The sediment budget and paleogeography was reconstructed for the Maastrichtian fluvial to coastal plain Lance Formation (>200m thick) that developed coevally with the shoreline/shelf Fox Hills Sandstone (>200m thick) and deep-water Lewis Shale (>750m thick) in a complete source-to-sink system in the Washakie and Great Divide Basins of south central Wyoming. The system initiated during the final Western Interior Seaway (WIS) transgression and the onset of the Laramide Orogeny rapid subsidence (>2km in 1.9 My) that largely outpaced sediment flux into the basin so the system became and remained a deep-water (>500m water depth) basin beyond the Lance-Fox Hills shelf prism. The active tectonic setting and rapid subsidence caused the Lance fluvial and coastal plain deposits to aggrade and accumulate behind the generally rising shoreline trajectory of the Fox Hills Sandstone. The depositional succession is subdivided into 15 clinothem units and the Lance Formation is best exposed in outcrops in clinoforms 10, 11, and 12. Subsurface analysis correlates key stratigraphic surfaces across the basin to define the sediment budget and clinoform architecture. Field analysis along clinoform 12 on the east side of the basin details facies and paleohydraulic dimensions. Sediment partitioning shows the regressive and transgressive systems tracts (RST and TST) form complementary wedges such that the RST thickens basinward and the TST thins basinward, reflecting the preferential storage of sediment. Channels measured in the field and subsurface datasets are similar in thickness (2m-16m) and suggest braided channel morphology with channel belts from 6.2-8.4km. N/NE paleocurrent trends departing from the subsurface dataset and previous studies of the system provide evidence of possible tidal influences in a developed shoreline embayment or an east to west supply from the basement-cored Rawlins and Sierra Madre Uplifts in the east. The fluvial Lance Formation paleogeography associated with the RST and TST is primarily driven both by modest, Late Cretaceous relative sea level changes and sediment supply linked to the tectonic setting and climate. / text

Quantifying how hillslopes respond to river incision and climate change is fundamental to understanding the geomorphic evolution of tectonically uplifting landscapes during glacial-interglacial cycles. Hillslope adjustment in the form of deep-seated bedrock landslides can account for a large proportion of the regional sediment yield and denudation rates for rapidly uplifting landscapes. However, the timing and magnitude of the response of hillslopes to climatic and tectonic forcing in moderate uplift temperate maritime catchments characteristic of many active margins worldwide is not well quantified. This study seeks to investigate how hillslopes respond to climate-modulated river incision and to quantify the magnitude of the sediment flux from this response in a typical active margin setting. The non-glacialWaipaoa Sedimentary System (WSS) on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand consists of river catchments, coastal foothills to uplifting mountain ranges, and terrestrial and marine sediment depocentres collectively underlain by relatively young (Cretaceous and younger) sedimentary rocks within a tectonically active setting and temperate maritime climate. These attributes make theWSS similar to many coastal catchments on oceanic-continental convergent margins worldwide. However, because of widespread destruction of primary forests for conversion to pasture lands by the mid 20th Century, theWSS is currently a globally significant source of sediment to the world’s oceans. Because of these factors, theWSS was selected as one of two global study sites for the international, NSF supported, MARGINS Source-to-Sink initiative designed to investigate the transfer of sediment from terrestrial source to marine sink. Previous studies on theWSS have shown a strong link between climate change and geomorphic response in the system. River incision since the last glacial coldest period has generated a significant amount of topography, leaving small remnants of the ca.18,000 cal. yr BP last glacial aggradation terrace scattered up to 120 m above modern rivers. In this study, the hillslope response to river incision is quantitatively examined using new high resolution topographic data sets (lidar and photogrammetry) in combination with 3 field mapping and tephrochronology. Hillslopes are found to be coupled to river incision and adjusted to rapid incision through the initiation and reactivation of deep-seated landslides. In the erodible marine sedimentary rocks of the terrestrialWSS, post-incision deep-seated landslides can occupy over 30% of the surface area. Many of these slides show evidence of multiple “nested” failures and landslide reactivation. The ages of tephra cover beds identified by electron microprobe analysis show that following an initial 4,000 to 5,000 year time lag after the initiation of river incision, widespread hillslope adjustment started between the deposition of the ca. 13,600 cal. yr BPWaiohau tephra and the ca. 9,500 cal. yr BP Rotoma tephra. Tephrochronology and geomorphic mapping analysis indicates that river incision and deep-seated landslide slope adjustment is synchronous between mainstem rivers and headwater tributaries. Tephrochronology further shows that many slopes have continued to adjust to channel incision into the late Holocene. Hillslope response in the catchment can involve the entire hillslope from river to ridgeline, with some interfluves between incising sub-catchments being dramatically modified through ridgeline retreat and/or lowering. Using the results of the landform tephrochronology and geomorphic mapping, a conceptual time series of hillslope response to uplift and climate change-induced river incision is derived for a timeframe encompassing the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Using the same high resolution topography datasets, in-depth field analysis, and tephrochronology, the 18,000 year sediment yield from terrestrial deep-seated landslides in theWSS is estimated in order to investigate the magnitude of hillslope response to climate-modulated, uplift driven river incision. This completes one of the first processbased millennial time-scale sediment budgets for this class of temperate maritime, active margin catchments. Fluvial and geomorphic modelling is applied to reconstruct pre 18,000 cal. yr BP topography in 141 km2 of detailed study area and the resulting volumetric estimates from 207 landslides are used to estimate deep-seated landslide sediment flux for the broader system. An estimated 10.2 km3 of deep-seated landslidederived sediment with a multiplicative uncertainty of 1.9 km3 (+9.2 km3, -4.8 km3) was delivered to terrestrial and marine sinks. This accounts for between 10 and 74% of the total mass of the terrestrialWSS budget of ca. 91,000 Mt (+37,000 Mt, -26,000 Mt). Combining the deep-seated landslide results with other studies of terrestrial sediment sources and terrestrial and shelf sinks, the estimated terrestrial source load ranges from 4 Abstract 1.2 to 3.7 times larger than the mass of sediment sequestered in terrestrial and shelf depocentres. This implies that off-shelf transport of sediment is important in this system over the last 18,000 cal. yr BP, as it is today for anthropogenic reasons. Based on the derived sediment budget, the denudation rate for the terrestrialWSS of 0.8 mm yr-1 (+0.3 mm yr-1, -0.2 mm yr-1) is indistinguishable from the average terrestrialWaipaoa late Quaternary uplift rate, indicating an approximate steady-state balance between denudation and uplift. This thesis provides a quantitative analysis of the role of deepseated landslides in an active margin catchment that is used to improve the understanding of landscape and terrestrial source-to-marine-sink sediment transfer dynamics.

Dans cette étude menée sur la côte méditerranéenne du Maroc, de l’Algérie, et de la Tunisie à une échelle spatiale et temporelle étendue (2200 km de côte et sur 100 ans environ), nous déterminons, par une approche « Source-to-sink », les relations existantes entre l’érosion produite dans les bassins versants et les sédiments transportés en suspension par les oueds, avec la redistribution de ces sédiments le long du rivage. Nous proposons un nouveau modèle empirique de transport sédimentaire en suspension le long des bassins versants de notre site d’étude. Nous déterminons alors l’impact des barrages sur les sédiments, puis nous estimons quantitativement quels sont les apports sédimentaires s’effectuant jusqu’à la mer. Nous analysons les caractéristiques morphologiques du littoral selon sa géométrie et les indices morphodynamiques issus de la littérature. Après avoir cartographié la position du trait de côte à différentes périodes, la cinématique du rivage est déterminée, ainsi que la dérive littorale. Ces analyses se basent sur le concept de cellule littorale. Nous terminons par une synthèse globale avant de tirer les conclusions principales sur les relations entre les bassins versants et les cellules littorales, telles que (1) le rôle de précurseur et de tampon sédimentaire joué par les deltas pour limiter l’érosion des plages en secteur aval de la cellule littorale, (2) les liens entre les apports sédimentaires des oueds avant-barrage avec le type de barre littorale, et (3) les liens entre les apports sédimentaires des oueds avant-barrage, minorés du volume de sédiment déplacé par la dérive littorale, avec la taille des deltas et le nombre de barres littorales. / In this study conducted on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia at an extended spatial and temporal scale (2200 km of coastline and about 100 years), we determine, using a "source-to- sink ", the existing relationships between erosion produced in watersheds and sediment transported in suspension by wadis, with the redistribution of these sediments along the shoreline. We propose a new empirical model of suspended sediment transport along the watersheds of our study site. We then determine the impact of dams on the sediments, and then quantitatively estimate the sedimentary contributions to the sea. We analyze the morphological characteristics of the littoral according to its geometry and the morphodynamic indices from the literature . After mapping the position of the coastline at different periods, the kinematics of the shoreline is determined, as well as the shoreline drift. These analyzes are based on the concept of a littoral cell. We conclude with a general synthesis before drawing the main conclusions on the relations between watersheds and coastal cells, such as (1) the role of precursor and sediment buffer played by deltas to limit the erosion of beaches in the sector (3) the links between sediment inputs from pre-barrage wadis, minus the volume of sediment moved by the coastal drift, with the size of the deltas and the number of coastal bars.

Cette thèse présente la première étude Source-to-Sink de la marge Atlantique Equatoriale africaine au Méso-Cénozoïque. Nous avons dans un premier temps produit, à partir d'une nouvelle méthode intégrant les limites d'érosion des dépôts préservés dans les bassins et leur extension initiale minimum, une nouvelle reconstruction paléogéographique et structurale couplant pour la première fois le continent ouest africain et l'Atlantique Equatoriale au cours du Méso-Cénozoïque. Ceci nous permet de suivre l'évolution depuis 200 Ma des domaines en érosion (sources) et en sédimentation (puits) à l'échelle continentale. Nous montrons en particulier qu'au Crétacé supérieur la zone correspondait à un grand bassin intracratonique Saharien qui exportaient ses sédiments à la fois vers la Téthys et vers l'Atlantique Equatoriale. La fragmentation de ce bassin a eu lieu à l'Oligocène par le soulèvement du bouclier du Hoggar qui a isolé les petits dépôt-centres résiduels actuels. Le développement de cette topographie particulière est issu de la superposition de différentes longueurs d'onde de déformation à l'échelle continentale combinant les bourrelets marginaux longeant la marge équatoriale et un bombement de type " point chaud ".Nous avons ensuite caractérisé, à partir de l'interprétation des données sismiques et des puits, la segmentation de la marge continentale équatoriale en segments transformants et divergents et l'architecture stratigraphique post-rift du prisme stratigraphique associée au Crétacé Supérieur. Nous montrons que les parties proximales (dépôts de plateforme et pente continentale) des prismes stratigraphiques du Crétacé Supérieur ne sont préservés que le long des segments divergents de la marge, et pas le long des segments transformants. Nous interprétons cette différence de préservation comme résultant de mouvements verticaux post-rift plus importants dans les domaines proximaux des segments transformants empêchant la préservation des termes proximaux des systèmes sédimentaires. La caractérisation des architectures stratigraphiques post-rifts a ensuite permis la quantification des volumes sédimentaires préservés dans ces bassins de marges passives. En parallèle, de nouvelles données de thermochronologie basse-température (AFTA et (U-Th-Sm/He sur apatite) acquises à l'Université de Glasgow sur les échantillons de trois profils perpendiculaires à la marge équatoriale ont permis de quantifier l'histoire de l'érosion et les volumes dénudés sur le domaine continental au cours du Méso-Cénozoïque. Ces données montrent que le seul événement thermique majeur enregistré correspond au refroidissement lié à la dénudation d'une topographie syn-rift le long de la marge. Le bilan d'érosion et d'accumulation montre que les ordres de grandeur des volumes dénudés et accumulés sont comparables à l'échelle de la marge équatoriale au cours du Méso-Cénozoïque. Certaines périodes (Crétacé Supérieur et depuis le Miocène Supérieur), montrent cependant un excès d'accumulation qui pourrait être associé à la remobilisation de sédiments précédemment stockés dans des bassins intracontinentaux ou sur la plateforme de la marge. / This PhD thesis presents the first source-to-sink study of the African Atlantic Equatorial margin. We established new Meso-Cenozoic paleogeographic and structural reconstructions, integrating the West African sub-continent and the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean, based on a new mapping method defining both erosion limits of preserved deposits and their minimum original extension. We show the evolution over 200 Myrs of the eroding (sources) and accumulating domains (sinks) at continental scale. We demonstrate in particular that during the Cretaceous, a large Saharan intracratonic basin was exporting sediments toward both the Tethys and the future Atlantic Equatorial Ocean. The fragmentation of this basin occurred in the Oligocene, by the growth of the Hoggar swell that isolated the present-day small residual depot-centers. The development of this specific "basin and swell" topography results from the superimposition of various deformation wavelength at continental scale combining a marginal upwarp along the equatorial margin and a hot spot swell. We then characterized, from the interpretation of seismic data and well logs, the segmentation of the Equatorial Atlantic passive margin and the stratigraphic architecture of the post-rift Upper Cretaceous sedimentary wedge. We show that the proximal parts of the Late Cretaceous sedimentary wedge are only preserved along divergent segments of the margin and not along transform segments. We interpret this differential preservation as the result of a greater uplift, during the early post-rift, in the proximal parts of the transform segments preventing the preservation of the proximal terms of the sedimentary systems. The transform segments are associated with narrow necking zone, resulting in greater flexural uplift than divergent segments showing wider necking zones, in particular during the early post-rift. The characterization of the stratigraphic architecture of the post-rift sedimentary wedge then allowed for the quantification of accumulation history in the passive margin basins. New low-temperature thermochronological data (AFTA and Apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He) acquired at the University of Glasgow on the samples of three regional transects perpendicular to the margin allowed for the quantification of the denudation history and eroded volume on the continental domain. These data shows that the major thermal event recorded by those samples is the cooling phase related to the erosion of a rift-related topography along the margin. Erosion and accumulation budgets fall within the same order of magnitude. During some given periods (Late Cretaceous and since the Late Miocene), excess in accumulation may be associated with the reworking of sediments previously stored within intracontinental basins or on the shelf of the margin.

La vigueur initiale (accumulation de biomasse aérienne) est déterminante pour un rapide établissement de la culture et l'accès aux ressources, contribuant ainsi à un évitement du stress hydrique. Cette thèse vise à caractériser la diversité phénotypique chez le riz (Oriza Sativa.L) des traits constituant la vigueur initiale et sa plasticité sous stress hydrique. L'étude à démontrée que la vigueur initiale dépend de caractères relatifs aux forces de puits et à la demande en assimilats carbonés, tels que le taux de développement (DR), le tallage et la taille potentielle des feuilles. Une relation négative entre DR et la taille des feuilles a été observée et reliée à des différences d'utilisation des sucres par la plante au niveau des organes source et puits. En particulier des plantes à fort DR ont montré la tendance à stocker très peu d'amidon dans les feuilles source, inversement aux génotypes à grande feuilles. Sous stress hydrique des faibles tolérances à la sécheresse ont été liés à des réductions des activités des organes puits. Cette étude a montré l'existence d'une grande diversité génétique pour des trais liés à la tolérance au stress hydrique chez le riz. De plus des fortes réductions de croissance sous stress ont été observées pour les génotypes vigoureux. En effet de forts DR étaient aussi associés à une forte sensibilité du taux de transpiration foliaire (fermeture stomatique) et à une faible efficience d'utilisation de l'eau sous stress, de plus les génotypes à grandes feuilles ont montré un fort taux de sénescence foliaire. La diversité phénotypique observée dans le panel des riz Japonica est prometteuse pour des analyses génétiques d'association permettant l'amélioration de la tolérance au stress hydrique du riz ; cependant, les éventuelles limitations génétiques liées aux relations négatives observées entre vigueur initiale et tolérance au stress hydrique et donc, la facilité d'une co-sélection pour ces deux caractères complexes, devront être explorées. / Early vigour (ie.shoot biomass accumulation) is essential for rapid crop establishment, resource acquisition and can thus contribute to drought avoidance. This work aims at characterizing the diversity of component traits constituting early vigor and its plasticity under drought for rice (Oriza Sativa L.). This study demonstrated that sink dynamics: Developmental Rate (DR, inverse of phyllochron, in °C.d-1); tillering capacity and potential leaf size which together constitute incremental demand for assimilates are mayor drivers of early vigor. A tradeoff between DR and leaf size was explained by differences in carbon concentrations in source and sink leaves, in particular high DR genotypes stored low starch in source leaves compared to large leaf genotypes under well watered conditions. Low drought tolerance was related to a reduction in sink activity under drought. This study demonstrates that rice has a great genetic diversity in terms of drought tolerance. Under drought both high DR and large leaves vigorous genotypes had the strongest growth reduction. Indeed, DR was associated to high stomatal sensibility to drought and low WUE, while large leaves genotypes showed high leaf senescence rates. Finally, the phenotypic diversity observed within the studied japonica panel is promising for genetic association studies in order to improve rice drought resistance. The genetic limitations of the negative, phenotypic linkages observed between early vigor and drought tolerance, and thus the easiness to co-select for both traits will have to be explored.

Madagascar est un lambeau de croûte continentale archéenne à néoproterozoïque entouré de marges transformantes, obliques et divergentes : la marge oblique du bassin de Morondava à l’Ouest, bornée par la ride de Davie, et au Nord, la marge divergente du bassin de Majunga connectée au bassin de Somalie. Cette île de 1600 kilomètres de long est composée d’un plateau axial archéen-protérozoïque entre 1200 et 1800m d’altitude, bordé de tous côtés par des bassins sédimentaires. Le sommet du plateau correspond à des surfaces d’aplanissement altérées, délimitées par des escarpements plus ou moins marqués. L'altitude des hauts plateaux traduit l'existence de processus mantelliques, mais la cinétique et l'origine du relief malgache est mal comprise. Peu d'études ont étudié les domaines non orogéniques dans leur intégralité terre-mer, depuis le bassin versant en érosion jusqu'aux marges en sédimentation, et aucune d'entre elles ne porte sur Madagascar. Ce travail de thèse repose donc sur une double approche: une analyse géomorphologique des formes du relief (surfaces d'aplanissement) à terre, basée sur leur (i) cartographie, (ii) chronologie relative, (iii) relation avec les profils d'altération et (iv) datation au moyen des placages sédimentaires et du volcanisme daté qui les scellent; une analyse stratigraphique de l'intervalle post-rift des marges, basée sur l'interprétation de données de sub-surface (puits et lignes sismiques), lesquelles ont été réévaluées en âge (biostratigraphie), pour (i) identifier, dater et mesurer les déformations des marges et de leur relief en amont, (ii) mesurer les flux silicoclastiques, produits de l'érosion continentale. Un calendrier et une cartographie des déformations ont été obtenus sur les marges et mis en relation avec les différentes générations de surfaces d'aplanissement étagées caractérisant le relief malgache. Au Crétacé supérieur, une flexuration de l'île est initiée au sud, à grande longueur d'onde, autour de ~94 Ma. Cette déformation est scellée par la mise en place d'une surface d'aplanissement non déformée mise en place entre 80 et 66 Ma. Durant le Paléocène jusqu’à l'Eocène supérieur (66 à 20 Ma), Madagascar est une île relativement plate, de faible altitude, entourée de larges plateformes carbonatées. Ce relief est largement altéré avec la croissance de nombreux profils latéritiques et les influx silico-clastique dans les bassins sont alors relativement faibles. Le Miocène moyen à supérieur correspond au paroxysme de la surrection et de la déformation avec (1), le basculement de la marge ouest (Morondava), (2) une augmentation du flux de sédimentation silicoclastique depuis le Miocène moyen et (3) la mise en place d’une succession de quatre surfaces d’aplanissement correspondant à des pics d'intensité de la déformation. Le résultat de cette surrection est la morphologie en dôme de l’île de Madagascar (avec un plateau central) marquée par la forme concave de la surface crétacé supérieure altérée à l’Eocène. Le mécanisme de la surrection doit prendre en compte une déformation de très grande longueur d’onde (x 1000 km), forcément liée à la dynamique mantellique. Les relations avec les dômes d’Afrique de l’Est (Ethiopie, Afrique du Sud) sont discutées. / Madagascar is an Archean to Neoproterozoic continental crust surrounded by transform, oblique and divergent margins: the transform Morondava basin to the west, pounded by the Davie Fracture Zone, and to the north, the divergent Mahajanga Basin connected to the Somali Oceanic Basin. This 1600 km long island is a high axial plateau with elevations from 1200 to 1800m. The top of the plateau corresponds to weathered planation surfaces (etchplains), bounded by more or less high scarps. Such elevation of the high axial plateau imply mantle processes, but the age and cinetic of the uplift is still poorly known. Few studies dealt with anorogenic domains in their entirety from the catchment area, the source, to the downstream depositional system, the sink, none of which is about Madagascar. This work lies on a double approach : it is onshore based on the analysis of the macroforms (planation surfaces, etchplains, pediments) throughout their (i) mapping, (ii) relative dating, (iii) relationships with weathering profiles and (iv) dating by their intersection with preserved sediments and volcanism (lava flow and intrusions). offshore, it is based on the interpretation of a dataset of seismic lines and industrial wells, coupled with refreshed biostratigraphy, in order to (i) identify, date and measure vertical movements of the margins and upstream reliefs. Chronology and mapping of vertical movements were defined on the Morondava margin and compared with the onset of the stepped planation surfaces typical of Madagascar topography. During Upper Cretaceous, the southern part of the island is uplifted, at ~94 Ma. This deformation is sealed by the onset of an undeformed planation surface between 80 and 66 ma. From Paleocene to Upper Eocene (66 to 20 Ma), Madagascar is a flat, low elevated island, surrounded by wide carbonate platforms. The relief is highly weathered with growth of lateritic profiles and silico-clastic influx within the basin is low. During Middle to Upper Miocene is the uplift and doming paroxysm with (1), tilt of the western margin (Morondava), (2) increase of silico-clastic influx from Middle Miocene and (3 the onset of four planation surfaces associated to deformation paroxysms. The end result of this uplift is a convex up shape pattern for the end Cretaceous surface weathered during Eocene times, creating the present-day dome morphology (with a central plateau) of Madagascar. The mechanism of this uplift has to explain a very long wavelength deformation (x1000 km) necessary due to mantle dynamics. The relationships with the other East African domes (Ethiopia, East Africa, South Africa) are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agronomy / S.V. Krishna Jagadish / Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is one of the hardiest crop to abiotic stresses compared with other grain crops. However early stage chilling, terminal heat and drought stress are three most damaging abiotic stresses that have limited sorghum productivity in the US Great plains and other locations having similar environmental conditions. Three studies were conducted with an overall goal aimed at increasing grain sorghum’s resilience to harsh climatic conditions. In the first study, four promising chilling stress tolerant sorghum advanced breeding lines, a known early stage chilling tolerant Chinese landrace (Shan Qui Red - SQR) and a susceptible US elite cultivar (RTx430) as checks were assessed for chilling tolerance during emergence and early growth under field and controlled environments. Aerial phenotyping using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) fitted with multispectral camera was used to capture reflectance-based vegetation indices (NDVI and NDRE) in field experiments. Some advanced breeding lines with superior agronomic background also recorded significantly better emergence, seedling growth and vigor compared to SQR under chilling conditions. Aerial phenotyping indices from images taken between 30 and 60 days after emergence were consistently correlated with destructive measurements under early plantings, indicating their effectiveness in differentiating chilling responses. Second study was conducted to understand physiological mechanisms inducing heat stress resilience in sorghum during flowering. A diverse set of sorghum inbreds and selected hybrids were tested under greenhouse, growth chamber facilities and field conditions. A highly conserved early-morning-flowering mechanism was observed across all the inbreds and hybrids, with the peak anthesis wherein >90% of florets completed flowering within 30 min after dawn. The conserved response was consistent even under drought stress and heat stress exposure imposed at different times of the day. Our findings report a novel heat escaping early-morning-flowering mechanism effectively employed by sorghum to minimize heat stress impact at anthesis. Another experiment with sequential increase in daytime temperature treatments suggest heat stress induced loss in pollen viability to be a key factor resulting in reduced seed-set and grain yield. The findings suggest heat stress could have a greater impact on post-pollen germination processes such as fertilization, embryo formation and development. We identified a heat tolerant genotype “Macia” which appears to be a promising donor for developing improved heat tolerant sorghum hybrids. In the third study, a bi-parental recombinant inbred lines (RILs) mapping population developed from elite post flowering drought susceptible cultivar (RTx430) and a known drought tolerant cultivar (SC35) were evaluated under wide spectrum of environments and moisture conditions. Several novel and major QTL for grain yield, panicle neck diameter, effective quantum yield of photosystem II and chlorophyll content were identified. The genomic regions and the candidate genes within these regions can potentially help in improving source and sink dynamics in sorghum under diverse environments. The findings from these studies will complement ongoing efforts in developing future sorghum with enhanced resilience to different abiotic stresses that continue to limit sorghum productivity.

Le système Zambèze localisé sur le versant est de l'Afrique est caractérisé par un système turbiditique de très grande dimension (x 100 km) et est associé à terre au troisième plus grand bassin versant d'Afrique (1 320 000 km2) après ceux du Nil et du Congo. A ce jour, peu d'études ont porté sur l'évolution du système terre - mer depuis le bassin versant en érosion jusqu'au bassin en sédimentation. Ce travail s'attachera à : [1] caractériser et à discuter l'origine des déformations enregistrées dans le système sédimentaire Zambèze depuis 155 Ma, [2] quantifier les bilans érosion - sédimentation du système du Zambèze, pour une meilleure compréhension du routage sédimentaire. / The Zambezi system located on the eastern slope of Africa is characterized by a turbiditic system of very large size (x 100 km) and is associated onshore to the third largest watershed in Africa (1,320,000 km2) after those of the Nile and Congo. Few studies have examined the evolution of the land - sea system from the eroding catchment to the sedimentation basin. This work will focus on: [1] characterize and discuss the origin of the deformations recorded in the Zambezi sedimentary system since 155 Ma, [2] quantify the erosion-sedimentation balances of the Zambezi system, for a better understanding of the sedimentary routing

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第24239号 / 農博第2518号 / 新制||農||1094(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R4||N5410(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科農学専攻 / (主査)教授 白岩 立彦, 教授 中﨑 鉄也, 教授 那須田 周平 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

Stratigraphic successions of sedimentary rocks represent an important repository for signals pertaining to the history and evolution of Earth. Whereas the specific processes reflected by the stratigraphic record differ with respect to a given depositional environment, deposits in deep-marine settings, particularly passive margins, provide a unique, long-term record of paleoclimate, paleoceanography, and tectonics affecting the basin in question. Whereas deep-marine strata may be used to answer myriad of questions regarding the evolution and development of Earth systems, this dissertation narrowly targets two distinct aspects of sedimentation in deep-sea settings. The first two chapters focus on the utility of sortable silt in reconstructing bottom-current intensity linked to major shifts in climate. First, the relationship of sortable silt to flow velocity was tested under controlled conditions in a flow-through flume. This chapter investigates the correlation of sortable silt metrics across several experimental parameters, which is found here to dispute longstanding assumptions that multiple metrics must correlate to infer sediment sorting by deep currents. Additionally, the results are compared to calibrations from natural settings, where the correlation between the two datasets is remarkably similar, validating the relationship of sortable silt with current velocity in the deep ocean. Chapter two leverages sortable silt to investigate the long-term evolution of the Deep Western Boundary Current in the North Atlantic, targeting contourite drifts offshore Newfoundland to investigate the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT), the most recent global greenhouse-to-icehouse transition. Results suggest that the Deep Western Boundary Current intensified gradually from 35-26 Ma, not abruptly at the EOT, and change consistent with deepening of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge and enhanced overflow of deep water into the North Atlantic. Chapter three utilizes detrital zircon U-Pb dating to characterize source-to-sink pathways and linkages during the rift-to-drift transition, in the Early Cretaceous, along the U.S. mid-Atlantic passive margin. This work shows that onshore and offshore system segments were initially disconnected, and progressively integrated over the course of ~45 Myr. Taken together, this work demonstrates a focused yet powerful example of how deep-marine sedimentary systems can be leveraged to robustly model major changes throughout Earth history. / Doctor of Philosophy / Sediments and sedimentary rocks deposited in the deep ocean house long-term signals pertaining to important Earth processes and properties. The nature of a given deposit, for example, can be the direct result of climatic conditions or tectonic development in adjacent mountainous and coastal environments. While the range of questions that can be answered using the sedimentary record is vast, this dissertation narrowly focuses on 1) how deep-ocean currents change over long periods of time, and 2) how onshore and offshore depositional environments correlate during the early phases of supercontinent break-up. To address the reconstruction of deep-ocean currents, laboratory experiments were performed to test how the sortable silt proxy – the 10-63 um fraction of a deposit – correlates with current velocity, the first controlled test of the proxy since its inception by paleoceanographers nearly three decades ago. Sortable silt is then applied to sediments of Eocene-Oligocene age, recovered from contourites offshore Newfoundland, Canada, to assess the long-term behavior of the Deep Western Boundary Current in the North Atlantic across the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT). While the EOT, a major global cooling that occurred ~33.7 Ma, is well-studied with respect to Antarctica and its surrounding ocean basins, little is known about the paleoceanographic response of the North Atlantic. Grain-size records show a gradual increase in sortable silt before, during, and after the EOT, through entirety of the 9 Myr record. This trend is interpreted to reflect a long-term invigoration of the Deep Western Boundary Current in North Atlantic, likely due to progressive deepening of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. The final chapter leverages detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology to compare sediment provenance of Early Cretaceous fluvial sandstones with coeval, distal turbidite sands. Results suggest that coastal rivers were fed by a single source terrane during the earliest Cretaceous, disconnected from the regional catchment feeding the submarine fan. By the Aptian-Albian, coastal rivers share a detrital zircon signature with turbidite strata, suggesting that rivers were progressively integrated into the sediment-routing system feeding the offshore margin.