Exploring the Susceptibility of Turbid Estuaries to Hypoxia as a Prerequisite to Designing a Pertinent Monitoring Strategy of Dissolved Oxygen

International audienceGlobally, there has been a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the oceans, that is more pronounced in coastal waters, resulting in more frequent hypoxia exposure for many marine animals. Managing hypoxia requires an understanding of the dynamics of dissolved oxygen (DO) where it occurs. The French coast facing the Bay of Biscay (N-E Atlantic Ocean) hosts at least a dozen tidal and turbid estuaries, but only the large estuaries of the Gironde and the Loire, are subject to a continuous monitoring. Here, we compared the DO dynamics in these two systems, in order to evaluate to what extent it is possible to predict the sensitivity to hypoxia of a tidal and turbid estuary based on its most common and easily accessible characteristics (the estuary surface area and length, liquid and solid discharge, suspended particulate load, water renewal time, presence of cities). Whereas the hyperturbid Gironde estuary is the longest (170 km), implying longer water and particle residence times, and is bordered by a large metropole (>750,000 inhabitants), only episodic summer hypoxia events (DO < 2 mg L−1) were recorded in its urban Garonne subestuary. In contrast, the turbid Loire estuary, smaller in terms of surface area and length, experiences permanent summer hypoxia. This demonstrates the inability to evaluate the susceptibility of a tidal and turbid estuary to hypoxia only by considering its general characteristics. We urge that there is a need for a pertinent DO survey strategy based on an initial assessment of DO in a specific estuary based on longitudinal investigations, in particular during the warm season (as higher water temperatures decrease DO solubility), for detecting the potential zones of minimum DO

Preservation and distribution of detrital clay coats in a modern estuarine heterolithic point bar in the Gironde estuary (Bordeaux, France)

International audienceEstuaries provide an excellent depositional environment to study the interaction between minerals (clays, quartz sands…) and biofilms. The estuary bottom is largely covered by biofilms that impact sediment stability, the mud and clay-coat content in sands, and sedimentary-structure stability, thus influencing sandstone properties during burial. Although numerous oil, gas, and geothermal reservoirs are exploited in estuarine heterolithic point bars, many questions remain about the origin of reservoir properties and heterogeneities in these sedimentary bodies. In order to better understand the sedimentary and microbiologic processes in estuarine systems and to better predict the reservoir quality of estuarine sandstones, this study characterizes a modern heterolithic point bar located in the Garonne estuarine channel at various scales, ranging from the microscopic (thin section) to the macroscopic (core) scale. Three piston cores 4.5 to 6.8 m long were drilled in the Bordeaux North Point Bar. Three main facies were identified in these cores: 1) sandy gravel, 2) heterolithic, medium-grained sand dunes, and 3) thin heterolithic, fine-grained sand beds with mud drapes. The sands are classified as lithic arkoses to feldspathic litharenites. Detrital clay grain coats, which at deep burial depths are transformed to permeability preserving authigenic chlorite coatings, are observed from the base to the top of the point bar. These detrital clay grain coats are mainly composed of smectite, illite, kaolinite, and chlorite, intermixed with other components, such as diatoms or pyrite. Biofilms of exopolymeric substances (EPSs), mostly produced by diatoms, are believed to control the adhesion of the clay coats to the surface of sand grains. Quantification by thin section shows that on average about 30% of the sands are coated in the point bar. The proportion of clay-coated grains appears to be independent of facies. Radiocarbon age dating measured on organic matter points to significant vertical mixing, highlighting the significance of erosion and redeposition. The activities of 137Cs and 210Pb indicate a vertical sedimentation rate of ca. 0.02 m.yr–1 in the muddy chute channel. These ages, coupled to historical maps, suggest that the present-day point bar has developed over the last 300 years with a vertical sedimentation rate ranging from 0.015 to 0.036 m.y–1 and a lateral migration rate of about 1 m.y–1. The combination of sedimentary geology, thin-section petrography, and mineralogy at high spatial and temporal resolutions highlights the potential of this study area as a modern analogue for ancient tidally influenced point-bar deposits associated with clay coatings

Early diagenetic processes in an eutrophic estuarine system: indices of sediment contribution to summer hypoxia of the Loire?

International audienc

Facies associations, detrital clay grain coats and mineralogical characterization of the Gironde estuary tidal bars: A modern analogue for deeply buried estuarine sandstone reservoirs

International audienceEstuarine tidal bar sandstones are complex reservoir geobodies commonly exploited by the oil and gas industry. In order to better predict the reservoir potential of these geobodies, this study provides a modern-day reservoir analogue, describing tidal bars in the inner and outer Gironde estuary from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale.The originality of this work lies in the multi-scale study of modern estuarine tidal bars based on numerous piston cores extracted in a high-energy environment. This work demonstrates that these tidal bars are composite sedimentary bodies made up of individual reservoir sand units separated by thick muddy layers. Their vertical facies associations and internal architectures are controlled by local hydrodynamic variations and seasonal river influxes. Detrital clay grain coats are notably characterized using a portable and handheld mineral spectrometer from the base to the top of the tidal bars. X-ray diffraction and electron microscopes reveal that these coats are mainly composed of di-octahedral smectite, illite, chlorite and kaolinite associated with other components such as diatoms or pyrite. The best reservoir geobodies are those with the minimum clay permeability barriers at the macro and mesoscale. An optimum coated grain content and clay fraction volume is also needed for generating authigenic clay coatings and inhibiting quartz overgrowth. These conditions are met within the tidal sand bars of the outer estuary funnel that are expected to be the best reservoir geobodies in deeply buried sandstones

Anthropogenic sources and biogeochemical reactivity of particulate and dissolved Cu isotopes in the turbidity gradient of the Garonne River (France)

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Surveillance écologique du site du Blayais - année 2012

Monitoring n° 35 of the BLAYAIS nuclear power plant takes into account studies conducted between April and November 2012. Physicochemistry, Bathymetry, Hydrobiology, Bacteriology, Zooplankton, Benthic macrofauna, are reported.L'étude de surveillance n° 35 du site électronucléaire du BLAYAIS (département de la Gironde) concerne la période d’avril à novembre 2012. Les domaines pélagique et benthique sont étudiés (physico-chimie, bathymétrie, hydrobiologie, bactériologie, zooplancton, macrofaune benthique)

Surveillance Ecologique du site du "Blayais" - année 2017

Monitoring n° 40 of the Blayais nuclear power plant takes into account studies conducted between April and November 2017. Physicochemistry, Bathymetry, Hydrobiology, Bacteriology, Zooplankton, Benthic macrofauna, are reported.L'étude de surveillance n° 40 du site électronucléaire du Blayais (département de la Gironde) concerne la période d’avril à novembre 2017. Les domaines pélagique et benthique sont étudiés (physico-chimie, bathymétrie, hydrobiologie, microbiologie, zooplancton, macrofaune benthique)

Tellurium behaviour in a major European fluvial–estuarine system (Gironde, France): fluxes, solid/liquid partitioning and bioaccumulation in wild oysters

Tellurium (Te) is a technology critical element (TCE) with largely unknown environmental behaviour, especially in continent-ocean interface systems. The unknown behaviour results from the lack of studies in aquatic environments and from analytical challenges limiting the determination of its naturally low (ultra-trace) environmental levels. We performed a comprehensive study of Te in the Lot–Garonne–Gironde fluvial–estuarine system to better understand seasonal variations, solid/liquid partitioning (Kd), gross fluxes, estuarine dynamics, and transfer to wild oysters at the estuary mouth. A temporal record (2014–2017) of dissolved (Ted) and particulate (Tep) Te concentrations at five sites in the Lot–Garonne River system shows little differences between sites, with average ~0.9 ng L−1 and ~50 µg kg−1 respective concentrations. Watershed Ted and Tep follow parallel seasonal patterns, which result in constant partitioning (log10 Kd ~4.75 L kg−1), with constant annual gross dissolved fluxes (~15.0 kg y−1) and variable gross particulate fluxes (from 6.50 to 140 kg y−1) entering the Gironde Estuary. Estuarine reactivity in contrasting hydrological conditions (from flood to drought) suggest that grain-size effects and/or estuarine hydrological residence times strongly affect Tep behaviour. Historical records (1984–2017) of Te in wild oysters at the estuary mouth vary from 1.33 to 2.89 µg kg−1 dry weight (d.w.), without any clear long-term trend. This study provides rare knowledge on Te environmental dynamics in aquatic systems, and suggests that, although no current anthropogenic sources were identified in the economically developed Lot-Garonne-Gironde fluvial-estuarine system, there is a non-negligible bioaccumulation in wild oysters at the estuary mouth