A model of cockpit karst landscape, Jamaica

International audienceThis paper deals with a landscape evolution model to compute cockpit karsts landforms. The CHILD model is used to model geomorphic processes at regional scale. After examining briefly CHILD's principles and equations of limestone dissolution processes, the denudation model is detailed. The relation between subcutaneous dissolution and denudation of the topography is introduced by means of an empirical equation associated with epikarst processes: the denudation is taken to be proportional to the dissolution in the subcutaneous zone. The model takes into account an anisotropic dissolution in space according to what is observed in reality or described by scenarios of cockpit karst landscape evolution. Simulated cockpit karst terrains are compared with real landscapes by means of several morphometric criteria: slope, relative relief and scaling properties. Results confirm the importance of anisotropic dissolution processes and could provide a numerical validation of the epikarst processes to describe cockpit karst genesis

Modèle d'évolution de paysages, application aux karsts en cockpit de Jamaïque

International audienceCet article présente les résultats d'un modèle géomorphologique d'évolution des karsts en cockpit (Jamaïque). Dans un premier temps, nous expliquons comment les processus de dissolution des carbonates ont été implémentés dans le logiciel d'évolution géomorphologique CHILD. Puis nous donnons les détails de notre modèle d'érosion, basé sur les principes de la théorie de l'épikarst. Le modèle prend en compte l'anisotropie spatio-temporelle conformément à ce qui est observé empiriquement ou encore décrit par des scénarii de l'évolution des karsts en cockpit. Ce modèle nécessite d'abord d'introduire un réseau de fractures afin de prendre en compte les écoulements de sub-surface. Ensuite, la dissolution et donc l'ouverture des fractures sont calculées ce qui participe à un processus de feed-back positif entre dissolution et écoulement. La relation entre la dissolution des carbonates fracturés et l'évolution de la topographie est introduit

Modelling cockpit karst landforms

International audienceThe purpose of this article is to present a model of the formation processes of cockpit karst landscapes. The CHILD software was used to simulate landscape evolution including dissolution processes of carbonate rocks. After examining briefly how the CHILD model operates, two applications of this model involving dissolution of carbonate rocks are presented. The simulated landscapes are compared with real landscapes of the Cockpit Country, Jamaica, using morphometric criteria. The first application is based on the hypothesis that dissolution of carbonate rocks is isotropic over time and space. In this case, dissolution is constant throughout the whole area studied and for each time step. The simulated landscapes based oil this hypothesis have morphometric features which are quite different from those of real landscapes. The second application considers that dissolution of carbonate rocks is anisotropic over time and space. In this case, it is necessary to take into account subsurface and under.-round processes, by Coupling surface runoff and water infiltration into the fractured carbonates

On extracting sediment transport information from measurements of luminescence in river sediment

Accurately quantifying sediment transport rates in rivers remains an important goal for geomorphologists, hydraulic engineers, and environmental scientists. However, current techniques for measuring long-time scale (102–106 years) transport rates are laborious, and formulae to predict transport are notoriously inaccurate. Here we attempt to estimate sediment transport rates by using luminescence, a property of common sedimentary minerals that is used by the geoscience community for geochronology. This method is advantageous because of the ease of measurement on ubiquitous quartz and feldspar sand. We develop a model from first principles by using conservation of energy and sediment mass to explain the downstream pattern of luminescence in river channel sediment. We show that the model can accurately reproduce the luminescence observed in previously published field measurements from two rivers with very different sediment transport styles. The model demonstrates that the downstream pattern of river sand luminescence should show exponential-like decay in the headwaters which asymptotes to a constant value with further downstream distance. The parameters from the model can then be used to estimate the time-averaged virtual velocity, characteristic transport lengthscale, storage time scale, and floodplain exchange rate of fine sand-sized sediment in a fluvial system. The sediment transport values predicted from the luminescence method show a broader range than those reported in the literature, but the results are nonetheless encouraging and suggest that luminescence demonstrates potential as a sediment transport indicator. However, caution is warranted when applying the model as the complex nature of sediment transport can sometimes invalidate underlying simplifications

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe

Simulations and performance of the QUBIC optical beam combiner

QUBIC, the Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology, is a novel ground-based instrument that aims to measure the extremely faint B-mode polarisation anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background at intermediate angular scales (multipoles o

Reading tea leaves worldwide: decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilisation

The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models