The Crisis of a Paradigm. A methodological interpretation of Tohoku and Fukushima catastrophe

Preprint, version 2. Manuscrit soumis à Earth Science Reviews, version révisée. Révision envoyée le 8 Janvier 2016.The 2011 Japanese disaster often presented as a 'new Chernobyl' accumulated the effects of earthquake, tsunami and of the subsequent nuclear accident at Fukushima. In the light of this disaster, we review methodological reasons both from geophysical and philosophical perspectives that lead the scientific and technological communities to flawed conclusions, prime cause of the disaster. The origin of the scientific mistake lies in several factors that challenge a dominant paradigm of seismology: the shallower part of the subduction was considered as weak, unable to produce large earthquakes; a complete breakage of the fault up to the sea-floor was excluded. Actually, it appears that such complete rupture of the subduction interface did characterize megathrust ruptures, but also that hazard evaluations and technical implementation were in line with the flawed con-sensual paradigm. We give a philosophical interpretation to this mistake by weighing the opposition between a prescriptive account and a descriptive account of the dynamics of research. We finally emphasize that imagination, boldness , and openness (especially to alternatives to consensual paradigms) appear as core values for research. Those values may function as both epistemic and ethical standards and are so essential as rigor and precision. Ability to doubt and to consider all uncertainties indeed appears essential when dealing with rare extreme natural hazards that may potentially be catastrophic

Communicating Seismic Risk: the Geoethical Challenges of a People-Centred, Participatory Approach

International audienceThe Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) encourages scientists to participate in bottom-up risk communication approaches that directly engage hazard-prone populations. Effective communication of seismic risks not only has economic impacts in terms of hazard mitigation but also provides social value in potentially empowering the marginalized populations that disproportionately live in high-risk areas. This emphasis on community-focused disaster preparedness, however, presents a novel set of communication challenges for geoscientists. Few scientists have training in or experience of translating their science for lay publics, and conveying complex risk information is especially difficult in circumstances where scientific issues are socially contested and politically charged. Recognising that disaster threats can create troublesome information battlegrounds, this paper explores the ethical and practical aspects of seismic risk communication, motivated by an early-career earth scientists' workshop in Istanbul that voiced the concerns of young geoscientists confronted firsthand by at-risk publics. Those concerns form the basis of a wider review of the risk communication issues that are likely to be encountered if community-centred participatory DRR approaches are to be adopted by earthquake science researchers

Corinth terraces re-visited: Improved paleoshoreline determination using Pleiades-DEMs

International audienceThe newest generation of satellites have greatly improved the capabilities of optical imagery over the last decade. Ground resolution has increased by one order of magnitude (to sub-metric pixel images), and improved sensors allow images to be located with an absolute accuracy of within a few meters. Better-resolved images facilitate refined tectonic studies of faults, basins, terraces, and other geomorphic features as it provides the opportunity to extract detailed topographic information. We have developed high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) in eight locations in Greece from tri-stereo satellite images acquired by the new Pleiades platform of CNES. With 0.5m resolution, these DEMs are state-of-the-art in comparison to previous DEMs made from satellite imagery. In this study we explore the potential of one of these DEMs, in the eastern Gulf of Corinth, for the analysis of a flight of marine terraces

Історія радянської України в бібліографічних покажчиках англомовних праць другої половини ХХ століття

У статті проаналізовано бібліографічні покажчики англомовної слов’янознавчої та радянознавчої літератури, видрукувані в англомовних країнах протягом другої половини ХХ ст. Зроблено спробу визначити місце, яке у них займали праці з історії України, зокрема ті, що стосуватися пізньосталінського та хрущовського періодів.В статье анализируются библиографические указатели англоязычной славяноведческой и советологической литературы, опубликованные в англоязычных странах во второй половине ХХ века. Сделана попытка охарактеризовать положение, которое в них занимала история Советской Украины, особенно ее позднесталинский и хрущевский периоды.In the article, the bibliographic guides to the English-language publications in Slavic, East European and Soviet Studies that were published in the second half of the 20th century are analyzed. The special attention is given to history of Ukraine from the second half of the 1940s till the mid-1960s as a particular subject in those guides

Twenty million years of continuous deformation along theKarakorum fault, western Tibet: A thermochronological analysis.

The role of the Karakorum fault zone (KFZ) is debated. South of 33°N, ongoing dextral-oblique slip along the SW edge of the Gar basin exhumes metamorphic and magmatic rocks of the Ayilari range. Minerals have recorded a continuum of deformation from temperatures >600–400°C down to 20 Ma of deformation along the fault. Greenschist facies deformation superimposed upon the medium- to high-grade deformation marks a kinematic change from pure dextral to dextral-normal motion associated with the onset of rapid cooling. At the regional scale, the coexistence of transtension in the Gar basin with transpression documented along the Pangong range farther north suggests another example of the ‘‘zipper tectonics'' model developed along the Red River fault. The kinematic shift induced the rise of the Ayilari range starting at 16–12 Ma and the incision of major river courses. The Indus River might have become captive of the relief at this time. The river's 120 km of apparent offset implies dextral motion at a long-term rate of ca 8.5 ± 1.5 mm/yr

Quand la Vache qui rit devançait Félix le chat et Mickey la souris

En 1916, grâce à son inventeur Émile Cohl, le dessin animé fait une rencontre historique avec la bande dessinée française, en la personne de Benjamin Rabier. Un très populaire créateur d’une fresque animale dont les personnages se comportent comme des humains. Ignorant tout de la technique cinématographique, Rabier fait appel à Cohl dont il apprécie la récente animation de la bande dessinée des Pieds Nickelés. René Navarre, ex-interprète des Fantômas de Feuillade, assure la production des « Dessins animés de Benjamin Rabier ». D’octobre 1916 à mars 1917, Cohl et Rabier réalisent trois bandes avec un chien (la Journée de Flambeau, Flambeau au pays des surprises, les Fiançailles de Flambeau), une quatrième avec une cane (les Aventures de Clémentine). La rupture de Cohl avec Navarre entraîne une interruption de la série. Puis Rabier la poursuivra seul et de façon plus espacée jusqu’en 1922. La correspondance entre Rabier et Cohl permet de suivre au jour le jour la gestation de la plus ambitieuse tentative du dessin animé français, quatre ans avant Félix le chat et douze ans avant Mickey la souris.In 1916, thanks to its inventor Émile Cohl, the animated film makes an historic encounter with the French comic strip, in the person of Benjamin Rabier, the very popular creator of series in which animals behave like humans. Quite ignorant of film technique, Rabier contacted Cohl, whose recent animation of the comic strip les Pieds Nickelés he had appreciated. René Navarre, former an actor in Feuillade’s Fantômas, was the producer of the « Cartoons of Benjamin Rabier ». From October 1916 to March 1917, Cohl and Rabier make three films featuring a dog (la Journée de Flambeau, Flambeau au pays des surprises, les Fiançailles de Flambeau), and a fourth with a duck (les Aventures de Clémentine). Cohl’s break from Navarre causes the interruption of the series, which Rabier then continues alone and in a more occasional fashion until 1922. The correspondence between Rabier and Cohl allows us to follow day by day the genesis of the most ambitious French cartoon series, four years before Felix the Cat and twelve years before Mickey Mouse

La cartographie en zones forestières méditerranéennes de la région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

International audienc

Updated Interpretation of Magnetic Anomalies and Seafloor Spreading Stages in the South China Sea : Implications for the Tertiary Tectonics of Southeast Asia

International audienceWe present the interpretation of a new set of closely spaced marine magnetic profiles that complements previous data in the northeastern and southwestern parts of the South China Sea (Nan Hai). This interpretation shows that seafloor spreading was asymmetric and confirms that it included at least one ridge jump. Discontinuities in the seafloor fabric, characterized by large differences in basement depth and roughness, appear to be related to variations in spreading rate. Between anomalies 11 and 7 (32 to 27 Ma), spreading at an intermediate, average full rate of ~50 mm/yr created relatively smooth basement, now thickly blanketed by sediments. The ridge then jumped to the south and created rough basement, now much shallower and covered with thinner sediments than in the north. This episode lasted from anomaly 6b to anomaly 5c (27 to ~16 Ma) and the average spreading rate was slower, ~35 mm/yr. After 27 Ma, spreading appears to have developed first in the eastern part of the basin and to have propagated towards the southwest in two major steps, at the time of anomalies 6b-7, and at the time of anomaly 6. Each step correlates with a variation of the ridge orientation, from nearly E-W to NE-SW, and with a variation in the spreading rate. Spreading appears to have stopped synchronously along the ridge, at about 15.5 Ma. From computed fits of magnetic isochrons we calculate 10 poles of finite rotation between the times of magnetic anomalies 11 and 5c. The poles permit reconstruction of the Oligo-Miocene movements of Southeast Asian blocks north and south of the South China Sea. Using such reconstructions, we test quantitatively a simple scenario for the opening of the sea in which seafloor spreading results from the extrusion of Indochina relative to South China, in response to the penetration of India into Asia. This alone yields between 500 and 600 km of left-lateral motion on the Red River-Ailao Shan shear zone, with crustal shortening in the San Jiang region and crustal extension in Tonkin. The offset derived from the fit of magnetic isochrons on the South China Sea floor is compatible with the offset of geological markers north and south of the Red River Zone. The first phases of extension of the continental margins of the basin are probably related to motion on the Wang Chao and Three Pagodas Faults, in addition to the Red River Fault. That Indochina rotated at least 12° relative to South China implies that large-scale "domino" models are inadequate to describe the Cenozoic tectonics of Southeast Asia. The cessation of spreading after 16 Ma appears to be roughly synchronous with the final increments of left-lateral shear and normal uplift in the Ailao Shan (18 Ma), as well as with incipient collisions between the Australian and the Eurasian plates. Hence no other causes than the activation of new fault zones within the India-Asia collision zone, north and east of the Red River Fault, and perhaps increased resistance to extrusion a long the SE edge of Sundaland, appear to be required to terminate seafloor spreading in the largest marginal basin of the western Pacific and to change the sense of motion on the largest strike-slip fault of SE Asia

Reconstituer un sol agronomique à partir de sous-produits minéraux et organiques.

La reconstitution d'un sol agronomique représente une excellente solution de traitement et de valorisation de différents matériaux organiques et minéraux ; elle permet un enherbement, des plantations de taillis et d'arbres sur des sites dégradés tels que la garrigue, les maquis, les friches industrielles..