Sheathed prokaryotic filaments,major components of Mid-Cretaceous French amber microcoenoses

Prokaryotes were the first organisms to colonize Earth, but little evidence of their existence has been found in the fossil record. Recent studies of amber, a fossil resin from gymnosperms or angiosperms, have revealed a number of rarely fossilized microorganisms. Several amber-bearing localities of Mid-Cretaceous age in southwestern France (Charentes and Aude regions) led to the discovery of a rich and diverse biota of resin-preserved microorganisms. These amber microcoenoses are dominated by sheathed prokaryotic filaments similar to those of the cyanobacterium Palaeocolteronema cenomanensis Breton and Tostain (2005) and to those of the bacterium Leptotrichites resinatus Schmidt 2005. These sheathed filaments appear as peripheral cortexes around some pieces of amber from the Charentes outcrops and as peripheral dark areas on amber from the Aude locality. Macroscopic and microscopic features, as well as measurements of phycocyanin concentrations from the filaments, made it possible to identify two different taxa. The sheathed filaments from Charentes correspond to P. cenomanensis. They were growing in freshwater ponds when amber trapped them. Those of the Aude outcrop represent L. resinatus. The latter were probably trapped in less humid environments than were P. cenomanensis filaments.     

Sand suspension and transport on the Middelkerke Bank (southern North Sea) by storms and tidal currents

Estimates have been made of the suspended sand transport at two sites on the Middelkerke Bank, in the southern North Sea, from suspended sand profiles and current meter measurements over a period of approximately 40 days. Sand resuspension was mainly due to waves while transport was dominated by a few hours when large waves coincided with peak flood currents. Soulsby's relationships for the stress under combined currents and waves were found to be poor predictors for the observed near-bed concentrations; the mean stress, , predicting 45% of the variance while the maximum stress, , predicted just 15%, and overestimate the effects of the waves. When the influence of the stress due to the waves is reduced, the variance explained increases to 67%. The sand transport rate on the steep slope of the bank was 10 times that of the southern end, and was up-slope at 25° to the bank axis, in the direction of the major axis of the tidal ellipse. The transport on the steep slope was mainly in the size range 100–140 μm which did not occur in any significant proportion in samples of the sea bed at that site but was advected from deeper water to the southeast. Excluding this finer component the transport rates of coarser sand (>200 μm) at the two sites were similar over the 40-day period. The up-slope transport during storms suggests that waves play an important part in the bank maintenance and are not simply the mechanism which prevents the continual growth of the sand bank due to asymmetrical transport by the tidal currents alone. The transport rates are consistent with a time-scale of 10²–10³ years for the formation of the Middelkerke Bank.     

Derivation of detrital rutile in the Yaoundé region from the Neoproterozoic Pan-African belt in southern Cameroon (Central Africa)

Rutile, as an important component in alluvial or eluvial heavy mineral deposits, is known in southern Cameroon. These deposits are underlain by the Neoproterozoic low- to high-grade Yaoundé Group. Geochemical, thermometric, fluid inclusion and Pb isotopic studies of the rutile from alluvial and eluvial concentrates and from medium-grade micaschist from the nearby Yaoundé region permit the following conclusions: (1) alluvial and eluvial rutile of the Yaoundé region are derived from the degradation of metapelites, metamafic rocks and pegmatites of the nearby Yaoundé Group; (2) rutile in the Yaoundé Group formed during the Pan-African metamorphism, or was inherited as detrital rutile from a 900 Ma source. The study also shows that the rutile can be used to trace the history of the Pan-African belt north of the Congo craton.     

Metal‐saturated sulfide assemblages in NWA 2737: Evidence for impact‐related sulfur devolatilization in Martian meteorites

NWA 2737, a Martian meteorite from the Chassignite subclass, contains minute amounts (0.010 ± 0.005 vol%) of metal‐saturated Fe‐Ni sulfides. These latter bear evidence of the strong shock effects documented by abundant Fe nanoparticles and planar defects in Northwest Africa (NWA) 2737 olivine. A Ni‐poor troilite (Fe/S = 1.0 ± 0.01), sometimes Cr‐bearing (up to 1 wt%), coexists with micrometer‐sized taenite/tetrataenite‐type native Ni‐Fe alloys (Ni/Fe = 1) and Fe‐Os‐Ir‐(Ru) alloys a few hundreds of nanometers across. The troilite has exsolved flame‐like pentlandite (Fe/Fe + Ni = 0.5–0.6). Chalcopyrite is almost lacking, and no pyrite has been found. As a hot desert find, NWA 2737 shows astonishingly fresh sulfides. The composition of troilite coexisting with Ni‐Fe alloys is completely at odds with Chassigny and Nahkla sulfides (pyrite + metal‐deficient monoclinic‐type pyrrhotite). It indicates strongly reducing crystallization conditions (close to IW), several log units below the fO₂ conditions inferred from chromites compositions and accepted for Chassignites (FMQ‐1 log unit). It is proposed that reduction in sulfides into base and precious metal alloys is operated via sulfur degassing, which is supported by the highly resorbed and denticulated shape of sulfide blebs and their spongy textures. Shock‐related S degassing may be responsible for considerable damages in magmatic sulfide structures and sulfide assemblages, with concomitant loss of magnetic properties as documented in some other Martian meteorites.     

Effects of short-term environmental disturbances on living benthic foraminifera during the Pacific oyster summer mortality in the Marennes-Oléron Bay (France)

Sediment cores were collected from April to August 2004 on tidal mudflats of the macrotidal Marennes-Oléron Bay (SW France), famous for the cultivation of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). The response of living (stained) benthic foraminifera to short-term biogeochemical disturbances in the sediment and overlying water, which may be involved in oyster summer mortality, was monitored. Short-term hypoxia occurred in early June, in conjunction with a sudden rise in temperature. In mid-June, the ammonia content of sediment porewater increased, leading to potentially maximal flux towards overlying waters. Foraminiferal assemblages, particularly in the topmost layer, were altered. Ammonia tepida was the most tolerant to temperature increase and hypoxic conditions whereas Brizalina variabilis and Haynesina germanica were sensitive to organic degradation and hypoxia. Cribroelphidium gunteri was the most opportunistic during recolonisation. Benthic foraminifera showed that short-term biochemical changes in the sediment are toxic and may be involved in the summer mortality of Pacific oysters.     

High-order <Emphasis Type="Italic">h</Emphasis>-adaptive discontinuous Galerkin methods for ocean modelling

In this paper, we present an h-adaptive discontinuous Galerkin formulation of the shallow water equations. For a discontinuous Galerkin scheme using polynomials up to order , the spatial error of discretization of the method can be shown to be of the order of , where is the mesh spacing. It can be shown by rigorous error analysis that the discontinuous Galerkin method discretization error can be related to the amplitude of the inter-element jumps. Therefore, we use the information contained in jumps to build error metrics and size field. Results are presented for ocean modelling problems. A first experiment shows that the theoretical convergence rate is reached with the discontinuous Galerkin high-order h-adaptive method applied to the Stommel wind-driven gyre. A second experiment shows the propagation of an anticyclonic eddy in the Gulf of Mexico. An erratum to this article can be found at     

The lunar tides in the Antarctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere

Horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere over the Antarctic have been measured by a meteor radar at Rothera (67.5°S, 68.0°W) and MF radar at Davis (68.6°S, 78.0°E). Data from Rothera recorded over a 20-month interval in 2005–2006 and data from Davis recorded over the 13-year interval 1994–2006 are examined to investigate the monthly mean behaviour of the lunar semidiurnal tide. Both data sets show a clear signal of the 12.42-h lunar semidiurnal (M₂) tide. The amplitude reaches values as large as 8 m s⁻¹. The vertical wavelengths of the tide vary seasonally from 10 to 65 km. Comparisons of the phase of the tide measured over the two sites reveals that it does not purely consist of a migrating wavenumber 2 mode. This suggests that other, non-migrating, modes are likely to be present.     

Using hydraulic head measurements in variable-density ground water flow analyses

The use of hydraulic head measurements in ground water of variable density is considerably more complicated than for the case of constant-density ground water. A theoretical framework for dealing with these complications does exist in the current literature but suffers from a lack of awareness among many hydrogeologists. When corrections for density variations are ignored or not properly taken into account, misinterpretation of both ground water flow direction and magnitude may result. This paper summarizes the existing theoretical framework and provides practical guidelines for the interpretation of head measurements in variable-density ground water systems. It will be argued that, provided that the proper corrections are taken into account, fresh water heads can be used to analyze both horizontal and vertical flow components. To avoid potential confusion, it is recommended that the use of the so-called environmental water head, which was initially introduced to facilitate the analysis of vertical ground water flow, be abandoned in favor of properly computed fresh water head analyses. The presented methodology provides a framework for determining quantitatively when variable-density effects on ground water flow need to be taken into account or can be justifiably neglected. Therefore, we recommend that it should become part of all hydrogeologic analyses in which density effects are suspected to play a role.     

Structural reworking and heat transfer related to the late-Panafrican Angavo shear zone of Madagascar

The basement of central Madagascar displays two contrasted structural patterns. The first one (D1) is characterized by north-striking foliations that are gently dipping to the west and carry W- to WSW-plunging lineations, whereas the second one (D2) is characterized by steeper foliations that are striking to the NNE and lineations that are either subhorizontal or gently plunging to the SSW. The younger pattern is related to late-Panafrican tectonics along the major Angavo shear zone that is about 1000 km in length and 40 km in width with apparently little offset. Deformation in the Angavo zone induced interference folding on both sides. The D2 event is characterized by low pressures (ca 400 MPa) and high temperatures (up to 790 °C) responsible for prograde granulite facies conditions, that resulted from heat transfer due to magma and fluid advection in the Angavo shear zone. The D2 event is pinned at 550 ± 11 Ma by a new monazite age from a reoriented Andringitrean granite near Ankaramena. A new suite of amphibole and biotite Ar–Ar geochronological data enables to retrace the thermochronogical evolution inside and outside the Angavo shear zone. Combined with new structural results from the western interference zone, these ages yield a better understanding of the late-Panafrican history of central Madagascar. No diachronism is observed along the strike of the Angavo shear zone. Conversely, amphibole and especially biotite ages decrease from West to East, i.e. towards the shear zone. These new ages range from 511 to 469 Ma. A 1-D conductive model constrains the thermal effect in relation with the Angavo shear zone to be restricted to a lateral distance of ca 60 km (in map view) for a maximum heating duration of 20 Myr. This is in agreement with the Ar–Ar data and with the width of the observed interference zone. Following this episode of deformation and heat transfer, the estimated cooling rates of the Angavo shear zone range from to 15 to 6 °C/Myr, respectively before and after 515 Ma. A post-collision intracontinental setting is suggested for the Angavo shear zone, which is regarded as a remote effect of the Kuunga Orogeny between India and Antarctica.