Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Inc
Résumé : Based on multi-sensor optical remote sensing techniques, more than 80 medium and high spatial resolution satellite images were used for studying the turbidity patterns of Danube Delta waters. During a selected 4-year temporal coverage (2006 to 2009), the turbidity gradients were simultaneously analyzed in the delta plain lakes and in the Black Sea western-northwestern coastal zone. Two distinct, but complementary, methodologies for retrieving turbidity were employed, one for the lakes and the other for the coastal zone. After comparing the turbidity satellite-derived turbidity products with in-situ measurements, the inter-comparability of the products was independently verified. Then, through an integrative analysis, the initial hypothesis of turbidity control by the Danube River inputs was tested in both areas (Delta plain and coastal zone). Seasonal turbidity patterns were identified together with the mechanisms responsible for its important temporal and spatial variability. Reciprocal contributions derived from the association of multi-scale satellite products were highlighted. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Remote Sensing Of Environment (0034-4257) (Elsevier Science Inc), 2013-05 , Vol. 132 , P. 86-101

Droits : 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00135/24622/23607.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.rse.2013.01.009
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00135/24622/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Maguelone shore extends along the northern coast of the Gulf of Lions, west of the Rhone Delta and east of high-gradient coastal streams that have provided most of the clastic sediments to the Gulf of Lions margin since the early Miocene. This 10 km-wide area is constituted by a small coastal watershed (15 km long) in low-lying carbonate hills, a kilometre-wide marsh, a sandy beach barrier and a shoreface experiencing local low sedimentation rates. This onshore-offshore transition zone is a key area to understand the relationships between erosion, by-pass, deposition and preservation processes. Unlike the neighbouring Rhone deposits that display numerous thick deltaic sequences related to a continuous sediment flux, the Maguelone shore exhibits peculiar sedimentary bodies. The analysis of about 250 km of new VHR seismic profiles acquired over the study area, 9 short cores and outcrops data allowed us to determine the three-dimensional high-resolution geometry of the coastal system tracts from Quaternary to present-day. This revealed dominant denudation processes in the Upstream catchments associated with the formation of incised valleys during Quaternary lowstands. In addition, this study investigates the erosion and deposition mechanisms controlled by littoral hydrodynamics that have been taken place on this shore since the last transgression. In particular, metre-high and hundreds of metre-long sandy bodies constructed by alongshore hydrodynamics were identified and their effect on the morphodynamics of the whole littoral system is discussed. The Maguelone shore can be used as an experimental study for onshore/offshore dynamics under the influence of microtidal wave/current hydrodynamics and very low river-derived sediment flux during a eustatic cycle. Geometry of system tracts across flood plain to shoreface is usually considered to be controlled by relative sea-level changes, and is successfully analysed with 2D sequence stratigraphy cross-shore models. It is observed that in areas like the Maguelone shore, traditional sequence stratigraphy methods might not be fully relevant and need to integrate alongshore hydrodynamical processes.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00421060
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00421060
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2009.06.008

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : Coastal and estuarine systems provide nursery grounds for many marine fish species. Their productivity has been correlated with terrigeneous inputs entering the coastal-estuarine benthic food web, thereby favouring the establishment of fish juveniles. Studies in these ecosystems often describe the nursery as a single large habitat without verifying nor considering the presence of contiguous habitats. Our study aimed at identifying different habitats based on macrozoobenthic communities and morpho-sedimentary characteristics and assessing the trophic interactions between fish juveniles and their benthic preys within these habitats. It included 43 sampling sites covering 5 habitats in which we described taxonomically and quantitatively the invertebrates and fish communities with stable isotopes and gut contents. It suggested that the benthic common sole Solea solea displayed feeding plasticity at the population level, separating the juveniles (G0) from the older fish (G1) into different "feeding sub-populations". Size-based feeding plasticity was also observable in the spatial occupancy of that species in the studied bay. The demersal pouting, Trisopterus luscus, equally used the different habitats but displayed low feeding plasticity across and inside each habitat. Stable isotopes proved to be powerful tools to study the spatial distribution of trophic interactions in complex ecosystems like the bay of Vilaine and to define optimal habitats for fish that use the coastal-estuarine ecosystem as nursery grounds.
Journal Of Sea Research (1385-1101) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2013-08 , Vol. 81 , P. 40-48

Droits : 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00151/26226/24327.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.seares.2013.03.013
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00151/26226/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
The central part of the Gulf of Lions shoreline is characterized by many coastal wetlands that resulted from the interaction between a process of shoreline regularization by migrations of littoral barriers and a slow filling of the back-barrier areas by the riverine and marine inputs. Analyses of Late-Holocene deposits with a very high-resolution multi-proxy study of two sediment cores, allow us to reconstruct the evolution of this coastal system. Two main Holocene sediment units are identified overlying a Pliocene carbonate continental formation. The lower unit consists of sandy and pebbly marine sediments deposited around 7800 B.P., during the final stand of the last sea level rise. Just above, the upper unit displays lagoonal grey clay silts with shells and some intercalated layers of silty sands related to paleostorm events. The age model was established from radiocarbon dating, for the oldest part of the core. Over the last century, sedimentation rates were calculated using the CFCS Pb-210 model, together with Cs-137 data. Radiocarbon data show an increase in he accumulation rate from the base to the top of cores. Marine sand units related to the last transgressive deposit allow to refine the curve of Holocene post-glacial sea level rise. Sedimentological and faunal analyses associated with chronological data provide a means for reconstructing the Late-Holocene paleoenvironments along this part of the coast and suggest that the final closure of the coastal lagoon by the sandy barrier occurred at around 730 +/- 120 yr cal B.P. The beginning of this closure, together with the progradation of the coastal plain, could be responsible for the decline in economic activity of the Lattara harbour during the Roman period.
La partie centrale du littoral du golfe du Lion est caractérisée par de nombreuses lagunes qui résultent de l'interaction entre un processus de régularisation du trait de côte par migration de barrières littorales et d'un lent remplissage des zones situées en arrière des barrières par des apports continentaux et marins. Les analyses des dépôts tardi-holocènes avec une étude multi-traceurs à très haute résolution de deux carottes sédimentaires nous permettent de reconstruire l'évolution de ce système côtier. Deux unités sédimentaires holocènes sont identifiées recouvrant une formation pliocène carbonatée. L'unité inférieure est constituée de sables et de galets d'origine marine déposés vers 7800 B.P., durant les stades ultimes de la dernière remontée marine. Audessus, l'unité supérieure montre des dépôts d'argile et de silt gris coquilliers d'origine lagunaire, dans lesquels sont intercalés des niveaux de sable silteux révélant la présence d'événements de tempêtes. Le modèle d'âge est établi à partir de dates radiocarbones pour les parties les plus anciennes des archives sédimentaires, tandis que pour le dernier siècle, les taux de sédimentation sont calculés en utilisant le modèle CFCS pour le 210Pb, associé aux données de 137Cs. Les données 14C montrent une augmentation du taux d'accumulation depuis la base jusqu'en surface des carottes. Les unités de sables marins liées aux dépôts de la dernière transgression marine permettent de préciser la courbe post-glaciaire de remontée du niveau marin. Les analyses sédimentologiques et faunistiques associées aux données chronologiques fournissent une méthode permettant de reconstituer les paléoenvironnements littoraux tardi-holocènes dans la zone d'étude et suggèrent que la fermeture finale de ces lagunes par le cordon sableux survient autour de 730 ± 120 ans cal B.P. Le début de cette fermeture, associée à la une progradation deltaïque, pourrait être responsable du déclin des activités économiques du port de Lattara durant la période Romaine.
EISSN: 1777-5817

halshs-00740923
https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00740923
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.181.1.27

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Résumé : This activity report entitled (“Chemical contamination of the marine environment: from measurement to risk assessment”) summarizes the main stages my career at Ifremer from November 1975 to june 2013. The first chapter deals with the seawater chlorination and chlorinated waters released into the sea, the identification and the conditions of the formation of various by-product of these processes. The second chapter concerns PCBs, their nature, their chemical analysis in environmental matrices. PCBs are considered as the best examples of persistant and bioaccumulable compounds and therefore, in all this report they are flagship contaminants to which other groups of studied substances are compared. The third chapter refers to studies performed within marine pollution monitoring programme RNO (Réseau National d’Observation de la qualité de l’environnement marin - National observation network on the quality of the marine environnment) and well as other more limited studies like a first assessement on the presence of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in the French coastal marine environment and last, on the use of zebra mussel (Dresseinia polymorpha) as sentinelle species of the chemical contamination in the Seine estuary. The next two chapters are about bioaccumulation and about the distribution of organic contaminants (PCBs, dioxins, PAHs, PBDEs) in marine organisms and in marine foodwebs. These studies aim at a better knowledge of the presence and fate of these compounds in fish and marine organisms eitheir in an environmental perspective (chapter IV) or in order to contribute to the assessment of their health impact, or more precisely to estimate therelative part of fish and seafood to the human exposure to chemical residues (chapter V). To conclude, the chapter VI concerns the PCB and dioxin fingerprints in the various studied marine matrices ; analytical and environmental interpretations of the observed differences are suggested as well as possible applications.
Ce bilan d’activité intitulé « Contamination chimique du milieu marin : de la mesure à l’évaluation des risques » retrace les étapes essentielles de mon parcours à Ifremer entre novembre 1975 et juin 2013. Le premier chapitre traite de la chloration dans l’eau de mer et les rejets chlorés en mer, l’identification des sous-produits formés lors de ces traitements, les conditions de leur formation. Le second chapitre concerne la nature des PCB et leur analyse dans les matrices environnementales. Les PCB considérés comme les meilleurs exemples de composés persistants bioaccumulables constituent les « contaminants phares » de l’ensemble de ce travail et c’est par rapport aux PCB que sont comparés et évalués les autres groupes de contaminants étudiés. Le troisième chapitre se rapporte aux travaux réalisés dans le cadre de la surveillance RNO (Réseau National d’Observation de la qualité de l’environnement marin) ainsi que dans des études ponctuelles comme un premier inventaire sur les niveaux de présence des dioxines (PCDD et PCDF) dans l’environnement marin littoral ou sur l’utilisation de la moule zébrée (Dresseinia polymorpha) comme espèce indicatrice de la contamination de l’estuaire de la Seine. Les deux chapitres suivants sont consacrés aux travaux sur la bioaccumulation et aux contaminants organiques (PCB, dioxines, HAP, PBDE) dans les organismes et les réseaux trophiques marins soit dans une perspective environnementale sur le devenir des contaminants dans le vivant (chapitre IV) soit dans le cadre de l’évaluation des risques sanitaires ou, plus précisément, de l’estimation de la contribution de la consommation des produits de la mer à l’exposition de l’homme aux résidus chimiques (chapitre V). Pour terminer, le chapitre VI concerne les empreintes de PCB et de dioxines dans les différentes matrices étudiées ; une interprétation analytique et environnementale des différences observées est proposée ainsi que de possibles applications.

Droits : 2013 UBO
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00168/27946/26237.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00168/27946/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The coastal intrusion of brine threatens populations. This is particularly prejudicial in carbonate environments. We have studied the Miocene coral reef of S-E Majorca for better understanding the relation between geological structure and intrusion. For that purpose, we have used multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary methods. The measurements in 25 boreholes over the whole coral platform have allowed defining the stratigraphic structure and some elements of the regional tectonic. The reef progrades in the NE-SW direction, starting from the Aquitanian to terminates at the Messinian. The Messinian Salinity Crisis involves a disappearance of the Mediterranean corals and results in a Terminal Carbonate Complex which overlays a great part of the previously living corals of Majorca. At the experimental site scale, the study of the mineral composition, the texture, and the diagenesis have allowed characterization of the carbonate sequence heterogeneity. Layers of mineralization accompanied by dolomitization and low porosity correspond to postdepositional eustatic levels. The causes for the existence and the orientation of fractures are studied. The permeability to porosity relation is approached. The porosity structure is studied by comparison between primary and secondary porosity. This study contributes to the knowledge of the world best documented site for the evolution of carbonate reef reservoirs, with applications for brine intrusion and for hydrocarbon extraction.
Les intrusions d'eau salée en zone côtière constituent une menace pour la population. Celles-ci sont particulièrement dommageables en contexte carbonaté. Nous avons étudié le récif corallien Miocène du sud-est de Majorque afin de comprendre la relation entre structure géologique et intrusion. Pour cela nous avons utilisé des méthodes multi-scalaires et multi-disciplinaires. Les mesures dans 25 forages sur l'ensemble de la plateforme corallienne ont permis de préciser la structure stratigraphique et certains éléments de la tectonique régionale. Le récif prograde dans la direction NE-SO, en partant de l'Aquitanien pour aboutir au Messinien. La Crise de Salinité Messinienne entraîne une disparition des coraux méditerranéens et se traduit par un Complexe Carbonaté Terminal qui s'étend sur une grande partie des coraux autrefois vivants de Majorque. A l'échelle du site expérimental, l'étude de la composition minérale, de la texture et de la diagenèse ont permis de caractériser l'hétérogénéité de la séquence carbonatée. Des couches de minéralisation accompagnées de dolomitisation et de faible porosité correspondent à différents niveaux eustatiques post-dépositionnels. Les causes de l'existence et de l'orientation des fractures sont étudiées. La relation de perméabilité à porosité est précisée. La structure de porosité est étudiée par comparaison entre la porosité primaire et la porosité secondaire. Cette étude contribue à la connaissance du site le mieux documenté au monde pour l'évolution des réservoirs carbonatés récifaux, avec applications pour les intrusions d'eau salée et l'extraction des hydrocarbures.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00440019

tel-00440019
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00440019
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00440019/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00440019/file/thesemariasube.pdf

Éditeur(s) : Springer
Résumé : The structure and summertime production of planktonic communities and the role of nondiatom planktonic cells were studied in coastal ponds, which are areas traditionally used for fattening and greening table-sized oysters. The abundance and biomass of nano-microplanktonic protists were determined at weekly intervals between February 1998 and February 1999 in a coastal pond without oysters in the French Atlantic coast near La Rochelle. The production of these microbiotas was determined in the summer period. The structure of plankton communities revealed the following observations: (1) microphytoplanktonic cells were mostly diatoms and dinoflagellates, (2) microzooplanktonic cells were mainly ciliates, and (3) nanoplanktonic cells were represented by pigmented (80-90% of the nanoplankton biomass) and colorless nanoflagellates. Diatoms were dominated by Naviculiineae. Dinoflagellates were dominated by Peridiniales. Oligotrichida were predominant in the ciliate community. Protist biomass levels were nine times higher from April to August (summer period 1033 mu g C L-1) than from September to March (winter period 114 mu g C L-1). Whatever the season, nanoflagellates were dominant in the water column (66 and 53% of the entire protist biomass in the summer and winter periods, respectively). Nanoflagellates represented the highest production of nano-microplanktonic communities (76% of carbon protist production) in the coastal pond in summer and showed the shortest generation time (7.1 h). Dinoflagellates came after nanoflagellates in production (19.5% of carbon protist production). Diatoms represented only a supplementary carbon resource available for higher trophic levels, whereas, until now, they were considered as the principal food of oysters in coastal ponds. Ciliates were a small source of carbon, but their growth rate was high. We suggest, first, that nanoflagellates represented the primary resource available in the pond and could constitute an important food resource for higher trophic levels, such as oysters, farmed in this type of pond. Overall, the system appeared to be more autotrophic than heterotrophic. Because inorganic nutrients are quickly exhausted in a semiclosed pond, pigmented flagellates dominated the carbon biomass, production and biomass of bacteria were high (thus, the microbial food web appeared to be active in this pond), and mixotrophy seemed to be an important trophic mode there.
Microbial Ecology (0095-3628) (Springer), 2007-05 , Vol. 53 , N. 4 , P. 537-548

Droits : 2007 Springer
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2007/publication-2641.pdf
DOI:10.1007/s00248-006-9087-z
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2641/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Understanding long-term variability in the frequency of intense storm activity is important for assessing whether changes are controlled by climate evolution. Understanding this variability is also important for predicting present and future community vulnerability and economic loss. Our ability to make these assessments has been limited by the short (less than 50 years) instrument record of storm activity. Storm-induced deposits preserved in the sediments of coastal lagoons offer the opportunity to study the links between climatic conditions and storm activity on longer timescales. In this study, we present a record of these extreme climatic events that have occurred in the French Mediterrannean coast over the past 1500 years. The identification of these extreme events is based on the analysis of sediment cores from Gulf of Aigues-Mortes lagoons that contain a specific sedimentary and geochemical signature associated with intense storms.;Overwash deposits do not show any evidence of intense storm landfalls in the region for several hundred years prior to the late 17th century A.D. The apparent increase in intense storms around 250 years ago occurs during the latter half of the Little Ice Age, a time of lower continental surface temperatures. Comparison of the sediment record with palaeoclimate records indicates that this variability was probably modulated by atmospheric dynamics. The apparent increase of the superstorm activity during the latter half of the Little Ice Age was probably due to the thermal gradient increase leading to enhanced lower tropospheric baroclinicity over a large Central Atlantic/European domain and leading to a modification of the occurrence of extreme wind events along the French Mediterranean coast. A complete understanding of the relationship between climate fluctuations, storm activity, and the coastal response will be crucial to predicting the impacts of future climate change.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00617525
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617525
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.11.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Microalgae in the division Haptophyta play key roles in the marine ecosystem and in global biogeochemical processes. Despite their ecological importance, knowledge on seasonal dynamics, community composition and abundance at the species level is limited due to their small cell size and few morphological features visible under the light microscope. Here, we present unique data on haptophyte seasonal diversity and dynamics from two annual cycles, with the taxonomic resolution and sampling depth obtained with high-throughput sequencing. From outer Oslofjorden, S Norway, nano- and picoplanktonic samples were collected monthly for 2years, and the haptophytes targeted by amplification of RNA/cDNA with Haptophyta-specific 18S rDNA V4 primers. We obtained 156 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), from c. 400.000 454 pyrosequencing reads, after rigorous bioinformatic filtering and clustering at 99.5%. Most OTUs represented uncultured and/or not yet 18S rDNA-sequenced species. Haptophyte OTU richness and community composition exhibited high temporal variation and significant yearly periodicity. Richness was highest in September-October (autumn) and lowest in April-May (spring). Some taxa were detected all year, such as Chrysochromulina simplex, Emiliania huxleyi and Phaeocystis cordata, whereas most calcifying coccolithophores only appeared from summer to early winter. We also revealed the seasonal dynamics of OTUs representing putative novel classes (clades HAP-3-5) or orders (clades D, E, F). Season, light and temperature accounted for 29% of the variation in OTU composition. Residual variation may be related to biotic factors, such as competition and viral infection. This study provides new, in-depth knowledge on seasonal diversity and dynamics of haptophytes in North Atlantic coastal waters. See also the Perspective by Massana
ISSN: 0962-1083

hal-01545321
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01545321
DOI : 10.1111/mec.13160

Éditeur(s) : Littoral 2004, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, September 2004
Résumé : NAMIBIE (a french acronym for Integrated Multimedia Navigator Within Coastal Environment Data Bases) is a specific tool which first concept has been established by Ifremer and has been developped by an association between research in the field of coastal environment, innovation in the field of new information and communication technologies and services in the field of coastal integrated management and impact studies. The objectives of this tool are to facilitate research, direct access and display of relevant multimedia coastal integrated data and information according to an interactive, widely opened and playfull interface. The principles are based upon the fact that sustainable decision making needs an optimized unterstanding of coastal processes and better consultation between actors. In this purpose the development of the tool has considered that the end-user should and could be free to look after the data and the information he needs for a particular site or environment of interest and for a specific ICZM question according to easy navigation interfaces. That is why NAMIBIE concept is based upon : - a coherent 3D representation of the coasts (i.e. from catchement areas to continental shelf and deep sea), which considers a coherent DEM from land to sea and textural representation of the environment using satellite imagery textural displays, - a 3D navigator which allows the user to fly or dive over and within the coastal environment of interest, - a multimedia database (text, graphs, image, maps, geographic objects, modelling results...) specific to the territory of interest, - an interactive interface which helps in finding relevant information associated to specific questions. The technologies used include VRML data format, integration of standard GIS format (shp, grid, img) within the navigator, integration and display of modelling data. The production chain is realized in C++ and Java scripts allow dialogue between web pages and 3D windows. Applications are presented on the coasts of Languedoc Roussillon region (French Mediterranean border) in the framework of ICZM problematics

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20055/17696.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20055/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Station Biologique
Résumé : International audience
From fish samplings (rotenone: 6 February 2002 & 13 May 2003; boxtraps: January 2008 to July 2009) in amangrove lagoon, the demographic structure, reproductive period and diet of Lophogobius cyprinoides were studied.Individual fish were measured (< 1 mm), weighed (± 0.01 g), and sexed by observing the urogenital papilla, sex-ratios andtotal length (TL)-standard length and length-mass relationships were calculated. Five individuals per size class (2 mm) wereused to study sexual maturity by macroscopic observation of gonad structure with a sexual maturity scale, and diet byqualitative and quantitative examination of digestive tract contents and calculation of the following indices: levels offullness and vacuity; occurrence, number, and point frequencies of various food items, and quality of nutrition. Growth isisometric and sexual dimorphism in favor of males (78 vs. 64 mm), demographic structure (18 ≤ TL ≤ 78 mm) and conditionevolved over time, with a distinct femininization of the population. Sexual inversion appeared from 46 mm onward, andtotal masculinization at 72 mm. Protogynous hermaphrodism is advantageous in a sedentary, subcryptobenthic species thatis reproductively active almost throughout the year. The species has an omnivorous diet specialized in copepods and plants
ISSN: 0007-9723

hal-00746079
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00746079

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Report
The Canadian coastline is the longest of any country in the world, and is at risk from tsunamis generated in three oceans. The current state of knowledge precludes a complete probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment, which would require quantification of a wide range of possible scenarios for each tsunami source, coupled with modelling that incorporates fine-resolution bathymetry and onland topography to adequately assess potential runup at the coast. This preliminary assessment presents a first attempt to quantify the tsunami hazard on the Canadian Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic coastlines from local and far-field, earthquake and large landslide sources. For each source considered, we calculate the probability that tsunami runup at the coast will exceed 1.5 m (threshold for potential damage) and 3 m (significant damage potential), in a 50-year period. For each coastal region, we then combine the relative hazard from each source to calculate the overall probability that the coastline in question will experience tsunami runup exceeding 1.5 m (and 3 m) within a 50-year period, from any geological source. We also consider the maximum runup levels expected to occur within time periods of 100, 500, 1000, and 2500 years.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00856677

hal-00856677
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00856677
DOI : 10.4095/292067

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
Résumé : International audience
Vibrio metoecus is the closest relative of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the potent diarrheal disease cholera. Although the pathogenic potential of this new species is yet to be studied in depth, it has been co-isolated with V. cholerae in coastal waters and found in clinical specimens in the USA. We used these two organisms to investigate the genetic interaction between closely related species in their natural environment. The genomes of twenty V. cholerae and four V. metoecus strains isolated from a brackish coastal pond on the US east coast, as well as four clinical V. metoecus strains were sequenced and compared to reference strains. Whole genome comparison shows 86-87% average nucleotide identity (ANI) in their core genes between the two species. On the other hand, the chromosomal integron, which occupies approximately 3% of their genomes, shows higher conservation in ANI between species than any other region of their genomes. The ANI of 93-94% observed in this region is not significantly greater within than between species, meaning that it does not follow species boundaries. V. metoecus does not encode toxigenic V. cholerae major virulence factors, the cholera toxin and toxin co-regulated pilus. However, some of the pathogenicity islands found in pandemic V. cholerae were either present in the common ancestor it shares with V. metoecus, or acquired by clinical and environmental V. metoecus in partial fragments. The virulence factors of V. cholerae are therefore both more ancient and more widespread than previously believed. There is high interspecies recombination in the core genome, which has been detected in 24% of the single-copy core genes, including genes involved in pathogenicity. V. metoecus was six times more often the recipient of DNA from V. cholerae as it was the donor, indicating a strong bias in the direction of gene transfer in the environment.
ISSN: 1759-6653

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01264332
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01264332
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01264332/document
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01264332/file/Genome%20Biol%20Evol-2015-Orata-gbe_evv193.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gbe/evv193

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Résumé : International audience
The Maroni basin, an isolated region delineating the border between Suriname and French Guiana has been affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic 10 years after coastal French Guiana. However, the rise in HIV prevalence was sharp, exceeding 1% within 10 years. The aim of the present study is to compare, using the first quantitative data from the general population in remote villages, the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding HIV between Maroon and Amerindian populations, the two most frequent populations living along the Maroni. Data were collected in 2012 using a structured questionnaire among a random sample of 896 individuals residing in the remote villages on the Maroni river. Proportions were compared between the Maroni and the coastal general population, and between Maroon and Amerindian populations. The present study shows significant differences between territories and between communities living on the Maroni river: the multiple sexual partnerships, more common among population living on the Maroni river, were more frequently reported in Maroons than in Amerindians. Condom use was more frequently reported among men on the Maroni river than on the coast, but these findings were reversed for women. Moreover, among people living on the Maroni river, condom use was more frequently reported among Maroons than among Amerindians. Regarding genital factors that may affect transmission, penile implant seemed to have no ethnic boundaries, steam baths seemed specific to Maroon women. The present results should help to improve community-based specific interventions.
ISSN: 0954-0121

hal-01260915
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01260915
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01260915/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01260915/file/2015%2C%20Van%20Melle%20-%20Knowledge%2C%20attitudes%2C%20behaviors%2C%20and%20practices%20differences%20regarding%20HIV.pdf
DOI : 10.1080/09540121.2015.1032203

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We have discovered in a marine core, located 20 km east of the Coastal Range of Taiwan at the top of a 1200 m deep submarine high, sheltered from rivers discharges and gravitational flows, a 23 cm-thick anomalous sequence topped with broken bivalves and wood fragments. Based on radiocarbon dating, we distinguish five sub-events within ∼ 100 yrs, about 3000 years ago. The oldest four sub-events are interpreted as the record of local submarine landslides, likely triggered by clustered earthquakes that are common in this tectonically active area. The last event including shells and wood has a different origin. Despite the high level of climatic and tectonic recent activity, no comparable event has been observed at the same site since that time, making it unique during the last 3.75 ka. Hydrodynamical modeling stimulated with a set of submarine landslide-triggered tsunami sources and combined with the regional oceanic circulation dominated by the Kuroshio Current, allow us to better constrain the transport paths of the suspended material, the expected run-up at the coast, and ultimately the trigger and source that best fit our observations. The Kuroshio Current appears as a strong constraint that generally prevents cross-shore transport of suspended material even during a major tsunami. Since the largest aerial debris flow observed along the east coast of Taiwan during the last 4 ka was synchronous with the marine deposit, our preferred scenario starts with the occurrence of four distinct large earthquakes within less than a century, triggering both submarine and aerial landslides in the study area. Then, a giant typhoon reworked the nearshore material as well as the slided material stored upstream resulting in a debris flow. It deeply modified the surface current, allowing the wood debris and shells to fastly reach the core site.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01467640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467640
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.11.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Miradouro da Lua cliffs, which are 60 km south of Luanda, record the building and uplift of the late Neogene Palaeo-Cuanza delta. The detailed study of the sedimentary architecture and stacking pattern permitted separation of the pile into five depositional units bounded by erosional surfaces and characterised by separate facies associations (genetic sequences = units in this paper). At the base of the series, aeolian deposits (Unit 1) mark the development of a possible coastal desert during the late Miocene aridification. The major Pliocene sea-level rise (Transgressive Systems Tract) led to the drowning of the continental platform into a discrete shoreface-foreshore sequence (Unit 2), followed by an expanded deltaic sequence (Unit 3) that represents the main outcrop of the area. The sedimentary fabric of this prograding wedge during the Highstand Systems Tract reveals laterally stacked pluri-hectometic mouth bars built by the abrupt switching of a bird-foot delta during the Pliocene highstand. The clinoforms are deeply incised by submarine gullies filled both by periodic river-driven turbidite and tidal currents (Unit 4) during the coeval growing of the delta. The topset of the prograding wedge and associated gullies infill is truncated by an overall erosional unconformity that marks the widespread development of an extensive braid-delta system (Unit 5) during the lower Pleistocene sea-level drop (Lowstand Systems Tract). The last 6 m of the Braid-delta unit is overprinted by a ferallitic profile, forming the surface of the plateau and indicating long-term subaerial exposure and weathering processes consistent with the maximum warming of the middle to late Pleistocene interglacial periods. The successive abrupt shifts of the depositional systems through the sedimentary pile indicate a high-amplitude sea level amplified by major coastal uplifts and the reorganisation of the fluvial network. In this context, the palaeo-Cuanza prograding wedge signals the westward tilting and 60 m total uplift of the coastal plain during the Pliocene. A new uplift pulse by differential tilt and slope increase is deduced from the widespread development of the braid-delta complex during the early Pleistocene. The last tectonic event corresponds to the 80- to 100-m uplift and ferallitic paedogenesis during the middle to late Pleistocene interglacial stages.
ISSN: 0899-5362

hal-01053716
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053716
DOI : 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2014.01.013

Éditeur(s) : Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : Epinephelus itajara is one of the marine fish species most threatened for extinction and it is considered to be "critically endangered" by the IUCN. The present study evaluated the genetic diversity of the species and the genetic/evolutionary relationships of its populations along the Atlantic coast of South America. The results indicate relatively reduced genetic variation, re-emphasizing the low adaptive potential of the species. One of the populations presented relatively high degrees of genetic diversity and it is evolutionary isolated from the all other populations. The evidences indicate the existence of two Evolutionarily Significant Units comprising E. itajara in the Atlantic coast of South America and the conservation prospects for the species must take these evidences into account.
Biochemical Systematics And Ecology (0305-1978) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2014-10 , Vol. 56 , P. 255-266

Droits : 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00230/34100/34465.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.bse.2014.06.004
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00230/34100/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This paper focuses on the analyses of the clastic sedimentary infill of the Coastal Plain of Eastern Mexico, which initiated synchronously with the Laramide orogeny in the vicinity of the Golden Lane. Results of these analyses are used as boundary conditions for calibrating/interpreting seismic profiles across more distal depocenters in the offshore of the Gulf of Mexico, from the sea shore and continental slope in the west to the abyssal plain in the east. The objective of the study is to better predict the reservoir distribution in the Deep offshore Basin of the Gulf of Mexico (DBGM), in order to explore for petroleum. The Coastal Plain is underlain by three morpho-tectonic domains: the tectonic front of the Sierra Madre Orientale (SMO), the Chicontepec deep water flexural basin, and the Tuxpan Platform (also known as the Golden Lane). Each domain is characterized by a distinct, dominantly siliciclastic Cenozoic lithostratigraphy. After a Jurassic rifting episode, followed by thermal subsidence, the oceanic basin and its western passive margin were deformed during the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene, by far field stresses associated with the Cordilleran-Laramide Orogeny. Starting in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene and during the Early Eocene, the tectonic load associated with the Laramide Orogen (Sierra Madre Oriental, SMO) caused flexural subsidence of the foreland located under the Coastal Plain. During this period, a massive transfer of siliciclastic sediments occurred from the Laramide foothills into the adjacent foreland. Sediments were eroded of the Sierra Madre tectonic wedge. Loading by these sediments pushed source units associated with the former passive margin down ward. The first syn-tectonic sediments of the Laramide orogeny were turbiditic silt layers in submarine fans which record also numerous collapse episodes and gravity slides. During the Late Eocene and Oligocene, the flexural subsidence stopped in the hinterland, whereas the subsidence of the passive margin resumed. This resulted in a change in the overall sedimentary architecture of the basin. Paleo-highs and reefs facies of the Golden Lane were flooded. Clastics by-passed the reefs and progradational clastic stratification formed as sediment moved towards the DBGM in the east. The final depositional environment of the continental platform/Coastal Plain became deltaic, marked by a succession of sand bars, levees and channels systems. From Miocene times onward, a system of gravitational listric faults developed near the platform to slope transition, resulting in a coeval compressional system at the transition between the slope and the abyssal plain. This system is driven by sediments charge. Because the sedimentation rate is larger than the subsidence, a large amount of clastics and slumped sediments are deposited in hangingwall basins.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00424586
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424586
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.03.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD SAGE Publications
Résumé : International audience
The distribution of redox-sensitive elements (V, U, Mo, Mn) was studied in a sedimentary archive of the Pierre-Blanche lagoon encompassing 3500 years of sedimentation. Between 240 and 255 cm (i.e. between 0 and 350 cal. ad) in the core, there was a dark layer with no mollusc shells. Enrichments of V, U and Mo and depletion of Mn were observed in this layer compared with overlying and underlying sediments. This was attributed to the occurrence of anoxia in bottom water or at the sediment/water interface during the Roman period. This episode was concomitant with the formation of a sandy barrier, which now isolates the lagoon from the sea. Our results suggest that the isolation of the lagoon, which was deeper in the period concerned than at present, favoured stagnation of the water. Combined with the excess nutrient inputs because of human activities in Lattara harbour, stagnation may have caused anoxia in bottom water at least in some parts of the Palavasian lagoon system. Bottom conditions nevertheless remained sufficiently reducing for the accumulation of U and Mo to persist until around 800 cal. ad. Although the lagoon has been hyper-eutrophic since at least the middle of the 20th century and although anoxia occurs frequently in summer, redox proxies show no evidence for their occurrence. The shallow water and associated resuspension and reoxidation events explain the lack of V, Mo and U enrichment in recent sediments.
ISSN: 0959-6836

hal-01062151
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01062151

Éditeur(s) : ISTPM
Résumé : The problems caused by venomous fish in the waters of the Lesser Antilles were studied in two notes published by the state-run Technical Assistance and Social Credit Company (SATEC) and in older works by Poey (1866), Arcisz (1950) and Randal (1958). The first SATEC note gives the brief description and classification of venomous coastal fishes of St. Barthelemy; the other SATEC note explores the hypotheses on the origin of venomousity of tropical fish based on a vast literature review (Morice, 1961, 1962). It also gives in the appendix a complete list of "fearful" species (this is how venoumous fish are designated in the local language and the "ciguatera" is called a "hurt fish") in St. Barthelemy waters and reports the cases of poisoning studied on the island since September 1960.In October 1963, we carried out a short expedition to St. Martin, during which we established equivalences between local names used by the inhabitants of St. Barthelemy and St. Martin to designate dangerous species. Moreover, thanks to kind help by a doctor at the Marigot hospital, we were able to note details on the symptoms from a series of serious poisonings that occurred at Marigot and surrounding areas in July-August 1963. The species incriminated by the victims of this poisoning had been caught in the south-west of the "Ile des Chiens" situated in the north-west of St. Martin and were all part of the list previously established for St. Barthelemy.
Les problèmes posés par la vénénosité de certains poissons des eaux des Petites Antilles ont fait l'objet, en de:hors de travaux anciens de POEY, 1866 à ARCISZ, 1950 et RANDALL, 1958) de deux notes ronéotypées par les services de la S.A.T.E.C. L'une concerne la description rapide et la classification des poissons côtiers vénéneux de l'île de St-Barthélémy; l'autre étudie les théories émises à propos de l'origine de la vénénosité des poissons tropicaux, ceci après compilation de la vaste littérature parue à ce sujet (MORICE, 1961 : 1962) ; elle donne également en annexe la liste complétée des espèces « redouteuses » des eaux de St-Barthélémy avec notification des cas d'empoisonnement étudiés dans l'île depuis septembre 1960 (c'est en effet par ce qualificatif que les poissons vénéneux sent désignés dans le patois de St-Barthélémy, et la « ciguatera)) est appelée « mal poisson ))). En octobre 1963, nous avons effectué une courte mission d'étude à St-Martin, séjour au cours duquel nous avons pu établir l'équivalence des noms vernaculaires utilisés par les habitants de St-Barthélémy et de St-Martin pour désigner les espèces dangereuses; de plus, grâce au concours aimable du médecin de l'hôpital de Marigot, nous avons pu noter les détails symptomatologiques d'une série d'intoxications graves survenues à Marigot et clans ses environs en juillet-août 1963. Les espèces incriminées par les victimes de cette intoxication avaient été capturées dans le sud-ouest de l'îlot des Chiens, dans le nord-ouest de St-Martin et faisaient toutes partie de la liste établie précédemment pour St-Barthélémy. (OCR non contrôlé)
Revue des Travaux de l'Institut des Pêches Maritimes (0035-2276) (ISTPM), 1965-09 , Vol. 28 , N. 3 , P. 231-236

Droits : Ifremer
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1965/publication-4040.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4040/