Inverse Modeling Approach to Allogenic Karst System Characterization

Allogenic karst systems function in a particular way that is influenced by the type of water infiltrating through river water losses, by karstification processes, and by water quality. Management of this system requires a good knowledge of its structure and functioning, for which a new methodology based on an inverse modeling approach appears to be well suited. This approach requires both spring and river inflow discharge measurements and a continuous record of chemical parameters in the river and at the spring. The inverse model calculates unit hydrographs and the impulse responses of fluxes from rainfall hydraulic head at the spring or rainfall flux data, the purpose of which is hydrograph separation. Hydrograph reconstruction is done using rainfall and river inflow data as model input and enables definition at each time step of the ratio of each component. Using chemical data, representing event and pre-event water, as input, it is possible to determine the origin of spring water (either fast flow through the epikarstic zone or slow flow through the saturated zone). This study made it possible to improve a conceptual model of allogenic karst system functioning. The methodology is used to study the Bas-Agly and the Cent Font karst systems, two allogenic karst systems in Southern France.     

Complementary (secondary) metabolites in a soft coral: sex-specific variability, inter-clonal variability, and competition

Sex‐specific interactions involving competition for space between the dioecious alcyonacean soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum and the scleractinian coral Acropora robusta were assessed experimentally on Bald Rock, central region of the Great Barrier Reef. To examine this, plus inter‐clonal responses, one male colony of S. glaucum, known to produce sarcophytoxide as its predominant complementary (secondary) metabolite, was sectioned, producing 10 clones. The same was done for a female colony. These two sets of clones were then relocated to grids and placed in contact with Acropora clones. Relocated and non‐relocated controls were also monitored. High levels of tissue necrosis were observed in the hard coral under contact conditions with both the male and female clones after 20 days. The development of a protective polysaccharide layer in the alcyonacean was also observed. Differences observed in the concentrations of complementary metabolites within the two different S. glaucum colonies were related to sex. Both under competition and non‐competition conditions, females exhibited significantly higher concentrations of sarcophytoxide than males, and this increased with time. Fatty ester concentration was also higher in females than males, varying significantly through time, and falling dramatically just after spawning. Fatty ester concentrations decreased linearly through time in the male clones. When involved in competition for space, females possessed higher concentrations of fatty esters than males, both at the site of contact and in non‐contact sites, again, decreasing after spawning. No significant changes in sarcophytoxide levels were noted in the parental colonies, but such changes were observed in fatty esters, with the female producing higher concentrations until after spawning. The use of these two variates in the form of a ratio (sarcophytoxide concentration:fatty ester concentration) yielded a variable Rho (ρ) which was a more sensitive indicator of biochemical change than either of its components alone. These two sets of compounds appeared to have a negative association through time and varied highly significantly between sexes. The diterpene sarcophytoxide may be considered an allelopathic or stress metabolite, while the lipids act as energy storage metabolites.     

Increasing illumination and sensitivity of reverse‐time migration with internal multiples

Reverse‐time migration is a two‐way time‐domain finite‐frequency technique that accurately handles the propagation of complex scattered waves and produces a band‐limited representation of the subsurface structure that is conventionally assumed to be linear in the contrasts in model parameters. Because of this underlying linear single‐scattering assumption, most implementations of this method do not satisfy the energy conservation principle and do not optimally use illumination and model sensitivity of multiply scattered waves. Migrating multiply scattered waves requires preserving the non‐linear relation between the image and perturbation of model parameters. I modify the extrapolation of source and receiver wavefields to more accurately handle multiply scattered waves. I extend the concept of the imaging condition in order to map into the subsurface structurally coherent seismic events that correspond to the interaction of both singly and multiply scattered waves. This results in an imaging process referred to here as non‐linear reverse‐time migration. It includes a strategy that analyses separated contributions of singly and multiply scattered waves to a final non‐linear image. The goal is to provide a tool suitable for seismic interpretation and potentially migration velocity analysis that benefits from increased illumination and sensitivity from multiply scattered seismic waves. It is noteworthy that this method can migrate internal multiples, a clear advantage for imaging challenging complex subsurface features, e.g., in salt and basalt environments. The results of synthetic seismic imaging experiments, including a subsalt imaging example, illustrate the technique.     

Indices de confinement dans les dépôts lacustres holocènes de Sarliève (Limagne,France)

The autochthonous magnesian carbonates and the gypsum depicted in the Holocene deposits from the ‘Marais de Sarliève’ (Limagne, France) result from an alkaline, magnesian and sulphated composition of waters. This is also recorded by the composition of algal micro- and macrophytes. This may be explained by the dissolved fluxes from the Oligocene catchment and from a restriction. During the historical period, the lake evolved towards a lesser restriction. To cite this article: J.-G. Bréhéret et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Sea Ice Leads Detection Using SARAL/AltiKa Altimeter

Sea ice leads play an essential role in ocean-ice-atmosphere exchange, in ocean circulation, geochemistry, and in ice dynamics. Their precise detection is crucial for altimetric estimations of sea ice thickness and volume. This study evaluates the performance of the SARAL/AltiKa (Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa) altimeter to detect leads and to monitor their spatio-temporal dynamics. We show that a pulse peakiness parameter (PP) used to detect leads by Envisat RA-2 and ERS-1,-2 altimeters is not suitable because of saturation of AltiKa return echoes over the leads. The signal saturation results in loss of 6–10% of PP data over sea ice. We propose a different parameter—maximal power of waveform—and define the threshold to discriminate the leads. Our algorithm can be applied from December until May. It detects well the leads of small and medium size from 200 m to 3–4 km. So the combination of the high-resolution altimetric estimates with low-resolution thermal infra-red or radiometric lead fraction products could enhance the capability of remote sensing to monitor sea ice fracturing.     

Chemical and biological characterization of particles by flow cytometry in the Krka estuary, Croatia

Flow cytometry was used to characterize suspended particles in the Krka estuary (Croatia). This technique allows a rapid characterization and quantification of individual particles; it is based on the simultaneous measurement of the light scatter and natural or induced fluorescence. The relative size of the particles was determined by light scatter signals and by a calibration with fluorescent beads.The determination of organic particles was carried out by staining with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). The autofluorescence of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll and phycoerythrin) present in the phytoplankton population was measured. The carbohydrates (galactose and glucose-mannose) were stained by lectins conjugated to FITC. The abundance of organic coatings or mineral particles and detritus was obtained from the difference between the total number of particles stained by specific carbohydrate fluorochromes and living cells.Results show that the Krka estuary is characterized by the occurrence of very small particles. About 80% of suspended particles are organic, most of these particles being living cells. The only exception is the Guduca River, a small tributary.     

Assessing post-pliocene deformation in a context of slow tectonic deformation: insights from paleoseismology,remote sensing and shallow geophysics in Provence,France

Natural Hazards - The Provence region, located in the south-east of France, has experienced a few destructive earthquakes during the last centuries, such as the 1909 Lambesc earthquake or the 1509...     

Regolith mass balance inferred from combined mineralogical, geochemical and geophysical studies: Mule Hole gneissic watershed, South India

The aim of this study is to propose a method to assess the long-term chemical weathering mass balance for a regolith developed on a heterogeneous silicate substratum at the small experimental watershed scale by adopting a combined approach of geophysics, geochemistry and mineralogy. We initiated in 2003 a study of the steep climatic gradient and associated geomorphologic features of the edge of the rifted continental passive margin of the Karnataka Plateau, Peninsular India. In the transition sub-humid zone of this climatic gradient we have studied the pristine forested small watershed of Mule Hole (4.3 km²) mainly developed on gneissic substratum. Mineralogical, geochemical and geophysical investigations were carried out (i) in characteristic red soil profiles and (ii) in boreholes up to 60 m deep in order to take into account the effect of the weathering mantle roots. In addition, 12 Electrical Resistivity Tomography profiles (ERT), with an investigation depth of 30 m, were generated at the watershed scale to spatially characterize the information gathered in boreholes and soil profiles. The location of the ERT profiles is based on a previous electromagnetic survey, with an investigation depth of about 6 m. The soil cover thickness was inferred from the electromagnetic survey combined with a geological/pedological survey.Taking into account the parent rock heterogeneity, the degree of weathering of each of the regolith samples has been defined using both the mineralogical composition and the geochemical indices (Loss on Ignition, Weathering Index of Parker, Chemical Index of Alteration). Comparing these indices with electrical resistivity logs, it has been found that a value of 400 Ohm m delineates clearly the parent rocks and the weathered materials. Then the 12 inverted ERT profiles were constrained with this value after verifying the uncertainty due to the inversion procedure. Synthetic models based on the field data were used for this purpose. The estimated average regolith thickness at the watershed scale is 17.2 m, including 15.2 m of saprolite and 2 m of soil cover.Finally, using these estimations of the thicknesses, the long-term mass balance is calculated for the average gneiss-derived saprolite and red soil. In the saprolite, the open-system mass-transport function τ indicates that all the major elements except Ca are depleted. The chlorite and biotite crystals, the chief sources for Mg (95%), Fe (84%), Mn (86%) and K (57%, biotite only), are the first to undergo weathering and the oligoclase crystals are relatively intact within the saprolite with a loss of only 18%. The Ca accumulation can be attributed to the precipitation of CaCO₃ from the percolating solution due to the current and/or the paleoclimatic conditions. Overall, the most important losses occur for Si, Mg and Na with −286 × 10⁶ mol/ha (62% of the total mass loss), −67 × 10⁶ mol/ha (15% of the total mass loss) and −39 × 10⁶ mol/ha (9% of the total mass loss), respectively. Al, Fe and K account for 7%, 4% and 3% of the total mass loss, respectively. In the red soil profiles, the open-system mass-transport functions point out that all major elements except Mn are depleted. Most of the oligoclase crystals have broken down with a loss of 90%. The most important losses occur for Si, Na and Mg with −55 × 10⁶ mol/ha (47% of the total mass loss), −22 × 10⁶ mol/ha (19% of the total mass loss) and −16 × 10⁶ mol/ha (14% of the total mass loss), respectively. Ca, Al, K and Fe account for 8%, 6%, 4% and 2% of the total mass loss, respectively.Overall these findings confirm the immaturity of the saprolite at the watershed scale. The soil profiles are more evolved than saprolite but still contain primary minerals that can further undergo weathering and hence consume atmospheric CO₂.