Quantifying the protective function of a forest against rockfall for past,present and future scenarios using two modelling approaches

Following a major rockfall event in 1987, two types of protection measures were taken in the village Saint Martin le Vinoux (French Alps). Firstly, technical measures using civil engineering were installed, and secondly, a forest management intervention to increase its protection was carried out. This study aims to assess whether this intervention was successful in the sense that it improved the protective function of the forest. We evaluated the rockfall risk for the situation of 1987 (before the intervention), today and the future, using model simulations with past, present and future vegetation cover scenarios. To increase the meaningfulness of our results, we used two different models, called Rockfor^.NET, which is a rapid one-dimensional rockfall forest evaluation tool, using simple slope and forest characteristics and RockyFor, a process based on three-dimensional rockfall simulation model that takes the barrier effect of individual trees explicitly into account. Both models correctly predicted that the forest was not capable of stopping rocks from the 1987 rockfall event. Further, both models indicate an increase of the number of rocks reaching the base of the slope from 1987 onwards. RockyFor shows an increase from 11% in 1987 to 19% in 2086. Rockfor^.NET shows an increase from 26% in 1987 to 56% in 2086. We conclude that a second attempt to increase the protective function of the forest should aim at restoring a dense coppice stand.     

New insights on the trophic ecology of bathyal communities from the methane seep area off Concepción,Chile (~36° S)

Studies of the trophic structure in methane‐seep habitats provide insight into the ecological function of deep‐sea ecosystems. Methane seep biota on the Chilean margin likely represent a novel biogeographic province; however, little is known about the ecology of the seep fauna and particularly their trophic support. The present study, using natural abundance stable isotopes, reveals a complex trophic structure among heterotrophic consumers, with four trophic levels supported by a diversity of food sources at a methane seep area off Concepción, Chile (~36° S). Although methanotrophy, thiotrophy and phototrophy are all identified as carbon fixation mechanisms fueling the food web within this area, most of the analysed species (87.5%) incorporate carbon derived from photosynthesis and a smaller number (12%) use carbon derived from chemosynthesis. Methane‐derived carbon (MDC) incorporation was documented in 22 taxa, including sipunculids, gastropods, polychaetes and echinoderms. In addition, wide trophic niches were detected in suspension‐feeding and deposit‐feeding taxa, possibly associated with the use of organic matter in different stages of degradation (e.g. from fresh to refractory). Estimates of Bayesian standard ellipses area (SEA_B) reveal different isotopic niche breadth in the predator fishes, the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides and the combtooth dogfish Centroscyllium nigrum, suggesting generalist versus specialist feeding behaviors, respectively. Top predators in the ecosystem were the Patagonian toothfish D. eleginoides and the dusky cat shark, Bythaelurus canescens. The blue hake Antimora rostrata also provides a trophic link between the benthic and pelagic systems, with a diet based primarily on pelagic‐derived carrion. These findings can inform accurate ecosystem models, which are critical for effective management and conservation of methane seep and adjacent deep‐sea habitats in the Southeastern Pacific.     

High-resolution modelling of a coastal harbour in the presence of strong tides and significant river runoff

Ocean Dynamics - In the context of Canada’s Ocean Protection Plan (OPP), improved coastal and near-shore modelling is needed to enhance marine safety and emergency response capacity in the...     

Ice Sheet And Satellite Altimetry

Since 1991, the altimeters of the ERS European Satellites allow the observation of 80% of the Antarctica ice sheet and the whole Greenland ice sheet: They thus offer for the first time a unique vision of polar ice caps. Indeed, surface topography is an essential data thanks to its capacity to highlight the physical processes which control the surface shape, or to test models. Moreover, the altimeter is also a radar which makes it possible to estimate the snow surface or subsurface characteristics, such as surface roughness induced by the strong katabatic wind or ice grain size. The polar ice caps may not be in a stationary state, they continue to respond to the climatic warming of the beginning of the Holocene, that is 18000 years ago, and possibly start to react to present climatic warming: the altimeter offers the unique means of estimating the variations of volume and thus the contribution of polar ice caps to present sea level change.     

Formation temperatures of clays from the volcaniclastic series of Site 841 ODP: an oxygen isotopic record of a paleothermal flux into the Tonga forearc

Oxygen isotopic compositions of clay minerals were determined on representative samples of the volcano-sedimentary series from Site 841 ODP (Tonga forearc). This isotopic study has demonstrated an abnormally high crystallisation temperature of the clay minerals with respect to temperature expected in burial diagenesis. Formation temperatures obtained using ¹⁸O reach up to 200 °C in a Fe-chlorite-corrensite paragenesis found in the vicinity of basaltic andesite sills intruded into the Miocene tuffs. The paleothermal flux resulting from the cooling of the sills has produced very low grade contact metamorphism in the Miocene Tonga forearc deposits. The consequence of this was the formation of a large amount of hydrous silicates characterised near the sills by a Fe-clays-analcime mineralogical association. Received: 26 September 1997 / Accepted: 22 September 1998     

The late Quaternary sedimentary infill of Lake Annecy (northwestern Alps): an overview from two seismic-reflection surveys

The sedimentary fill of Lake Annecy (northwestern Alps) - related to the last glacial/post-glacial episode - was investigated through high resolution (sparker) and very high resolution (2.5 kHz) seismic-reflection surveys. A seismostratigraphic approach led to subdivision of a 150 m-thick pile (maximum thickness in axial part) into five units. Basal units (1 and 2) represent an imbrication of subglacial and glacio-lacustrine deposits, close to the grounding line of the glaciers' fronts (respectively at the northern and southern terminations of the lake). The first acoustically well-stratified unit (3) developed during a fast retreat of the glaciers fronts far from the lake basin, and a progradational alluvial regime, with abundant underflows, in a lake larger than the present one. Unit 4 represents the progressive decrease of this clastic input mixed with the progressive development of in situ bio-induced production. As in many other alpine lakes, a topmost unit (5), relatively thin (about 8-10 m) and with a conspicuous drape configuration, is the signature of the Holocene interglacial climatic conditions with a sedimentation rate of about 1 mm/yr. On the lacustrine basin slopes, slumps and debris flow occurred mainly within Unit 3; they may be due to, either climate-induced high rate terrigenous sedimentation, or/and to a period of increased seismo-tectonic activity.     

Tracking past mining activity using trace metals,lead isotopes and compositional data analysis of a sediment core from Longemer Lake,Vosges Mountains,France

A 157-cm-long sediment core from Longemer Lake in the Vosges Mountains of France spans the past two millennia and was analyzed for trace metal content and lead isotope composition. Trace metal accumulation rates highlight three main input phases: Roman Times (cal. 100 BC–AD 400), the Middle Ages (cal. AD 1000–1500), and the twentieth century. Atmospheric contamination displays a pattern that is similar to that seen in peat bogs from the region, at least until the eighteenth century. Thereafter, the lake sediment record is more precise than peat records. Some regional mining activity, such as that in archaeologically identified eighteenth-century mining districts, was detected from the lead isotope composition of sediment samples. Compositional data analysis, using six trace metals (silver, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc), enabled us to distinguish between background conditions, periods of mining, and of other anthropogenic trace metal emissions, such as the recent use of leaded gasoline.     

O–H isotope ratios of high pressure ultramafic rocks: implications for fluid sources and mobility in the subducted hydrous mantle

We examine the O-H isotope signatures of Alpine ultramafic rocks and eclogitic metagabbros of the Erro-Tobbio peridotite Unit (western Italian Alps), which record a subduction and exhumation cycle. Localization of subduction-related deformation along serpentinite mylonite shear zones favoured preservation of pre-subduction mantle and low temperature (oceanic) alteration assemblages within undeformed (meta)peridotite that underwent partial static recrystallization to high-pressure metamorphic parageneses. Bulk rock and mineral separate (clinopyroxene and serpentine) oxygen isotope ratios of the serpentinized mantle peridotites (5-8‰) are slightly enriched in ¹⁸O compared with those of the high-pressure metaperidotites and the serpentinite mylonites (4.4-7.6‰). The lowest values occur in high-pressure veins (3.5-5.7‰) and eclogitic metagabbros (3.1-5.3‰). These variations are comparable to variations observed in modern oceanic rocks and in non-subducted ophiolites. Preservation of pre-eclogitic '¹⁸O signatures of the Erro-Tobbio rocks and a lack of oxygen isotope re-equilibration between different shear zones imply local-scale fluid flow at low water/rock ratios and closed system behaviour during high-pressure metamorphism. Different serpentine generations show a bimodal distribution in 'D values: pre-eclogitic lizardite and chrysotile range from -102 to -77‰; high-pressure antigorite in the mylonites and in low strain metaperidotites range from -71 to -57‰ and -83 to -60‰, respectively. Comparable ranges occur in antigorite in the associated high-pressure veins, suggesting that the hydrogen signatures were acquired prior to veining. We propose that the isotopic variations reflect multiple events of fluid uptake in different geodynamic environments. The H- and O-isotope ratios in the eclogitic mylonites suggest that initial hydration occurred over a range of temperatures during local interaction with altered seawater along oceanic shear zones. The ¹⁸O-enriched and H-depleted compositions of chrysotile and lizardite in the mantle peridotites suggest that a second hydration event may have occurred as a result of interaction with metamorphic fluids at the early stages of burial in a forearc setting, where slabs undergo large-scale, low-temperature fluid fluxing. The oceanic mantle is thus a candidate for continuous hydration during its oceanic and early subduction history. The Erro-Tobbio unit thus represents an example of cycling of internally-derived fluids, whereby the different structural and textural domains behaved as relatively closed systems to fluid circulation during high-pressure metamorphism.