Relations entre les concentrations des ions alcalins dans les eaux thermales sulfurées sodiques du Midi de la France

Alkali ion concentrations were studied in hot sulphurated springs in the south of France. Strong correlations between elements (K-Rb, K-Cs and Na-Li) are found. The element concentrations are also closely related with deep temperature as estimated by classical geothermometers. A discussion of the origin of the interelement correlations is presented. Further studies on the behaviour of trace elements during mineral dissolution are needed and can yield interesting methods of investigation in geothermal exploration.

Résumé

L'étude des concentrations des ions alcalins dissous dans les eaux thermales sulfurées du Midi de la France montrent de très nettes corrélations entre éléments (K-Rb, K-Cs et Na-Li) ainsi que des corrélations entre concentrations d'éléments et température profonde estimée à l'aide des géothermomètres classiques. Plusieurs suggestions quant à l'explication des relations observées sont présentées. Une bonne compréhension du comportement des ions en trace lors de la dissolution des minéraux par l'eau aurait certainement des retombées intéressantes en prospection géothermique.     

Textural evidence for recent co-seismic circulation of fluids in the Nojima fault zone, Awaji island, Japan

The Hirabayashi borehole (Awaji Island, Japan) was drilled by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ) 1 year after the Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake (1995, M_JMA=7.2). This has enabled scientists to study the complete sequence of deformation across the active Nojima fault, from undeformed granodiorite to the fault core. In the fault core, different types of gouge and fractures have been observed and can be interpreted in terms of a complex history of faulting and fluid circulation. Above the fault core and within the hanging wall, compacted cataclasites and gouge are cut by fractures which show high apparent porosity and are filled by 5–50 μm euhedral and zoned siderite and ankerite crystals. These carbonate-filled fractures have been observed within a 5.5-m-wide zone above the fault, but are especially abundant in the vicinity (1 m) of the fault. The log-normal crystal size distributions of the siderite and ankerite suggest that they originated by decaying-rate nucleation accompanied by surface-controlled growth in a fluid saturated with respect to these carbonates. These carbonate-filled fractures are interpreted as the result of co-seismic hydraulic fracturing and upward circulation of fluids in the hanging wall of the fault, with the fast nucleation of carbonates attributed to a sudden fluid or CO₂ partial pressure drop due to fracturing. The fractures cut almost all visible structures at a thin section scale, although in some places, the original idiomorphic shape of carbonates is modified by a pressure-solution mechanism or the carbonate-filled fractures are cut and brecciated by very thin gouge zones; these features are attributed to low and high strain-rate mechanisms, respectively. The composition of the present-day groundwater is at near equilibrium or slightly oversaturated with respect to the siderite, calcite, dolomite and rhodochrosite. Taken together, this suggests that these fractures formed very late in the evolution of the fault zone, and may be induced by co-seismic hydraulic fracturing and circulation of a fluid with a similar composition to the present-day groundwater. They are therefore potentially related to recent earthquake activity (<1.2 Ma) on the Nojima fault.     

Oligotrophication from wetland epuration alters the riverine trophic network and carrying capacity for fish

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) constitutes a major component of fish habitat, providing support for epiphytes and invertebrates as well as shelter from predators. The effects of wetland epuration from a mesotrophic to a nearly oligotrophic state were examined over a 15?km long reach of the St. Lawrence River under the direct influence of major farmland tributaries. We hypothesized that the nutrient-enriched zone would support a higher biomass of SAV, epiphytes, macroinvertebrates and fish than the nitrogen-deficient epurated zone located downstream of the wetland. Predictions included that the enriched habitat would support a richer fish assemblage, with higher biomass and growth of juvenile yellow perch than found in the epurated zone. Results supported these hypotheses, demonstrating the chain of effects of nutrient reduction on the biomass of SAV (fourfold drop), invertebrate prey (ninefold), small (threefold) and large (1.5-fold) fish between the two zones. In addition to the reduction in SAV biomass, the replacement of filamentous chlorophytes by benthic mats of filamentous cyanobacteria in the epurated zone resulted in a less complex 3-D habitat structure and a low invertebrate availability for fish. Oligotrophication by wetland epuration exerted negative effects on fish habitat quality, food quantity and availability, with an impairment of juvenile perch growth and recruitment. A generalized model of the changes in habitat carrying capacity occurring with epuration (oligotrophication) or eutrophication is presented, with examples of other aquatic systems in which strong linkages between trophic status, SAV, invertebrates and fish productivity were also demonstrated.     

Modeling propensity to move after job change using event history analysis and temporal GIS

The research presented in this paper analyzes the emergent residential behaviors of individual actors in a context of profound social changes in the work sphere. It incorporates a long-term view in the analysis of the relationships between social changes in the work sphere and these behaviors. The general hypothesis is that social changes produce complex changes in the long-term dynamics of residential location behavior. More precisely, the objective of this paper is to estimate the propensity for professional workers to move house after a change of workplace. Our analysis draws on data from a biographical survey using a retrospective questionnaire that enables a posteriori reconstitution of the familial, professional and residential lifelines of professional workers since their departure from their parents’ home. The survey was conducted in 1996 in the Quebec City Metropolitan Area, which, much like other Canadian cities, has experienced a substantial increase in “unstable” work, even for professionals. The approach is based on event history analysis, a Temporal Geographic Information System and exploratory spatial analysis of model’s residuals. Results indicate that 48.9% of respondents moved after a job change and that the most important factors influencing the propensity to move house after a job change are home tenure (for lone adults as for couple) and number of children (for couples only). We also found that moving is associated with changing neighborhood for owners while tenants or co-tenants tend to stay in the same neighborhood. The probability of moving 1 year after a job change is 0.10 for lone adults and couples while after 2 years, the household structure seems to have an impact: the probability increased to 0.23 for lone adults and to 0.21 for couples. The outcome of this research contributes to furthering our understanding of a familial decision (to move) following a professional event (change of job), controlling for household structure, familial, professional and spatial contexts.

Metasomatism in the subcontinental mantle beneath the Eastern Carpathians (Romania): new evidence from trace element geochemistry

A wide range of trace elements have been analysed in mantle xenoliths (whole rocks, clinopyroxene and amphibole separates) from alkaline lavas in the Eastern Carpathians (Romania), in order to understand the process of metasomatism in the subcontinental mantle of the Carpatho-Pannonian region. The xenoliths include spinel lherzolites, harzburgites and websterites, clinopyroxenites, amphibole veins and amphibole clinopyroxenites. Textures vary from porphyroclastic to granoblastic, or equigranular. Grain size increases with increasing equilibrium temperature of mineralogical assemblages and results from grain boundary migration. In peridotites, interstitial clinopyroxenes (cpx) and amphiboles resulted from impregnation and metasomatism of harzburgites or cpx-poor lherzolites by small quantities of a melt I with a melilitite composition. Clinopyroxenites, amphibole veins and amphibole clinopyroxenites are also formed by metasomatism as a result of percolation through fracture systems of large quantities of a melt II with a melanephelinite composition. These metasomatic events are marked by whole-rock enrichments, relative to the primitive mantle (PM), in Rb, Th and U associated in some granoblastic lherzolites and in clinopyroxene and amphibole veins with enrichments in LREE, Ta and Nb. Correlations between major element whole-rock contents in peridotites demonstrate that the formation of interstitial amphibole and clinopyroxene induced only a slight but variable increase of the Ca/Al ratio without apparent modifications of the initial mantle composition. Metasomatism is also traced by enrichments in the most incompatible elements and the LREE. The Ta, Nb, MREE and HREE contents remained unchanged and confirm the depleted state of the initial but heterogeneous mantle. Major and trace element signature of clinopyroxene suggests that amphibole clinopyroxenites and some granoblastic lherzolites have been metasomatized successively by melts I and II. Both melts I and II were Ca-rich and Si-poor, somewhat alkaline (Na > K). Melt I differed from melt II in having higher Mg and Cr contents offset by lower Ti, Al, Fe and K contents. Both were highly enriched in all incompatible trace elements relative to primitive mantle, showing positive anomalies in Rb, Ba, Th, Sr and Zr. They contrasted by their Ta, Nb and LREE contents, lower in melt I than in melt II. Melts I and II originate during a two-stage melting event from the same source at high pressure and under increasing temperature. The source assemblage could be that of a metasomatized carbonated mantle but was more likely that of an eclogite of crustal affinity. Genetic relationships between calc-alkaline and alkaline lavas from Eastern Carpathians and these melts are thought to be only indirect, the former originating from partial melting of mantle sources respectively metasomatized by the melts I and II. Received: 17 March 1997 / Accepted: 14 July 1997     

GONG p-Mode Parameters Through Two Solar Cycles

We investigate the parameters of global solar p-mode oscillations, namely damping width \(\Gamma\), amplitude \(A\), mean squared velocity \(\langle v^{2}\rangle\), energy \(E\), and energy supply rate \(\mathrm{d}E/\mathrm{d}t\), derived from two solar cycles’ worth (1996?–?2018) of Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) time series for harmonic degrees \(l=0\,\mbox{--}\,150\). We correct for the effect of fill factor, apparent solar radius, and spurious jumps in the mode amplitudes. We find that the amplitude of the activity-related changes of \(\Gamma\) and \(A\) depends on both frequency and harmonic degree of the modes, with the largest variations of \(\Gamma\) for modes with \(2400~\upmu\mbox{Hz}\le\nu\le3300~\upmu\mbox{Hz}\) and \(31\le l \le60\) with a minimum-to-maximum variation of \(26.6\pm0.3\%\) and of \(A\) for modes with \(2400~\upmu\mbox{Hz}\le\nu\le 3300~\upmu\mbox{Hz}\) and \(61\le l \le100\) with a minimum-to-maximum variation of \(27.4\pm0.4\%\). The level of correlation between the solar radio flux \(F_{10.7}\) and mode parameters also depends on mode frequency and harmonic degree. As a function of mode frequency, the mode amplitudes are found to follow an asymmetric Voigt profile with \(\nu_{\text{max}}=3073.59\pm0.18~\upmu\mbox{Hz}\). From the mode parameters, we calculate physical mode quantities and average them over specific mode frequency ranges. In this way, we find that the mean squared velocities \(\langle v^{2}\rangle\) and energies \(E\) of p modes are anticorrelated with the level of activity, varying by \(14.7\pm0.3\%\) and \(18.4\pm0.3\%\), respectively, and that the mode energy supply rates show no significant correlation with activity. With this study we expand previously published results on the temporal variation of solar p-mode parameters. Our results will be helpful to future studies of the excitation and damping of p modes, i.e., the interplay between convection, magnetic field, and resonant acoustic oscillations.     

δ13C variation of soil organic matter as an indicator of vegetation change during the Holocene in central Cameroon

In order to better understand the dynamics of the forest–savanna mosaic from central Cameroon, we analyzed ¹³C and ¹⁴C profiles of six oxisols: two under forests and four under savannas. The δ¹³C soil profiles collected in the forests indicate that these environments are stable at least since the mid-Holocene, whereas the areas currently covered by savannas were formerly occupied by more forested vegetations. The ¹⁴C dating of organic matter indicate that the late extension of the savannas in central Cameroon date from the Late Holocene, starting from 4000–3500 ¹⁴C yr BP.