Sensitivity of the northern extratropics hydrological cycle to the changing insolation forcing at 126 and 115 ky BP

The orbital configuration at the end of the last interglacial, 115,000 years BP (115 ky BP), was such that the Northern Hemisphere seasonal contrast was decreased when compared to the last interglacial maximum, 126 ky BP. Climatic reconstructions argue for increased latitudinal surface temperature and salinity gradients in the North Atlantic at 115 ky BP compared to 126 ky BP. According to proxy measurements the high-latitude ocean freshening may be explained by enhanced northward atmospheric moisture advection which would have then led to decreased deep convection activity in the northern seas. To evaluate such re-adjustments of the atmospheric circulation to the insolation forcing changes, we have explored the changes in atmospheric energy balance and transport with two AGCM experiments, one for each climate. We show that the northward increase in static heat transport at 115 ky BP to 126 ky BP constitutes a first order response to the changing insolation. It tends to equalise the heat balance of the atmosphere. Despite sea surface temperatures fixed (SSTs) to present-day this feature is strongly amplified by the air–sea heat flux exchanges. By comparing with OAGCM experiments for the same periods, we find that the simulated surface ocean heat flux responses to insolation forcing are similar whether the ocean is allowed to vary or not. The latent heat transport does not undergo the same changes as the dry static one. On an annual basis, it decreases over the high northern latitudes. This is the result of summer modification of moisture sources and transient activity. The latter appears to affect latent heat transport much more than the dry static one. The winter response, however, differs from the summer response which dominates the annual mean. There is an enhanced northward atmospheric moisture advection during winter at 115 ky BP, which is responsible for the freshening of high-latitude ocean during this season. This result seems to confirm the hypothesis inferred from marine data.     

Seismic Microzonation: A Comparison between Geotechnical and Seismological Approaches in Pointe-à-Pitre (French West Indies)

Pointe-à-Pitre, the main city of Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, has on several occasions been partially destroyed by major historical earthquakes. Moreover, a post-seismic assessment of the damage from the 1985 Montserrat earthquake indicates that the town is prone to site effects. Consequently, from 1996 to 1998, BRGM conducted a seismic microzonation study based on geotechnical and geological data. At the same time, three seismological studies were being conducted – two based on earthquake recordings using a time-series analysis and the classical spectral ratio (CSR) method (CETE/LCPC and BRGM), and the third based on noise measurement at 400 points using the horizontal-to-vertical noise ratio (HVNR) method (CETE/LCPC). The objective of this paper is not to carry out a new microzonation study by taking into account all the results, but rather to show in what respects the results of these different methods are in agreement or not. A comparison of the results of the seismological studies with the geotechnical microzonation shows that they are in fairly good agreement, albeit with some discrepancies. The results indicate that the seismological methods and the geotechnical data are highly complementary and should be used together in compiling seismic transfer-function microzonation maps. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Long-term monitoring of fish farms: application of Nematode/Copepod index to oligotrophic conditions

Interannual variability (2003-2008) of meiofaunal assemblages were analyzed in sediments beneath fish cages (Impact group) and in areas not affected by aquaculture activities (Control group). Organisms responded with spatial and seasonal variation in meiofauna assemblages, with an abrupt increase of abundances in locations beneath fish cages throughout the study period. This increase was greater during the last sampling year (2008) and mainly due to high abundances of nematodes. Univariate analyses showed differences between control and impacted sites at both sites, however, only significant variations were found in Los Gigantes, which are consistent with seasonal meiofauna variations throughout the study period. These results are partially explained by differences in current velocity between both sampling areas. The Ne/Co index showed the same trend and it seems to be a reliable index in sediment slightly affected by aquaculture wastes. This index is especially recommended in oligotrophic areas (e.g. Canary Islands) where meiofaunal assemblages are poorly represented in terms of abundances.     

The brightening of Saturn’s F ring

Image photometry reveals that the F ring is approximately twice as bright during the Cassini tour as it was during the Voyager flybys of 1980 and 1981. It is also three times as wide and has a higher integrated optical depth. We have performed photometric measurements of more than 4800 images of Saturn’s F ring taken over a 5-year period with Cassini’s Narrow Angle Camera. We show that the ring is not optically thin in many observing geometries and apply a photometric model based on single-scattering in the presence of shadowing and obscuration, deriving a mean effective optical depth τ ≈ 0.033. Stellar occultation data from Voyager PPS and Cassini VIMS validate both the optical depth and the width measurements. In contrast to this decades-scale change, the baseline properties of the F ring have not changed significantly from 2004 to 2009. However, we have investigated one major, bright feature that appeared in the ring in late 2006. This transient feature increased the ring’s overall mean brightness by 84% and decayed with a half-life of 91 days.     

The Vicência meteorite fall: A new unshocked (S1) weakly metamorphosed (3.2) LL chondrite

The Vicência meteorite, a stone of 1.547 kg, fell on September 21, 2013, at the village Borracha, near the city of Vicência, Pernambuco, Brazil. It was recovered immediately after the fall, and our consortium study showed it to be an unshocked (S1) LL3.2 ordinary chondrite. The LL group classification is based on the bulk density (3.13 g cm^?3); the chondrule mean apparent diameter (0.9 mm); the bulk oxygen isotopic composition (δ¹⁷O = 3.768 ± 0.042‰, δ¹⁸O = 5.359 ± 0.042‰, Δ¹⁷O = 0.981 ± 0.020‰); the content of metallic Fe,Ni (1.8 vol%); the Co content of kamacite (1.73 wt%); the bulk contents of the siderophile elements Ir and Co versus Au; and the ratios of metallic Fe⁰/total iron (0.105) versus total Fe/Mg (1.164), and of Ni/Mg (0.057) versus total Fe/Mg. The petrologic type 3.2 classification is indicated by the beautifully developed chondritic texture, the standard deviation (~0.09) versus mean Cr₂O₃ content (~0.14 wt%) of ferroan olivine, the TL sensitivity and the peak temperature and peak width at half maximum, the cathodoluminescence properties of chondrules, the content of trapped ¹³²Xe_tr (0.317 × 10^?8cm³STP g^?1), and the Raman spectra for organic material in the matrix. The cosmic ray exposure age is ~72 Ma, which is at the upper end of the age distribution of LL group chondrites. The meteorite is unusual in that it contains relatively large, up to nearly 100 μm in size, secondary fayalite grains, defined as olivine with Fa_>75, large enough to allow in situ measurement of oxygen and Mn‐Cr isotope systematics with SIMS. Its oxygen isotopes plot along a mass‐dependent fractionation line with a slope of ~0.5 and Δ¹⁷O of 4.0 ± 0.3‰, and are similar to those of secondary fayalite and magnetite in the unequilibrated chondrites EET 90161, MET 96503, and Ngawi. These data suggest that secondary fayalite in Vicência was in equilibrium with a fluid with a Δ¹⁷O of ~4‰, consistent with the composition of the fluid in equilibrium with secondary magnetite and fayalite in other unequilibrated ordinary chondrites. Secondary fayalite and the chondrule olivine phenocrysts in Vicência are not in isotopic equilibrium, consistent with low‐temperature formation of fayalite during aqueous alteration on the LL parent body. That alteration, as dated by the ⁵³Mn‐⁵³Cr chronology age of secondary fayalite, took place $4.0{}_{?1.1}^{+1.4}$ Ma after formation of CV CAIs when anchored to the quenched angrite D'Orbigny.     

High-temperature infrared properties of forsterite

Polarized emittance measurements were acquired for synthetic forsterite, the pure magnesium end member of the olivines group, on the whole infrared spectral range and up to the melting point by using CO₂ laser heating. The experimental data, fitted with a semi-quantum dielectric function model, allowed the retrieval of the temperature dependence of the absorption coefficient of forsterite both in the opaque and semi-transparent regions. The analysis of the phonon parameters indicates that the lattice dynamics evolve drastically with increasing temperature. The normal modes involving motions of the magnesium cations located in site 1 are the more impacted, and some of them vanish around 1,200 K. The results confirm that the enhancement of the lattice anharmonicity and the increasing mobility of the magnesium cations are closely linked and are at the origin of the anomalies observed in the evolution of the thermophysical properties. This complete set of spectroscopic data may be a step toward a more precise evaluation of the impact of thermal radiation heat transfer inside systems involving forsterite and quantification of their heat budget.     

Study on the cross-correlation of GNSS signals and typical approximations

In global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers, the first signal processing stage is the acquisition, which consists of detecting the received GNSS signals and determining the associated code delay and Doppler frequency by means of correlations with a code and carrier replicas. These codes, as part of the GNSS signal, were chosen to have very good correlation properties without considering the effect of a potential received Doppler frequency. In the literature, it is often admitted that the maximum GPS L1 C/A code cross-correlation is about ?24 dB. We show that this maximum can be as high as ?19.2 dB when considering a Doppler frequency in a typical range of [?5, 5] kHz. We also show the positive impact of the coherent integration time on the cross-correlation and that even a satellite with Doppler outside the frequency search space of a receiver impacts the cross-correlation. In addition, the expression of the correlation is often provided in the continuous time domain, while its implementation is typically made in the discrete domain. It is then legitimate to ask the validity of this approximation. Therefore, the purpose of this research is twofold: First, we discuss typical approximations and evaluate their regions of validity, and second, we provide characteristic values such as maximums and quantiles of the auto- and cross-correlation of the GPS L1 C/A and Galileo E1 OS codes in the presence of Doppler, for frequency ranges up to 50 kHz and for different integration times.     

Effect of decompression and suction on macroscopic and microscopic behavior of a clay rock

The goal in this research was to analyze the effects of decompression and suction on the formation of cracks in a clay rock from the Andra (French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) site at Bure (Meuse–Haute-Marne, France). The article investigates the relationship between the changes in the hydromechanical properties and the changes in microstructure and porosity. Concerning the effect of decompression, at the macroscopic scale, the study highlighted an important effect on the elastic modulus and permeability, but little effect at the microscopic scale except an evolution of mineralogy related to the oxidation of pyrite often present in layers where cracks develop. Concerning the effect of suction, at the macroscopic level, the results showed that, on drying path, the change in the properties of the material was very small, whereas, on wetting path, a large decrease in tensile strength and gas permeability was observed. At the microscopic level, observations with SEM and ESEM, and measurements with MIP, highlighted the evolution of microstructural organization as a function of suction, and the propagation and enlargement of cracks on wetting path, rather than on drying path.