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Between November 2018 and January 2020, a continuous multi-parameter survey, using nine types of sensors, was carried out on a coastal chalk cliff in Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer (Normandy, France) with the objective of gaining a deeper understanding of the forcing agents and processes that lead to cliff fatigue and failure. This paper will present the survey instrumentation, the results on the internal characteristics of the chalk massif, initial results (from November 2018 to March 2019) of the thermal subsurface behaviour along the cliff face, and the analyses of the observed cliff-top ground motion and the movement of existing fractures on the cliff face in relation to forcing agents. Our main results show that 1) the magnitude of cliff-top displacement on this coastal chalk cliff is consistent with prior studies conducted in different settings showing rather high displacement amplitudes (up to 50 mu m in relatively calm conditions) likely to be related to chalk elasticity; 2) the displacement on existing fractures is partly controlled by the tidal amplitude, with a threshold response, but not only. Statistical analyses help the identification of other controls. The processing of the entire dataset from November 2018 to January 2020 with a combined analysis of multiple sensors' output is expected to provide further insight on cliff fatigue and failure.

It is well known that temporal changes in bivalve body mass are strongly correlated with temporal variations in water temperature and food supply. In order to study the influence of the year-to-year variability of environmental factors on oyster growth, we coupled a biogeochemical sub-model, which simulates trophic resources of oysters (i.e. phytoplankton biomass via chlorophyll a), and an ecophysiological sub-model, which simulates growth and reproduction (i.e. gametogenesis and spawning), using mechanistic bases. The biogeochemical sub-model successfully simulated phytoplankton dynamics using river nutrient inputs and meteorological factors as forcing functions. Adequate simulation of oyster growth dynamics requires a relevant food quantifier compatible with outputs of the biogeochemical sub-model (i.e. chlorophyll a concentration). We decided to use the phytoplankton carbon concentration as quantifier for food, as it is a better estimator of the energy really available to oysters. The transformation of chlorophyll a concentration into carbon concentration using a variable chlorophyll a to carbon ratio enabled us to improve the simulation of oyster growth especially during the starvation period (i.e. autumn and winter). Once validated, the coupled model was a suitable tool to study the influence of the year-to-year variability of phytoplankton dynamics and water temperature on the gonado-somatic growth of the Pacific oyster. Four years with highly contrasted meteorological conditions (river inputs, water temperature and light) 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, were simulated. The years were split into two groups, wet years (2000 and 2001) and dry years (2002 and 2003). Significant variability of the response of oysters to environmental conditions was highlighted between the four scenarios. In the wet years, an increase in loadings of river nutrients and suspended particulate matter led to a shift in the initiation and the magnitude of the phytoplanktonic spring bloom, an

In many ecosystem models based on empirical formulations, parameters generally are calibrated in order to achieve the best fit between measured and simulated chlorophyll a standing stocks. An accurate calibration of rate processes as primary production rarely is taken into account. In this paper, we test the usefulness of calibration of phytoplankton photosynthetic processes in an ecosystem model using field primary production data. We used 18 months of photosynthetic process data from the Baie des Veys ecosystem (Normandy, France). Five empirical formulations of photosynthesis-irradiance curve models amongst the most widely used were tested. In each formulation, the variability of photosynthetic parameters (i.e. the light-saturated rate of photosynthesis (P-max(B)) and the initial slope of the. photosynthesis-light curve (alpha(B))) was considered depending on environmental factors (temperature and nutrient availability). The fit of the five equations as well as the calibration of parameters on field measurements (i.e. the light-saturated rate of photosynthesis (P-ref(B)), the initial slope of the photosynthesis-light curve (alpha(B)(ref)), the half-saturation constant for nitrogen (K-N) and silicates uptake (K-Si), and the coefficient in the exponential thermal effect (K-T)) was performed using the whole available data set of P vs. E curves (n = 143, P vs. E curves). Then, the Smith formulation allowing the best simulation of the Baie des Veys primary production and corresponding parameters were introduced in an ecosystem box model. This formulation led directly to a satisfactory representation of the Baie des Veys phytoplankton dynamics without additional calibration. Results obtained were compared with a more classical approach in which ecosystem models were calibrated using published values of parameters. This comparison showed that for the two years studied, annual primary production estimated through the ecosystem model was 13% and 26% higher with our approac

The contamination and distribution of organ ochlorinated compounds were considered in three crustacean species (edible crab, Cancer pagurus; spider crab, Maja brachydactyla; velvet swimming crab, Necora puber) from five sites along the coasts of Brittany and Normandy (Western and North-Western France). PCBs (16 single congeners), pp'-DDE and HCB were measured in hepatopancreas, gonads and muscle: in all, 175 samples were analysed. The spider crab was the only species found in the five sampling sites, thus enabling comparison between areas. Specimens from Antifer were much more contaminated (Sigma(16)PCBs in hepatopancreas = 2000-4000 ng g(-1) dry weight) than those from other sites (50-1000 ng g(-1) d.w.). Among all the three species, the spider crab appeared more contaminated by PCBs than the edible crab, by a factor 2-3, probably in relation with specific differences in their life cycle. There was no difference due to the gender of the species. Within the different analysed tissues, contamination levels increased from muscle to gonads and hepatopancreas in relation with the fat content. A very similar PCB composition was observed in all samples, PCB fingerprints being characterised by the relative importance of the more persistent PCB congeners: CB153, 138, 180, 187, and 118. Finally, these results were compared to recent food regulations first of maximum marker PCB intake and secondly of maximum dioxin-like PCB intake. By considering the muscle, all samples were far below the regulatory limits; for hepatopancreas and gonads, however, some samples were unfit for human consumption. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.