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A French university in the Arab-Persian Gulf: Paris Sorbonne-Abu Dhabi: «A bridge between civilizations»

2007, Philippe Boulanger

l'Université sz Paris Sorbonne s'implante à Abu Dhabi : un pays en pleine expansion; des universités qui évoluent dans la mondialisation; le projet d'ouverture de l'Université Paris Sorbonne-Abu Dhabi. Un pont entre les civilisations : la Sorbonne, 750 ans d'histoire; la diversité culturelle est source de richesse pour chacun; des savoirs enseignés en français. La Sorbonne dans la mondialisation : un marché des étudiants mondialisé; des étudiants provenant du monde entier. Les enjeux de demain.

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Assessing the Use of Oil and Gas Produced Water for Soil Aquifer Treatment in Abu Dhabi

2022, Pavlopoulos, Kosmas, Alomary, Hala, Jisha, Ali, Arangadi, Abdulfahim, Moraitis, Daniel, Alhseinat, Emad

The United Arab Emirates originally lack for sufficient natural water resources. A major source of water in the UAE is groundwater, which includes water in surface wells that are normally renewed by seasonal rains, and deep wells which are refilled via ancient geological formations. The deficit in water availability due to the increasing demand and shortage in water resources availability can be met by utilizing non-conventional sources such as desalinated water, and recycling wastewater. This paper aims to present a scientific assessment of the possibility of using treated oil and gas-produced water for recharging the underground aquifer in Abu Dhabi through Soil aquifer treatment (SAT). Core samples from the unsaturated zone layers of sand, sandstone, siltstone, and conglomerates layers from the Abu Dhabi area were collected and characterized. Adsorption experiments have been carried out to investigate the capacity of the soil samples for the removal of hazardous contaminants i.e. heavy metals and dissolved organic from synthesized oil-produced water samples. The obtained data were used to calculate the required time for the hazardous contaminants to reach the underground water.

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Authigenic carbonate mineral formation in the Pagassitikos palaeolake during the latest Pleistocene, central Greece

2012, Hallberg, Rolf O., Kanellopoulos, Theodore D., Koutsopoulou, Eleni, Kosmas Pavlopoulos, Schmidt, Mark, Karageorgis, Aristomenis P., Tripsanas, Efthymios K., Anagnostou, Christos L., Mavromatis, Vasileios

The Pagassitikos Gulf in Greece is a semi-enclosed bay with a maximum depth of 102 m. According to the present-day bathymetric configuration and the sea level during the latest Pleistocene, the gulf would have been isolated from the open sea, forming a palaeolake since ~32 cal. ka b. p. Sediment core B-4 was recovered from the deepest sector of the gulf and revealed evidence of a totally different depositional environment in the lowest part of the core: this contained light grey-coloured sediments, contrasting strongly with overlying olive grey muds. Multi-proxy analyses showed the predominance of carbonate minerals (aragonite, dolomite and calcite) and gypsum in the lowest part of the core. Carbonate mineral deposition can be attributed to autochthonous precipitation that took place in a saline palaeolake with high evaporation rates during the last glacial-early deglacial period; the lowest core sample to be AMS 14C dated provided an age of 19.53 cal. ka b. p. The palaeolake was presumably reconnected to the open sea at ~13.2 cal. ka b. p. during the last sea-level rise, marking the commencement of marine sedimentation characterised by the predominance of terrigenous aluminosilicates and fairly constant depositional conditions lasting up to the present day.

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Change detection using remote sensing in a reef environment of the UAE during the extreme event of El Niño 2015–2016

2018, Ben Romdhane, Haifa, Al-Musallami, Mohamed, Marpu, Prashanth Reddy, Ouarda, Taha B. M. J., Ghedira, Hosni

Coral reefs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are living in the world’s hottest sea. Recently, corals harbouring Symbiodinium thermophilum, a thermotolerant microalgae, were found to be prevalent among UAE reefs and were reported to endure extreme sea-surface temperatures. Late 2015–early 2016 was marked with the strongest El Niño on record worldwide, which caused massive coral bleaching (loss of symbiotic microalgae from reef-building corals). In September 2015, the waters flanking UAE coasts were identified to be among the areas facing a thermal stress reaching its highest level liable to cause massive coral bleaching. However, the effect of this thermal stress on UAE corals remained largely unknown. Here, multi-temporal DubaiSat-2 satellite images were used to show that changes in the reef environment of Dalma Island, UAE, between 2014 and 2016, occurred in macroalgaedominant habitats, whereas live corals remained unaltered. Furthermore, extending the study to a larger area helped in discovering a continuum of live and pristine corals, which was not reported or studied before. While sea-surface temperature anomalies of 1°C were reported to significantly damage coral reefs around the world, the live coral habitat was observed to exhibit no-change despite four consecutive months of +2°C to 3°C anomalies reported during the study period. These findings point to the tolerance of UAE live corals faced with extreme climate conditions

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A micromorphological assessment of anthropogenic features in pre-Columbian French Guiana dark soils (FGDS): First results

2014, Cammas, C., Eric Fouache, Todisco, D., Brancier, J.

In order to document site formation processes at the microscale and to characterise pre-Columbian French Guiana dark soils (FGDS), micromorphology was performed at three sites. For the first time it was possible (i) to microscopically characterise pre-Columbian Anthrosols in different physical contexts and (ii), to identify anthropogenic features associated with past human occupation. Microfeatures of the Holocene alluvial terrace of the lower Maroni River witnessed (i) several episodes of clay enrichment and/or redistribution, (ii) seasonal waterlogging, and (iii), post-depositional biological activity. Clay enrichment and organic matter inputs together with biological activity processes might have alternated, probably in relation to vegetal cover and/or anthropogenic activities. On top of the alluvial terrace, bioturbated dark layers are enriched in fine brown organic matter and charcoals. Cumulic soil development was favoured when successive sediment inputs due to episodic flooding and/or overland flow was possible (Chemin Saint Louis site). On a lateritic hill, under rainforest, at the MC87 ring-ditched mountain (Montagnes Couronnées or Crowned Mountain), microscale identification of yellowish unburnt oxic B horizon aggregates together with anthropogenic features related to fire such as charcoals and burnt soil fragments (rubefied and dark brown aggregates) stress that lateritic soil acted as a support for activities in the enclosure, and as reworked material in the ditch. These components could result from clearance for settlement, agricultural management and cultivation, or domestic activities. The obtained results allow first comparisons to be drawn between pre-Columbian FGDS and Brazilian dark earths (BDE). With the exception of a similarity in colour, the former is revealed to be less rich in anthropogenic components with an absence of phosphatic elements such as bones. © 2014 Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.

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Atlas des immigrations en France: Histoire, mémoire, héritage

2016, Dubucs, Hadrien, Pascal Blanchard, Aurélie Boissière

Depuis les premières invasions barbares, la France s'est construite par vagues successives qui ont, génération après génération, composé une société plurielle. L'ouvrage propose plus de 120 cartes et infographies pour comprendre l'histoire des immigrations et les visages multiples de la France contemporaine. Il dresse un portrait de la population immigrée (répartition géographique, travail, famille, mobilité sociale.) et revient sur les tensions et les enjeux soulevés par cette immigration (xénophobie, élection.).

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Behavioral Mapping Of Abu Dhabi's Public Spaces: Urban Research Photography And Cultural Clashes

2019, Dubucs, Hadrien, Chaveneau, Clio, Montagne, Clémence

While the study of quotidian practices and daily experiences is now fully appreciated in western urbanism, it is still at an embryonic stage in the emerging new cities of the Middle East. is paper presents an ongoing research project of social-behavioral mapping of Abu Dhabi’s public spaces and its correlation with the existing urban morphology, in an attempt to shed empirical light and update the local public space design guidelines. Photography is one of the observation tools used. However, due to sociocultural conditions, special techniques had to be used. Time- lapse, high-contrasted, undirected street photography was key to visualize both formal and informal activities in the realm of the private.

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Abu Dhabi public spaces : Urban encounters, social diversity and informality

2021, Chaveneau, Clio, Dubucs, Hadrien, Lazaridis, Kyriazis

Abu Dhabi Public Spaces is the result of a two-year research project on urbanity and the behavioral mapping of the inhabitants’ daily practices. Focusing on fourteen well-known public spaces – both formal and informal – throughout Abu Dhabi, the authors highlight their hidden qualities and describe how its inhabitants create an original city life for themselves. The book expertly combines sociology, urban studies and architecture to understand the city’s cultural diversity, social encounters and the interaction between formality and informality in public spaces.

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Atlas of the Gulf States

2013, Philippe Cadene, Dumortier, Brigitte

The Arab Gulf States possess more than half of the planet’s crude oil reserves, and their gas reserves are immense. The transition from being rental economies to producing economies has caused rapid and significant changes, including the influx of foreign (Arab and Asian) manual laborers, and spectacular urban development, particularly along the coast. This Atlas of the Gulf States contains more than 150 maps and graphs based on recent data. It offers a survey of the history and economic and urban development of the Gulf region. For Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Iran, this atlas offers detailed maps, plans and statistics for the relevant provinces as well as the most important cities. This Atlas is an updated translation from the French edition (2011), with a more extensive bibliography and an index.

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Cartographie et suivi de la densité des arbres de l'arganeraie (sud-ouest du Maroc) à partir d'images de télédétection à haute résolution spatiale

2013, Ragala, Rachid

The study is focused on surveying and monitoring tree cover in the argan tree sparse forest of South-West Morocco. Remote sensing data are one IKONOS image from 2003 and one GeoEye image from 2011 (obtained through Google Earth); the latter image has been registered with the 1m resolution IKONOS image used as reference. An object-oriented classification approach has been used to identify tree crowns on both images. However the multi-temporal comparison of results of the two classifications appears not reliable. An alternative solution is proposed through the interactive analysis of the scattergram of 2 channels, one from IKONOS (panchromatic) and one of GeoEye image (sum of 3 bands). In the studied area, tree cover is very low (about 8%) and there are no drastic changes in tree density from 2003 to 2011, except in restricted disturbed areas.