<Emphasis>H</Emphasis>ydrological variability of the <Emphasis>S</Emphasis>oummam watershed <Emphasis>(N</Emphasis>ortheastern <Emphasis>A</Emphasis>lgeria<Emphasis>)</Emphasis> and the possible links to climate fluctuations

The long-term variability of rainfall in the Soummam watershed (NE Algeria) has been analysed over the past 108 years using continuous wavelet method in order to identify the interannual modes controlling the rainfall variability. Statistical analyses of rainfall timeseries have shown its distribution following five periods of time, limited by a series of discontinuities around 1935, 1950, 1970 and 1990. The continuous wavelet transform have demonstrated different low frequency modes: 2–4, 4–8, 8–16 and 16–32 years.The annual band is expanded during the full study period with some pics around 1905, 1920–1935 and 1960; it shows a negative long-term trend, in particular since the period 1970–1990 when a major change has been identified. Then, the relationships between climate patterns of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and the hydrological variability in the frequency domain have been investigated; they have shown a mean explained variance of 40 and 24 %, respectively. Such variances are less obvious for the annual mode and increase for the interannual frequencies. The coherence suffer from high perturbations since the period 1970–1990 when the NAO (SOI) shifts from negative (positive) phases to positive (negative) ones. Such anomalies are responsible for significant changes of rainfall variability, emphasising the global warming effects.     

Depositional environment of a Kimmeridgian carbonate 'black band' (Akkuyu Formation, south-western Turkey)

The Upper Jurassic Akkuyu Formation of south-western Turkey consists of pale-coloured carbonate facies, but includes a peculiar ‘black band’ at its base. In order to characterize the depositional environment of this level, a sedimentological, organic and inorganic geochemical study was performed on 30 samples. Three units are distinguished. Unit 1 consists of black marlstones, very rich in organic carbon (22–30%) with HI (hydrogen index) values around 600. The organic matter is an amorphous homogeneous material even at nanoscopic scale. This unit is also characterized by a very high concentration of V ( >1000 p.p.m.) and a δ¹³C_org value around ?26·5‰. Unit 2 shows thin-bedded black limestones with chert layers. Its organic content varies from 2% to 6%. As in unit 1, the HI values are uniformly high (600), and gas chromatography shows a high quantity of hopanes. The V concentration is also high (≈400 p.p.m.). The unit has a high Sr/Ca ratio, an organic carbon isotopic ratio close to ?28·7‰ and diffuse, nanoscopically amorphous organic material that is closely associated with pyrite. Unit 3 corresponds to the white limestones overlying the ‘black band’. This calcitic facies is almost devoid of organic carbon (<0·1%). The δ¹³C_org values are similar to those of unit 1 (?25·5‰ to ?26‰). Deposition occurred in a basinal environment surrounded by a carbonate platform. Primary productivity was high but not exceptional; terrestrial organic inputs were scarce. Bottom waters were probably euxinic during the deposition of unit 1. The presence of both hopane-rich and sulphur-rich nanoscopically amorphous organic matter may be the result of strong sulphate-reducing bacterial activity. Coupled with low amounts of iron, this led to intense vulcanization of the organic matter and thus good preservation. With the onset of unit 2 deposition, environmental conditions became less extreme, perhaps because of cooler water temperatures. Finally, the depositional conditions became oxic, leading to the accumulation of pale-coloured organic-poor limestones of unit 3.     

Nickel speciation in Sebertia acuminata,a plant growing on a lateritic soil of New Caledonia

Nickel speciation in a nickel hyperaccumulating plant (Sebertia acuminata) and its associated soil of southern New Caledonia was studied using various analytical methods. The soil is formed of iron oxides (goethite, hematite), which contain almost all the nickel. The available nickel is probably linked to the organic matter in the litter. Sebertia acuminata, acts as a nickel pump, and concentrates the metal in its leaves. It partitions nickel and silica; nickel is concentrated in the cells (probably in the vacuoles) as organometallic complexes, whereas silica forms the framework of the cells, and the phytolithes. A thorough study of these plants seems essential in order to define the soil–plant relations, and to propose appropriate ways for ecological restoration. To cite this article: N. Perrier et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

A method for precise measurement of argon 40/36 and krypton/argon ratios in trapped air in polar ice with applications to past firn thickness and abrupt climate change in Greenland and at Siple Dome, Antarctica

We describe a method for measuring the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratio and the ⁸⁴Kr/³⁶Ar ratio in air from bubbles trapped in ice cores. These ratios can provide constraints on the past thickness of the firn layer at the ice core site and on the magnitude of past rapid temperature variations when combined with measured ¹⁵N/¹⁴N. Both variables contribute to paleoclimatic studies and ultimately to the understanding of the controls on Earth’s climate. The overall precision of the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar method (1 standard error of the mean) is 0.012‰ for a sample analyzed in duplicate, corresponding to ±0.6 m in reconstructed firn thickness. We use conventional dynamic isotope ratio mass spectrometry with minor modifications and special gas handling techniques designed to avoid fractionation. About 100 g of ice is used for a duplicate pair of analyses. An example of the technique applied to the GISP2 ice core yields an estimate of 11 ± 3K of abrupt warming at the end of the last glacial period 15,000 years ago. The krypton/argon ratio can provide a diagnostic of argon leakage out of the bubbles, which may happen (naturally) during bubble close-off or (artifactually) if samples are warmed near the freezing point during core retrieval or storage. Argon leakage may fractionate the remaining ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar ratio by +0.007‰ per ‰ change in ⁸⁴Kr/³⁶Ar, introducing a possible bias in reconstructed firn thickness of about +2 m if thermal diffusion is not accounted for or +6 m if thermal diffusion effects are quantified with measured ¹⁵N/¹⁴N. Reproducibility of ⁸⁴Kr/³⁶Ar measured in air is about ±0.2‰ (1 standard error of the mean) but is about ±1‰ for ice core samples. Ice core samples are systematically enriched in ⁸⁴Kr/³⁶Ar relative to atmosphere by ∼5‰, probably reflecting preferential size-dependent exclusion of the smaller argon atom during bubble entrapment. Recent results from the Siple Dome ice core reveal two climate events during the last deglaciation, including an 18-m reduction in firn thickness associated with an abrupt warming at sometime between 18 and 22 kyr BP and a partial or total removal of the firn during an ablation event at 15.3 kyr BP.     

Sedimentological and stratigraphic evolution of northern Lebanon since the Late Cretaceous: implications for the Levant margin and basin

This paper presents an updated review of the Upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentological and stratigraphic evolution of the Levant margin with a focus on the northern Lebanon. Facies and microfacies analysis of outcrop sections and onshore well cores (i.e., Kousba and Chekka) supported by nannofossil and planktonic foraminifers biostratigraphy, allowed to constrain the depositional environments prevailing in the Turonian to Late Miocene. The “Senonian” (a historical term used to define the Coniacian to Maastrichtian) source rock interval was subdivided into four sub-units with related outer-shelfal facies: (1) Upper Santonian, (2) Lower, (3) Upper Campanian, and (4) Lower Maastrichtian. This Upper Cretaceous rock unit marks the major drowning of the former Turonian rudist platform. This paper confirms the Late Lutetian to Late Burdigalian hiatus, which appears to be a direct consequence of major geodynamic events affecting the Levant region (i.e., the continued collision of Afro-Arabia with Eurasia), potentially enhanced by regressional cycles (e.g., Rupelian lowstand). The distribution of Late Burdigalian–Serravallian rhodalgal banks identified in northern Lebanon was controlled by pre-existing structures inherited from the pulsating onshore deformation. Reef barriers facies occur around the Qalhat anticline, separating an eastern, restricted back-reef setting from a western, coastal to open marine one. The acme of Mount Lebanon’s uplift and exposure is dated back to the Middle–Late Miocene; it led to important erosion of carbonates that were subsequently deposited in paleo-topographic lows. The Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic facies variations and hiatuses show that the northern Lebanon was in a higher structural position compared to the south since at least the Late Cretaceous.     

Le Viséen supérieur d'Azarhare (Maroc central) : environnements de dépôt,datation et évolution diagénétique

The unexplored area of Azarhare in central Morocco is studied thanks to three sections composed of five lithological facies Main biostratigraphical and sedimentological results concern (1) the identification of Late Visean biozones, with important presence of problematic algae Ungdarella, (2) the regional extension of deposit sequences SD5, SD6 and SD7 previously defined, (3) and an analysis of the diagenetic kaolinite. To cite this article: A. Karim et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Metasomatism and melting history of a Variscan lithospheric mantle domain: evidence from the Puy Beaunit xenoliths (French Massif Central)

Mantle xenoliths from Puy Beaunit (French Massif Central) are compositionally varied, ranging from relatively fertile spinel lherzolites to refractory spinel dunites. Fertile peridotites have registered a modal (amphibole-bearing lherzolites) and cryptic metasomatic event that took place before the last Permian (257 Ma) melting episode. Depletion processes have been constrained by chemical modelling: the depletion is related to different degrees of partial melting, but two major melt extraction episodes are needed to explain the range of major element composition. The second event was responsible for the local large-scale dunitification of former residues. The first melting event (F25%) and metasomatic enrichment are attributed to an ancient fluid and/or liquid infiltration that could be related to a pre-Variscan regional subduction (located to the north of the Beaunit area). Texture acquisition and major deformation of the mantle xenoliths were sub-contemporaneous of the subduction and would result from lithospheric delamination. The second melting event (F17%) produced high-Mg basalts with calc-alkaline trace element signature that gave rise to the Permian underplating episode recognised in western Europe.     

Earthquakes in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2006

This report of the Swiss Seismological Service summarizes the seismic activity in Switzerland and surrounding regions during 2006. During this period, 572 earthquakes and 91 quarry blasts were detected and located in the region under consideration. Of these earthquakes, two occurred in conjunction with the construction of the new Gotthard railway tunnel and 165 were induced artificially by the stimulation of a proposed geothermal reservoir beneath the city of Basel. With 20 events with M _L ≥ 2.5, five of which were artificially induced, the seismic activity in the year 2006 was far below the average over the previous 31 years. Nevertheless, six events were felt by the public, most prominently the strongest of the induced Basel events (M _L 3.4), which caused some non-structural building damage. Noteworthy are also the two earthquakes near Cortaillod (M _L 3.2), on the shore of Lake Neuchatel, and in Val Mora (M _L 3.5), between the Engadin and Val Müstair, as well as the 42 aftershocks of the M _L 4.9 Vallorcine earthquake, between Martigny and Chamonix, of September 2005. Editorial handling: Stefan Bucher     

A computer simulation study of natural silicate melts. Part I: Low pressure properties

In implementing into a molecular dynamics simulation code a simple interionic potential developed to describe the nine component system K₂O-Na₂O-CaO-MgO-FeO-Fe₂O₃-Al₂O₃-TiO₂-SiO₂ (KNCMFATS), it has been possible to reproduce satisfactorily a number of thermodynamic, structural and transport properties of a representative set of natural silicate melts. An important conclusion reached in this study is the good transferability of the potential from felsic to ultramafic compositions although this transferability becomes less accurate with high silica contents (rhyolitic composition and beyond) and with very iron-rich silicates (e.g. fayalite). A key feature of the simulation is to make the link between macroscopic properties of the melt and its microscopic structure and dynamics. We thus obtain a relationship between the molar volume of the melt, the number of network modifiers and the oxygen coordination number. The simulation also allows one to quantify the coordination environment around the cations as function of the melt composition. Furthermore, the electrical conductivity of the high temperature liquid is investigated.     

Structure and nuclear density distribution in the cheralite—CaTh(PO4)2: studies of its behaviour under high pressure (36?GPa)

The crystal structure of the cheralite—CaTh(PO₄)₂—has been revisited by neutron diffraction and its behaviour under high pressure investigated by X-ray diffraction up to 36?GPa. The neutron diffraction data at ambient pressure gave a more accurate determination of the Ca/Th cation position than previous XRD data, taking advantage that the neutron scattering lengths of calcium and thorium are of same order of magnitude. The nuclear density distribution was also determined using the maximum entropy method (MEM) confirming that the two cations are not located at the same position in the unit cell but are slightly displaced from one another along a specific direction in order to minimize the electrostatic repulsion with the surrounding phosphorus atoms. At high pressure, the compound did not show any phase transition or amorphization. From the evolution of the unit-cell volume as a function of the pressure, the zero-pressure bulk modulus B₀ and its pressure derivative B₀ ^′ have been determined by fitting the experimental compressibility curve to the Birch–Murnaghan equation of state. The results are B₀?=?140(2) GPa and B ₀ ^′ ?=?4.4(4) GPa.