Marseille Region Research Articles

Patterns of benthic diversity in marine underwater caves of the Marseille Region (France, North-Western Mediterranean Sea)

Underwater caves are remarkable habitats of the Mediterranean Sea. In the present study, we compare the geomorphology of four underwater caves of the Marseille area and the associated sessile assemblages across two contrasted communities (Semi- Dark and Dark-cave communities). Using a non-destructive method of sampling, photoquadrats of the walls of the caves were performed in 2020 to assess the biodiversity and the structure of these communities. In addition, taking advantage of available reference data from 2015, we evaluate the changes in sponge assemblages for the period 2015-2020, focusing on observations of the Semi-Dark cave community. Our results illustrate how the diversity of environmental settings and cave morphologies shape the benthic community composition of the four caves. In all four caves, the Semi-Dark community is the more diverse and harbours the higher number of species when compared to the Dark community. Each cave presents a different species assemblage with in most cases, distinct dominant species which highlight the singularity of each cave. Moreover, our temporal change assessment demonstrates a critical decrease in sponge species richness for all caves, possibly related to the increasing frequency of marine heatwaves that have occurred in the last decade. Although some species (mostly in the Keratosa subclass) seem to be particularly affected, other species such as Chondrosia reniformis appear to have benefitted from the situation. Our findings underline the importance of biodiversity monitoring in a context of a rapidly changing environment, in particular in poorly resilient marine ecosystems such as underwater caves.

The Nausicaa experience: Teaching Ancient Greek in French preschools and primary schools

AbstractIn the Marseille region in France, ancient Greek has been taught in pre-school and primary school for more than 20 years. The ‘Nausicaa’ Association was created in 1996 with an express purpose in mind. As Nausicaa was Odysseus' guide and helped him regain his dignity as a man and a king, so our association supports children in becoming more complete and richer humans, or so we hope. Nausicaa has grown enormously in the past 20 years, and currently operates in various schools in the South of France, in particular in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. Around ten volunteers (teachers working in middle school, high school or retired) teach ancient Greek to pupils from pre-school to the end of primary school. All activities are done at school during class teaching time and in the school setting. This paper presents an outline of the activities of the Nausicaa Association and how it benefits pupils of all abilities in learning about the ancient Greeks and their language.

Industrial risks by the coast: how people-place bonds impact acceptance of a red mud recycling project (Riesgos industriales en la costa: cómo afectan los lazos persona-lugar a la aceptación de un proyecto de reciclaje de lodo rojo)

ABSTRACT Industries sometimes leaves invisible yet dangerous chemical memories of their activities. Because these compounds are invisible, people rely on heuristics informed in part by people-place relations to make a risk judgment. The Marseille region of France provides an interesting case to analyse how local risks are judged in relation to people-place variables. The perceived risks of a depollution project where ‘red mud’ (an industrial residue) is used to neutralize lead-contaminated soil are analysed in relation to (1) place attachment and (2) trust in several types of organization. Results show that participants with stronger local attachment perceive their local environment as less polluted and consider the project as a greater threat. Furthermore, risks vs. benefits associated with the project are significantly explained by age (associated with perceived risk) and trust in societal organizations (associated with perceived benefits). Discussion considers how the diversity of local publics could lead to widely different reactions to the depollution project across the city’s social tissue.

Characterization of the submarine disposal of a Bayer effluent (Gardanne alumina plant, southern France): II. Chemical composition of the clarified effluent and mineralogical composition of the concretions formed by its discharge in the Mediterranean Sea

The Gardanne alumina plant (Marseille region, Southeast France) has disposed its residues as a slurry (red muds) in the Mediterranean Sea up to 2015 when new regulations allowed the sole discharge of a clarified effluent. This reduced the quantity of suspended material from ~300 g/L to less than 10 mg/L. The detailed chemical composition of this clarified effluent has been determined by ICP-OES, ionic chromatography, 1H NMR spectroscopy and carbon analysis. It is a Na–Al–OH aqueous solution at pH 12.5 having a solute load of 1.5 g/L and an organic carbon content of about 100 mg/L, all other elements being in minor or trace amounts. A X-ray diffraction and SEM study showed that the submarine concretions forming at the outfall upon mixing the effluent with seawater are predominantly composed of a Mg–Al–OH double layer hydroxide of the hydrotalcite supergroup that contains Ca and S (wermlandite subgroup), along with minor calcite, bayerite, and rarely brucite and akaganeite (an iron hydroxide). The investigation of the stability of standard hydrotalcite in the marine environment through solubility calculations showed that hydrotalcite minerals are not stable in normal seawater and as such are prone to dissolve and release their components to the environment.

Metropolising Marseille. Mission impossible? Challenges and Opportunities of Metropolisation Processes in the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence

This paper aims to contribute to knowledge on the level of metropolitan governance through the analysis of a specific case: the Marseille metropolis in southern France. Marseille is broadly considered a postindustrial city in crisis, which has failed to achieve a functional transformation and a change of narrative in the age of globalisation.Over the last two decades, however, processes of regionalised and integrated metropolisation have had an impact on the city’s urban renaissance prospects. The paper identifies three central projects, which symbolically represent and concretely articulate different axes of Marseille’s metropolisation processes: Euroméditerranée (1995-*), The European Capital of Culture Marseille-Provence 2013 and the institutional creation of the Métropole d’Aix-Marseille-Provence. This paper proposes to approach metropolisation as a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Drawing on the three aforementioned cases, we analyse the different territorial-spatial scales affected, as well as the various geographic scales of governance stakeholders involved. Reflecting on their scopes of impact, the aim of the study is to investigate the challenges and opportunities of multi-scalar metropolisation for Aix-Marseille-Provence, and to discuss to what extent this conflictual plurality might be promising (or not) for better consensual metropolitan integration in the future. In conclusion, we show that the study on metropolisation in the Marseille region, including the region’s unique features, successes and failures, sheds light on and contributes to a better understanding of the evolution of other metropolises of a similar size in France and Europe.

Virome Diversity among Mosquito Populations in a Sub-Urban Region of Marseille, France.

Some mosquito species have significant public health importance given their ability to transmit major diseases to humans and animals, making them the deadliest animals in the world. Among these, the Aedes (Ae.) genus is a vector of several viruses such as Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses that can cause serious pathologies in humans. Since 2004, Ae. albopictus has been encountered in the South of France, and autochthonous cases of Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika diseases have recently been reported, further highlighting the need for a comprehensive survey of the mosquitoes and their associated viruses in this area. Using high throughput sequencing (HTS) techniques, we report an analysis of the DNA and RNA viral communities of three mosquito species Ae. albopictus, Culex (Cx.) pipiens, and Culiseta (Cs.) longiareolata vectors of human infectious diseases in a small sub-urban city in the South of France. Results revealed the presence of a significant diversity of viruses known to infect bacteria, plants, insects, and mammals. Several novel viruses were detected, including novel members of the Rhabdoviridae, Totiviridae, Iflaviviridae, Circoviridae, and Sobemoviridae families. No sequence related to major zoonotic viruses transmitted by mosquitoes was detected. The use of HTS on arthropod vector populations is a promising strategy for monitoring the emergence and circulation of zoonoses and epizooties. This study is a contribution to the knowledge of the mosquito microbiome.

Characterization of the submarine disposal of a Bayer effluent (Gardanne alumina plant, southern France): I. Size distribution, chemical composition and settling rate of particles forming at the outfall

The submarine discharge of the high pH clarified Bayer effluent of the Gardanne alumina plant (Marseille region, France) leads to the formation of concretions at the outfall 324 m underwater and to a plume of white particles. The bulk chemical composition of the concretions has been determined by SF-ICP-MS. Mg and Al are the major elements measured with concentrations of a few hundred mg g−1. Ca and S are also found at concentrations in the range of mg g−1. Among the measured trace elements there is a specific interest in As and V because of environmental concerns pointed out by regulation authorities. Their concentrations are of tens to thousands μg g−1, respectively. Concentrations of the other elements are in the range of a few ng g−1 to few hundreds μg g−1. In order to constrain the dispersion of particles in the environment and to understand how chemical elements can be scavenged from or released to seawater, the size distribution of particles composing the concretions has been measured by settling rate experiments and, for each size class of particles, their chemical composition has been determined. For example, As and V are mainly associated to particles with mean diameters between 15.6 and 63 μm and settling rates around 96 m d−1. Overall, all the main elements (Mg, Al, Ca, S) composing concretions are associated to this size class of particles which represents 53–60% of the total concretion mass.

Sponge inventory of the French Mediterranean waters, with an emphasis on cave-dwelling species.

Mediterranean sponges represent about 10 % of the world sponge biodiversity, with these sessile organisms dominating in terms of diversity and biomass in most of the rocky bottoms shaded from light. After 60 years of intensive study of the sponge diversity along the French coast, we present the first comprehensive reference-list for this biogeographic area. A total of 389 sponge species was recorded, of which 222 known in the Marseille region. In this area, special attention was paid to species from underwater caves. Although this particular habitat appeared as one of the richest, a wealth of hidden diversity still requires description. About 37 % of the sponge diversity can be found in underwater caves, most of these species being also distributed in other habitats. However, 23 % of this sponge diversity is cave-exclusive. An easy and rapid assessment method was developed with a selection of 65 representative sponge species, for the monitoring of semi-dark cave communities. This method, based on data acquisition with photoquadrats and their processing using a DataBase built with ACCESS, was deployed in 13 studied sites. Altogether, this study represents a useful contribution for marine environment managers who might refer to this French reference list and apply the rapid and easy assessment method in the framework of several European Directives and international Conventions.

프랑스 이주민의 갈등해결과 선교전략 모색 ―마르세유 지역을 중심으로

The article focuses on mission strategy and direction toward France immigrant as Marseille region. The France completed culture revival through transforming time of culture, religion, economic, and political. After cultural revival, the France experienced period of reason, French Revolution and Napoleon Empire, and hardship of republic. And then enormous France controlled colony to North Africa through World War. They moved from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco peoples to France for their quality of life. The Algeria moved to build up their culture in South France. As result, they got conflict between the government of France and peoples. The immigrant inpour process and what do cause of against-immigrant policy evaluated to need of missional perspective. And conflict of immigrant in France should be understand conflict of between religion and language problem, trends of conservative swing in France. The mission method of solution channels strategy of re-evangelism of Europe. The conflict solution and mission method of immigrant in France encourages their ethnicity and identity formation, and recognized each difference for contact point of gospel, and then reject individual and will accept life of immigrant culture. The mission method applies gospel proclaim for France’s immigrant through understanding of mutual culture. This based on re-evangelization toward Europe. Therefore, the mission of church filled their needs what do desire and hometown culture for trouble and conflict of immigrant.

Molecular and distribution data on the poorly known, elusive, cave mysid Harmelinella mariannae (Crustacea: Mysida)

AbstractMediterranean underwater marine caves harbour abundant populations of several species of mysids that are increasingly used as biological models in ecological and evolutionary studies. One exception is the species Harmelinella mariannae, described in 1989 and then hardly ever again reported in the literature. We here provide the first data on the distribution of this poorly known taxon that, contrary to expectations for a rare brooding cave dweller, we now report from Madeira Island in the nearby Atlantic, to the easternmost parts of the Mediterranean. Brief behavioural observations are added, particularly its atypical solitary habits and its feeding behaviour as a high trophic level carnivore. Molecular characterization of the different specimens captured provided three sorts of information. Mitochondrial COI and 16S haplotypes suggest different colonization waves in the Mediterranean, with one group in the Eastern Basin, two in the Marseille region in the NW part of this sea, and another group with a very wide extension from Madeira to Liguria and Malta. Mitochondrial data also support that one of the groups in Marseille might have diverged as a cryptic species of Harmelinella. 18S rRNA gene displays a single common sequence to all specimens from the four groups, and seems to confirm the original proposed placement of this taxon within the subfamily Heteromysinae, not Leptomysinae.

Epidemiology of diving accidents in the region of Marseille from 2000 to 2009

Epidemiology of diving accidents in the region of Marseille from 2000 to 2009

Low seroprevalence of sandfly fever Sicilian virus antibodies in humans, Marseille, France

A seroprevalence study was carried out in the region of Marseille (south-eastern France) to address the public health importance of sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) and SFSV-like viruses, as recently recognized vectors of those viruses are present in this area. The low seroprevalence rate observed in this study suggests that SFSV is not likely to be of major medical importance in the Marseille area.

Valanginian-Hauterivian scleractinian coral communities from the Marseille region (SE France)

Coral beds associated with Valanginian and Hauterivian platform carbonates from the Marseille region show two faunal assemblages corresponding with a Stylosmilia-Baryphyllia community (late Valanginian) and a Mesomorpha-Dimorpharaea community (early Hauterivian). The stratigraphic position of this fauna is based on the associate microfossils and correlation with ammonite-bearing beds. The internal architecture of the coral beds is loosely packed, the geometry of the corresponding bodies is tabulate and flat, and their depositional setting being the deeper, muddy part of the infralittoral zone. The biostratigraphic significance of the encountered species which include: Stylosmilia cf. corallina, Eocomoseris raueni, Mesomorpha ornata, Dimorpharaea catalaunica and Baryphyllia haimei, is low and our data tend to broaden the stratigraphic range of some of them. Assuming that the corresponding species were zooxantellate suggests the existence of an oligotrophic rather than a mesotrophic oceanic regime, postulated by some workers for the time span in question.

Upper thermal thresholds of shallow vs. deep populations of the precious Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum (L.): Assessing the potential effects of warming in the NW Mediterranean

Recent mortality outbreaks in marine ecosystems have been linked to elevated seawater temperatures associated with global climate change. Acquisition of thermotolerance data is essential, not only to determine the role of temperature in mortality outbreaks, but also to predict consequences of global warming. In the NW Mediterranean region, elevated seawater temperatures during the summer periods of 1999 and 2003 caused mass mortality of the Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubum (L. 1758). Experiments testing the upper thermal limits of this species were carried out in aquaria using samples collected from populations from 11 to 40 m depth in the Marseilles region (NW Mediterranean, France). Samples were subjected to temperature treatments between 18 and 30 °C with an exposure time of 5 and 25 days. Three biological response variables were used to evaluate effects of the treatments: coenenchyme necrosis, polyp activity and calcification rates ( 45Ca incorporation in calcareous skeleton). The results showed that exposure to 24 °C for 24 days caused a beginning of mortality only for the deep population, and to 25 °C for between 9 and 14 days caused mass mortality of both sample groups. The response variable results indicate that samples from the shallow population had greater thermotolerance of elevated seawater temperatures than the deep samples. The shallow samples showed greater polyp activity and higher calcification rate with a delayed necrosis response than the deep samples. These initial thermotolerance results combined with both hydrographic models and seawater temperature monitoring are the first step towards developing predictive tools for anticipating future effects of climate change in the red coral populations.

Investigation of local meteorological events and their relationship with ozone and aerosols during an ESCOMPTE photochemical episode

Abstract. The international ESCOMPTE campaign, which took place in summer 2001 in the most highly polluted French region, was devoted to validate air pollution prediction models. Surface and remote sensing instruments (Lidar, Radar and Sodar) were deployed over the Marseille area, along the Mediterranean coast, in order to investigate the fine structure of the sea-breeze circulation and its relationship with the pollutant concentrations. The geographical situation of the Marseille region combines a complex coastline and relief which both lead to a peculiar behaviour of the sea-breeze circulation. Several local sea breezes, perpendicular to the nearest coastline, settled in during the morning. In the afternoons, when the thermal gradient between the continental and marine surface grows up, a southerly or a westerly sea breeze may dominate. Their respective importance is then a function of time, space and altitude. Furthermore, an oscillation of the westerly sea breeze with a period of about 3 h is also highlighted. We show that these dynamical characteristics have profound influences on the atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) development and on pollutant concentrations. In fact, the direction and intensity of the sea-breeze determine the route and the transit time of the stable marine air flow over the continental surface. Thus, the ABL depth may exhibit several collapses correlated with the westerly sea-breeze pulsation. The ozone and aerosol concentrations are also related to the dynamical features. In the suburbs and parts of the city under pulsed sea breezes, a higher ABL depth and higher ozone concentrations are observed. In the city centre, this relationship between pulsed sea-breeze intensity and ozone concentration is different, emphasising the importance of the transit time and also the build-up of pollutants in the marine air mass along the route. Finally, the variations of aerosol concentration are also described according to the breeze direction.

Carbonate production by rudist bivalves. The record of Late Barremian requieniid communities from Provence (SE France)

Rudist-bearing sediments from platform carbonates of Late Barremian age (Early Cretaceous) cropping out in the Marseille region (Provence, SE France), were investigated on a 46 km wide transect, after seven stratigraphic sections, to quantify the role of rudists in the corresponding stratigraphic system, by using various proxies. The regional stratigraphic contribution (% of total thickness) of rudist beds is relatively high (43.1%). Each rudist community type possesses a specific skeletal contribution (% of skeletal content) in the range of 19.2 to 31.5%. At a stratigraphic scale, including rudist rich and rudist free beds, the skeletal contribution drops to 13.8%: this value is derived from the standard skeletal contribution obtained for each community type, combined with the stratigraphic contribution of rudist beds in vertical successions and horizontal stratigraphic units. A closely related value (12.8%) is obtained from calculations using specific lateral dimensions of rudist bodies and their spacing (i.e. modules) depending on community types. Each community has a particular, potential, quantitative contribution to the overall regional stratigraphic system. Rudist production is deduced from the cyclostratigraphic approach of accumulation rates for each community type. Estimates of CaCO 3 net production are in the range of 19 to 50 kg m − 2 ka − 1 . These values are very low when compared with those obtained, at a biological scale, for modern bivalves, Late Cretaceous rudists and recent coral reefs. The geological scale used for our estimates may partly account for this difference whereas low accommodation rates linked to Cretaceous greenhouse conditions appear a potential important factor in this respect. The low net production of requieniid dominated communities, sediment dwellers not framework builders, also reflects their limited sedimentogenetic power.

On the use of GPS tomography to investigate water vapor variability during a Mistral/sea breeze event in southeastern France

Global Positioning System (GPS) tomography analyses of water vapor, complemented by high‐resolution numerical simulations are used to investigate a Mistral/sea breeze event in the region of Marseille, France, during the ESCOMPTE experiment. This is the first time GPS tomography has been used to validate the three‐dimensional water vapor concentration from numerical simulation, and to analyze a small‐scale meteorological event. The high spatial and temporal resolution of GPS analyses provides a unique insight into the evolution of the vertical and horizontal distribution of water vapor during the Mistral/sea‐breeze transition.

Interaction between local and regional pollution during Escompte 2001: impact on surface ozone concentrations (IOP2a and 2b)

Escompte, a European programme which took place in the Marseille region in June–July 2001, has been designed as an exhaustive database to be used for the development and validation of air pollution models. The air quality Mesoscale NonHydrostatic Chemistry model (Meso-NH-C) is used to simulate 2 days of an Intensive Observation Period (IOP) documented during the Escompte campaign, June 23 and 24, 2001. We first study the synoptic and local meteorological situation on June 23 and 24, using surface and aircraft measurements. Then, we focus on the pollution episode of June 24. This study emphasizes the deep impact of synoptic and local dynamics on observed ozone concentrations. It is shown that ozone levels are due both to regional and local factors, with highlights of the importance of ozone layering. More generally this confirms, even in an otherwise predominant local sea-breeze regime, the need to consider larger scale regional pollutant transport.

Quantitative stratigraphy of rudist limestones and its bearing on spatial organisation of rudist communities: the Late Barremian, Urgonian, sequences of Provence (S.E. France)

Rudist beds in platform carbonates of Late Barremian age (Early Cretaceous) cropping out in the Marseille region (Provence, SE France) possess a substantial lateral continuity (>40 km) whereas associated rudist bodies tend to be less continuous. Transition probabilities (Markov chain analysis) are used at a regional scale to test the lateral continuity of rudist bodies and their four associated rudist assemblages. Each rudist assemblage has a specific probability to be adjacent to itself or to any one. At a local scale, analysing the variations of transition probabilities as a function of distance, using various proxies, shows a periodic spatial trend, the style of which depends on the type of rudist assemblage, i.e., community type. The foregoing documents two groups with different properties. Group 1 includes two communities characterised by small forms restricted to very shallow and muddy settings, organised spatially into small patches (c. 1000–1500 m) with moderate spacing (c. 1500–2000 m). Group 2 includes two communities characterised by mixed size or large forms, typical of deeper water and more sandy settings, organised spatially into large patches (c. 3000 m) with a larger spacing (c. 3000–4000 m). The internal architecture and the dimensions of these rudist bodies argue against a reefal nature. Quantitative estimates of lateral continuity and spatial variations of rudist bodies have a significant potential for reservoir modelling of hydrocarbon-bearing rudist-rich platform carbonates.

Quantitative analysis of rudist assemblages: a key for palaeocommunity reconstructions. The Late Barremian record from SE France

The present paper addresses the question of rudist assemblages and their interpretation in terms of ecological entities, i.e. communities. Quantitative studies performed on rudist assemblages in the Barremian platform carbonates of the Marseille region (SE France) were based on biological attributes (shell size, shell thickness, packing density, packing index, coverage and shell contribution) and sedimentological attributes from the associated substrate (mud content, grain size and skeletal contribution to the sediment and bed thickness). The studied samples were originally ascribed to four assemblages defined on the basis of semiquantitative data. Contrasting results were obtained from multivariate analysis applied to biological then to biological plus sedimentological data. The latter documents four groups of samples in correspondence with the former assemblages. This grouping refers directly or indirectly to critical attributes of communities: biomass and substrate. Evidence for some taxonomic markers and because the assemblages represent recurrent statistical entities corroborate their interpretation as palaeocommunities. The method proposed here for the reconstruction of rudist palaeocommunities has a potential for unravelling biological assemblages with a low taxonomic resolution.