A pollen-based record of late glacial–Holocene climatic variability in the southern lake district, Chile

A pollen record from Puyehue area (40°S; 72°W) in the southern Lake District, Chile, indicates that prior to 13,410 ¹⁴C yr BP (ca. 16,500–15,200 cal yr BP), cold resistant and hygrophilous vegetation, particularly Nothofagus forest and myricaceous vegetation, covered the area. From ca. 15,000 cal yr BP onward, the forest became increasingly dense. Between 10,010 and 7450 ¹⁴C yr BP (ca. 11,000–8000 cal yr BP), the expansion of Nothofagus obliqua and the spread of grasses suggests the climate became warmer and semi-arid. Lowland deciduous forest (Nothofagus obliqua, Aextoxicon punctatum, Laurelia sempervirens) and Valdivian rainforest (Nothofagus dombeyi, Eucryphia cordifolia, Caldcluvia paniculata, Aextoxicon punctatum, Laureliopsis philippiana) were abundant. During the next two thousand years, stable warm climatic conditions prevailed, and the diversity of the vegetation increased. From 5760 to 1040 ¹⁴C yr BP (ca. 6500–900 cal yr BP), the North Patagonian rainforest expanded. The presence of Pilgerodendron/Fitzroya, together with Nothofagus forest, suggests that humid conditions prevailed. During the last millennium, human impact intensified and regional vegetation was disturbed, particularly the lowland deciduous forest and Valdivian rainforest. North-Patagonian and subantartic taxa, such as Podocarpus nubigena, Pilgerodendron/Fitzroya, Nothofagus dombeyi type, Austrocedrus chilensis and Drimys winteri, occupied the low and high-altitude parts of the Cordillera. Five hundred years ago, shrub and grasses expanded in the Nothofagus forest, suggesting that forest became more open under cool–cold, and humid climatic conditions. These conditions prevail to the present day. This is the fourth in a series of eight papers published in this special issue dedicated to the 17,900 year multi-proxy lacustrine record of Lago Puyehue, Chilean Lake District. The papers in this special issue were collected by M. De Batist, N. Fagel, M.-F. Loutre and E. Chapron.     

Microphytobenthic potential productivity estimated in three tidal embayments of the San Francisco Bay: A comparative study

In this paper we describe a three-step procedure to infer the spatial heterogeneity in microphytobenthos primary productivity at the scale of tidal estuaries and embayments. The first step involves local measurement of the carbon assimilation rate of benthic microalgae to determine the parameters of the photosynthesis-irradiance (P-E) curves (using non-linear optimization methods). In the next step, a resampling technique is used to rebuild pseudo-sampling distributions of the local productivity estimates; these provide error estimates for determining the significance level of differences between sites. The third step combines the previous results with deterministic models of tidal elevation and solar irradiance to compute mean and variance of the daily areal primary productivity over an entire intertidal mudflat area within each embayment. This scheme was applied on three different intertidal mudflat regions of the San Francisco Bay estuary during autumn 1998. Microphytobenthos productivity exhibits strong (ca. 3-fold) significant differences among the major sub-basins of San Francisco Bay. This spatial heterogeneity is attributed to two main causes: significant differences in the photosynthetic competence (P-E parameters) of the microphytobenthos in the different sub-basins, and spatial differences in the phase shifts between the tidal and solar cycles controlling the exposure of intertidal areas to sunlight. The procedure is general and can be used in other estuaries to assess the magnitude and patterns of spatial variability of microphytobenthos productivity at the level of the ecosystems.     

Stability of the planetary three-body problem

We present a direct method for the expansion of the planetary Hamiltonian in Poincaré canonical elliptic variables with its effective implementation in computer algebra. This method allows us to demonstrate the existence of simplifications occurring in the analytical expression of the Hamiltonian coefficients. All the coefficients depending on the ratio of the semi major axis can thus be expressed in a concise and canonical form.     

Quantifying, Understanding and Managing the Carbon Cycle in the Next Decades

The human perturbation of the carbon cycle via the release of fossil CO₂ and land use change is now well documented and agreed to be the principal cause of climate change. We address three fundamental research areas that require major development if we were to provide policy relevant knowledge for managing the carbon-climate system over the next few decades. The three research areas are: (i) carbon observations and multiple constraint data assimilation; (ii) vulnerability of the carbon-climate system; and (iii) carbon sequestration and sustainable development.     

Protostellar Collapse Induced by Compression

We present numerical simulations of the evolution of low-mass, isothermal, molecular cores which are subjected to an increase in external pressure. If the external pressure increases very slowly, the core approaches instability quite quasi-statically. However, for faster compressions, a compression wave is driven into the core (Hennebelle, P., Whitworth, A., Gladwin, P. and André, P.: 2003a MNRAS 340, 870). Quantitative comparisons with observational velocity and density profiles are presented. The consequences of this compression for the fragmentation of the cloud is investigated and discussed.     

Topological and geometric characterization of fault networks using 3-dimensional Generalized maps

The consistent geometric and topological representation of a fault network is possible through a method based on the implementation of 3-dimensional Generalized maps (3-G-map) enabling all subdivisions of space to be represented. The fault network is modeled as an assemblage of polygonal faces from a set of geometric data on the faults and a knowledge of the relationships between the faults. The resultant model is expressed in terms of a 3-G-map in which volume, surface, and topological information is constructed taking into account computed intersections between faults and known interception relations. The fault network can be edited through an interactive 3-D viewer which provides several tools for navigating within the 3-G-map. Information relevant to a fault network, such as block geometry, connectivity, adjacencies, and connectivity relationships, can be obtained by exploring the data structure of the 3-G-map. The fault network architecture is made comprehensive through interactive modeling and visualization.     

A constitutive model for the dynamic and high‐pressure behaviour of a propellant‐like material: Part II: Model development and applications

This paper presents the second part of a work that aims at developing a mechanical model for the behaviour of propellant‐like materials under high confining pressure and strain rate. The model is to be employed to determine the temperature rise due to mechanical dissipation during a dynamic penetration event. Using the kinematical and thermodynamic background derived in the first part, a viscoelastic–viscoplastic–compaction model is put forward and identified. Viscoelasticity and compaction refer to the elastomeric nature of the material, while viscoplasticity, including implicit damage through dilatancy, reflects its granular nature. Some numerical exercises are performed, in view of determining the major model forces and weaknesses, and of assessing the numerical algorithm robustness. A penetration event is preliminarily simulated, and a temperature rise field predicted. Necessary model improvements are finally discussed, together with several ways of research for a longer term approach. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Revealing the Nature of the Obscured High Mass X-ray Binary IGR J16318-4848

The X-ray source IGR J16318-4848 was the first source discovered by INTEGRAL on January 29, 2003. The high energy spectrum exhibits such a high column density that the source is undetectable in X-rays below 2 keV. On February 23–25, 2003 we triggered a Target of Opportunity (ToO) Program using the EMMI and SOFI instruments on the New Technology Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (La Silla) to get optical and near-infrared (NIR) observations. We discovered the optical counterpart, and confirmed the already proposed candidate in the NIR. NIR spectroscopy revealed a large amount of emission lines, including forbidden iron lines and P-Cygni profiles, showing a strong similarity with CI Cam, another strongly absorbed source. Together with the spectral energy distribution (SED), these data point to a high luminosity, high temperature source, with an intrinsic absorption greater than the interstellar absorption, but two orders of magnitude below the X-ray absorption. All these observations show that IGR J16318-4848 is a high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) at a distance between 0.9 and 6.2 kpc, the mass donor being an early-type star, probably a sgB[e] star, surrounded by a dense and absorbing circumstellar material. This would make the second HMXB with a sgB[e] star as the mass donor after CI Cam. Other sources, discovered by INTEGRAL near IGR J16318-4848 in the direction of the Norma arm, present the same characteristics, at least in X-rays. Such sources may represent a different evolutionary state of X-ray binaries previously undetected with the lower energy space telescopes; if it is so, a new class of strongly absorbed X-ray binaries is being unveiled by INTEGRAL. Out of the 15 sources present in this region, only one might be associated with an unidentified EGRET source: IGR J16393-4643. Therefore these obscured INTEGRAL sources do not seem to be powerful high energy (E > 100 MeV) emitters. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile (proposal ESO N^∘ 70.D-0340).     

Modelling a geo-composite cell using discrete analysis

Reinforced soil structures can be used to protect infrastructures against rockfalls. An innovative way to implement such protection is to construct the front face using a cellular assembly. This paper focuses on the cellular scale, with the cell a complex heterogeneous material, composed of a wire netting box filled with rocky particles. The behaviour of a single cell was modelled using the discrete element method, thus accounting for the interaction between the rocky particles and the interaction between the box and the rocky particles. A constitutive model was developed and calibrated along confined compression loading paths, then preliminary elements of validation were obtained from the simulation of unconfined compression tests.     

Dating of Little Ice Age glacier fluctuations in the tropical Andes: Charquini glaciers,Bolivia, 16°S

Fluctuations of the Charquini glaciers (Cordillera Real, Bolivia) have been reconstructed for the Little Ice Age (LIA) from a set of 10 moraines extending below the present glacier termini. A lichenometric method using the Rhizocarpon geographicum was used to date the moraines and reconstruct the main glacier fluctuations over the period. The maximum glacier extent occurred in the second half of the 17th century, followed by nearly continuous retreat with three interruptions during the 18th and the 19th centuries, marked by stabilisation or minor advances. Results obtained in the Charquini area are first compared with other dating performed in the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca and then with the fluctuations of documented glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere. Glacier fluctuations along the tropical Andes (Bolivia and Peru) were in phase during the LIA and the solar forcing appears to be important during the period of glacier advance. Compared with the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, the major advance observed on these glaciers during the first half of the 19th century is not present in the tropical Andes. This discrepancy may be due to regional scale climate variations. To cite this article: A. Rabatel et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).