Cenozoic evolution of Neotethys and implications for the causes of plate motions

Africa-North America-Eurasia plate circuit rotations, combined with Red Sea rotations and new estimates of crustal shortening in Iran define the Cenozoic history of the Neotethyan ocean between Arabia and Eurasia. The new constraints indicate that Arabia-Eurasia convergence has been fairly constant at 2 to 3 cm/yr since 56 Ma with slowing of Africa-Eurasia motion to <1 cm/yr near 25 Ma, coeval with the opening of the Red Sea. Ocean closure occurred no later than 10 Ma, and could have occurred prior to this time only if a large amount of continental lithosphere was subducted, suggesting that slowing of Africa significantly predated the Arabia-Eurasia collision. These kinematics imply that Africa's disconnection with the negative buoyancy of the downgoing slab of lithosphere beneath southern Eurasia slowed its motion. The slow, steady rate of northward subduction since 56 Ma contrasts with strongly variable rates of magma production in the Urumieh-Dokhtar arc, implying magma production rate in continental arcs is not linked to subduction rate

Charavines – Colletière

Date de l'opération : 2007 (FP) Entamées depuis 1972, les recherches archéologiques de Colletière s’achèveront en 2009 et se concluront par la publication finale des résultats (parution prévue en 2011). L’objectif de la dernière autorisation de programme demandée pour 2008-2009 est donc de répondre aux questions qui subsistent sur l’organisation générale de la station (y a-t-il ou non une barbacane, quelle est la fonction exacte de l’appentis qui flanque la résidence principale, où passe préc..

Surveillance et instrumentation des monuments historiques

Les sites et monuments historiques, comme tous les ouvrages naturels et humains, évoluent avec le temps du fait de l'action des éléments naturels ou de site. Cela amène donc la collectivité à se poser la question des moyens à mettre en oeuvre pour assurer la pérennité des ouvrages qu'elle souhaite conserver dans son patrimoine et la sécurité des personnes susceptibles de les visiter. En effet le risque principal auquel il faut faire face est celui de la " ruine " du site ou monument. Cette ruine résulte d'une instabilité qui peut brusquement mettre en péril l'édifice et ses visiteurs. La surveillance est le meilleur moyen d'obtenir à la fois un diagnostic juste et précis et de préconiser un traitement adapté au monument et à sa valeur historique. L'auscultation doit toujours être une opération limitée dans le temps et bien ciblée suite à l'analyse du phénomène étudié. En outre la surveillance doit employer des techniques simples et de grande sensibilité

Charavines – Colletière

La campagne s’est d’abord portée sur l’arrière du bâtiment II, où certaines structures architecturales diffèrent de celles couramment observée dans les autres maisons. Si une première série de poteaux circulaires trace le plan au sol d’un premier état de l’édifice, plusieurs pieux équarris semblent, en effet, témoigner d’une réduction secondaire du bâti, probablement dans les années 1020 (date à confirmer par dendrochronologie). La stratigraphie apporte la preuve indirecte d’une telle reprise..

Comparison of building damage assessment methods for risk analysis in mining subsidence regions

The occurrence of subsidence phenomena in urban regions may induce small to severe damage to buildings. Many methods are provided in the literature to assess buildings damage. Most of these methods are empirical and use the horizontal ground strain as a subsidence intensity in the vicinity of a building. Application and comparison of these methods with a case study is the main objective of this paper. This comparison requires some harmonization of the existing methods and the development of a software, which combines the subsidence hazard prediction, the damage evaluation methods and a database of buildings with structural parameters as well as the geographical coordinates of the buildings An additional results is the development of a method for the prediction of the horizontal ground strain in the vicinity of each building. Results are given as a map of damaged buildings for the case study and the different existing methods with some statistical calculations such as the mean and the standard deviation of damage in the city. Comparison of these results allows identification of the “safer” method that give the higher mean of damage. The comparison of the calculated results and observed damage in Lorrain region show that, the Dzegeniuk et al. methods is more realistic in comparison of the other empirical methods

Development of building vulnerability functions in subsidence regions from empirical methods

The extraction of ores and minerals by underground mining often causes ground subsidence phenomena. In urban regions, these phenomena may induce small to severe damage to buildings. To evaluate this damage, several empirical and analytical methods have been developed in different countries. However, these methods are difficult to use and compare due to differences in the number of criteria used (from 1 to 12). Furthermore, the results provided by damage evaluation may be significantly different from one method to another. The present paper develops vulnerability functions based on a concept that has been applied in other areas, such as earthquake engineering, and that appears to be a more efficient way to assess building vulnerability in undermined cities. A methodology is described for calculating vulnerability functions in subsidence zones using empirical methods. The first part of the paper focuses on existing empirical methods for damage evaluation, and selected necessary improvements or modifications are justified. The second part focuses on the development of a building typology in subsidence zones and its application in the Lorraine region, where many villages are subject to subsidence problems due to iron-ore mining. The third section describes and discusses the adopted methodology for determining vulnerability and fragility functions or curves. Finally, vulnerability functions are tested and validated with a set of three subsidences that occurred in Lorraine between 1996 and 1999

Vulnerability assessment for mining subsidence hazard

International audienceAfter the last mining subsidence events, which occurred in the iron-ore field in Lorraine (France) in 1996, 1997 and 1999, and because of the thousand hectares of undermined areas, the assessment of vulnerability of buildings and territories became necessary for risk management. The ten last years highlight evolutions of the vulnerability concept and its assessment method between the first risk management decisions and current risk assessment. These evolutions reveal a lot about the complexity of the vulnerability concept and about difficulties to develop simple and relevant methods for its assessment. The objective of this paper is to present this evolution and to suggest different improvements compared to other concepts and methods developed in other countries (USA, Poland...) and for other hazards (flood, industrial...). These improvements take into account more various kinds of elements in the vulnerability meaning (buildings, people, roads, public facilities and public functions) as well as they deal with method of assessment in relation to the subsidence intensity and vulnerable elements.Depuis les affaissements miniers survenus en Lorraine en 1996, 1997 et 1999, et en raison des milliers d'hectars sous-minés, l'évaluation de la vulnérabilité des habitations et des territoires est devenu une nécessité pour permettre une meilleure prévention des risques. Les dix années écoulées depuis les premières décisions prises en réaction au risque d'affaissement minier montrent une évolution importante des méthodes employées. Ces évolutions sont révélatrices de la complexité du concept de vulnérabilité et de la difficulté à trouver des méthodes pertinentes et opérationnelles pour l'évaluer. Cet article a pour objectif de présenter cette évolution et de donner des perspectives d'amélioration au vu des méthodes employées dans d'autres pays (Etats-unis, Pologne) et vis-à-vis d'autres aléas (sismique, inondation, accidents industriels). Ces perspectives portent sur les différents enjeux qui contribuent à la vulnérabilité (personnes, bâtiments, infrastructures, équipements publics...) et sur les méthodes de caractérisation de la vulnérabilité en fonction des enjeux et de l'intensité de l'affaissement

The “Autothixotropic” Phenomenon of Water and its Role in Proton Transfer

In an experimental study, significantly higher conductivity values than those of freshly prepared chemically analogous solutions were found in aged (~one year old) aqueous solutions, except for those stored frozen. The results surprisingly resemble a previously noticed phenomenon in liquid water, which develops when water is stored in closed vessels. This was observed as a disturbing phenomenon in gravimetric measurements and in luminescence spectroscopy measurements. The phenomenon was termed “autothixotropy of water” due to the weak gel-like behavior which develops spontaneously over time, in which ions seem to play an important role. Here, according to experimental results we propose that contact with hydrophilic surfaces also plays an important role. The role of the “autothixotropy of water” in proton transfer is also discussed

An extension of analytical methods for building damage evaluation in subsidence regions to anisotropic beams

Ore and mineral extraction by underground mining often causes ground subsidence phenomena, and may induce severe damage to buildings. Analytical methods based on the Timoshenko beam theory is widely used to assess building damage in subsidence regions. These methods are used to develop abacus that allow the damage assessment in relation to the ground curvature and the horizontal ground strain transmitted to the building. These abacuses are actually developed for building with equivalent length and height and they suppose that buildings can be modelled by a beam with isotropic properties while many authors suggest that anisotropic properties should be more representative. This paper gives an extension of analytical methods to transversely anisotropic beams. Results are first validated with finite elements methods models. Then 72 abacuses are developed for a large set of geometries and mechanical properties