Identification of Permian palaeowind direction from wave-dominated lacustrine sediments (Lodève Basin, France)

Lacustrine environments are an excellent indicator of continental palaeoclimate. In particular, the sedimentary record of waves in lakes may be used to constrain atmospheric palaeocirculation. Wave ripples have been identified in a Permian lacustrine basin (the Salagou Formation, 260–250 Ma, Lodève Basin) located in the southern French Massif Central, part of the western European Hercynian mountain chain. Wave ripple patterns are interpreted with regards to hydrodynamics and water palaeodepth. It is shown that, in the case of the Salagou Formation, wave ripple orientations were controlled by the direction of the prevailing palaeowind. The Late Permian wind blew from between north and 20° east of north, possibly over several millions of years and certainly throughout the period of deposition of about 2000 m of strata in the Lodève Basin. Permian lacustrine sedimentation is widespread and well preserved on the Earth's surface and so wave ripple data may help constrain numerical modelling of the Earth's past climates, especially with regards to Permian times outside of desert regions.     

Coagulation and transport of sediments in the Gironde Estuary

The distribution of suspended particle size and concentration were measured along the Gironde Estuary, France, from the river seaward to the ocean. The suspended particle size and volume concentration were measured using in situ holography and onboard optical techniques utilizing special procedures in order to avoid floc breakage. Sediments discharged by the rivers coagulate upon encountering the very low salinities (0.2‰ of the upper estuary (confirmed with laboratory experiments), and are then transported and deposited by currents in the remainder of the estuary. This coagulation, coupled with estuarine circulation, produces a turbidity maximum which is offset between the surface and bottom waters. The floc size maximum is oceanward of the turbidity maximum and is, likewise, offset along the estuary by about 30 km. The estuary can be subdivided into the following zones: (1) coagulation; (2) hydrodynamic, landward of the null point; and (3) hydrodynamic, seaward of the null point. Initial coagulation appears to be completed in coagulation zone (1), and particles are transported and settled (with very little floc breakage and recoagulation) in zones (2) and (3) only. The floc settling velocities, coupled with estuarine circulation, control the concentration and size distributions of flocs in the water column, and eventually control the deposition of sediments.     

Flow speed and calving rate of Kongsbreen glacier, Svalbard, using SPOT images

Kongsbreen, a tide-water glacier located in Kongsfjorden, is the most active calving glacier in Svalbard. Three SPOT images are used to determine its flow speed and calving rate. The position of fourteen reference points was determined on the coast or mountain sides, and the changes in position of 144 characteristic features on the glacier surface were calculated. The obtained speed profiles arc consistent with the findings from previous works from 1962-64 and 1983-86. When comparing the obtained longitudinal profile to the data from 1962–64. it is found that the flow velocity at a given distance from the front has been nearly constant.
The results from the SPOT images analysis are completed by using existing topographic works. The present study shows that SPOT images (panchromatic as well as multichannel), recorded with a periodicity of one year, can be used to determine precisely the annual flow speed and calving rate of active glaciers such as Kongsbreen. Images recorded with a periodicity of two, three or four weeks can allow identical determination on tide-water glaciers during a surging active phase.     

THE CLASSROOM AS THE FIELD FOR STUDYING GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION

ABSTRACT. Recent attempts by U.S. politicians to reform the nation'sschools have shifted the goal of education to school accountability as assessed in standardized testing. Such an emphasis undermines geographical education in schools because of geography'ssuperficial representation in tests and in the social studies curriculum. Fieldwork done in the classroom can point to means of circumventing this dilemma. Collaborative fieldwork between college faculty members and public‐school teachers has the potential for adding geography to the social studies curriculum in a substantive way. Work conducted jointly by Hartwick College and the Oneonta (New York) Middle School exemplifies such a partnership.     

La sédimentation argileuse depuis l'Eocène sur le plateau Vøring et à son voisinage, d'après le Leg 38 DSDP (Mer de Norvège)

The study of clays from sites 338 to 343 enables the main lines of the palaeogeographical evolution of the Vøring plateau, off Norway, to be determined. The following stages are proposed: (1) In early Eocene sediments, clays provide evidence of erosion of the Scandinavian shield; detrital primary minerals (illite, chlorite) derived from crystalline rocks are dominant. This erosion results from tectonic movements coeval with the opening of the Norwegian basin. The rejuvenation of marginal relief hinders pedogenesis, which is only indicated by the presence of minerals coming from the few soils which are developed. (2) From the Middle Eocene, primary minerals decrease while smectite becomes dominant. This trend increases through the late Eocene and at the beginning of the Middle Oligocene, where only smectite is present. During this period the basin margins are stabilized after the initial movements. In essentially pelagic marine sediments, the smectite seems to be derived from volcanic rocks. (3) During the Middle Oligocene and early to Middle Miocene, smectite is always dominant, but primary minerals reappear, with mixed-layers indicating a moderate continental alteration. This composition suggests a modification of the climate, mainly marked by an increase in humidity. (4) In Pliocene and Plio-Pleistocene sediments, primary minerals are dominant, while smectite decreases. The glacial climate is responsible for this mineralogy. Detrital minerals would come from the erosion of Scandinavian moraines and from rafting by icebergs.     

Late Ordovician climbing‐dune cross‐stratification: a signature of outburst floods in proglacial outwash environments?

Climbing dune‐scale cross‐statification is described from Late Ordovician paraglacial successions of the Murzuq Basin (SW Libya). This depositional facies is comprised of medium‐grained to coarse‐grained sandstones that typically involve 0·3 to 1 m high, 3 to 5 m in wavelength, asymmetrical laminations. Most often stoss‐depositional structures have been generated, with preservation of the topographies of formative bedforms. Climbing‐dune cross‐stratification related to the migration of lower‐flow regime dune trains is thus identified. Related architecture and facies sequences are described from two case studies: (i) erosion‐based sandstone sheets; and (ii) a deeply incised channel. The former characterized the distal outwash plain and the fluvial/subaqueous transition of related deltaic wedges, while the latter formed in an ice‐proximal segment of the outwash plain. In erosion‐based sand sheets, climbing‐dune cross‐stratification results from unconfined mouth‐bar deposition related to expanding, sediment‐laden flows entering a water body. Within incised channels, climbing‐dune cross‐stratification formed over eddy‐related side bars reflecting deposition under recirculating flow conditions generated at channel bends. Associated facies sequences record glacier outburst floods that occurred during early stages of deglaciation and were temporally and spatially linked with subglacial drainage events involving tunnel valleys. The primary control on the formation of climbing‐dune cross‐stratification is a combination between high‐magnitude flows and sediment supply limitations, which lead to the generation of sediment‐charged stream flows characterized by a significant, relatively coarse‐grained, sand‐sized suspension‐load concentration, with a virtual absence of very coarse to gravelly bedload. The high rate of coarse‐grained sand fallout in sediment‐laden flows following flow expansion throughout mouth bars or in eddy‐related side bars resulted in high rates of transfer of sands from suspension to the bed, net deposition on bedform stoss‐sides and generation of widespread climbing‐dune cross‐stratification. The later structure has no equivalent in the glacial record, either in the ancient or in the Quaternary literature, but analogues are recognized in some flood‐dominated depositional systems of foreland basins.     

Le soutien de crue mobile dans le Fleuve Sénégal, à partir du barrage de Manantali

Résumé

Parmi les objectifs assignés au barrage de Manantali sur le Bafing, le soutien de pointe de crue, indispensable pour le maintien des cultures traditionnelles de décrue dans la vallée du Sénégal, concurrence gravement les autres besoins lors des années déficitaires en eau: baisse de production électrique et diminution des réserves d'eau destinées à l'irrigation. On propose ici des règles permettant de réaliser un soutien de crue mobile relativement économique en eau, coïncidant avec une pointe de débit sur les affluents non contrôlés pour lesquels on envisage une prévision à l'horizon 10 jours. On montre par simulation numérique au pas de temps journalier que le soutien mobile, comparé au soutien à date fixe, permet de faire en période sèche un gain important de production électrique, tout en conservant une fréquence de crue “correcte”, supérieure à celle du régime naturel.