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.     

On the geometry of convergent plate boundaries

Previous studies of plate dynamics suggest that, at consuming plate boundaries, driving forces (negative buoyancy) acting on the slab are counterbalanced by viscous forces, proportional to the consumption velocity and resisting the downgoing motion into the mantle. New observations on the geometry of subduction zones may help test this equilibrium theory. A condition for local equilibrium of the driving and resistive forces is that the consumption velocity (V_⊥) remains constant along a given trench. From this condition, a geometrical property of the shape of trenches and island arcs on the sphere is inferred: the consuming margin of two plates should follow segments of helices about the axis of rotation of their relative motion. A comparison of the shape of island arcs and trenches with helices supports this inference.     

Discovery of the Middle-Late Triassic elasmobranch ichthyoliths from the Guanling area,Guizhou,SW China

应用Johns等(1997)的形态分类系统，对首次报道出现于贵州关岭地区中上三叠统的软骨鱼类的微体化石进行了初步研究，描述了其中的1个牙齿化石(可能属于弓鲛鳖科的)和7个鳞片类化石的形态属种，其中包括两个鳞片类化石的新属种，即Lobaticorona cf. floriditurris,Sacrisubcorona co. circabasis,Glabrisubcarona co.arduidevexa,Parvi-corona dacrysulca n.gen.et.n.sp.s.f.Annulicorona pyramidalis n.gen.et.n.sp.s.f.,new(?) paragenera A和new(?) paragenera B。还初步探讨了软骨鱼类微体化石在三叠纪地层划分中的应用，以及中国西南部三叠纪软骨鱼类与北美相当地层中软骨鱼类的洲际对比。     

The giant Imiter silver deposit: Neoproterozoic epithermal mineralization in the Anti-Atlas, Morocco

The world-class Imiter silver deposit, in the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is a Neoproterozoic epithermal vein deposit genetically associated with a felsic volcanic event, and formed within a regional extensional tectonic regime. Rhyolitic volcanism related to ore formation has been dated at 550Dž Ma by ion-probe U/Pb on zircons. The economic silver mineralization is superimposed on an older, discrete base-metal assemblage associated with calc-alkaline granodioritic magmatism. The magmatism is dated at 572LJ Ma by ion-probe U/Pb dating on zircons, and by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating on hydrothermal muscovites. In the Anti-Atlas Mountains, the Precambrian-Cambrian transition appears as an important period for the formation of major, productive precious-metal deposits associated with volcanic events and extensional tectonics. The Imiter silver deposit constitutes a Precambrian analogue to modern epithermal deposits.     

Muscovite recrystallization and saddle-shaped Ar/Ar age spectra: example from the Blond granite (Massif Central, France)

Muscovites from the Blond granite (West French Massif Central) were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single-grain method. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages obtained vary from 305.5 ± 0.3 Ma to 311.3 ± 0.5 Ma, and most of the age spectra are slightly saddle-shaped. The analyzed muscovites show phengitic recrystallization under optical microscope observations, SEM images, and electron microprobe chemical analyses. It is proposed that the saddle-shaped age spectra result from a partial recrystallization, which produced three different isotopic reservoirs in the analyzed white mica single grains: domains of early muscovite, domains of neocrystallized muscovite formed by phengitic and Al-Fe substitutions, and “low-activation energy sites.”     

Experimental sorption of Ni, Cs and Ln onto a montmorillonite up to 150°C

The effect of temperature on the sorption of cations onto a dioctahedral smectite was investigated by running batch experiments at 25, 40, 80 and 150°C. We measured the distribution coefficient (Kd) of Cs⁺, Ni²⁺ and 14 lanthanides (Ln³⁺) between solutions and the montmorillonite fraction of the MX80 bentonite at various pH and ionic strengths. Up to 80°C we used a conventional experimental protocol derived from Coppin et al. (2002). At 150°C, the experiments were conducted in a PTFE reactor equipped with an internal filter allowing the sampling of clear aliquots of solution.The results show a weak but measurable influence of the temperature on the elements sorption. Kd’s for Ni²⁺ and Ln³⁺ increase by a factor 2 to 5 whereas temperature raises from 25 to 150°C. This effect seems higher at high ionic strength. The estimated apparent endothermic sorption enthalpies are 33 ± 10 kJ.mol⁻¹ and 39 ± 15 kJ.mol⁻¹ for Ni²⁺ and Eu³⁺, respectively. On the other hand, the temperature effect on Cs⁺ sorption is only evidenced at low ionic strength and under neutral conditions where the Kd decreases by a factor 3 between 25 and 150°C. Apparent exothermic sorption enthalpy for Cs⁺ on the montmorillonite is −19 ± 5 kJ.mol⁻¹.Experiments conducted at the four temperatures with the coexistence of all of the cations in the reacting solution (100 ppb of each element in the starting solution) or only one of them, produced similar values of Kd. This suggests the absence of competition between the sorbed cations, and consequently a low degree of saturation of the available sites. A fractionation of the lanthanides spectrum is also observed at high pH and high ionic strength whatever the temperature.The conclusion of this study is that the temperature dependence on sorption reflects, as the fractionation of REE or the pH and ionic strength effects, the chemical process which controls the overall reaction. In the case of an exchange dominated reaction (low pH and low ionic strength), the temperature effect is negligible. In the case of surface complexation (high pH and high ionic strength), the observed increase of Kd with temperature reflects either an increase of the sorption equilibrium constant with temperature or an endothermic property for reactions describing the montmorillonite surface chemistry.     

Alternative technologies for rural areas–what about the ‘alternative’ dimension of Wi-Fi?

Summary  The question of alternative technologies for high-speed Internet access lies at the heart of rural development problems. In this paper, we focus on one of those technologies, the system combining satellite technologies and Wi-Fi. Based on an empirical study carried out in three rural areas, we analyze the dynamics of the use and appropriation of that technology by the companies and organizations participating in the experiment. Considered both from a technical and social standpoint, the technology ‘in use’ appears here in its structuring dimensions.

Technosols made with various urban wastes showed contrasted performance for tree development during a 3-year experiment

Vegetation in urban areas is generally living in a stress-inducing environment. Sustaining good soil quality is crucial to improve tree development and heath in such (artificial) environment. This study investigates the dynamics of the physico-chemical properties of Technosol, and compares tree development performances in various waste mixtures. A 3-year experiment was conducted with Acer platanoïdes L. grown in three distinct constructed soils, in three replicates, in 0.480-m³ lysimeters in Angers (France). Four combinations of artefacts were studied either as “growing material” (GM) or “structural material” (SM). Three different SMs were used: (1) a mixture of fine mineral material, demolition rubble and green waste (SM-DR/GW), (2) a mixture of fine mineral material, track ballast and sewage sludge (SM-TB/SS), and (3) the SM currently used by Angers city for green space settlements (SM-CT). Waste characteristics and mixing proportions both affected tree development. Physical properties were not a limiting factor for tree development, despite a relatively low soil water reservoir due to high stone content. Moreover, the chemical properties of the materials, more particularly low water pH and CEC, led to poor tree development in SM-CT, whereas the other two SMs did not affect tree development. SM-TB/SS was the most suitable constructed soil after 3 years because it exhibited satisfactory soil nutrient contents that promoted the best tree crown quality. Waste mixtures can sustain soil functions for tree development. As for urban street tree pits that are 2–8 m³ in volume, soil water, and nutrient autonomy should satisfactorily sustain tree development.