Search results for "RWA"
showing 10 items of 2424 documents
A geological field trip to the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana transform margin
1998
Abstract During the Equanaute survey (June 1992), fourteen submersible dives were performed between 4950 and 2250 m water depths across the southern slope of the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Marginal Ridge (CIGMR), in the eastern Equatorial Atlantic. The CIGMR, a high-standing topographic marginal ridge along the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana transform margin, is believed to result from a complex structural evolution due to the specific wrench-related rifting between Western Equatorial Africa and Northeastern Brazil, in Early Cretaceous times. In this paper we report and discuss geological observations made during dives, and sample analyses to resolve the lithology, paleoenvironmental conditions, age and orig…
Interpretation of the nitrogen isotopic composition of Precambrian sedimentary rocks: Assumptions and perspectives
2016
International audience; Nitrogen isotope compositions in sedimentary rocks (d(15)N(sed)) are routinely used for reconstructing Cenozoic N-biogeochemical cycling and are also being increasingly applied to understanding the evolution of ancient environments. Here we review the existing knowledge and rationale behind the use of d(15)N(sed) as a proxy for the Precambrian N-biogeochemical cycle with the aims of (i) identifying the major uncertainties that affect analyses and interpretation of nitrogen isotopes in ancient sedimentary rocks, (ii) developing a framework for interpreting the Precambrian d(15)N(sed) record, (iii) testing this framework against a database of Precambrian d(15)N(sed) va…
Modelling the Effects of Climate Change on the Supply of Inorganic Nitrogen
2009
Human-induced changes in the nitrogen cycle due to the increased use of artificial fertilisers, the cultivation of nitrogen-fixing crops and atmospheric deposition have made nitrogen pollution to surface waters a long-standing cause for concern. In Europe, legislation has been introduced to minimise the risk of water quality degradation from excessive nitrogen inputs e.g., the European Union Nitrates Directive (EU, 1991), Drinking Water Directive (EU, 1998) and Water Framework Directive (EU, 2000). Coastal regions in particular have been an important focus, since coastal eutrophication has been attributed to increased fluxes of nitrogen from the landscape (Howarth et al., 1996; Boesch et al…
Ocean Acidification and the End-Permian Mass Extinction: To What Extent does Evidence Support Hypothesis?
2012
International audience; Ocean acidification in modern oceans is linked to rapid increase in atmospheric CO 2 , raising concern about marine diversity, food security and ecosystem services. Proxy evidence for acidification during past crises may help predict future change, but three issues limit confidence of comparisons between modern and ancient ocean acidification, illustrated from the end-Permian extinction, 252 million years ago: (1) problems with evidence for ocean acidification preserved in sedimentary rocks, where proposed marine dissolution surfaces may be subaerial. Sedimentary evidence that the extinction was partly due to ocean acidification is therefore inconclusive; (2) Fossils…
Quartz grains reveal sedimentary palaeoenvironment and past storm events: A case study from eastern Baltic
2018
Abstract Sediment record collected from the coastal lake serves as a powerful tool for reconstructing changes in palaeoenvironment and understanding the potential signals of past storminess. In this study, we use several proxies from sediment of the Holocene Thermal Maximum at coastal Lake Lilaste, Latvia. We focus on surface texture of quartz grains from the mineral inorganic fraction as indicators of depositional environments. We then use this as a proxy for potential storm transport and combine with information on granulometry, diatom stratigraphy and chronology to answer the question whether flux of quartz grains in the lake originated from the sea or from the land. Analyses in a binocu…
Comment on “Evolution of high-pressure mafic granulites and pelitic gneisses from NE Madagascar: Tectonic implications”. Tectonophysics, 662, 219–242…
2017
Abstract Determining the possible tectonic regimes active during the Neoproterozoic is crucial for the knowledge of the evolution of the super-continent Gondwana. In Madagascar, that occupies a key position in Gondwana, there is an on-going debate regarding the location of possible suture zones and the implications in terms of paleo-geography. Recognizing high-pressure to ultra-high pressure conditions in mafic rocks is commonly viewed as a strong argument for paleo-subduction zones. Ishwar-Kumar et al. (2015) report unusual high pressure conditions (24 kbar) in Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rocks from North-Central Madagascar (Andriamena Complex). They propose a geodynamic model in which exhu…
Incised valleys and tidal seaways: the example of the Miocene Uzès-Castillon basin, SE France.
2012
Abstract The sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Miocene deposits of the Uzès-Castillon basin are revisited. This basin, located in SE France at the junction between the perialpine foreland basin and the W Mediterranean margin, sits in a syncline that formed during the latest Cretaceous Pyrenean tectonic phase. It records the succession of shallow-water mixed siliciclastic to dominantly bioclastic carbonates that alternate with shelf marls. The clastic carbonates were accumulated as a stack of subtidal dunes and bars that were formed by tidal currents channelized in a seaway following the syncline axis. The marls indicate deposition in more protected and locally deeper waters, as interflu…
Radiometric calibration of SeaWIFS in the near infrared
2005
The radiometric calibration of the Sea-Viewing Wide-Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) in the near infrared (band 8, centered on 865 nm) is evaluated by use of ground-based radiometer measurements of solar extinction and sky radiance in the Sun's principal plane at two sites, one located 13 km off Venice, Italy, and the other on the west coast of Lanai Island, Hawaii. The aerosol optical thickness determined from solar extinction is used in an iterative scheme to retrieve the pseudo aerosol phase function, i.e., the product of single-scattering albedo and phase function, in which sky radiance is corrected for multiple scattering effects. No assumption about the aerosol model is required. The ae…
Comparison of SMOS and SMAP soil moisture retrieval approaches using tower-based radiometer data over a vineyard field
2014
International audience; The objective of this study was to compare several approaches to soil moisture (SM) retrieval using l-band microwave radiometry. The comparison was based on a brightness temperature (TB) data set acquired since 2010 by the L-band radiometer ELBARA-II over a vineyard field at the Valencia Anchor Station (VAS) site. ELBARA-II, provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) within the scientific program of the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission, measures multiangular TB data at horizontal and vertical polarization for a range of incidence angles (30°–60°). Based on a three year data set (2010–2012), several SM retrieval approaches developed for spaceborne miss…
Bioconcentration, biotransformation and elimination of pyrene in the arctic crustacean Gammarus setosus (Amphipoda) at two temperatures
2015
The influence of temperature on the bioaccumulation, toxicokinetics, biotransformation and depuration of pyrene was studied in the arctic marine amphipod Gammarus setosus. A two-compartment model was used to fit experimental values of total body burden, total metabolites and parent pyrene concentrations and to calculate toxicokinetic variables derived for two experimental treatments (2 and 8 °C). No statistically significant differences were observed with temperature for these toxicokinetic variables or bioconcentration factors. Contrarily, the Q10 values suggested that the toxicokinetic variables ke and km were temperature-dependent. This may be explained by the high standard deviation of …