Maritime safety in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay and the loss of merchant ships
Maritime safety in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay and the loss of merchant ships By Éric LE GENTIL L'Atlas Bleu / Preventing Maritime traffic, security, prevention, merchant ship, Channel and Bay of Biscay. The article presents an inventory and a typology of the means used to fight against the shipping accidents in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, two important places of the global maritime traffic. A map summarizes the spatial articulation of the system set up both at sea and on land. The documents look at
Tsunami vulnerability assessment for Wallis and Futuna and protecting populated areas
Based on the physical characteristics of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, this article expose the risk factors of each islands according to the exposure of the populations and proposes a synthetic zoning map of their territories according to the degree of global vulnerability. The solutions emanating from the local authorities to alert the inhabited areas are visuealized and compared.
Japan: an example of an archipelago at high seismic risk
Japan: an example of an archipelago at high seismic risk By Jacques Guillaume L'Atlas Bleu / Preventing Earthquake, tsunami, population, deadly disaster, Japanese archipelago. This article presents a cartography of the main structural elements placing Japan in an intense seismic zone. It compares the population density of the archipelago with the inventory of earthquakes which occur over the 20th century. These elements show the vulnerability of this area. The example of the earthquake of march 11, 2011, reminds the chain of catastrophic events that led to the major nuclear accident in
Extreme sea levels on the Atlantic coastline in France: model and observations
Extreme sea levels on the Atlantic coastline in France: model and observations By Etienne CHAUVEAU L'Atlas Bleu / Exploring Extreme sea levels, models and measurements, recent period, Atlantic coast of mainland France. The article identifies the 10 most important storms in terms of marine submersion that have occurred on the Atlantic coasts of mainland France since 1984. It indicates the maximum sea levels recorded during these events. These values are compared with the extreme sea levels (with a 100 years period) derived from the SHOM/CETMEF predictive model. Several observations are drawn
The El Niño phenomenon: a model of global ocean disruption
The El Niño phenomenon: a model of global ocean disruption By Jean-René VANNEY L'Atlas Bleu / Exploring El Niño, climatic disruption, oceanic phenomenon, devastating effect, South America. With two maps and a graph, the article summarizes the principle of El Niño – a climatic disruption whose geographical amplitude and environmental implication are major at a world scale. The sequence of the phenomenon (whose frequency remains poorly known), that occurred in 1982-1983 on the coasts and off the coast of South America, is mapped and analysed specifically.
Piracy worldwide and its recent developments (1985-2012). The case of Africa
Piracy worldwide and its recent developments (1985-2012). The case of Africa By François GUIZIOU et Daenis OTSA'A NGUEMA L'Atlas Bleu / Preventing Maritime piracy, evolution, spatial characteristic, Gulf of Guinea, Gulf of Aden, Africa Through maps and graphs, the article presents the world geographical context of maritime piracy and its recent evolution. Maritime piracy has been geographically refocused on the African “shores”. Then, it examines in details the piracy occurred on the coasts and seas of the African zones concerned by this phenomenon (Gulf of Guinea and Gulf of Aden), by
Distribution of major naval forces worldwide
Distribution of major naval forces worldwide By Jacques GUILLAUME L'Atlas Bleu / Preventing Naval force, strategic base, ranking of States, world In this article, the inventory and spatial distribution of the strategic bases of the world’s main naval forces and the ranking of the top 15 oceanic military powers provide insights into the strategies of the States in terms of political influence on the blue planet. Spatial distribution of the strategic bases of the world’s main naval forces (interactive map)
Sand dune ecosystems as a form of defence against coastal hazards: assessment on the Noirmoutier coast (Vendée)
Sand dune ecosystems as a form of defence against coastal hazards: assessment on the Noirmoutier coast (Vendée) By Françoise DEBAINE et Marc ROBIN L'Atlas Bleu / Protecting Coastal risk, dune ecosystem, protection service, geoindicator, diagnosis and monitoring Noirmoutier (Vendée). By considering dune ecosystems as agents of protection facing coastal risks, the article presents a method of dune condition diagnosis and monitoring based on the example of the Noirmoutier coastline. The method is based on a set of geoindicators related to a system of coastal “boxes” (50x300m). It allows to map the
Eutrophication of coastal waters: the case of Brittany’s green tides
Eutrophication of coastal waters: the case of Brittany’s green tides By Nicolas ROLLO L'Atlas Bleu / Protecting Eutrophication, green algae, covered area, evolution, Brittany After a contextualisation of the coastal waters eutrophication (world map), the article examines the case of Brittany, a French region strongly affected by this phenomenon. Graphical documents allow to assess its spatial impact in 2008 and its evolution from 1997 to 2011. Several elements of context on the fight against green tides are specified from an economic point of view.
Eutrophication of coastal waters in the Gulf of California (Mexico) and the spatial development of shrimp farming: the case of the Rio Fuerte delta
Eutrophication of coastal waters in the Gulf of California (Mexico) and the spatial development of shrimp farming: the case of the Rio Fuerte delta By Loïc MENANTEAU and Diana C. ESCOBEDO URIAS L'Atlas Bleu / Exploiting Eutrophication, shrimp farming, spatial spread, environment, Río Fuerte delta, Mexico The article focuses on two major phenomena that combine on the coastal zone of the Gulf of California (Sonora, Sinaloa, Mexico) especially in the Río Fuerte delta. On the maritime side, pollution of coastal waters is due to intensive cultivation, while on the terrestrial side, the