The information system of the French Peatland Observation Service: Service National d'Observation Tourbières – A valuable tool to assess the impact of global changes on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of temperate peatlands through long term monitoring

Mitigating and adapting to global changes requires a better understanding of the response of the Biosphere to these environmental variations. Human disturbances and their effects act in the long term (decades to centuries) and consequently, a similar time frame is needed to fully understand the hydrological and biogeochemical functioning of a natural system. To this end, the ‘Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique’ (CNRS) promotes and certifies long-term monitoring tools called national observation services or ‘Service National d'Observation’ (SNO) in a large range of hydrological and biogeochemical systems (e.g., cryosphere, catchments, aquifers). The SNO investigating peatlands, the SNO ‘Tourbières’, was certified in 2011 ( https://www.sno-tourbieres.cnrs.fr/ ). Peatlands are mostly found in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and French peatlands are located in the southern part of this area. Thus, they are located in environmental conditions that will occur in northern peatlands in coming decades or centuries and can be considered as sentinels. The SNO Tourbières is composed of four peatlands: La Guette (lowland central France), Landemarais (lowland oceanic western France), Frasne (upland continental eastern France) and Bernadouze (upland southern France). Thirty target variables are monitored to study the hydrological and biogeochemical functioning of the sites. They are grouped into four datasets: hydrology, fluvial export of organic matter, greenhouse gas fluxes and meteorology/soil physics. The data from all sites follow a common processing chain from the sensors to the public repository. The raw data are stored on an FTP server. After operator or automatic processing, data are stored in a database, from which a web application extracts the data to make them available ( https://data-snot.cnrs.fr/data-access/ ). Each year at least, an archive of each dataset is stored in Zenodo, with a digital object identifier (DOI) attribution ( https://zenodo.org/communities/sno_tourbieres_data/ ).     

Cretaceous deformation of the southern Central Andes: synorogenic growth strata in the Neuquén Group (35° 30′–37° S)

The Neuquén Group is an Upper Cretaceous continental sedimentary unit exhumed during the latest Miocene contractional phase occurred in the southern Central Andes, allowing a direct field observation and study of the depositional geometries. The identification of growth strata on these units surrounding the structures of the frontal parts of the Andes, sedimentological analyses and U–Pb dating of detrital components, allowed the definition of a synorogenic unit that coexisted with the uplift of the early Andean orogen since ca. 100 Ma, maximum age obtained in this work, compatible with previous assignments and constrained in the top by the deposition of the Malargüe Group, in the Maastrichtian (ca. 72 Ma). The definition of a wedge top area in this foreland basin system, where growth strata were described, permitted to identify a Late Cretaceous orogenic front and foredeep area, whose location and amplitude contrast with previous hypotheses. This wedge top area was mostly fed from the paleo‐Andes with small populations coming from sources in the cratonic area that are interpreted as a recycling in Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sections, which contrasts with other analyses performed at the foredeep zone that have mixed sources. In particular, Permian sources are interpreted as coming directly from the cores of the basement structures, where Neopaleozoic sections are exposed, next to the synorogenic sedimentation, implying a strong incision in Late Cretaceous times with an exhumation structural level similar to the present. The maximum recognised advance for this Late Cretaceous deformation in the study area is approximately 500 km east of the Pacific trench, which constitutes an anomaly compared with neighbour segments where Late Cretaceous deformations were found considerably retracted. The geodynamic context of the sedimentation of this unit is interpreted as produced under the westward fast moving of South America, colliding with two consecutive mid‐ocean ridges during a period of important plate reorganisation. The subduction of young, anhydrous, buoyant lithosphere would have produced changes in the subduction geometry, reflected first by an arc waning/gap and subsequently by an arc migration that coexisted with synorogenic sedimentation. These magmatic and deformational processes would be the product of a shallow subduction regime, following previous proposals, which occurred in Late Cretaceous times, synchronous to the sedimentation of the Neuquén Group.     

An expanded surface-water palaeotemperature inference model for use with fossil midges from eastern Canada

Using an expanded surface sample data set, representing lakes distributed across a transect from southernmost Canada to the Canadian High Arctic, a revised midge-palaeotemperature inference model was developed for eastern Canada. Modelling trials with weighted averaging (with classical and inverse deshrinking; with and without tolerance downweighting) and weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression, with and without square-root transformation of the species data, were used to identify the best model. Comparison of measured and predicted temperatures revealed that a 2 component WA-PLS model for square-root transformed percentage species data provided the model with the highest explained variance (r =0.88) and the lowest error estimate (RMSEP _jack =2.26 °C). Comparison of temperature inferences based on the new and old models indicates that the original model may have seriously under-estimated the magnitude of late-glacial temperature oscillations in Atlantic Canada. The new inferences suggest that summer surface water temperatures in Splan Pond, New Brunswick were approximately 10 to 12 °C immediately following deglaciation and during the Younger Dryas. During the Allerod and early Holocene, surface water temperatures of 20 to 24 °C were attained. The new model thus provides the basis for more accurate palaeotemperature reconstructions throughout easternmost Canada.     

Über Sedimentbildung am Meeresboden

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Wesen,Ursachen und Arten der Schichtung

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Identifying Groundwater Potential in Crystalline Basement Rocks Using Remote Sensing and Electromagnetic Sounding Techniques in Central Western Mozambique

Exploring for groundwater in crystalline rocks in semiarid areas is a challenge because of their complex hydrogeology and low potential yields. An integrated approach was applied in central western Mozambique, in an area covered by Precambrian crystalline basement rocks. The approach combined a digital elevation model (DEM), remote sensing, and a ground-based geophysical survey. The aim was to identify groundwater zones with high potential and to identify geological structures controlling that potential. Lineaments were extracted from the DEM that had been enhanced using an adaptive-tilt, multi-directional, shading technique and a non-filtering technique to characterize the regional fracture system. The shallowness and amount of stored groundwater in the fracture zones was assessed using vegetation indices derived from Landsat 8 OLI images. Then, 14 transient electromagnetic (TEM) survey profiles were taken in different geological settings across continuous lineaments that were considered to be aligned along inferred faults. In the central lineament zones, the TEM soundings gave resistivity values of less than 300 Ωm at a depth of 20–80 m. The values varied with location. Conversely, values greater than 400 Ωm were observed at the sites away from the central zones. This contrast is probably caused by the differences in permeability and degree of weathering along the fractured zones. These differences could be key factors in determining groundwater occurrence. By integrating five water-related factors (lineament density, slope, geology, vegetation index, and proximity to lineaments), high groundwater potential zones were located in the vicinity of the lineaments. In these zones, vegetation remains active regardless of the season.     

Evaluation of an automated EA-IRMS method for total carbon analysis of atmospheric aerosol at HEKAL

Comprehensive atmospheric studies have demonstrated that carbonaceous particles are one of the main components of atmospheric aerosols over Europe. The aim of our study was to establish an automated elemental analyser interfaced to a stable isotope mass spectrometer (EA-IRMS) method at the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies (HEKAL), as a suitable method of quantification of total carbon mass in individual PM_2.5 aerosol samples. Total carbon (TC) mass and simultaneous stable isotopic ratios were determined for both test standard and genuine aerosol samples. Finally, the results were compared to the ones obtained independently by an alternative sealed tube combustion method developed previously at HEKAL. The TC recovery tests of standard material prepared by the sealed tube method confirmed at least a carbon recovery yield of 92% for a broad range of carbon mass (100–2000 μg). The stable isotopic results confirmed that sealed tube method is reproducible and suitable to be used as a reference to verify our new EA-IRMS method. The EA-IRMS TC measurements of genuine aerosols gave on average 3% higher carbon recovery yield, relative to the uncorrected results of the sealed tube method. The comparison of the stable isotopic results by the two methods for aerosols also showed minimal differences. Consequently, the possibility of simultaneous TC and stable isotopic analyses makes the EA-IRMS method a very attractive alternative for continuous measurement of aerosols, with an accuracy and reliability similar to other commercial devices.     

Projections of climate change impacts on central America tropical rainforest

Tropical rainforest plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, accounting for a large part of global net primary productivity and contributing to CO₂ sequestration. The objective of this work is to simulate potential changes in the rainforest biome in Central America subject to anthropogenic climate change under two emissions scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The use of a dynamic vegetation model and climate change scenarios is an approach to investigate, assess or anticipate how biomes respond to climate change. In this work, the Inland dynamic vegetation model was driven by the Eta regional climate model simulations. These simulations accept boundary conditions from HadGEM2-ES runs in the two emissions scenarios. The possible consequences of regional climate change on vegetation properties, such as biomass, net primary production and changes in forest extent and distribution, were investigated. The Inland model projections show reductions in tropical forest cover in both scenarios. The reduction of tropical forest cover is greater in RCP8.5. The Inland model projects biomass increases where tropical forest remains due to the CO₂ fertilization effect. The future distribution of predominant vegetation shows that some areas of tropical rainforest in Central America are replaced by savannah and grassland in RCP4.5. Inland projections under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 show a net primary productivity reduction trend due to significant tropical forest reduction, temperature increase, precipitation reduction and dry spell increments, despite the biomass increases in some areas of Costa Rica and Panama. This study may provide guidance to adaptation studies of climate change impacts on the tropical rainforests in Central America.     

Is geographical proximity necessary in the innovation networks in the era of global economy?

In the analysis of geographical spillovers, a commonly accepted hypothesis is that the different actors of innovation need to be physically closed to one another because the transfer of tacit knowledge implies frequent face-to-face relations. This hypothesis is put under closer examination in this paper. The first section analyses the need for economic agents to be closely located to develop research and innovative activities, starting with the analysis of their need for co-ordination and using some case studies. Based on the example of three French regions, the second section examines the importance given by the local development policies to geographical proximity in order to support the rapid development of local networks favouring innovation. In both sections, nonlocal relations appear as a key factor to develop innovation. As a conclusion, nonlocal relations should be encouraged by local development policies in the same way as local relations.