Abstract: The temperature on Earth varied largely in the Pleistocene from cold glacials to interglacials of different warmths. To contribute to an understanding of the underlying causes of these changes we compile various environmental records (and model-based interpretations of some of them) in order to calculate the direct effect of various processes on Earth's radiative budget and, thus, on global annual mean surface temperature over the last 800,000 years. The importance of orbital variations, of the greenhouse gases CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O, of the albedo of land ice sheets, annual mean snow cover, sea ice area and vegetation, and of the radiative perturbation of mineral dust in the atmosphere are investigated. Altogether we can explain with these processes a global cooling of 3.90.8K in the equilibrium temperature for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) directly from the radiative budget using only the Planck feedback that parameterises the direct effect on the radiative balance, but neglecting other feedbacks such as water vapour, cloud cover, and lapse rate. The unaccounted feedbacks and related uncertainties would, if taken at present day feedback strengths, decrease the global temperature at the LGM by 8.01.6K. Increased Antarctic temperatures during the Marine Isotope Stages 5.5, 7.5, 9.3 and 11.3 are in our conceptual approach difficult to explain. If compared with other studies, such as PMIP2, this gives supporting evidence that the feedbacks themselves are not constant, but depend in their strength on the mean climate state. The best estimate and uncertainty for our reconstructed radiative forcing and LGM cooling support a present day equilibrium climate sensitivity (excluding the ice sheet and vegetation components) between 1.4 and 5.2K, with a most likely value near 2.4K, somewhat smaller than other methods but consistent with the consensus range of 24.5K derived from other lines of evidence. Climate sensitivities above 6K are difficult to reconcile with Last Glacial Maximum reconstructions.

Abstract: The 10th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP),Halifax (Canada), 24-29 July

Abstract: Morat F, Betoulle S, Robert M, Thailly AF, Biagianti-Risbourg S, Lecomte-Finiger R. What can otolith examination tell us about the level of perturbations of Salmonid fish from the Kerguelen Islands? Ecology of Freshwater Fish 2008: 17: 6172013627. © 2008 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2008 Blackwell MunksgaardAbstract 2013  Otoliths preserve a continuous record of the life cycle from the natal through the adult stage. For that reason, the morphological and chemical characteristics of otoliths of two nonnative Salmonids, brown trout (Salmo trutta) and brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) from populations on the Kerguelen Islands were compared. Several approaches were used to study the relationships between otolith morphometry, crystal morph and chemical elemental composition. These salmonids sampled in Kerguelen are well differentiated in terms of species through their otolith shape. The results indicate that ecotypes and river populations can be reasonably well differentiated on the basis of otolith shape. The crystallisation study has revealed the presence of a particular form: the vaterite, present at a high rate: 45% of S. fontinalis and 18% from Salmo trutta fario. Moreover, vaterite and aragonite otoliths presented differences in chemical composition.

Abstract: The fundamental processes responsible for energy exchange between large-scale electromagnetic fields and plasma are well understood theoretically, but in practice these theories have not been tested. These processes are ubiquitous in all plasmas, especially at the interface between high and low beta plasmas in planetary magnetospheres and other magnetic environments. Although such boundaries pervade the plasma Universe, the processes responsible for the release of the stored magnetic and thermal plasma energy have not been fully identified and the importance of the relative impact of each process is unknown. Despite advances in understanding energy release through the conversion of magnetic to kinetic energy in magnetic reconnection, how the extreme pressures in the regions between stretched and more relaxed field lines in the transition region are balanced and released through adiabatic convection of plasma and fields is still a mystery. Recent theoretical advances and the predictions of large-scale instabilities must be tested. In essence, the processes responsible remain poorly understood and the problem unresolved. The aim of the White Paper submitted to ESA’s Voyage 2050 call, and the contents of this paper, is to highlight three outstanding open science questions that are of clear international interest: (i) the interplay of local and global plasma physics processes: (ii) the partitioning during energy conversion between electromagnetic and plasma energy: and (iii) what processes drive the coupling between low and high beta plasmas. We present a discussion of the new measurements and technological advances required from current state-of-the-art, and several candidate mission profiles with which these international high-priority science goals could be significantly advanced.