Analyse des rapports C/N/P du seston dans la partie orientale de l'atlantique equatorial

A study of the C/N ratios of particulate matter in the eastern part of the Gulf of Guinea demonstrated a statistically significant spatial variation in these ratios. The variation in the ratios ranged between 7.2 and 9.5 and were due in part to differences in the composition of the suspended organic matter and in part to its age and history. Young nutrient rich waters had low ratios (generally less than 7), whereas older waters often had ratios greater than 10. A relation between Chlorophyl a and the C/N ratio was also observed. The distribution of C/P ratios with depth showed a linear correlation with the vertical distribution of oxygen (r = 0.74). C/P values in the neighbourhood of 100 at the surface, increased with depth to around 300 at 1000 m.     

Calanoid copepod resting egg abundance and hatching success in the sediment of the Seine estuary (France)

Benthic, viable resting eggs of calanoid copepods were found for the first time in the Seine estuary (France) during July 2008. Vertical distribution of the resting eggs in the sediment was determined up to 10 cm depth. Hatching success of the eggs extracted from different 1-cm thick sediment layers was experimentally tested immediately after extraction and after a long refractory phase (i.e. 11 months) of storage at low temperature (4–5 °C). The hatching success of resting eggs obtained immediately after sediment incubation was lower (0.72%) than the value observed after 11 months (4.50%) with an overall hatching success of 2.37%. The marine, calanoid copepod Temora longicornis was the primary species to hatch from the eggs; however, the estuarine calanoid copepod Eurytemora affinis also hatched from resting eggs. The mean abundance of eggs found in sediment (1.42 × 10⁶ eggs m⁻²) was comparable to that reported for other marine and estuarine calanoid copepods. The Seine estuary sediment had a high variability of egg abundance (between 0.14 and 8.10 × 10⁷ eggs m⁻³) suggesting that the hydrodynamics of this macrotidal estuary are likely responsible for this variability. Significant sediment resuspension occurs in the Seine estuary during flood periods and spring tides leading to resting eggs to contribute along the year to the nauplii recruitment of calanoid copepods. On average, around 400,000 nauplii m⁻³ month⁻¹ of the main calanoid copepods can emerge from the surface layer sediment in the Seine estuary, suggesting that resting eggs could play an important role in the population dynamics of key calanoid copepods in the Seine estuary.     

10Be dating of the Main Terrace level in the Amblève valley (Ardennes,Belgium): new age constraint on the archaeological and palaeontological filling of the Belle‐Roche palaeokarst

It is still disputed whether very old archaeological and palaeontological remains found in the Belle‐Roche palaeocave (eastern Belgium) pertain to the Early (～1 Ma) or Middle (～0.5 Ma) Pleistocene. Here, in situ‐produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be concentrations from a depth profile in nearby sediments of the Belle‐Roche terrace (Amblève Main Terrace level) are used as an indirect solution of this chronological issue. The distribution of ¹⁰Be concentrations in the upper 3 m of this profile displays the theoretically expected exponential decrease with depth. Assuming a single exposure episode, we obtain a best fit age of 222.5±31 ka for the time of terrace abandonment. However, below 3 m, the ¹⁰Be concentrations show a marked progressive increase with depth. This distinctive cosmogenic signal is interpreted as the result of slow aggradation of the fluvial deposits over a lengthy interval. Modelling of the whole profile thus suggests that the onset of the terrace formation occurred at around 550 ka, with a sediment accumulation rate of ～20 mm ka^?1. Based on two slightly different reconstructions of the geomorphic evolution of the area and a discussion of the temporal link between the cave and Main Terrace levels, we conclude that the fossil‐bearing layers in the palaeokarst pertain most probably to MIS 14–13, or possibly MIS 12–11. This age estimate for the large mammal association identified in the Belle‐Roche palaeokarst and the attribution to MIS 14–13 of a similar fauna found in the lowermost fossiliferous layers of the Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel) are in mutual support. Our results therefore confirm the status of the Belle‐Roche site as a reference site for the Cromerian mammal association in NW Europe.     

Phreato-magmatic dike-cryosphere interactions as the origin of small ridges north of Olympus Mons, Mars

Using images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, we have identified several linear ridges located 10-60 km north of the volcano Olympus Mons, Mars, at the edge of the Olympus Mons aureole materials. These ridges appear to be made of unconsolidated material by virtue of the many dust avalanche scars seen on their upper slopes. Based upon their morphology (several ridges have crater-like central depressions) and superposition relationships, the ridges appear to have formed very recently and post-date the formation of the youngest lava flows spilling over the northern escarpment of Olympus Mons. Several possible origins for the ridges, including an eolian, periglacial, or depositional origin have been considered, but we favor a ridge origin by a series of small explosive eruptions initiated by the intrusion of a dike into a volatile-rich substrate. To explore this process, we develop a numerical model for dike intrusion into a volatile-rich substrate that yields plausible dike widths between 2.4-3.5 m. The total volume of a single ridge system is ∼65×10⁶ m³, and we calculate that it may have taken only a few minutes to form. Viable solutions only exist when the thicknesses of the ice-rich layer is less than ∼1000-2000 m. This strongly suggests that the ice-rich region is limited in its vertical extent to a value of this order.     

Magma vesiculation and pyroclastic volcanism on Venus

Theoretical consideration of the magma vesiculation process under observed and inferred venusian surface conditions suggests that vesicles should form in basaltic melts, especially if CO₂ is the primary magmatic volatile. However, the high surface atmospheric pressure ((～90 bars) and density on Venus retard bubble coalescence and disruption sufficiently to make explosive volcanism unlikely. The products of explosive volcanism (fire fountains, convecting eruption clouds, pyroclastic flows, and topography-mantling deposits of ash, spatter, and scoria) should be rare on Venus, and effusive eruptions should dominate. The volume fraction of vesicles in basaltic rocks on Venus are predicted to be less than in chemically similar rocks on Earth. Detection of pyroclastic landforms or eruption products on Venus would indicate either abnormally high volatile contents of Venus magmas (2.5–4 wt%) or different environmental conditions (e.g., lower atmospheric pressure) in previous geologic history.     

A re-examination of the mechanism and human impact of catastrophic mass flows originating on Nevado Huascarán, Cordillera Blanca, Peru in 1962 and 1970

The 1962 and 1970 Huascarán mass movements, originated as rock/ice falls from the mountain's North Peak, transformed into higher-volume high-velocity mud-rich debris flows by incorporation of snow from the surface of a glacier below Huascarán and the substantial entrainment of morainic and colluvial material from slopes below the glacier terminus. Water for fluidization of the entrained material originated in the melting of incorporated snow and the liberation of soil moisture contained within the entrained materials. Eyewitness reports indicate very high mean velocities for the events; 17–35 m/s (1962) and 50–85 m/s (1970). The runout distances and velocity profiles of both events were simulated using DAN/W. Both mass movements continued downstream in the Rio Santa as debris floods (aluviones) that in 1970 reached the Pacific at a distance of 180 km. In strong contrast to publications in the geosciences literature, 1961 Peru Census data indicates that the death toll of the 1970 event is ca. 6000 and that total life loss in the two events did not exceed 7000 people.     

Experimental Study of Pollutant Dispersion Within a Network of Streets

We investigate the dispersion of a passive scalar within an idealised urban district made up of a building-like obstacle array. We focus on a street network in which the lateral dimension of the buildings exceeds the street width, a geometry representative of many European cities. To investigate the effect of different geometries and wind directions upon the pollutant dispersion process, we have performed a series of wind-tunnel experiments. Concentration measurements of a passive tracer have enabled us to infer the main features characterising its dispersion within the street network. We describe this by focusing on the roles of different transfer processes. These are the channelling of the tracer along the street axes, the mixing at street intersections, and the mass exchange between the streets and the overlying atmospheric flow. Our experiments provide evidence of the dependence of these processes on the geometrical properties of the array and the direction of the overlying atmospheric flow.     

Galileo civil signal modulations

Spectrum limitations for navigation systems require that the various navigation signals broadcast by the Galileo system must be combined and must utilize bandwidth-efficient modulations. At the L1 band, one of the most important questions is how to combine all the Open Service signals and the Public Regulated Service signal at the payload level, while maintaining good performance at reception. The Interplex modulation, a particular phase-shifted-keyed/phase modulation (PSK/PM), was chosen to transmit these signals because it is a constant-envelope modulation, thereby allowing the use of saturated power amplifiers with limited signal distortion. The Interplex modulation was also taken as baseline at the E6 band to transmit the three channels and the services associated on the same carrier frequency. At the E5 band, the modulation must combine two different services on a same constant envelope composite signal, while keeping the simplicity of a BOC implementation. The constant envelope Alternate Binary Offset Carrier (ALTBOC) modulation was chosen as the solution to transmit the Galileo E5 band signal. The main objective of this paper is to study these Galileo modulations. After the introduction, the E5 band signals are described, followed by the Alternate BOC modulation which has been chosen to transmit them. The second part describes the general formulation of the Interplex modulation and its key parameters for an optimal multiplexing of the Galileo L1 band signals. Since the Galileo Open Service signals at the L1 band are still not yet completely specified, different test cases are considered and their impact on the resulting choice for the Interplex modulation parameters is exposed.