Whole-transcriptome response to wastewater treatment plant and stormwater effluents in the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea
The increase in human population and urbanization are resulting in an increase in the volume of wastewater and urban runoff effluents entering natural ecosystems. These effluents may contain multiple pollutants to which the biological response of aquatic organisms is still poorly understood mainly due to mixture toxicity and interactions with other environmental factors. In this context, RNA sequencing was used to assess the impact of a chronic exposure to wastewater treatment plant and stormwater effluents at the whole-transcriptome level and evaluate the potential physiological outcomes in the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea. We de-novo assembled a transcriptome from C. fluminea digestive gland and identified a set of 3,181 transcripts with altered abundance in response to water quality. The largest differences in transcriptomic profiles were observed between C. fluminea from the reference site and those exposed to wastewater treatment plant effluents. On both anthropogenically impacted sites, most differentially expressed transcripts were involved in signaling pathways in relation to energy metabolism such as mTOR and FoxO, suggesting an energy/nutrient deficit and hypoxic conditions. These conditions were likely responsible for damages to proteins and transcripts in response to wastewater treatment effluents whereas exposure to urban runoff might result in immune and endocrine disruptions. In absence of comprehensive chemical characterization, the RNAseq approach could provide information regarding the mode of action of pollutants and then be useful for the identification of which parameters must be studied at higher integration level in order to diagnose sites where the presence of complex and variable mixtures of chemicals is suspected.
(Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. vol. 165, n° 0147-6513, pp. 96-106, 19/10/2026)
EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, GENOTOUL, UT3, Comue de Toulouse, ENVT, Toulouse INP, INSERM, CNRS, Toulouse INP, Comue de Toulouse, INRAE, MIAT INRAE, INRAE, INRAE
Updated calibration of the clumped isotope thermometer in planktonic and benthic foraminifera
Accurate reconstruction of past ocean temperatures is of critical importance to paleoclimatology. Carbonate clumped isotope thermometry (“Δ47 ”) is a relatively recent technique based on the strong relationship between calcification temperature and the statistical excess of 13C–18O bonds in carbonates. Its application to foraminifera holds great scientific potential, particularly because Δ47 paleotemperature reconstructions do not require assumptions regarding the 18O composition of seawater. However there are still relatively few published observations investigating the potential influence of parameters such as salinity or foraminiferal size and species. We present a new calibration data set based on 234 replicate analyses of 9 planktonic and 2 benthic species of foraminifera collected from recent core-top sediments, with calcification temperatures ranging from −2 to 25 °C. We observe a strong relationship between Δ47 values and independent, oxygen-18 estimates of calcification temperatures:
Δ47 = 41.63 × 103/T2 + 0.2056
The formal precision of this regression (± 0.7–1.0 °C at 95 % confidence level) is much smaller than typical analytical errors. Our observations confirm the absence of significant species-specific biases or salinity effects. We also investigate potential foraminifer size effects between 200 and > 560 μm in 6 species, and conclude that all size fractions from a given core-top location and species display statistically undistinguishable Δ47 values. These findings provide a robust foundation for future inter-laboratories comparisons and paleoceanographic applications.
(Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. vol. 239, n° 0016-7037, pp. 1-16, 19/10/2026)
LSCE, UVSQ, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, DRF (CEA), CEA, PALEOCEAN, LSCE, UVSQ, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, DRF (CEA), CEA, EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, LPG-ANGERS, LPG, UA, UN UFR ST, UN, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, CLIMAG, LSCE, UVSQ, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, DRF (CEA), CEA
Réflexions sur deux pendentifs à “dent de requin” trouvés à Burdigala (Bordeaux)
(Aquitania, n° 0758-9670, pp. 357-364, 19/10/2026)
UBM, CNRS, EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS
Photodegradation of novel oral anticoagulants under sunlight irradiation in aqueous matrices
Kinetics of photodegradation of novel oral anticoagulants dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban were studied under simulated solar light irradiation in purified, mineral, and river waters. Dabigatran and rivaroxaban underwent direct photolysis with polychromatic quantum yields of 2.2 × 10−4 and 4.4 × 10−2, respectively. The direct photodegradation of apixaban was not observed after 19 h of irradiation. Kinetics of degradation of rivaroxaban was not impacted by the nature of the aqueous matrix while photosensitization from nitrate ions was observed for dabigatran and apixaban dissolved in a mineral water. The photosensitized reactions were limited in the tested river water (Isle River, Périgueux, France) certainly due to the hydroxyl radical scavenging effect of the dissolved organic matter. The study of photoproduct structures allowed to identify two compounds for dabigatran. One of them is the 4-aminobenzamidine while the second one is a cyclization product. In the case of rivaroxaban, as studied by very high field NMR, only one photoproduct was observed i.e. a photoisomer. Finally, seven photoproducts were clearly identified from the degradation of apixaban under simulated solar light.
(Chemosphere. vol. 193, n° 0045-6535, pp. 329-336, 19/10/2026)
EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, CBMN, UB, ENITAB, INC-CNRS, CNRS, INERIS, UR MALY, IRSTEA
Wilkes Land Late Pleistocene diatom age model: From bio-events to quantitative biostratigraphy
A new method merges conventional and quantitative biostratigraphic approaches, supported by magnetic polarity data, to develop a chronological framework for sediment core MD03-2595 retrieved on the continental rise off Wilkes Land, East Antarctica before proceeding to paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic analysis. This combined method helped to identify climatic cycles, highlight stratigraphic discontinuities and reworking, and assess regional sedimentological and diatom biostratigraphic evolution. Core MD03-2595 spans the last 0.8 Ma, from the Mid Pleistocene Transition (MPT) to the Early Holocene. A hiatus including Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 19, 18 and 17 was identified, and a decreasing trend in sediment accumulation rates from MIS 16 to the Holocene was observed. This quantitative diatom biostratigraphic dataset, placed in its own sedimentological and paleomagnetic context, provides new information regarding the paleobiogeographic distribution and ecological responses of biostratigraphically significant diatom species, such as Thalassiosira elliptipora and T. fasciculata, for the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) transition, and Actinocyclus ingens, Hemidiscus karstenii and Rouxia spp. for the middle and late Pleistocene diatom biozonation.
(Revue de Micropaléontologie. vol. 61, n° 0035-1598, pp. 81-96, 19/10/2026)
UniGe, INGV, EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS
Bref panorama scientifique de l'estuaire de la Gironde 2018
L'intérêt pour cette synthèse s'est développé en réponse au constat partagé avec les acteurs de la société d'un besoin de bilan des connaissances. Ce document est le fruit d'une démarche pluridisciplinaire des « Sciences du milieu» et des « Sciences humaines et sociales». Cet ouvrage de synthèse des connaissances s'inscrivant dans une démarche globale de partage des connaissances (et des interrogations), nous espérons qu'il permettra d'identifier de nouvelles réponses, mais aussi des lacunes, qui conduiront à des développements ultérieurs tant du point de vue de la recherche que de la gestion.
(pp. 55, 19/10/2026)
UB, IRSTEA, UR ETBX, IRSTEA, UR EABX, IRSTEA, EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS
Refining uptake and depuration constants for fluoroalkyl chemicals in Chironomus riparius larvae on the basis of experimental results and modelling
The aims of this study were to determine depuration rates for a range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) using Chironomus riparius, and to test a concentration-dependency hypothesis for the long-chain perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) for this species. Midge larvae were exposed to field sediments collected downstream of a fluorotelomer plant, and to the same sediment spiked with PFTrDA. Elimination kinetics results indicated complete elimination of all PFASs by chironomids after 42 h. These data were used to develop two PFTrDA bioaccumulation models accounting for chironomid growth and for compound concentration dependency or not. There was much better agreement between observed and simulated data under the concentration-dependency hypothesis than under the alternative one (passive diffusion). The PFTrDA uptake rate derived from the concentration-dependency model equaled 0.013 ± 0.008 goc gww h−1, and the depuration rate 0.032 ± 0.009 h−1.
(Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. vol. 149, n° 0147-6513, pp. 284-290, 19/10/2026)
IRSTEA, EPFL, EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, INERIS, ECOSYS, INRA
Omens of coupled model biases in the CMIP5 AMIP simulations
Despite decades of efforts and improvements in the representation of processes as well as in model resolution, current global climate models still suffer from a set of important, systematic biases in sea surface temperature (SST), not much different from the previous generation of climate models. Many studies have looked at errors in the wind field, cloud representation or oceanic upwelling in coupled models to explain the SST errors. In this paper we highlight the relationship between latent heat flux (LH) biases in forced atmospheric simulations and the SST biases models develop in coupled mode, at the scale of the entire intertropical domain. By analyzing 22 pairs of forced atmospheric and coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations from the CMIP5 database, we show a systematic, negative correlation between the spatial patterns of these two biases. This link between forced and coupled bias patterns is also confirmed by two sets of dedicated sensitivity experiments with the IPSL-CM5A-LR model. The analysis of the sources of the atmospheric LH bias pattern reveals that the near-surface wind speed bias dominates the zonal structure of the LH bias and that the near-surface relative humidity dominates the east–west contrasts.
(Climate Dynamics. vol. 51, n° 0930-7575, pp. 2927–2941, 19/10/2026)
LMD, INSU - CNRS, X, IP Paris, ENPC, SU, CNRS, ENS-PSL, PSL, EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, LSCE, UVSQ, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, DRF (CEA), CEA, MERMAID, LSCE, UVSQ, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, DRF (CEA), CEA
Observation and numerical modeling of tidal dune dynamics
Tidal sand dune dynamics is observed for two tidal cycles in the Arcachon tidal inlet, southwest France. An array of instruments is deployed to measure bathymetric and current variations along dune profiles. Based on the measurements, dune crest horizontal and vertical displacements are quantified and show important dynamics in phase with tidal currents. We observed superimposed ripples on the dune stoss side and front, migrating and changing polarity as tidal currents reverse. A 2D RANS numerical model is used to simulate the morphodynamic evolution of a flat non-cohesive sand bed submitted to a tidal current. The model reproduces the bed evolution until a field of sand bedforms is obtained that are comparable with observed superimposed ripples in terms of geometrical dimensions and dynamics. The model is then applied to simulate the dynamics of a field of large sand dunes of similar size as the dunes observed in situ. In both cases, simulation results compare well with measurements qualitatively and quantitatively. This research allows for a better understanding of tidal sand dune and superimposed ripple morphodynamics and opens new perspectives for the use of numerical models to predict their evolution.
(Ocean Dynamics. vol. 68, n° 1616-7341, pp. 589-602, 19/10/2026)
EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS
The risk of tardive frost damage in French vineyards in a changing climate
Tardive frosts, i.e. frost events occurring after grapevine budburst, are a significant risk for viticultural practices, which have recently caused substantial yield losses over different winegrowing regions of France, e.g. in 2016 and 2017. So far, it is unclear whether the frequency of late frosts events is destined to increase or decrease under future climatic conditions. Here, we assess the risk of tardive frosts for the French vineyards throughout the 21st century by analyzing temperature projections from eight climate models and their statistical regional down scaling. Our approach consists in comparing the statistical occurrences of the last frost (day of the year) and the characteristic budburst date for nine grapevine varieties as simulated by three different phenological models. Climate models qualitatively agree in projecting a gradual increase in temperature all over the France, which generally produces both an earlier characteristic last frost day and an earlier characteristic budburst date. However, the latter notably depends on the specific phenological model, implying a large uncertainty in assessing the risk exposure. Overall, we identified Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne as the most vulnerable regions, where the probability of tardive frost is projected to significantly increase throughout the 21st century for two out of three phenological models. The third phenological model produces opposite results, but the comparison between simulated budburst dates and observed records over the last 60 years suggests its lower reliability. Nevertheless, for a more trustworthy risk assessment, the validity of the budburst models should be accurately tested also for warmer climate conditions, in order to narrow down the associated large uncertainty.
(Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. vol. 250-251, n° 0168-1923, pp. 226-242, 19/10/2026)
EPOC, EPHE, PSL, UB, INSU - CNRS, CNRS, UMR EGFV, INRA, UB, Bordeaux Sciences Agro