Evidence for sinistral strike-slip deformation in The Solomon Island arc

During the SOPACMAPS 2 crusie carried out by IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer) and ORSTOM (Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le dévelopement en Coopération) on theR/V L'Atalante, in the Central Solomon Arc area, multibeam bathymetric and imagery data and single-channel seismic reflection profiles were collected from an area of about 3500 km², to evaluate regional tectonics. Structural data geophysical profiles interpretation provide evidence for left-lateral transtensional tectonics on the southern edge of the Central Solomon Trough. This transtensional deformation is represented by faulting, block tilting, and rhombohedral deformation. The regional geology and the analysis of the sedimentary cover allow us to demonstrate that this tectonic occurred in two different phases during Oligocene to Miocene and Pliocene to Pleistocene times.     

Accelerated relative sea-level rise and rapid coastal erosion:: testing a causal relationship for the Louisiana barrier islands

The role of relative sea-level rise as a cause for the rapid erosion of Louisiana's barrier island coast is investigated through a numerical implementation of a modified Bruun rule that accounts for the low percentage of sand-sized sediment in the eroding Louisiana shoreface. Shore-normal profiles from 150 km of coastline west of the Mississippi delta are derived from bathymetric surveys conducted during the 1880s, 1930s and 1980s. An RMS difference criterion is employed to test whether an equilibrium profile form is maintained between survey years. Only about half the studied profiles meet the equilibrium criterion; this represents a significant limitation on the potential applicability of the Bruun rule. The profiles meeting the equilibrium criterion, along with measured rates of relative sea-level rise, are used to hindcast shoreline retreat rates at 37 locations within the study area. Modeled and observed shoreline retreat rates show no significant correlation. Thus, in terms of the Bruun approach, relative sea-level rise has no power for hindcasting (and presumably forecasting) rates of coastal erosion for the Louisiana barrier islands.     

Formation and distribution of manganese nodule deposit in the northwestern margin of Clarion-Clipperton fracture zones,northeast equatorial Pacific

In the northwestern margin of the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones, manganese nodules are latitudinally variable in character, resulting from the progressive (re)generation of nodules since the Oligocene as the Pacific Plate migrates northwestward beneath the equatorial production zone. Complemented by the surface water productivity, bottom current activities have concentrated nodules in the Oligocene to Miocene siliceous clay. Resedimentation processes on nodules form three types of nodules with concentric structures and 10 Å-manganaterich bottoms, by periodically causing the diagenetic growth of nodules within the topmost sediment layer.     

Numerical modelling of tsunami propagation in the open Black Sea

This paper focuses on the numerical modelling of tsunami propagation in the open Black Sea. Two types of numerical models are discussed: a model for the radial propagation of long waves and an evolutionary finite-difference prognostic model. Experimentally derived numerical data on the model source of tsunamis are reported. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Depth and Seasonal Distribution of Some Groups of the Vagile Fauna of the Posidonia oceanica Leaf Stratum: Structural and Trophic Analyses

Abstract. The taxonomical and trophic structures of the vagile fauna communities of the leaf stratum in a Posidonia oceanica meadow at Ischia (Gulf of Naples, Italy) were investigated at five stations along a depth gradient (1 to 25 m). Sampling was performed in July, November, February, and May. The analyzed groups - polychaetes, molluscs, tanaids, isopods, amphipods, and decapods - exhibited similar distributional trends in all seasons, with coenotic discontinuities occurring at well-defined depths. The same zonation pattern was produced by feeding-guild analysis. Eleven trophic groups were identified. The most abundant groups were: Herbivores, which were found mainly at the shallow stations; Herbivores-deposit feeders, which were widely distributed along the transect; Deposit feeders-carnivores, found mainly at the deep stations.
This study suggests that in the Posidonia leaf stratum, herbivores and herbivores-deposit feeders, as consumers of epiphytic micro- and macroflora and deposited particulate organic matter, play an important role in the energy transfer from producers to higher trophic levels of the system.     

Wave climate in a groin field

Wave records at seven different locations within a groin field have been analysed by both statistical and spectral approaches to study the general wave climate. The wave heights and periods from the wave records were obtained by both upcross and downcross methods for the statistical approach. The variation of different wave height and wave period parameters with respect to the time of measurement at a particular location and its variation at different locations within the groin field at a particular instant of time are presented and discussed in detail in this paper. It is generally found that the wave heights follow the Weibull distribution.     

The role of organic coatings in the enrichment of marine particles with selenium. The fixation of selenite on an adsorbed amino acid

The enrichment of marine particles with selenium cannot be explained as that with metals present in cationic form by complexation with anionic functional groups of adsorbed organic matter. Physicochemical data obtained using a model system are reported. The surface of the particles is modelized by a mercury electrode whose surface charge density can be easily changed, covered by a layer of adsorbed polymers. Studies with different kinds of macromolecules and salts show a specific interaction between adsorbed polyalanine and selenite. The results can be explained by the concordance of the distances between two oxygen atoms in this oxyanion and between two amine groups of the adsorbed polypeptide. A similar mechanism could occur in marine aggregates whatever their nature, as long as they contain amine groups at their surface which result in this concordance. Some prospects derived from the results are discussed.     

Mediterranean outflow through the Strait of Gibraltar since 18,000 Years B.P.: Mineralogical and geochemical arguments

Data obtained from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of piston and gravity cores, recovered from an area off Lisbon (Portugal) to the Alboran Sea (Mediterranean), serve as a basis for better understanding the past 18,000 years of hydrological exchanges at Gibraltar. Tracers used in this study are smectite, kaolinite, Ta, Th, La. One of the primary sources of particles both into and out of the Mediterranean is the Guadalquivir River. These particles are transported back into the Atlantic in the Mediterranean outflow water, and deposited along the Iberian slope. No evidence for reversal of this outflow current was found in those cores, since 18,000 years B.P.