Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
An active seismic experiment has been conducted across the southern Ryukyu margin east of Taiwan over the whole trench-arc-backarc system in May 2009. Twenty-four ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed from the Ryukyu trench to the southern Okinawa trough over the Ryukyu arc and forearc. Wide angle seismic data were recorded by the OBS array while coincident reflection seismic data were acquired using a 6 km long streamer and a 6600 cubic inch seismic airgun array. Results from tomographic inversion of 21091 travel time picks along this line allowed us to image crustal structures of the Ryukyu margin down to a depth of 25 km. The transect has been designed to provide a better seismic velocity structure of the subduction zone in a highly deformed area that has produced an M8 earthquake in 1920. The line crosses a seismic cluster of earthquakes which source mechanisms are still poorly understood. The subducting oceanic crust of the Huatung Basin is about 5-6 km thick. The underlying mantle exhibits low seismic velocities around 7.8 km/s suggesting some hydrothermal alterations or alteration of the upper mantle through faults generated by the flexure of the subducting plate as it enters the subduction. Low velocities, up to 4.5 km/s, associated with the accretionary wedge are well imaged from the trench back to the Nanao forearc. A major result concerns the abrupt termination of the buttress at the rear of the accretionary wedge. Despite the low resolution of the tomographic inversion near the subduction interface, several lines of evidence supporting the presence of a low velocity zone beneath the toe of the forearc buttress could be established. The Moho beneath the Ryukyu non-volcanic arc is located at a depth around 25 km depth.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00795573
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795573
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.10.010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Iron content of the bulk marine sediment from the Chilean continental margin has been used to infer millenial-scale climate changes in southeast Pacific [Lamy, F., Klump, J., Hebbeln, D., Wefer, G., 2000. Rapid climate change in northern Chile over the last 80 ka recorded in a marine sediment core. Terra Nova 12: 8–13]. Changes of iron contents have been related to a varying contribution of Andean (Fe-rich) versus Coastal Range (Fe-poor) source rocks ultimately controlled by continental rainfall changes. However, variations observed could also be produced by changes in the proportions of two components in the sediment — a detrital component with low and constant Fe content and an authigenic phase (Fe oxide, pyrite, apatite, etc.) with high Fe content. A sequential extraction has been used to partition the total iron content in the sediment of core GeoB 7101 at the continental margin of Chile. The extraction steps included five fractions: exchangeable, bound to carbonates, bound to Fe–Mn oxides, bound to organic matter, and residual. Iron appeared to be mainly present in the residual fraction, i.e. in the detrital component. Our study indicates that total Fe or Fe/Al may be used to infer millenial-scales climate changes in the southeastern Pacific.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00407253
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407253
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2007.03.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Résumé : The Lodève Permian synrift sequence is represented by thick stacked climate-controled playa cycles which have been constrained by structural, sedimentological, geochemical and paleontological processes. The present paper merges the different results in order to better constrain the dynamics and palaeoecologycal evolution of the playa system from Late Cisuralian to Early Lopingian time. In this depositional environment, thining upwards sheet-flood sequences represent flooding events; they are relayed by ephemeral ponding, suspension settling and limited carbonate precipitation accompanied by large amounts of shallow to subaerial sedimentary structures... (Ver más) (current and wind ripples, desiccation cracks, rain drops, etc.). The aridity of the climate contrasts with the surprising abundance of the fauna encountered into carbonate-rich silty-clay playa-lake deposits. Ephemeral pools are colonized by numerous shellfish: Choncostraca, Triopsids, and Insects, which led to intense burrowing of the overbank deposits (Scoyenia facies). Tetrapods are common and dominated by several types of reptiles after footprints: Pelycosauria, Parareptilia and Lepidosauria in the Rabejac Fm, and Mammalian reptiles (Therapsida) on the top of the fluvial deposits of the Salagou Fm near La Lieude farm. In addition, elements of a weighty herbivorous Pelycosaurian and a small amphibian Tupilakosaurid, only described in the Triassic before, have been also found in the Upper part of the Permian series of this sector.
ISSN: 1698-6180

hal-00411539
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411539

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Résumé : Avec l'augmentation récente de la population mondiale et des infrastructures en domaine littoral, les tempêtes et les cyclones sont devenus un des risques majeurs à l'échelle globale. La Méditerranée, et plus particulièrement le Golfe du Lion, ne sont pas épargnés par ces phénomènes. La tempête de 1982 par exemple, de catégorie 2 sur l'échelle de Saffir-Simpson est responsable du décès de quinze personnes et de plus de 400 millions d'euros de pertes économiques. La prévision de ces événements à partir de modèles climatiques est devenue primordiale. Le problème majeur dans cette approche est le manque de recul dans le temps pour calibrer ces modèles. Notre approche a donc été de reconstituer ces tempêtes du passé à partir de l'étude d'archives sédimentaires (paléotempestologie). Les lagunes du littoral languedocien sont les réceptacles de matériels terrigènes provenant des bassins versants en période de crues, mais aussi de sables transportés par la mer en période de tempêtes. L'étude des archives sédimentaires dans l'étang de Pierre Blanche nous a permis d'identifier et de reconstituer l'alternance des événements les plus extrêmes au cours des 2000 dernières années. La fréquence de ces tempêtes semble varier dans le temps et une augmentation significative est constatée durant la fin du Petit Âge Glaciaire.
ISSN: 1142-2904

hal-00486349
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486349

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Cnidarian–dinoflagellate photosynthetic symbioses are fundamental to biologically diverse and productive coral reef ecosystems. The hallmark of this symbiotic relationship is the ability of dinoflagellate symbionts to supply their cnidarian host with a wide range of nutrients. Many aspects of this association nevertheless remain poorly characterized, including the exact identity of the transferred metabolic compounds, the mechanisms that control their exchange across the host–symbiont interface, and the precise subcellular fate of the translocated materials in cnidarian tissues. This lack of knowledge is mainly attributed to difficulties in investigating such metabolic interactions both in situ, i.e. on intact symbiotic associations, and at high spatial resolution. To address these issues, we illustrate the application of two in situ and high spatial resolution molecular and ion imaging techniques–matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) and the nano-scale secondary-ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) ion microprobe. These imaging techniques provide important new opportunities for the detailed investigation of many aspects of cnidarian–dinoflagellate associations, including the dynamics of cellular interactions.
ISSN: 0944-2006

hal-01546914
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01546914
DOI : 10.1016/j.zool.2014.06.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD E Schweizerbart Science Publishers
Résumé : The occurrence and preservation of aragonite in eclogite-facies rocks of north-eastern Corsica is linked to an uncommon microtexture. Aragonite exclusively occurs as oriented fibres in garnet crystals of a graphitic, more or less siliceous marble that immediately overlies a serpentinite body of the meta-ophiolitic unit. The arrangement of the fibres is grossly radial, but more clearly sectoral in subhedral garnet, the fibres growing perpendicular to the garnet/matrix interface. Raman mapping reveals that the carbonate is calcite in the matrix and in poikiloblastic garnet cores, and that the fibres in the garnet mantle are aragonite alone in the case of a carbonate matrix, and both aragonite and quartz (in distinct fibres) in a quartz–carbonate matrix. These features are interpreted as prograde intergrowths, the result of garnet nucleation and growth in a calcite and then aragonite matrix (±quartz). Upon further heating and/or decompression, the aragonite matrix transformed back to calcite while the carbonates included in garnet retained their original structure, in spite of the relatively high temperature attained (ca. 500 °C). These aragonite relics are one more example of the preservation of a high-pressure polymorph through mechanical shielding of inclusions in a rigid host. The aragonite–garnet intergrowths are similar to quartz–garnet intergrowths described in amphibolite-facies graphitic schists. They are evidence that oriented inclusions in garnet are not necessarily precipitates (‘exsolutions'). Unlike precipitates, their orientation is controlled more by the shape of the garnet growth front than by symmetry constraints.
ISSN: 0935-1221

hal-00411136
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411136
DOI : 10.1127/0935-1221/2008/0020-1892

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We have integrated the relatively unknown distal domains of the Lower Congo basin, where the main depocenters of the Congo submarine fan are located, with the better-constrained successions on the shelf and upper slope, through the analysis of thousands of km of 2D seismic reflection profiles off-shore the Congo-Angola passive margin. The basin architecture is depicted by two ca. 800-km-long regional cross sections through the northern (Congo) and southern (Angola) margin. A large unit deposited basinward of the Aptian salt limit is likely to be the abyssal-plain equivalent of the upper-Cretaceous carbonate shelf that characterized the first post-rift deposits in West-equatorial African margins. A latest-Turonian shelf-deepening event is recorded in the abyssal plain as a long period (Coniacian-Eocene) of condensed sedimentation and basin starvation. The onset of the giant Tertiary Congo deep-sea fan in early Oligocene following this event reactivates the abyssal plain as the main depocenter of the basin. The time-space partitioning of sedimentation within the deep-sea fan results from the interplay among increasing sediment supply, margin uplift, rise of the Angola salt ridge, and canyon incision throughout the Neogene. Oligocene-early Miocene turbidite sedimentation occurs mainly in NW-SE grabens and ponded inter-diapir basins on the southern margin (Angola). Seaward tilting of the margin and downslope salt withdrawal activates the up-building of the Angola escarpment, which leads to a northward (Congo) shift of the transfer zones during late Miocene. Around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, the incision of the Congo submarine canyon confines the turbidite flows and drives a general basinward progradation of the submarine fan into the abyssal plain The slope deposition is dominated by fine-grained hemipelagic deposits ever since. Results from this work contribute to better understand the signature in the ultra-deep deposits of processes acting on the continental margin as well as the basin-wide sediment redistribution in areas of high river input.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00424533
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424533
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.04.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Excess gas phase in magmas erupting explosively is well known worldwide. However, the origin of this gas phase, in excess of what can be dissolved in the erupting magma at depth, and the rate of gas accumulation is less well defined. The 2010 mildly explosive eruption at Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, produced mingled tephra of benmoreitic and trachytic composition whereas alkali basalt was emitted during preceding flank eruption. Tephra of the first explosive phase are composed of three glass types, alkaline rhyolite, mixed benmoreite, and basalt, which suggests that the basaltic magma intruded a pre-existing rhyolitic magma chamber, and ultimately triggered the eruption. The mixed benmoreitic tephra (erupted on 15 and 17 April 2010) had large 210Po in excess of 210Pb View the MathML source[(Po210/Pb210)0=1.88] at the time of eruption, and possibly a small 210Pb excess over its parent 226Ra. In contrast, the preceding flank eruption produced basalt with View the MathML source(Po210)0=0, upon eruption, and the final trachyte had lost most of its 210Po during open-system degassing. The 210Po excess in the first erupted benmoreites is interpreted to result from 210Po degassing of basaltic magma and the accumulation of 210Po-enriched gas, either in the upper part of the basaltic intrusion, below the rhyolite–basalt interface, or in the pre-existing residual rhyolitic magma chamber. From a simple model of radon and polonium accumulation in the rhyolitic reservoir, the ratio of the mass of basalt magma degassing over the mass of magma accumulating the excess gas decreased from 20 to 15 over 2 days, implying zoned magma reservoir, with the uppermost and gas-richest part erupting first. The duration of pre-eruptive gas accumulation in this model is approximately one year. This corresponds closely to the initiation of a seismic swarm beneath Eyjafjallajökull, early June 2009, which was the first pre-eruptive signal detected. The coincidence between initiation of gas accumulation at relatively shallow depth and deeper seismicity strongly suggests that the excess gas phase originated from a basalt magma batch intruded at depth, and that this gas phase reached the surface approximately a year later.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01217142
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01217142
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.054

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Both flow field heterogeneity and mass transfer between mobile and immobile domains have been studied separately for explaining observed anomalous transport. Here we investigate non-Fickian transport using high-resolution 3-D X-ray microtomographic images of Berea sandstone containing microporous cement with pore size below the setup resolution. Transport is computed for a set of representative elementary volumes and results from advection and diffusion in the resolved macroporosity (mobile domain) and diffusion in the microporous phase (immobile domain) where the effective diffusion coefficient is calculated from the measured local porosity using a phenomenological model that includes a porosity threshold ( inline image) below which diffusion is null and the exponent n that characterizes tortuosity-porosity power-law relationship. We show that both flow field heterogeneity and microporosity trigger anomalous transport. Breakthrough curve (BTC) tailing is positively correlated to microporosity volume and mobile-immobile interface area. The sensitivity analysis showed that the BTC tailing increases with the value of inline image, due to the increase of the diffusion path tortuosity until the volume of the microporosity becomes negligible. Furthermore, increasing the value of n leads to an increase in the standard deviation of the distribution of effective diffusion coefficients, which in turn results in an increase of the BTC tailing. Finally, we propose a continuous time random walk upscaled model where the transition time is the sum of independently distributed random variables characterized by specific distributions. It allows modeling a 1-D equivalent macroscopic transport honoring both the control of the flow field heterogeneity and the multirate mass transfer between mobile and immobile domains.
ISSN: 0043-1397

hal-01278285
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01278285
DOI : 10.1002/2015WR017645

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
New estimates of trench migration rates allow us to address the dynamics of trench migration and back-arc strain. We show that trench migration is primarily controlled by the subducting plate velocity V-sub, which largely depends on its age at the trench. Using the hot and weak arc to back-arc region as a strain sensor, we define neutral arcs characterized by the absence of significant strain, meaning places where the forces (slab pull, bending, and anchoring) almost balance along the interface between the plates. We show that neutral subduction zones satisfy the kinematic relation between trench and subducting plate absolute motions: V-t = 0.5V(sub) - 2.3 (in cm a(-1)) in the HS3 reference frame. Deformation occurs when the velocity combination deviates from kinematic equilibrium. Balancing the torque components of the forces acting at the trench indicates that stiff (old) subducting plates facilitate trench advance by resisting bending.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00411731
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411731
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411731/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411731/file/Lallemand2008-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2007TC002212

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
The 1867 Virgin Island Tsunami reached large magnitude on the coasts of the Caribbean Islands. A maximum tsunami height of 10 m was reported for two coastal locations (Deshaies and Sainte-Rose) in Guadeloupe. Modelling of the 1867 tsunami is performed in the framework of the nonlinear shallow-water theory. The directivity of the tsunami wave source in the Caribbean Sea according to the assumed initial waveform is investigated. The tsunami records at the several coastal regions in the Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and South America are simulated. The comparison between the computed and observed data is in reasonable agreement.
Natural Hazards and Earth System Science

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-00330900
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00330900
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00330900/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00330900/file/nhess-3-367-2003.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Claystone caprocks are often the ultimate seal for CO2 underground storage when residual CO2 gas reaches the reservoir top due to buoyancy. Permeability changes of a fractured claystone due to seepage of CO2-enriched brine and water vapor-saturated CO2 gas are investigated. Results show that brine flow induces a large porosity increase (up to 50%) in the vicinity of the fracture due to dissolution of calcite and quartz, while permeability remains unchanged. Conversely, cyclic flows of CO2-brine and CO2-gas increase the fracture aperture abruptly after each gas flow period, producing a progressive decrease of the caprock seal capacity. Aperture increase is controlled by decohesion of the clay framework within a micrometer-scale-thick layer induced by CO2-gas acidification. Results show that hydraulic aperture increases linearly with duration of the preceding CO2-brine flow period, emphasizing the kinetic control of the quartz grains dissolution during the brine flow periods.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-00412332
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412332
DOI : 10.1029/2008GL034467

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : Diversified deep-water corals and associated communities occur in early Pleistocene (early Calabrian; ∼1.7–1.6 Ma) calcareous crusts discovered on the south-western coast of Karpathos Island (eastern Greece). Apart from abundant and conspicuous solitary and colonial corals (12 species), the accompanying fauna comprises mostly bivalves (10 species), serpulid worms (4 species), and bryozoans (40 species). The growth and deposition of the studied organisms occurred in an upper bathyal environment at water depths around 400–600 m. The calculated mean uplift rate after deposition of the crusts indicates that Karpathos was drowned during the earliest Calabrian and experienced severe uplifts by the late Calabrian. A comparison between these communities and those of the Pleistocene to Recent Mediterranean and north-east Atlantic shows that a common stock of taxa exist(ed); among them two azooxanthellate colonial scleractinians (Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata) are predominant.
ISSN: 0267-8179

hal-01622744
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622744
DOI : 10.1002/jqs.2966

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Society for Sedimentary Geology
Résumé : International audience
Spectacular accumulations of abundant bryozoan nodules (bryoliths) occur in the early Pleistocene coarse-grained, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic deposits of the Cape Arkhangelos Calcarenite of Rhodes, Greece. These bryoliths are always associated with numerous bivalves (mostly ostreids and pectinids) and serpulid worms, together with other rarer skeletal organisms. The spheroidal bryoliths vary in diameter from I cm to 16 cm, and those with a more ellipsoidal shape range from 0.8 cm to 22 cm in length and from 0.7 cm to 16 cm in width; an elongated bryolith of exceptional size (40 cm) was even found. The bryoliths are composed almost exclusively of the anascan cheilostome Calpensia nobilis and are nucleated on gravels, pebbles, or bivalve shells. After settlement of bryozoan crusts, the bryoliths increased in size by repeated overturning of these mobile hard substrates by longshore currents. The bryoliths developed at depths of 20-40 m on a flat shoal between emerged areas where bottom currents episodically accelerated during storms. The currents also transported the bryoliths, together with other skeletal elements, into deeper settings (40-80 m) where they could continue their growth, upward or downward, or be colonized by other organisms.
ISSN: 0883-0351

hal-00475576
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475576
DOI : 10.2110/palo.2009.p09-024r

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Pollen records, marine faunal associations and stable isotope compositions of sediments from Rhodes, Greece, have been determined to track environmental changes in the eastern Mediterranean during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. A detailed chronostratigraphic curve, based on magnetostratigraphic data, was obtained by correlating pollen spectra with the Mediterranean oxygen isotopic curve of Ocean Drilling Program Site 975. Five sedimentary sequences that correspond to marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 31–27 and to MIS 20–17 have been investigated in the confined Tsampika microbasin. High-amplitude Pinus variations confirm glacio-eustatic changes deduced from changes in marine faunal associations and sedimentary depositional environments. Reflecting climatic cycles identified in the marine carbonate oxygen isotope record, eight vegetation successions (characterized by the dominance first of mesothermic elements, then of mid- and high-altitude elements with Pinus, and ending with maxima in herb and steppe elements) have been documented. Most of them were probably driven by changes in insolation occurring in high northern latitudes (obliquity impact) during the late Early Pleistocene and early Middle Pleistocene.
Journal of the Geological Society, London

hal-00470360
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00470360

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
Measurements of branch xylem density, D_x, were made for 1466 trees representing 503 species, sampled from 80 sites across the Amazon basin. Measured values ranged from 240 kg m^?3 for a Brosimum parinarioides from Tapajos in West Pará, Brazil to 1130 kg m^?3 for an Aiouea sp. from Caxiuana, Central Pará, Brazil. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in average D_x across the sample plots as well as significant differences between families, genera and species. A partitioning of the total variance in the dataset showed that geographic location and plot accounted for 33% of the variation with species identity accounting for an additional 27%; the remaining "residual" 40% of the variance accounted for by tree to tree (within species) variation. Variations in plot means, were, however, hardly accountable at all by differences in species composition. Rather, it would seem that variations of xylem density at plot level must be explained by the effects of soils and/or climate. This conclusion is supported by the observation that the xylem density of the more widely distributed species varied systematically from plot to plot. Thus, as well as having a genetic component branch xylem density is a plastic trait that, for any given species, varies according to where the tree is growing and in a predictable manner. Exceptions to this general rule may be some pioneers belonging to Pourouma and Miconia and some species within the genera Brosimum, Rinorea and Trichillia which seem to be more constrained in terms of this plasticity than most species sampled as part of this study.
ISSN: 1810-6277

hal-00298004
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298004
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298004/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298004/file/bgd-5-2003-2008.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Finding records of past catastrophic storm events is essential to evaluate the long term climatic evolution in a given coastal area. This question has been addressed by the study of sediment cores sampled in a small coastal lagoon of the French Mediterranean coast (Pierre Blanche lagoon). Two cores were studied in detail and revealed the presence of three main storm events. The sedimentation rates calculated using the CFCS Pb-210 model, in agreement with Cs-137 data, are 3 +/- 0.4 and 4.2 +/- 0.7 mm y(-1) near the border and in the center of the lagoon respectively. This suggests that the 0.6 m deep lagoon could be filled with sediments over the next 150 yr. Our study shows that storm events can be characterized in sedimentary sequences identified by facies, grain size and faunal assemblages (lagoonal and marine species). Comparison of Pb-210, C-14 chronology and historical accounts suggest that the three identified storm events took place in 1742, 1839 and 1893 A.D. (i.e. about one catastrophic event per century).
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00411189
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411189
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2008.03.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
At the Land-Sea interface, the mangrove forests represent unique but very threatened ecosystems. In the tropical island systems as to the biosphere scale, the mangrove forests and related biocenoses are relevant anthropization markers. The pressures and the direct and indirect damage are also multiple and varied. Generally, the coastal ecosystems of the French West Indies are in constant evolution. The effect of natural factors is increased by human activities. In these small, densely populated and urbanized areas, the mangrove forests are part of the last unoccupied areas. Faced with growing development needs, they represent an area to use, exploit and impact. The human footprint is high and sometimes it has irreversible consequences. The human impact mainly translates into the erosion of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Facing these imbalances, the study of the mangrove ecosystem using conservation ecology stands as an essential approach for the preservation of Martinique’s coastal ecosystems.
ISSN: 2277-8322

hal-01393660
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01393660

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU) American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Environmental magnetism of speleothems is still in its early stage of development. Here we report on our investigation of the environmental and paleomagnetic information that has been recorded in speleothems, and what are the factors that control its preservation and reliability. To address these issues, we used a multidisciplinary approach, including rock magnetism, petrography, scanning electron microscopy, stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions, and major and trace element concentrations. We applied this to a set of samples from different stages of speleothem evolution: present-day dripwater (glass plates), a weathered stalactite, a fresh stalagmite, cave sediments, and terra rossa soils. These samples come from the Penico and Excentricas caves, located in two distinct aquifers of the Algarve region, South Portugal. Our results show that the main magnetic carriers of the speleothems under study are primary (detrital) and consist of maghemite (and magnetite?). Similarities in coercivity and temperature dependence of the studied set of samples suggest that iron oxides are inherited from the terra rossa soils that cap the cave and were transported to the speleothems by dripwater. Hence, they represent a regional environmental signature. Interestingly, a stable and probably detrital remanent magnetization could be isolated in the fresh stalagmite, whereas the weathered stalactite yielded chaotic magnetic directions and very low remanent intensities. We propose that these low intensities can be the result from (i) different remanence acquisition mechanisms between stalagmite and stalactite and/or (ii) iron dissolution by fungal activity. We also suggest that magnetic properties and color and the content in detrital elements in the fresh speleothem inform about environmental processes acting on the interface of rock (soil)-atmosphere, while oxygen isotope composition and alkaline-earth element concentrations inform about calcite-water interaction processes. These results provide a better understanding of how environmental information is recorded in speleothems and what the factors are that control the reliability of the paleomagnetic and paleo-environmental signal.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01114953
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01114953
DOI : 10.1002/2014JB011381

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Yearly monitoring in one of the most affected coastal zones by the Prestige oil spill, namely Nemiña and O Rostro beaches (NW Spain), has been carried out since 2004. Topographic data of beaches revealed seasonal altimetric changes up to 4 m that would prevent the on shore persistence of oil. However, surficial and subsurficial oil was detected in the intertidal area of both beaches in all campaigns. The hydrocarbon analysis confirmed that this oil corresponded to the Prestige oil, even nine years after the accident. Tar balls were highly biodegraded suggesting that the oil was accumulated on the subtidal sediments for a long time and transported to the coast by the action of waves. The present work provides new evidence of the long term persistence of deep oil spills from wrecks in marine areas where the hydrodynamic conditions play a twofold key role, in determining the exposed coastal area to recurrent contamination and in burying and resurfacing the oil in the intertidal zone.
ISSN: 0304-3894

hal-01071707
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01071707
DOI : 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.01.057