Impact of winter dense water formation on shelf sediment erosion (evidence from the Gulf of Lions,NW Mediterranean)

A 1-year survey of sediment dynamics on the Têt inner-shelf in the south-western part of the Gulf of Lions was conducted as part of the EUROSTRATAFORM program (European Margin Strata Formation) from October 2004 to November 2005. Several bottom instruments (ADCP, wave gauge and altimeters) were deployed at 28 m water depth on the Têt prodelta to measure forcing responsible for sediment erosion and transport on the inner-shelf.     

A new method for the interpretation of pumping tests in leaky aquifers

A novel methodology for the interpretation of pumping tests in leaky aquifer systems, referred to as the double inflection point (DIP) method, is presented. The method is based on the analysis of the first and second derivatives of the drawdown with respect to log time for the estimation of the flow parameters. Like commonly used analysis procedures, such as the type-curve approach developed by Walton (1962) and the inflection point method developed by Hantush (1956), the mathematical development of the DIP method is based on the assumption of homogeneity of the leaky aquifer layers. However, contrary to the two methods developed by Hantush and Walton, the new method does not need any fitting process. In homogeneous media, the two classic methods and the one proposed here provide exact results for transmissivity, storativity, and leakage factor when aquifer storage is neglected and the recharging aquifer is unperturbed. The real advantage of the DIP method comes when applying all methods independently to a test in a heterogeneous aquifer, where each method yields parameter values that are weighted differently, and thus each method provides different information about the heterogeneity distribution. Therefore, the methods are complementary and not competitive. In particular, the combination of the DIP method and Hantush method is shown to lead to the identification of contrasts between the local transmissivity in the vicinity of the well and the equivalent transmissivity of the perturbed aquifer volume.     

Dynamics of intrathermocline vortices in a gyre flow over a seamount chain

The interaction of meddies with a complex distribution of seamounts is studied in a three-layer quasi-geostrophic model on the f-plane. This study aims at understanding if and how this seamount chain can represent a barrier to the propagation of these eddies and how it can be involved in their decay. The eddies are idealized as vortex patches in the middle layer, interacting with a regional cyclonic current and with ten idealized seamounts. The numerical code is based on the contour surgery technique. The initial position, radius, shape, number and polarity of the eddies are varied. The main results are the following: (1) Though they do not describe the unsteady flow, the streamlines of the regional and topographic flow provide a useful estimate of the vortex trajectories, in particular towards the major seamounts, where stronger velocity shears are expected. (2) The tallest and widest seamounts which have the largest vorticity reservoir are able to considerably erode the vortices, but also to draw anticyclones towards the seamount top. The ability of narrower seamounts to erode vortices is related to their multiplicity. (3) Only 1/3 of the anticyclones with about 30-km radius reach the southern boundary of the seamount chain, and their erosion is larger than 50 %. The other anticyclones are either completely eroded or trapped over a wide seamount top. Cyclones are less affected by seamounts because they oppose the topographic draft towards the seamount top and they drift along the side of the seamount. (4) Large vortices resist topographic erosion more efficiently. The rate of erosion grows from a few percent to about 35–50 % as the vortex radius decreases from about 60 to 30 km. Small cyclones are not eroded, contrary to small anticyclones (which completely decay), in relation with the different trajectories of these eddies in the vicinity of the seamounts. (5) The detailed vortex shape does not appear critical for their evolution, if they are close enough to the seamount chain initially. The interaction between a group of vortices initially north of the seamount chain can modify their trajectory to such an extent that they finally avoid collision with seamounts. (6) Finally, meddy trajectories across the Horseshoe Seamounts (data from the AMUSE experiment) show qualitative similarity with the vortex paths in the model. Several events of vortex decay also occur at comparable locations (in particular over the wide and tall seamounts) in the model and observations.     

Present and future climates of the Greenland ice sheet according to the IPCC AR4 models

The atmosphere?Cocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) used for the IPCC 4th Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) are evaluated for the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) current climate modelling. The most suited AOGCMs for Greenland climate simulation are then selected on the basis of comparison between the 1970?C1999 outputs of the Climate of the twentieth Century experiment (20C3M) and reanalyses (ECMWF, NCEP/NCAR). This comparison indicates that the representation quality of surface parameters such as temperature and precipitation are highly correlated to the atmospheric circulation (500?hPa geopotential height) and its interannual variability (North Atlantic oscillation). The outputs of the three most suitable AOGCMs for present-day climate simulation are then used to assess the changes estimated by three IPCC greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (SRES) over the GrIS for the 2070?C2099 period. Future atmospheric circulation changes are projected to dampen the zonal flow, enhance the meridional fluxes and therefore provide additional heat and moisture to the GrIS, increasing temperature over the whole ice sheet and precipitation over its northeastern area. We also show that the GrIS surface mass balance anomalies from the SRES A1B scenario amount to ?300?km³/year with respect to the 1970?C1999 period, leading to a global sea-level rise of 5?cm by the end of the 21st century. This work can help to select the boundaries conditions for AOGCMs-based downscaled future projections.     

Practical aspects of demand and capacity evaluation of RC members in the context of EC8‐3

The structural safety assessment procedures proposed in Part 3 of Eurocode 8 (EC8‐3) for the case of reinforced concrete structures are addressed. The practical evaluation of the member chord rotation demand according to EC8‐3 is examined in detail along with several alternative formulations. The need for these formulations is demonstrated by presenting example situations where the EC8‐3 proposal is difficult to apply. The effectiveness of the proposed approaches is assessed through an example application and recommendations for their practical use are defined. Given the importance of the shear span in this context, a sensitivity analysis of the EC8‐3 capacity models with respect to this parameter is carried out and discussed in a later section. This analysis aims to assess the validity of the simplifications proposed by a previous research study for the quantification of the EC8‐3 capacity values. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organic matter in sediments of canyons and open slopes of the Portuguese,Catalan, Southern Adriatic and Cretan Sea margins

We describe the quantitative and compositional (phytopigment, protein, carbohydrate and lipid) patterns of sedimentary organic matter along bathymetric gradients in seven submarine canyons and adjacent open slopes located at four European regions: one along the NE Atlantic and three along the Mediterranean continental margins. The investigated areas are distributed along a putative longitudinal gradient of decreasing primary production from the Portuguese (northeastern Atlantic Ocean), to the Catalan (western Mediterranean Sea), Southern Adriatic (central Mediterranean Sea) and Southern Cretan (eastern Mediterranean Sea) margins. Sediment concentrations of organic matter differed significantly between the Portuguese margin and the Mediterranean regions and also from one study area to the other within the Mediterranean Sea. Differences in quantity and composition of sediment organic matter between canyons and open slopes were limited and significant only in the eutrophic Portuguese margin, where the differences were as large as those observed between regions (i.e. at the mesoscale). These results suggest that the overall trophic status of deep margin sediments is controlled mostly by the primary productivity of the overlying waters rather than by the local topography. Moreover, we also report that the quantity and nutritional quality of sediment organic matter in canyons and adjacent open slopes do not show any consistent depth-related pattern. Only the Nazaré and Cascais canyons in the Portuguese margin, at depths deeper than 500 m, displayed a significant accumulation of labile organic matter. The results of our study underline the need of further investigations of deep margins through sampling strategies accounting for adequate temporal and spatial scales of variability.     

Geometric Covariograms,Indicator Variograms and Boundaries of Planar Closed Sets

In the plane, consider a compact set with nonempty interior and piecewise C ¹ boundary such that any line segment crosses this boundary at only finitely many points. Then the second derivatives of the geometric covariogram of the compact set at the origin are related to geometrical characteristics of the set boundary. Specifically, the mean second derivative is zero when the boundary has no singular point, it is positive when the boundary has finitely many vertices but no cusp, and it is infinite when the boundary has at least one cusp.     

Seagrass colonization: Knock-on effects on zoobenthic community,populations and individual health

This study provided evidence that Zostera noltii presence affects macrofauna community structure independently from median sediment grain-size and that the notion of ecosystem health is rather subjective: in the present case, we recorded “good health” in terms of seagrass development, “no impact” in terms of macrobenthic biotic indices and “negative effect” for a given key-population. The occurrence and development of a Z. noltii seagrass bed was surveyed at Banc d’Arguin, Arcachon Bay (France), to estimate the modification of the macrozoobenthic community and of the dynamics of a key-population for the local ecosystem, – the cockle Cerastoderma edule. Even though median grain-size of the sediment decreased only at the very end of the survey, i.e. when seagrass totally invaded the area, most of the macrofauna community characteristics (such as abundance and biomass) increased as soon as Z. noltii patches appeared. The structure of the macrofauna community also immediately diverged between sand and seagrass habitats, without however modifying the tested biotic indices (BENTIX, BOPA, AMBI). The health of the cockle population (growth, abundance, recruitment) was impacted by seagrass development. Related parasite communities slowly diverged between habitats, with more parasites in the cockles from seagrass areas. However, the number of parasites per cockle was always insufficient to alter cockle fitness.     

Contrasting perspectives on mangroves in arid Northwestern Mexico: Implications for integrated coastal management

Mangroves in Northwestern Mexico are vital to maintain coastal environments healthy, to provide nutrients for several food chains, and to supply valuable goods and services that sustain and improve human livelihoods. Many of these values offer a range of opportunities for economic development that attract workers, investors and developers. Recently, federal privatization policies have promoted an accelerated coastal development of this region to obtain large profits in short times, creating competing and overlapping interests to use coastal environments and control key resources. Such intense developments are modifying the ecological conditions of many coastal areas, threatening the provision of important ecosystem services to society. After years of centralized decisions, new paradigms are needed to achieve a coastal management that ensures long-term ecosystem maintenance, fair resource use and social equity. Recognizing the multiplicity of actors involved in coastal management and using a qualitative research methodology, we identified and explored the perspectives of different key stakeholders in the states of Baja California Sur and Sonora, Mexico, to better understand their views on mangroves use and management as well as the interaction among them. We discuss similarities and/or discrepancies found among stakeholders’ perceptions by describing their central ideas and identifying overlapping interests that may create conflicts when defining development and conservation programs or formulating policies. This information also intends to encourage further research on the social-ecological system of the coasts in Northwestern Mexico and to contribute to address coastal management issues in integrated ways that consider the social dimension through documenting stakeholders’ narratives in the future.