Evaluation of Statistical Distributions for the Parametrization of Subgrid Boundary-Layer Clouds

In numerical weather prediction and climate models, planetary boundary-layer (PBL) clouds are linked to subgrid-scale processes such as shallow convection. A comprehensive statistical analysis of large-eddy simulations (LES), obtained for warm PBL cloud cases, is carried out in order to characterize the distributions of the horizontal subgrid cloud variability. The production of subgrid clouds is mainly associated with the variability of the total water content. Nevertheless, in the case of PBL clouds, the temperature variability cannot be completely discarded and the saturation deficit, which summarizes both temperature and total water fluctuations, provides a better representation of the cloud variability than the total water content. The probability density functions (PDFs) of LES saturation deficit generally have the shape of a main asymmetric bell-shaped curve with a more or less distinct secondary maximum specific to each type of PBL clouds. Unimodal theoretical PDFs, even those with a flexible skewness, are not sufficient to correctly fit the LES distributions, especially the long tail that appears for cumulus clouds. They do not provide a unified approach for all cloud types. The cloud fraction and the mean cloud water content, diagnosed from these unimodal PDFs, are largely underestimated. The use of a double Gaussian distribution allows correction of these errors on cloud fields and provides a better estimation of the cloud-base and cloud-top heights. Eventually, insights for the design of a subgrid statistical cloud scheme are provided, in particular a new formulation for the weight of the two Gaussian distributions and for the standard deviation of the convective distribution.     

Criteria for the identification of ventifacts in the geological record: A review and new insights

Ventifacts (wind-worn stones) are typical of terrestrial environments remained very long without any vegetation, under hot or cold climates. Therefore, within the sedimentary record, they can allow recognizing desert conditions, even where no aeolian dune deposits are preserved. There seems that, in the recent literature, pebbles and cobbles from various palaeoenvironments were mistaken for ventifacts. This may partly be explained by the scatter and relative scarcity of illustrations to which refer. The aim of this paper is to help recognizing ventifacts in the sedimentary record, based on a critical review of the diagnostic properties generally used, and on new studies permitting to suggest additional criteria. After an evaluation of the sedimentary contexts favourable to preserving ventifacts, the distinctive characters that could be seen on each one are treated in order of increasing alteration of the original appearance: surface features, medium-scale features (new types of pit especially), and general shape. Finally, the problem of distinguishing between ventifacts and aquafacts is approached.     

A 70 Ma record of suprasolidus conditions in the large,hot, long‐duration Grenville Orogen

Petrochronology of magmatic monazite and apatite from a single paragneiss leucosome derived by in situ partial melting documents the thermal evolution of the Allochthonous Belt of the central Grenville Province. Monazite records suprasolidus metamorphism from ca. 1080 to 1020 Ma under high temperature up to 850°C. Apatite from the same leucosome yields an age of 960 Ma, consistent with cooling of this crustal segment down to subsolidus conditions of ca. 450°C. A pegmatitic granite dyke, with lobate contacts, previously dated at ca. 1005 Ma (Turlin et al., 2017 ) is interpreted to intrude the paragneisses at a temperature of ca. 650°C close to the wet‐solidus. These data document slow cooling at a rate of 2–6°C/Ma for the middle crust of this part of the Grenville hinterland marked by protracted suprasolidus conditions for at least 70 Ma. It supports the definition of the Grenville Orogen as a large, hot, long‐duration orogen.     

Volcanisme de l'ı̂le aux Pingouins,archipel Crozet,témoin de l'hétérogénéité du manteau fertile au sud de l'océan IndienPenguins Island,Crozet archipelago,volcanic evidence for a heterogeneous mantle in the southern Indian Ocean

Despite its small area (5.6 km²), the Penguins Island brings magmatic information concerning mantle geochemical heterogeneities in southwestern Indian Ocean. The volcanism that built the island was firstly associated with marine deposits, and secondly with aerial, giving then abundant volcanic breccias and lava flows. The rocks are weakly differentiated and result of magmatic fractionation from picritic to tephritic types. KAr ages are near 1.1 Ma. The magmatic source may be related to a HIMU reservoir or to EMI ± EMII ones, depending on the geochemical evidences that are taken into account. However, comparisons with the Marion Island, on the same oceanic plateau and far to the west, as well as with Kerguelen Islands, far to the east, suggest a very heterogeneous mantle source. To cite this article: A. Giret et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 481–488.     

Size discontinuity between interstellar and chondritic aromatic structures: A high-resolution transmission electron microscopy study

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are often considered as abundant and widespread organic structures in the universe and such structures are known to build the macromolecular network of the organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites. Assuming that interstellar PAHs are properly identified from infrared bands, these meteoritic aromatic moieties can be compared with their interstellar counterpart. The main structural parameters of the aromatic units of the insoluble organic matter of the Orgueil and Murchison chondrites are directly determined through high resolution transmission electron microscopy along with image analysis. These aromatic moieties appear weakly organized and of a smaller size than those present in the interstellar medium (containing ∼30 and ∼150 C atoms). Provided chondritic and interstellar polyaromatic hydrocarbons are derived from a similar organosynthesis, the smaller units were selectively preserved in meteorites, likely thanks to their fast accumulation on grains, which would protect them from solar UV photodissociation at the surface of the protosolar disk.     

Experimental sorption of Ni, Cs and Ln onto a montmorillonite up to 150°C

The effect of temperature on the sorption of cations onto a dioctahedral smectite was investigated by running batch experiments at 25, 40, 80 and 150°C. We measured the distribution coefficient (Kd) of Cs⁺, Ni²⁺ and 14 lanthanides (Ln³⁺) between solutions and the montmorillonite fraction of the MX80 bentonite at various pH and ionic strengths. Up to 80°C we used a conventional experimental protocol derived from Coppin et al. (2002). At 150°C, the experiments were conducted in a PTFE reactor equipped with an internal filter allowing the sampling of clear aliquots of solution.The results show a weak but measurable influence of the temperature on the elements sorption. Kd’s for Ni²⁺ and Ln³⁺ increase by a factor 2 to 5 whereas temperature raises from 25 to 150°C. This effect seems higher at high ionic strength. The estimated apparent endothermic sorption enthalpies are 33 ± 10 kJ.mol⁻¹ and 39 ± 15 kJ.mol⁻¹ for Ni²⁺ and Eu³⁺, respectively. On the other hand, the temperature effect on Cs⁺ sorption is only evidenced at low ionic strength and under neutral conditions where the Kd decreases by a factor 3 between 25 and 150°C. Apparent exothermic sorption enthalpy for Cs⁺ on the montmorillonite is −19 ± 5 kJ.mol⁻¹.Experiments conducted at the four temperatures with the coexistence of all of the cations in the reacting solution (100 ppb of each element in the starting solution) or only one of them, produced similar values of Kd. This suggests the absence of competition between the sorbed cations, and consequently a low degree of saturation of the available sites. A fractionation of the lanthanides spectrum is also observed at high pH and high ionic strength whatever the temperature.The conclusion of this study is that the temperature dependence on sorption reflects, as the fractionation of REE or the pH and ionic strength effects, the chemical process which controls the overall reaction. In the case of an exchange dominated reaction (low pH and low ionic strength), the temperature effect is negligible. In the case of surface complexation (high pH and high ionic strength), the observed increase of Kd with temperature reflects either an increase of the sorption equilibrium constant with temperature or an endothermic property for reactions describing the montmorillonite surface chemistry.     

A transversely isotropic thermo-poroelastic model for claystone: parameter identification and application to a 3D underground structure

A transversely isotropic thermo-poroelastic constitutive law is developed and implemented in the finite element code Code_Aster (EDF, France). It is then validated using an analytic solution for an inclined borehole in a transversely isotropic medium. A strategy for identifying the parameters of the transversely isotropic thermo-poroelastic model based on an inverse method is proposed on the basis of different laboratory tests. To demonstrate the efficiency and applicability of the model, it is then applied in a three-dimensional numerical model of an underground structure in a parameter sensitivity study. The results of the modelling highlight the importance of accounting for anisotropic phenomena when determining the dimensions of underground facilities. The whole approach is presented in the paper, from model development to application to 3D numerical modelling to an engineering case study.     

The Morcles microgranite (Aiguilles Rouges,Swiss Alps): geochronological and geochemical evidences for a common origin with the Vallorcine intrusion

The Morcles microgranite is located in the N–E termination of the Aiguilles Rouges massif (External Crystalline Massifs, Switzerland). It outcrops as dykes, a few meters to 150 m in thickness, intruding the Aiguilles Rouges polymetamorphic basement, and presents variation of texture from granophyric to rhyolitic. We present here for the first time, in situ U–Pb zircon dating of the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite based on laser-ablation—inductively coupled plasma—mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data. Results indicate late Variscan emplacement ages at ~303 and ~309–312 Ma, a major Caledonian inherited component age at ~445–460 Ma, and secondary inherited ages ranging from Pan-African (550–1000 Ma) to Paleoproterozoic (2.3 Ga). Geochronological and geochemical data indicate that the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite shares a common origin with the higher (or “H”) facies of the neighbouring Vallorcine granitic intrusion. This close affinity is further corroborated by the geographical alignment of both intrusive bodies on either side of the Rhone Valley. The fine-grained texture of the microgranite groundmass and the rhyolite indicates a very rapid cooling rate and emplacement close to the surface, suggesting that the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite may constitute the shallow-level counterpart of the Vallorcine granite. The mineralogical assemblages observed in the Morcles microgranite/rhyolite support the idea of high-temperature melting conditions provided by underplating of mantle-derived magmas during the Carboniferous extension of the Variscan cordillera.     

Hydraulic habitat use with respect to body size of aquatic insect larvae: Case of six species from a French Mediterranean type stream

Macroinvertebrates play a key role in lotic ecosystems, as fish prey and processors of organic material. Therefore, their hydraulic preferences have to be integrated in instream habitat models for ecological stream management. This study characterized physical habitat use in terms of shear velocity for the larvae of three Ephemeropteran (Ephoron virgo, Oligoneuriella rhenana, and Serratella ignita), two Trichopteran (Cheumatopsyche lepida and Hydropsyche exocellata) and one Dipteran species (Blepharicera fasciata) in a Mediterranean stream at a relatively low water discharge. O. rhenana, C. lepida, H. exocellata, and B. fasciata larvae were mainly found in high shear velocity conditions, whereas E. virgo and S. ignita larvae were found in low shear velocity conditions. Knowing that habitat preferences should vary during ontogenesis (with respect to changes in biological requirements and/or morphological abilities to withstand high flow, for example), our second objective was to characterize differences in the hydraulic habitat use (in terms of shear velocity) for different size classes of these six species.Larvae of H. exocellata and B. fasciata mainly colonized high shear velocity conditions and numerous individuals of these species also used medium shear velocity conditions, independent of size class.The use of high shear velocity conditions increased with larval size for C. lepida and O. rhenana, whilst the use of low shear velocity conditions increased for larger larvae of E. virgo and S. ignita. Various hypotheses are proposed to explain these different strategies of habitat use during ontogenesis. We point out the lack of knowledge about physical habitat shifts during the larval growth of freshwater invertebrates.These results highlight the interest to consider the respective habitat requirements of different size classes of invertebrates in instream habitat models. Population bottlenecks should be overcome if hydraulic conditions are kept suitable for all size classes by stream managers.