Structural control on surface flow in karstic environment

Aquifer hydrodynamical properties, hydrogeological tracing, mapping and piezometric monitoring characterised underground flow in calcareous environments. Surface flow study during low-water season showed water supply spatial heterogeneity due to calcareous aquifer anisotropy. It also underlined the role of structure on water transfer and exchanges between aquifers and rivers. By controlling the hydraulic gradient between the streams network and the saturated zone, structure compartmentalisation moderated considerably the role of fracture on underground flow. Several examples of calcareous basins from eastern France were studied.     

Vertebrate remains from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) plant-bearing Lagerstätte of Puy-Puy (Charente-Maritime,France)

The vertebrate remains from the early Cenomanian Lagerstätte of Puy-Puy (Tonnay-Charente, Charente-Maritime, France) are described. They consist of two hybodont shark egg capsules (Palaeoxyris sp.) and a single isolated body contour feather. The hybodont shark Tribodus is regarded as the most likely producer of the egg capsules, while the feather belonged to an indeterminate (avian or non-avian) theropod. These rare specimens are the first vertebrate fossils recovered from the plant-bearing clay of Puy-Puy and add to the short faunal list of the locality, thus providing important information for the palaeoecological reconstruction of this mid-Cretaceous paralic Lagerstätte. The fossils described here represent the first Cenomanian occurrence of Palaeoxyris and one of the very few records of Cenomanian feathers.     

Evidence for coelacanths in the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) of England

The right gular plate of an indeterminate coelacanth from the Westbury Formation (Upper Triassic, Rhaetian) of Blue Anchor Point, Somerset, southwest England is reported. This occurrence represents the first convincing evidence of coelacanths from the Triassic of the United Kingdom. The new specimen suggests a fish of approximately 0.61 m length.     

欧洲白垩纪非海相软体动物及其地层分布

本文综述了欧洲白垩纪非海相软体动物群,列出了主要产自英格兰南部、法国和西班牙早白垩世的16个不同沉积层的59个分类单元。淡水动物群以珠蚌类双壳类和田螺类腹足类为主,但在有些地点也存有肺螺类腹足类。这些化石类群与现代类型很相似,说明白垩纪淡水中的水草、氧气与营养环境良好。在欧特里沃期和巴列姆期,淡水与边缘海环境中的动物群组成都发生了显著的变化。欧洲的淡水生物群落早在巴列姆期就已存在,此时的有些类群,如著名的Mar garitifera(s.l.)valdensis在欧洲西部有着广泛的分布。英格兰南部的早白垩世韦尔登群被认为是欧洲最连续的非海相白垩纪地层,其上部的生物群可与西班牙的LasHoyas动物群和法国的Wassy动物群相对比。这3个动物群,以及法国侏罗(汝拉)和英格兰南部波倍克的侏罗纪-白垩纪的过渡生物群——Purbeck动物群,是了解欧洲白垩纪淡水动物群的关键动物群。     

Reconstruction of Late Glacial summer temperatures from chironomid assemblages in Lac Lautrey (Jura,France)

A chironomid–July air temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblages in the surface sediments of 81 Swiss lakes was used to reconstruct Late Glacial July air temperatures at Lac Lautrey (Jura, Eastern France). The transfer‐function was based on weighted averaging–partial least squares (WA‐PLS) regression and featured a leave‐one‐out cross‐validated coefficient of determination (r²) of 0.80, a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 1.53 ° C, and was applied to a chironomid record consisting of 154 samples covering the Late Glacial period back to the Oldest Dryas. The model reconstructed July air temperatures of 11–12 ° C during the Oldest Dryas, increasing temperatures between 14 and 16.5 ° C during the Bølling, temperatures around 16.5–17.0 ° C for most of the Allerød, temperatures of 14–15 ° C during the Younger Dryas and temperatures of ca. 16.5 ° C during the Preboreal. The Lac Lautrey record features a two‐step July air temperature increase after the Oldest Dryas, with an abrupt temperature increase of ca. 3–3.5 ° C at the Oldest Dryas/Bølling transition followed by a more gradual warming between ca. 14 200 and 13 700 BP. The transfer‐function reconstructs a less rapid cooling at the Allerød/Younger Dryas transition than other published records, possibly an artefact caused by the poor analogue situation during the earliest Younger Dryas, and an abrupt warming at the Younger Dryas/Holocene transition. During the Allerød, two centennial‐scale 1.5–2.0 ° C coolings are apparent in the record. Although chronologically not well constrained, the first of these cold events may be synchronous with the beginning of the Gerzensee Oscillation. The second is inferred just before deposition of the Laachersee tephra at Lac Lautrey and is therefore coeval with the end of the Gerzensee Oscillation. In contrast to the Greenland oxygen isotope records, the Lac Lautrey palaeotemperature reconstruction lacks a clearly defined Greenland Interstadial (GI) event 1d and the decreasing temperature trend during the Bølling/Allerød Interstadial. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Territorial inertia versus adaptation to climate change. When local authorities discuss coastal management in a French Mediterranean region

Adaptation to climate change is a critical issue in coastal areas, at risk from sea-level rise, erosion, and sea flooding. In territories strongly urbanized and long oriented toward tourism and a residential economy, a change in coastal management and territorial development is hard to initiate. In Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France), a leading tourism region, this article explores how local authorities perceive climate change and talk about adaptation strategies. Interviews with municipal-level authorities, both elected officials and technical agents, reveal the influence of territorial inertia, with persistent statements promoting the beach- and residential-oriented economy and a wait-and-see attitude regarding climate change. Beach erosion is the only coastal risk interviewees really recognize, while sea-level rise and sea flooding are barely perceived. Yet evidence supporting the possibility of a future change in position is provided by the younger generation of interviewees, who are more aware of environmental challenges. Providing original data for a coastal region often considered as a model of development throughout the world, this article also proposes an original and transferable method combining geographical sampling of municipalities, text statistics and qualitative analysis of interviews, to apprehend the social representations of the coast, of climate change and coastal risks. Such a methodology is recommended prior to any quantitative assessment of climate action at local scale.     

Integrated stratigraphy across the Aptian/Albian boundary at Col de Pré-Guittard (southeast France): A candidate Global Boundary Stratotype Section

The outcrop of the Marnes Bleues at the Col de Pré-Guittard, 11 km north of the village of Rémuzat in the Départment of Drôme in southeastern France is probably the most intensively studied succession spanning the Aptian/Albian boundary interval. Following the rejection of the proposed GSSP for the base of the Albian Stage (based on the first occurrence of the ammonite Leymeriellla tardefurcata in the section at Le Pillart, Tartonne, Alpes-de-Haute Provence), we re-visit the Pré-Guittard section. A new candidate GSSP defined by the first occurrence of the planktonic foraminifera Microhedbergella renilaevis Huber and Leckie, 2011 is here proposed. This first occurrence is placed in a 100 m section with 28 secondary markers, including calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera, palynomorphs, an inoceramid bivalve, ammonites, stable carbon isotopes, and local marker beds. The outcrop fulfils most of the physical criteria required of a Global Stratotype Section and Point.     

Inland aeolian deposits of south‐west France: facies,stratigraphy and chronology

Archaeological investigations undertaken along a proposed highway together with the compilation of available geological and pedological data made it possible to give a first overview of the distribution of Pleistocene aeolian deposits in south‐west France. A chronological framework for deposition has been obtained using both radiocarbon (n = 24) and luminescence (n = 26) dating. It shows that aeolian transport was very active during the Late Pleniglacial, between 15 and ～23 ka, leading to sand emplacement over a 13 000‐m² area at the centre of the basin. The Pleniglacial coversands are typified by extensive fields of small transverse to barchanoid ridges giving way to sandsheets to the east. Subsequent aeolian phases, at ca. 12 ka (Younger Dryas) and 0.8–0.2 ka (Little Ice Age), correspond to the formation of more localized and higher, mainly parabolic dunes. At the southern and eastern margins of the coversand area, aeolian dust accumulated to form loess deposits, the thickness of which reaches ～3 m on the plateaus. Luminescence dates together with interglacial‐ranking palaeoluvisols between the loess units clearly indicate that these accumulations built up during the last two glacial–interglacial cycles. The chronology of sand and loess deposition thus appears to be consistent with that already documented for northern Europe. This suggests that it was driven by global climate changes in the northern hemisphere. The relatively thin aeolian deposits (and particularly loess) in south‐west France is thought to reflect both a supply‐limited system and a moister climate than in more northern and continental regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The importance of local mean time in remote sensing for mapping megatidal zones

The local mean time is rarely debated in applied remote sensing, although it is a key parameter, especially for the geological mapping of coastal areas with high tidal ranges. French test sites are used to illustrate the role of this parameter. Depending from location and for an average time of acquisition of 11:00 UTC, the exposed tidal flat ranges from 55% (Baie des Veys), 80% (Mont Saint-Michel) to 100% (Cap-Ferret). Eight multisource satellite images were used in the Mont Saint-Michel Bay to draw the limit of the sea and evaluate the corresponding tidal flat's surfaces for various times of acquisition. The relation emphasizes some geometrical properties of the lower part of the intertidal zone. A NW–SE profile allows one to identify a distal part with a slope of 0.2% and a proximal part with a slope of only 0.06%. JERS 1-OPS and ALOS-AVNIR-2 data have been also compared to evaluate the progression of the halophytic vegetation, covering more than 6 km² between 1992 and 2007. From a methodological point of view, the ALOS-AVNIR-2 acquired on October 2007 is the first satellite data covering the Mont Saint-Michel Bay with a water elevation of only 2.56 m, i.e. a tidal flat free of water over 80% of its surface.     

法国旅华客源市场特征与拓展分析

中国旅游资源丰富、基础设施完善,中法关系源远流长,这为发展法国旅华市场提供了重要的基础。研究通过对大量资料的梳理,运用定性与定量相结合的方法,从时间角度、旅游者行为角度、空间角度对法国旅华市场进行了相应的特征分析。得出结论:两国关系直接影响到法国旅华游客的数量,中国旅游业对于法国游客不同需求的满足是发展法国旅华市场的重要推动力。最后从旅游宣传推广、提高旅游服务质量和开发特色旅游产品等方面提出了市场拓展建议。