Les zones côtières ne sont prises en compte dans les budgets globaux de CO2 atmosphérique que depuis peu. Il s’avère que bien qu’elles ne représentent globalement que de faibles superficies, les flux de carbone et de nutriments y sont très significatifs à l’échelle globale. On sait peu de chose sur le comportement des écosystèmes lagunaires vis-à-vis du CO2 et, encore moins des zones intertidales où les échanges avec l’atmosphère ont lieu alternativement avec l’eau et le sédiment. Les objectifs de cette étude ont été d’une part, d’établir le bilan de carbone échangé entre la lagune d’Arcachon, l’atmosphère et le milieu terrestre, et d’autre part de mettre en relation ces flux avec la production nette de l’écosystème (NEP) afin de mieux caractériser le statut métabolique de celle-ci ainsi que les facteurs environnementaux clés. Pour cela, nous avons mis en place pour la première fois et à différentes saisons et stations, des mesures directes de flux de CO2 par Eddy Corrélation, une méthode fonctionnant en continu pendant l’immersion et l’émersion. En parallèle, les apports de carbone terrestre sous ses différentes formes ont été quantifiés par un suivi annuel sur 9 rivières alimentant la lagune. L’export total de carbone par le bassin versant à travers les eaux de surface des rivières est estimé à 116 t C km-2 an-1 dont 39% est exporté à la lagune sous forme organique dissoute (DOC) du fait de la prédominance de podzols dans le bassin versant. La forte minéralisation de la matière organique terrestre dans les sols et eaux souterraines sursature largement les eaux en CO2 et l’export sous forme de carbone inorganique dissoute (DIC) représente environ 21%. La formulation d’un modèle mathématique, le « StreamCO2-DEGAS », basé sur les mesures de pCO2, de concentrations et de compositions isotopiques en DIC a permis de montrer que 43% de l’export total de carbone était dégazé sous forme de CO2 depuis les rivières vers l’atmosphère, réduisant alors le flux net entrant dans la lagune à 66 t C km-2 an-1. Concernant la mesure de flux verticaux, l’analyse cospectrale ainsi que les résultats obtenus en adéquation avec les contrôles physiques et biologiques aux différentes échelles tidale, diurne et saisonnières, ont permis de valider la méthode de l’Eddy Covariance en zone intertidale. Sur l’ensemble de la période de mesures, les flux de CO2 étaient faibles, variant entre -13 et 19 µmol m-2 s-1. Des puits de CO2 atmosphérique à marée basse le jour ont été systématiquement observés. Au contraire, pendant l’immersion et à marée basse la nuit, des flux positifs ou négatifs ou proche de zéro ont été observés suivant la saison et la station étudiées. L’analyse concomitante des flux de CO2 et des images satellites du platier à marée basse le jour a clairement permis de discriminer l’importance relative des deux cycles métaboliques distincts des principaux producteurs primaires avec (1) les herbiers de Zostera noltii à cycle annuel long, dominant la NEP en été et en automne à la station la plus centrale et (2) les communautés microphytobenthiques, dominant la production primaire brute (PPB) au printemps à la même station et en automne au fond du bassin. Un recyclage rapide de cette production durant l’immersion et l’émersion a aussi clairement été mis évidence. Au vue des différents résultats, la technique d’Eddy Covariance utilisée en zone intertidale laisse envisager d’intéressantes perspectives en termes de connaissances sur les budgets de carbone et les processus écologiques et biogéochimiques dans la zone côtière. / The coastal zone is only taken into account since recently in global carbon budgeting efforts. Although covering globally modest surface areas, carbon and nutrient fluxes in the coastal zone appear significant at the global scale. However, little is known about the CO2 behaviour in lagoons and even less in intertidal zones where exchanges with the atmosphere occur alternatively with the water and the sediment. The purposes of this work are, on one hand, to establish the carbon budget between the Arcachon lagoon, the atmosphere and the terrestrial watershed and on the other hand, to link these fluxes with the net ecosystem production (NEP) and better characterize its metabolic status along with the relevant environmental factors. For the first time, CO2 flux measurements by Eddy Correlation have been carried out at different seasons and stations in the tidal flat. In parallel, the total terrestrial carbon export from river waters has been quantified throughout a complete hydrological cycle in nine watercourses flowing into the lagoon. The total carbon export from the watershed through surface river waters is estimated at 116 t C km-2 yr-1 on which 39% is exported to the lagoon as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) owing to the predominance of podzols in the watershed. Intense organic matter mineralization in soils and groundwaters largely over-saturate river waters in CO2 on which export accounts for 21% as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The mathematical “StreamCO2-DEGAS” model formulation based on water pCO2, DIC concentrations and isotopic composition measurements permits to show that 43% of the total carbon export was degassed as CO2 from the riverine surface waters to the atmosphere, lowering then this latter to 66 t C km-2 yr-1. With respect to the CO2 flux measurements in the lagoon, cospectral analysis and the well accordance of results with physical and biological controls at the tidal, diurnal and seasonal time scales permit to validate the Eddy Correlation technique over tidal coastal zone. CO2 fluxes with the atmosphere, during each period, were generally weak and ranged between -13 and 19 µmol m-2 s-1. Low tide and daytime conditions were always characterized by an uptake of atmospheric CO2. In contrast, during the immersion and during low tide at night, CO2 fluxes where either positive or negative, or close to zero, depending on the season and the site. The concomitant analysis of CO2 fluxes with satellite images of the lagoon at low tide during the day clearly discriminate the relative importance of the two distinct metabolic carbon cycling involving the main primary producers, i.e. (1) the Zostera noltii seagrass meadow predominance on the NEP in autumn and summer in the more central station, with an annual cycling and (2) the microphytobenthos community predominance on the gross primary production (GPP) in spring at the same station and in autumn in the inner part of the bay where a rapid carbon cycling during the immersion and the emersion was clearly highlighted. The different results obtained with the Eddy Correlation technique over tidal flats opens interesting perspectives on the knowledge of the carbon budget and the biogeochemical and ecological processes within the coastal zone.

No description available.

The Sulaiy Formation, which is the oldest unit in the Lower Cretaceous succession, is conformably overlain by the Yamama Formation and it is a challenge to identify the precise age of the two formations using foraminifera and other microfossil assemblages. In the eastern side of Saudi Arabia, the Sulaiy Formation and the base of Yamama Formation are poorly studied. The main objectives of this study is to enhance the understanding of the Sulaiy Formation sequence stratigraphical correlation, regional lateral variations and palaeoenvironmental investigation. Lithological and semi-quantitative micropalaeontological analysis of 1277 thin sections taken from core samples from nine cored wells providing a geographically representative distribution from the Saudi Arabian Gulf. These cores intersected the base of the Yamama Formation and the Sulaiy Formation in the total thickness of cored wells of 843.23 meters (2766.5 feet). On the evidence provided by the foraminifera, the Sulaiy Formation is considered to represent the Berriasian to the lowermost Valanginian. The investigation of the micropalaeontology has provided considerable insights into the biocomponents of Sulaiy and the base of Yamama formations in order to identify their biofacies. These microfossils include rotalid foraminifera, miliolid foraminifera, agglutinated foraminifera, calcareous algae, calcispheres, stromatoporoids, sponge spicules, problematica (e.g. Lithocodium aggregatum), molluscs, corals, echinoderms and ostracods. Systematics of planktic and benthic foraminifera is accomplished using the foraminiferal classification by Loeblich and Tappan (1988) as the main source. The assemblage contains foraminifera that recorded for the first time in the Sulaiy Formation. Other microfossils were identified and recorded to help in the identification of the sedimentary environments. The investigation of the micropalaeontology and the lithofacies analysis have provided evidence the identification of the various lithofacies. About twenty four microfacies were identified on the basis of their bio−component and non-skeletal grains. The lithofacies and the bio−component results have provided the evidence of the sedimentary palaeoenvironmental model namely the Arabian Rimmed Carbonate Platform. This palaeoenvironmental depositional model is characterised by two different platform regimes. They are the Platform Interior and the Platform Exterior each of which have unique sedimentary lithofacies zones that produce different types of lithofacies. Each lithofacies is characterised by special depositional conditions and palaeobathymetry that interact with sea level changes and the accommodation space. The important palaeoenvironments are intertidal, restricted lagoon (subtidal), open marine, deeper open marine, inner shoal, shoal and platform margin. Generating, and testing, a depositional model as a part of formulating a sequence stratigraphical interpretation of a region is a key to understanding its geological development and – ultimately – reservoir potential. The micropalaeontology and sedimentology of the Sulaiy Formation in the subsurface have indicated a succession of clearly defined shallowing−upwards depositional cycles. These typically commence with a deep marine biofacies with wackestones and packstones, capped with a mudstone-wackestone maximum flooding zone and an upper unit of packstone to grainstones containing shallow marine biofacies. The upper part of the Sulaiy Formation is highstand-dominated with common grainstones that host the Lower Ratawi reservoir which is capped by karst that defines the sequence boundary. This karst is identified by its abundant moldic porosity that enhanced the the reservoir quality by increasing its porosities into greater values. Integration of the sedimentology and micropalaeontology has yielded a succession of shoaling−upwards depositional cycles, considered to be 4th order sequences, that are superimposed on a large scale 3rd order system tract shallowing−upwards, highstand-associated sequence of the Sulaiy Formation. The Lower Ratawi Reservoir is located within the latest high-stand portion of a third-order Sulaiy Formation sequence. The reservoir consists of a succession of several sequences, each of which is sub-divided into a lower transgressive systems tract separated from the upper highstand systems tract by a maximum flooding surface (MFS/Z). The last of these depositional cycles terminates in beds of porous and permeable ooid, or ooidal-peloidal, grainstone. The reservoir is sealed by the finer-grained sediments of the Yamama Formation.

D’un point de vue géographique, la lagune de Venise n’a que peu en commun avec les baies principales de la Bretagne septentrionale, si ce n’est son ouverture sur la mer. Les deux réalités étudiées ont pourtant en commun leur soumission à l’action des marées qui a poussé les populations littorales à développer des savoirs et des techniques de pêche traditionnelles d’une très grande richesse et qu’ils ont su faire évoluer au cours du temps pour mieux les adapter aux caractéristiques du milieu.Les différentes formes de récolte et de pêche, l’élevage des moules en particulier, ont entraîné une domestication et une anthropisation de ces zones. En Bretagne, tout comme à Venise, la valorisation de la moule en tant que ressource alimentaire et économique est assez tardive.Que ce soit dans les sources bibliographiques ou durant l’enquête réalisée sur le terrain, notre recherche nous a permis de repérer des allusions fréquentes à la toxicité présumée de ce mollusque, à Venise appelé « peòcio » c’est-à-dire « pou » et considéré non comestible. Quels mécanismes ont métamorphosé la moule en un aliment aujourd’hui apprécié et recherché ? Et comment des zones, autrefois très pauvres se sont transformées, en des lieux renommés pour la production de moules ? C’est pour répondre à ces questions que nous avons entrepris la reconstruction de l’histoire de la mytiliculture. / From a geographic perspective, the Venice Lagoon has almost nothing in common with the main northern bays of “Bretagne”; simply, both open on the sea. Therefore, the two studied realities have to share their submission to the action of tides that have pushed the coastal communities to develop fishing knowledge and techniques. They were able to evolve over time to better suit the characteristics of the environment. The different forms of harvesting and fishing, mussel farming in particular, led to domestication and human impacts in these areas. In “Bretagne”, as in Venice, is rather late the development of mussels as food and as economic resource.Whether in the literature sources or during the survey in the field, our research has led us to identify frequent allusions to the alleged toxicity of this mollusk in Venice called “peòcio” that mean “cootie” and considered inedible. What mechanisms have metamorphosed mussels into a regarded and sought food today? And how formerly very poor areas are transformed into places renowned for the production of mussels? It is to answer these questions that we undertook the reconstruction of the history of the mussel. / Da un punto di vista geografico la laguna di Venezia ha poco in comune con la Bretagna settentrionale se non il suo sbocco sul mare. Di conseguenza le due realtà condividono la dipendenza dall’azione delle maree, le quali hanno spinto le popolazioni litoranee a sviluppare dei saperi e delle particolari tecniche di pesca adattate alle caratteristiche dell’ambiente.Nel corso della nostra ricerca abbiamo incontrato delle frequenti allusioni alla presunta tossicità del mitilo, a Venezia chiamato “peòcio”, cioè pidocchio. Infatti a Venezia, come in Bretagna, la valorizzazione dei mitili quale risorsa alimentare ed economica è un fenomeno tardivo. Quali meccanismi hanno trasformato i mitili in un alimento che è oggi apprezzato e ricercato? E in che modo delle zone un tempo molto povere si sono trasformate in località rinomate per la produzione di questi molluschi? Per rispondere a queste domande abbiamo ricostruito la storia della mitilicoltura.