PUBLICATIONS DE L'ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE DES SCIENCES HYDROLOGIQUES

ABSTRACT

The purpose of an hydrometric network is to obtain data giving answers to problems raised by the use of water. The methodology suggested in this paper is essentially based on the regional identification of the actual and potential uses of water, on the estimate of the intensity of their use and on the determination of the hydrological characteristics related to this demand.

The level of accuracy required for these characteristics is an important feature in the rationalization procedure.

The various types of stations are defined according to the purpose of their use and the network considered is on a dynamic basis depending on the evolution of uses. The major results obtained for Quebec by the application of this method are described.     

Lösmaterialackumulationer i blockhaven på Varangerhalvön i Nordnorge—en problemdis- kussion

Malmström, B. og Palmér, O.: Lösmaterialackumulationer i blockhaven på Varangerhalvön i Nordnorge—en problemdiskussion. Geografisk Tidsskrift 82: 82–87, Lund, 15. november 1982.

A type of mounds consisting of unconsolidated deposits mainly situated in blockfields is presented. Comparisons are made with pingo-like remnants in northern Scandinavia described by other authors.     

Sedimentology,palaeoenvironments and biostratigraphy of the Pliocene–Pleistocene carbonate platform of Grande‐Terre (Guadeloupe,Lesser Antilles forearc)

Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits from Grande‐Terre (Guadeloupe archipelago, French Lesser Antilles) provide a remarkable example of an isolated carbonate system built in an active margin setting, with sedimentation controlled by both rapid sea‐level changes and tectonic movements. Based on new field, sedimentological and palaeontological analyses, these deposits have been organized into four sedimentary sequences (S1 to S4) separated by three subaerial erosion surfaces (SB0, SB1 and SB2). Sequences S1 and S2 (‘Calcaires inférieurs à rhodolithes’) deposited during the Late Zanclean to Early Gelasian (planktonic foraminiferal Zones PL2 to PL5) in low subsidence conditions, on a distally steepened ramp dipping eastward. Red algal‐rich deposits, which dominate the western part of Grande‐Terre, change to planktonic foraminifer‐rich deposits eastward. Vertical movements of tens of metres were responsible for the formation of SB0 and SB1. Sequence S3 (‘Formation volcano‐sédimentaire’, ‘Calcaires supérieurs à rhodolithes’ and ‘Calcaires à Agaricia’) was deposited during the Late Piacenzian to Early Calabrian (Zones PL5 to PT1a) on a distally steepened, red algal‐dominated ramp that changes upward into a homoclinal, coral‐dominated ramp. Deposition of Sequence S3 occurred during a eustatic cycle in quiet tectonic conditions. Its uppermost boundary, the major erosion surface SB2, is related to the Cala1 eustatic sea‐level fall. Finally, Sequence S4 (‘Calcaires à Acropora’) probably formed during the Calabrian, developing as a coral‐dominated platform during a eustatic cycle in quiet tectonic conditions. The final emergence of the island could then have occurred in Late Calabrian times.     

Hydro-climatic analysis of mechanical breakups reconstructed from tree-rings, Necopastic watershed, northern Québec, Canada

We used a 54-year (1950–2003) ice scar chronology constructed from damaged trees to investigate relationships between large scale hydro-climatic conditions and mechanical breakup magnitude in the Necopastic River watershed (James Bay, northern Québec). Our objectives were: (1) to identify hydrologic and climatic variables that explain variations in mechanical breakup magnitude at the watershed scale, (2) to organize these variables in terms of importance and (3) to construct a predictive model for ice-floods in the Necopastic watershed. We used parametric correlation analysis to measure the degree of linear association between variables and classification trees (CT) coupled with a cross-validation approach to construct the predictive model and to organize variables according to their importance. In the Necopastic watershed, the type and magnitude of breakups are determined by an interaction between forces that maintain the ice cover in place and forces that tend to dislodge it. In contrast with lakes, early and rapidly rising floods, rather than abnormally high flood discharge, create conditions that favour intense mechanical breakups. Moreover, cold and snowy spring conditions during high positive Arctic Oscillation (AO) indices delay the thermal degradation of the ice cover and preserve its mechanical properties over longer time periods.     

Evolution,architecture and hierarchy of distributary deep‐water deposits: a high‐resolution outcrop investigation from the Permian Karoo Basin,South Africa

Sea floor and shallow seismic data sets of terminal submarine fan lobes can provide excellent planform timeslices of distributive deep‐water systems but commonly only limited information on cross‐sectional architecture. Extensive outcrops in the Tanqua depocentre, south‐west Karoo Basin, provide these three‐dimensional constraints on lithofacies distributions, stacking patterns, depositional geometries and the stratigraphic evolution of submarine lobe deposits at a scale comparable with modern lobe systems. Detailed study (bed‐scale) of a single‐lobe complex (Fan 3) over a 15 km by 8 km area has helped to define a four‐fold hierarchy of depositional elements from bed through to lobe element, lobe and lobe complex. The Fan 3 lobe complex comprises six distinct fine‐grained sandstone packages, interpreted as lobes, which display compensational stacking patterns on a 5 km scale. Between successive lobes are thin‐bedded, very fine‐grained sandstones and siltstones that do not change lithofacies over several kilometres and therefore are identified as a different architectural element. Each lobe is built by many lobe elements, which also display compensational stacking patterns over a kilometre scale. Thickness variations of lobe elements can be extremely abrupt without erosion, particularly in distal areas where isopach maps reveal a finger‐like distal fringe to lobes. Lobe deposits, therefore, are not simple radial sheet‐dominated systems as commonly envisaged.     

Late Wisconsinan deglaciation and proglacial lakes development in the Charlevoix region,southeastern Québec,Canada

The Charlevoix region, in southeastern Québec, is characterized by a dramatic landscape formed by the junction of the Laurentian Highlands, the Charlevoix Astrobleme and the St Lawrence Estuary. At the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the region was completely covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). The complex topography of the region was the stage of many of the major deglacial events of southern Quebec (e.g. Goldthwait Sea Invasion, St Lawrence Ice‐Stream, Saint‐Narcisse Episode). We present a detailed reconstruction of the pattern of retreat of the LIS in the Charlevoix region based on the interpretation of ice‐marginal features (e.g. moraines, fans) and glaciolacustrine landforms and deposits, two extensive field campaigns, and the interpretation of high‐resolution 3D digital aerial photographs and LiDAR data. Our results indicate five moraine complexes in the region: the Rochette, the Brûlée, the Sainte‐Anne, the Saint‐Narcisse and the Mars‐Batiscan complexes. Deltas, fans, fine‐grained sediments, littoral deposits, drainage breaches and deposits were used to identify 91 palaeo‐proglacial lakes. The identification of these lakes and their relation to moraine complexes enabled the reconstruction of six stages of lake development during the Charlevoix deglaciation. The development of proglacial lakes occurred in all types of terrain (highlands, lowlands, transitory levels above marine limit). We conclude that local topography had a decisive effect on promoting both moraine deposition and lake development. We suggest that similar topographical regions (hilly‐mountainous) that were affected by major ice‐margin stabilizations during glacial retreat should have experience small lakes dominating valleys and topographical lows.     

COHERENT GENERATION OF NARROW-BAND CIRCULARLY POLARIZED RADIO BURSTS FROM THE SUN AND FLARE STARS

It is shown that narrow-band radio bursts of right- and left-hand circular polarizations from the Sun and flare stars can be produced via nonlinear conversion of Langmuir waves into high-frequency electromagnetic electron cyclotron waves near the plasma frequency by coupling to low-frequency electromagnetic cyclotron waves such as Alfvén-ion cyclotron or magnetosonic-whistler waves.     

A New Method to Determine the Derivatives of the Laplace Coefficients

The determination of the secular variations of the orbital elements of objects in N-body systems is based on the literal development of the perturbing function. The development makes use of the Laplace coefficients and their derivatives. In this paper a new method is described for the analytical computation of the derivatives of the Laplace coefficients. It is an explicit formula in the sense that it only contains the Laplace coefficients and the parameter on which the Laplace coefficients depend. The advantage of this method is that it is unnecessary to calculate all the derivatives up to the desired order. It is enough to calculate the Laplace coefficients. Easy coding is a further benefit of the method and it provides more accurate numerical results. The paper describes in detail the application of the method through an example and gives comparison with former methods.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Active oceanic spreading in the northern North Fiji Basin: Results of the NOFI cruise of R/V L'Atalante (newstarmer project)

The South Pandora and the Tripartite Ridges are active spreading centers located in the northern part of the North Fiji Basin. These spreading centers were surveyed over a distance of 750 km during the NOFI cruise of R/V L'Atalante (August–September 1994) which was conducted in the frame of the french-japanese Newstarmer cooperation project. SIMRAD EM12-dual full coverage swath bathymetric and imagery data as well as airgun 6-channel seismic, magnetics and gravity profiles were recorded along and offaxis from 170°40 E to 178° E. Dredging and piston coring were also performed along and off-axis. The axial domain of the South Pandora Ridge is divided into 5 first-order segments characterized by contrasted morphologies. The average width of the active domain is 20 km and corresponds either to bathymetric highs or to deep elongated grabens. The bathymetric highs are volcanic constructions, locally faulted and rifted, which can obstruct totally the axial valley. The grabens show the typical morphology of slow spreading axes, with two steep walls flanking a deep axial valley. Elongated lateral ridges may be present on both sides of the grabens. Numerous volcanoes, up to several kilometers in diameter, occur on both flanks of the South Pandora Ridge. The Tripartite Ridge consists of three main segments showing a sigmoid shape. Major changes in the direction of the active zones are observed at the segment discontinuities. These discontinuities show various geometrical patterns which suggest complex transform relay zones. Preliminary analysis of seismic reflection profiles suggest that the Tripartite Ridge is a very young feature which propagates into an older oceanic domain characterized by a significant sedimentary cover. By contrast, a very thin to absent sedimentary cover is observed about 100 km on both flanks of the South Pandora Ridge active axis. The magnetic anomaly profiles give evidence of long and continuous lineations, parallel to the South Pandora Ridge spreading axis. According to our preliminary interpretation, the spreading rate would have been very low (8 km/m.y. half rate) during the last 7 Ma. The South Pandora and Tripartite Ridges exhibit characteristics typical of active oceanic ridges: (1) a segmented pattern, with segments ranging from 80 to 100 km in length; (2) an axial tectonic and volcanic zone, 10 to 20 km wide; (3) well-organized magnetic lineations, parallel to the active axis; (4) clear signature on the free-air gravity anomaly map. However, no typical transform fault is observed; instead, complex relay zones are separating first-order segments.     

Tree ring analysis of hydro‐climatic thresholds that trigger ice jams on the Mistassini River,Quebec

This study documents the spatiotemporal variations in the frequency and magnitude of ice jams in the Mistassini River and applies that information to the identification of the hydro‐climatic threshold conditions associated with major events. Ice jams cause severe upheavals in water flow, which result in flooding upstream of the ice jam front, and therefore represent a significant geohazard to riparian populations. To analyze the spatiotemporal variations in the magnitude–frequency of ice jams, the Mistassini River was first divided into six different sites representing different geomorphological contexts. A 50‐year ice jam chronology was constructed from 85 damaged trees from all of the study sites. This chronology was then coupled with hydro‐climatic variables to construct classification trees, which helped identify the conditions and hydro‐climatic thresholds favourable to the triggering of ice jams in a predictive model. The results indicate complex interactions between the characteristics of flow, ice cover and river morphology that affect the frequency and magnitude of ice jam events on the Mistassini River. These factors affect the frequency and magnitude of ice jam events. The triggering of extreme events seems particularly influenced by exceptional ice conditions and sites with high sinuosity and islands. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.