Influence de la déforestation sur le fonctionnement hydrologique de petits bassins versants tropicaux

Les régions tropicales subissent une déforestation importante. En Amérique du Sud,la forêt est généralement remplacée par une prairie, C'est pourquoi nous avons étudié le comportement hydrologique de 2 petits (1,5 ha) bassins versants. Un bassin (bassin B) est recouvert par une forêt primaire, tandis que le second (bassin A) a été défriché et transformé en prairie (Digitaria swazilandensis, programme ÉCÉREX, ORSTOM/CTFT). Ces bassins, situés en Guyane Française, sont proches (500 m), escarpés et principalement constitués par des sols à drainage vertical ralenti. Le climat est de type tmpical humide avec une température moyenne (26 °C) et des précipitations moyennes annuelles (3500 à 3900 mm/an) élevées. L'évapotranspiration réelle et potentielle de la forêt primaire sont respectivement égales à 1470 mm/an et 1565 mm/an, En période d'étiage, nous avons observé un écoulement permanent à l'exutoire du bassin A, alors que le bassin B en est dépourvu. Deux crues (24 mai 1992 et 15 mai 1993) ont été étudiées, simultanément sur les 2 bassins. Pendant les crues, nous avons prélevé des échantillons d'eau des précipitations (pluie et pluviolessivat), des ruisseaux et du sol. Sur ces sites, l'eau circulant dans les couches peu profondes du sol présente une concentration élevée en K+ et faible en Cl-. Une signature opposée caractérise l'eau des couches pmfondes du sol. L'analyse des relations existant entre les traceurs chimiques (K+, Cl-) et isotopique l80) ainsi l'étude des propriétés hydrodynamiques du sol permet de décomposer qualitativement l'hydrogramme de crue en 3 réservoirs: sol superficiel (écoulement hypodermique), sol intermédiaire (de 0 à - 0,4 m), sol profond (bassin B) ou nappe (bassin A). Une décomposition quantitative a été effectuée en utilisant des traceurs chimique (Cl-) et isotopique l80). Nous avons ainsi montré que les crues sur les 2 bassins sont dominées par l'écoulement issu des couches intermédiaires du sol qui représente environ la moitié de l'écoulement total de crue. Cependant,les mécanismes de génération des crues diffèrent sur les 2 bassins. Sur le bassin A, les couches profondes du sol sont saturées avant la crue et participent donc à la totalité de la crue. Au contraire, sur le bassin B, les couches profondes de sol atteignent la saturation peu de temps avant le pic de crue et participent donc essentiellement aux écoulement pendant la décrue. Ces résultats confirment les études hydrologiques réalisées précédemment (FRITSCH, 199Ù) et permettent d'identifier les mécanismes de genèse des crues et ainsi de mettre en évidence l'effet de la déforestation.The tropical regions are subjected to fast deforestation. In South America, the tropical rain forest is being replaced by grassland. Thus, we have studied the hydrological behaviour of two small (1.5 ha) watersheds. One basin (hereafter named "B" basin) is still covered by primary forest while the second one (hereafter named "A" basin) was cleared and transformed to grassland (Digitaria swazilandensis, ÉCÉREX program, supported by ORSTOM/CTFT). These basins, located in French Guyana, are close to one another (500 m), steep, and are principally constituted of soils showing lateral drainage. The tropical humid climate is characterized by a high mean interannual temperature (26¡C), which varies slightly from month to month, and by a high mean annual precipitation (3500 to 3900 mm yr-1). Precipitation mainly occurs during the main wet season from May to June and during a secondary wet season from December to January. Real evapotranspiration of the natural forest is 1470 mm yr-1 and potential evapotranspiration is 1565 mm yr-1. During the low-water level period, we have observed perennial runoff at the outlet at the "A" basin while the "B" basin is without permanent flow. We have studied two runoff events (24 May 1992 and 15 May 1993) in both basins. On 24 May 1992, the runoff event was caused by a rainfall lasting for about 10 hours. Total precipitation was 53.8 mm. The main event amounted to 32 mm. The main peak of the hydrograph corresponded to the heaviest rainfalls. On 15 May 1993, the runoff event was caused by a rain lasting for about 13 hours. Total precipitation was 64.0 mm. The main peak of the hydrograph (86.2 L s-1) corresponded again to the heaviest rainfalls. Spatial variability of the precipitation amount was high, especially for the most intense events that have the largest standard deviations. Interception by the canopy amounted to 5.3% of the rainfall in 1992 and 4.3% in 1993. High rapid runoff coefficients were observed, i.e., 0.28 for 24 May 1992 and 0.43 for 15 May 1993. No overland flow was observed in the watershed.Samples of rainwater, throughfall, stream water, and soil water were regularly collected in both watersheds during the runoff events. Temporal variations in the isotopic composition of the stream water at the outlet of the watershed paralleled variations in rainwater but with a distinct shift. The difference between the two signatures could be due to a mixture between:- Rainwater and water present in the watershed before the event and whose isotopic composition is different and variable over space. - Rainwater and water originating from various reservoirs whose contribution to the stream varies with time. The analysis of runoff events using the isotope tracer method revealed the existence in the stream of a mixture of water originating from rain and from one or several other reservoirs in the watershed. Isotope tracers alone were not sufficient to estimate the depth of the soil water contributing to the runoff event. On one hand, temporal variability in the isotopic composition of rainwater was very similar to the vertical spatial variability in the isotopic composition of soil water. On the other hand, surface evaporation in the watershed was negligible: the isotopic signature of water originating from soil during runoff events was the consequence of successive infiltrated rain events. Oxygen-18 content in rain water strongly varied with time but only slightly with space because of the small area of the watershed. Because of this temporal variability, an average isotope content of rainwater could not be used when calculating the contribution of "new water" at the outlet of the watershed.Using chemical and isotope tracers is a way to identify and quantify the contribution of the various water reservoirs to runoff. We were thus able to separate runoff hydrographs into simple components (water from superficial layer, intermediate layer and deep layer). In these watersheds, shallow water was characterized by relatively high concentration in potassium and very low concentration in chloride. An opposite signature characterized deep waterA "deep water" chemical tracer (chloride) - isotope tracer (18O) diagram shows the evidence of a hysteresis relationship:1. The decreasing limb of this relationship (rising segment of the hydrograph) is due to a decrease in heavy isotope content resulting from the decrease of oxygen-18 content in the precipitation and from the arrival of water from upper soil layers with low concentrations of chloride. 2. The increasing limb (falling segment of the hydrograph and recession) is associated with the arrival at the outlet of deep waters containing relatively high concentrations of chloride and heavy isotopes. Using chemical (Cl-) and isotope (18O) tracers, quantitative hydrograph separation was achieved with a simple 2- or 3- component conservative-mixing model. This information allowed qualitative hydrograph separation into 3 reservoirs: superficial soil layers, intermediate soil layers (0 to -0.4 m), deep soil layers ("B" watershed) or ground water ("A" watershed).Thus, the runoff event of both basins was dominated by the intermediate soil layers reservoir, which represents half of the total flow for both basins. However, the processes of runoff generation differ: in the "A" watershed, the deep soil layers were saturated before the rain: the contribution is significant throughout the runoff . In the "B" watershed, the deep soil layers become saturated a few times before the peak flow: their contribution dominates during the recession. These results confirm previous hydrological studies (Fritsch, 1990), which showed the high reactivity of the watershed, and give a better insight into the mechanisms involved.Some of these observations can also be used at a larger scale: 1. Identification of the reservoirs contributing to the runoff event by analyzing the relationships between oxygen-18 content and the flow rate, and between isotope and chemical tracers. 2. Simultaneous samplings along the stream in order to detect a possible zonation of the watershed. These samples must be taken during a runoff event as well as during a low-water level period to check whether the tracer concentrations in the continuous or discontinuous water table supplying the stream are heterogeneous. If the signature of the water table is heterogeneous or if the stream is supplied by several water tables with different chemical concentrations, the watershed must be divided into several homogeneous sub-watersheds

Electron shuttle-mediated microbial Fe(III) reduction under alkaline conditions

Purpose: Extracellular Fe(III) reduction plays an important role in a variety of biogeochemical processes. Several mechanisms for microbial Fe(III) reduction in pH-neutral environments have been proposed, but pathways of microbial Fe(III) reduction within alkaline conditions have not been clearly identified. Alkaline soils are vastly distributed; thus, a better understanding of microbial Fe(III) reduction under alkaline conditions is of significance. The purpose of this study is to explore the dominant mechanism of bacterial iron reduction in alkaline environments. Materials and methods: We used antraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) as a representative of quinone moities of humic substances and elemental sulfur and sulfate as sulfur species to investigate the potential role of humic substances and sulfur species in mediating microbial Fe(III) reduction in alkaline environments. We carried out thermodynamic calculations to predict the ability of bacteria to reduce Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides under alkaline conditions and the ability of AQDS and sulfur species to serve as electron acceptors for microbial anaerobic respiration in an assumed alkaline soil environments. A series of incubation experiments with two model dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA as well as mixed bacteria enriched from a soil were performed to confirm the contribution of AQDS and sulfur species to Fe(III) reduction under alkaline conditions. Results and discussion: Based on thermodynamic calculations, we predicted that, under alkaline conditions, the enzymatic reduction of Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides would be thermodynamically feasible but very weak. In our incubation experiments, the reduction of ferrihydrite by anaerobic cultures of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA or microbes enriched from a soil was significantly increased in the presence of S0 or AQDS. Notably, AQDS contributed more to promoting Fe(III) reduction as a soluble electron shuttle than S0 did under the alkaline conditions probably because of different mechanisms of microbial utilization of AQDS and S0. Conclusions: These results suggest that microbial reduction of Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides under alkaline conditions may proceed via a pathway mediated by electron shuttles such as AQDS and S0. Considering the high ability of electron shuttling and vast distribution of humic substances, we suggest that humic substance-mediated Fe(III) reduction may potentially be the dominant mechanism for Fe(III) reduction in alkaline environments

Nature and origin of the Vani manganese deposit, Milos, Greece: An overview

The Vani manganese deposit is located in the rugged NW sector of Milos Island. It occurs within the Vani volcano-sedimentary basin, which is underlain by dacitic domes and flows of Upper Pliocene age (3.5-2.0 Ma). The end of the emplacement of the dacites was marked by the collapse of the magma chamber, which resulted in a huge pyroclastic episode and the deposition of a thick layer of pyroclastic material within a shallow submarine basin. This pyroclastic material subsequently compected to form the volcaniclastic sandstone, which became the host for the manganese ore beds which were about 4 m thick in the two sections studied. Hydrothermal fluids penetrated these sandstone horizons via fractures and fissures to produce the manganese deposit. The permeable nature of the sandstone facilitated the retention of the hydrothermal fluids within these layers. This permitted the fluids to cool slowly and deposit the manganese oxides almost quantitatively. Formation of the hydrothermal manganese deposit took place fairly rapidly over a period of several tens of thousands of years at most. Strong tectonic activity resulted in rapid uplift of the area which elevated the deposit above sea level. Two generations of manganese oxides have been identified within this deposit; the first generation consists of pyrolusite and ramsdellite; the second generation of oxides of the isostructural series cryptomelane-hollandite-coronadite plus hydrohetaerolite characterized by high contents of K, Ba, Pb and Zn, respectively. This sequence is the result of a two-stage process of formation of the manganese-oxide minerals in which a second high-salinity hydrothermal fluid enriched in Ba, Pb and Zn as a result of the dissolution of sulphide minerals remineralized the original manganese-oxide assemblage. It is this two-stage process of formation, which was mainly responsible for the unique characteristics of this deposit. Although formed in a submarine setting, the deposit shows marked differences in mineralogy and composition from known submarine hydrothermal manganese deposits and is most analogous to the epithermal vein deposits of the southwestern United States. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Bioaccumulation des métaux chez le mytilidae hydrothermal Bathymodiolus sp. de la ride médio-atlantique

The hydrothermal environment is characterised, among other things, by a high metal concentration, related to the convective sea-water circulation inside the oceanic crust and its interaction with basaltic rocks. The biological communities associated with the hydrothermal system can survive in this toxic environment owing to their ability to regulate their intracellular metal levels by excretion or accumulation of metal ions in non-toxic forms. Various detoxification processes have been previously studied within an hydrothermal organism: immobilisation and precipitation of the metal in lysosomal systems, or binding to specific and soluble ligands such as metallothioneins. The later are heat stable and characterised by a high content of cysteine. The quantification of Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cd, Ag, Pa and Sr in the tissues of the vent mussel Bathymodiolus sp. indicates a high accumulation of these metals in two target organs, the gill and the digestive gland. This accumulation is in relation with high concentrations of metallothioneins, but the subcellular distribution of metals indicates a higher contribution of the insoluble compartment for detoxification processes. These results are compared with the literature data about metal bioaccumlation in Bathymodiolus thermophilus collected at the Galapagos Rift.L'environnement hydrothermal est caractérisé, entre autres, par une concentration élevée en métaux, due à la circulation convective de l'eau de mer dans la croûte océanique et à son interaction avec les roches volcaniques. Les organismes vivant à proximité des sources chaudes s'adaptent à cette richesse en métaux sous forme d'ions ou de sels en suspension, soit en maintenant constante leur teneur interne par des processus d'excrétion, soit en les accumulant sous des formes non toxiques. Différents procédés de détoxication ont été mis en évidence chez certaines espèces hydrothermales : immobilisation et précipitation du métal sous forme insoluble, dans les systèmes lysosomiaux, ou fixation à des ligands spécifiques et solubles dont les plus importants sont les métallothionéines, riches en cystéine et stables à la chaleur. Les teneurs en Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cd, Ag, Ba et Sr dans les tissus de Bathymodiolus sp., espèce dont la physiologie est encore mal connue, montrent une accumulation importante dans les deux organes cibles, la branchie et la glande digestive. Cette accumulation est associée à des teneurs élevées en métallothionéines, mais la répartition des métaux montre une contribution plus importante du compartiment insoluble, dans les mécanismes de détoxication. Ces résultats sont comparés avec les données de la littérature concernant la bioaccumulation des métaux chez Bathymodiolus thermophilus des Galapagos

A mineralogical petrographic and geochemical study of samples from wells in the geothermal field of Milos Island (Greece)

This paper presents a study of hydrothermal alteration on Milos island, Greece. Examination of cores and cuttings from the two drill sites, obtained from a depth of about 1100 m in Milos geothermal field, showed that the hydrothermal minerals occurring in the rock include: K-feldspar, albite, chlorite, talc, diopside, epidote, muscovite, tremolite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, alunite, anhydrite, gypsum, calcite, and opaque minerals. The chemical composition of the minerals (104 analyses) was determined with Electron Probe Microanalysis. The composition of the hydrothermal fluid was determined and correlated with the mineralogy. Isotopic ratios of C and O for one calcite sample taken from 341 m depth were determined and used for geochemical calculations. A number of reactions feasible at the P-T conditions of the geothermal field are given to establish the chemical evolution of the hydrothermal fluid. The distribution of the hydrothermal minerals indicates the dilution of the K-, Na-, Cl-rich hydrothermal fluid of the deep reservoir by a Ca-, Mg-rich cold water at a shallower level. © 1991

Chimie du fleuve Tocantins et de rivières côtières de l'est du Para (Brésil)

We have studied the chemistry of Tocantins river, up Stream and down Stream of Tucurui dam. We have complemented these data with the study of nearby rivers from eastern Para and spring from the Tucurui area. They are useful in interpretating the origin of dissolved elements. The chemistry of Cl, K, S04 is mostly under the control of atmospheric inputs. Atmospheric imputs are also important for Na and Sr. The quantification of the atmospheric contributions enable to compute elemental ratios caracteristics of the chemical weathering for the different rivers. The yields of erosion and alteration of Tocantins river have been computed as instantaneous matter fluxes. Specific values can be deduced with a fair confidence: erosion: 60 t.km".y-'; eathering: 12 t. km-*.y-' (CO2 not included); CO2 consumed by weathering: 1,75x1O5 moles.km-*.yNous avons étudié les caractéristiques chimiques du fleuve Tocantins en amont et en aval du barrage de Tucurui. Pour comprendre ses caractéristiques, nous avons aussi étudié des rivières de l'est du Pari et des sources des environs de Tucum'. Il apparaît que la chimie de certains Cléments est principalement dominée par les apports atmosphériques; c'est le cas de Cl, K, SO4. Les contributions atmosphériques sont aussi importantes pour Na et Sr. La quantification de ces contributions permet de calculer des rapports élémentaires caractéristiques des altérations pour les divers cours d'eau. Les bilans d'altération et d'exportation de matière par le fleuve Tocantins ont pu être calculés en terme de flux. Certaines données spécifiques peuvent être déduites avec un bon degré de confiance: érosion: GO t.km-'.an-'; altération: 12 t. km-'.an"(CO2 exclus); CO2 consommé par l'altération: 1,75x1OS moles.km"'.an-'