Multi-criteria spatialization of soil organic carbon sequestration potential from agricultural intensification in Senegal

On the eve of the 15th climate negotiations conference in Copenhagen, the pressure to assess all climate mitigation options is mounting. In this study, a bio-physic model and a socio-economic model were designed and coupled to assess the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural intensification in Senegal. The biophysical model is a multiple linear regression, calibrated and tested on a dataset of long-term agricultural trials established in West Africa. The socio-economic model integrates both financial and environmental costs related to considered practice changes. Both models are spatially explicit and the resulting spatial patterns were computed and displayed over Senegal with a geographic information system. The national potential from large-scale intensification was assessed at 0.65–0.83 MtC. With regards to local-scaled intensification as local projects, the most profitable areas were identified in agricultural expansion regions (especially Casamance), while the areas that meet the current financial additionality criteria of the Clean Development Mechanism were located in the northern part of the Peanut Basin. Using the current relevant mode of carbon valuation (Certified Emission Reductions), environmental benefits are small compared to financial benefits. This picture is radically changed if “avoided deforestation”, a likely consequence of agricultural intensification, is accounted for as the greenhouse gases sink capacity of projects increases by an average of a hundred-fold over Senegal.     

Physical modelling of gelifluction and frost creep: Some results of a large-scale laboratory experiment

An experimental slope was constructed in a 5 m × 5 m square refrigerated tank. The slope was formed of four sections, each consisting of regolith (soil) collected from a distinct bedrock lithology. The four lithologies utilized were granite, limestone, mudstone and slate. The slope was subjected to freezing and thawing from the surface downwards. Water was supplied at the base of the soil during freezing. Frost heaving and surface downslope soil movement were determined after each of 15 freezing cycles, and the profiles of soil movement with depth for each soil type were measured at the end of the 15th cycle. The experimental soils were non-cohesive; those derived from granite and limestone were respectively sandy and gravelly in texture, while those derived from mudstone and slate were silt-rich. Mass movement in the granite and limestone soils was due mainly to frost creep and was associated with the growth of needle ice. In the mudstone and slate soils, gelifluction was dominant as a result of high moisture contents caused by the melting of segregation ice. Mean per cycle rates of downslope soil transport for the granite, limestone, mudstone and slate soils were 5·8 cm³ cm^?1, 6·9 cm³ cm^?1, 21·2 cm³ cm^?1 and 31·2 cm³ cm^?1 respectively, units referring to the volume of soil passing a unit width of slope per cycle. Mass movement rates were shown to be strongly related to the silt content of the soils.     

Radiation-induced paramagnetic defects in natural kaolinites: Alpha dosimetry with ion beam irradiation

Three types of paramagnetic radiation-induced defects (RID), namely A, A′ (Si-O^?-centers) and B (Al-O^?-Al center), had been identified in natural kaolinites by means of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The A-center, stable at the scale of geological periods, was thought to be of particular relevance to quantify past transits of radionuclides in the geosphere. Alpha radiation being likely the main source of RID in kaolinite, the objective of this paper is to define the role of α-particles on the creation of RID and to test the use of A-centers for an α-dosimetry. Three kaolinites with different crystalline order and containing other clays as impurities were irradiated with He⁺ ion beams. The radiation dose range (0–750 MGy) was consistent with natural radioactivity in environments from the Earth's surface. Irradiation drastically enhanced the original signals due to RID. An important increase of concentration of the unstable B-center, partly due to unrealistic dose rate provided by accelerator ion beam, was observed from the lower doses. The most stable defects remained of the Atype all along experimental irradiations. The contribution of ancillary phyllosilicates to EPR spectra was negligible. The concentration of the three types of RID was related to radiation doses up to 30 MGy. Dosimetry growth curves for the A-centers exhibited variable efficiencies and saturation levels that were related to the structural order and the chemical purity of the kaolinites: the more ordered and purer the kaolinite, the higher the efficiency and the lower the saturation plateau. Moreover, these results are of geochemical significance: dosimetry based on A-centers could be directly used to quantify past migrations of radioelements in the geosphere, by determination of the naturally-cumulated doses (paleodose) of kaolinites.     

Paleomagnetic record of two successive Miocene geomagnetic reversals in western Crete

Two geomagnetic reversals(R→N followed by N→R) have been recorded in a sequence of Miocene marine clays of Tortonian-Messinian age in western Crete (Greece). The time span of each transition is found to be of the order of 5000–10,000 years. The transitional VGP paths are largely constrained in longitude either near the site longitude(R→N) or opposite to it(N→R). A normalized magnetization intensity record has also been obtained and its variations during reversals are found to be in excellent agreement with the predictions of Hoffman's phenomenological model.     

Correlations and sequence stratigraphic model for Messinian carbonate platforms of the western and central Mediterranean

Distance correlations of Late Tortonian–Messinian littoral carbonate complexes are proposed from the study of eight platforms in the western and central Mediterranean. Correlations are based on the identification of two major biological sedimentary cycles and of two index surfaces. Surface A is a maximum flooding surface during cycle 1 at around 6.7 Ma. Surface B is a regional marine planation surface at around 5.95 Ma, at the base of cycle 2 (Terminal Carbonate Complex). A general sedimentary model is proposed for the 7–5.6-Ma time-span. The boundary between cycles 1 and 2 is coincident with the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, and appears to be related to major environmental–paleo-oceanographic changes in the Mediterranean, rather than to a major sea-level drop or to climatic change.     

Un réseau fluviatile d'âge Burdigalien terminal dans le Sud-Est de la France : remplissage,extension, âge,implications

An integrated study combining facies analysis, multiple group biostratigraphy, identification of depositional sequences and mapping has been conducted on the Miocene Molasse Basin of the external Alps (southeastern France). The filling of the basin is described as resulting from a succession of fluvial incisions subsequently filled during marine transgressions. The major incision is dated as Latest Burdigalian and the major transgression as Langhian. This revised interpretation of the Miocene physiographic evolution of the Molasse Basin implies a re-examination of previous stratigraphic correlations within the basin. To cite this article: D. Besson et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Modes of thickening of analogue weak lithospheres

Several compressional contexts, such as those involving juvenile or thickened crust, are expected to be associated with rather hot lithospheres whose mechanical behaviour remains poorly documented. In this paper, we present a series of analogue models dedicated to compression of lithospheres characterized by a thin upper brittle crust overlying a weak ductile crust and a ductile sub-Moho mantle. The models show that (1) deformation is controlled by the ductile layers that undergo distributed thickening, (2) thrust systems are limited to the upper brittle crust, (3) thrusting induces burial and stacking of upper crust pop-downs. The overall deformation patterns can be basically interpreted in terms of pop-down thrusting of the brittle crust and pure-shear type ductile flow of crust and mantle. Moreover, the models show that the sinking of supracrustal units does not require inverse density profiles but can be simply driven by compression. Model deformation patterns are consistent with those shared by many ancient belts, including not only Archaean granite–greenstone belts, but also more generally Paleoproterozoic ones. They provide also insights on deformation modes that may characterize modern thickened and abnormally hot domains like High Plateaus.     

Validation of Ground-Based Visible Measurements of Total Ozone by Comparison with Dobson and Brewer Spectrophotometers

Comparisons of total column ozone measurements from Dobson, Brewer and SAOZ instruments are presented for the period 1990 to 1995 at seven stations covering the mid- and the high northern latitudes, as well as the Antarctic region. The main purpose of these comparisons is to assess, by reference to the well established Dobson network, the accuracy of the zenith-sky visible spectroscopy for the measurement of total ozone. The strengths and present limitations of this latter technique are investigated. As a general result, the different instruments are found to agree within a few percent at all stations, the best agreement being obtained at mid-latitudes. On average, for the mid-latitudes, SAOZ O₃ measurements are approximately 2% higher than Dobson ones, with a scatter of about 5%. At higher latitudes, both scatter and systematic deviation tend to increase. In all cases, the relative differences between SAOZ and Dobson or Brewer column ozone are characterised by a significant seasonal signal, the amplitude of which increases from about 2.5% at mid-latitude to a maximum of 7.5% at Faraday, Antarctica. Although it introduces a significant contribution to the seasonality at high latitude, the temperature sensitivity of the O₃ absorption coefficients of the Dobson and Brewer instruments is shown to be too small to account for the observed SAOZ/Dobson differences. Except for Faraday, these differences can however be largely reduced if SAOZ AMFs are calculated with realistic climatological profiles of ozone, pressure and temperature. Other sources of uncertainties that might affect the comparison are investigated. Evidence is found that the differences in the air masses sampled by the SAOZ and the other instruments contribute significantly to the scatter, and the impact of the tropospheric clouds on SAOZ measurements is displayed.     

Offneria arabicanov. sp. (rudiste, Caprinidae) de l''Aptien inférieur du Jebel Madar (Sultanat d''Oman)

Offneria arabicanov. sp. (rudiste, Caprinidae) est caractérisé par la simplicité de l'architecture de la valve supérieure, bien exprimée par la forme subrectangulaire des canaux où les planchers sont relativement rares, et le faible développement des tabulae. La valve inférieure est beacoup plus complexe, ce qui traduit un taux d'evolution différencié des deux valves. L'espèce a été) trouvée dans l'Aptien inférieur (Formation Shuaiba) du Jebel Madar, dans l'avant pays des nappes des Montagnes d'Oman. Son organisation la rattache au groupe des formes arabo-africaines. A côté de ses caractères évolutifs, elle est intéressante par son potentiel biostratigraphique et paléobiologéographique.

Abstract

Offneria arabicanov. sp. (rudist, Caprinidae) is characterized by the simplicity of the upper valve, well expressed by the subrectangular shape of the canals where horizontal partitions are relatively rare, and the weak development of the tabulae. The lower valve is far more complex, which means distinctive evolutionary rates for the two valves. The species was found in the Lower Aptian (Shuaiba Formation) of the Jebel Madar, in the foreland of the Oman Mountain nappes. By its overall organisation it belongs to the Arabo-African group of species. Besides its evolutionary characters this form is interesting because of its biostratigraphic and palaeobiogeographic potential.