Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The timing, routing and processes of sediment transfer from the continents to the oceans at millennial time-scale are still largely unknown. The potential of turbidite systems (dominantly deposited during sea-level lowstands) to record global or regional environmental fluctuations is usually under-exploited because of the difficulty to obtain robust chronostratigraphic constraints in turbiditic deposits, and therefore to tie changes in sedimentary processes to environmental fluctuations. We were able to obtain a millennial-scale chronostratigraphy based on oxygen isotopes of the scarce foraminifera preserved in turbiditic deposits of the Rhone Turbidite System within the Western Mediterranean. Our results show that 1) objective criteria can be defined for the selection of foraminifera preserved within the pelagic intervals between the turbiditic sequences, in order to obtain a reliable isotope stratigraphy; 2) Turbidites triggered by hyperpycnal currents are described for the first time within the Rhone Turbidite System. They are related to the periods of direct fluvial connection with the canyon head (during the sea-level lowstand and early rise), and to a period of high sediment flux in relation with the massive recession of the Rhone glaciers in the Alps; 3) The lithofacies change passing from hyperpycnal to “Bouma-type” is dated at ca 19 cal. ka BP, which might correspond to an acceleration of sea-level rise (19-ka Meltwater Pulse,).
Sedimentary Geology (0037-0738) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2015-06 , Vol. 323 , P. 148-166

Droits : 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00266/37712/35730.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.04.009
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00266/37712/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
We analyze focal mechanisms of shallow-intermediate earthquakes in a NW-SE transect along the western Betic Cordillera and Alboran Sea, and deep earthquakes located in the central Betics to constrain the state of stress at the Gibraltar Arc slow convergence area. Shallow earthquakes (< 40 km) are preferably clustered at the mountain front. A general NW-SE horizontal compression is compatible with the convergence, and NW plunging compression axes are in agreement with frontal thrust activity. Toward the Alboran Sea the earthquakes are progressively deeper, reaching intermediate depths (40-120 km) near the coast and supporting the present-day activity of subduction only in this area. The Iberian continental crust concentrates most of the intermediate seismicity and is forced to partially sink into the mantle, probably through the pull of the oceanic slab. This downdip pull together with the buoyancy of the Iberian continental crust produces the slab curvature, downdip extension in the external arc of the continental slab, and downdip compression in the inner arc. T axes highly dipping to the southeast at 90-120 km depth occur at the oceanic/continental transition. Deep earthquakes (> 620 km) show very similar focal mechanisms, fitting the general slab behavior of resistance to further descent at the 660 km discontinuity. Seismicity features evidence the present-day stress distribution in a context of transition from subduction to continental collision.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00669889
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00669889
DOI : 10.1029/2011GC003824

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : We use seismic reflection and rock sample data to propose that the first-order physiography of New Caledonia Trough and Norfolk Ridge formed in Eocene and Oligocene time and was associated with the onset of subduction and back-arc spreading at the Australia-Pacific plate boundary. Our tectonic model involves an initial Cretaceous rift that is strongly modified by Cenozoic subduction initiation. Hence, we are able to explain (1) complex sedimentary basins of inferred Mesozoic age; (2) a prominent unconformity and onlap surface of middle Eocene to early Miocene age at the base of flat-lying sediments beneath the axis of New Caledonia Trough; (3) gently dipping, variable thickness, and locally deformed Late Cretaceous strata along the margins of the trough; (4) platform morphology and unconformities on either side of the trough that indicate a phase of late Eocene to early Miocene uplift to near sea level, followed by rapid Oligocene and Miocene subsidence of similar to 1100-1800 m; and (5) seismic reflection facies tied to boreholes that suggest absolute tectonic subsidence at the southern end of New Caledonia Trough by 1800-2200 m since Eocene time. The Cenozoic part of the model involves delamination and subduction initiation followed by rapid foundering and rollback of the slab. This created a deep (>2 km) enclosed oceanic trough, similar to 2000 km long and 200-300 km across, in Eocene and Oligocene time as the lower crust detached, with simultaneous uplift and local land development along basin flanks. Disruption of Late Cretaceous and Paleogene strata was minimal during this Cenozoic phase and involved only subtle tilting and local reverse faulting or folding. Basin formation was possible through the action of at least one detachment fault that allowed the lower crust to either be subducted into the mantle or exhumed eastward into Norfolk Basin. We suggest that delamination of the lithosphere, with possible mixing of the lower crust back into the mantle, is more widespread than previously thought and may be commonly associated with subduction initiation, such as Cenozoic events in the Mediterranean and western Pacific.
Tectonics (0278-7407) (American Geophysical Union), 2010-03 , Vol. 29 , N. TC2004 , P. 1-16

Droits : Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00001/11271/9283.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2009TC002476
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00001/11271/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
Sinkholes are frequently observed where soluble rocks are present, in meteoritic recharge areas or when subsurface dissolution causes ground collapse. Seismic profiles on the inner shelf of the Gulf of Lions (W. Mediterranean) display a giant atypical sub-circular structure, up to 800-m thick and 2-km wide. It is characterized by down-warped internal seismic reflections forming a concave V-shaped depression rooted in the substratum, most likely carbonated. This structure is interpreted as a poly-phased solution-subsidence/collapse structure of Plio-Quaternary age. The last phase of deformation probably occurred during the last sea-level low-stand phase. The mechanism proposed for the creation of this structure is collapse/dissolution of the soluble substratum, as a result of a combination of several possible factors including pre-existing deep Messinian palaeo-karst with active groundwater flows during Plio-Quaternary lowstands, and deep-rooted acidic fluids ascending through the substratum.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-00758063
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00758063
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2011.01051.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Spinel (± plagioclase) peridotite xenoliths from the Tallante and Los Perez volcanic centres in the eastern Betics (SE Spain) range from depleted (clinopyroxene-poor) harzburgites to fertile (clinopyroxene-rich) lherzolites and orthopyroxene-free wehrlites. Significantly, only one harzburgite, which is depleted in heavy rare earth elements (HREE), retains the imprint of ca. 20% ancient melting of an original garnet lherzolite source. In contrast, REE abundances of other harzburgites and lherzolites from the eastern Betics have been increased by melt-rock reaction. The whole-rock and mineral compositions of these mantle rocks are largely controlled by three types of modal metasomatism: 1) common clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene addition and olivine consumption which increased FeOt, SiO2 and Al2O3, and decreased MgO compared to the refractory melting products; 2) subordinate orthopyroxene dissolution and precipitation of clinopyroxene and olivine, which led to higher FeOt and MgO and lower SiO2 than in common (orthopyroxene-rich) lherzolites; and 3) rare orthopyroxene consumption and olivine addition that caused higher FeOt and lower SiO2 compared to the original melting residues. These mineral modal and major element variations have been produced mostly by interactions with relatively FeOt-rich/SiO2-poor melts, likely derived from a peridotite-pyroxenite lithospheric mantle with a highly heterogeneous isotopic composition. Melting of the lithospheric mantle in the western Mediterranean was triggered by upwelling of the asthenosphere induced by back-arc extension in the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. Trapping of small fractions of exotic melts in whole-rocks — likely the parental magmas of Miocene back-arc dykes that intruded the Betic crust — caused local disequilibrium between the trace element signatures and Pb isotopic compositions of clinopyroxene and whole-rock. Subsequent interaction with SiO2-undersaturated magmas, similar to the parental melts of the Pliocene alkali basalts that host the xenoliths, promoted orthopyroxene consumption and clinopyroxene-olivine enrichment at locations close to magma conduits, and finally generated orthopyroxene-free wehrlites. This event constitutes the last episode of the Cenozoic magmatic evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean which is recorded in the mantle xenoliths from the eastern Betics.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01553092
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01553092
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2016.12.011

Éditeur(s) : World Aquaculture Society, Aquaculture 2006
Résumé : Oysters are among the most familiar of all marine invertebrate taxa. However our knowledge of oyster phylogeny and systematics is fragmentary. This is principally due to the plastic growth patterns of these animals, which result in a wide range of overlapping, ecophenotypic variants that greatly reduce the value of analysis based on shell morphology. Besides that, many intentional or accidental anthropogenic transfers have emphasised this situation. In several cases of misclassification or misidentification of oysters, DNA molecular data, have provided valuable new insights on the tracing of introductions or more generally on the phylogeographic relationships between oyster species. We will illustrate this issue with recent case studies from our lab on several flat and cupped oysters: (1) the Crassostrea gigas – Crassostrea angulata couple of Asian species and their successive introductions in Europe, (2) the new species of cupped oysters, Crassostrea honkongensis, described in Hong-Kong and very divergent from the species Crassostrea gigas it was initially supposed to be, (3) the mangrove oyster Crassostrea gasar that was shown not only to be present along the coasts of Western Africa but also along the Atlantic coasts of South America, and (4) the geographic disjunction between Ostreola stentina, described in the Mediterranean Sea, and the genetically closely related species Ostrea aupouria (from New Zealand) and Ostreola equestris (from Mexico Gulf/Atlantic). At the intra specific level, we will focus on one of the main documented case in Europe, the flat oyster, Ostrea edulis. It is a marine bivalve whose natural geographical distribution ranges along the European Atlantic coast from Norway to Morocco, in addition to the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Studies of allozymes, microsatellites and mitochondrial differentiation over the whole range concluded that a significant divergence existed between Mediterranean and Atlantic populations, together with an isolation-by-distance pattern. However, the average mitochondrial haplotypic diversity displayed a high among populations variance, reflecting smaller effective population size in some locations. Additionally, a ten-fold quantitative difference was observed in the same study in Fst between the mitochondrial and the nuclear genomes, which could be due to sex biased differential reproductive success between males and females. In order to further document this hypothesis, two experiments at the population level were conducted. First, brooding females were sampled in a wild population and the number of males fertilizing a given female estimated. Then, parentage analyses were achieved under experimental conditions: successive mass spawnings were collected from a population of potential genitors kept in hatchery, whose genotypes were known, in order to infer a posteriori the relative contribution of each genitor. Moreover, we aimed to better understand the reproduction dynamics of this species. Several patterns of spawning could be distinguished: unique, successive or extended in time. The different parental contributions and reproductive behaviors observed in these experiments are discussed in the context of the hypothesis of a variance in the reproductive success of males and females and consequences in local and temporal reduced effective population sizes.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/acte-3475.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3475/

Éditeur(s) : Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
Résumé : During the Geobrésil cruise of the R. V. Jean Charcot (1973) several marine geophysical lines, including bathymetry, magnetism, continuous seismic as well as sonobuoy profiles have been run across a deep marginal plateau extending on the southeastern Brazilian margin and known as the Sao Paulo Plateau. These data indicate the presence of a thick sedimentary cover (more than 4s DTT) on the upper slope and up to 3s DTT thick on the lower slope and rise. The entire slope is highly disturbed by salt diapiric structures mostly apparent between the 2 000-3 000 bathymetriclines and comparable to the ones described in the western Mediterranean sea. The Sao Paulo scarp, bordering the deep marginal plateau to the South-West, is believed to be a discontinuous and "en échelon» structure probably related to numerous and closely spaced early fracture zones. The overal structures Of two areas - the Sao Paulo and the Angolan margin - are briefly cOmpared and Preliminary results of DSDP holes 356 and 364 suggest a similar sedimentary history, during mesozoic times, for both margins. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias (Academia Brasileira de Ciencias), 1976 , Vol. 48 , N. Supp. , P. 187-198

Droits : Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1976/publication-4990.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4990/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The presence of two regional seismic networks in southeastern France provides us high-quality data to investigate upper mantle flow by measuring the splitting of teleseismic shear waves induced by seismic anisotropy. The 10 three-component and broadband stations installed in Corsica, Provence, and western Alps efficiently complete the geographic coverage of anisotropy measurements performed in southern France using temporary experiments deployed on geodynamic targets such as the Pyrenees and the Massif Central. Teleseismic shear waves (mainly SKS and SKKS) are used to determine the splitting parameters: the fast polarization direction and the delay time. Delay times ranging between 1.0 and 1.5 s have been observed at most sites, but some larger delay times, above 2.0 s, have been observed at some stations, such as in northern Alps or Corsica, suggesting the presence of high strain zones in the upper mantle. The azimuths of the fast split shear waves define a simple and smooth pattern, trending homogeneously WNW–ESE in the Nice area and progressively rotating to NW–SE and to NS for stations located further North in the Alps. This pattern is in continuity with the measurements performed in the southern Massif Central and could be related to a large asthenospheric flow induced by the rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia lithospheric block and the retreat of the Apenninic slab. We show that seismic anisotropy nicely maps the route of the slab from the initial rifting phase along the Gulf of Lion (30–22 Ma) to the drifting of the Corsica–Sardinia lithospheric block accompanied by the creation of new oceanic lithosphere in the Liguro–Provençal basin (22–17 Ma). In the external and internal Alps, the pattern of the azimuth of the fast split waves follows the bend of the alpine arc. We propose that the mantle flow beneath this area could be influenced or perhaps controlled by the Alpine deep penetrative structures and that the Alpine lithospheric roots may have deflected part of the horizontal asthenospheric flow around its southernmost tip.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00109313
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00109313
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00109313/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00109313/file/barruol_TGRS_Tphy2004_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2004.08.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The detailed morphology and internal structure of the Calabrian accretionary wedge and adjacent Eastern Sicily margin are imaged in unprecedented detail by a combined dataset of multi-beam bathymetry and high-resolution seismic profiles. The bathymetric data represent the results of 6 recent marine geophysical surveys since 2010 as well as a compilation of earlier surveys presented as a 2 arc-sec (60 m) grid. Several distinct morpho-tectonic provinces are identified including: the deeply incised Malta–Hyblean Escarpment, numerous submarine canyons, broad regions of relatively flat seafloor dominated by fields of sediment waves, the gently undulating anticlinal fold-and-thrust belts of the external Calabrian accretionary wedge and the adjacent portion of the Western Mediterranean Ridge. The Calabrian arc can be divided into 4 domains (from SE to NW): 1) the undeformed Ionian abyssal plain, 2) the external evaporitic wedge, 3) the internal clastic wedge, 4) the Calabrian backstop (Variscan crystalline basement). The Calabrian accretionary wedge can also be divided laterally into two major lobes, the NE- and the SW lobes, and two minor lobes. The kinematics of the limit between the two major lobes is investigated and shown to be sinistral in the external (evaporitic) wedge. A network of radial slip lines within the southernmost external wedge unequivocally demonstrate ongoing dextral displacement of a rigid indenter (representing the corner of the clastic wedge) into the evaporitic wedge thereby confirming the geodynamic model of an active lateral slab tear fault here off eastern Sicily. The slab tear produces a series of major sub-parallel dextral strike-slip faults offshore Mt. Etna and south of the Straits of Messina consistent with the relative motions between Calabria and the Peloritan domain (NE Sicily). Abundant strike-slip faulting, and wide-spread folding and thrusting observed throughout the entire accretionary wedge, indicate regional shortening between the Ionian abyssal plain (foreland) and the Calabrian–Peloritan backstop caused by active subduction.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01523990
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01523990
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.12.020

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The interpretation of high-resolution 2D marine seismic profiles together with the analysis of sea-bottom cores allowed a stratigraphic and structural framework of the Provence continental shelf to be proposed. The integration of onshore and offshore stratigraphy, structure and geomorphology provided new insights into Messinian paleotopography and paleohydrography. A geological map of the offshore Provence continental shelf, isobath map of the base Plio-Quaternary surface are presented for the first time in this area. The base Plio-Quaternary surface is a polyphased unconformity that is composed of deep canyons developed by fluvial erosion during the Messinian event, and wave-cut surfaces formed during post-Messinian transgressions. The study evidenced a deep, E-W-trending canyon (Bandol canyon) connected to the head of the Cassidaigne canyon, and filled with up to 600 m-thick Plio-Quaternary deposits. The development of canyons on the Provence margin during the Messinian event was dominantly controlled by the lithology and structure of pre-Messinian formations. A map of the Messinian paleo-drainage network is proposed to explain the presence of deep canyons in the Eastern area and the lack of incision in the Western area. An underground karst drainage scheme is proposed, linked with the current submarine Port-Miou spring.
ISSN: 0264-8172

insu-01009592
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01009592
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01009592/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01009592/file/Mar-Pet-Tassy.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.05.001

Éditeur(s) : La recherche face aux pêches artisanales
Résumé : Each of nine people agreed to write a summary regarding changes in research on small-scale fishing in a large region of the world. These summaries that will be presented to you focus respectively on changes in research in Southeast Asia, in the South Pacific along the western coast of Latin America, in West Africa, in the Mediterranean, in Northwest Europe, and in North America. In order to help you reconstruct their actions in the halieutic context of the regions about which they are talking, Serge Garcia will first present us with a panorama of small-scale fishing. By asking them to do this study, we wished to be able to place the symposium's study within an overall framework and in an historical perspective. The objective was to relativise the conclusions that could be drawn from analyses of local situations, or, on the contrary, to allow them to be generalised by using bases of comparison. The summaries are far from being able to offer a planetary geographical coverage, just as they do not really include the evolution of all disciplines. The means available to the organisers did not allow for going up to that point. We must at this point thank the authors who agreed to do this complex work of summarisation, because they succeeded in showing the richness of such a step, which the participants will be able to appreciate in their reports. In this analysis of geographical syntheses, we would like to draw a few comparisons able to fuel the symposium's debates. We will examine how small-scale fishing became a subject of research, and the difficulty of defining it. Then we will see how the various disciplines became mutually involved, then specialised, depending upon the stages through which the research passed on this subject. The role of institutions and the weight of the contextual environment will be examined. Finally, we will propose a few possible directions for the debates on various themes of the symposium. Some outside contributions to the summaries also focus on the evolution of the research and we have taken that into account in this presentation. Limited to one country (Yahaya Jahara) or to one province (Maneschy and Furtado), they are useful complements to the summaries.
(OCR non controlé) Neuf personnes ont accepté de rédiger chacune une synthèse concernant l'évolution des recherches sur les pêches artisanales dans une grande région du monde. Les synthèses qui vont vous être présentées portent respectivement sur l'évolution des recherches en Asie du Sud-Est, dans le Pacifique-sud sur la façade occidentale de l'Amérique Latine, en ,Afrique de l'Ouest, en Méditerranée, en Europe du Nord- Ouest, en Amérique du Nord. Pour vous permettre de resituer leurs interventions dans le contexte halieutique des régions dont ils nous parlent, Serge Garcia nous présentera en premier lieu un panorama des pêches artisanales. En leur demandant ce travail, nous avons souhaité pouvoir replacer les travaux du symposium dans un cadre global et dans une perspective historique. L'objectif était de relativiser les conclusions qui pourraient être tirées d'analyses de situations locales, ou, au contraire, de permettre leur généralisation en disposant de bases de comparaison. Les synthèses sont loin d'offrir une couverture géographique planétaire, tout comme elles n'intègrent pas vraiment l'évolution de toutes les disciplines. Les moyens à la disposition des organisateurs ne permettaient pas d'aller jusque là. Il nous faut remercier ici les auteurs qui ont consenti à faire ce travail complexe de synthèse, car ils ont réussi à démontrer la richesse d'une telle démarche, ainsi que les participants pourront l'apprécier à travers leurs exposés. Dans cette analyse des synthèses géographiques, nous voudrions tenter quelques comparaisons de nature à alimenter les débats du symposium. Nous examinerons comment est née la pêche artisanale en tant qu'objet de recherche, et la difficulté de la définir. Puis nous verrons, en fonction des étapes par lesquelles sont passées les recherches sur ce sujet, comment les différentes disciplines se sont mutuellement impliquées, puis se sont spécialisées. Le rôle des institutions et le poids des contextes seront examinés. Enfin nous proposerons quelques orientations possibles pour les débats sur les différents thèmes du symposium. Certaines contributions extérieures aux synthèses portent aussi sur l'évolution des recherches et nous en avons tenu compte dans cette présentation. Limitées à un pays (Yahaya Jahara) ou à une province (Maneschy et Furtado), elles complètent utilement les synthèses.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1990/acte-2464.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2464/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Seismic anisotropy of the south Iberian upper mantle is investigated using shear-wave splitting of SKS phases. We analyzed teleseismic events recorded by sixteen permanent broadband stations installed on the southern Iberian Peninsula and in northern Africa, and we determined fast polarization directions phi, and delay times delta t between fast and slow components. The area of investigation extends across two important geological structures in the Variscan Iberian Peninsula: the Variscan Iberian Massif in its center, and the Gibraltar arc in the Southeast, that represents the most westerly Alpine belt in the western Mediterranean. Shear-wave splitting measurements from stations in the Betic domain show homogeneous ENE-WSW fast directions nearly parallel to the trend of the mountain belt, and smooth spatial variations. Stations in the North, toward the southern part of the Variscan Iberian Massif show homogeneous fast directions however trending NS to NE-SW, different from those recorded in the Betic. These observations may reflect a post-Hercynian (Variscan) deformation of the Ossa-Morena zone, related to the main stages in the tectonic evolution of this part, namely transpressional stage, transtensional stage and shortening episode, or a deformation related to the posterior Alpine orogeny. Along the Gibraltar arc, we observe a smoothly varying phi trend changing from ENE-WSW in the Eastern Betics to NS in the area of Gibraltar and Ceuta, following more or less the general trend of the mountain belt around the Alboran Sea, and the coastline. Since a similar rotation is also visible in results from Pn anisotropy, this suggests that the anisotropy is vertically coherent starting from just below the Moho. Comparing the anisotropy pattern expected from various geodynamic models with the observed SKS splitting suggests that the anisotropy is best explained by a model of slab rollback, rather than by delamination models.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00412175
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412175
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412175/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412175/file/Buontempo_SKS_gibraltar_EPSL2008_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.06.024

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : Thick forced regressive units on the wide continental shelf of the Gulf of Lions (western Mediterranean) recorded the composite effect of sea level changes during the Quaternary. They are mostly composed of coastal siliciclastic and bioclastic wedges showing clinoform geometry. These deposits have been intensively explored through high-resolution seismic investigations, but only recently it was possible to ground truth seismic interpretations, based on a long (100 m) borehole that crossed the succession and recovered a large part of the mainly sandy deposits (similar to 84% recovery). A multiproxy analysis of the sedimentary succession shows that (1) the stratal architecture of the shelf margin is defined by major bounding surfaces that are polygenic erosion surfaces associated with coarse-grained material incorporating abundant and diverse shells, including cold-water fauna (presently absent from the Mediterranean Sea). Between each surface, coarsening upward units with steep (up to 5 degrees) foresets are made of massive (more than 20 m thick) sands with possible swaley and hummocky cross-stratification, passing seaward to sands with muddy intervals and, further offshore, alternating highly boiturbated sands and silts. Each prograding wedge corresponds to a forced-regressive shoreface (or delta front/prodelta), deposited during the overall sea level falls occurring at (relatively slow) interglacial/glacial transition and therefore represents the record of 100 ka cyclicity. Higher-frequency Milankovitch cyclicities are also probably represented by distinct shoreface/delta front wedges; (2) detailed examination of the architecture and chronostratigraphy of the most recent sequence shows that minor bounding surfaces, corresponding to abrupt shallowing of sedimentary facies, separate downward stepping parasequences within the last 100 ka sequence. These events are in phase with millennial-scale glacial climatic and sea level variability, the downward shift surfaces corresponding to the falls during the coldest stadials. These deposits provide a comprehensive and well-constrained Pleistocene analog to the numerous shoreface deposits attributed to falling-stage systems tracts recognized in ancient stratigraphic records, studied at the outcrop scale.
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems - G3 (1525-2027) (American Geophysical Union), 2008-11 , Vol. 9 , N. Q11R05 , P. NIL_40-NIL_66

Droits : 2008 American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-4929.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2007GC001854
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4929/

Éditeur(s) : Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : The environment is impacted by natural and anthropogenic disturbances that occur at different spatial and temporal scales, and that lead to major changes and even disequilibria when exceeding the resiliency capacities of the ecosystem. With an annual mean flow of 1700 m(3) s(-1), the Rhone River is the largest of the western Mediterranean basin. Its annual solid discharges vary between 2 and 20 Mt, with flood events responsible for more than 70% of these amounts. In the marine coastal area, close to the mouth, both flocculation and aggregation lead to the formation of fine-grained deposits, i.e. the prodelta. This area is characterized by sediment accumulation rates up to 20-50 cm yr(-1) and high accumulations of particle reactive contaminants such as various man-made radionuclides released into the river by nuclear facilities or arising form prior atmospheric nuclear tests (1954-1980) and the Chernobyl accident (April 1986). This prodelta, however, cannot be considered as a permanent repository for particle reactive pollutants since it is subjected to reworking processes. Sediment dynamics had to be linked to the influences of hydrodynamic and atmospheric events such as high flow rates or storms close to the Rhone River mouth. An experiment was carried out during the winter 2006 based on the deployment of two ADCPs and six altimeters at the Grand Rhone mouth for several months. This type of installation has never been used before in this area because of the hard meteorological conditions and the strong fishing activities. However, results showed pluricentimetric rises of the sedimentary level just after river flood events and decreases during storms, generated by southeast winds. Radiotracers and grain size depth profiles helped to characterise the studied events and to establish inventories of sediments and radionuclides. A cruise (CARMEX) was carried out during this same period to collect water samples, suspended particles and sediment cores. The results enabled us to link both river flow and wind characteristics to events recorded on the sea floor, i.e. resuspension, accumulation, consolidation, etc. Deposits of 11 cm of sediments were estimated during flood periods and bottom shear stresses up to 5 N m(-2) were calculated during sediment erosion phases. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Continental Shelf Research (0278-4343) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2010-05 , Vol. 30 , N. 9 , P. 1095-1107

Droits : 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00006/11695/8479.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.csr.2010.02.015
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00006/11695/