Mediterranean Network of Environmental Forcing Records In Travertines _ Med-NEFRIT Project: preliminary results

Elisabeth Gibert-Brunet1, Florent Barbecot2, Marina Gillon3, Alina Tudryn1, Jerzy Nitychoruk4, Erdal Koşun5 and José Benavente6, (1)GEOPS-UMR 8148, CNRS - Université Paris Sud, orsay, France, (2)GEOTOP-UQAM, Departement of Earth and atmospheric sciences, Montréal, Canada, (3)1114 UAPV-INRA EMMAH, University of Avignon, Avignon, France, (4)University of Biala Podlaska, Civil engeneering, Biala Podlaska, Poland, (5)Akdeniz University, Geological engineering departement, Antalya, Turkey, (6)University of Granada, Water Research Institute, Granada, Spain

Contact First Author: Elisabeth Gibert-Brunet; elisabeth.gibert@u-psud.fr

Abstract ID#: 34767

 

English Abstract:
While they support most of ecosystems, water resources are the first victim of climate and environmental changes. They are largely impacted over the world in terms of quantity as well as quality. Whatever are the modelling contributions, the lack of records of water resources responses to external forcing limits our understanding and capability to develop integrated management of these resources. In such a scheme, we proposed to organize a scientific network (Poland, Turkey, Spain, France) within the European Cooperation MISTRAL-ENVIMED Programme, to share and develop original approaches and enhance our knowledge of these systems.

The study of environmental changes over recent periods focuses on relationships and feedback effects between climate and human aspects, using a variety of archival sources and proxies such as ice cores, ocean sediments, tree rings or soils. However, with the development of novel proxies (physical, chemical or methodological), the calibration and validation of data have to be clearly evaluated on their own.

For developing a comprehensive overview of processes leading to reliable records of environmental parameters, we focuses our work on modern travertines that are seen as a link between hydrological balance (recharge vs discharge/abstraction) and climatic data (temperature, rainfall), via specific geochemical records.

Our research project is based on the study of recent travertine that potentially registers environmental conditions. It implies research developments to (i) accurately understand the geochemical processes between liquid-gas-solid phases (kinetic degassing, carbonate precipitation, fractionation out of equilibrium and water-rock partitioning), (ii) reconstruct hydrological fluctuations from annual to seasonal time scales during the last 100 years, and (iii) compare environmental records with recent available meteorological parameters, in relation with regional to global atmospheric trends of Mediterranean/Western Europe area.

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