Groundwater management in France

Groundwater, like other extensive natural and renewable resources, easily accessible and, at the same time, vulnerable, has to be managed so as to reconcile the unique resource with its many users, and its long-term preservation with short-term utilization requirements. Under the natural, legal, and economic conditions prevailing in France, where groundwater constitutes a large part of water production and resources, where there are tens of thousands of economic developers and users of a few hundred natural groundwater management units, such management concerns these users as well as the public and collective authorities that control the users' activities for the common present and future good of all. Legislative, financial, and educational means are applied simultaneously to preserve and protect the quality and quantily of the groundwater and at times to encourage its use and stimulate its development.     

The Roermond earthquake of 13 April 1992, the Netherlands: geological aspects

The epicentre of the Roermond earthquake is located near the western boundary fault of the Roer valley trough, one of the deepest and the most active in the Quaternary part of the Lower Rhine graben. The Late Pleistocene and Holocene activity of the trough is manifested by offsets of the main (Mindel) and the lower (Riss and Late Pleistocene) terraces along the boundary faults.
Surface fractures have been observed in an area of more than 50 km²: 2.5–3.5 km to the north of the town of Roermond, at 0.8 km to the south of the village of Herkenbosch and in the southeastern part of the village of Montfort. Three types of ruptures were differentiated: scarps up to 50 cm high along open fractures near the Maas River; open fractures (continued by scarps in some places) and open fractures with a liquefaction of the Quaternary alluvium sands. The last type is predominant. The location of the ruptures depends on the landscape and water-table of the region. While they could be produced solely by hydraulic shock during the earthquake (increased by the wet spring season), the majority of the ruptures strike N50°W ± 10°, i.e. parallel to the main trough faults, or N55°E ± 10°, along 'neotectonic lines', parallel to the Maas valley and deduced from space imagery. Thus, the ruptures could be the secondary surficial effect of the earthquake, linked indirectly with the active tectonics of the region.     

What can we learn about crustal structure from thermal data?

Thermal data represent a valuable remote sensing aid in studying crustal evolution. Heat flow (Q) results from the heat loss by the cooling earth and from the heat production ( A ) of the radiogenic elements brought to the upper crust by magmatic intrusives. Heat flow is often observed to be linearly related to heat production. The slope of this relation, or thermal depth (D), has been used to infer a global upward enrichment in heat-producing elements. This thermal depth has been equated with the thickness of granites, but such an interpretation has not been confirmed everywhere. The depth to which granitic plutons are rooted can be computed from the inversion of gravity data. It averages 7±2 km and is much smaller than the thermal depth. Granulite facies rocks are assumed to be present in the lower crust on the basis of seismic and geochemical data. These rocks are generally depleted or initially poor in radiogenic elements (U, Th, K). It is suggested that the thermal depth reflects the depth to the depleted layer in continental regions and that it corresponds to the granulitic layer in most places. Worldwide thermal and seismic data support this relationship, although surface heterogeneities introduce complications. Thermal data can therefore be used to constrain the structure of the crust and its evolution through time.     

Palaeolatitudes from DSDP Leg 73 sediment cores. implications for the apparent polar wander path for Africa during the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Summary. Palaeolatitudes estimated from DSDP sediments provide important constraints on the apparent polar wander path (APWP) of Africa during the Cenozoic. A revised APWP is suggested based on new information about palaeomagnetic poles from the African continent and predicted palaeolatitudes are compared with those determined from Leg 73 sediments. Other published paths are discussed.     

On the detectability of H2S in Jupiter

The influence of hydrogen sulfide, a still-undetected key molecule for the Jovian atmospheric chemistry in the infrared spectrum, was investigated. Synthetic spectra including various vertical distribution profiles of H₂S have been computed and compared with observational data for Jupiter in the 2- to 15-cm^?1 and 1160- to 1200-cm^?1 spectral ranges. No firm conclusion about the presence of H₂S can be drawn from the latter spectral region because of large uncertainties in gaseous opacities. In the microwave range, H₂S is found to be a possible candidate to explain the measurements. Constraints to its vertical distribution which would imply a significant supersaturation in the troposphere are derived. Physical and chemical processes involving H₂S in the atmosphere are discussed in the light of this hypothesis.     

Analysis of the impulsive phase of a solar flare at submillimeter wavelengths

We present a report on the strong X5.3 solar flare which occurred on 25 August 2001, producing high-level γ-ray activity, nuclear lines and a dramatic long-duration white-light continuum. The bulk of millimeter radio fluxes reached a peak of ∼100 000 solar flux units at 89.4 GHz, and a few thousands of solar flux units were detected in the submillimeter range during the impulsive phase. In this paper we focus on and discuss (i) the implications inferred from high frequency radio observations during the impulsive phase; (ii) the dynamics of the low corona active region during the impulsive phase. In particular we found that 4–5 × 10³⁶ accelerated (>20 keV) electrons s⁻¹ radiating in a 1000–1100 G region, are needed to explain the millimeter to submillimeter-wave emissions. We present evidence that the magnetic field in the active region was very dynamic, and that strong non-thermal processes were triggered by the appearance of new, compact, low-lying (few thousand kilometers) loop systems, suggesting the acceleration site(s) were also located in the low solar atmosphere.     

Radar observations of asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36)

Abstract— We observed 25143 Itokawa, the target of Japan's Hayabusa (MUSES‐C) sample‐return mission, during its 2001 close approach at Arecibo on twelve dates during March 18‐April 9 and at Goldstone on nine dates during March 20‐April 2. We obtained delay‐Doppler images with range resolutions of 100 ns (15 m) at Arecibo and 125 ns (19 m) at Goldstone. Itokawa's average circular polarization ratio at 13 cm, 0.26 ± 0.04, is comparable to that of Eros, so its cm‐to‐m surface roughness probably is comparable to that on Eros. Itokawa's radar reflectivity and polarization properties indicate a near‐surface bulk density within 20% of 2.5 g cm^?3. We present a preliminary estimate of Itokawa's shape, reconstructed from images with rather limited rotation‐phase coverage, using the method of Hudson (1993) and assuming the lightcurve‐derived spin period (12.132 hr) and pole direction (ecliptic long., lat. = 355°, ?84°) of Kaasalainen et al. (2003). The model can be described as a slightly asymmetrical, slightly flattened ellipsoid with extents along its principal axes of 548 times 312 times 276 m ± 10%. Itokawa's topography is very subdued compared to that of other asteroids for which spacecraft images or radar reconstructions are available. Similarly, gravitational slopes on our Itokawa model average only 9° and everywhere are less than 27°. The radar‐refined orbit allows accurate identification of Itokawa's close planetary approaches through 2170. If radar ranging planned for Itokawa's 2004 apparition succeeds, then tracking of Hayabusa during its 2005 rendezvous should reveal Yarkovsky perturbation of the asteroid's orbit.     

Lowland rainforest response to hydrological changes during the last 1500 years in Gabon, Western Equatorial Africa

Pollen and δ¹³C_TOM data obtained from two contrasting lake sequences (Lakes Kamalété and Nguène), located 200 km apart in the lowland rainforest of Gabon, provide complementary local and regional 1500-yr records of high resolution (15–30 yr) vegetation change. A combination of aquatic, semi-aquatic and terrestrial pollen showed in both records that the tropical rainforest increased during periods of high rainfall and decreased during drought intervals. The strong fluctuations of water balance at decadal scale during the “Medieval Warm Period” ( 1100–800 cal yr BP) coincided with a noticeable increase in shade-intolerant taxa, indicating recurring rainforest canopy disturbance. The δ¹³C_TOM signal showed high-amplitude variations in both records, which positively correlates with the rainforest dynamics and local vegetation changes. The similar trends in both the pollen and the δ¹³C_TOM signals between these sites demonstrate the regional broadly synchronous timing of shifting hydrological conditions. The largely positive co-variation between strong fluctuations of hydrological conditions and changes in rainforest structure and composition indicate that regional climatic change is probably the driving force for major rainforest dynamics in Gabon. Any significant anthropogenic impact on vegetation has not been clearly identified, and this issue still needs to be resolved independently by obtaining detailed archeological records across the interval 1400–800 BP, which currently seem to be extremely rare or not easily available.