Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : National audience
Congrès de la SPTC - Société de Pharmaco-Toxicologie Cellulaire
Paris, France

hal-01122677
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01122677

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
Lakes are major depositional systems for which the related depositional processes have long been considered relatively simple. Breaking this statement, this study presents a detailed analysis of deposits in Lake Saint-Jean, the third largest natural lake in Québec. In addition to postglacial deltaic and coastal depositional systems fringing the lake, current-controlled features such as a large subaqueous prograding wedge and three sediment drifts have been identifi ed in its central portion based on two-dimensional (2-D) acoustic high-resolution subbottom profiles. The large subaqueous prograding wedge is a 4-km-long and up to 15-m-thick heterolithic shelf-like construction in the southeastern part of the lake. The three sediment drifts are 0.1–0.5-km-long and 2–5-mthick mud mounds distributed on the lake floor in the central portion of the lake. Diatom analyses and radiocarbon dating show that the development of these current-controlled features occurred during the lacustrine phase, after the disconnection with the postglacial marine Laflamme Gulf at 8.5 cal. k.y. B.P. Depositional facies show evidence of recurrent bottom-current activity. Related deposits alternate with pelagic sedimentation stages characterized by the settling of mud and biogenic accumulations. We investigated the origin of bottom currents using a numerical simulation (SYMPHONIE, an oceanographic model), with the aim of modeling wind-induced lake-scale water circulation. Simulations suggest that the subaqueous prograding wedge and the three sediment drifts result from wind-induced bottom currents generated by storm events having wind speed greater than 10 m s–1. Such strong winds are able to significantly affect sedimentation in the central portion of Lake Saint-Jean. Theresulting wind-induced sedimentary features were integrated into a refi ned lacustrine depositional model that summarizes the evolution of a group of water bodies referred to as “wind-driven water bodies.” This study applies a new tool for lake strata characterization and highlights the potential diffi cultyin differentiating them from marine deposits in the geological record.
ISSN: 0016-7606

insu-01184724
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01184724
DOI : 10.1130/B31145.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
o abstract
11e Congrès Français de Sédimentologie,
Unknown, Unknown or Invalid Region

hal-01426592
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01426592

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : We investigated the influence of bioturbation by macrofauna on the vertical distribution of living (stained) benthic foraminifera in marine intertidal sediments. We investigated the links between macrofaunal bioturbation and foraminiferal distribution, by sampling from stations situated on a gradient of perturbation by oyster-farming, which has a major effect on benthic faunal assemblages. Sediment cores were collected on the French Atlantic coast, from three intertidal stations: an oyster farm, an area without oysters but affected by oyster biodeposits, and a control station. Axial tomodensitometry (CT-scan) was used for three-dimensional visualization and two-dimensional analysis of the cores. Biogenic structure volumes were quantified and compared between cores. We collected the macrofauna, living foraminifera, shells and gravel from the cores after scanning, to validate image analysis. We did not investigate differences in the biogenic structure volume between cores. However, biogenic structure volume is not necessarily proportional to the extent of bioturbation in a core, given that many biodiffusive activities cannot be detected on CT-scans. Biodiffusors and larger gallery-diffusors were abundant in macrofaunal assemblage at the control station. By contrast, macrofaunal assemblages consisted principally of downward-conveyors at the two stations affected by oyster farming. At the control station, the vertical distribution of biogenic structures mainly built by the biodiffusor Scorbicularia plana and the large gallery-diffusor Hediste diversicolor was significantly correlated with the vertical profiles of living foraminifera in the sediment, whereas vertical distributions of foraminifera and downward-conveyors were not correlated at the station affected by oyster farming. This relationship was probably responsible for the collection of foraminifera in deep sediment layers (> 6 cm below the sediment surface) at the control station. As previously suggested for other species, oxygen diffusion may occur via the burrows built by S. plana and H. diversicolor, potentially increasing oxygen penetration and providing a favorable microhabitat for foraminifera in terms of oxygen levels. By contrast, the absence of living foraminifera below 6 cm at the stations affected by oyster farming was probably associated with a lack of biodiffusor and large gallery-diffusor bioturbation. Our findings suggest that the effect of macrofaunal bioturbation on the vertical distribution of foraminiferal assemblages in sediments depends on the effects of the macrofauna on bioirrigation and sediment oxidation, as deduced by Eh values, rather than on the biogenic structure volume produced by macrofauna. The loss of bioturbator functional diversity due to oyster farming may thus indirectly affect infaunal communities by suppressing favorable microhabitats produced by bioturbation.
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (0022-0981) (Elsevier), 2009-03 , Vol. 371 , N. 1 , P. 20-33

Droits : 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6146.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.jembe.2008.12.012
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6146/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : This paper is the first presentation of a project called GHYRAF (Gravity and Hydrology in Africa) devoted to the detailed comparison between models and multidisciplinary observations (ground and satellite gravity, geodesy, hydrology, meteorology) of the variations of water storage in Africa from the Sahara and part to the monsoon equatorial part. We describe the various actions planned in this project. We first detail the actions planned in gravimetry which consist in two main surface gravity experiments: on the one hand the periodic repetition of absolute gravity measurements along a north-south monsoonal gradient of rainfall in West Africa, going from Tamanrasset (20 mm/year) in southern Algeria to Djougou (1200 mm/year) in central Benin; on the other hand the continuous measurements at Djougou (Benin) with a superconducting gravimeter to monitor with a higher sampling rate the gravity changes related to an extreme hydrological cycle. Another section describes the actions planned in GPS which will maintain and develop the present-day existing network in West Africa. The third type of actions deals with hydrology and we review the three sites that will be investigated in this joint hydrogeophysics project namely Wankama (near Niamey) and Bagara (near Diffa) in the Niger Sahelian zone and Nalohou (near Djougou) in the Benin monsoon zone. We also address the question of the ground truth of satellite-derived missions: in this context the GHYRAF project will lead to test the hydrology models by comparison both with in situ and satellite data such as GRACE, as well as to an important increase of our knowledge of the seasonal water cycle in Africa. We finally present preliminary results in GPS based on the analysis of the vertical motion of the Djougou site. The resulting absolute gravity changes related to the 2008 monsoon are finally given.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00475660
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475660
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2009.09.014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Editions Paralia CFL
Résumé : SUBDUNE v0.6 is a very preliminary version of an exploratory model designed tocompute the sea level to the shoreline, combining the effects of various physics, from run-up to tides. It aims at providing an easy-to-use and quick way to estimate water elevation to the beach, assuming morphology is known. Combined with accurate beachdata, such as LIDAR, this engineering tool may provide with end-users an efficient way to quantify submersion.
ISSN: 1760-8716

hal-00854170
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854170
DOI : 10.5150/jngcgc.2012.022-B

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Résumé : The sinking of the Prestige tanker (November, 2002) spilled over 64000 tons of heavy fuel oil. The Prestige oil spill (POS) affected approximately 1000 km of coast belonging to Portugal, France and Spain and more than 600 sandy beaches were polluted along the Atlantic coast of Spain. Since POS, yearly surveys of two oiled sandy beaches (Galicia, NW Spain) have provided evidences regarding the oil pollution behavior and the influence of beach morphodynamics on the dynamics of the contamination. The analysis of wave climate, the extracted suction cores and the detected oil from 2004 and 2009 fieldworks have allowed to promote a conceptual model of the influence of beach morphodynamics on the first steps of an oil spill and to establish the effects on the long-term oil pollution
ISSN: 0749-0208

hal-00783182
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00783182

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Editions Paralia CFL
Résumé : Barrier island hydro-morphodynamics driven by typhoon events are the major concern of the project KUNSHEN (2011-2014). It aims at providing for a deep understanding of the peculiar dynamics of sand barriers where extreme events such as typhoons have a significant impact. We present the campaigns and the protocols achieved and planned in the project, on the Wan-tzu-liao sand barrier, Cigu Lagoon, Tainan, Taiwan, from October 2011 to January 2012, during the winter storm season and during summer 2012 during the typhoon season. A set of current profilers are deployed along a cross shore transect at 7, 4 and 2 meters deep. On the Wan-tzu-liao sand barrier, 3 columns of 3 pressiometers are deployed to survey the submersion. In the same time, morphological surveys are performed on the sand barrier with DGPS to analyse any change in the shoreline position, the beach slope, and the dynamics of sand beach features. A very preliminary analysis on these on-going field surveys suggests that the word "extreme" refers more to the consequence of the forcing on the sand barrier than the intensity of the forcing itself. The strategy developed in this first step will be refined to survey the next typhoon season, from May 2012 to October 2012.
ISSN: 1760-8716

hal-00854411
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854411
DOI : 10.5150/jngcgc.2012.034-M

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Résumé : The south part nearshore zone of the Gulf of Lions coast (Mediterranean Sea) is characterized by a double crescentic sandbar system. During the winter 2007, a campaign of intensive hydrodynamical measurements (current profiles) was realized. During this campaign, based mainly on ADCPs, the maximal recorded wave height was 1.5 m. Four events were observed; two of those had northern incidence, one with southern incidence and a last one with frontal incidence. This paper proposes 3D hydrodynamical circulation maps over this microtidal bar system. The currents described reveals rip, bed-return and longshore currents strongly influenced by the wind-waves forcing and the bathymetry. At the apex of the oblique incidence events, the longshore component is the most important. The breaker zone is only located over the inner bar. During storm waning conditions, the cross-shore currents appear over the trough of the outer bar. The hydrodynamic circulation is then compared with other observations made in the literature.
ISSN: 0749-0208
Szczecin, Poland

hal-00767593
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00767593

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : The Gulf of Aigues-Mortes (NW Mediterranean Sea) is a midshelf zone whose scale is an intermediate between the nearshore scale (0–10 m depth) and the coastal scale (including the whole continental shelf). Its hydrodynamics is investigated for the first time. ADCP, CTD and thermosalinograph data were collected during three short cruises (HYGAM; March 6–7, 20–21, April 5–6, 2005). They were scheduled approximately every 15 days to sample the gulf circulation under different weather conditions. Moreover, the cruise data were used to validate the Symphonie model, a 3D primitive equations circulation model. The circulation features displayed by in situ data were well reproduced by Symphonie. A downscaling modelling approach was implemented, the largest scale being obtained by the replay of the MFSTEP regional model of the North-Western Mediterranean Sea. The analysis, closely coupling in situ measurements and model results, provides information that would not have been obtained using data separately. The great variability of the oceanic circulation at this scale is well evidenced. Winds are the main forces, not only locally but also at a larger scale. North winds generate coherent structures interacting with the general Mediterranean circulation. The explanation of the induced currents is then not straightforward, some of them being, for example, northward. South and southeast winds reinforce the sloping surface, the latter allowing the geostrophic equilibrium with longshore currents. This study, focused on the end of winter 2004–2005, also enhances the heat fluxes from offshore to nearshore, as well as the initiation of shelf dense waters. The knowledge of the midshelf oceanic circulation is then applied to run a numerical experiment which describes both the dispersion of a fictive contaminant from a point S (at the centre of the GAM), and evaluates the risk of contamination of the beaches along the GAM shores.
ISSN: 0278-4343

hal-00196620
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00196620
DOI : 10.1016/j.csr.2007.06.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Editions Paralia CFL
Résumé : The wave-dominated beach barrier of Villeneuve-Lès-Maguelone extends between Palavas and Frontignan (Gul f of Lions, northernmost Me diterranean Sea), along a slightly natural sandy protected area char acterized by typical and well-expressed morphologies. In the nearshore, the sea bottom shows one or two approximately rectilinear sand bars. In 2010-2011, we pe rformed a 6 month-long monitoring (autumn 2010/late spring 2011) of a 500 meter-long se gment along this sand barrier. We used RTK D-GPS offering centimeter resolution to acquire sets of elevation data on the beach and the upper shoreface. The study is innovative because a full morphologic monitoring was performed each time the wave/ wind conditions changed significantly. These changes were tracked in real-time thanks to a set of hydrodynamic equipments deployed at sea, including well-known DREAL buoys. We identify from well- documented data: (1) a beach reconstruction cycle at the shorelin e after a moderate storm event (wave height at 3-4 m) and (2) how a sand bar in the nearshore migrates to the shoreline and drives the shoreline shift.
ISSN: 1760-8716

hal-00854402
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854402
DOI : 10.5150/jngcgc.2012.023-C

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) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : A study combining very high resolution seismic and sediment core data has been carried out on the Thau lagoon (Mediterranean coast, microtidal setting, SE France) in order to understand more clearly the dynamics and Holocene chronology of its closure through the different stages of its filling. One main seismic unit (U2) has been defined into the infill, above the rocky basement (U0) and a composite unit U1, which is interpreted as remnants of Pleistocene fluvial terraces or/and to early marine Holocene deposits. Unit U2, that reaches locally 9 m in thickness, rests conformably on U1 in the central part of the lagoon and onlaps U0 or U1 close to the edge of the lagoon. It is divided in two sub-units, U2-1 and U2-2. U2-2 rests paraconformably on U2-1 in the central part of the lagoon where the infill is the thickest, while a marked erosional unconformity is observed between U2-1 and U2-2 on topographic highs of the basement and on the seaward edge of the lagoon. A total of seven elementary sequences have been observed in U2-1 and U2-2.;According to core data, U2 consists in a series of mud-dominated sequences, with shell fragments dispersed at the base. The vertical distribution of the fauna into U2-1 and U2-2 reveals a lagoonal environment. However in U2-1, marine species are more abundant in the south of the lagoon. C-14 AMS dating provides three ages: similar to 6000 cal yr B.P. in the lower part of U2-1 on CAL1, 5400 cal yr B.P. just above the boundary between U2-1 and U2-2 on CAL4, similar to 3000 cal yr B.P. in the middle of U2-2 on CAL4.;A scenario to explain the lagoon infill stratigraphy and geometry is proposed. The beginning of the lagoon infill occurred with the initiation of the barrier construction, as soon as the sea-level rise slowed down significantly, i.e. between 7000-6000 yr B.P. The sediment-fill began into the back-barrier system, with a high rate of sedimentation for U2-1, according to the radiocarbon data. At 5400 yr B.P., the barrier is assumed to be totally closed leading to the deposition of the fully lagoonal U2-2 succession. The unconformity between U2-1 and U2-2 is interpreted as the result of a rapid landward retreat of the barrier. This severe retreat could be related to climate forcing and/or brutal change in sediment discharge driven by the Rhone River, which is the main sediment source of the longshore drift. In this scenario, the last sub-unit, U2-2, represents most of the late Holocene infill. In this framework, the elementary sequences observed in U2-2 could be related to high frequency climate changes of about 1000-1500 years periodicity according to C-14 dates.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00486386
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486386
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.181.2.197

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
This study describes a laboratory experiment on rip current circulations over a moveable bed. Rip current characteristics over eight contrasting nature-like beach morphologies are investigated. The seabed varied from reasonably alongshore uniform to strongly alongshore nonuniform with crescentic patterns and bar-rip morphologies, representative of a full morphological down-state sequence. The same offshore shore-normal waves were generated by the wavemaker for the eight situations with the same mean water level to study the sensitivity of rip current characteristics as a function of the beach morphology only. In each case, a 30 to 60 min video run was used to track a large number of drifters released within the surf zone. Results show the presence of classic rip current patterns with counterrotating cells and a relatively narrow offshore-directed jet varying from shore-normal to strongly skewed. Wave-driven circulations were strongly unstable. Computed standard deviations of flow intensity and direction provide high-resolution information on the spatial variability of rip current instabilities. Highly pulsating and weakly directionally variable offshore-directed flow is observed in the rip neck for well-developed bar-rip morphologies that turns into a weakly pulsating and highly directional variable rip current flow with decreasing beach alongshore nonuniformity. Proposing a definition of rip current intensity based on the rip current circulation geometry, rip current intensity was found to linearly increase with increasing measure of beach alongshore nonuniformity within both the low-energy and moderate-energy rip current regimes. To date, our laboratory experiment provides the first extensive quantitative rip current information during a full down-state sequence for a given wave condition.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00602920
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00602920
DOI : 10.1029/2010JC006343

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD World Scientific
Résumé : The present paper presents a laboratory experiment of rip current circulations over a moveable bed. The rip current characteristics over four distinct beach morphologies, exhibiting more or less developed nature-like bar-rip morphology,were investigated. For each video run, the same off shore shore-normal waves were generated by the wave maker with the same mean water level in order to study the sensitivity of the rip current characteristics as a function of the beach morphology only. In each case, a 1-hour video run was used to track a large number (~30) of drifters released within the surf zone. Image coordinates were then rectifie d to still water level Cartesian coordinates to compute drifter velocities, mean characteristics and surf zone rete ntion rates. Results show the presence of classic rip current patterns with counter-rotating cells and a relatively narrowoffshore-directed jet with, for three of the situations, a reasonably symmetric shape. Non-surprisingly, it was found that rip current intensity increases with increasing relative depth of the rip channel. The wave-driven circulations were strongly unstable. Computed standard deviation in fl ow intensity and direction provides high resolution information on the spatial variability of the rip current insta bilities with, for instance, highly-pulsating and weakly directionally variable offshore-directed flow in the rip channel. Conversely to what was previously hypothesized in the literature, there was hardly trace of vortices being shed offs hore and drifters exiting the surf zone compartment were not systematically caught by a pulsating jet. The cause for drifter exiting the semi-enclosed surf zone compartment remains, however, elusive and deserves further investigations. The computed surf zone retention rates (~90%) were of the order of those previously observed in the field, with no clear relationship with the mean rip current velocity or relative depth of the rip channel. Further video-runs will have to be analyzed to explore potential explanations
Proceedings of Coastal Dynamics 2009 Impacts of Human Activities on Dynamic Coastal Processes

ISBN : 978-981-4282-46
hal-00854534
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854534