Search results for "Earth science"
showing 10 items of 2419 documents
New P-T-X conditions for the formation of gem tsavorite garnet in the Voi area (southwestern Kenya)
2018
International audience; Tsavorite nodules-bearing deposits from southwestern Kenya are located in the Kurase Group, a metasedimentary unit of the Neoproterozoic Metamorphic Mozambique Belt. This unit is composed of graphitic paragneisses intercalated with metacarbonates and metaevaporites, surrounded by migmatites. The rocks underwent high grade metamorphism at 615-600 Ma. The main goal of this work is to link tsavorite formation to the metamorphic evolution of the Kurase Group. The new thermobarometric data indicate widespread granulite facies conditions at 800 +/- 50 degrees C and 10 +/- 1 kbar, with no significant difference between the tsavorite-bearing metasediments and the surrounding…
Quantifying geological uncertainty in metamorphic phase equilibria modelling; a Monte Carlo assessment and implications for tectonic interpretations
2016
AbstractPseudosection modelling is rapidly becoming an essential part of a petrologist's toolkit and often forms the basis of interpreting the tectonothermal evolution of a rock sample, outcrop, or geological region. Of the several factors that can affect the accuracy and precision of such calculated phase diagrams, “geological” uncertainty related to natural petrographic variation at the hand sample- and/or thin section-scale is rarely considered. Such uncertainty influences the sample's bulk composition, which is the primary control on its equilibrium phase relationships and thus the interpreted pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of formation. Two case study examples—a garnet–cordierit…
A space-time rainfall generator for highly convective Mediterranean rainstorms
2003
Distributed hydrological models require fine resolution rainfall inputs, enhancing the practical interest of space-time rainfall models, capable of generating through numerical simulation realistic space-time rainfall intensity fields. Among different mathematical approaches, those based on point processes and built upon a convenient analytical description of the raincell as the fundamental unit, have shown to be particularly suitable and well adapted when extreme rainfall events of convective nature are considered. Starting from previous formulations, some analytical refinements have been considered, allowing practical generation of space-time rainfall intensity fields for that type of rai…
A Cloud masking algorithm for the XBAER aerosol retrieval using MERIS data
2017
Abstract To determine aerosol optical thickness, AOT, and other geophysical parameters describing conditions in the atmosphere and at the earth's surface by inversion of remote sensing measurements from space based instrumentation, it is necessary to separate ground scenes into cloud free and cloudy or cloud contaminated. Identifying the presence of cloud in a ground scene and establishing an accurate and adequate cloud mask is a challenging task. In this study, measurements by the European Space Agency (ESA) MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) have been used to develop a cloud identification and cloud mask algorithm for preprocessing prior to application of the new algorithm cal…
Retrieval of daily gross primary production over Europe and Africa from an ensemble of SEVIRI/MSG products
2018
The main goal of this paper is to derive a method for a daily gross primary production (GPP) product over Europe and Africa taking the full advantage of the SEVIRI/MSG satellite products from the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) sensors delivered from the Satellite Application Facility for Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF) system. Special attention is paid to model the daily GPP response from an optimized Montheith's light use efficiency model under dry conditions by controlling water shortage limitations from the actual evapotranspiration and the potential evapotranspiration (PET). The PET was parameterized using the mean daily air temperatur…
A multisensor fusion approach to improve LAI time series
2011
International audience; High-quality and gap-free satellite time series are required for reliable terrestrial monitoring. Moderate resolution sensors provide continuous observations at global scale for monitoring spatial and temporal variations of land surface characteristics. However, the full potential of remote sensing systems is often hampered by poor quality or missing data caused by clouds, aerosols, snow cover, algorithms and instrumentation problems. A multisensor fusion approach is here proposed to improve the spatio-temporal continuity, consistency and accuracy of current satellite products. It is based on the use of neural networks, gap filling and temporal smoothing techniques. …
Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic kinematic history of the Talas-Ferghana strike-slip Fault (Kyrgyz West Tianshan) as revealed by 40Ar/39Ar dating of syn-k…
2013
International audience; The NW-trending Talas-Ferghana Fault (TFF) in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, is one of the largest intracontinental strike-slip faults in the world. It extends over a distance of more than 2000 km from southern Tourghai to western Tarim and exhibits a maximum dextral offset of ∼200 km during the late Palaeozoic to present. The history of the fault provides important insights for the understanding of the evolution of southern Central Asia but remains poorly constrained due to lack of reliable geochronological data. We present new Ar-Ar ages and structural data from the Kyrgyz West Tianshan, that elucidate the kinematic history of the TFF in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic. 40A…
Phanerozoic geological evolution of Northern and Central Africa: An overview.
2005
61 pages; International audience; The principal paleogeographic characteristics of North and Central Africa during the Paleozoic were the permanency of large exposed lands over central Africa, surrounded by northerly and northwesterly dipping pediplanes episodically flooded by epicontinental seas related to the Paleotethys Ocean. The intra-continental Congo–Zaire Basin was also a long-lived feature, as well as the Somali Basin from Late Carboniferous times, in conjunction with the development of the Karoo basins of southern Africa. This configuration, in combination with eustatic sea-level fluctuations, had a strong influence on facies distributions. Significant transgressions occurred duri…
Influence of basement heterogeneity on the architecture of low subsidence rate Paleozoic intracratonic basins (Reggane, Ahnet, Mouydir and Illizi bas…
2018
The Paleozoic intracratonic North African Platform is characterized by an association of arches (ridges, domes, swells, or paleo-highs) and low subsidence rate syncline basins of different wavelengths (75–620 km). The Reggane, Ahnet, Mouydir and Illizi basins are successively delimited from east to west by the Amguid El Biod, Arak-Foum Belrem, and Azzel Matti arches. Through the analysis of new unpublished geological data (i.e., satellite images, well logs, seismic lines), the deposits associated with these arches and syncline basins exhibit thickness variations and facies changes ranging from continental to marine environments. The arches are characterized by thin amalgamated deposi…
A new ichnofauna from the Permian of the Zat Valley in the Marrakech High Atlas of Morocco
2020
Abstract A new ichnofauna from the Permian of Morocco is described in details: it is the first Palaeozoic ichnofauna from the Zat Valley in Marrakech High Atlas. The new tracksite was found in the Tighdouine region, in the middle-upper Permian of the Cham-el-Houa Siltstone Formation. An abundant and diverse ichnoassemblage composed of both protostomian (probably arthropods and annelids) traces and vertebrate tracks is recorded. The presence of protostomian burrows and traceways, associated with tetrapod tracks corresponds to the Scoyenia ichnofacies. Protostomian traces are ascribed to Diplichnites gouldi, Diplopodichnus biformis, Scoyenia cf. gracilis and Spongeliomorpha carlsbergi. Tetrap…