Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present the 1998-2009 GPS-derived velocity field for the Armenia region based on a survey-mode observation network of 31 GPS sites.We combine our results with previous GPS studies of the region to better assess the deformation of the Lesser Caucasus and Kura basin region. The results show that the Kura basin and the Lesser Caucasus regions are two different blocks, and that the main fault (Pambak-Sevan-Sunik) between these two regions has a right-lateral slip rate of 2±1 mm/yr. This is consistentwithmorphotectonic estimates and suggests a fairly constant slip rate over the last 120-300 ka. The right-lateral slip rate on one of the southern branch of the Pambak-Sevan-Sunik fault is lower than 1 mm/yr and the good agreementwith a geologically estimated slip rate suggests a constant slip rate over the last 1.4 Myr. The Sardarapat and Akhurian faults experience some shortening. This shortening is consistentwith someindependent geological estimates and shows the Arabian push.However, NNW-SSE-orientated faults have an extensional fault normal component instead of the expected shortening due to the Arabia-Eurasia convergence. This substantial extensive strain, and the sharp azimuth change of the velocity vectors between the Arabia promontory and the Lesser Caucasus suggest that processes other than "extrusion", possibly related to old subduction or delamination, contribute to the geodynamics of the region.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00812623
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00812623
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.02.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Underground CO2 sequestration is highly recommended as an effective means of significantly decreasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Mineral storage is the more secure technology, but requires the presence of high concentration of divalent cations in the pore-fluid. Results from CO2 percolation experiments through chlorite/zeolite-rich sandstone samples from the Pretty Hill Formation (Otway Basin, Australia) are presented. The dissolution of the laumontite (7 wt.%) and chamosite (7 wt.%) are the potential sources of calcium, iron and magnesium required for carbonate precipitation. The percolation experiment was setup to reproduce, at laboratory scale, the in situ temperature and pressure conditions (T = 95 degrees C and P = 10 MPa). The fluid injected at constant flow rate is a rock-equilibrated brine subsequently enriched in CO2 up to partial pressure of 6 MPa. We observe feldspars, laumontite and chamosite dissolution, kaolinite and silica precipitation and a noticeable sink of CO2 in the sample which is attributed to the precipitation of both amorphous carbon due to the reduction of CO2 and Fe-rich carbonate. Permeability decreases of about one order of magnitude due to the localization of the kaolinite precipitation in the main flow paths, while porosity increases. The high reactivity of this sandstone makes this reservoir a valuable target for CO2 mineralization, but the associated permeability decrease may limit the injection rate and the spreading of the CO2 in the reservoir.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00712829
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00712829
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2011.11.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Although first-order rate constants are basic ingredients of physical chemistry, biochemistry and systems modeling, their innermost nature is derived from complex physical chemistry mechanisms. The present study suggests that equivalent conclusions can be more straightly obtained from simple statistics. The different facets of kinetic constants are first classified and clarified with respect to time and energy and the equivalences between traditional flux rate and modern probabilistic modeling are summarized. Then, a naive but rigorous approach is proposed to concretely perceive how the Arrhenius law naturally emerges from the geometric distribution. It appears that (1) the distribution in time of chemical events as well as (2) their mean frequency, are both dictated by randomness only and as such, are accurately described by time-based and spatial exponential processes respectively.
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications

hal-00845518
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00845518
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00845518v2/document
ARXIV : 1307.4583
DOI : 10.1016/j.physa.2013.05.036

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Deficient sealing in the well cement plugs and annulus due to mechanical fracturing is an important risk of CO2 leakage from the reservoir to others permeable layers and the surface. Such situation was reproduced at laboratory scale in order to determine the hydro-chemical control on the fracture permeability. Specifically, we investigated the effect of CO2 rich-brine flowing through fractured Portland cements at T = 60 °C and P = 10 MPa and variable flow rates. We showed that carbonation process is dominant and induces permeability decrease and leakage mitigation for extremely low flow rate whereas for high flow rate injection the permeability remains constant due to the precipitation of a low density secondary Si-rich phase which maintains the initial fracture aperture. At intermediate flow rate the hydraulic aperture can increase due to the densification of the material triggered by the net precipitation of low porosity calcite. These results emphasize that more complex behaviors than those considered from batch experiments may take place in the vicinity of flowing fractures. Specifically, the redissolution of the neoformed calcite as well as the development of amorphous phases, both controlled by the CO2-rich brine renewing rate in the fracture may prevent the healing fracture.
ISSN: 1750-5836

hal-00857555
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00857555
DOI : 10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.04.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Tank bromeliads form a conspicuous, yet neglected freshwater habitat in Neotropical forests. Recent studies driven by interests in medical entomology, fundamental aspects of bromeliad ecology and experimental research on food webs have, however, prompted increasing interest in bromeliad aquatic ecosystems. As yet, there is nothing in the literature about the life histories and environmental drivers of invertebrate population dynamics in tank bromeliads. Based on fortnightly samples taken over oneyear, size frequency plots and individual dry masses allowed us to establish the life cycles and growth rates of the dominant aquatic invertebrates in a common bromeliad species of French Guiana. Linear mixed-effect models and Mantel tests were used to predict changes in density, biomass, and growth rates in relation to temperature, rainfall, humidity and detrital resources. Annual variations in invertebrate densities and biomasses could be described according to three types of distribution: unimodal, bimodal or almost constant. Despite seasonal variations, precipitation, temperature, relative humidity and detritus concentration accounted significantly for changes in density and biomass, but we found no significant responses in growth rates of most invertebrate species. Species rather displayed non-seasonal life cycles with overlapping cohorts throughout the year. There was also a trend for delayed abundance peaks among congeneric species sharing similar functional traits, suggesting temporal partitioning of available resources. Beyond novel knowledge, quantitative information on life histories is important to predict food-web dynamics under the influence of external forcing and self-organisation. Our results suggest that changes in species distribution that will affect population dynamics through biotic interactions in space and/or time could have greater effects on food webs and ecosystem functioning than changes in environmental factors per se.
ISSN: 0046-5070

hal-01607779
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01607779
DOI : 10.1111/fwb.12862
PRODINRA : 407311

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Humana Press
Résumé : International audience
The sodium-proton exchanger 1 (NHE-1) is a membrane transporter that exchanges Na(+) for H(+) ion across the membrane of eukaryotic cells. It is cooperatively activated by intracellular protons, and this allosteric regulation is modulated by the biophysical properties of the plasma membrane and related lipid environment. Consequently, NHE-1 is a mechanosensitive transporter that responds to osmotic pressure, and changes in membrane composition. The purpose of this study was to develop the relationship between membrane surface tension, and the allosteric balance of a mechanosensitive transporter such as NHE-1. In eukaryotes, the asymmetric composition of membrane leaflets results in a difference in surface tensions that is involved in the creation of a reservoir of intracellular vesicles and membrane buds contributing to buffer mechanical constraints. Therefore, we took this phenomenon into account in this study and developed a set of relations between the mean surface tension, membrane asymmetry, fluid phase endocytosis and the allosteric equilibrium constant of the transporter. We then used the experimental data published on the effects of osmotic pressure and membrane modification on the NHE-1 allosteric constant to fit these equations. We show here that NHE-1 mechanosensitivity is more based on its high sensitivity towards the asymmetry between the bilayer leaflets compared to mean global membrane tension. This compliance to membrane asymmetry is physiologically relevant as with their slower transport rates than ion channels, transporters cannot respond as high pressure-high conductance fast-gating emergency valves.
ISSN: 1085-9195

inserm-00871709
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00871709
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00871709/document
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00871709/file/art_3A10.1007_2Fs12013-012-9340-7.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s12013-012-9340-7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : Patterns of leaf production and leaf fall directly influence leaf area index and forest productivity. Here, we focused on Cecropia sciadophylla individuals inhabiting the extremes of the gradient in seasonality in rainfall at which C. sciadophylla occurs. In Colombia and French Guiana we compared the intra-annual variation in leaf production as well as the intra-annual fluctuation in internode length on a total of 69 saplings ranging in size from 1 to 2 m. The mean rate of leaf production was similar to 2 leaves mo(-1) in both populations, and the rate of leaf production was constant throughout the year. Our results showed monthly variation in internode length and the number of live leaves per sapling in the seasonal habitat and variation only in internode length in the everwet habitat. Because the rate of leaf production is constant at both localities, the difference in number of live leaves per sapling at the seasonal site must reflect seasonal variation in leaf life span. We show that in Cecropia, internode length can serve as an indicator of precipitation seasonality. Finally an open question is whether leaf production in other pioneer species is also independent of climatic seasonal cues. This information could allow us to link growth and climate of secondary forest species and better understand how past and future climate can affect plant growth trajectories.
ISSN: 0266-4674

hal-01032402
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032402
DOI : 10.1017/S0266467413000394

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : The correct characterization of the effective reactive transport dynamics is an important issue for modeling reactive transport on the Darcy scale, specifically in situations in which reactions are localized, that is when different reactions occur in different portions of the porous medium. Under such conditions the conventional approach of homogenizing only the porous medium chemistry is not appropriate. We consider here reactive transport in a porous medium that is characterized by mass transfer between a mobile and a distribution of immobile regions. Chemical and physical heterogeneities are reflected by distributions of kinetic reaction rate constants and residence times in the immobile zones. We derive an effective reactive transport equation for the mobile solute that is characterized by non-local physical mass transfer and reaction terms. Specifically, chemical heterogeneity is upscaled in terms of a reactive memory function that integrates both chemical and physical heterogeneity. Mass transfer limitations due to physical heterogeneity yield effective kinetic rate coefficients that can be much smaller than the volumetric average of the local scale coefficients. These results help to explain and quantify the often reported discrepancy between observed field reaction rate constants and the ones obtained under well mixed laboratory conditions. Furthermore, these results indicate that transport under physical and chemical heterogeneity cannot be upscaled separately.
ISSN: 0169-7722

hal-00617674
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617674
DOI : 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2010.06.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Analog sandbox models have been set up to study the impact of syntectonic erosion on thrust wedges with one and two decollement levels. Different accretion mechanisms are activated depending on interactions between surface processes and wedge mechanics: frontal accretion, backthrusting, underthrusting and underplating due to decollement induced duplex formation at depth. These mechanisms may function simultaneously, being located at different parts across the wedge. For all the experiments, a high friction is imposed at the base of models and the volume of eroded material remains equal to the volume of newly accreted material, maintaining a constant surface slope during the shortening. Erosion limits the forward propagation of thrust wedges and favors the underthrusting of basal layers allowing duplex formation. Erosion promotes development of major backthrusts in the thrust wedges without or with one decollement, but no backthrusts was formed in the wedges with two decollements. Slow erosion allows lower extent of basal underthrusting in comparison with regular-rate erosion. Variations in the erosion taper lead to changes in duplex geometry and exhumation rate in thrust wedges with one or two decollements. The 6 degrees erosion taper promotes formation of antiformal stack at the rear part of thrust wedge, high rate of basal underthrusting and high extent of erosional removal. The cover layers are nearly completely eroded above the antiformal stack and form the synformal klippe in frontal part of thrust wedges. The 8 degrees erosion taper allows development of individual ramp-anticlines and active forward thrusting of cover layers above the decollement and low rate of basal underplating below it, with consequent low extent of erosional removal. The results of our experiments support the observations on structural evolution and erosion in the Alberta Foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00617769
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617769
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.01.020

Éditeur(s) : EDP Sciences
Résumé : We present results obtained from a pristine site of French Guiana (South America), at the Pic Matecho, a region far from gold mining activity. This area contains a small permanent lake, a rare situation in French Guiana. Tree canopy, soils and Lake Matecho sediments were analysed in total Hg and Pb-210. The annual deposit of litterfall is estimated at 40 mug (Hg)/m(2)/y. The top sediment content of 0.2 mug (Hg)/g indicates a large contribution of the atmospheric deposit. In sediment, the decrease of total Hg with depth is neither due to local human influence, nor to increase of atmospheric background during this century. It is attributed to remineralization of organic matter in the upper part of the sediment : the majority of the total Hg deposited at the water/sediment interface is not permanently trapped in the sediment but remobilized in water. Interpretation of the historical sediment profile suggests a constant deposit rate over the last millennium.
Journal De Physique Iv (1155-4339) (EDP Sciences), 2003-05 , Vol. 107 , P. 859-862

Droits : 2003 EDP Sciences
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/10630/9348.pdf
DOI:10.1051/jp4:20030433
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/10630/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society of Chemistry
Résumé : International audience
A series of graphene oxide (GO) and zinc partially substituted magnetite GO-Fe1-xZnxOy (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.285) catalysts were synthesised through a precipitation-oxidation method. The rate constants for the degradation of acid orange seven (AO7) proceeded at a significant faster rate under UV-irradiation (up to 670%) than the conventional heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction. The resultant catalysts were mesoporous, so there was no mass transfer limitation for AO7 to access active sites in the catalysts. Further, maximum increases of rate constant up to 220% occurred as the zinc molar concentration increased from x = 0 to x = 0.159. GO enhanced to incorporation of zinc into the combined metal oxide, whilst zinc limited crystal growth, thus forming smaller crystallite sizes. These features proved to be essential for the improved catalytic activity of the resultant catalysts. The optimised zinc molar value at x = 0.159 delivered the best catalytic activity. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016.
ISSN: 2046-2069

hal-01683215
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01683215
DOI : 10.1039/c6ra04068c

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Chemical Society
Résumé : Experiments were conducted to assess the potential impact of fractured well-cement degradation on leakage rate. Permeability was monitored while CO2-enriched reservoir-equilibrated brine was flowed at constant rate through a single fracture in a class G cement core under conditions mimicking geologic sequestration environments (temperature 60 °C, pressure 10 MPa). The results demonstrate that, at least for the conditions used in the experiment, an initial leakage in a 42 μm aperture fracture (permeability = 1.5 × 10-10 m2) can be self-mitigated due to the decrease of the fracture hydraulic aperture after about 15 h. This decrease results from the development of continuous highly hydrated amorphous Si-rich alteration products at the edge of the fracture and the dense carbonation of the bulk cement that mitigate the penetration of the alteration front.
ISSN: 0013-936X

hal-00950088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950088
DOI : 10.1021/es401317c

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The main objective of this work was to establish the influence of sex, maturity and reproduction on the contamination of the demersal fish Merluccius merluccius by organochlorine compounds. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p'DDE were quantified in muscle, liver and gonads of female and male hakes collected in the Gulf of Lions in 2004 and 2005. Observed levels appeared higher than the population of the Bay of Biscay and lower than the population of the Thyrrenian Sea. Contaminant fingerprints were roughly constant whatever the studied organ and the hake biological condition. Concentrations varied significantly according to the sex and maturity of hakes. Mature specimens were more contaminated than immature, and males presented higher levels than females. This sex effect can be linked to a lower growth rate of males, and a contaminant elimination during female spawning. Gonadal contamination depends on the importance of lipid content and increases with the maturation degree. Although the main organ of energy and PCB storage is the liver, muscle appears as the main contributor to the gonad contamination. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Science Of The Total Environment (0048-9697) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2009-12 , Vol. 408 , N. 2 , P. 304-311

Droits : 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/11129/9317.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.10.004
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/11129/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We have performed tri-axial compression experiments on olivine aggregates at 900 °C and at a confining pressure of 300 MPa in a high-resolution gas-medium mechanical testing apparatus. Deformation at two different constant strain rates (1.1 × 10− 5 s− 1 and 3.4 × 10− 4 s− 1) yields continuous hardening, reaching maximal differential stresses of 930 and 1076 MPa, respectively, before sample failure at ca. 10% strain. The deformed samples were characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) are weak but reveal an alignment of the [010] axes around the compression direction and some concentration of [001] and [100] axes normal to it. TEM observations confirm plastic deformation by dislocation glide, with both [001] and [100] Burgers vectors. Electron tomography, performed for the first time on deformed fined-grained olivine, shows that [001] dislocations glide extensively on {110} and {130} planes, in complement to the (010) and (100) glide planes often reported at high temperatures. [100] dislocations glide mostly on (010), but {011} and {041} planes are also activated. The experimental CPO and relative activity of slip systems are well reproduced by viscoplastic self-consistent simulations in which all [100] and [001] slip systems have similar strengths. They are also consistent with olivine CPO from natural samples deformed at low temperature. Comparison of the present mechanical results to those obtained for olivine single-crystals at similar conditions shows that at low temperature (below 1100 °C) and high stress (> 300 MPa) polycrystalline olivine has a more complex mechanical behavior than single crystals. However, both datasets advocate for a much weaker dry mantle lithosphere than previously thought.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01053513
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053513
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.03.022

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
GPS measurements adjacent to the southern Red Sea and Afar Triple Junction, indicate that the Red Sea Rift bifurcates south of 17 degrees N latitude with one branch following a continuation of the main Red Sea Rift (similar to 150 degrees Az.) and the other oriented more N-S, traversing the Danakil Depression. These two rift branches account for the full Arabia-Nubia relative motion. The partitioning of extension between rift branches varies approximately linearly along strike; north of similar to 16 degrees N latitude, extension (similar to 15 mm/yr) is all on the main Red Sea Rift while at similar to 13 degrees N, extension (similar to 20 mm/yr) has transferred completely to the Danakil Depression. The Danakil Block separates the two rifts and rotates in a counterclockwise sense with respect to Nubia at a present-day rate of 1.9 +/- 0.1 degrees/Myr around a pole located at 17.0 +/- 0.2 degrees N, 39.7 +/- 0.2 degrees E, accommodating extension along the rifts and developing the roughly triangular geometry of the Danakil Depression. Rotating the Danakil Block back in time to close the Danakil Depression, and assuming that the rotation rate with respect to Nubia has been roughly constant, the present width of the Danakil Depression is consistent with initiation of block rotation at 9.3 +/- 4 Ma, approximately coincident with the initiation of ocean spreading in the Gulf of Aden, and a concomitant similar to 70% increase in the rate of Nubia-Arabia relative motion.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-00475536
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475536
DOI : 10.1029/2009GL041127

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany)
Résumé : International audience
The Michaelis-Menten enzymatic reaction is sufficient to perceive many subtleties of network modeling, including the concentration and time scales separations, the formal equivalence between bulk phase and single-molecule approaches, or the relationships between single-cycle transient probabilities and steady state rates. Twelve methods proposed by different authors and yielding the same famous Michaelis-Menten equation, are selected here to illustrate the kinetic and probabilistic use of rate constants and to review basic techniques for handling them. Finally, the general rate of an ordered multistep reaction, of which the Michaelis-Menten reaction is a particular case, is deduced from a Markovian approach.
ISSN: 0259-9791

hal-00920806
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00920806
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00920806v2/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00920806/file/12MM.pdf
ARXIV : 1312.5468

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé :   Diffusion du document : INRA Antilles-Guyane, UMR ECOFOG, F97387 Kourou, Guyane (France) Diplôme : Master Recherche
il s'agit d'un type de produit dont les métadonnées ne correspondent pas aux métadonnées attendues dans les autres types de produit : DISSERTATION
Worldwide, there is concern regarding the declining quality of ecosystems, their rehabilitation, and their protection. In particular, the recognition that soil is a finite resource has spurred efforts to manage and restore it. In French Guiana, gold mining is a serious social and ecological problem, including the threats it poses to soil quality. The principal goal of this study was to establish a qualitative baseline of impacts of gold mining on soil microbial activity at five previously mined sites. We measured the potential rates of respiration and denitrification in disturbed soils, and compared theses rates with those of soils from adjacent forests, which served as un-disturbed references. Microbial activity, used as a bio-indicator, demonstrated the importance of soil rehabilitation, and the type of soil rehabilitation. We also found that visual observations of plant regeneration were insufficient to infer the rate of microbial activity. These bio-indicators can indicate soil quality, and help to formulate hypotheses about its developmnent. Bio-indicators can be used to obtain reliable indications about the quality of soil and contribute to decision-making in the management and restoration of this valuable resource.
Notre étude s'inscrit dans un contexte mondial de préoccupations environnementales, centrées notamment sur l'évaluation de la qualité des écosystèmes, la mise en place de leur réhabilitation et de leur sauvegarde. En particulier, la prise de conscience que le sol ne constitue pas une ressource inépuisable s'est accompagnée de la nécessité de gérer, voire de restaurer cette ressource. L'étude s'intègre également dans un contexte guyanais où l'exploitation aurifère constitue un problème écologique et sociétal majeur. Notre travail a pour but principal de dresser un bilan qualitatif des impacts de l'exploitation aurifère sur le fonctionnement microbien des sols de cinq sites miniers. Pour cela, nous avons effectué les mesures des activités potentielles de deux fonctions microbiennes, la respiration et la dénitrification, sur les sols des sites perturbés. Nous avons comparé ces valeurs d'activités microbiennes avec celles obtenues pour les sols de forêts naturelles (adjacentes à ces sites) que nous avons considérées comme la référence à atteindre (témoin). Les fonctions microbiennes, utilisées comme bio-indicateurs, ont mis en évidence l'importance de la réhabilitation et du type de réhabilitation sur la reprise du fonctionnement du sol. Nous avons constaté que l'observation de visu de la végétation ne suffit pas à évaluer de façon certaine la reprise de ce fonctionnement. Ces bio-indicateurs sont aptes à traduire l'état d'un sol perturbé et émettre des hypothèses quant à son évolution. Ainsi, les bio-indicateurs peuvent être utilisés afin d'obtenir des indications solides sur la qualité des sols et aider à la prise de décision en matière de gestion et de restauration de cette ressource.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01189544

hal-01189544
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01189544
PRODINRA : 46710

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Despite many studies, our understanding of silica precipitation from natural waters remains limited, in particular for geothermal waters. Here we present a detailed study on the kinetics of silica polymerization as a function of fluid temperature and pH using high-temperature (250-260 °C) seawater-derived geothermal fluids as those discharged from the Bouillante geothermal site.We monitored the on-site decrease in monomeric silica concentration(initial SiO2 concentration of about 600 mg/l)with time using the molybdenum blue spectrophotometric method on samples of separated water collected from the high-pressure separator at 167 °C and cooled to 25, 50, 75, and 90 °C and for pH values ranging from 5 to 8. During all these experiments, only silica polymerization was observed, with the formation of colloidal particles in suspension in the solutions. No scaling of amorphous silica was formed. The collected data were after modeled in order to determine the useful kinetic parameters for predicting and preventing amorphous silica precipitation in the production wells during fluid exploitation in the specific context of Bouillante. Results under the investigated experimental conditions show that the kinetics of silica precipitation is affected more strongly by pH than by temperature change. The reaction in the acidic Bouillante solution begins with a transition period that significantly decreases the kinetics of silica polymerization. Modeling the experimental data indicates that the silica polymerization up to the state of equilibrium is characterized by a 2nd-order kinetic law relative to dissolved silica; this could indicate that the polymerization is controlled mainly by the formation of dimers. However, the first hour of the experiments is better characterized by a 4th-order kinetic law, suggesting more complex polymerization reactions in the initial stage with the formation of nanocolloidal particles containing 3 to 4 monomers. In both cases, the corresponding kinetics rate constant k is linearly dependent on pH for pH between 5 and 7. The activation energy Ea for the overall reaction, calculated using the Arrhenius equation under the considered pH and temperature conditions, ranges between 41±9.8 and 54±9.6 kJ/mol. To complete this work, the colloid particles formed at the end of the kinetics experiments were extracted and analyzed by SEM and TEM microscopy, X-ray Diffraction and the BET method. Results show that the size of the colloids increase and their specific surface decrease with increasing pH and are thus dependent on pH. Globally, our work provides a reliable database for understanding silica polymerization kinetics in natural geothermal brines or geologic waters characterized by a near neutral pH and moderate dissolved silica concentrations.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01403092
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01403092
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.08.031

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Due to shallow penetration of millimeter waves (MMW) and convection in liquid medium surrounding cells, the problem of accurate assessment of local MMW heating in in vitro experiments remains unsolved. Conventional dosimetric MMW techniques, such as infrared imaging or fiber optic (FO) sensors, face several inherent limits. Here we propose a methodology for accurate local temperature measurement and subsequent specific absorption rate (SAR) retrieval using microscale thermocouples (TC). SAR was retrieved by fitting the measured initial temperature rise to the numerical solution of an equivalent thermal model. It was found that the accuracy of temperature measurement depends on thermosensor size, that is, the smaller TC, the more accurate the temperature measurement. SAR determined using TC with lead diameters of 25 and 75m demonstrated 98.5% and 80.4% match with computed SAR, respectively. However, both TC provided the same temperature rises in long run (>10min). FO probe failed to measure adequately local heating both for short and long exposures due to the relatively large size of the probe sensor (400m) and time constant (0.6s). Calculated SAR in the cell monolayer was almost two times lower than that in the surrounding liquid. It was shown that the impact of the cell monolayer on heating due to its small thickness (5 to 10m) can be considered as negligible. Moreover, we demonstrated the possibility of accurate measurement of MMW-induced thermal pulses (up to 10 degrees C) using 25m TC. Bioelectromagnetics. 38:11-21, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN: 0197-8462

hal-01436768
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01436768
DOI : 10.1002/bem.21999
PUBMED : 27571392

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Iranian plateau is a flat ~ 1.5–2 km high plateau thought to result from the collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates since ~ 30 ± 5 Ma, and may represent a young analogue to the so far better studied Tibetan plateau. In order to constrain the exhumation history of the internal Zagros and of the Iranian plateau, we herein present apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and apatite (AFT) and zircon fission-track (ZFT) data on plutonic rocks from the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone (SSZ), Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arc (UDMA), Central Iran and Kopet Dagh. Thermochronologic data show that the SSZ was exhumed early in the collision process (essentially before 25–20 Ma), with a likely acceleration of cooling during the late Eocene, from 0.04 to 0.3 mm/year. Results suggest that cooling of the internal Zagros migrated from the SSZ to the UDMA during a more mature stage of the continental collision, after ~ 17 Ma (i.e., coeval with the outward propagation of deformation and topography fronts in the external Zagros). Constant exhumation rates in the UDMA (~ 0.3 mm/year) suggest that no significant variation of erosion rates occurred since the onset of continental collision. In Central Iran, the overlap of ZFT, AFT and AHe ages from gneissic samples points to rapid cooling during the late Eocene (~ 42 °C/Myr), which is consistent with previous reports on the formation of Eocene metamorphic core-complexes.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01115691
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115691
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2014.07.021