Does global warming favour the occurrence of extreme floods in European Alps? First evidences from a NW Alps proglacial lake sediment record

Flood hazard is expected to increase in the context of global warming. However, long time-series of climate and gauge data at high-elevation are too sparse to assess reliably the rate of recurrence of such events in mountain areas. Here paleolimnological techniques were used to assess the evolution of frequency and magnitude of flash flood events in the North-western European Alps since the Little Ice Age (LIA). The aim was to document a possible effect of the post-19(th) century global warming on torrential floods frequency and magnitude. Altogether 56 flood deposits were detected from grain size and geochemical measurements performed on gravity cores taken in the proglacial Lake Blanc (2170 m a.s.l., Belledonne Massif, NW French Alps). The age model relies on radiometric dating (Cs-137 and Am-241), historic lead contamination and the correlation of major flood- and earthquake-triggered deposits, with recognized occurrences in historical written archives. The resulting flood calendar spans the last ca 270 years (AD 1740-AD 2007). The magnitude of flood events was inferred from the accumulated sediment mass per flood event and compared with reconstructed or homogenized datasets of precipitation, temperature and glacier variations. Whereas the decennial flood frequency seems to be independent of seasonal precipitation, a relationship with summer temperature fluctuations can be observed at decadal timescales. Most of the extreme flood events took place since the beginning of the 20(th) century with the strongest occurring in 2005. Our record thus suggests climate warming is favouring the occurrence of high magnitude torrential flood events in high-altitude catchments

North western Alps Holocene paleohydrology recorded by flooding activity in Lake Le Bourget, France and possible relations with Mont-Blanc glaciers fluctuations

International audienceA 14-m long piston core was retrieved from Lake Le Bourget, NWAlps (France), in order to provide a continuous record of flooding events of the Rhone River during the Holocene. The selection of the coring site was based on high resolution seismic profiling, in an area with limited mass wasting deposits and accumulated proximal Rhone River inter-and underflow deposits. The age-depth model of this core is based on (i) 14 AMS radiocarbon dates, (ii)radionuclide dating(137Cs) and (iii) the identification of historical data (flood events, eutrophication of the lake).The sedimentary record dates back to 9400 cal BP, and includes a thin mass wasting event deposited around 4500 cal BP. A multi-proxy approach was used to track the evolution and origin of clastic sedimentation during the Holocene, in order to identify periods of higher hydrologic al activity in the catchment area. Spectrophotometry was used to detect fluctuations in clastic supply and the study of clay minerals (especially the Illite crystallinity index) allowed locating the main source area of fine grained clastic particles settling at the lake after flood events. This dataset highlights up to 12 periods of more intense flooding events over the last 9400 years in Lake Le Bourget and shows that the main source area of clastic particles during this period is the upper part of the Arve River drainage basin. This part of the catchment area drains several large glaciers from the Mont-Blanc Massif, and fluctuations in Rhone River flood supply in Lake Le Bourget is interpreted as resulting essentially from Mont-Blanc Glacier activity during the Holocene.The comparison of clastic sedimentationin Lake Le Bourget with periods of increasing land use and periods of Alpine glacier and mid-European lake level fluctuations, suggest that the core LDB04 clastic record in Lake Le Bourget is a continuous proxy of the Holocene hydrologic al history of the NW Alps

Thickness variation of sediment lamination in Puyehue Lake (Lake District, Southern Chile) during the last millennium: a regional southern hemisphere record of El Niño?

Lake District (Southern Chile) is investigated as a new regional record of past climate changes in Southern Hemisphere, in particular in order to evidence any regional impact of ENSO in South-America. We analyzed three short cores (60 cm) from the key-site of Puyehue Lake (40°S) which has been selected for multiproxy analyses (Bertrand et al., this session). Sedimentation model is related by a laminated mud increment mainly controlled by the biogenic activity and by the annual thermal lake cycles (turn-over of the nutrients during autumn and winter-time). We analysed lamination occurrence and thickness from enlarged images of thin-sections preparation (magnitude 5x) in order to increase sediment resolution. The age-model of the cores is based on counting laminations, assuming that sedimentation is varved. Indeed, this varve sedimentation model is in accordance with chronology based on the decrease of 210Pb rates and peaks of 137Cs. Variation of the lamination thickness shows four different phases of sedimentation. (1) Since c.a. 1350 A.D. (base of the cores) to 1460 A.D., varve-thickness ranges around 400 µm and sedimentation rates are 0,5 mm/yr. (2) From 1460 A.D. to 1890 A.D., varve-thickness is about 600 µm with a minimum at 1730 A.D., and sedimentation rates increases from 0,7 to 1,2 mm/yr. (3) From 1890 A.D. to c.a 1930 A.D., varve-thickness increases up to 2000 µm, and sedimentation rates vary between 1,2 to 2,3 mm/yr. (4) From c.a. 1930 A.D. to Actual, varves are about 500 µm with a destratified layer coincident with the 1960 seismic event of Valdivia; sedimentation rates are between 0,6 to 1,2 mm/yr. The four phases are discussed according to variations of the lake palaeoproductivity by respect with river run-off detrital supplies; the influence of the westerlies on the variations of the lamination thickness is discussed in term of possible regional impact of ENSO

Chemical cycling and deposition of atmospheric mercury in Polar Regions: review of recent measurements and comparison with models

Mercury (Hg) is a worldwide contaminant that can cause adverse health effects to wildlife and humans. While atmospheric modeling traces the link from emissions to deposition of Hg onto environmental surfaces, large uncertainties arise from our incomplete understanding of atmospheric processes (oxidation pathways, deposition, and re-emission). Atmospheric Hg reactivity is exacerbated in high latitudes and there is still much to be learned from polar regions in terms of atmospheric processes. This paper provides a synthesis of the atmospheric Hg monitoring data available in recent years (2011–2015) in the Arctic and in Antarctica along with a comparison of these observations with numerical simulations using four cutting-edge global models. The cycle of atmospheric Hg in the Arctic and in Antarctica presents both similarities and differences. Coastal sites in the two regions are both influenced by springtime atmospheric Hg depletion events and by summertime snowpack re-emission and oceanic evasion of Hg. The cycle of atmospheric Hg differs between the two regions primarily because of their different geography. While Arctic sites are significantly influenced by northern hemispheric Hg emissions especially in winter, coastal Antarctic sites are significantly influenced by the reactivity observed on the East Antarctic ice sheet due to katabatic winds. Based on the comparison of multi-model simulations with observations, this paper discusses whether the processes that affect atmospheric Hg seasonality and interannual variability are appropriately represented in the models and identifies research gaps in our understanding of the atmospheric Hg cycling in high latitudes

Photolytic modification of seasonal nitrate isotope cycles in East Antarctica

Nitrate in Antarctic snow has seasonal cycles in nitrogen and oxygen isotopic ratios that reflect its sources and atmospheric formation processes, and as a result, nitrate archived in Antarctic ice should have great potential to record atmospheric chemistry changes over thousands of years. However, sunlight that strikes the snow surface results in photolytic nitrate loss and isotopic fractionation that can completely obscure the nitrate's original isotopic values. To gain insight into how photolysis overwrites the seasonal atmospheric cycles, we collected 244 snow samples along an 850 km transect of East Antarctica during the 2013–2014 CHICTABA traverse. The CHICTABA route's limited elevation change, consistent distance between the coast and the high interior plateau, and intermediate accumulation rates offered a gentle environmental gradient ideal for studying the competing pre- and post-depositional influences on archived nitrate isotopes. We find that nitrate isotopes in snow along the transect are indeed notably modified by photolysis after deposition, and drier sites have more intense photolytic impacts. Still, an imprint of the original seasonal cycles of atmospheric nitrate isotopes is present in the top 1–2 m of the snowpack and likely preserved through archiving in glacial ice at these sites. Despite this preservation, reconstructing past atmospheric values from archived nitrate in similar transitional regions will remain a difficult challenge without having an independent proxy for photolytic loss to correct for post-depositional isotopic changes. Nevertheless, nitrate isotopes should function as a proxy for snow accumulation rate in such regions if multiple years of deposition are aggregated to remove the seasonal cycles, and this application can prove highly valuable in its own right.</p

Normal versus earthquake-induced clastic sedimentation processes in Lago Puyehue, Chilean Lake District, 41°S

The recent evolution of clastic sedimentary processes in Lago Puyehue, as characterized by high-resolution seismic profiling and multidisciplinary analysis of sediment cores from two contrasted coring sites (PU-I and PU-II), is presented and compared to the catastrophic impact of the 1960 Chilean earthquake (Mw 9.5). Lake Puyehue’s catchment area was strongly influenced by this earthquake: (i) multiple earthquake-induced land slides and debris avalanches temporally dammed the course of the main tributary (Rio Golgol) and (ii) ca. 7.106 m3 of white fine pumiceous sands and black medium-sand-sized scoria were deposited in the catchment area during the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcanic eruption that followed two days after the main seismic shock.Based on the correlation of seismic data and sediment cores dated by 137Cs and the identification of historical events, we argue that “normal” clastic sedimentation is essentially resulting from the development of homopycnal flows at the end of the winter season in these oligothrophic monomictic lakes from the Chilean Lake District. While distal clastic environments (PU-II coring site) are dominated by a biogenic production and appear to have been little affected by the 1960 earthquake and Puyehue volcanic eruptions in 1960 and 1921-22, this might not be the case for more proximal clastic environments (PU-I coring site) as well submitted to sporadic hyperpycnal flows during major flood events. In 1960, for example, as several landslide dams broke in the Golgol valley after the earthquake and the volcanic eruption, a mega-hyperpycnal flow reworked a mixture of volcanoclastic and soils sediments from the catchment as well as lacustrine sediments surrounding the Golgol delta during the rising limb of the flood and accumulated ca. 3.106 m3 of material in the deep basin

Understanding mercury oxidation and air–snow exchange on the East Antarctic Plateau: a modeling study

Distinct diurnal and seasonal variations of mercury (Hg) have been observed in near-surface air at Concordia Station on the East Antarctic Plateau, but the processes controlling these characteristics are not well understood. Here, we use a box model to interpret the Hg0 (gaseous elemental mercury) measurements in thes year 2013. The model includes atmospheric Hg0 oxidation (by OH, O3, or bromine), surface snow HgII (oxidized mercury) reduction, and air–snow exchange, and is driven by meteorological fields from a regional climate model. The simulations suggest that a photochemically driven mercury diurnal cycle occurs at the air–snow interface in austral summer. The fast oxidation of Hg0 in summer may be provided by a two-step bromine-initiated scheme, which is favored by low temperature and high nitrogen oxides at Concordia. The summertime diurnal variations of Hg0 (peaking during daytime) may be confined within several tens of meters above the snow surface and affected by changing mixed layer depths. Snow re-emission of Hg0 is mainly driven by photoreduction of snow HgII in summer. Intermittent warming events and a hypothesized reduction of HgII occurring in snow in the dark may be important processes controlling the mercury variations in the non-summer period, although their relative importance is uncertain. The Br-initiated oxidation of Hg0 is expected to be slower at Summit Station in Greenland than at Concordia (due to their difference in temperature and levels of nitrogen oxides and ozone), which may contribute to the observed differences in the summertime diurnal variations of Hg0 between these two polar inland stations.</p

On the visual detection of non-natural records in streamflow time series: challenges and impacts

Large datasets of long-term streamflow measurements are widely used to infer and model hydrological processes. However, streamflow measurements may suffer from what users can consider anomalies, i.e. non-natural records that may be erroneous streamflow values or anthropogenic influences that can lead to misinterpretation of actual hydrological processes. Since identifying anomalies is time consuming for humans, no study has investigated their proportion, temporal distribution, and influence on hydrological indicators over large datasets. This study summarizes the results of a large visual inspection campaign of 674 streamflow time series in France made by 43 evaluators, who were asked to identify anomalies falling under five categories, namely, linear interpolation, drops, noise, point anomalies, and other. We examined the evaluators' individual behaviour in terms of severity and agreement with other evaluators, as well as the temporal distributions of the anomalies and their influence on commonly used hydrological indicators. We found that inter-evaluator agreement was surprisingly low, with an average of 12 % of overlapping periods reported as anomalies. These anomalies were mostly identified as linear interpolation and noise, and they were more frequently reported during the low-flow periods in summer. The impact of cleaning data from the identified anomaly values was higher on low-flow indicators than on high-flow indicators, with change rates lower than 5 % most of the time. We conclude that the identification of anomalies in streamflow time series is highly dependent on the aims and skills of each evaluator, which raises questions about the best practices to adopt for data cleaning.</p