The French critical zone initiative, called OZCAR (Observatoires de la Zone Critique-Application et Recherche or Critical Zone Observatories-Application and Research) is a National Research Infrastructure (RI). OZCAR-RI is a network of instrumented sites, bringing together 21 pre-existing research observatories monitoring different compartments of the zone situated between "the rock and the sky," the Earth's skin or critical zone (CZ), over the long term. These observatories are regionally based and have specific initial scientific questions, monitoring strategies, databases, and modeling activities. The diversity of OZCAR-RI observatories and sites is well representative of the heterogeneity of the CZ and of the scientific communities studying it. Despite this diversity, all OZCAR-RI sites share a main overarching mandate, which is to monitor, understand, and predict ("earthcast") the fluxes of water and matter of the Earth's near surface and how they will change in response to the "new climatic regime." The vision for OZCAR strategic development aims at designing an open infrastructure, building a national CZ community able to share a systemic representation of the CZ , and educating a new generation of scientists more apt to tackle the wicked problem of the Anthropocene. OZCAR articulates around: (i) a set of common scientific questions and cross-cutting scientific activities using the wealth of OZCAR-RI observatories, (ii) an ambitious instrumental development program, and (iii) a better interaction between data and models to integrate the different time and spatial scales. Internationally, OZCAR-RI aims at strengthening the CZ community by providing a model of organization for pre-existing observatories and by offering CZ instrumented sites. OZCAR is one of two French mirrors of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure (eLTER-ESFRI) project.
en ligne : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169411008079International audienceIn mountainous catchments, large quantities of sediment are exported within very short periods leading to numerous environmental problems (e.g. reservoir siltation). The origin of suspended sediment during two distinct floods was determined by conducting an original fingerprinting method coupling Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and a chemometric technique (i.e. Partial Least Squares - PLS-analysis). Samples of the potential sediment sources were collected in badland areas developed on various substrates (i.e. molasse, marly limestones, black marls and gypsum) in the Galabre 20 km2-catchment located in the French Southern Alps. DRIFTS spectra provided a way to discriminate between the different potential sediment sources. Furthermore, the use of mid-infrared spectra allowed the direct quantification of the gypsum proportion in sediment. This contribution was systematically null at the catchment outlet because of the rapid dissolution of gypsum in the river. A PLS model was then constructed to estimate the contribution of the three other potential sources to the sediment flux during the floods. This model was developed and validated using a set of 45 ''experimental'' samples that were prepared in the laboratory in order to contain various proportions of the three remaining sources. By introducing DRIFTS spectra into the PLS model, we could predict the proportions of those sources in the mixed 'experimental' samples with a confidence interval of ca. ±10%. The model was then applied to the sediment collected during the two selected floods in order to outline their origin. Black marls provided the highest contribution of sediment during both events, but the analysis also revealed a significant contribution of molasse. Results also showed the remobilisation of sediment originated from molassic substrates that deposited on the riverbed during a preceding event. Opportunities for improvement and further use of this method as an alternative or rapid complementary sediment fingerprinting technique are finally discussed
International audienceQuantifying suspended sediment exports from catchments and understanding suspended sediment dynamics within river networks is important, especially in areas draining erodible material that contributes to the siltation of downstream reservoirs and to the degradation of water quality. A one-year continuous monitoring study of water and sediment fluxes was conducted in three upland subcatchments (3.0, 9.3, and 12.0 km2) located within the Cointzio basin, in the central volcanic highlands of Mexico (Michoacán state). Two subcatchments generated high sediment exports (i.e., Huertitas, 900-1500 t km− 2 y− 1 and Potrerillos, 600-800 t km− 2 y− 1), whereas the third subcatchment was characterized by a much lower sediment yield (i.e., La Cortina, 30 t km− 2 y− 1). Such disparities in subcatchment behaviours were associated with the presence of severely gullied areas in Huertitas and Potrerillos rather than with rainfall erosivity indices. An adapted classification of hysteretic patterns between suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and discharge was proposed because 42% of flood events contributing to 70% of sediment export were not discriminated by the classical clockwise/anticlockwise typology. This new classification allowed the identification of relationships in the hydrosedimentary responses of successive floods. A stream transport capacity limit was also detected during hydrograph recession phases. Overall, hydrosedimentary processes proved to be seasonally dependent: sediment export was repeatedly limited by the stream transport capacity during the first part of the rainy season, whereas a channel minimum erosivity threshold was frequently reached at the end of the season
Influence of the rainfall regime on erosion and transfer of suspended sediment in a 905‐km² mountainous catchment of the southern French Alps was investigated by combining sediment monitoring, rainfall data, and sediment fingerprinting (based on geochemistry and radionuclide concentrations). Suspended sediment yields were monitored between October 2007 and December 2009 in four subcatchments (22–713 km²). Automatic sediment sampling was triggered during floods to trace the sediment origin in the catchment. Sediment exports at the river catchment outlet (330 ± 100 t km‐2 yr‐1) were mainly driven (80%) by widespread rainfall events (long duration, low intensities). In contrast, heavy, local and short duration storms, generated high peak discharges and suspended sediment concentrations in small upstream torrents. However, these upstream floods had generally not the capacity to transfer the sediment down to the catchment outlet and the bulk of this fine sediment deposited along downstream sections of the river. This study also confirmed the important contribution of black marls (up to 70%) to sediment transported in rivers, although this substrate only occupies c. 10% of the total catchment surface. Sediment exports generated by local convective storms varied significantly at both intra‐ and inter‐flood scales, because of spatial heterogeneity of rainfall. However, black marls/marly limestones contribution remained systematically high. In contrast, widespread flood events that generate the bulk of annual sediment supply at the outlet were characterized by a more stable lithologic composition and by a larger contribution of limestones/marls, Quaternary deposits and conglomerates, which corroborates the results of a previous sediment fingerprinting study conducted on riverbed sediment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
International audienceAn excess of fine sediment (grain size <2 mm) supply to rivers leads to reservoir siltation, water contamination and operational problems for hydroelectric power plants in many catchments of the world, such as in the French Alps. These problems are exacerbated in mountainous environments characterized by large sediment exports during very short periods. This study combined river flow records, sediment geochemistry and associated radionuclide concentrations as input properties to a Monte Carlo mixing model to quantify the contribution of different geologic sources to river sediment. Overall, between 2007 and 2009, erosion rates reached 249 ± 75 t km−2 yr−1 at the outlet of the Bléone catchment, but this mean value masked important spatial variations of erosion intensity within the catchment (85-5000 t km−2 yr−1). Quantifying the contribution of different potential sources to river sediment required the application of sediment fingerprinting using a Monte Carlo mixing model. This model allowed the specific contributions of different geological sub-types (i.e. black marls, marly limestones, conglomerates and Quaternary deposits) to be determined. Even though they generate locally very high erosion rates, black marls supplied only a minor fraction (5-20%) of the fine sediment collected on the riverbed in the vicinity of the 907 km2 catchment outlet. The bulk of sediment was provided by Quaternary deposits (21-66%), conglomerates (3-44%) and limestones (9-27%). Even though bioengineering works conducted currently to stabilize gullies in black marl terrains are undoubtedly useful to limit sediment supply to the Bléone river, erosion generated by other substrate sources dominated between 2007 and 2009 in this catchment
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