Résultat de la recherche
Soil phosphorus uptake by continuously cropped Lupinus albus: A new microcosm design
When grown in soils with sparingly available phosphorus (P), white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) forms special root structures, called cluster roots, which secrete large amounts of organic acids and concomitantly acidify the rhizosphere. Many studies dealing with the understanding of this P acquisition strategy have been performed in short time experiments either in hydroponic cultures or in small microcosm designs with sand or sand:soil mixtures. In the present study, we applied an experimental design which came nearer to the natural field conditions: we performed a one-year experiment on large microcosms containing 7 kg of soil and allowing separation of rhizosphere soil and bulk soil. We planted six successive generations of lupins and analysed P uptake, organic P desorption, phosphatase activities and organic acid concentrations in different soil samples along a spatio-temporal gradient. We compared the rhizosphere soil samples of cluster (RSC) and non-cluster roots (RSNC) as well as the bulk soil (BS) samples. A total shoot biomass of 55.69 +/- 1.51 g (d.w.) y(-1) was produced and P uptake reached 220.59 +/- 5.99 mg y(-1). More P was desorbed from RSC than from RSNC or BS (P < 0.05). RSC and RSNC showed a higher activity of acid and alkaline phosphatases than BS samples and a higher acid phosphatase activity was observed in RSC than in RSNC throughout the one-year experiment. Fumarate was the most abundant organic acid in all rhizosphere soil samples. Citrate was only present in detectable amounts in RSC while malate and fumarate were recovered from both RSC and RSNC. Almost no organic acids could be detected in the BS samples. Our results demonstrated that over a one-year cultivation period in the absence of an external P supply, white lupin was able to acquire phosphate from the soil and that the processes leading to this P uptake took place preferentially in the rhizosphere of cluster roots.
Paleoceanographic changes during the early Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian): evidence from oxygen and carbon stable isotopes
We investigated Valanginian-Hauterivian bulk rock and belemnite samples from Vocontian Basin sections in southeastern France for their stable carbon and oxygen isotope signature. Firstly, because these sections permit calibration with high-resolution biostratigraphy based on ammonites and secondly because detailed isotope studies for the Hauterivian are lacking. The results show that delta(13)C values for bulk rock decrease during the late Valanginian-early Hauterivian with 1 parts per thousand and increase again during the late Hauterivian with 1 parts per thousand. The delta(18)O signal for bulk rock samples is mostly disturbed by diagenesis, The belemnites show carbon and oxygen isotope values that are lower and higher than bulk rock samples respectively. We explain this as the result of the belemnites recording a deeper water signal with lighter delta(13)C values and heavier delta(18)O values, implicating colder water at greater depth. The overall preservation of the belemnites is very good and permits the construction of a paleo-temperature trend. This trend shows warm deeper water temperatures during the late early Valanginian (15 degrees C) and progressively cooler temperatures during the late Valanginian and early Hauterivian (11 degrees C), During the late Hauterivian temperatures increase again (13 degrees C). We relate this cooling trend for deeper water to a second order sea level rise, which allowed for the exchange of cold Boreal and warm Tethyan water masses. The influx of cold nutrient rich water had a profound effect on carbonate producing biota along the northern margin of the Tethys during the Hauterivian leading to prolonged phases of condensation and platform destruction. During the early Hauterivian the carbonate system along the northern Tethyan margin shifted into a 'green water' mode of carbonate production. High rates of carbonate production under mesotrophic conditions, also observed in other parts of the world, meant that the global carbon cycle became buffered shown by the stable trends in carbon isotopes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Phosphogenesis, carbon-isotope stratigraphy, and carbonate-platform evolution along the Lower Cretaceous northern Tethyan margin
The evolution of the Urgonian platform in the Western Swiss Jura realm and its interactions with palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic change along the Northern Tethyan Margin (Hauterivian – earliest Aptian)
During more than twenty years, a controversy appeared about the age of the Urgonian formation (lower Urgonien Jaune and upper Urgonien Blanc) from the Western Swiss Jura. Depending on previous works, these formations are considered to be Late Hauterivian or Late Barremian in age. This divergence mainly results from different calibration of orbitolinids distribution, as well as divergent sequence stratigraphic models. Because these formations, as well as the underlying Pierre Jaune de Neuchâtel, are linked to the historical succession for the Hauterivian stage, and because they represent the proximal part of a carbonate platform that rose on the northern Tethyan margin during the Early Cretaceous, we developed new approaches to date, as precisely as possible, the Urgonian formations in the Neuchâtel area. At the base of the Urgonien Jaune, high reworking implied that the biostratigraphy did not give an accurate age model. Moreover, biostratigraphical dating can greatly differ as a function of the used taxon. Consequently, we developed sedimentological and geochemical approach. The boundary between the Pierre Jaune de Neuchâtel and the Urgonien Jaune is clearly marked by erosional and reworking processes, suggesting the presence of a sedimentary gap. Indeed, strontium-isotope dating performed on rhynchonellids shells rather indicate a Barremian age for both the Urgonien Jaune and the Urgonien Blanc. The comparison of the phosphorus evolution between the Western Swiss Jura and hemipelagic sections from the Vocontian Trough helped to precise this age to the Late Barremian, as oligotrophic conditions allowing the rise of the Urgonian platform in a photozoan mode only occurred during this period. Finally, sequence stratigraphic correlation of the Western Swiss Jura with the Helvetic realm, the Subalpine Chains and the Northern Vercors implied that the base of the Urgonien Jaune is characterized by the stacking of several sequence boundaries, which may mirror an episode of condensation linked to a carbonate platform drowning event previously described in the Helvetic realm. Moreover, there is no evidence for an other break within the geological record in the Western Swiss Jura after the sequence boundary B3 of the late Early Barremian Coronites darsi ammonite zone. In addition, these results are coherent with the fact that the rise of the Urgonian platform began from the maximum flooding surface of the depositional sequence B3 upward in the Northern Tethys. The Urgonien Blanc of the Western Swiss Jura may thus correspond to the lower Urgonian and to the lower Schrattenkalk formations of the Northern Vercors and the Helvetic realm, respectively. The stable isotopes study of several (hemi-)pelagic sections of the Northern Tethyan margin and their mineralogical contents revealed that the Urgonian platform had a role in paleoceanographic changes that occurred during the Barremian. Whereas the 13C curve exhibits negligible changes during the latest Hauterivian – Early Barremian, it is shifted toward more positive values from the sequence boundary B3 upward. This behaviour may be linked to the production and the export of 13C-enriched aragonitic material by benthic organisms present on the platform. Moreover, the correlation of the kaolinite content along a platform to basin transect through the Northern Tethyan margin showed that the main part of the Barremian was characterized by a humid climate, whereas a seasonally-contrasted climate dominated during the Hauterivian. This correlation also highlighted a differential settling of clay particles, as high amounts of kaolinite were measured in shallow-water carbonates of the Neuchâtel area, whereas hemipelagic limestones from the Vocontian Trough were depleted in this mineral. Thanks to this multidisciplinary approach, the Western Swiss Jura is better integrated within the history of the Northern Tethyan margin. Finally, interactions between carbonate platforms and basinal environments are clearly highlighted.
The phosphorus cycle, phosphogenesis and marine phosphate-rich deposits
Carbonaceous and phosphate-rich sediments of the Miocene Monterey Formation at El Capitan State Beach, California, USA
The organic- and phosphate-rich interval of the Monterey Formation at El Capitan State Beach (west of Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.; late early to early late Miocene in age) is composed of a carbonaceous marl (TOC contents between 1.2 and 23.2 wt %) with intercalated phosphate-rich laminae, lenses, and layers. Subordinate lithologies include ash layers, dolomitized horizons, and siliceous beds. We distinguished five lithological units: (1) a gray marl unit lacking major phosphate accumulations (> 16.3 Ma; average TOC content 2% by weight; average sedimentation rate 75 m/My; average TOC accumulation rate 0.19 mg/cm(2)/yr); (2) a black marl unit including light-colored phosphatic laminae, lenses, and discrete particles (16.3-14.5 Ma; average TOC content 7.5% by weight; average sedimentation rate 20 m/My; average TOC accumulation rate 0.19 mg/cm(2)/yr); (3) a red marl unit including light-colored phosphatic laminae, lenses, and commonly reworked particles (14.5-12.7 Ma; average TOC content 15% by weight; average sedimentation rate 20 m/My (14.5-13.3 Ma) and 2 m/My (13.3-12.7 Ma), respectively; average TOC accumulation rate 0.39 mg/cm(2)/yr (14.5-13.3 Ma) and 0.04 mg/cm(2)/yr (13.3-12.7 Ma), respectively); (4) a unit of complex and condensed phosphatic beds, interbedded with red marl (12.7-10.8 Ma; average sedimentation rate 3 m/My); and (5) a black marl unit with intercalated phosphatic laminae and lenses (< 10.8 Ma; average sedimentation rate 9 m/My; average TOC accumulation rate 0.09 mg/cm(2)/yr). Phosphogenesis and accumulation of phosphate were dynamic processes, which started with local phosphogenesis leading to the formation of phosphatized particles, as well as stratigraphically bound phosphogenesis leading to the formation of phosphate laminae and lenses. Phases of subsequent sediment reworking resulted in the concentration of phosphate particles in phosphate-rich layers, and repeated phases of sediment reworking and phosphogenesis ultimately resulted in the formation of the complex phosphate condensed horizons. Preservation of organic matter was favored by high productivity rates and by the development of dysaerobic bottom-water conditions. The dynamic sedimentary environment likely led to the formation of early diagenetic phosphatic lids (which may have sealed off subjacent organic-rich layers) as well as to the rapid deposition of entire layers in the form of mud flows, thereby eventually enhancing the potential of organic-matter preservation. Our new age data suggest that at the El Capitan State Beach section the intervals characterized by high TOC values and maximum TOC accumulation rates (red marl), as well as significant quantities of in situ phosphates appeared in the late middle Miocene, i.e., during and after the major cooling phase at around 14.5 Ma. This implies that deposition of phosphate and organic carbon continued well after this cooling phase, thereby underlining the observation that preservation of organic carbon in the Monterey Formation is not only dependent on climate change during the mid Miocene but also on regional conditions.