Fluctuation theory of ambient noise imaging

Travel time estimation and reflector imaging can be carried out using the cross correlations of signals generated by ambient noise sources and recorded at sensor arrays. We study here the mean and variance of the estimated quantities both with respect to the distribution of the noise sources and with respect to the distribution of the randomly scattering medium. In particular, we discuss the trade-off between resolution enhancement due to illumination diversification by scattering and the associated signal-to-noise ratio reduction, also due to scattering.     

500-year temperature reconstruction in the Mediterranean Basin by means of documentary data and instrumental observations

The paper reports the main results of the EU project Millennium in the Mediterranean area over the last 500 years. It analyses a long series of temperature from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece. The series are obtained by combining indices from documentary sources from AD 1500 to the onset of regular instrumental observations. There is an ongoing discussion regarding the proper way of combining documentary and instrumental data and how to translate accurately the conventional indices from ??3 to +?3 into modern units, i.e. degree Celsius. This paper produces for the first time a number of early instrumental observations, in some cases (i.e. Italy and France) covering 350 years, including thereby the earliest regular observations after the invention of the thermometer. These Mediterranean data show that anomalous temperatures usually had only a locally limited effect, while only few extreme events had a widespread impact over the whole region, such as the summer of 2003. During the period from 1850 to the present day, the Mediterranean temperature anomaly was close to the Northern Hemisphere in spring and summer, while it was warmer in autumn and winter. Compared with the long-term instrumental records (i.e. 1655 onwards), the recent warming has not exceeded the natural past variability characterized by heating–cooling cycles with no significant long-term trends.     

Stable isotopes in deep-sea living (stained) foraminifera from the Mozambique Channel (eastern Africa): multispecies signatures and paleoenvironmental application

Oxygen and carbon isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) have been investigated in carbonate tests of deep-sea foraminifera living in the Mozambique Channel (eastern Africa) to understand how environmental constraints (e.g., organic matter, oxygenation) control the intra- and interspecific variability of isotopic signatures. 197 living individuals, including eight different species, from various microhabitats within the sediment were sorted from sediment samples gathered at two stations on the Malagasy upper slope. Results show that the δ¹⁸O values of foraminiferal taxa were not controlled by microhabitat pattern. They presented tremendous and intriguing intraspecific variability that is not explained by the classical ontogenetic effect. The δ¹³C values of infaunal foraminiferal taxa do not show a 1:1 relationship with the bottom water δ¹³C DIC and do not present a constant offset from it; instead, they appear to be mainly controlled by a microhabitat effect. The lower δ¹³C values of shallow, intermediate, and deep infaunal taxa at the deeper station compared to those seen at the shallower station reflect the enhanced exportation of sedimentary organic matter at the sediment–water interface, and its related mineralization within the upper sediments. The ?δ¹³C between shallow/very shallow infaunal species (i.e., Hoeglundina elegans, Uvigerina hispida) and intermediate/deep infaunal species (i.e., Melonis barleeanus, Globobulimina barbata) permits insight into (1) the exportation of organic matter to the seafloor and (2) the various degradation pathways for organic detritus in the benthic environments off NW Madagascar.     

Quantifying historic skew surges: an example for the Dunkirk Area,France

Natural Hazards - As instrumental records often cover only short time periods, historical information is the main source of data in order to extend natural disaster catalogs. This study...     

Kinetic partitioning of Co,Mn, Cs,Fe, Ag,Zn and Cd in fresh waters (Loire) mixed with brackish waters (Loire estuary): experimental and modelling approaches

To simulate the behavior of radionuclides along a salinity gradient, in vitro sorption and desorption kinetics of Co, Mn, Cs, Fe, Ag, Zn and Cd were studied in Loire river water and the macrotidal Loire estuarine water over two different seasons. Partitioning between the dissolved phase and suspended solids were followed up over 100 h after adding radioactive tracers to freshly collected freshwater (sorption stage); this stage was followed by desorption in fresh and estuarine waters. A kinetic model describing the interactions between trace metals and particles under a salinity gradient was developed and calibrated. Among parameters and/or processes that control the fate and behavior of contaminated particles during their transfer in estuarine systems, this study shows that the speciation of trace metals is controlled by: (i) the chemical water composition: for all the elements except for Fe, desorption increased with salinity; however, the amplitude of such an effect strongly depended on the element and/or on the composition of the particulate phase (and consequently on the season); (ii) the possibility for a given element to form (or not) stable surface particle moieties such as oxides or inner-sphere complexes; (iii) the distribution of a given element among different types of sites characterised by different binding forces that can lead (or not) to re-adsorption processes after mixing of contaminated particles with uncontaminated water.Our model enabled the quantification of the contribution and the characteristic time of reactions that took place over short and long periods on the global partitioning between particulate and dissolved phases during sorption and desorption and to determine the extent to which these reactions were modified by the salinity.     

Modeling the response of water quality in the Seine River estuary to human activity in its watershed over the last 50 years

The unique database of water quality measurements made in the Seine estuary over 45 years by the Service de la Navigation de la Seine at Rouen is used here to reconstruct the evolution of oxygen status in the estuary and the nutrient fluxes to the Seine Bight during the last half century. The Riverstrahler model is used to establish the link between these long-term trends in the functioning of the Seine system and the evolution of agricultural, domestic, and industrial activity in the watershed over this period taking into account natural and man-induced hydrological variations. Oxygenation of the fluvial sector below Paris has increased considerably owing to improved wastewater treatment, but a large part of the estuary remains completely anoxic during the spring and summer months. Nitrogen input to surface waters from urban sources has remained essentially constant while diffuse inputs from agricultural soils have increased 5-fold as a result of more intensive agricultural practices as well as the loss of retention capacity in riparian zones. Phosphorus inputs from domestic and industrial sources increased 3-fold from 1950 to 1980, but have decreased gradually in recent years. The generally high level of phosphorus contamination has favored strong algal development in all large tributaries of the Seine River upstream of paris since the 1960s. Silica inputs, originating mainly from the weathering of rocks, fluctuate widely depending on hydrology. In-stream retention of silica, linked to diatom blooms, has increased but remains limited. These changes have induced several shifts in the nutrient limitation conditions of the Seine Bight.     

Modelled variability of the sea surface circulation in the North-western Mediterranean Sea and in the Gulf of Lions

A chain of three nested models, based on the MARS 3D code, is used to simulate the North-western Mediterranean Sea circulation with a finest grid of 1.2 km resolution and 30 vertical sigma levels. This modelling system allows to resolve the coastal dynamics taking into account the influence of the general basin circulation. The aim of this study is to assess the ability of the nested MARS-3D models to reproduce most of the circulation features observed in the North-western Mediterranean Basin and in the Gulf of Lions. Comparisons of modelled sea surface temperature and salinity with MEDAR/MEDATLAS climatology and NOAA/AVHRR satellite measurements show that the model accurately reproduces the large and coastal scale variability. Over the Northern Basin, the seasonal changes of the cyclonic gyre extension are correctly simulated, even though in summer, the modelled temperature of the surface layer remains in basin-average 1°C cooler than the satellite measured temperature. As soon as the stratification erodes, modelled and observed temperatures become closer. Over the Gulf of Lions, realistic coastal responses are obtained under different wind conditions. Upwellings are correctly located and their intensity and spatial extension were here improved by the use of Aladin wind fields (10 km spatial resolution) and the introduction of a drag coefficient fitted according to the stability of the planetary boundary layer. The dispersion of fresh Rhone water discharge and the mesoscale circulation simulated by MARS-3D also agree with satellite measurements.     

Solid speciation and availability of chromium in ultramafic soils from Niquelândia, Brazil

The sources and the potential availability of chromium were investigated in ultramafic soils from Niquelândia (Goïas State, Brazil), with chemical extractions associated to mineralogical studies, in order to evaluate its bioavailability and its potential impact on the soil biodiversity. Cr contents are particularly high in the studied soils and its partitioning among the solid phase varies with the position in the landscape and depth. Most of the Cr is associated to Fe-oxides but the amount of exchangeable Cr(VI) is high, particularly in one soil profile. Cr availability is higher than expected, and Cr-tolerant vegetation is probably growing on these soils.     

A report card and quality indicators for the Seine estuary: from scientific approach to operational tool

The scientific teams from the interdisciplinary Seine-Aval (SA) research program and the SA's operational pole, GIPSA (Groupement d'Intérêt Public Seine-Aval) have worked together to create a report card designed to help the Estuary Council (Conseil de l'Estuaire) revitalize its original functions: maintaining functional links between the various estuarine ecosystems, comprehending and managing the estuary's natural habitats and biological populations, and monitoring and improving the physical-chemical quality of the estuarine waters. The report card will be able to synthesize the information obtained from several system performance variables and available operational indicators. This approach, intended to guide the estuary managers, is the oeuvre of several scientific teams; it is particularly important in the context of the Water Framework Directive because it facilitates the elaboration of a group of relevant indicators, which can then be used as operational tools. A report card will provide decision-makers (e.g., political authorities; national, regional and local institutions and industries) with the key indicators for evaluating the system and predicting changes in terms of selected objectives, such as the preservation and restoration of the estuary's environmental functionalities. The final objective of the research is to choose among the available indicators to approximate potential ecological risks. Integrating the socio-economical data will perhaps lead to setting risk acceptability thresholds for the different uses of the Seine estuary. In the end, collaboration between the scientists, the managers, and the GIPSA operational pole will be essential to produce a viable report card about the environmental status of the Seine estuary. To illustrate the research now under way, this article presents the results for three actions undertaken, concerning: (i) physical indicators (i.e., an inventory of the estuary first as a whole, and then section by section); (ii) benthic indicators (i.e., seven indices which show a moderate EcoQ for the lower part of the estuary); and (iii) a eutrophication indicator (i.e., an indicator for coastal eutrophication potential (ICEP), which helps to limit the nutrient fluxes (N or P) that exceed the silica flux delivered by the Seine network, based on the Redfield ratios for algal propagation).     

Organic matter dynamics and budgets in the turbidity maximum zone of the Seine Estuary (France)

Organic matter was studied in the turbidity maximum zone (TMZ) of the Seine Estuary during 8 tidal cycles from April to October in 2001, 2002 and 2003, covering a salinity range from 0 to 27. The hydrological conditions were quite varied (extremely wet in 2001, unusually dry in 2003). A particularly striking feature is the high organic matter content in the suspended solids (SS) of the Seine estuary (4–5%).