Effects of Drying on the Low-Frequency Electrical Properties of Tournemire Argillites

Nearly water-saturated argillite samples (initial water content near 3.4 wt%) were cored from an undisturbed area of an underground facility of the French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), located at Tournemire (Aveyron, France). These samples were subjected to the following desiccation path: (a) A desaturation phase during which the samples were dried at ambient temperature conditions, relative humidity equal to 43% in average and (b) a heating phase during which the same samples were heated at four temperature levels from 70°C up to 105°C. During both phases, the low-frequency complex resistivity (0.18Hz–12 kHz) was recorded by a four-electrode device. The amplitude of the complex resistivity was extremely sensitive to water content change. At the end of the isotherm desaturation phase, it was multiplied by a factor of 3 to 5. During the heating phase, the resistivity increased by more than two orders of magnitude compared to the initial state. The percentage of Frequency Effect shows a low sensitivity to water content changes during the desaturation stage while it increased by two orders of magnitude during the heating phase. This result confirms that low-frequency spectral signature is extremely sensitive to textural changes (i.e., thermal-induced microcracking in this case) that occurred during heating. Moreover, the complex resistivity of the samples shows a strong anisotropy (a ratio of 10 between both amplitudes measured in the perpendicular directions). The classical Cole-Cole model cannot be used to fit the experimental data obtained in the heating phase. A generalized formulation of this model is required and was successfully applied to represent the complex resistivity data.     

Limited Consequences of Seagrass Decline on Benthic Macrofauna and Associated Biotic Indicators

Marine phanerogams are ecosystem engineers, as their presence induces major environmental changes that impact on the benthic fauna. Consequently, modifications to the structure of benthic communities would be expected to be associated with seagrass decline. Since 2005, Zostera noltii seagrass beds in Arcachon Bay (France), the largest in Europe, have undergone a severe decline. Twelve stations distributed throughout the lagoon were sampled in 2002, and all were found to be densely planted at that time. Subsequently, the same stations were revisited in 2010 and seagrass cover had drastically decreased by that time. Based on benthic macrofauna, multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis identified four groups. Years were separated. In 2002, two groups were distinct in relation to the water body, since in 2010 separation between the two other groups was related to seagrass occurrence. When looking at community structure and dominant species there were moderate differences within and between years, independent of seagrass decline. Seagrass loss did not drastically modify the species composition as they were preserved in the remaining seagrass patches. However, there was a drop in macrofauna abundance in unvegetated muddy compared with abundance in the remaining seagrass areas. Epifauna was particularly affected by seagrass decline. Among biotic indicators based on macrofauna, multivariate indicator MISS (Macrobenthic Index in Sheltered Systems) was in agreement with the similarity of macrofauna structure among groups, while other tested indicators performed badly in relation to seagrass occurrence. However, no index detected seagrass loss, highlighting the necessity of maintaining a separate survey on seagrass cover.     

A model for assessing iceberg hazard

Natural Hazards - With the polar regions opening up to more marine activities but iceberg numbers more likely to increase than decline as a result of global warming, the risk from icebergs to...     

Coral- and oyster-microbialite patch reefs in the aftermath of the Triassic–Jurassic biotic crisis (Sinemurian,Southeast France)

The end of the Triassic and the Early Jurassic are intervals characterised by profound biotic and environmental changes, accompanied by dramatic decreases in marine fauna diversity. Corals were strongly affected and assemblages underwent a severe reduction; compared with those of the Upper Triassic, the Early Jurassic is traditionally defined as holding a “reef gap”. A Sinemurian coral-microbialites patch reef, located in southern France in the Hérault department (Le Perthus locality), is here described. This bioconstruction developed in a shallow mixed siliciclastic-carbonate inner ramp setting. The reef volume is composed of up to 70% of an intercoral facies mostly microbialites, with subordinated sediments (approximately 20–30% of the intercoral facies). Therefore, the patch reef can be defined as a coral-microbialite bioconstruction, in which microbialites were the main framebuilders. The coral assemblage has low diversity and is dominated by massive to branching colonies of Chondrocoenia clavellata. This highlights the reef diversity after the T/J boundary crisis. The Le Perthus patch reef could have acted as an edge for the dominant currents and probably induced reductions in hydrodynamic energy and sedimentation on one of its sides. Consequently, it could have triggered the growth of small lateral bioconstructions, composed of oysters and microbialites, uniquely on one of its sides. The evolution of the facies shows that the Le Perthus patch reef grew in a shallowing-upward setting accompanied by an increase in siliciclastic inputs. The rate of bioerosion and the faunal assemblage suggest that the bioconstructions could have been developed in a mesotrophic environment.     

Projecting future drought in Mediterranean forests: bias correction of climate models matters!

Global and regional climate models (GCM and RCM) are generally biased and cannot be used as forcing variables in ecological impact models without some form of prior bias correction. In this study, we investigated the influence of the bias correction method on drought projections in Mediterranean forests in southern France for the end of the twenty-first century (2071–2100). We used a water balance model with two different atmospheric climate forcings built from the same RCM simulations but using two different correction methods (quantile mapping or anomaly method). Drought, defined here as periods when vegetation functioning is affected by water deficit, was described in terms of intensity, duration and timing. Our results showed that the choice of the bias correction method had little effects on temperature and global radiation projections. However, although both methods led to similar predictions of precipitation amount, they induced strong differences in their temporal distribution, especially during summer. These differences were amplified when the climatic data were used to force the water balance model. On average, the choice of bias correction leads to 45 % uncertainty in the predicted anomalies in drought intensity along with discrepancies in the spatial pattern of the predicted changes and changes in the year-to-year variability in drought characteristics. We conclude that the choice of a bias correction method might have a significant impact on the projections of forest response to climate change.     

Lipid biomarkers for anaerobic oxidation of methane and sulphate reduction in cold seep sediments of Nyegga pockmarks (Norwegian margin): discrepancies in contents and carbon isotope signatures

Distributions and carbon isotopic compositions of microbial lipid biomarkers were investigated in sediment cores from the G11 and G12 pockmarks in the Nyegga sector of the Storegga Slide on the mid-Norwegian margin to explore differences in depth zonation, type and carbon assimilation mode of anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea (ANMEs) and associated sulphate-reducing bacteria responsible for anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in these cold seep environments. While the G11 site is characterised by black reduced sediments colonized by gastropods and Siboglinidae tubeworms, the G12 site has black reduced sediments devoid of fauna but surrounded by a peripheral occurrence of gastropods and white filamentous microbial mats. At both sites, bulk sediments contained abundant archaeal and bacterial lipid biomarkers substantially depleted in ¹³C, consisting mainly of isoprenoidal hydrocarbons and dialkyl glycerol diethers, fatty acids and non-isoprenoidal monoalkylglycerol ethers. At the G11 site, down-core profiles revealed that lipid biomarkers were in maximum abundance from 10 cm depth to the core bottom at 16 cm depth, associated with δ¹³C values of ?57 to ?136‰. At the G12 site, by contrast, lipid biomarkers were in high abundance in the upper 5 cm sediment layer, associated with δ¹³C values of ?43 to ?133‰. This suggests that, as expected from the benthic fauna characteristics of the sites, AOM takes place mainly at depth in the G11 pockmark but just below the seafloor in the G12 pockmark. These patterns can be explained largely by variable fluid flow rates. Furthermore, at both sites, a dominance of ANME-2 archaea accompanied by their bacterial partners is inferred based on lipid biomarker distributions and carbon isotope signatures, which is in agreement with recently published DNA analyses for the G11 pockmark. However, the present data reveal high discrepancies in the contents and δ¹³C values for both archaeal and bacterial lipid profiles, implying the possible involvement of at least two distinct AOM-related microbial consortia at the inferred AOM depth zonation of G11 and G12 pockmark sediments. In both sediment cores, the δ¹³C profiles for most archaeal lipids suggest a direct assimilation of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in addition to methane by ANMEs (chemoautotrophy); constant and highly depleted δ¹³C profiles for PMI:3, an archaeal lipid biomarker presumably related to ANME-2, suggest a direct assimilation of ¹³C-depleted methane-derived carbon via AOM (methanotrophy). Evidently, the common approach of investigating lipid biomarker contents and δ¹³C signatures in cold seep sediments does not suffice to precisely discriminate between the carbon assimilation mode for each ANME archaeal group and associated bacteria. Rather, this needs to be combined with further specific labelling studies including different carbon sources (methane carbon, methane-derived organic intermediates and DIC) in order to unravel the metabolic pathways of each microbial consortium involved in AOM (ANME-1 vs. ANME-2 vs. ANME-3 archaeal group and associated bacteria).     

Crustal‐scale fluid flow during the tectonic evolution of the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming,USA)

Stable isotope measurements (O, C, Sr), microthermometry and salinity measurements of fluid inclusions from different fracture populations in several anticlines of the Sevier‐Laramide Bighorn basin (Wyoming, USA) were used to unravel the palaeohydrological evolution. New data on the microstructural setting were used to complement previous studies and refine the fracture sequence at basin scale. The latter provides the framework and timing of fluid migration events across the basin during the Sevier and Laramide orogenic phases. Since the Sevier tectonic loading of the foreland basin until its later involvement into the Laramide thick‐skinned orogeny, three main fracture sets (out of seven) were found to have efficiently enhanced the hydraulic permeability of the sedimentary cover rocks. These pulses of fluid are attested by calcite crystals precipitated in veins from hydrothermal (T > 120 °C) radiogenic fluids derived from Cretaceous meteoric fluids that interacted with the Precambrian basement rocks. Between these events, vein calcite precipitated from formational fluids at chemical and thermal equilibrium with surrounding environment. At basin scale, the earliest hydrothermal pulse is documented in the western part of the basin during forebulge flexuring and the second one is documented in basement‐cored folds during folding. In addition to this East/West diachronic opening of the cover rocks to hydrothermal pulses probably controlled by the tectonic style, a decrease in ^87/86Sr values from West to East suggests a crustal‐scale partially squeegee‐type eastward fluid migration in both basement and cover rocks since the early phase of the Sevier contraction. The interpretation of palaeofluid system at basin scale also implies that joints developed under an extensional stress regime are better vertical drains than joints developed under strike‐slip regime and enabled migration of basement‐derived hydrothermal fluids.     

Ocean feedback to tropical cyclones: climatology and processes

This study presents the first multidecadal and coupled regional simulation of cyclonic activity in the South Pacific. The long-term integration of state-of the art models provides reliable statistics, missing in usual event studies, of air–sea coupling processes controlling tropical cyclone (TC) intensity. The coupling effect is analyzed through comparison of the coupled model with a companion forced experiment. Cyclogenesis patterns in the coupled model are closer to observations with reduced cyclogenesis in the Coral Sea. This provides novel evidence of air–sea coupling impacting not only intensity but also spatial cyclogenesis distribution. Storm-induced cooling and consequent negative feedback is stronger for regions of shallow mixed layers and thin or absent barrier layers as in the Coral Sea. The statistical effect of oceanic mesoscale eddies on TC intensity (crossing over them 20 % of the time) is also evidenced. Anticyclonic eddies provide an insulating effect against storm-induced upwelling and mixing and appear to reduce sea surface temperature (SST) cooling. Cyclonic eddies on the contrary tend to promote strong cooling, particularly through storm-induced upwelling. Air–sea coupling is shown to have a significant role on the intensification process but the sensitivity of TCs to SST cooling is nonlinear and generally lower than predicted by thermodynamic theories: about 15 rather than over 30 hPa °C^?1 and only for strong cooling. The reason is that the cooling effect is not instantaneous but accumulated over time within the TC inner-core. These results thus contradict the classical evaporation-wind feedback process as being essential to intensification and rather emphasize the role of macro-scale dynamics.