Halocinèse précoce associée au rifting jurassique dans l'Atlas central de Tunisie (région de Majoura–El Hfay)

Seismic and sequence stratigraphy analyses, petroleum-well control and surface data studies of the Majoura–El Hfay region in the Central Atlas of Tunisia had led to identify and calibrate Jurassic seismic horizons. Seismic stratigraphic sections, seismic tectonics analyses, isochron and isopach mapping of Jurassic sequences show a differentiated structuring of platform and depocentre blocks limited by deep-seated NE–SW, north–south east–west and NW–SE faults intruded by Upper Triassic salt. The early salt migration seems to have started by the platform fracturing during the Lower Liassic rifting event. These movements are fossilized by thickness variations of Jurassic horizons, aggrading and retrograding onlap and toplap structures between subsiding rim-syncline gutters and high platform flanks intruded by salt pillows and domes. The salt migration is also attested by Middle and Upper Jurassic space depocentre migrations. Around the Majoura–El Hfay study blocks bounded by master faults, Triassic salt have pierced the Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary cover in a salt diapir extrusion and salt wall structures. To cite this article: D. Tanfous Amri et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

GIS and multi-criteria analysis to select potential sites of agro-industrial complex

The selection of the potential sites to the creation of an agro-industrial complex requires a large amount of spatial information. Geographical information systems are capable of managing this information, providing the ability to integrate multiple layers of information and deriving new ones. This study incorporates environmental, social, economic, geological and infrastructural data. A multi-criteria analysis is performed to select the potential sites to the creation of an agro-industrial complex in the city of Sfax (the southern coast of Tunisia). The comparison by pair method adopted in this paper, based on a linear combination pondered after having assigned to every factor of decision a coefficient of level-headedness, creates many scenarios among which we selected the sustainable development one. This scenario assigned the highest weight to the economical, environmental and social factors (0.3 for each factor), which shows the presence of nine suitable sectors for the creation of an agro-industrial complex. The ELECTRE method enabled us to make a site ordering for the identification of the most three appropriate sites.     

Kepler’s celestial two-body equation: a second attempt to establish a continuous and integrable solution via the <Emphasis Type="Italic">BPES</Emphasis>: Boubaker Polynomials Expansion Scheme

The propagation of nonlinear waves in warm dusty plasmas with variable dust charge, two-temperature ions, and nonthermal electrons is studied. By using the reductive perturbation theory, the Kadomtsev–Petviashivili (KP) equation is derived. The energy of the soliton has been calculated. By using standard normal modes analysis a linear dispersion relation has been obtained. The effects of variable dust charge on the energy of the soliton and the angular frequency of the linear wave are also discussed. It is shown that the amplitude of solitary waves of the KP equation diverges at the critical values of plasma parameters. We derive solitons of a modified KP equation with finite amplitude in this situation.     

Evaluation of hydrocarbon pollution in marine sediments of Sfax coastal areas from the Gabes Gulf of Tunisia,Mediterranean Sea

The Tunisian environmental legislation that follows the EC Directives requires monitoring of persistent, toxic and bio-accumulated substances commonly considered as hazardous substances. In order to comply with this requirement, samples of sea water, sediment and biota from the urbanized and industrialized coast line of Sfax city are investigated. This study presents the results of petroleum hydrocarbon content, distribution and probable origin (anthropogenic and/or biogenic) in 16 intertidal sediments of Sfax coastal area. Alkane distribution indices and hydrocarbon distribution patterns are used to identify natural and anthropogenic input. Non-aromatic hydrocarbons present a high concentration with a range varying from 180 to 1,400 μg/g of dry sediment. The total concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) varied from 0.41 to 5.6 μg/g dry weight. These concentrations are comparable to other marine areas that receive important inputs. n-Alkanes with carbon number ranging from 15 to 35 are identified to be derived from both biogenic and anthropogenic sources in varying proportions. Pristane/phytane ratio shows values lower than 1.4 suggesting the presence of petroleum contamination. This is confirmed by the presence of a large group of unresolved complex mixture and the identification of hopanes with predominant C29 and C30 compounds and steranes with predominance of C27 over C28 and C29 compounds. Ratios of selected PAH concentrations indicate petrogenic and pyrolytic origin of hydrocarbons. Anthropogenic hydrocarbon inputs were more apparent at sites associated with industrial discharges, shipping activities and sewage outfalls.     

Distribution of the plankton assemblages during the winter and summer along the southern coast of the Kerkennah Islands (Tunisia,Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

We studied the distribution of microphytoplankton, ciliates and mesozooplankton in relation to environmental factors in the coastal waters around the Kerkennah Islands. Diatom species were more abundant in winter, representing 74% of the total microphytoplankton abundance, whereas dinoflagellate abundance was higher in summer (58%). Naked ciliates dominated during the winter (73%) and loricate ciliates dominated during the summer (67%). Copepods were the most abundant mesozooplankton group present during the entire period of study, comprising 93%–98% of the total mesozooplankton community. The results indicate that (i) species distribution differed significantly between winter and summer, (ii) environmental factors such as temperature, salinity and nutrients influenced plankton assemblages; and (iii) the highest abundance of several pollution indicator species was due to direct exposure to the polluted coast of Sfax and the effect of tidal asymmetries generating nutrient‐rich inputs from the city.     

Even-numbered <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-alkanes/<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-alkenes predominance in surface sediments of Gabes Gulf in Tunisia

We investigated the mineral composition and trace element contents of dustfall with different deposited phases at the Minqin Oasis, in China’s Hexi Corridor. The contents of elements such as Pb, Cd, Cu, As, Sb, Se, Rb, Cs, and Ba (believed to be of anthropogenic origin) indicated that the significance of human impacts on dust emissions increased from 1970s to the early 2000s. However, variations in the content of elements including Sc, Mn, Na, Cr, V, Eu, Ce, Nb, Zr, La, and Ce (believed to originate from natural processes such as physical and chemical weathering) show no obvious changes in the major potential dust source areas (PSAs) in this region. In addition, analysis of the assemblage of trace elements in dustfall indicated that the elements assumed to originate from anthropogenic and natural processes appear to be intertwined, leading to difficulties and uncertainties in identifying the PSAs and evaluating the significance of human impacts on dust emissions. Comparisons of the element contents of dustfall collected in Beijing and Minqin with similar data for Beijing show that under different conditions some differences in ranges are permitted; the contents of most trace elements were similar even though the dustfall in the two areas came from different sources. These results suggest that before attempting to identify major PSAs, researchers should perform an integrated analysis that includes the mineral, elemental, geomorphological, vegetation cover, climatic conditions, and other characteristics of the regions being studied.     

Application of the BPES to Lane–Emden equations governing polytropic and isothermal gas spheres

We apply the Boubaker Polynomials Expansion Scheme (BPES) in order to obtain analytical–numerical solutions to two separate Lane–Emden problems: the Lane–Emden initial value problem of the first kind (describing the gravitational potential of a self-gravitating spherically symmetric polytropic gas), the Lane–Emden initial value problem of the second kind (describing isothermal gas spheres embedded in a pressurized medium at the maximum possible mass allowing for hydrostatic equilibrium). Both types of problems are simultaneously singular and nonlinear, and hence can be challenging to solve either numerically or analytically. We find that the BPES allows us to compute numerical solutions to both types of problems, and an error analysis demonstrates the accuracy of the method. In all cases, we demonstrate that relative error can be controlled to less than 1%. Furthermore, we compare our results to those of Hunter (2001). [Hunter, C., 2001. Series solutions for polytropes and the isothermal sphere. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 328 839–847] and Mirza (2009). Approximate analytical solutions of the Lane–Emden equation for a self-gravitating isothermal gas sphere. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 395 2288–2291. in order to demonstrate the accuracy of our method.     

Geotechnical properties of dredged marine sediments treated at high water/cement ratio

Cement and lime are widely employed in soil and sediment treatment for an improvement of geotechnical properties, such as an increase in mechanical strength which enables beneficial use in various geotechnical applications. In this study, fine organic-rich dredged harbour sediments of 120% relative water content were treated with dry cement at contents varying between 2% and 10% of bulk sediment wet weight. Tests based on assessments of one-dimensional compression and Atterberg limits were performed on untreated and cement-treated sediments for various curing periods, as well as grain-size, SEM and X-ray diffraction analyses. The results confirm that increasing the cement content improves the geotechnical properties of these harbour sediments. Already in the early phase of curing (first 3 days of curing), particle size increases while sediment plasticity decreases. Changes in the compressibility behaviour include an increase in apparent preconsolidation pressure, in the compression index C _c and in the primary consolidation coefficient C _v, and a decrease in the secondary compression index . This means that the new materials are characterized by a behaviour intermediate between that of fine and that of coarser soils.     

Coupling of phytoplankton and ciliate biomasses to environmental factors along the north coast of Sfax (Tunisia,Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

The phytoplankton and ciliate biomasses coupled with environmental factors were investigated in 15 transects in north coasts of Sfax (Tunisia, Eastern Mediterranean Sea) in July 2007. The phytoplankton biomass was dominated by Bacillariophyceae (89.66%), followed by Dinophyceae (10.07%), Coccolithophorideae (0.96%), Cyanobacteriae (0.21%), Chlorophyceae (0.03%) and Euglenophyceae (0.01%). Coscinodiscus sp. (93.26%) was the most abundant species of Bacillariophyceae group and associated with a high nutrient availability. Ciliate biomass was highly variable, with a large dominance of Spirotrichea, up to 96.2%. Biomass followed distinct patterns because of differences in the observed organism biovolumes. The spatial distribution of the ciliates biomass seems to be dependent on environmental factors and probably on their capacity to exploit a wide range of food resources including phytoplankton. The pollution generated by the phosphate-treating manufactory influenced the spatial phytoplankton and ciliate community’s distribution and their diversity along the north coast of Sfax.     

Impacts of an uncontrolled phosphogypsum dumpsite on summer distribution of phytoplankton, copepods and ciliates in relation to abiotic variables along the near-shore of the southwestern Mediterranean coast

In connection with the Taparura Project, studies of spatial distribution of the crustacean zooplankton community, nutrients, phytoplankton and ciliates were conducted in July 2007 at 45 stations spread over fifteen transects along the coast north of Sfax. The results showed that the N/P ratio was lower than the Redfield ratio, suggesting potential N limitation. Phytoplankton was characterised by the proliferation of several diatoms, while ciliates were largely dominated by spirotrichs. Copepods were the most abundant zooplankton present during the entire study period, comprising 61% of the total zooplankton community. Twelve copepod families were identified at every station, with a high percentage of Oithonidae (77% of copepods) dominated by Oithona nana. The abundance of this species was correlated with that of diatoms, Cocoolithophorideae and ciliated Colpodea, suggesting that O. nana may feed on a wide range of prey. Despite human pressure and industrial activities, the coastal waters north of Sfax showed a wide diversity of phytoplankton, ciliates and zooplankton.