A relative water-depth model for the Normandy Chalk (Cenomanian–Middle Coniacian,Paris Basin,France) based on facies patterns of metre-scale cycles

A relative water-depth model for the Chalk of the Paris Basin is proposed, based on the lateral variations of the high-frequency metre-scale cycles, which are characteristic features easily identified in the field. The studied outcrops are the Cenomanian–Middle Coniacian cliffs of Normandy. The main result of this study is to highlight the importance of storm activity in the deposition of the Chalk. The relative water-depth model is based on storm-induced shell concentrations observed within the two components of the metre-thick cycles: the depositional interval itself and the top hiatal surface.Six types of shell concentrations are defined, along with seven types of depositional facies making up the depositional units, as well as eight types of hiatal surface. Three cycle associations, differing in their thickness and the amount and type of non-carbonate constituents, can be identified in the Lower to Upper Cenomanian, the Upper Cenomanian to Lower Turonian and the Middle Turonian to Middle Coniacian.A relative water-depth profile model for all these cycles is based on the shell concentrations and a “water-depth equivalence” is proposed between the three cycle associations (lateral “facies” substitution diagram). This model is tested using palaeocological data (irregular echinoids) and by correlating field sections in terms of stacking patterns. Most of the studied deposits accumulated above the storm wave base (upper offshore zone or mid ramp).     

Extreme events: a framework for assessing natural hazards

Natural Hazards - An attempt has been made in this study to evaluate the performance of a multi-model ensemble prediction system (MMEPS) in the extended range prediction of genesis and track of...     

The South Eastern Durance fault permanent network: Preliminary results

The Durance fault area is located in South EasternFrance. This fault system is characterized byhistorical earthquakes (one every century, since 1509,with a magnitude between 5.0 and 5.3). This is theonly fault in France with such a periodic historicalseismic activity. In order to study an active fault ina moderate seismic context, the IPSN (Institute forNuclear Safety and Protection) decided to install apermanent network in 1992, surrounding the fault area.Such a permanent seismic network has been installed inthe french Pyrenees in the Arette area (Gagnepain etal., 1980). While the Arette network covers a regionaffected by several major faults, our network isdevoted to the study of the specific Durance fault.Major historical earthquakes are clearly associatedwith this structure. From an instrumental point ofview, few earthquakes have been recorded since 1962with the national network. Our network shows a smallseismic activity, with the epicenters well alignedalong the fault direction. Moreover, focal mechanismscomputed for two events agree with the regionalmicrostructural studies (Cushing et al., 1997).Finally, a study of the shear wave splittingunderlines preferential S wave polarization for twostations. The H/V ratio on noise microtremors has beencomputed for each station in order to check theirpositions in term of site effects. It does not exhibitany amplification effect (except for two stations).The comparisons with H/V ratio on earthquake datasetshow the important biases we can obtain with realearthquakes.     

Contrasting weathering and climate regimes in forested and cleared sandstone temples of the Angkor region

Comparative assessment of stone weathering intensities and bioclimatic conditions was conducted at four temples located in cleared and forested sites of the Angkor Park, based on similar protocols. Four thousand sculpted lotus petals carved in the same grey sandstone were categorized by using two customized scales of weathering intensity, and climate monitoring was conducted from December 2008 to November 2009. Whereas 70% of the sandstone lotus petals are almost completely destroyed by mechanical weathering in cleared areas, 74% of petals located in forested environments appear to be totally free of mechanical weathering and are only affected by superficial biochemical weathering. Ambient conditions are also contrasting, with the magnitude of the diurnal surface temperature and relative humidity ranges being three times higher at cleared sites than in wooded areas. As wetting–drying cycles are the driving force of sandstone decay at Angkor, causal links are suggested between weathering and climate regimes. In wooded areas, the microclimate is buffered by the forest and the associated lithobionts, which maintain constant humidity levels, reduce thermal stresses at the stone surface and induce a slow biochemical weathering regime. In cleared areas, direct exposure to sunshine and monsoon rains induces pronounced wetting–drying cycles conducive to swelling–shrinking movements and other potential processes, provoking the rapid mechanical decay of the sandstone. Even if local damage can be caused by tree roots, the forest cover and the associated lithobionts obviously play an overall protective role. Additionally, microtopographical factors related to architectural designs and post‐building events probably explain intra‐site and between site minor differences in the amount of sandstone decay, by influencing key factors such as the water residence time at the stone surface. Last, the contrasting weathering regimes in forested and cleared sites are but a trend, for besides overwhelming mechanical weathering, chemical weathering is also operative at cleared sites, as indicated by salt efflorescences and ferric oxidation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi-scale analysis of water alteration on the rockslope stability framework

Water is an important weathering factor on rock discontinuities and in rock mass mechanical behaviour because of its chemical features such as temperature, pH or salinity which make it a “good” candidate to rock degradation. Furthermore the increase of rainfall frequency or intensity highlights some problems on the rock slope stability analysis. This study aims to evaluate the effect of water flow on the rock slope stability and it is performed at two space scales: in situ scale and laboratory (micro scale and macro scale). It shows how water induces degradation at multi-scale (surface roughness and matrix) and thus may decrease the stability of the discontinuous rock mass. It has two main components: the effect of water-solid chemical mechanisms and the analysis of the mechanical response of the discontinuity modified by the water alteration.     

Effects of hypoxia on benthic macrofauna and bioturbation in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence,Canada

The bottom water in the >300 m deep Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (LSLE) is persistently hypoxic in contrast to the normoxic bottom waters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL). We photographed the seabed at 11 stations in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence (EGSL) during the summers 2006 and 2007 and analysed the images to identify bioturbation traces (lebensspuren) and benthic macrofauna. The objective was to identify the environmental variables that influence the density and diversity of benthic macrofauna and bioturbation traces, and the differences that exist among regions with high, medium and low oxygen levels in the bottom water. The bottom water oxygen concentration is the variable that best explains the densities of total-traces as well as surface-traces. However, the density of these traces was higher in hypoxic regions than in well-oxygenated regions. The higher density of traces in the hypoxic region of the LSLE is mainly due to the activities of the surface deposit feeder Ophiura sp., which occurs in large numbers in this region. Possible explanations explored are stress behaviour of the organisms in response to hypoxia and different benthic macrofauna community structures between the hypoxic regions of the LSLE and the normoxic regions of the GSL. In the former, surface deposit feeders and low-oxygen tolerant species dominate over suspension feeders and low-oxygen intolerant species.     

The evolution of a global magma ocean with olivine flotation

We investigate the thermal evolution of a global magma ocean divided by a dunite septum into a shallow and a lower part with help of simple stability estimations and cooling time calculations. It comes out that the septum is not stable against thermal convection so that this mechanism for a separated chemical evolution of the two mantle regions does not work.     

Evaluation of the possible presence of clathrate hydrates in Europa's icy shell or seafloor

Several substances besides water ice have been detected on the surface of Europa by spectroscopic sensors, including CO₂, SO₂, and H₂S. These substances might occur as pure crystalline ices, as vitreous mixtures, or as clathrate hydrate phases, depending on the system conditions and the history of the material. Clathrate hydrates are crystalline compounds in which an expanded water ice lattice forms cages that contain gas molecules. The molecular gases that may constitute Europan clathrate hydrates may have two possible ultimate origins: they might be primordial condensates from the interstellar medium, solar nebula, or jovian subnebula, or they might be secondary products generated as a consequence of the geological evolution and complex chemical processing of the satellite. Primordial ices and volatile-bearing compounds would be difficult to preserve in pristine form in Europa without further processing because of its active geological history. But dissociated volatiles derived from differentiation of a chondritic rock or cometary precursor may have produced secondary clathrates that may be present now. We have evaluated the current stability of several types of clathrate hydrates in the crust and the ocean of Europa. The depth at which the clathrates of SO₂, CO₂, H₂S, and CH₄ are stable have been obtained using both the temperatures observed in the surface [Spencer, J.R., Tamppari, L.K., Martin, T.Z., Travis, L.D., 1999. Temperatures on Europa from Galileo photopolarimeter-radiometer: Nighttime thermal anomalies. Science 284, 1514-1516] and thermal models for the crust. In addition, their densities have been calculated in order to determine their buoyancy in the ocean, obtaining different results depending upon the salinity of the ocean and type of clathrate. For instance, assuming a eutectic composition of the system MgSO₄H₂O for the ocean, CO₂, H₂S, and CH₄ clathrates would float but SO₂ clathrate would sink to the seafloor; an ocean of much lower salinity would allow all these clathrates to sink, except that CH₄ clathrate would still float. Many geological processes may be driven or affected by the formation, presence, and destruction of clathrates in Europa such as explosive cryomagmatic activity [Stevenson, D.J., 1982. Volcanism and igneous processes in small icy satellites. Nature 298, 142-144], partial differentiation of the crust driven by its clathration, or the local retention of heat within or beneath clathrate-rich layers because of the low thermal conductivity of clathrate hydrates [Ross, R.G., Kargel, J.S., 1998. Thermal conductivity of Solar System ices, with special reference to martian polar caps. In: Schmitt, B., De Berg, C., Festou, M. (Eds.), Solar System Ices. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, pp. 33-62]. On the surface, destabilization of these minerals and compounds, triggered by fracture decompression or heating could result in formation of chaotic terrain morphologies, a mechanism that also has been proposed for some martian chaotic terrains [Tanaka, K.L., Kargel, J.S., MacKinnon, D.J., Hare, T.M., Hoffman, N., 2002. Catastrophic erosion of Hellas basin rim on Mars induced by magmatic intrusion into volatile-rich rocks. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29 (8); Kargel, J.S., Prieto-Ballesteros, O., Tanaka K.L., 2003. Is clathrate hydrate dissociation responsible for chaotic terrains on Earth, Mars, Europa, and Triton? Geophys. Res. 5. Abstract 14252]. Models of the evolution of the ice shell of Europa might take into account the presence of clathrate hydrates because if gases are vented from the silicate interior to the water ocean, they first would dissolve in the ocean and then, if the gas concentrations are sufficient, may crystallize. If any methane releases occur in Europa by hydrothermal or biological activity, they also might form clathrates. Then, from both geological and astrobiological perspectives, future missions to Europa should carry instrumentation capable of clathrate hydrate detection.     

Self-gravity in curved mesh elements

The local character of self-gravity along with the number of spatial dimensions are critical issues when computing the potential and forces inside massive systems like stars and disks. This appears from the discretisation scale where each cell of the numerical grid is a self-interacting body in itself. There is apparently no closed-form expression yet giving the potential of a three-dimensional homogeneous cylindrical or spherical cell, in contrast with the Cartesian case. By using Green’s theorem, we show that the potential integral for such polar-type 3D sectors—initially, a volume integral with singular kernel—can be converted into a regular line-integral running over the lateral contour, thereby generalising a formula already known under axial symmetry. It therefore is a step towards the obtention of another potential/density pair. The new kernel is a finite function of the cell’s shape (with the simplest form in cylindrical geometry), and mixes incomplete elliptic integrals, inverse trigonometric and hyperbolic functions. The contour integral is easy to compute; it is valid in the whole physical space, exterior and interior to the sector itself and works in fact for a wide variety of shapes of astrophysical interest (e.g. sectors of tori or flared discs). This result is suited to easily providing reference solutions, and to reconstructing potential and forces in inhomogeneous systems by superposition. The contour integrals for the 3 components of the acceleration vector are explicitely given.