In Memoriam: David le Sueur

Biography

In Memoriam: David le Sueur     

In situ Measurement of H2O and CH4 with Telecommunication Laser Diodes in the Lower Stratosphere: Dehydration and Indication of a Tropical Air Intrusion at Mid-Latitudes

Telecommunication laser diodes emitting near 1.39 m and 1.65 m in combination with direct-differential absorption spectroscopy are efficient tools to monitor in situ stratospheric H₂O andCH₄ with a good precision error (a few percents), a high temporal resolution (ranging from 10 ms to 1 s), a large dynamic range in the concentration measurements (four orders of magnitude) and a high selectivity in the analyte species. To illustrate the capability of laser probing technique, we report balloonborne H₂Oand CH₄ simultaneous measurements obtained on October 2001 atmidlatitudes (43° N). The H₂O vertical profile achieved with the lasersensor in the lower stratosphere is compared with the H₂O data yielded by a balloonborne frost-point hygrometer. The total hydrogen mixing ratio in the lower stratosphere, 2[CH₄] + [H₂O], appears to beconstant at 7.5 ± 0.1 ppmv. Nevertheless, an unexpected largedehydration of 0.5 ppmv was detected by both the laser sensor and thehygrometer between 16 km and 23 km. We suspect the occurrence of a tropicalair intrusion into mid-latitudes. We support this interpretation using a high-resolution advection model for potential vorticity.     

Diel variability of glycolate in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean

The concentration of dissolved glycolate in sea water was measured by high performance liquid chromatography in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean during the Eumeli 4 oceanographic cruise in June 1992. Diurnal concentrations of glycolate reached 74 kg 1⁻¹ 1⁻¹ in mesotrophic waters and 17 μg 1⁻¹ 1 in oligotrophic waters. At midday total dissolved glycolate exceeded 1 g of carbon per m² of ocean, decreasing strongly during the night (less than 0.1 g of carbon per m²). At the three stations studied, glycolate carbon difference between night and day in the water column was of the same order as the daily primary production estimated by incorporation of ¹⁴C0₂. Disappearance of this compound at night suggested a rapid consumption by heterotrophic organisms. These data suggest that glycolate excretion by phytoplankton may be important, and possibly influenced by ambient nutrient concentrations. Further, with glycolate representing up to 50% of daily productivity, our estimates of the total biological reduction of C0₂ need to be re-examined.     

A unified formulation for the three-dimensional shallow water equations using orthogonal co-ordinates: theory and application

In this paper, the formulations of the primitive equations for shallow water flow in various horizontal co-ordinate systems and the associated finite difference grid options used in shallow water flow modelling are reviewed. It is observed that horizontal co-ordinate transformations do not affect the chosen co-ordinate system and representation in the vertical, and are the same for the three- and two-dimensional cases. A systematic derivation of the equations in tensor notation is presented, resulting in a unified formulation for the shallow water equations that covers all orthogonal horizontal grid types of practical interest. This includes spherical curvilinear orthogonal co-ordinate systems on the globe. Computational efficiency can be achieved in a single computer code. Furthermore, a single numerical algorithmic code implementation satisfies. All co-ordinate system specific metrics are determined as part of a computer-aided model grid design, which supports all four orthogonal grid types. Existing intuitive grid design and visual interpretation is conserved by appropriate conformal mappings, which conserve spherical orthogonality in planar representation. A spherical curvilinear co-ordinate solution of wind driven steady channel flow applying a strongly distorted grid is shown to give good agreement with a regular spherical co-ordinate model approach and the solution based on a β-plane approximation. Especially designed spherical curvilinear boundary fitted model grids are shown for typhoon surge propagation in the South China Sea and for ocean-driven flows through Malacca Straits. By using spherical curvilinear grids the number of grid points in these single model grid applications is reduced by a factor of 50–100 in comparison with regular spherical grids that have the same horizontal resolution in the area of interest. The spherical curvilinear approach combines the advantages of the various grid approaches, while the overall computational effort remains acceptable for very large model domains.     

Systematique U-Pb et Evolution du Gisement d'Uranium de Lodève (France)

Résumé Considérée comme syngénétique ou diagénétique précoce, la minéralisation uranifère de la couche 0 de l'Autunien du bassin de Lodève a été étudiée par la méthode U-Pb sur roches totales. Les données U-Pb démontrent l'existence de perte en radon, principalement dans la chaine de désintégration de ²³⁸U, et l'intérêt de l'utilisation du couple ²⁰⁷Pb-²³⁵U pour la détermination des âges de cristallisation des concentrations uranifères. Pour la couche 0, deux phases de remobilisation de l'uranium et du plomb ont pu être déterminées respectivement à 173±6 Ma et 108±5 Ma. La plus ancienne de ces deux phases est la plus marquée dans les échantillons étudiés, dont les systèmes U-Pb ne montrent pas la mémoire d'une concentration uranifère permienne. La première mobilisation de l'uranium et du plomb s'est faite lors d'une phase de distension à 160–170 Ma, affectant la croûte continentale du Sud du Massif Central. Cette phase a provoqué la circulation de fluides minéralisés et est marquée par une recristallisation des illites des pélites permiennes entre 100 et 200 °C (du fait de l'élévation du gradient géothermique) et par la mise en place d'un volcanisme d'origine mantellique daté à 155±6 Ma. La composition isotopique en plomb d'une galène de l'Autunien du Lodévois, est analogue à celles des feldspaths des granitoïdes du Massif Central français et à celles des galènes des minéralisations stratiformes de Pb-Zn des Causses, ce qui fournit un argument pour faire dériver au moins une partie des métaux en traces dans les pélites autuniennes de l'altération de la croûte continentale hercynienne environnante.

---

In the Lodeve basin, the uraniferous mineralization associated with the autunian pelitic layer 0 is usually considered as syngenetic or early diagenetic. U-Pb isotopic data performed on U bearing whole rocks demonstrate occurrence of radon losses, mainly in the ²³⁸U decay series; the ²⁰⁷Pb-²³⁵U geochronometer is particularly suitable to date U-Pb systems disturbed by such radon losses. For the autunian layer 0, two U-Pb mobilization phases have been respectively recognized at 173±6 Ma and 108±5 Ma. The oldest phase is the most clearly expressed in the studied samples, no memory of a permian age could be recognized in the U-Pb systems. The first U-Pb mobilization occurred 170 Ma ago, during a distension phase of the continental crust. This phase induced circulations of mineralized fluids, illite recristallization in the permian pelites at temperatures ranging from 100 to 200 °C and emplacement of a mantellic volcanism recently dated at 155±6 Ma. A galena from the Autunian of the Lodeve basin, the feldspars of the surrounding variscan granitoïds and galenas of mesozoïc stratiform deposits in the Causses, present similar Pb isotopic composition, which is in agreement with the hypothesis that some metals of the autunian pelites originated in the surrounding weathered variscan continental crust.

     

Melting relations of a magnesian abyssal tholeiite and the origin of MORBs

Melting relations of a glassy magnesian olivine tholeiite from the FAMOUS area have been studied within the pressure range 1 atm to 15 kbar. From 1 atm to 10 kbar, olivine is the liquidus phase, followed by plagioclase and Ca-rich clinopyroxene. Above 10 kbar, Ca-rich clinopyroxene appears on the liquidus, followed by orthopyroxene and spinel. Near 10 kbar, olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, spinel and plagioclase crystallize within 10°C of the liquidus. This indicates that a liquid of this magnesian olivine tholeiite composition could coexist with mantle peridotite at about 10 kbar. This result is in agreement with the geochemistry of Ni; the Ni concentration of the studied sample corresponds to the theoretical concentration in a primary magma [14,15].These data suggest that at least some magnesian mid-oceanic ridge basalts (MORBs) could be primary melts segregated from the mantle at depths near the transition zone between plagioclase lherzolite and spinel lherzolite (about 10 kbar). Based on this model, the residual mantle after extraction of MORBs should be lherzolite, not harzburgite.High-pressure (7–10 kbar) fractionation models involving olivine, plagioclase and clinopyroxene, which have been proposed by several workers (e.g. [36]) to explain the varieties of MORBs, were re-emphasized based on this melting study. The rare occurrence of clinopyroxene as a phenocryst phase in MORBs is explained by precipitation in a magma chamber at high pressure, or by dissolution of clinopyroxene formed earlier at high pressure.     

Dissolved organic carbon in pore waters from a hypersaline environment

Pore waters were collected from a sea-marginal, hypersaline pond in the Sinai and analyzed for dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The pore water DOC values ranged from 121 to 818 mg 1⁻¹ with maxima between 15 and 54 cm deep. These values are some of the highest observed from recent sediments and probably reflect production via abiotic as well as biotic sources.     

Characteristic features of air ions at Mace Head on the west coast of Ireland

Coastal nucleation events and behavior of cluster ions were characterized through the measurements of air ion mobility distributions at the Mace Head research station on the west coast of Ireland in 2006. We measured concentrations of cluster ions and charged aerosol particles in the size range of 0.34–40 nm. These measurements allow us to characterize freshly nucleated charged particles with diameters smaller than 3 nm. The analysis shows that bursts of intermediate ions (1.6–7 nm) are a frequent phenomenon in the marine coastal environment. Intermediate ion concentrations were generally close to zero, but during some nucleation episodes the concentrations increased to several hundreds per cm³. Nucleation events occurred during most of the measurement days. We classified all days into one of seven classes according to the occurrence and type of new particle formation. Nucleation events were observed during 207 days in 2006, most prominently in the spring and summer months. Rain-induced events, in turn, were observed during 132 days. Particle formation and growth events mostly coincided with the presence of low tide. Also small cluster ions (0.34–1.6 nm) were characterized. Average concentrations of small ions were 440 cm^− 3 for the negative ions and 423 cm^− 3 for the positive ions. Average mean mobilities of small ions were 1.86 cm²V^− 1s^− 1 and 1.49 cm²V^− 1s^− 1 for the negative and positive polarities, respectively. Concentrations of small ions were observed to be strongly dependent on the variations of meteorological parameters including wind speed and direction.