We present a discontinuous Galerkin method for site effects assessment. The P-SV seismic wave propagation is studied in 2-D space heterogeneous media. The first-order velocity-stress system is ...obtained by assuming that the medium is linear, isotropic and viscoelastic, thus considering intrinsic attenuation. The associated stress-strain relation in the time domain being a convolution, which is numerically intractable, we consider the rheology of a generalized Maxwell body replacing the convolution by a set of differential equations. This results in a velocity-stress system which contains additional equations for the anelastic functions expressing the strain history of the material. Our numerical method, suitable for complex triangular unstructured meshes, is based on centred numerical fluxes and a leap-frog time-discretization. The method is validated through numerical simulations including comparisons with a finite-difference scheme. We study the influence of the geological structures of the Nice basin on the surface ground motion through the comparison of 1-D and 2-D soil response in homogeneous and heterogeneous soil. At last, we compare numerical results with real recording data. The computed multiple-sediment basin response allows to reproduce the shape of the recorded amplification in the basin. This highlights the importance of knowing the lithological structures of a basin, layers properties and interface geometry.
A chemostratigraphic study (δ13C and δ18O) of the Late Cenomanian and Turonian chalk succession from the "Craie 701" Poigny borehole (near Provins in the Paris Basin, France) provides new ...high-resolution stable carbon and oxygen isotope data. Correlation of the bentonite horizons and the isotopic trends from Poigny with its English Chalk equivalent allows the development of a precise stratigraphic framework. δ13C and δ18O variations are synchronous and widespread throughout the European epicontinental seas and Tethyan Ocean. In the Poigny borehole, the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2) is marked by a large and brief positive excursion of carbon isotopes (a carbon isotope excursions: CIE of 3 ppm amplitude) without any apparent anoxia in the Late Cenomanian Chalk. Comparisons between different key sections on a North-South transect from the Anglo-Paris Basin to the Umbria-Marche Basin (Gubbio Section, Italy) and the Vocontian Basin (South-East France), suggests that the OAE 2 is linked to an increase in marine organic matter production, modulated by a regional effect on the organic carbon burial rate. Thus, the large positive carbon isotope increase spanning the Middle Cenomanian through to the Middle Turonian, including the salient CIE associated with the OAE 2, reflects a global scale increase in marine productivity that would be concomitant with a major long-term sea level rise. The stratigraphic position of the Turonian-Coniacian boundary can also be better defined by this isotopic study. A comparison of δ18O data between the Anglo-Paris Basin and Tethyan Basin shows high-amplitude, long-term synchronous variations reflecting primary paleo-environmental changes which are independent of local facies, sediment thickness and diagenesis. In particular, a negative shift (-1 ppm of amplitude) reflects a warmer climate regime, marking the onset of OAE 2. Two colder phases (+1 ppm amplitude each) occurred in the Early Turonian and the beginning of the Late Turonian.
The Aptian–lower Albian succession of the Vocontian Basin (SE France) consists of marine hemipelagic sediments including several black shale horizons. The latter are partly of regional and partly of ...global distribution. This sedimentary succession records the nannoplankton evolution of the Aptian–early Albian interval and thus provides an excellent opportunity to calibrate the calcareous nannofossil record with Tethyan ammonite and planktic foraminiferal biostratigraphy. The calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy presented in this paper supports previous zonations, but it also provides a much higher resolution and thus improves the correlation of different black shale horizons on a supraregional scale. Up to 23 major (supraregionally significant) and minor (regionally significant) first and last occurrences of calcareous nannofossil taxa are recognized. Nannoconid abundances decrease rapidly in the upper Lower Aptian (nannoconid crisis I, NCI) and in the middle Upper Aptian (nannoconid crisis II, NCII). Both decreases correlate with carbonate–platform drowning events. The upper Lower Aptian interval above the NCI is characterized by high abundances of large specimens of
Assipetra infracretacea and
Rucinolithus terebrodentarius probably of supraregional significance. The uppermost Aptian–Lower Albian is characterized by high abundances of the calcareous nannoplankton taxon
Repagulum parvidentatum, reflecting boreal influence on the Tethyan Realm. This suggests a temporary decrease in surface-water temperatures in the Vocontian Basin.
The UA 25 archaeostratigraphic unit of Lazaret cave is an exceptional Acheulean occupation level with abundant lithic and bone material and reveals a clear organization of activities carried out in ...the cave. In this paper, large mammals are studied from an archaeozoological perspective using a variety of methods of analysis, in order to increase our understanding of the behavior, way of life and environment of the Lazaret Acheuleans. During one autumn hunting episode, twenty-three red deer, six ibexes, three aurochs and one roe deer were slaughtered. For the most part, it appears that Anteneanderthals processed these carcasses inside the cave. They then left more than 600 bone remains piled into a heap with a diameter of 80 cm in the middle of the cave. The study of diversity indexes points towards selective red deer hunting, independently of the prey available in the environment. On the other hand, as far as the deer is concerned, hunted animals do not seem to have been selected within the herd on the basis of factors such as age or sex. The presence of the ibex, the second most hunted species at the site, seems to be directly linked to climatic conditions and its relative abundance in the environment.
•15 years of dense GPS measurements converge to sub-millimetric rates per year.•Geodetic and seismic deformation coherent in amplitude and direction.•Both plate tectonics and buoyancy forces needed ...to explain uplift and extension.
A dense, local network of 30 geodetic markers covering a 50×60km2 area in the southwestern European Alps (Briançon region) has been temporarily surveyed in 1996, 2006 and 2011 by GPS. The aim is to measure the current deformation in this seismically active area. The study zone is characterized by a majority of extensional and dextral focal mechanisms, along north–south to N160 oriented faults. The combined analysis of the three measurement campaigns over 15 years and up to 16 years of permanent GPS data from the French RENAG network now enables to assess horizontal velocities below 1mm/year within the local network. The long observation interval and the redundancy of the dense campaign network measurement help to constrain a significant local deformation pattern in the Briançon region, yielding an average E–W extension of 16±11nanostrain/year. We compare the geodetic deformation field to the seismic deformation rate cumulated over 37 years, and obtain good coherencies both in amplitude and direction. Moreover, the horizontal deformation localized in the Briançon region represents a major part of the Adriatic-European relative plate motion. However, the average uplift of the network in an extensional setting needs the presence of buoyancy forces in addition to plate tectonics.
Structural and microstructural analyses are carried out in two sites of the Argentera-Mercantour Massif, Valscura and Val du Haut Boréon, where swarms of lamprophyres intruded into Variscan ...migmatites and early Permian granitoids. Efforts aim at defining the structural relationships between lamprophyres and country rocks, and at constraining the structural and metamorphic evolution the dykes record. Mesoscale structural data are synthesised in geologic maps originally surveyed at 1/10 000 scale, supported by form-surface maps at 1/100 scale. The lamprophyres are magnesian, calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic, and metaluminous; they emplaced at very shallow crustal levels intersecting three generations of ductile structures in the host migmatites (D1, D2, D3). Epidote- and actinolite-bearing mineral assemblages result from late-intrusive hydrothermal circulation that has not affected the host rocks. Mylonitic shear zones of Alpine age (D4) are continuous through migmatites, granites, and lamprophyres: in these latter, they are supported by albite, actinolite, biotite, chlorite, epidote, phengite, and titanite. This detailed multi-scale structural analysis, coupled with major and trace elements geochemistry, highlights two main results: i) the lamprophyres, which post-date both the late- to post-collisional “high-Mg” and the “low-Mg” granitoids, reflect the last magmatic event in the Argentera-Mercantour Massif related to the Permian-Triassic lithospheric thinning; ii) the metamorphic assemblages that support the Alpine shear zones in the lamprophyres are consistent with the transition between the greenschist and amphibolite facies conditions.
Des analyse structurales et microstrucrurales ont menées dans deux secteurs clés du massif de l’Argentera-Mercantour, la zone de Valscura et la zone du Val du Haut Boréon, où des réseaux de filons de lamprophyres intrudent des migmatites Varisques et des granites d’âge Permien inférieur. Nous présentons et discutons les résultats d’une analyse détaillée, d’une part, des relations entre filons de lamprophyres et roches encaissantes et, d’autre part, des évolutions structurales et métamorphiques de ces filons. Les données structurales observables à la mésoéchelle sont synthétisées dans des cartes géologiques obtenues à l’échelle du 1/10 000, appuyées par des analyses géométriques détaillées à l’échelle du 1/100. Les lamprophyres sont des roches magnésiennes, calco-alcalines à alcalino-calciques et moyennement alumineuses, qui sont affectées par un évolution hydrothermale tardi-magmatique marquée par le remplacement statique des phases magmatiques par des associations à épidote et actinote. Dans les deux zones considérées, les lamprophyres se sont mis en place à un niveau structural très superficiel et recoupent trois générations de structures superposées identifiées dans le complexe migmatitique (D1, D2, D3). Les zones mylonitiques Alpines (D4) qui sont localisées recoupent et décalent les filons de lamprophyres. Ces structures sont soulignées par une association minéralogique à albite, amphibole, biotite, chlorite, epidote, phengite et sphène. Cette analyse structurale détaillée et multi-échelles, associée à l’étude de la géochimie des éléments majeurs et des éléments en traces, met en évidence deux résultats principaux : i) les lamprophyres représentent le dernier événement magmatique enregistré dans le Massif de l’Argentera-Mercantour. Il est postérieur aux granitoïdes tardi a post-collision « à forte » comme « à faible » teneur en Mg, et est lié à l’amincissement lithosphérique d’âge Permo-Triasique ; ii) les assemblages métamorphiques qui soulignent les zones de cisaillement Alpines dans les lamprophyres sont compatibles avec la transition entre les faciès des Schistes Verts et des Amphibolites.
In the landslide-prone area near the Nice international airport, southeastern France, an interdisciplinary approach is applied to develop realistic lithological/geometrical profiles and ...geotechnical/strength sub-seafloor models. Such models are indispensable for slope stability assessments using limit equilibrium or finite element methods. Regression analyses, based on the undrained shear strength (su) of intact gassy sediments are used to generate a sub-seafloor strength model based on 37 short dynamic and eight long static piezocone penetration tests, and laboratory experiments on one Calypso piston and 10 gravity cores. Significant strength variations were detected when comparing measurements from the shelf and the shelf break, with a significant drop in su to 5.5kPa being interpreted as a weak zone at a depth between 6.5 and 8.5m below seafloor (mbsf). Here, a 10% reduction of the in situ total unit weight compared to the surrounding sediments is found to coincide with coarse-grained layers that turn into a weak zone and detachment plane for former and present-day gravitational, retrogressive slide events, as seen in 2D chirp profiles. The combination of high-resolution chirp profiles and comprehensive geotechnical information allows us to compute enhanced 2D finite element slope stability analysis with undrained sediment response compared to previous 2D numerical and 3D limit equilibrium assessments. Those models suggest that significant portions (detachment planes at 20m or even 55mbsf) of the Quaternary delta and slope apron deposits may be mobilized. Given that factors of safety are equal or less than 1 when further considering the effect of free gas, a high risk for a landslide event of considerable size off Nice international airport is identified.
•Comprehensive morphological, seismic, sedimentological, and geotechnical data sets.•Dynamic CPTU provides a powerful, time- and cost-efficient in situ technique.•Development of a regional sub-seafloor strength model offshore Nice airport.•2D finite element slope stability assessment gives slope failure depth of >50 m.
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