Réponse hydrologique d’un bassin semi-aride aux événements pluviométriques et aménagements de versant (bassin du Merguellil,Tunisie centrale)

RÉSUMÉ

L’influence cumulée des aménagements de versants sur les écoulements en zones semi-arides demeure peu étudiée et comprise à l’échelle de grands bassins versants. En Tunisie centrale, nous étudions les variations de la réponse hydrologique du bassin du Merguellil à l’échelle annuelle et pour 114 événements entre 1989 et 2010. Sur cette période, les aménagements de conservation des eaux et des sols ont progressivement drainé de 5% à 30% des surfaces du bassin. L’analyse statistique révèle la forte variabilité des pluies et des débits annuels, mais ne distingue aucune tendance déficitaire. L’approche événementielle démontre que les variations des écoulements annuels sont liées aux apports générés par un nombre très limité (cinq à six par an en moyenne) d’épisodes pluvieux supérieurs à 15 mm. Le nombre très variable de ces évènements ainsi que les écarts importants observés sur leur coefficient de ruissellement (K_R) respectif sont déterminants sur les apports annuels. Pour les événements de plus de 60 mm, les différences d’intensités pluviométriques, de couvert végétal et d’humidité du sol réduisent le ruissellement jusqu’à 80%. Toutefois, les K_R d’averses de moins de 40 mm, sur des sols au couvert végétal et d’humidité semblables, ont également diminué de 45% après l’extension des aménagements de CES à la fin des années 1990.     

Long Wave Resonance in Tropical Oceans and Implications on Climate: the Atlantic Ocean

Based on the well established importance of long, non-dispersive baroclinic Kelvin and Rossby waves, a resonance of tropical planetary waves is demonstrated. Three main basin modes are highlighted through joint wavelet analyses of sea surface height (SSH) and surface current velocity (SCV), scale-averaged over relevant bands to address the co-variability of variables: (1) a 1-year period quasi-stationary wave (QSW) formed from gravest mode baroclinic planetary waves which consists of a northern, an equatorial and a southern antinode, and a major node off the South American coast that straddles the north equatorial current (NEC) and the north equatorial counter current (NECC), (2) a half-a-year period harmonic, (3) an 8-year sub-harmonic. Contrary to what is commonly accepted, the 1-year period QSW is not composed of wind-generated Kelvin and Rossby beams but results from the excitation of a tuned basin mode. Trade winds sustain a free tropical basin mode, the natural frequency of which is tuned to synchronize the excitation and the ridge of the QSWs. The functioning of the 1-year period basin mode is confirmed by solving the momentum equations, expanding in terms of Fourier series both the coefficients and the forcing terms. The terms of Fourier series have singularities, highlighting resonances and the relation between the resonance frequency and the wavenumbers. This ill-posed problem is regularized by considering Rayleigh friction. The waves are supposed to be semi-infinite, i.e. they do not reflect at the western and eastern boundaries of the basin, which would assume the waves vanish at these boundaries. At the western boundary the equatorial Rossby wave is deflected towards the northern antinode while forming the NECC that induces a positive Doppler-shifted wavenumber. At the eastern boundary, the Kelvin wave splits into coastal Kelvin waves that flow mainly southward to leave the Gulf of Guinea. In turn, off-tropical waves extend as an equatorially trapped Kelvin wave, being deflected off the western boundary. The succession of warm and cold waters transferred by baroclinic waves during a cycle leaves the tropical ocean by radiation and contributes to western boundary currents. The main manifestation of the basin modes concerns the variability of the NECC, of the branch of the South Equatorial Current (SEC) along the equator, of the western boundary currents as well as the formation of remote resonances, as will be presented in a future work. Remote resonances occur at midlatitudes, the role of which is suspected of being crucial in the functioning of subtropical gyres and in climate variability.     

Spatial multi-objective land use optimization: extensions to the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II

A spatial multi-objective land use optimization model defined by the acronym ‘NSGA-II-MOLU’ or the ‘non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II for multi-objective optimization of land use’ is proposed for searching for optimal land use scenarios which embrace multiple objectives and constraints extracted from the requirements of users, as well as providing support to the land use planning process. In this application, we took the MOLU model which was initially developed to integrate multiple objectives and coupled this with a revised version of the genetic algorithm NSGA-II which is based on specific crossover and mutation operators. The resulting NSGA-II-MOLU model is able to offer the possibility of efficiently searching over tens of thousands of solutions for trade-off sets which define non-dominated plans on the classical Pareto frontier. In this application, we chose the example of Tongzhou New Town, China, to demonstrate how the model could be employed to meet three conflicting objectives based on minimizing conversion costs, maximizing accessibility, and maximizing compatibilities between land uses. Our case study clearly shows the ability of the model to generate diversified land use planning scenarios which form the core of a land use planning support system. It also demonstrates the potential of the model to consider more complicated spatial objectives and variables with open-ended characteristics. The breakthroughs in spatial optimization that this model provides lead directly to other properties of the process in which further efficiencies in the process of optimization, more vivid visualizations, and more interactive planning support are possible. These form directions for future research.     

Neoproterozoic–Devonian stratigraphic evolution of the eastern Murzuq Basin,Libya: a tale of tilting in the central Sahara

The Murzuq Basin is one of the most petroliferous basins of North Africa. Its remote eastern flank has been largely ignored since early reconnaissance work in the 1950s and 1960s. This article presents new stratigraphic and sedimentological data on the Neoproterozoic through Devonian succession from the Mourizidie and Dor el Gussa regions. The Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Mourizidie and Hasawnah formations in the eastern part of the Mourizidie region dip to the east and north‐east, resting directly on late Precambrian metasediments and granitoids. These strata record the initial progradation of sand‐dominated braidplain systems upon peneplained Precambrian basement. Rhyolite clasts in the Hasawnah Formation may record tectonically driven uplift and unroofing in the southern Tibesti Massif or tectonomagmatic rejuvenation to the south of this massif. In the western part of the Mourizidie region, Late Ordovician through Silurian strata (Mamuniyat and Tanezzuft–Akakus formations) directly overlie late Precambrian metasediments and granitoids, and dip at a low angle towards the west into the Murzuq Basin. Elsewhere at the eastern Murzuq Basin flank, in Dor el Gussa, Late Ordovician glaciogenic sediments rest with angular unconformity upon shallow marine sandstones of Cambrian–Ordovician age. This angular unconformity may also occur in the Mourizidie region and indicates widespread tectonism, either as a result of a Middle–Late Ordovician orogenic event, far‐field tectonism related to the opening of the Rheic Ocean along the northern margin of Gondwana or alternatively crustal depression associated with the growth of Late Ordovician ice sheets. Unconformity development was also probably associated with glacial incision. Following ice sheet retreat, isostatic rebound during deglaciation resulted in uplift of tens to hundreds of metres, locally removing all Cambrian and Ordovician formations. Rising sea levels in the Silurian led to deposition of the Tanezzuft Formation on Precambrian basement in the northwestern Mourizidie region.     

Influence of sample location and livestock numbers on Sporormiella concentrations and accumulation rates in surface sediments of Lake Allos, French Alps

Spores of coprophilous fungi, especially Sporormiella, are often well preserved in lake sediment cores. It has been hypothesized that such spores can be used to quantify past livestock abundance. The quantitative relationship between fungal spore abundance and livestock populations, however, is not well established, nor are the mechanisms of spore transport and deposition in lacustrine systems. Multiple cores from Lake Allos, a large high-elevation lake in the French Alps, were used to map the modern abundance of Sordaria and Sporormiella spores throughout the lake. We observed high spatial heterogeneity with respect to spore numbers. No correlation with the distance from shoreline was found. There was, however, a relation with distance from the two main lake inlets. These results were used to select two fungi-rich sediment cores to investigate grazing pressure over the last two centuries. Comparisons were made between spore influx and historic data on livestock densities in the catchment. A sharp decrease in Sporormiella influx ca. 1894–1895 was associated with a reported reduction in sheep in the Allos catchment at that time. Mean influx of Sporormiella decreased by a factor of three between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, reflecting a reduction in the reported number of animals in the Lake Allos catchment, from 6,000 to 2,000. This study confirmed that Sporormiella spore abundance in lake sediments can be used as a proxy for catchment herbivore numbers in paleoecological reconstructions. Nevertheless, our data indicate that before spore accumulation can be used to infer past domestic herbivore density, one must understand the processes of coprophilous spore transfer from the catchment to the lake and the influence of core location on spore numbers in the sediment.     

Suitability of a lumped rainfall–runoff model for flashy tropical watersheds in New Caledonia

ABSTRACT

The GR4H lumped hourly rainfall–runoff model was assessed for its integration in a ridge-to-reef modelling framework. Particular attention was paid to rainfall representation, robustness of parameter estimates and ability to reproduce the main runoff features. The study was conducted in four tropical mountainous watersheds in New Caledonia, which are exposed to intense rainfall events, large annual climatic variations triggered by El Niño oscillation, and wildfires. The inverse distance and elevation weighting algorithm outperformed other classical rainfall interpolation methods under data-limited conditions. The time span of data needed for robust calibration was site specific and varied from 6–7 years to 10 years, which may be linked to El Niño events and to wildfires. With sufficient data, simulation quality was equivalent during the calibration and validation periods. The GR4H model was generally able to simulate both flash floods and large annual variations. The model was more reliable when simulating wet years and watersheds not subject to land-cover changes.     

Mapping Titan's surface features within the visible spectrum via Cassini VIMS

Titan shows its surface through many methane windows in the 1–5 $\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ region. Windows at shorter wavelengths also exist, polluted by scattering off of atmospheric haze that reduces the surface contrast. At visible wavelengths, the surface of Titan has been observed by Voyager I, the Hubble Space Telescope, and ground-based telescopes. We present here global surface mapping of Titan using the visible wavelength channels from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). We show global maps in each of the VIMS-V channels extending from 0.35 to 1.05 $\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$. We find methane windows at 0.637, 0.681, 0.754, 0.827, 0.937, and $1.046\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ and apply an RGB color scheme to the 0.754, 0.827 and $0.937\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ windows to search for surface albedo variations. Our results show that Titan appears gray at visible wavelengths; hence scattering albedo is a good approximation of the Bond albedo. Maps of this genre have already been made and published using the infrared channels of VIMS. Ours are the first global maps of Titan shortward of $0.938\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$. We compare the older IR maps to the new VIMS-V maps to constrain surface composition. For instance Tui Regio and Hotei Regio, referred to as $5\text{‐}\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ bright spots in previous papers, do not distinguish themselves at all visible wavelengths. The distinction between the dune areas and the bright albedo spots, however, such as the difference between Xanadu and Senkyo, is easily discernible. We employ an empirically derived algorithm to remove haze layers from Titan, revealing a better look at the surface contrast.     

Near-infrared spectroscopic survey of B-type asteroids: Compositional analysis

We present near-infrared spectra of 23 B-type asteroids obtained with the NICS camera-spectrograph at the 3.56 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. We also compile additional visible and near-infrared spectra of another 22 B-type asteroids from the literature. A total of 45 B-types are analyzed. No significant trends in orbital properties of our sample were detected when compared with all known B-types and all known asteroids. The reflectance spectra of the asteroids in the 0.8–2.5 μm range show a continuous shape variation, from a monotonic negative (blue) slope to a positive (red) slope. This continuous spectral trend is filling the gap between the two main groups of B-types published by Clark et al. ([2010]. J. Geophys. Res., 115, 6005–6027). We found no clear correlations between the spectral slope and the asteroids’ sizes or heliocentric distances. We apply a clustering technique to reduce the volume of data to six optimized “average spectra” or “centroids”, representative of the whole sample. These centroids are then compared against meteorite spectra from the RELAB database. We found carbonaceous chondrites as the best meteorite analogs for the six centroids. There is a progressive change in analogs that correlates with the spectral slope: from CM2 chondrites (water-rich, aqueously altered) for the reddest centroid, to CK4 chondrites (dry, heated/thermally altered) for the bluest one.     

The Solar Wind Energy Flux

The solar-wind energy flux measured near the Ecliptic is known to be independent of the solar-wind speed. Using plasma data from Helios, Ulysses, and Wind covering a large range of latitudes and time, we show that the solar-wind energy flux is independent of the solar-wind speed and latitude within 10?%, and that this quantity varies weakly over the solar cycle. In other words the energy flux appears as a global solar constant. We also show that the very high-speed solar wind (V _SW>700?km?s^?1) has the same mean energy flux as the slower wind (V _SW<700?km?s^?1), but with a different histogram. We use this result to deduce a relation between the solar-wind speed and density, which formalizes the anti-correlation between these quantities.     

Two‐stage Variscan metamorphism in the Canigou massif: Evidence for crustal thickening in the Pyrenees

The Variscan metamorphism in the Pyrenees is dominantly of the low‐pressure–high‐temperature (LP‐HT) type. The relics of an earlier, Barrovian‐type metamorphism that could be related to orogenic crustal thickening are unclear and insufficiently constrained. A microstructural and petrological study of micaschists underlying an Ordovician augen orthogneiss in the core of the Canigou massif (Eastern Pyrenees, France) reveals the presence of two syntectonic metamorphic stages characterized by the crystallization of staurolite (M1) and andalusite (M2), respectively. Garnet is stable during the two metamorphic stages with a period of resorption between M1 and M2. The metamorphic assemblages M1 and M2 record similar peak temperatures of 580°C at different pressure conditions of 5.5 and 3 kbar, respectively. Using chemical zoning of garnet and calculated P–T pseudosections, a prograde P–T path is constrained with a peak pressure at ~6.5 kbar and 550°C. This P–T path, syntectonic with respect to the first foliation S1, corresponds to a cold gradient (of ~9°C/km), suggestive of crustal thickening. Resorption of garnet between M1 and M2 can be interpreted either in terms of a simple clockwise P–T path or a polymetamorphic two‐stage evolution. We argue in favour of the latter, where the medium‐pressure (Barrovian) metamorphism is followed by a period of significant erosion and crustal thinning leading to decompression and cooling. Subsequent advection of heat, probably from the mantle, leads to a new increase in temperature, coeval with the development of the main regional fabric S2. LA‐ICP‐MS U–Th–Pb dating of monazite yields a well‐defined date at c. 300 Ma. Petrological evidence indicates that monazite crystallization took place close to the M1 peak pressure conditions. However, the similarity between this age and that of the extensive magmatic event well documented in the eastern Pyrenees suggests that it probably corresponds to the age of monazite recrystallization during the M2 LP‐HT event.