Fluid-escape features as a precursor of a large sublacustrine sediment slide in Lake Le Bourget, NW Alps, France

The north‐western corner of Lake Le Bourget is situated along an active fault zone and accommodated a large sediment supply from the Rhone River until the end of the Late Glacial period. On the delta slope, the Holocene sheet drape that covers the largest buried mass wasting deposit (the HDU) shows undulations, small fractures and discontinuities that are attributed to downslope creep. Evidence for episodes of vigorous fluid expulsion is found in association with these discontinuities. All these features are rooted at the top of the HDU and occur along two specific isobaths. These observations indicate a close link between fractures and focused fluid flow. We suggest that focused fluid flow triggered by earthquakes facilitates the formation of small‐scale faults that accommodate part of the downslope movement and eventually link up to form a head‐scarp of a large slide (c. 10⁷ m³).     

Predicting Nocturnal Wind and Temperature Profiles Based on External Forcing Parameters

We introduce a simple, physically consistent method to predict nocturnal wind and temperature profiles from external forcing parameters such as the geostrophic wind. As an indicator of the radiative ??forcing?? the net longwave radiative cooling is used as a proxy. Surface fluxes are expressed in terms of these parameters by coupling an Ekman model to a rudimentary surface energy balance. Additionally the model assumes validity of Monin-Obukhov similarity in order to predict near-surface wind and temperature profiles up to a height equal to the Obukhov length. The predictions are validated against an independent dataset that covers 11-years of observations at Cabauw, The Netherlands. It is shown that the characteristic profiles in response to external forcings are well-captured by the conceptual model. For this period the observational climatology is in close agreement with ECMWF re-analysis data. As such, the conceptual model provides an alternative tool to giving a first-order estimate of the nocturnal wind and temperature profile near the surface in cases when advanced numerical or observational infrastructure is not available.     

Response of zooplankton to improving water quality in the Scheldt estuary (Belgium)

Data obtained from 14 years of monthly samplings (1996–2009) were used to investigate the response of the crustacean zooplankton community to improving water quality in the Scheldt estuary. A strong reduction of poor water quality indicators, such as NH₄⁺ and BOD₅, as well as an increase in oxygen and in chlorophyll a concentrations were observed during the study period. During the study period, important changes were observed in the zooplankton community composition and spatial distribution. From 2007 onwards, most of the calanoid population, previously mainly found in the brackish water reach of the estuary, moved to the freshwater, where they reached higher abundances than previously observed. Simultaneously, cyclopoids populations strongly decreased in freshwater while cladocerans did not change their abundance, except during years with high chlorophyll a concentrations. Redundancy analyses (RDA) showed that the variability within the calanoid population can be explained by the improvement in water quality. Variability within the cyclopoids and cladoceran community is mainly explained by chlorinity and chlorophyll a concentrations. Their presence in the most polluted upstream area until 2007 suggests they are more tolerant to poor water quality than calanoids. Several hypotheses to explain the disappearance of cyclopoids after the move of calanoids to the freshwater are presented and discussed.     

Dealing with contaminated dredged materials with reference to the Oslo Convention 1972 and the new Paris Convention 1992

Protection of the sea has received much political attention—for example, at successive North Sea Conferences environmental ministers have formulated a stringent policy with the aim of reducing pollution in the north-east Atlantic. In the past this area received many substances from many sources, but gradually intergovernmental action since 1972 in the Oslo and Paris Conventions has succeeded in tracing the major sources and understanding the effects of these inputs on the marine environment. After long discussion, many dumpings and discharges have been ended because they were considered harmful to the marine environment. Dredging activities were included in the discussions but they may be regarded as being a special case compared with many other disposals.

In general, clean dredged material for sea disposal offers no problems, although restrictions may be caused by physical impacts, mainly to habitats for living organisms. However, this material also has positive, often even beneficial uses. In contrast, contaminated material disposal is restricted and the internationally accepted rule is that the material should not create hazards to human health, harm living resources and marine life or damage amenities or interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea. There are in principle three options for dealing with polluted sediments: doing nothing, remedial action in situ, removal of the contaminated material; occasionally treatment is a possibility. The distinction has been made between the disposal of industrial waste, sewage sludge or dredged material. Industrial waste disposal is now prohibited; sewage sludge may be dumped until 31 December 1998, although dredged material may still be stored at sea under certain conditions. The Oslo Convention 1972 decided with regard to dredged material: that pollution has to be tackled at the source; dumping at sea is forbidden, although dredged materials may be excluded from this; land disposal prevails, although in several countries there is a growing resistance to disposal on land; there should be a precautionary approach against marine disposal; a stand-still principle should be followed where the quantities disposed in a certain year should not be exceeded nor should the quality of the receiving water be reduced; marine disposal should be phased out and, where appropriate, time-limits set; and the polluter pays.

Dredged material is regarded as polluted and as a consequence may in general not be disposed of at sea when it contains substances listed in the Annexes of the Convention. Exceptions to this are indicated by the terms ‘a trace contaminant’, ‘rapidly rendered harmless’ or ‘significant amounts’. Therefore, to achieve uniformity in the application of the Convention, guidelines have been prepared by a joint London Dumping Convention/Oslo Commission working group of experts on dredged material. Several characteristics must be considered when choosing a site for marine disposal and interests such as beach recreation, sport and commercial fishing, nature, cultural or historical interests, navigation, military interests and cables and pipelines should be taken into account. Also the capacity of the area to assimilate disposed matter per time unit must not be exceeded, especially in low energy areas. It is considered that in discussions of the environmental aspects of dredging it is important that associations such as PIANC argue for safe and economic navigation.     

Dust deposition near an eroding source field

Deposition of suspended dust near eroding source fields can have detrimental effects on vegetation, as well as on soil and water quality. This study was undertaken to quantify dust deposition within 200 m of a source field during wind erosion events. Erosion was measured with BSNE samplers on a small field of Amarillo fine sandy loam at field at Big Spring, TX. Suspension‐sized dust discharge averaged 33 ± 5 per cent of the total sediment discharge and ranged from 18·0 to 147·4 kg m^?1 during eight selected storm events. Within 200 m of the source field boundary, dust collected in deposition samplers placed above a vegetated surface averaged 34 per cent of initial dust discharge. Predicted deposition, according to a line source model, was 43 per cent. Actual deposition was likely near that predicted, because of lateral diffusion of the dust and some under‐sampling by the disk samplers. Thus, the line source model seems useful in estimating both the pattern and quantity of deposition. About 30 per cent of the suspended dust was deposited within the initial 50 m of vegetated surface, but only about 12–15 per cent was deposited in the initial 10 m. Published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pesticide Pollution in Surface‐ and Groundwater by Paddy Rice Cultivation: A Case Study from Northern Vietnam

This study was designed to examine the environmental exposure of surface‐ and groundwater pollution in remote mountainous regions of northern Vietnam. In 2008, we monitored the loss of four commonly applied pesticides (imidacloprid, fenitrothion, fenobucarb, dichlorvos) from paddy rice farming systems to a receiving stream on the watershed scale and quantified groundwater pollution. For the entire monitoring period, runoff loss of pesticides from the watershed was estimated to range between 0.4% (dichlorvos) and 16% (fenitrothion) of the total applied mass. These losses were correlated well with the octanol–water partition coefficient and water solubility of pesticides (r² = 0.78–0.99). In the groundwater collected from eight wells, all target pesticides were frequently detected. Maximum measured concentrations were 0.47, 0.22, 0.17, and 0.07 µg L^?1 for fenitrothion, imidacloprid, fenobucarb, and dichlorvos, respectively. Our results strongly indicate that under the current management practice pesticide use in paddy fields poses a serious environmental problem in mountainous regions of northern Vietnam.     

Impact of brine acidification on hatchability,survival and reproduction of Artemia parthenogenetica and Artemia franciscana in salt ponds,Bohai Bay,China

We studied the effect of pH(pH 5, 6, 7 and 8) on the hatching percentage, survival and reproduction of Artemia strains in Bohai Bay salt ponds. Strains included parthenogenetic Artemia from Bohai Bay(BHB), Artemia franciscana from San Francisco Bay, and A. franciscana artifi cially produced in salt ponds in Vietnam. The latter was included as a potential inoculum for biological management of salt ponds. The hatching percentage of cysts after 24 h and the survival rate of the tested Artemia strains were signifi cantly reduced when exposed to a culture medium at pH 5 for 18 d( P 0.05). The tolerance of Artemia to 48 h acid exposure varied with developmental stage, increasing in the following order: juvenile, nauplii, pre-adult, with maximum tolerance in adults. All strains of Artemia tested could not reproduce at pH 5. At pH levels from pH 6–8, a higher pH generally resulted in a shorter brood interval and enhanced ovoviviparity. Hence, we suggest that brine acidifi cation has a negative impact on Artemia populations in the Bohai Bay saltworks. Inoculation of Artemia with either local parthenogenetic Artemia or exotic A. franciscana should be feasible at pH 7–8.     

P-T paths and tectonic evolution of shear zones separating high-grade terrains from cratons: examples from Kola Peninsula (Russia) and Limpopo Region (South Africa)

Summary ?The petrology and P-T evolution of mica schists from two regional scale tectonic (shear) zones that separate high grade terrains (“mobile belts”) from cratons are described. These are the 2.4–1.9 Ga Tanaelv Belt, a suture zone that separates the Lapland granulite complex from the Karelian craton (Kola Peninsula–Fennoscandia), and the 2.69 Ga Hout River Shear Zone that separates the > 2.9 Ga Kaapvaal craton from the 2.69 Ga South Marginal Zone of the Limpopo high-grade terrain (South Africa). Two metamorphic zones are identified in strongly deformed mica schists from the 1.9 Ga Korva Tundra Group of the Tanaelv belt: (1) a chlorite-staurolite zone tectonically overlaying gneisses of the Karelian craton, and (2) a kyanite-biotite zone tectonically underlying garnet amphibolites of the Tanaelv Belt, which are in tectonic contact with the Lapland granulite complex. The prograde reaction Chl+St+Ms ↠ Ky+Bt+Qtz+H₂O clearly defines a boundary between zones (1) and (2). Rotated garnet porphyroblasts from zone (1) contain numerous inclusions (Otz, Chl, Ms), and show clear Mg/Fe chemical zoning, suggesting garnet growth during prograde metamorphism. The metamorphic peak, T = 650°C and P = 7.5 kbar, is recorded in the kyanite-biotite zone and characterized by unzoned snowball garnet. In many samples of mica schists euhedral garnet porphyroblasts of the retrograde stage are completely devoid of mineral inclusions while N _Mg decreases from core to rim, indicating a decrease in P-T from 650°C, 7.5 kbar to 530°C, 5 kbar. The Hout River Shear Zone (South Africa) shows metamorphic zonation from greenschists through epidote amphibolites to garnet amphibolites. Rare strongly deformed mica schists (Chl+Grt+Pl+Ms+Bt+Qtz) occur as thin layers among epidote-amphibolites only. Garnet porphyroblasts in the schists are similar to that of the Tanaelv Belt recording a prograde P-T path with peak conditions of T = 600°C and P∼ 5.5 kbar. The retrograde stage is documented by the continuous reaction Prp+2Ms+Phl ↠ 6Qtz+3East recording a minimum T = 520°C and P ∼ 3.3 kbar. Similar narrow clock-wise P-T loops recorded in mica schists from both studied shear zones suggest similarities in the geodynamic history of both shear zones under consideration.

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Zusammenfassung ?P-T Pfade und tektonische Entwicklung von Scherzonen, die hochgradige Terranes von Kratonen trennen: Zwei Beispiele von der Halbinsel Kola (Russland) und der Limpopo-Region (Südafrika) Die Petrologie und P-T Entwicklung von Glimmerschiefern aus zwei regionalen tektonischen Scherzonen, die hochgradige Terranes (“mobile belts”) von Kratonen trennen, werden beschrieben. Diese sind der 2.4−1.9 Ga Tanaev Belt, eine Suturzone, die die Lappland Granulite vom karelischen Pluton (Halbinsel Kola - Fennoskandien) trennt, sowie die 2.69 Ga Hout River Shear Zone, die den > 2.9 Ga Kaapvaal Kraton von der 2.69 Ga South Marginal Zone des hochgradigen Limpopo Terranes (Südafrika) trennt. Zwei metamorphe Zonen sind in stark deformierten Glimmerschiefern der 1.9 Ga Korva Tundra Group zu unterscheiden: (1) eine Chlorit-Staurolith-Zone, die den Gneisen des karelischen Kratons auflagert, und (2) eine Kyanit-Biotit-Zone, die die Granatamphibolite des Tanaev Belt unterlagert und in tektonischem Kontakt mit dem Lappland Granulitkomplex steht. Die prograde Reaktion Chl+St+Ms ↠ Ky+Bt+Qtz+H₂O trennt die beiden Zonen. Rotierte Granatporphyroblasten aus der Zone (1) enthalten zahlreiche Einschlüsse (Qtz, Chl, Ms) und zeigen eine Mg/Fe Zonierung, die Granatwachstum w?hrend des prograden Metamorphosestadiums nahelegen. Der Metamorphoseh?hepunkt (650°C, 7.5 kbar) wurde in der Kyanit-Biotit-Zone erreicht und ist durch nicht zonierte Schneeballgranate charakterisiert. In vielen Glimmerschieferproben sind die euhedralen Granatporphyroblasten des retrograden Stadiums vollkommen einschlu?frei und N _Mg nimmt vom Kern zum Rand hin ab. Das zeigt eine Abnahme der P-T Bedingungen von 650°C, 7.5 kbar auf 530°C, 5 kbar an. Die Hout River Shear Zone in Südafrika zeigt eine metamorphe Zonierung von Grünschiefern, über Epidotamphibolite zu Granatamphiboliten. Selten kommen stark deformierte Glimmerschiefer (Chl+Grt+Pl+Ms+Bt+Qtz) als dünne Lagen zwischen den Epidotamphiboliten vor. Die Granatporphyroblasten sind ?hnlich wie die aus dem Tanaev Belt und belegen eine prograde P-T Entwicklung mit Peak-Bedingungen von 600°C und ≈ 5.5 kbar. Das retrograde Stadium ist durch die kontinuierliche Reaktion Prp+2Ms+Phl ↠ 6Qtz+3East mit minimal 530°C und ≈ 3.3 kbar dokumentiert. Die sehr ?hnlichen P-T Pfade der Glimmerschiefer belegen ?hnlichkeiten in der geodynamischen Geschichte der beiden bearbeiteten Scherzonen.

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Received January 29, 1999;/revised version accepted August 10, 1999