Importations et remaniements de thanatofaunes dans les sables de la plate-forme profonde des approches occidentales de la Manche

Macro- and micro-faunas are reported from six gravity cores collected at a mean depth of 150 m in the surficial deposits of the Kaiser sand bank in the Southern Western Channel Approaches. These are bivalves (mainly), gastropods, echinids, crustaceans and foraminifers. These fauna present a very rich association of numerous, well preserved species from various ecological settings. Such an association is commonly reported from the continental shelf of the last transgressive cycle. In addition, the sediment comprises two imported faunal associations. The first one corresponds to thanatocaenoses of Pliocene/lowermost Pleistocene and Weichselian age, reworked respectively from the underlying celtic incised valley fills and the Celtic Sand Banks. The absence of Quaternary fauna prior to the Weichselian suggests that the introduction of Pliocene sources occurred during the last climatic cycle. The second stage of importation took place after the last transgression in the Western Channel, and corresponds to the enrichment of the sediment in coastal fauna derived from western Brittany by the the predominant ebb tidal current. The variations of taxonomic diversity from core to core suggest a sediment transport around the bank that matches the one deduced from the study of tidal bedforms. At the present day, the wave action is highlighted by accumulation of species of the same shape, size and density inside storm beds. However, the survival within these beds of very small, juvenile shells indicate that each storm reworking was short in duration.     

Structure de la marge continentale Norvégienne au débouché de la mer de Barentz

Reconstructions of the continents prior to the opening of the Norwegian sea indicate an overlap between the Greenland and the Norwegian continental margins just west of the Barentz sea and imply that the basement of this area is of oceanic origin. Seismic profiling shows an oceanic-type basement covered by thick Tertiary sediments. The sedimentary supply is related to the geological history of the Barentz sea where only little unconsolidated sediments are known. Further south the structures of the present margin are directly related to the early opening of the Norwegian sea.     

Incidence de la cinetique de decroissance de la temperature apres le choc thermique sur les modifications d'activite des esterases et les possibilites de survie de Scolelepis (malacoceros) fuliginosa (annelide polychete)

Scolelepis fuliginosa reared in the laboratory at 13°C were put through 10-min thermal shocks at 16°C and 18°C and were then submitted to either a slow or a rapid temperature reduction. After the thermal shock, a posterior fragment of each specimen was cut off at intervals, until six days. Samples were submitted to electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel, esterase activity being determined with α-naphthyl acetate.Enzymograms show that thermal shocks act on esterases in decreasing the activity of the main fractions. Immediate effects result in a very precocious enzymic response; more long-term effects depend on the maximum temperature, the animal's sex and the kinetics of the post-shock thermal reduction.Females are more sensitive than males. For a given Δt, esterase changes are greater and more long-lasting. After a 16°C Δt, a rapid decrease in temperature prevents the loss of activity of the middle and fast fractions in males and delays, by about 10 h, the alteration of female esterases. After 18°C ΔT, loss of activity of the middle and fast fractions occurs in less than 1 h, independently of the thermal kinetics, but survival is only possible—solely for males—with a rapid decrease in temperature which also delays females' deaths by between 24 and 48 h.In conclusion, a rapid decrease in temperature gives organisms a better resistance to thermal shock, as determined by esterase activity and controls the lethality of a high Δt.     

Evolution à Long terme (1978–1986) des populations d'Amphipodes des sables fins de la pierre noire (baie de morlaix, manche occidentale) aprs̀s la catastrophe de l'Amoco Cadiz

Greatly reduced in 1978 by the Amoco Cadiz oil spill, the amiphipod populations of the fine sand community of Pierre Noire in the Bay of Morlaix have not yet fully recovered 8 years after the pollution. The sublittoral sandi-mud benthic communities in the western part of the English Channel show a discontinuous distribution, occurring in isolated zones which are localized in estuaries and bays. The amphipods, which are characteristic of these communities and lack a pelagic larva, form insular populations. This insular distribution delays their re-introduction to the fine sand community of Pierre Noire. Moreover, the biological and demographic characteristics of the species entail limited periods of recolonisation and increase in population.     

Sediment dynamics and geohazards off Uruguay and the de la Plata River region (northern Argentina and Uruguay)

The continental margin off Uruguay and northern Argentina is characterized by high fluvial input by the de la Plata River and a complex oceanographic regime. Here we present first results from RV Meteor Cruise M78/3 of May?CJuly 2009, which overall aimed at investigating sediment transport processes from the coast to the deep sea by means of hydroacoustic and seismic mapping, as well as coring using conventional tools and the new MARUM seafloor drill rig (MeBo). Various mechanisms of sediment instabilities were identified based on geophysical and core data, documenting particularly the continental slope offshore Uruguay to be locus of submarine landsliding. Individual landslides are relatively small with volumes <2km³. Gravitational downslope sediment transport also occurs through the prominent Mar del Plata Canyon and several smaller canyons. The canyons originate at a midslope position, and the absence of buried upslope continuations strongly suggests upslope erosion as main process for canyon evolution. Many other morphological features (e.g., slope-parallel scarps with scour geometries) and abundant contourites in a 35-m-long MeBo core reveal that sediment transport and erosion are controlled predominantly by strong contour currents. Despite numerous landslide events, their geohazard potential is considered to be relatively small, because of their small volumes and their occurrence at relatively deep water depths of more than 1,500?m.     

Spatial patterns of ichthyoplankton assemblages in the Río de la Plata Estuary (Argentina–Uruguay)

Two oceanographic surveys were conducted across the salinity gradient of the Río de la Plata Estuary during austral late spring and summer. Ichthyoplankton was dominated by families Sciaenidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Cynoglossidae and Carangidae. The distribution of larval fish assemblages was strongly associated to the salinity structure. Oceanographic conditions were characterized by a large salt wedge (180 km long and a vertical salinity gradient up to 10 units per meter). During both sampling periods each ichthyoplankton assemblage was related to the same region of the salt wedge: the fresh water environment, the bottom salinity front, the mixohaline zone and the outer portion (surface salinity front) of the estuary. Larval assemblages were not related to the thermal structure. Reproductive activity of fishes inside the Río de la Plata Estuary is relatively common (60% of the teleosts sampled use this estuary as a nursery ground). Moreover, the high incidence of pelagic eggs spawners (75% of the species present in the ichthyoplankton) in the Río de la Plata contrasts to the vast majority of estuaries, where this reproductive strategy is poorly represented. Estuarine dynamics plays a dominant role in allowing this reproductive style in this estuary. Spring–summer wind pattern should generate a retentive environment which could minimize advective losses of eggs and larvae to the adjacent ocean.     

Contribution a l'etude chimique du materiel dissous et particulaire de l'estuaire de la riviere rimouski

Temperature, pH, total alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, silicate, nitrate, phosphate and the Mn, Fe and Al contents of suspended particulate matter (SPM) were measured in the Rimouski River estuary as functions of chlorinity during the period May—September 1980.At any given time, total alkalinity (TA) is conservative within the estuary with respect to chlorinity. However, the total alkalinity (TA) of the freshwater is related to river flow. This is attributed to dilution of the river water with bicarbonate-poor rainwater.Generally, pH follows the same pattern observed for TA in freshwater. Dissolved oxygen is usually more concentrated in freshwater and decreases linearly with increasing chlorinity. Freshwater is always saturated or supersaturated with respect to O₂. Seasonal fluctuations are attributed to temperature variations.There is no evidence for removal of soluble silicate from the freshwater entering the sea. The concentration of silicate in the freshwater is strongly influenced by rainfall. Soil leaching, conditioned by high rainfall increases the concentration of soluble silicate in freshwater. Nitrate behaves similarly whereas phosphate is complicated by the presence of sewage.Analysis of the Mn, Fe and Al contained in the SPM indicates dilution of river-borne particles rich in Mn by others less rich in this element. A decrease in Mn content with increasing chlorinity and SPM concentration as well as increasing concentrations of SPM with increasing chlorinity indicate that the composition is controlled primarily by physical mixing of material from two sources rather than by chemical processes. Within the analytical precision the Fe/Al ratio does not vary with the chlorinity.     

Phytoplancton en baie de Seine. Influence du panache fluvial sur la production primaire

Phytoplankton distribution and primary productivity were investigated in the Bay of Seine (eastern English Channel, France) in spring and early summer of 1992 and 1994. In 1992, the horizontal distribution of phytoplankton species was determined over the whole Bay of Seine. In 1994, species distribution and primary productivity were studied along the salinity gradient of the Seine plume and in the neighbouring marine waters. Phytoplankton distribution was characterised by the permanent diatom dominance from early spring to early summer. The spring bloom did not occur uniformly over the bay, but was initiated in the marine waters, in the middle of the bay and progressed towards the coast where it developed, in June, in the diluted waters of the Seine plume. Phytoplankton distribution was also characterised by the dominance of large diatoms (Rhizosolenia) in marine waters and by the dominance of small species (Skeletonema costatum, Asterionella glacialis) in the plume waters. The greatest abundance of large diatoms was generally encountered below the euphotic zone. This accumulation seemed to be related to cell sedimentation and advection of marine waters below the diluted plume waters. The daily carbon productivity range was 1.4 to 3 g m⁻² d⁻¹. The highest values were measured in the plume waters (S > 28), suggesting the primary productivity in the plume was more controlled by light than by nutrients. The photic zone productivity/ chlorophyll a ratios (P/B; producted carbon per unit of Chla) were close to 40 mg mg⁻¹ d⁻¹ in the plume waters. P/B exceptionally reached 90 mg mg⁻¹ d⁻¹ in early summer. This value corresponded to a fast growing population of S. costatum. In marine waters, P/B varied from 22 mg mg⁻¹ d⁻¹, in spring, to 43 mg mg⁻¹ d⁻¹, in early summer.