 , P. 141-152

Droits : 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00118/22878/21386.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2012.12.026
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00118/22878/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The New Jersey continental shelf extends 150 km off the shoreline. During IODP Expedition 313, siliciclastic deposits of late Eocene to late Pleistocene age were drilled down to 631, 669 and 755 m below seafloor at sites 27A, 28A and 29A respectively in very shallow waters (33.5 to 36 m depth). Pore water salinities display multilayered brackish-salty-brine units 10 to 170 m thick, where low-salinity water is preferentially stored in fine-grained sediments. The sharp boundaries of these buried aquifers are often marked by cemented layers a few centimetres thick. The mineralogy and scanning electron microscope observations of these layers show two phases of cementation by authigenic minerals: (1) the early carbonate cement is frequently associated with pyrite, and (2) the late silicate cement infills the residual porosity. The isotopic compositions of the carbonate cements vary widely: −2.4 < δ¹⁸O ‰ VPDB < +2.8; −15.1 < δ¹³C ‰ VPDB < +15.6. The δ¹⁸O values indicate that the carbonate cements precipitated with pore waters comprising variable mixtures of seawater and ¹⁸O-depleted fresh water originating from submarine groundwater discharge. The δ¹³C values of the carbonate cements are related to organic matter diagenesis, providing ¹³C-depleted dissolved inorganic carbon during bacterial sulphate reduction and anaerobic oxidation of methane, and ¹³C-rich dissolved inorganic carbon during methanogenesis. The diagenetic cementation processes included chemical weathering of reactive silicate minerals by the CO²-rich pore waters issued from organic matter diagenesis that released bicarbonate, cations and dissolved silica, which were further precipitated as carbonate and silicate cements. The estimated range of temperature (18±4 °C) during carbonate precipitation is consistent with carbonate cementation at moderate burial depths; however, silicate cementation occurred later during diagenesis at deeper burial depths.
ISSN: 0276-0460

hal-01559985
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01559985
DOI : 10.1007/s00367-017-0506-6

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : Relict dune fields that are found as far south as 14 N in the modern-day African Sahel are testament to equatorward expansions of the Sahara desert during the Late Pleistocene. However, the discontinuous nature of dune records means that abrupt millennial-timescale climate events are not always resolved. High-resolution marine core studies have identified Heinrich stadials as the dustiest periods of the last glacial in West Africa although the spatial evolution of dust export on millennial timescales has so far not been investigated. We use the major-element composition of four high-resolution marine sediment cores to reconstruct the spatial extent of Saharan-dust versus river-sediment input to the continental margin from West Africa over the last 60 ka. This allows us to map the position of the sediment composition corresponding to the Sahara Sahel boundary. Our records indicate that the Sahara Sahel boundary reached its most southerly position (13 N) during Heinrich stadials and hence suggest that these were the periods when the sand dunes formed at 14 N on the continent. Heinrich stadials are associated with cold North Atlantic sea surface temperatures which appear to have triggered abrupt increases of aridity and wind strength in the Sahel. Our study illustrates the influence of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation on the position of the Sahara Sahel boundary and on global atmospheric dust loading.
Climate Of The Past (1814-9324) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2013 , Vol. 9 , N. 3 , P. 1181-1191

Droits : Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Access Climate of
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00181/29240/27635.pdf
DOI:10.5194/cp-9-1181-2013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00181/29240/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
AimThe global biodiversity crisis requires the identification of regions with high evolutionary potential, i.e. evolutionary hotspots (evospots). We created an analytical framework based on comparative phylogeography and coalescent methods to assess the dynamics of diversification and population persistence in the reef ecosystem of a little-studied region: the Southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO).LocationCoral reefs of the SWIO, with comparative data from the Pacific Ocean.MethodsWe generated sequences of mitochondrial DNA (COI and 16S) for 10 widespread brittle-stars (345 specimens) from 21 localities (8 in the SWIO). We analysed them by combining comparative phylogeography approaches, coalescent-based methods, molecular clocks and the concept of evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) to draw conclusions about the drivers of biodiversity in the region.ResultsCryptic diversity was prevalent, increasing lineage diversity within the 10 nominal species by 70% within the SWIO and by 200% across the Indo-West Pacific. All seven new SWIO lineages meet the criteria for ESUs and at least six are biological species. We detected likely intraregional diversifications dating to the Plio-Pleistocene, supporting the SWIO as a generator of biodiversity. Geographical restriction of ESUs, long coalescent times (> 80 ka) and old in situ diversification (> 1 Ma) point to the persistence of populations over multiple glacio-eustatic cycles. We provide data suggesting demographic expansion during sea-level high stands. Regional connectivity was lower, and cryptic differentiation higher in lecithotrophs than in planktotrophs.Main conclusionsThe analytical framework based on a biodiversity survey makes it possible to identify evospots by assessing the potential of a region to maintain and generate biodiversity and by evaluating the evolutionary processes and potential drivers at play.
ISSN: 0305-0270

hal-01369697
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01369697
DOI : 10.1111/jbi.12155

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
Recent field work and review of radiometric data obtained from Neogene lavas and plutonic rocks exposed in the Eastern Central Patagonian Cordillera (46–48ºS), which overlie subducted segments of the South Chile Ridge, suggest important Late Miocene to Pleistocene morphological changes in relation to base level variations and/or tectonic events. We present new field observations from a region south of Lago General Carrera-Buenos Aires, between the main Cordillera and the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires, demonstrating that normal faulting controlled valley incisions and occurred during lava emplacement at 5–4 Ma and after 3 Ma. We also show that the 12 Ma basaltic flows of the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires (~2000 m a.s.l.) have been subjected to deep incision, with younger lavas dated at 1.2 Ma partially filling the valleys. These incisions are thought to reflect progressive eastward tilting of the entire meseta. Our new observations, together with additional features from Central Patagonia, strongly suggest that tectonic events led to a regional widespread morphological change after 5 Ma. The coincidence in time and space between the subduction of segments of the South Chile Ridge at 6 and 3 Ma causing opening of a slab window, and strong base level variations in the studied area, suggests a cause-and-effect relationship. In Central Patagonia, compressional tectonics ended well before extensional events reported here. Causes of uplift and further extension are probably completely disconnected. The uplift is purely tectonic in origin and occurred prior to the subduction of the South Chile Ridge. Extension should be a consequence of this subduction.
ISSN: 0954-4879

insu-00272075
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00272075
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2007.00766.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
The Black Rat (Rattus rattus) spread out of Asia to become one of the world's worst agricultural and urban pests, and a reservoir or vector of numerous zoonotic diseases, including the devastating plague. Despite the global scale and inestimable cost of their impacts on both human livelihoods and natural ecosystems, little is known of the global genetic diversity of Black Rats, the timing and directions of their historical dispersals, and the risks associated with contemporary movements. We surveyed mitochondrial DNA of Black Rats collected across their global range as a first step towards obtaining an historical genetic perspective on this socioeconomically important group of rodents. We found a strong phylogeographic pattern with well-differentiated lineages of Black Rats native to South Asia, the Himalayan region, southern Indochina, and northern Indochina to East Asia, and a diversification that probably commenced in the early Middle Pleistocene. We also identified two other currently recognised species of Rattus as potential derivatives of a paraphyletic R.rattus. Three of the four phylogenetic lineage units within R. rattus show clear genetic signatures of major population expansion in prehistoric times, and the distribution of particular haplogroups mirrors archaeologically and historically documented patterns of human dispersal and trade. Commensalism clearly arose multiple times in R. Rattus and in widely separated geographic regions, and this may account for apparent regionalism in their associated pathogens. Our findings represent an important step towards deeper understanding the complex and influential relationship that has developed between Black Rats and humans, and invite a thorough re-examination of host-pathogen associations among Black Rats.
PLoS ONE

ird-00714383
http://hal.ird.fr/ird-00714383
http://hal.ird.fr/ird-00714383/document
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0026357
IRD : fdi:010055548

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : The composition of the glacial vegetation of southern French plains has been a matter of debate for several decades. Vegetation is considered as steppic according to French and Spanish lacustrine pollen records whereas cave deposits suggest the presence of mesothermophilous trees through the Last Glacial Maximum. In our paper, we display new palynological records from marine sediments of the Gulf of Lions. They indicate the presence of Abies, Picea and deciduous Quercus in the Gulf of Lions, certainly located in the drainage basins of the Pyreneo-Languedocian rivers. These populations that were sensitive to short climatic events during Marine Isotopic Stage 2 could have been linked to northeastern Spanish and southeastern French relicts already evidenced by phylogenetic data. These trees were absent from the Rhone drainage basin during the deglaciation and certainly also disappeared from the Pyreneo-Languedocian drainage basins from ca 17 to 15 ky cal BP. Finally, the Last Glacial Maximum does not appear as stable, cold and dry as previously thought.
Quaternary Science Reviews (0277-3791) (Elsevier), 2007-04 , Vol. 26 , N. 7-8 , P. 1037-1054

Droits : 2007 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2007/publication-2804.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.12.009
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2804/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Multiproxy analyses were performed on core MS27PT recovered in hemipelagic sediments deposited on the Nile margin in order to reconstruct Nile River palaeohydrological fluctuations during the last 100,000 years. The strontium and neodymium isotope composition of the terrigenous fraction and the major element distribution reveal large and abrupt changes in source, oscillating between a dominant aeolian Saharan contribution during arid periods and a dominant Nile River contribution during pluvial periods. Iron content shows a strong correlation with strontium and neodymium isotopes. This allows the use of a high-resolution continuous Fe record as a proxy of Blue Nile sediment input over the last 100,000 years. The detailed Fe record, with approximately 10 years resolution during pluvial periods, is consistent with subtropical African records of well-dated lake level fluctuations and thus constitutes a first continuous high resolution record of the East African monsoon regime intensity over Ethiopia.;The detailed Fe record shows the two main known pluvial periods attributed to strengthening of the African monsoon over Ethiopia, the Nabtian period from 14 to 8 ka cal BP and the Saharan period from 98 to 72 ka BR For the first time, the last glacial period (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2,3 and 4) is documented with a continuous record showing large oscillations between high and low East African palaeo-monsoon regimes.;The end of the Nabtian period occurred at 8 ka in core MS27PT, i.e. much earlier than on the East Equatorial African region where it ended around 5.5 ka. We interpret this as evidence that the southward shift of the rain belt occurred 3000 years earlier over the Eastern Ethiopian Highland and propose that the gradual southward migration of the rain belt was associated with highly variable intensity and longer rainy seasons from 8 to 5 ka. During the last glacial period, two wet periods are present around 60-50 ka BP and 38-30 ka BP. These two humid periods are in phase with the rise of atmospheric CH4 concentrations suggesting that wetland tropical African area was one of the sources of the atmospheric CH4 during the MIS 3. During the Last Glacial Maximum and MIS 4, high Saharan aeolian influxes in phase with records of aeolian dust deposited in East Antarctica are documented. This study highlights the importance of reconstructions of monsoon rainfall fluctuation at high temporal resolution to better understand the link between low- and high-latitude climate variability at millennial timescales.
ISSN: 0277-3791

hal-00496481
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00496481
DOI : 10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.02.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé :  
Drier periods from the late Pleistocene and early Holocene have been hypothesized to have caused the disappearance of various rainforest species over large geographical areas in South America and restricted the extant populations to mesic sites. Subsequent improvement in climatic conditions has been associated with recolonization. Changes in population size associated with these extinction-recolonization events should have affected genetic diversity within species. However, these historical hypotheses and their genetic consequences have rarely been tested in South America. Here, we examine the diversity of the chloroplast and nuclear genomes in a Neotropical rainforest tree species, Vouacapoua americana (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae) in French Guiana. The chloroplast diversity was analyzed using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method (six pairs of primers) in 29 populations distributed over most of French Guiana, and a subset of 17 populations was also analyzed at nine polymorphic microsatellite loci. To determine whether this species has experienced extinction-recolonization, we sampled populations in areas supposedly not or only slightly affected by climatic changes, where the populations would not have experienced frequent extinction, and in areas that appear to have been recently recolonized. In the putatively recolonized areas, we found patches of several thousands of hectares homogeneous for chloroplast variation that can be interpreted as the effect of recolonization processes from several geographical origins. In addition, we observed that, for both chloroplast and nuclear genomes, the populations in newly recolonized areas exhibited a significantly smaller allelic richness than others. Controlling for geographic distance, we also detected a significant correlation between chloroplast and nuclear population differentiation. This result indicates a cytonuclear disequilibrium that can be interpreted as a historical signal of a genetic divergence between fragmented populations. In conclusion, the spatial genetic structure of contemporary V. americana populations shows evidence that this species has experienced large extinction-recolonization events, which were possibly caused by past climatic change.
ISSN: 0014-3820

hal-01032194
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032194
DOI : 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb01517.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : International audience
Diverse, abundant and usually well-preserved communities of skeletal organisms occur in the lower Pleistocene (Gelasian) siliciclastic deposits of the Greek island of Rhodes. Benthic foraminifers, molluscs and bryozoans have been studied in four measured and sampled sections located in the northern part of the island. Among these bottom-dwelling organisms, numerous extant taxa are good environmental indicators and, combined with field observations and sedimentological data, they provide information on the probable conditions in which they developed. The siliciclastic deposits of the Kritika Formation have been divided into 14 different bio- and lithofacies, which have been further grouped into four facies associations corresponding to four different environmental settings: (1) continental to fluviatile; (2) brackish-water (lagoonal/deltaic); (3) infralittoral (0–20 m); and (4) upper circalittoral (depths of 20–40 m, but also down to c. 50–60 m). Among the marine facies associations, several characteristic biocoenoses have been recognized: soft-bottoms (fine to coarse sands and gravels); seagrass meadows; biogenic calcareous crusts on drowned beachrock slabs; red algal rhodoliths; and bivalve shell beds. In the studied sections, 13 superimposed genetic sequences have been documented. The repetition of similar facies associations within each sequence suggests: (1) a possibly eustasy-controlled, cyclic sedimentation; (2) a general subsidence of Rhodes during the deposition of the studied facies associations; and (3) a mostly constant range of environmental conditions (i.e. sedimentation rates and temperature) throughout the Gelasian.
ISSN: 0016-7568

hal-01277829
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277829
DOI : 10.1017/S0016756815000230

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The lower Pleistocene Kritika Member of the Rhodes Formation is composed of predominantly siliciclastic deposits that are sometimes intercalated with hardbottoms formed by drowning of former beachrock beds. A wide variety of sclerobionts occur in this environment, very different from the poorest soft‐bottom populations occurring in other levels of the Kritika Member. The most characteristic, abundant and frequently diverse are the encrusting forms: coralline algae, bivalves, serpulid worms, and bryozoans. Numerous other groups of sessile and vagile organisms are associated with these crust‐forming communities. A number of skeletal organisms (sometimes including zooxanthellate coral colonies) formed small carbonate buildups on top of several beachrock beds. Boring organisms also occur. Evidence for a two‐step deepening succession over the previously formed beachrock is provided by palaeontological and sedimentological data. The rapidly cemented sandy‐conglomeratic beds were first colonised by a relatively shallow‐water (around 20 m) biocoenosis of mostly encrusting organisms. Another association, with encrusting and erect organisms, was later established in a deeper environment (20-40 m). A comparison with Holocene beachrock occurring on the coast of Rhodes was also undertaken. Their submerged part provided habitat for poorer but similar biotas to those occurring in the Kritika Member. The lower Pleistocene beachrock and associated organogenic fossil assemblages indicate repeated drowning episodes during deposition of the Kritika Member and provide help in sequence stratigraphic interpretations of these siliciclastic deposits. Notably, they can be used as indicators of relative sea‐level changes.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00795591
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795591
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.09.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : [b]Aim[/b][br/] [br/] The phylogeographical history of Neotropical species can be difficult to reconstruct because of superimposed Neogene and Quaternary histories, and because of taxonomic uncertainty. We analysed range-wide genetic diversity in a widespread pioneer tree species, Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) D. Don, to characterize phylogeographical structure, date the evolutionary relationships among lineages, and evaluate the role of dispersal and vicariance in establishing the present geographical range.[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Location[/b][br/] [br/] Guiana Shield; central, southern and western Amazon Basin; Chocó region; Central America.[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Methods[/b][br/] [br/] We analysed nine nuclear simple sequence repeat loci (nuSSR), eight chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two cpDNA intergenic sequences in 341 adult trees. Genetic differentiation at nuSSRs was inferred using Bayesian clustering. Dating of chloroplast lineage divergence was obtained using a range of published mutation rates and Bayesian coalescence analyses. Population divergence dating was performed using an isolation-with-migration model for eight loci (one cp sequence and seven nuSSRs).[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Results[/b][br/] [br/] Nuclear SSR variation identified three geographically overlapping clusters (nu-1, nu-2, nu-3). Twelve cpDNA haplotypes were clustered into two haplogroups (cp-1, cp-2) with the central Amazon harbouring the highest diversity. Molecular dating analysis suggests that cpDNA haplotype diversification started around the end of the Pliocene (2.61 Ma on average), whereas population divergence was more recent and occurred during the mid-Quaternary (point estimates between 357 and 436 ka).[br/] [br/] [br/] [b]Main conclusions[/b][br/] [br/] The genetic variation of J. copaia in the Neotropics was shaped mainly by Pleistocene events. Chloroplast diversity did not display the expected cis/trans Andean disjunction, indicating recent dispersal. Nuclear variation revealed that separate regions share a recent history, with a centre of diversity in the central Amazon Basin. The geographical pattern of diversity is congruent with the distribution of the two subspecies, J. copaia copaia and J. copaia spectabilis, and evidence of nuSSR admixture between the two taxa supports their classification as subspecies.
ISSN: 0305-0270

hal-01032410
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032410
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02797.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
This work presents a synthesis of the present-day knowledge on both emerged and submerged carbonate platforms of the Guadeloupe archipelago. Onshore and offshore data acquired during the KaShallow project are presented. Since the early Zanclean, some isolated platforms developed onto a Jurassic to Tortonian basement which displayed reliefs inherited from a major extensional tectonic episode dated from −8 to −5 Ma. Marie-Galante, Grande Terre and the southern shelf of Grande-Terre show strong similarities with Zanclean to Gelasian red-algal facies upward changing into early Calabrian coral facies. A major erosional unconformity (SB2) was recognized and allows to distinguish two early Calabrian formations (Calcaires à Agaricia Formation and Calcaires à Acropora Formation). The final emersion of these platforms is late Calabrian. The La Désirade platform displays Zanclean to early Piacenzian red-algal facies upward changing into coral facies. This platform emerged as soon as in the late Piacenzian. The island subsided again in relation with later extensional tectonic episode and early Calabrian reef platform then unconformably deposited. The Colombie bank deposits comprise Pliocene basinal deposits overlain by late Calabrian coral reefs. The Flandre bank might have emerged synchronously with La Désirade but was drowned only in the late Pleistocene-Holocene interval. Four extensional tectonic episodes have been identified in the late Miocene-Recent interval. Their effects depend on the location of the platforms within the fore-arc.
Bulletin Société Géologique de France

insu-00816463
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00816463
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.99

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Report
From 2003 to 2006, the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada conducted a study of the sensitivity of the Roberts Bank tidal flats and marsh to rising sea level, under the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program (Project A600). The study was a multi-disciplinary effort involving geologists, biologists and social scientists comprising a scientific study of the tidal flat environment and a stakeholder engagement process. The results of the work were presented at a Final Stakeholder Workshop on 24 March 2006 and compiled into a preliminary report distributed to the major stakeholders.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00856757

hal-00856757
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00856757
DOI : 10.4095/292672

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : [b]Aim[/b][br/] Many tropical tree species have poorly delimited taxonomic boundaries and contain undescribed or cryptic species. We examined the genetic structure of a species complex in the tree genus Carapa in the Neotropics in order to evaluate age, geographic patterns of diversity and evolutionary relationships, and to quantify levels of introgression among currently recognized species.[br/] [br/] [b]Location[/b][br/] Lowland moist forests in the Guiana Shield, the Central and Western Amazon Basin, Chocó and Central America.[br/] [br/] [b]Methods[/b][br/] Genetic structure was analysed using seven nuclear simple sequence repeats (nuSSR), five chloroplast SSRs (cpSSR), and two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) intergenic sequences (trnH-psbA and trnC-ycf6). Bayesian clustering analysis of the SSR data was used to infer population genetic structure and to assign 324 samples to their most likely genetic cluster. Bayesian coalescence analyses were performed on the two cpDNA markers to estimate evolutionary relationships and divergence times.[br/] [br/] [b]Results[/b][br/] Two genetic clusters (nu_guianensis and nu_surinamensis) were detected, which correspond to the Neotropical species C. guianensis (sensu latu) and C. surinamensis. Fourteen cpDNA haplotypes clustered into six haplogroups distributed between the two nuclear genetic clusters. Divergence between the haplogroups was initiated in the Miocene, with some haplotype structure evolving as recently as the Pleistocene. The absence of complete lineage sorting between the nuclear and chloroplast genomes and the presence of hybrid individuals suggest that interspecific reproductive barriers are incomplete. NuSSR diversity was highest in C. guianensis and, within C. guianensis, cpDNA diversity was highest in the Central and Western Amazon Basin. Regional genetic differentiation was strong but did not conform to an isolation-by-distance process or exhibit a phylogeographical signal.[br/] [br/] [b]Main conclusions[/b][br/] The biogeographical history of Neotropical Carapa appears to have been influenced by events that took place during the Neogene. Our results point to an Amazonian centre of origin and diversification of Neotropical Carapa, with subsequent migration to the Pacific coast of South America and Central America. Gene flow apparently occurs among species, and introgression events are supported by inconsistencies between chloroplast and nuclear lineage sorting. The absence of phylogeographical structure may be a result of the ineffectiveness of geographical barriers among populations and of reproductive isolation mechanisms among incipient and cryptic species in this species complex.
ISSN: 0305-0270

hal-01032395
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032395
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02678.x

Résumé : La distribution actuelle des espèces d’arbres des forêts tropicales humides amazoniennes est le résultat de processus dynamiques sur lesquels les perturbations passées, d’origine climatique ou anthropique, peuvent avoir jouées un rôle majeur. Des outils génétiques actuels associés à des méthodes d’analyses puissantes permettent d’inférer et de dater l’empreinte génomique des évènements démographiques subits par les populations naturelles. Le but de cette thèse est de contribuer à une vision d’ensemble de l’évolution démographique de la forêt tropicale humide du plateau des Guyanes pendant le Quaternaire. J’ai d’abord étudié les propriétés des microsatellites (répétitions simple de séquences, SSR) et les limites de leurs applications en tant que marqueurs moléculaires en phylogéographie. Plusieurs allèles SSR contenu dans diverses populations de trois genres d’arbres différents ont été séquencés et le polymorphisme, porté par chaque partie des fragments ADN contenant des SSR, a été étudié. J’ai observé que la quantité de variation génétique était aussi importante dans les régions encadrant le microsatellite que dans le SSR lui-même. Ces régions ont contribué significativement à l’information phylogénétique et ont parfois été la principale source de différenciation entre les individus et les populations. Cette expérience m’a permis de choisir la meilleure stratégie à adopter pour traiter les données de variation génétique des SSR dans des modèles démographiques. J’ai ensuite utilisé ces marqueurs SSR et des méthodes ABC pour étudier l’impact local des occupations humaines précolombiennes sur les forêts en Guyane française. Les changements démographiques subis par des populations de quatre espèces d’arbres ont été comparés entre cinq sites occupés et quatre sites non perturbés. Les perturbations naturelles et induites par l’homme ont contribué à la mise en place de la diversité observée actuellement, comme le suggère des signatures d’effet fondateur détectées sur les sites perturbés ou non. Néanmoins, la taille des populations fondatrices semble être proportionnelle à l’impact humain estimé, indiquant que les perturbations anthropique ont induit un remplacement des populations plus important que les processus écologiques naturels. Pour terminer, j’ai mené une étude de démographie comparative d’espèces d’arbres tropicaux à l’échelle régionale de la Guyane française. Cinq scénarios démographiques ont été testés pour neuf populations de huit espèces en utilisant des microsatellites nucléaires et des séquences chloroplastiques. Les changements démographiques les plus récents détectés convergent vers une signature générale d’expansion de la forêt humide depuis probablement la dernière glaciation. Cela peut suggérer, soit que la composition des forêts du plateau des Guyanes était différente, ou que le couvert forestier était moins étendu. Ce résultat constitue le premier indice de changement passé, probablement d’origine climatique, subi par les communautés forestières du plateau des Guyanes ; qui n’avait jusque-là pas pu être testé avec des méthodes standards en raison d’un manque de fossiles. En conclusion, j’ai recueilli des preuves génétiques que les perturbations, à différents échelles de temps, ont marqué la structure et la composition génétique des forêts du plateau des Guyanes. L’application de ces méthodes à d’autres régions Néotropicales pourrait contribuer, à l’avenir, à reconstruire l’histoire écologique de la forêt amazonienne de façon détaillée.
The current tree species distribution in Amazonian tropical rainforests is the outcome of dynamic processes in which past perturbations, climatic or anthropogenic, may have played a major role. Currently available genetic tools associated with powerful analytical methods allow inferring and dating the genomic imprint of demographic events undergone by natural populations. The aim of my thesis is to contribute to an overview of the demographic evolution of the tropical rainforest in the Guiana shield during the Quaternary. I have first studied the properties of microsatellites or Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and the limits in their applications as molecular markers in phylogeography. Several SSR alleles in multiple populations of three divergent tree genera have been sequenced and the sources of polymorphisms, carried by each portion of SSR-containing DNA amplicons, have been broken apart. I have observed that the amount of variation was as large in flanking regions as in the SSR itself. The former contributed significantly to the phylogenetic information and sometimes was the main source of differentiation among individuals and populations. This experiment allowed me to choose the best strategy to treat SSR variation in demographic modeling. I have subsequently used SSR markers and ABC methods to study the impact of pre-Columbian human settlements at the local level on rainforests in French Guiana. Demographic changes undergone by populations of four tree species were compared between five settled and four undisturbed sites. Both natural turnover and human-induced disturbances appeared as shaping currently observed genetic diversity, with signatures of founder effect both at disturbed and undisturbed sites. Nevertheless, the size of founding populations appeared to be proportional to the estimated human impact, suggesting that human-made disturbance caused deeper population turnover than background ecological processes. Finally, I have conducted a comparative demography study of tropical tree species at the regional level across French Guiana. Five demographic scenarios have been tested for nine populations from eight species using both nuclear microsatellites and chloroplastic sequences. The most recent demographic signals detected converge on a global signature of expansion of the rainforest since probably the last glaciation. This finding can suggest either that the composition of the Guiana shield rainforests was different, or that its global extent was smaller, during earlier epochs of the Pleistocene than today. This result is the first firm indication of changes undergone by the forest communities of the Guiana shield in the distant climatic past – something which could not be tested with standard methods due to almost complete lack of fossil evidence. In conclusion, I have gathered genetic evidence that disturbances, both in historical and geological times, have marked the structure and composition of forests in the Guiana shield.The extensive application of these methods to other regions of the Neotropics maycontribute, in the future, to the detailed reconstruction of the ecological history ofAmazonian forests.

http://www.theses.fr/2012AGUY0568/document