Operational performance of current synthetic aperture radar sensors in mapping soil surface characteristics in agricultural environments: application to hydrological and erosion modelling

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors are often used to characterize the surface of bare soils in agricultural environments. They enable the soil moisture and roughness to be estimated with constraints linked to the configurations of the sensors (polarization, incidence angle and radar wavelength). These key soil characteristics are necessary for different applications, such as hydrology and risk prediction. This article reviews the potential of currently operational SAR sensors and those planned for the near future to characterize soil surface as a function of users' needs. It details what it is possible to achieve in terms of mapping soil moisture and roughness by specifying optimal radar configurations and the precision associated with the estimation of soil surface characteristics. The summary carried out for the present article shows that mapping soil moisture is optimal with SAR sensors at low incidence angles (<35 ). This configuration, which enables an estimated moisture accuracy greater than 6% is possible several times a month taking into account all the current and future sensors. Concerning soil roughness, it is best mapped using three classes (smooth, moderately rough, and rough). Such mapping requires high‐incidence data, which is possible with certain current sensors (RADARSAT‐1 and ASAR both in band C). When L‐band sensors (ALOS) become available, this mapping accuracy should improve because the sensitivity of the radar signal to Soil Surface Characteristics (SSC) increases with wavelength. Finally, the polarimetric mode of certain imminent sensors (ALOS, RADARSAT‐2, TerraSAR‐X, etc.), and the possibility of acquiring data at very high spatial resolution (metre scale), offer great potential in terms of improving the quality of SSC mapping. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oscarella balibaloi,a new sponge species (Homoscleromorpha: Plakinidae) from the Western Mediterranean Sea: cytological description,reproductive cycle and ecology

A new homoscleromorph sponge species was observed for the first time in 2002 along the coast of Provence (France) and since then, several investigations have been implemented. The new homoscleromorph species is devoid of skeleton and it is thus related to the Oscarella genus. Oscarella balibaloi sp. nov. has been found in several littoral submarine caves of the Western Mediterranean Sea (France and Spain). After several years of monitoring, we show that this sponge is becoming abundant in several locations. The species has a peculiar habit, often overgrowing massive sponges, gorgonians or some erected bryozoans. Oscarella balibaloi sp. nov. is thinly encrusting, with an irregular morphology, lobate surface, and soft and very slimy consistency. Its color is white to orange. At the cytological level, this new species is characterized by three distinct types of cells with inclusions in its mesohyl: one with vacuoles and the others with paracrystalline inclusions. The reproduction pattern is very similar to other Oscarella species. We also present a specific metabolic fingerprint and compare it to that of other Mediterranean Oscarella species.     

A preliminary study of habitat and resource partitioning among co-occurring tropical dolphins around Mayotte, southwest Indian Ocean

Mayotte in the southwest Indian Ocean is characterized by high dolphin diversity. They may coexist within a fairly small area around the island because they exploit neither the same preferential habitats nor the same resources. This preliminary study aimed to investigate ecological niche segregation among these delphinid communities: the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus, the pantropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata, the spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, and the melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra. Two approaches were used. Habitat preferences were investigated by analysing dolphin sighting data and associated physiographical characteristics. Resource partitioning was explored by analysing C and N stable isotopes in skin and blubber biopsies. Only T. aduncus, which showed clear association with coastal habitats in the lagoon, differed from the others in terms of habitat preferences, characterised by shallow depth and slope, and proximity to the coast. All other species shared similar oceanic habitats immediately outside the lagoon, these being of higher depth and slope, greater distance from the coast and were not discernable by discriminant analysis. The two Stenella species and the melon-headed whale displayed very high overlap in habitat physiographic variables. The analysis of stable isotopes confirmed the ecological isolation of T. aduncus and revealed a clear segregation of P. electra compared to the two Stenella that was not apparent in the habitat analysis. This may reflect ecological differences that were not observable from diurnal surface observations.     

Pyrite tracks assimilation of crustal sulfur in Pyrenean peridotites

Cobalt-bearing pyrite (0.5?C2.0?wt.% Co) is abnormally abundant (up to 35?vol.% of the total volume of the sulfide phase) in some eastern Pyrenean peridotite massifs, compared to pieces of subcontinental mantle studied so far for sulfides. Pyrite occurs as vermicular intergrowths inside pentlandite and/or chalcopyrite or as coarser, blocky grains in the intergranular pores of host peridotites. Those different pyrites are characterized by different platinum-group element systematics (measured by laser ablation microprobe and ICP-MS). Vermicular pyrite intergrown with pentlandite displays Os-, Ir-, Ru- and Rh-enriched chondrite normalized PGE patterns of Monosulfide solid solution (Mss). In contrast, coarse-grained intergranular (??blocky??) pyrites, are PGE-poor. Chalcophile trace elements (i.e. Zn, Pb, Ag, Au) that are not usually concentrated in mantle-derived sulfides were commonly detected. By contrast, selenium contents are generally low, yielding thus pyrite with high S/Se ratio (>10⁵), consistent with a sedimentary sulfur source. Pyrite microtextures and chalcophile trace element contents support a process of assimilation of crustal sulfur from the metamorphosed sedimentary country rocks. These latter generated highly reactive CO₂-S fluids, which were injected into structural discontinuities of the lherzolitic bodies. Sulfur has reacted at T?=?300?C550°C with pre-existing, mantle-derived, metal-rich sulfide assemblages (pentlandite-chalcopyrite). Addition of crustal sulfur did produce Mss which, on cooling, exsolved the Os-rich pyrite in addition to pentlandite. The coarse-grained pyrite types have crystallized directly from S-rich fluids.     

Geophysical excitation of the Earth orientation parameters EOP and its contribution to GGOS

We discuss how the geophysical fluids affect the Earth orientation parameters (EOP) and in particular polar motion and nutation. We show that the Earth orientation modeling is a perfect example of the integrated approach recommended by GGOS. GGOS considers the Earth system as a whole, including the solid Earth as well as the fluid components; geodesy observes and models the dynamics inside this system through the static and time-varying gravity field, the station displacements, and the Earth orientation parameters and the associated length-of-day variation, nutation and polar motion. Global-scale transfer in the Earth system and its geodetic consequences is proposed to be the central theme of GGOS. We show that the Earth orientation parameters perfectly fit this theme.     

Evolution of silicic magmas in the Kos-Nisyros volcanic center,Greece: a petrological cycle associated with caldera collapse

Multiple eruptions of silicic magma (dacite and rhyolites) occurred over the last ~3 My in the Kos-Nisyros volcanic center (eastern Aegean sea). During this period, magmas have changed from hornblende-biotite-rich units with low eruption temperatures (≤750–800°C; Kefalos and Kos dacites and rhyolites) to hotter, pyroxene-bearing units (>800–850°C; Nisyros rhyodacites) and are transitioning back to cooler magmas (Yali rhyolites). New whole-rock compositions, mineral chemistry, and zircon Hf isotopes show that these three types of silicic magmas followed the same differentiation trend: they all evolved by crystal fractionation and minor crustal assimilation (AFC) from parents with intermediate compositions characterized by high Sr/Y and low Nb content, following a wet, high oxygen fugacity liquid line of descent typical of subduction zones. As the transition between the Kos-Kefalos and Nisyros-type magmas occurred immediately and abruptly after the major caldera collapse in the area (the 161 ka Kos Plateau Tuff; KPT), we suggest that the efficient emptying of the magma chamber during the KPT drew out most of the eruptible, volatile-charged magma and partly solidified the unerupted mush zone in the upper crust due to rapid unloading, decompression, and coincident crystallization. Subsequently, the system reestablished a shallow silicic production zone from more mafic parents, recharged from the mid to lower crust. The first silicic eruptions evolving from these parents after the caldera collapse (Nisyros units) were hotter (up to >100°C) than the caldera-forming event and erupted from reservoirs characterized by different mineral proportions (more plagioclase and less amphibole). We interpret such a change as a reflection of slightly drier conditions in the magmatic column after the caldera collapse due to the decompression event. With time, the upper crustal intermediate mush progressively transitioned into the cold-wet state that prevailed during the Kefalos-Kos stage. The recent eruptions of the high-SiO₂ rhyolite on Yali Island, which are low temperature and hydrous phases (sanidine, quartz, biotite), suggest that another large, potentially explosive magma chamber is presently building under the Kos-Nisyros volcanic center.     

Evolution of West Rota Volcano, an extinct submarine volcano in the southern Mariana Arc: Evidence from sea floor morphology, remotely operated vehicle observations and 40Ar–39Ar geochronological studies

Abstract West Rota Volcano (WRV) is a recently discovered extinct submarine volcano in the southern Mariana Arc. It is large (25 km diameter base), shallow (up to 300 m below sealevel), and contains a large caldera (6 × 10 km, with up to 1 km relief). The WRV lies near the northern termination of a major NNE‐trending normal fault. This and a second, parallel fault just west of the volcano separate uplifted, thick frontal arc crust to the east from subsiding, thin back‐arc basin crust to the west. The WRV is distinct from other Mariana Arc volcanoes: (i) it consists of a lower, predominantly andesite section overlain by a bimodal rhyolite‐basalt layered sequence; (ii) andesitic rocks are locally intensely altered and mineralized; (iii) it has a large caldera; and (iv) WRV is built on a major fault. Submarine felsic calderas are common in the Izu and Kermadec Arcs but are otherwise unknown from the Marianas and other primitive, intraoceanic arcs. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar dating indicates that andesitic volcanism comprising the lower volcanic section occurred 0.33–0.55 my ago, whereas eruption of the upper rhyolites and basalts occurred 37–51 thousand years ago. Four sequences of rhyolite pyroclastics each are 20–75 m thick, unwelded and show reverse grading, indicating submarine eruption. The youngest unit consists of 1–2 m diameter spheroids of rhyolite pumice, interpreted as magmatic balloons, formed by relatively quiet effusion and inflation of rhyolite into the overlying seawater. Geochemical studies indicate that felsic magmas were generated by anatexis of amphibolite‐facies meta‐andesites, perhaps in the middle arc crust. The presence of a large felsic volcano and caldera in the southern Marianas might indicate interaction of large normal faults with a mid‐crustal magma body at depth, providing a way for viscous felsic melts to reach the surface.     

Hydraulic conductivity distribution in crystalline rocks, derived from inflows to tunnels and galleries in the Central Alps, Switzerland

Inflow data from 23 tunnels and galleries, 136 km in length and located in the Aar and Gotthard massifs of the Swiss Alps, have been analyzed with the objective (1) to understand the 3-dimensional spatial distribution of groundwater flow in crystalline basement rocks, (2) to assess the dependency of tunnel inflow rate on depth, tectonic overprint, and lithology, and (3) to derive the distribution of fracture transmissivity and effective hydraulic conductivity at the 100-m scale. Brittle tectonic overprint is shown to be the principal parameter regulating inflow rate and dominates over depth and lithology. The highest early time inflow rate is 1,300 l/s and has been reported from a shallow hydropower gallery intersecting a 200-m wide cataclastic fault zone. The derived lognormal transmissivity distribution is based on 1,361 tunnel intervals with a length of 100 m. Such interval transmissivities range between 10^?9 and 10^?1 m²/s within the first 200–400 m of depth and between 10^?9 and 10^?4 m²/s in the depth interval of 400–1,500 m below ground surface. Outside brittle fault zones, a trend of decreasing transmissivity/hydraulic conductivity with increasing depth is observed for some schistous and gneissic geological units, whereas no trend is identified for the granitic units.     

Graphitization in a high-pressure,low-temperature metamorphic gradient: a Raman microspectroscopy and HRTEM study

The graphitization of carbonaceous material (CM) in a high-pressure metamorphic gradient is characterized along a cross section in the Schistes Lustrés formation, Western Alps. Along this 25-km cross section, both the CM precursor and the host-rock lithology are homogeneous, and the prograde evolution of the pressure-temperature metamorphic conditions from the lower blueschist-facies (13 kbar, 330 °C) to the eclogite-facies (20 kbar, 500 °C) is tightly constrained by literature data. Raman microspectroscopy shows that at the micrometre scale, this process is progressive and continuous with increasing metamorphic grade, and that the structure of CM is very sensitive to temperature variations. At the nanometre scale (HRTEM), the CM is composed of a mixture of a microporous phase and an onion-ring like phase, both known as non-graphitizing under the effect of temperature at ambient pressure. The HP-LT graphitization produces structurally and microtexturally heterogeneous CM. With increasing metamorphic grade, the graphitization of the two types of CM proceeds up to the triperiodic graphite stage because of microtextural and structural changes that are specific to each type of CM. The microporous material is progressively transformed into graphite through a macroporous transitional stage. In this case, graphitization mainly occurs on the pore walls as a result of pore growth. In the case of concentric onion-ring like material, graphitization occurs in the regions with the largest radius of curvature, i.e. on the outer part of the ring. In comparison with 1-bar experiments, pressure seems to induce microtextural changes, which allows the subsequent structural modifications of the starting material.     

Breeding habitat selection by houbara bustard(Chlamydotis [undulata] macqueenii) in Mori,Xinjiang, China

The breeding habitat selection by houbara bustards in Mori, Xinjiang, China during the breeding seasons from April to June 1998–2000 was studied. Most of habitats chosen for breeding were short sub-shrubby and open areas close to high bushy patches. The nesting females clearly prefer low covered areas and avoid densely covered and high vegetation sites. The number of herb species was significantly smaller at nest sites than at randomly selected sites. Only the distance to the closest fox den contributed the most to discrimination between successful and predated nests. The average distance to the closest fox den was significantly longer at successful nests than at depredated nests. Vegetative density, plant species richness, topography and distance to the closest fox den are possibly the most important factors that determined the nest sites selection of houbara bustard. The displaying males clearly prefer low covered areas and avoid densely covered and high vegetation sites. The vegetation density and number of plant species at display sites was significantly lower than that at randomly selected sites. The average distance to the closest bushy patch was significantly shorter at display sites than at random sites. Plant species richness, vegetative density, vegetative cover and distance to the bushy patches are possibly the most important factors for the display sites selection of houbara bustard