Inverse reconstructions of ecosystem flows in investigating regime shifts: impact of the choice of objective function     

Alain F. Vzina  Florence Berreville  Svetlana Loza 《Progress in Oceanography》2004,60(2-4):321

Inverse analysis is increasingly used in ecosystem modelling to objectively reconstruct a large number of unknown flows or interactions from a small number of observations. This type of analysis may be useful in relating observed regime shifts in ecosystem structure to underlying processes. Inversions of ecosystem flow networks currently use a constrained least-squares solution which at the same time minimizes the squared norm (the sum of squares) of the reconstructed flows. This minimum norm (MN) inversion is thought to be a parsimonious solution to the ecosystem flow inverse problem, but it may well not reflect how ecosystems are organised. It has been proposed instead that ecosystems evolve to maximize energy/mass flows or that they maximize the information content of the network weighted by ecosystem flows (ascendancy). We used simulated inverse experiments, where inverse analyses are applied to simulations of flow networks, to explore objective functions different than the MN generally used. We could not compute inverse solutions that maximize ascendancy because the objective function is unbounded. We could calculate inversions that maximize flows; however, these generally overestimated the simulated flows, even though the simulations were designed to maximize flows. It appears that the ecosystem flow inverse problem is too under-determined (too few data relative to the number of unknowns) to allow the use of these maximizing goal functions. We introduce a new minimization that simultaneously minimizes the squared flows and the squared differences between flows. This smoothing minimization makes the inverse flows as even as possible and it helps with some technical issues with MN inversions. The simulated inverse experiments indicated that this smoothed norm (SM) is the most robust in comparative analyses of contrasting ecosystem states, such as those that can be associated with regime shifts. Like the MN inversion, the SM inversion has no ecological basis. However, it is a conservative norm that is less likely to produce false differences between the dynamics of regimes.  相似文献   

Tectonic Significance of the Taitung Canyon, Huatung Basin, East of Taiwan     

Jean-Claude Sibuet  Shu-Kun Hsu  Alain Normand 《Marine Geophysical Researches》2004,25(1-2):95-107

Since the beginning of formation of Proto-Taiwan, the subducting Philippine (PH) Sea plate has moved continuously through time in the N307° direction with respect to Eurasia (EU), tearing the EU plate. The subducting EU plate includes a continental part in the north and an oceanic part in the south. The boundary B between these two domains corresponds to the eastern prolongation of the northeastern South China Sea ocean-continent transition zone. In the Huatung Basin (east of Taiwan), the Taitung Canyon is N065° oriented and is close and parallel to B. Seismic profiles show that the southern flank of the canyon corresponds to a fault with a normal component of a few tens of meters in the sediments and possible dextral shearing. Several crustal earthquakes of magnitude >%6 are located beneath the trend of the Taitung Canyon and focal mechanisms suggest that the motion is right-lateral. Thus, faulting within the sedimentary sequence beneath the Taitung Canyon is a consequence of underlying dextral strike-slip crustal motions. As the continental part of the EU slab located north of B has been recently detached, some subsequent dextral strike-slip motion might be expected within the EU slab, along the ocean-continent transition zone, which is a potential zone of weakness. We suggest that the dextral strike-slip motion along the ocean-continent boundary of the EU slab might trigger the observed dextral strike-slip motion within the overlying PH Sea crust and the associated faulting within the sediments of the Huatung Basin, beneath the Taitung Canyon. An erratum to this article is available at .  相似文献   

Upstream migration and reproductive patterns of a population of allis shad in a small river (L'Aulne, Brittany, France)   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Acolas  M.L.; Veron  V.; Jourdan  H.; Begout  M.L.; Sabatie  M.R.; Bagliniere  J.L. 《ICES Journal of Marine Science》2006,63(3):476-484

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Laser ablation coupled with ICP-MS applied to U–Pb zircon geochronology: A review of recent advances   总被引：2，自引：2，他引：0  

Alain Cocherie  Michle Robert 《Gondwana Research》2008,14(4):597

Improvements in the technology of laser ablation and ICP-MS instruments make LA-MC-ICPMS a rapid, precise and accurate method for U–Pb zircon geochronology. In this review we describe the main stages of the evolution of this in situ approach from the early 1990s to the present time. Some key points have been progressively improved. The crater size has been reduced to achieve real in situ measurements. The laser wavelength has been reduced as well as the duration of each pulse in order to lower inter-element fractionation. The blank from the gas has to be lowered as far as possible. Double focusing instruments and magnetic field sectors allow flat-topped peaks required for precise isotope ratio measurement to be obtained. The use of a multi-ion counting system significantly improves the sensitivity of the method and the static mode of integration favours the precision of measurement of the transient signal originating from a noisy laser ablated particle beam.Combining the use of a 213 nm UV laser and a MC-ICPMS equipped with a multi-ion counting system operating in static mode, the common precisions achieved for the key ratios ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb and ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U are better than 1% and 3% (2σ) respectively, including error propagation associated with standard normalization. Until now, the use of a zircon standard has remained necessary to ensure the accuracy of the calculated age. A strategy for common-Pb correction is proposed according to the age of the zircon and according to the Th/U ratio of the grains. After recording sixteen to twenty spot analyses the precision usually achieved on the age is about 1% and even significantly better for Proterozoic samples.In order to show the performance achieved by modern LA-MC-ICPMS geochronology, we tested four zircon samples covering a wide age range from 290 to 2440 Ma. These new age determinations can be compared in term of precision and accuracy since they have already been dated by reference methods (ID-TIMS and SHRIMP). Further developments in the technology of ion counters equipping modern MC-ICPMS and in laser systems will certainly be applied to a large field of geochronology studies in the near future as an alternative to SIMS for in situ age determination.  相似文献   

Use of unit response functions for management of regional multilayered aquifers: application to the North Aquitaine Tertiary system (France)     

Francois Larroque  Wiktor Treichel  Alain Dupuy 《Hydrogeology Journal》2008,16(2):215-233

Although there are many numerical applications used in aquifer management, few methodologies seem to be sufficiently adapted to provide solutions for regional-scale problems. Their applications for multilayered aquifers are also too limited. A new groundwater management tool adapted to such large physical systems has been developed, using the unit response function (URF) approach. This tool is based on the link between a numerical groundwater flow model and a mathematical optimisation tool. Pre- and post processing are based on a geographical information system (GIS). The developed tool has been applied to a real management case—the regional Aquitaine multilayered aquifer (France). A representative hydrodynamic model was built using MODFLOW 2000 code. First tests show that the linearity condition needed for the application of URF methodology is respected despite the high complexity of the system. Two management scenarios were tested. Optimal solutions thus obtained allow for viable exploitation alternatives to be proposed, which integrate complex environmental constraints.

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Résumé Malgré un nombre important d’applications existant dans le domaine de la gestion des aquifères, peu de méthodologies semblent adaptées pour proposer des solutions à des problèmes réels de dimension régionale. Leurs application pour des systèmes multicouches sont souvent trop limitées. Un outil de gestion adapté à ces systèmes de large taille a été développé, basé sur la théorie des Fonctions de Réponses Unitaires (FRU). Cet outil est basé sur le couplage d’un modèle numérique d’écoulement et d’un code d’optimisation mathématique. Les entrées et sorties du modèle sont réalisées à l’aide d’un Système d’Information Géographique (SIG). L’outil développé est appliqué à un cas de gestion réel—le système aquifère régional multicouche aquitain (France). Un modèle hydrodynamique représentatif a été construit, basé sur le code MODFLOW 2000. Les premiers tests montrent que les conditions de linéarité nécessaires à l’application de la méthode FRU sont respectées, malgré l’importante complexité du système. Deux scénarii de gestion sont testés. Les solutions optimales ainsi obtenues permettent de proposer des solutions d’exploitation alternatives viables, intégrant des contraintes environnementales complexes.

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Resumen Aunque hay muchas aplicaciones numéricas usadas en la gestión de acuíferos, unas pocas metodologías parecen estar adaptadas suficientemente para dar las soluciones a los problemas de escala regional. También son limitadas sus aplicaciones para los acuíferos multicapa. Se ha desarrollado una nueva herramienta para el manejo del agua subterránea, adaptada a tales sistemas físicos grandes, usando el avance de la Función de Respuesta Unitaria (URF). Esta herramienta se basa en la combinación entre un modelo numérico de flujo de agua subterránea y una herramienta de optimización matemática. El pre-proceso y el post-proceso se basan en un Sistema de Información Geográfico (GIS). La herramienta desarrollada se ha aplicado a un caso real de manejo en el acuífero regional multicapa de Aquitania (Francia). Se construyó un modelo hidrodinámico representativo, que usó el código MODFLOW 2000. Las primeras pruebas muestran que la condición de linearidad, necesaria para la aplicación de la metodología URF, se respeta a pesar de la complejidad alta del sistema. Se probaron dos escenarios de manejo. Las soluciones óptimas así obtenidas permiten la proyección de alternativas viables de explotación, las cuales integran restricciones medioambientales complejas.

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Variscan to eo-Alpine events recorded in European lower-crust zircons sampled from the French Massif Central and Corsica, France     

Philippe Rossi  Alain Cocherie  C. Mark Fanning  tienne Deloule 《Lithos》2006,87(3-4):235-260

Ion-microprobe U–Pb zircon dating of lower-crust metasedimentary granulite are reported on samples from two localities in Europe in order to determine (a) how this environment recorded the Variscan and eo-Alpine events, and (b) whether the transition between the two orogenic cycles was continuous or separated by a gap. The samples come from enclaves hosted by Miocene volcanoes at Bournac in the French Massif Central, and from the granulitic metasedimentary basement of the Alpine Santa Lucia nappe in Corsica, on the South European paleomargin of the Ligurian branch of the Tethys Sea. The zircon ages from Bournac range between 630 and 430 Ma and between 380 and 150 Ma with a major frequency peak at 285 Ma; the zircons older than 430 Ma are interpreted as detrital, whereas those younger than 380 Ma are considered to have formed by metamorphic processes after burial in the lower crust. Zircon ages from Santa Lucia range from to 356 to 157 Ma, with exception of one inherited Archean grain, and are interpreted like the younger Bournac zircons as having been formed by metamorphic processes.

In a granulite metamorphic environment, as opposed to an anatectic environment, new zircon growth can occur in the solid state. Once Zr has been incorporated into zircon, however, it is difficult to remobilize without dissolution; thus Zr available for new zircon growth must result from the breakdown of Zr-bearing minerals during prograde and/or retrograde events. In this light, the U–Pb zircon-age probability curves are interpreted as markers for major tectonometamorphic events, as suggested by the close correspondence between peaks in the curve and geological events recorded in the upper-crust, such as magma emplacement and basin subsidence.

Evidence of a tectonometamorphic gap between the Variscan and Alpine orogeneses is provided by the Santa Lucia zircon-age probability curve, which reveals a probable interlude during the Variscan–Alpine transition between 240 and 210 Ma. Here, the peak at 240 Ma is interpreted as the very beginning of crustal extension and the low at 210 Ma as a period of quiescence prior to the formation of an active margin and oceanization.  相似文献   

Will the river Irtysh survive the year 2030? Impact of long-term unsuitable land use and water management of the upper stretch of the river catchment (North Kazakhstan)     

Zbyněk Hrkal  Alain Gadalia  Pierre Rigaudiere 《Environmental Geology》2006,50(5):717-723

The Irtysh river basin all the way from river spring in China across Kazakhstan as far as the Russian part of Siberia is among the most ecologically endangered and affected regions on our planet. The study provides a summary of the historical reasons for anthropological interventions in this area, which began with the construction of plants of the military—industrial complexes in the forties of the last century during World War II. These plants have a major share in extreme high concentrations of heavy metals in surface as well in groundwaters locally. The Semipalatinsk nuclear polygon plays a specific role as a source of contamination of local waters. The release of top secret data enabled us to gain knowledge about serious problems related to high radioactivity of groundwaters, which should spread uncontrollably through a system of secondary fissures activated by nuclear blasts. Another serious problem in this region is the quantitative aspect of contamination. Model simulations of water balance indicate that large industrial development in the spring area in China and continuously increasing water consumption in Kazakhstan may lead to desiccation of the lower stretch of this large river in Siberia during the summer months of 2030.  相似文献   

Risk assessment of groundwater pollution using sensitivity analysis and a worst-case scenario analysis   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Marijke Huysmans  Tamás Madarász  Alain Dassargues 《Environmental Geology》2006,50(2):180-193

This paper illustrates how sensitivity analysis and a worst-case scenario analysis can be useful tools in risk assessment of groundwater pollution. The approach is applied to a study area in Hungary with several known groundwater pollution sources and nearby drinking water production wells. The main concern is whether the contamination sources threaten the drinking water wells of the area. A groundwater flow and transport model is set up to answer this question. Due to limited data availability, the results of this model are associated with large uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis and a worst-case scenario analysis are applied to estimate this uncertainty and build confidence in the model results.  相似文献   

Late Cenozoic transpressional ductile deformation north of the Nazca–South America–Antarctica triple junction     

Jos Cembrano  Alain Lavenu  Peter Reynolds  Gloria Arancibia  Gloria Lpez  Alejandro Sanhueza 《Tectonophysics》2002,354(3-4)

The southern Andes plate boundary zone records a protracted history of bulk transpressional deformation during the Cenozoic, which has been causally related to either oblique subduction or ridge collision. However, few structural and chronological studies of regional deformation are available to support one hypothesis or the other. We address along- and across-strike variations in the nature and timing of plate boundary deformation to better understand the Cenozoic tectonics of the southern Andes.Two east–west structural transects were mapped at Puyuhuapi and Aysén, immediately north of the Nazca–South America–Antarctica triple junction. At Puyuhuapi (44°S), north–south striking, high-angle contractional and strike-slip ductile shear zones developed from plutons coexist with moderately dipping dextral-oblique shear zones in the wallrocks. In Aysén (45–46°), top to the southwest, oblique thrusting predominates to the west of the Cenozoic magmatic arc, whereas dextral strike-slip shear zones develop within it.New ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar data from mylonites and undeformed rocks from the two transects suggest that dextral strike-slip, oblique-slip and contractional deformation occurred at nearly the same time but within different structural domains along and across the orogen. Similar ages were obtained on both high strain pelitic schists with dextral strike-slip kinematics (4.4±0.3 Ma, laser on muscovite–biotite aggregates, Aysén transect, 45°S) and on mylonitic plutonic rocks with contractional deformation (3.8±0.2 to 4.2±0.2 Ma, fine-grained, recrystallized biotite, Puyuhuapi transect). Oblique-slip, dextral reverse kinematics of uncertain age is documented at the Canal Costa shear zone (45°S) and at the Queulat shear zone at 44°S. Published dates for the undeformed protholiths suggest both shear zones are likely Late Miocene or Pliocene, coeval with contractional and strike-slip shear zones farther north. Coeval strike-slip, oblique-slip and contractional deformation on ductile shear zones of the southern Andes suggest different degrees of along- and across-strike deformation partitioning of bulk transpressional deformation.The long-term dextral transpressional regime appears to be driven by oblique subduction. The short-term deformation is in turn controlled by ridge collision from 6 Ma to present day. This is indicated by most deformation ages and by a southward increase in the contractional component of deformation. Oblique-slip to contractional shear zones at both western and eastern margins of the Miocene belt of the Patagonian batholith define a large-scale pop-up structure by which deeper levels of the crust have been differentially exhumed since the Pliocene at a rate in excess of 1.7 mm/year.  相似文献   

Reconciling pyroclastic flow and surge: the multiphase physics of pyroclastic density currents     

Alain Burgisser  George W. Bergantz 《Earth and Planetary Science Letters》2002,202(2):405-418

Two end-member types of pyroclastic density current are commonly recognized: pyroclastic surges are dilute currents in which particles are carried in turbulent suspension and pyroclastic flows are highly concentrated flows. We provide scaling relations that unify these end-members and derive a segregation mechanism into basal concentrated flow and overriding dilute cloud based on the Stokes number (S_T), the stability factor (Σ_T) and the dense-dilute condition (D_D). We recognize five types of particle behaviors within a fluid eddy as a function of S_T and Σ_T: (1) particles sediment from the eddy, (2) particles are preferentially settled out during the downward motion of the eddy, but can be carried during its upward motion, (3) particles concentrate on the periphery of the eddy, (4) particles settling can be delayed or ‘fast-tracked’ as a function of the eddy spatial distribution, and (5) particles remain homogeneously distributed within the eddy. We extend these concepts to a fully turbulent flow by using a prototype of kinetic energy distribution within a full eddy spectrum and demonstrate that the presence of different particle sizes leads to the density stratification of the current. This stratification may favor particle interactions in the basal part of the flow and D_D determines whether the flow is dense or dilute. Using only intrinsic characteristics of the current, our model explains the discontinuous features between pyroclastic flows and surges while conserving the concept of a continuous spectrum of density currents.  相似文献