Heavy metal toxicity of kidney and bone tissues in South Australian adult bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)

Metallothioneins (MT) concentration, renal damage, and bone malformations were investigated in 38 adult Tursiops aduncus carcasses to determine any associations with cadmium, copper, zinc, mercury, lead and selenium. Significantly higher concentrations of cadmium, copper, and zinc in the liver were observed in dolphins showing evidence of more advanced renal damage. No significant differences in metal or selenium concentrations in the liver were observed between groups differing in level of bone malformations. Some dolphins displayed evidence of toxicity and knowledge of metal toxicity pathways were used to elucidate the cause of these abnormalities. Two dolphins had high metal burdens, high MT concentrations, renal damage, and evidence of bone malformations, indicating possible severe and prolonged metal toxicity. One dolphin showed evidence of renal damage, but the lack of any other symptoms suggests that this was unlikely to be caused by metal toxicity. We recommend examining a range of metal toxicity symptoms simultaneously to aid in distinguishing metal toxicity from unrelated aetiologies.     

Multiwavelength study of M33's giant H ii regions NGC 588 and NGC 592

We present a detailed multiwavelength photometric study of giant H  ii regions NGC 592 and NGC 588 in the nearby small spiral galaxy M33. We use data taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ). We detect several massive stars in both ionizing clusters. Six Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars are known to exist within those regions and we are able to constrain their physical properties by comparing their photometry to the latest grid of model atmospheres for WR stars of the nitrogen sequence (WN subclass). We estimate the age and mass of both regions by fitting our photometry to models of integrated stellar populations.     

Impact of the Indian part of the summer MJO on West Africa using nudged climate simulations

Observational evidence suggests a link between the summer Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) and anomalous convection over West Africa. This link is further studied with the help of the LMDZ atmospheric general circulation model. The approach is based on nudging the model towards the reanalysis in the Asian monsoon region. The simulation successfully captures the convection associated with the summer MJO in the nudging region. Outside this region the model is free to evolve. Over West Africa it simulates convection anomalies that are similar in magnitude, structure, and timing to the observed ones. In accordance with the observations, the simulation shows that 15–20?days after the maximum increase (decrease) of convection in the Indian Ocean there is a significant reduction (increase) in West African convection. The simulation strongly suggests that in addition to the eastward-moving MJO signal, the westward propagation of a convectively coupled equatorial Rossby wave is needed to explain the overall impact of the MJO on convection over West Africa. These results highlight the use of MJO events to potentially predict regional-scale anomalous convection and rainfall spells over West Africa with a time lag of approximately 15–20?days.     

First high dynamic range and high resolution images of the sky obtained with a diffractive Fresnel array telescope

This paper presents high contrast images of sky sources, obtained from the ground with a novel optical concept: Fresnel arrays. We demonstrate the efficiency of a small 20?cm prototype Fresnel array for making images with high brightness ratios, achieving contrasts up to 4 × 10⁵ on sky sources such as Mars and its satellites, and the Sirius?A?CB couple. These validation results are promising for future applications in space, for example the 4 m array we have proposed to ESA in the frame of the ??Call for a Medium-size mission opportunity for a launch in 2022??. Fresnel imagers are the subject of a topical issue of Experimental Astronomy published in 2011, but only preliminary results were presented at the time. Making images of astronomical bodies requires an optical component to focus light. This component is usually a mirror or a lens, the quality of which is critical for sharp and high contrast images. However, reflection on a mirror and refraction through a lens are not the only ways to focus light: an alternative is provided by diffraction through binary masks (opaque foils with multiple precisely etched sub-apertures). Our Fresnel arrays are such diffractive focusers, they offer weight, price and size advantages over traditional optics in space-based astronomical instruments. This novel approach requires only void apertures of special shapes in an opaque material to form sharp images, thus avoiding the wavefront distortion, diffusion and spectral absorption associated with traditional optical media. In our setup, lenses and/or mirrors are involved only downstream (at small sizes) for focal instrumentation and chromatic correction. Fresnel arrays produce high contrast images, the resolution of which reaches the theoretical limit of diffraction. Unlike mirrors, they do not require high precision polishing or positioning, and can be used in a large domain of wavelengths from far IR to far UV, enabling the study of many science cases in astrophysics from exoplanet surfaces and atmospheres to galaxy evolution.     

Cross-correlation of random fields: mathematical approach and applications

Random field cross‐correlation is a new promising technique for seismic exploration, as it bypasses shortcomings of usual active methods. Seismic noise can be considered as a reproducible, stationary in time, natural source. In the present paper we show why and how cross‐correlation of noise records can be used for geophysical imaging. We discuss the theoretical conditions required to observe the emergence of the Green's functions between two receivers from the cross‐correlation of noise records. We present examples of seismic imaging using reconstructed surface waves from regional to local scales. We also show an application using body waves extracted from records of a small‐scale network. We then introduce a new way to achieve surface wave seismic experiments using cross‐correlation of unsynchronized sources. At a laboratory scale, we demonstrate that body wave extraction may also be used to image buried scatterers. These works show the feasibility of passive imaging from noise cross‐correlation at different scales.     

Cementation of kerogen-rich marls by alkaline fluids released during weathering of thermally metamorphosed marly sediments. Part I: Isotopic (C,O) study of the Khushaym Matruk natural analogue (central Jordan)

The Khushaym Matruk site in central Jordan may represent a natural analogue depicting the interaction of alkaline solutions with a clayey sedimentary formation or with clay-rich confining barriers at the interface with concrete structures in waste disposal sites. In this locality, past spontaneous combustion of organic matter in a clayey biomicritic formation produced a ca. 60 m-thick layer of cement-marble containing some of the high-temperature phases usually found in industrial cements (e.g., spurrite, brucite, and Ca-aluminate). A vertical cross-section of the underlying sediments was used in order to study the interaction between cement-marbles and neighbouring clayey limestones under weathering conditions. A thermodynamic approach of the alteration parageneses (calcite–jennite–afwillite–brucite and CSH phases) in the cement-marbles constrains the interacting solutions to have had pH-values between 10.5 and 12. Over 3 m, the sediments located beneath the metamorphic unit were compacted and underwent carbonation. They display large C and O isotopic variations with respect to “pristine” sediments from the bottom of the section. Low δ¹³C-values down to −31.4‰/PDB show the contribution of CO₂ derived from the oxidization of organic matter and from the atmosphere to the intense carbonation process affecting that particular sedimentary level. The size of the C isotopic anomalies, their geometrical extent and their coincidence with the variations of other markers like the Zn content, the structure of organic matter, the mineralogical composition, all argue that the carbonation process was induced by the percolation of high pH solutions which derived from the alteration of cement-marbles. The temperature of the carbonation process remains conjectural and some post-formation O isotopic reequilibration likely affected the newly-formed carbonate. Carbonation induced a considerable porosity reduction, both in fractures and matrixes. The Khushaym Matruk site may have some bearing to the early life of a repository site, when water saturation of the geological formations hosting the concrete structures is incomplete, enabling simultaneous diffusion of alkaline waters and gaseous CO₂ in the near field.     

Occupational paths towards commercial agriculture: The key roles of farm pluriactivity and the commons

In South Africa, “black” and “coloured” farmers engaged in several occupational activities are often considered as being “not interested in farming” or “not serious”. However, in Namaqualand the large majority of “coloured” farmers and especially the most successful ones are pluriactive and have off-farm incomes. Investigations were therefore carried out in that region to better understand the role of pluriactivity. Observations focus on middle-income households from the mining sector entering into small-scale commercial farming. Based on surveys in both non-farm and farm sectors, the results show that, for many households, access to sufficient farm assets depends strongly on the employment situation of the sector of origin and requires a level of investment which can be reached only progressively. This obliges these households to rely on off-farm incomes and communal land at least during the early transitional stage. These results stress the importance of taking into account the diversity of paths and of differentiating the various stages in the transitional period between two occupational activities. Finally, the paper emphasises the importance of taking these specific situations into consideration in the management of the commons.     

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.     

An attempt to separate anthropic and natural fire signals in an archaeological context-The case of the Mousterian site Grotta Reali (Rocchetta a Volturno Molise, Central Italy)

This paper presents an image analysis method for automated quantification of charcoal total area, focusing on the charcoal fractions less than 160 μm observed on 14 pollen slides from Grotta Reali samples. Four fire signals were recorded with 4 high values in the microcharcoal concentration curve. On the basis of modern microcharcoal study, mean length/width ratio of the microcharcoal particles was applied in an archeological context as an indicator of vegetal type (wood, grass or leaves). Therefore, the 4 fire signals were separated into two types: high concentration with high length/width ratio, and high concentration with low length/width ratio. Two fire signals might be interpreted as anthropic fire based on hearth or combustion areas, as inferred from archeological remains.     

Diurnal heterogeneity in silicic acid fluxes in shallow coastal sites: Causes and implications

In shallow coastal areas the amplitude and range of benthic silicic acid fluxes can have a significant influence on benthic–pelagic coupling and the functioning of the pelagic system. To explore the oscillation in fluxes over the diurnal cycle and in particular the influence of microphytobenthos (MPB), an experiment was carried out in a shallow subtidal site in the Bay of Brest (France). Benthic chambers were employed over a 48 h period to measure the variability in silicic acid and oxygen fluxes; MPB migration was investigated using a diving Pulse Amplitude Modulated (PAM) fluorometer and uptake rhythms of silicic acid by natural MPB populations were measured using the ³²Si isotope. It was discovered that silicic acid fluxes fluctuated greatly throughout the diurnal period resulting in an oscillation in the availability of this nutrient for phytoplankton communities. The uptake of silicic acid by the MPB was quantified for the first time and highlighted a 2-fold increase in the demand from night to afternoon periods. The combined silicic acid uptake and the concentration of cells at the sediment–water interface, forming a dense biofilm of MPB, were postulated to be the main processes reducing effluxes at midday. Our work highlighted the many processes which influence silicic acid effluxes in shallow coastal areas and the possible interaction between uptake and dissolution processes. The variations in benthic fluxes over the diurnal period were comparable to observations reported at the seasonal scale. Therefore, up-scaling hourly flux observations to daily and annual estimates should be undertaken with caution. Further we suggest that the main processes influencing flux oscillations over the diurnal period should be considered when planning sampling strategies and extrapolating to larger time scales.