Influence of food supply on the δ13C signature of mollusc shells: implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstitutions

Compared to oxygen isotopes, the carbon isotope composition of biogenic carbonates is less commonly used as proxy for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions because shell δ¹³C is derived from both dissolved inorganic (seawater) and organic carbon sources (food), and interactions between these two pools make it difficult to unambiguously identify any independent effect of either. The main purpose of this study was to demonstrate any direct impact of variable food supply on bivalve shell δ¹³C signatures, using low/high rations of a ¹³C-light mixed algal diet fed to 14-month-old (adult) cultured Japanese Crassostrea gigas under otherwise essentially identical in vitro conditions during 3 summer months (May, June and July 2003, seawater temperature means at 16, 18 and 20 °C respectively) in experimental tanks at the Argenton laboratory along the Brittany Atlantic coast of France. At a daily ration of 12% (versus 4%) oyster dry weight, the newly grown part of the shells (hinge region) showed significantly lower δ¹³C values, by 3.5‰ (high ration: mean of −5.8  ± 1.1‰, n = 10; low ration: mean of −2.3  ± 0.7‰, n = 6; ANOVA Scheffe’s test, p < 0.0001). This can be explained by an enhanced metabolic activity at higher food supply, raising ¹³C-depleted respiratory CO₂ in the extrapallial cavity. Based on these δ¹³C values and data extracted from the literature, and assuming no carbon isotope fractionation between food and shell, the proportion of shell metabolic carbon would be 26  ± 7 and 5  ± 5% for the high- and low-ration C. gigas shells respectively; with carbon isotope fractionation (arguably more realistic), the corresponding values would be 69  ± 14 and 24  ± 9%. Both groups of cultured shells exhibited lower δ¹³C values than did wild oysters from Marennes-Ol éron Bay in the study region, which is not inconsistent with an independent influence of diet type. Although there was no significant difference between the two food regimes in terms of δ¹⁸O shell values (means of 0.1  ± 0.3 and 0.4  ± 0.2‰ at high and low rations respectively, non-significant Scheffe’s test), a positive δ¹³C vs. δ¹⁸O relationship recorded at high rations supports the interpretation of a progressive temperature-mediated rise in metabolic activity fuelled by higher food supply (in this case reflecting increased energy investment in reproduction), in terms not only of δ¹³C (metabolic signal) but also of δ¹⁸O (seawater temperature signal). Overall, whole-shell δ¹⁸O trends faithfully recorded summer/winter variations in seawater temperature experienced by the 17-month-old cultured oysters.     

Use of terrestrial photosieving and airborne topographic LiDAR to assess bed grain size in large rivers: a study on the Rhine River

Most grain size monitoring is still being conducted by manual sampling in the field, which is time consuming and has low spatial representation. Due to new remote sensing methods, some limitations have been partly overcome, but methodological progress is still needed for large rivers as well as in underwater conditions. In this article, we tested the reliability of two methods along the Old Rhine River (France/Germany) to estimate the grain size distribution (GSD) in above-water conditions: (i) a low-cost terrestrial photosieving method based on an automatic procedure using Digital Grain Size (DGS) software and (ii) an airborne LiDAR topo-bathymetric survey. We also tested the ability of terrestrial photosieving to estimate the GSD in underwater conditions. Field pebble counts were performed to compare and calibrate both methods. The results showed that the automatic procedure of terrestrial photosieving is a reliable method to estimate the GSD of sediment patches in both above-water and underwater conditions with clean substrates. Sensitivity analyses showed that environmental conditions, including solar lighting conditions and petrographic variability, significantly influence the GSD from the automatic procedure in above-water conditions. The presence of biofilm in underwater conditions significantly altered the GSD estimation using the automatic procedure, but the proposed manual procedure overcame this problem. The airborne LiDAR topographic survey is an accurate method to estimate the GSD of above-water bedforms and is able to generate grain size maps. The combination of terrestrial photosieving and airborne topographic LiDAR methods is adapted to assess the GSD over several kilometers long reaches of large rivers. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long-term fluvial archives in NW France: response of the Seine and Somme rivers to tectonic movements, climatic variations and sea-level changes

The Seine and the Somme are the two main rivers flowing from northwestern France into the Channel. During the Pleistocene cold stages both rivers were tributaries of the River Manche which was exporting sediments into the central deeps of the Channel. The River Seine has a very well developed terrace system recording incision that began at around 1 Ma. The same age is proposed for the beginning of the main incision in the Somme Valley on the basis of morphostratigraphy, pedostratigraphy, palaeontology, palaeomagnetism and ESR datings. The uplift rate deduced from analysis of the Seine and Somme terrace systems is of 55 to 60 m/Ma since the end of the Lower Pleistocene. The response of the two rivers to climatic variations, uplift and sea-level changes is complex and variable in the different parts of the river courses. For example, the evolution of the lower Seine system is influenced by uplift and climate changes but dominated by sea-level changes. In the middle Seine the system is beyond the impact of sea-level variations and shows a very detailed response to climatic variations during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in a context of uplift. The Somme Valley response appears to be more homogeneous, especially in the middle valley, where the terrace system shows a regular pattern in which incision occurs at the beginning of each glacial period against a general background of uplift. Nevertheless, the lower Somme Valley and the Palaeo-Somme in the Channel area indicate some strong differences compared with the middle valley: influence of sea-level variations and probably differences in rates of tectonic uplift between the Channel and the present continent. The differences in the responses of the two river valleys during the Pleistocene are related to differences in the size of the fluvial basins, to the local tectonic characteristics, to the geometry of the platform connected to the lower parts of the valleys and to the hydrodynamic characteristics of each river. Finally, it is shown from these examples that the multidisciplinary study of Pleistocene rivers is a very efficient tool for the investigation of neotectonic activity.     

Multifold borehole radar acquisition and processing

The multifold acquisition principle was applied to a borehole radar survey, performed in a granitic site (Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland). Two multifold coverage acquisitions (40-fold and 20-fold) were carried out in a subhorizontal borehole. Instrumental drifts (transmission time and sampling frequency fluctuations) were corrected in order to remove shifts observed on CMP gathers and to optimize velocity analysis and trace stacking. Computation of velocity spectra was adapted in order to take into account the features of the medium investigated (homogeneous velocity, various reflector orientations). The NMO velocities were then interpreted as angles between reflectors and the survey line. The processing, based on the computation of several constant velocity stacked sections performed with different NMO velocities, leads to better results than the standard DMO + NMO processing. The signal-to-noise ratio of the stacked profile is improved in comparison with the single-fold section, which results from a standard acquisition. From a practical point of view, the implementation of a multifold radar survey within a borehole is difficult but a greater investigation range is obtained, more reflectors are detected and the mapping of geological discontinuities is improved.     

Temperature dependence of the oxygen isotopic fractionation between diatom silica and water

We present a new paleotemperature scale, based on the oxygen isotopic ratio of the non-exchangeable fraction of the oxygen from diatom silica. The equation t = 17.2 − 2.4 (δ¹⁸O_silica − δ¹⁸O_water − 40) − 0.2 (δ¹⁸O_silica − δ¹⁸O_water − 40)² was derived using recent sediment samples from different oceanic areas, the temperature and isotopic composition of the local surface water. Comparison of our results with other relationships established for quartz-water or amorphous silica-water at higher temperature suggests no difference in isotopic fractionation between quartz-water and biogenic silica-water couples.     

Analysis of turbulent transfers in vegetation: Use of thoron for measuring the diffusivity profiles

Analysis of turbulent transfer inside a vegetative canopy can be realized by means of several methods. In our case, we have used principally the aerodynamic and the thoron methods. The thoron diffusivity profiles show an important distortion in the middle zone of the canopy, below the maximum of leaf area density. This distortion is associated with a maximum source of sensible heat flux at these levels, which partially invalidates the aerodynamic approach.Centre de Physique Atomique et Nucléaire, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.Bioclimatologie, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Route de St. Cyr, Versailles, France.     

Surface heterogeneity of mineralsAnalyse de l'hétérogénéité superficielle des minéraux

The precise study of adsorption mechanisms at solid–liquid interfaces requires a good analysis of the surface heterogeneity of the studied solids. For that purpose, molecular probe technique is one of the most powerful, especially at solid–gas interfaces. Indeed, low-pressure gas adsorption coupled to modelling of derivative adsorption isotherms as a function of logarithm of pressure allows to study qualitatively and quantitatively the effect of surface heterogeneity on the energy distribution of adsorption centres. The present review points out the interests of that approach to determine the shape of particles, the presence of high-energy adsorption sites and the surface polarity. Results comparing adsorption at solid–gas and solid–liquid interfaces are also mentioned. To cite this article: F. Villiéras et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 597–609.     

On the dynamics of the metagalaxy

The dynamical aspects of the metagalactic model are studied. In particular, the consequences of high galaxy and quasar red shifts are considered. A number of explosion mechanisms are investigated and limits are given for the velocities they can produce. In case of constant density in the local rest frame limits are also given for the parameter ₀, for our position in the metagalaxy, and for the initial mass.Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 30 May 1988.