Analyses of the stress field in southeastern France from earthquake focal mechanisms

Due to the apparent deformation field heterogeneity, the stress regimes around the Provence block, from the fronts of the Massif Central and Alpine range up to the Ligurian Sea, were not well defined. To improve the understanding of the SE France stress field, we determine new earthquake focal mechanisms and we compute the present-day stress states by inversion of the 89 available focal mechanisms around the Provence domain, including the 17 new ones calculated in the current study. This study provides evidence of 6 different deformation domains around the Provence block with different tectonic regimes. On a regional scale, we identify three zones characterised by significantly different stress regimes: a western one affected by an extensional stress (normal faulting) regime, a southeastern one characterised by a compressional stress (reverse to strike-slip faulting) regime with NNW- to WNW-trending σ1 and a northeastern one, i.e., the Digne nappe front, marked by an NE-trending compression. Note that the Digne nappe back domain is controlled by an extensional regime that is deforming the western alpine core. This extensional regime could be a response to buoyancy forces related to the Alpine high topography. The stress regimes in the southeast of the Argentera Massif and around the Durance fault are consistent with a coherent NNW-trending σ1 that implies a left-lateral component of the active reverse oblique-slip of the Moyenne Durance Fault. In the Rhone Valley, an E-trending extension characterises the tectonic regime that implies a normal component of the present-day Nîmes fault displacement. This study provides evidence for short-scale variation of the stress states that reflect abrupt change in the boundary force influences on upper crustal fragments (blocks). These spatial stress changes around the Provence block result from the coeval influence of forces applied at both its extremities, i.e., in the north-east, the Alpine front push and in the southeast, the northward African plate drift. Besides these boundary forces, the influence of the mantle plume under the Massif Central can be superimposed along the western block boundary

Cadre géologique du séisme de Lambesc du 11 juin 1909 (Provence, France) : structure et évolution de l’anticlinal de la Trévaresse

Le séisme de Lambesc du 11 juin 1909 (M = 6) est l’événement instrumental le plus important de l’histoire de France. L’analyse géologique de la zone épicentrale (synthèse, cartographie détaillée et étude tectonique) permet de contraindre l’évolution structurale et morphologique de l’anticlinal de la Trévaresse et de la faille associée ayant produit le séisme. Le pli de la Trévaresse est un anticlinal de rampe “forcé” à vergence sud qui s’est développé sur la faille inverse de la Trévaresse du Miocène terminal au Pliocène et probablement après le Pleistocène inférieur. Au cours des 11 derniers millions d’années, la faille de la Trévaresse a enregistré un taux de déplacement inverse intégré de 0,03 ± 0,02 mm/an et un raccourcissement homogène orienté N005 – N010. La zone de faille est constituée de deux segments principaux (le segment oriental étant associé à une faille frontale aveugle potentiellement active) séparés par un relais associé à une série de plis en échelon compatible avec la faible composante senestre du segment oriental. La combinaison de l’analyse structurale avec les réestimations récentes des paramètres de source du séisme indique que la faille de la Trévaresse doit s’enraciner à une profondeur minimale de 6 km, c’est à dire au niveau de décollement triasique. La décroissance vers l’ouest de la maturité morphologique du chaînon anticlinal et de l’escarpement de faille associé suggère une propagation du pli vers l’ouest lors de l’activation partiellement diachrone des deux segments de la faille

Recent tectonic reorganization of the Nubia-Eurasia convergent 2 boundary heading for the closure of the western Mediterranean

: In the western Mediterranean area, after a long period (late Paleogene-Neogene) of Nubian northward subduction beneath Eurasia, subduction is almost ceased as well as convergence accommodation in the subduction zone. With the progression of Nubia-Eurasia convergence, a tectonic reorganization is therefore necessary to accommodate future contraction. Previously-published tectonic, seismological, geodetic, tomographic, and seismic reflection data (integrated by some new GPS velocity data) are reviewed to understand the reorganization of the convergent boundary in the western Mediterranean. Between northern Morocco, to the west, and northern Sicily, to the east, contractional deformation has shifted from the former subduction zone to the margins of the two backarc oceanic basins (Algerian-Liguro-Provençal and Tyrrhenian basins) and it is now active in the south-Tyrrhenian (northern Sicily), northern Liguro-Provençal, Algerian, and Alboran (partly) margins. Compression and basin inversion has propagated in a scissor-like manner from the Alboran (c. 8 Ma) to the Tyrrhenian (younger than c. 2 Ma) basins following a similar propagation of the subduction cessation and slab breakoff, i.e., older to the west and younger to the east. It follows that basin inversion is rather advanced in the Algerian margin, where a new southward subduction seems to be in its very infant stage, while it has still to properly start in the Tyrrhenian margin, where contraction has resumed at the rear of the fold-thrust belt and may soon invert the Marsili oceanic basin. GPS-derived strain rates higher in the Tyrrhenian margin than in the Algerian boundary suggest that this latter manner of contraction accommodation (contraction resumption at the rear of the orogenic wedge) is more efficient than subduction inception and basin inversion along newly-generated reverse faults (Algeria), but the differential strain rates may also be explained with the heterogeneous distribution of GPS stations. Part of the contractional deformation may have shifted toward the north in the Liguro-Provençal basin possibly because of its weak rheological properties compared with the area between Tunisia and Sardinia, where no oceanic crust occurs and seismic deformation is absent or limited compared with the adjacent strands of the Nubia-Eurasia boundary. The tectonic reorganization of the Nubia-Eurasia boundary in the study area is still strongly controlled by the inherited tectonic fabric and rheological attributes, which are both discontinuous and non-cylindrical along the boundary. These features prevent, at present, the development of long and continuous thrust faults. In an extreme and approximate synthesis, the evolution of the western Mediterranean is inferred as being similar to a Wilson Cycle in the following main steps: (1) northward Nubian subduction with Mediterranean backarc extension (since ~35 Ma); (2) progressive cessation, from west to east, of Nubian main subduction (since ~15 Ma); (3) progressive compression, from west to east, in the former backarc domain and consequent basin inversion (since ~8-10 Ma); (4) possible future subduction of former backarc basins

WWP-1 Is a Novel Modulator of the DAF-2 Insulin-Like Signaling Network Involved in Pore-Forming Toxin Cellular Defenses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are the single largest class of bacterial virulence factors. The DAF-2 insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling pathway, which regulates lifespan and stress resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans, is known to mutate to resistance to pathogenic bacteria. However, its role in responses against bacterial toxins and PFTs is as yet unexplored. Here we reveal that reduction of the DAF-2 insulin-like pathway confers the resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans to cytolitic crystal (Cry) PFTs produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. In contrast to the canonical DAF-2 insulin-like signaling pathway previously defined for aging and pathogenesis, the PFT response pathway diverges at 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK-1) and appears to feed into a novel insulin-like pathway signal arm defined by the WW domain Protein 1 (WWP-1). In addition, we also find that WWP-1 not only plays an important role in the intrinsic cellular defense (INCED) against PFTs but also is involved in innate immunity against pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in lifespan regulation. Taken together, our data suggest that WWP-1 and DAF-16 function in parallel within the fundamental DAF-2 insulin/IGF-1 signaling network to regulate fundamental cellular responses in C. elegans

Structural Controls on Crustal Fluid Circulation and Hot Spring Geochemistry Above a Flat‐Slab Subduction Zone, Peru

Hot spring geochemistry from the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru, reveal the influence of crustal‐scale structures on geothermal fluid circulation in an amagmatic region located above a flat‐slab subduction zone. To test the influence of contrasting modes of faulting in these regions, springs were targeted along the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault, within its hanging wall, in the footwall of the detachment, and in the Cordillera Huayhuash. Hot springs along the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault zone are associated with recent extension and normal faulting, and those in its footwall and the Cordillera Huayhuash are located in the Marañon fold and thrust belt where compressional structures dominate. Springs along and in the hanging wall of the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault yield brackish‐saline, alkaline‐chloride waters, with oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and chlorine stable isotope values that suggest mixing between meteoric groundwater and saline brine affected by high water‐rock interaction. Geothermometry reservoir temperature estimates (RTEs) of 91–226°C indicate maximum flow path depths of 8.7 or 11 km, depending on geothermal gradient, associated with the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault. In contrast, springs in the footwall and in the Cordillera Huayhuash exhibit a wide range of water types with an isotopic affinity to meteoric water, suggesting a greater influence from shallow groundwater and less water‐rock interaction. For these springs, RTEs of 40–98°C correspond to much shallower circulation (1.6–4 km). Results indicate that the Cordillera Blanca detachment system accommodates significantly deeper circulation of crustal fluids compared to other regional compressional structures

Lessons learned about the importance of raising risk awareness in the Mediterranean region (north Morocco and west Sardinia, Italy)

Code and data availability: The data set and software code are available at: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GMKYQ (Ivčević, 2021). Supplement: The supplement related to this article is available online at: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3749-2021-supplement.Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). In order to mitigate the potentially dramatic effects of natural hazards, risk management measures are critical. However, the lack of interdisciplinary indicators and adaptable governance frameworks highlights society's vulnerability in the particular context of global environmental and climate change. This interdisciplinary research aimed at identifying reliable risk indicators and societal responses regarding natural hazards and climate change impacts to provide a governance framework for disaster risk reduction. Different societies face diverse risks and do not necessarily have the same level of local awareness of these risk. To explore the diversity of risks, two sites were selected from the Mediterranean basin, one chosen from the south coast (north Morocco) and the other from the north coast (the Italian island of Sardinia). North Morocco, a region of multi-risks, is characterised by high demographic and economic pressures; west Sardinia has remarkable biodiversity of wetlands and is characterised by high environmental and agricultural pressures, which in both cases intensify the vulnerability of the coastal areas. Testing for the local population's preparedness for future financial protection allowed for discussing the importance of risk awareness sessions or activities as an indicator of risk management. The significance of risk awareness sessions is shown in a quantitative part of the study, and its importance is also discussed with local stakeholders in north Morocco in a qualitative part of the study. It is shown that, although risk awareness sessions are recognised as important in risk management, they are not necessarily implemented. Based on these findings, further ideas on a new series of less descriptive, more dynamic and more user-friendly indicators are suggested. How can risk sessions be a dynamic indicator of a resilient society? The obtained results could serve in future governance frameworks for the mitigation of natural hazards in the Mediterranean region and more widely. Finally, the urgent need for continuous work to overcome the communication gap between the scientific community, risk administrators, civil society and the general population is emphasised.H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (grant no. 713750), the Regional Council of Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grant nos. ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02, ANR-11-LABE-0061 and ANR-1-1E-0001-02)

The Grosmarin experiment

The GROSMARIN (which stands for GrandROSMARIN) cruise is proposed by UMR Géosciences Azur (with fellow french and italian research groups). Its goals are to better characterize active structures along this zone and to assess the resulting seismic hazard in a sort of continuation with respect to the MALISAR experiment, which has already surveyed some active structures through shallow observations. The GROSMARIN cruise is in fact the necessary counterpart to characterize them at depth

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ClpP Proteases Are Co-transcribed but Exhibit Different Substrate Specificities

PMCID: PMC3613350This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Verso una migliore conoscenza delle strutture del margine Ligure: il progetto GROSMARIN

(English Abstract) The Ligurian margin, that is the junction area located between the Ligurian basin and the Southwestern Alps, is a passive margin, seismically active and subjected to gravitative movements. The active deformation in this sector is among the strongest ever experienced in Western Italy and Southern France. The current geodynamics of the basin is not completely understood yet, and somewhat under interest and debate of the scientific community. The latest results on the recent evolution of the Alps-Mediterranean system suggest that the area under study lay close to a domain under extension. The interest for the area is reinforced by its seismic activity that, although of low to moderate energy, acts in an area of high vulnerability. Some historical events involved in fact dramatic social and material damages. The growth of population (that now accounts for more than 2.500.000 inhabitants between Cannes and Genoa), the setting of numerous industries and the tourist business of the area are additional motivation for monitoring the area from the seismic point of view and especially to make specific studies on the seismogenic structures of this sector. Events with magnitude greater than 4.5 to 5.0 are in fact recorded every 5 years, but the area undergoes a rather weak microseismicity that often remains undetected and always poorly located by land seismic networks. The natural risks associated to this sector cannot neglect the presence of steep canyons that incise the offshore margin and favour gravitative slopes. The sediment masses accumulate on top of these canyons and may slip even after an earthquake of moderate magnitude. The GROSMARIN (which stands for GrandROSMARIN) cruise is proposed by UMR Géosciences Azur (with fellow french and italian research groups). It aims at (1) studying the microseismicity along a part of the northern margin of the Ligurian Basin, offshore France and Italy and (2) to realise a 3D tomography by wide-angle seismics. The goal is to better characterize active structures along this zone and to assess the resulting seismic hazard.Published359-360N/A or not JCRope

Global Functional Analyses of Cellular Responses to Pore-Forming Toxins

Here we present the first global functional analysis of cellular responses to pore-forming toxins (PFTs). PFTs are uniquely important bacterial virulence factors, comprising the single largest class of bacterial protein toxins and being important for the pathogenesis in humans of many Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Their mode of action is deceptively simple, poking holes in the plasma membrane of cells. The scattered studies to date of PFT-host cell interactions indicate a handful of genes are involved in cellular defenses to PFTs. How many genes are involved in cellular defenses against PFTs and how cellular defenses are coordinated are unknown. To address these questions, we performed the first genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) screen for genes that, when knocked down, result in hypersensitivity to a PFT. This screen identifies 106 genes (∼0.5% of genome) in seven functional groups that protect Caenorhabditis elegans from PFT attack. Interactome analyses of these 106 genes suggest that two previously identified mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, one (p38) studied in detail and the other (JNK) not, form a core PFT defense network. Additional microarray, real-time PCR, and functional studies reveal that the JNK MAPK pathway, but not the p38 MAPK pathway, is a key central regulator of PFT-induced transcriptional and functional responses. We find C. elegans activator protein 1 (AP-1; c-jun, c-fos) is a downstream target of the JNK-mediated PFT protection pathway, protects C. elegans against both small-pore and large-pore PFTs and protects human cells against a large-pore PFT. This in vivo RNAi genomic study of PFT responses proves that cellular commitment to PFT defenses is enormous, demonstrates the JNK MAPK pathway as a key regulator of transcriptionally-induced PFT defenses, and identifies AP-1 as the first cellular component broadly important for defense against large- and small-pore PFTs