Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
New petrographic and microstructural observations, mineral equilibria modelling and U/Pb (monazite) geochronological studies were carried out to investigate the relationships between deformation and metamorphism across the Rehamna massif (Moroccan Variscan belt). In this area, typical Barrovian (muscovite to staurolite) zones developed in Cambrian to Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks that are distributed around a dome-like structure. First assemblages are characterized by the presence of locally preserved andalusite, followed by prograde evolution culminating at 6 kbar and 620 °C in the structurally deepest staurolite zone rocks. This Barrovian sequence was subsequently uplifted to supracrustal levels, heterogeneously reworked at greenschist facies conditions, which was followed locally by static growth of andalusite, indicating heating to 2.5–4 kbar and 530–570 °C. The 206Pb/238U monazite age of 298.3 ± 4.1 Ma is interpreted as minimum age of peak metamorphic conditions, whereas the ages of 275.8 ± 1.7 Ma and 277.0 ± 1.1 Ma date decompression and heating at low pressure, in agreement with previous dating of Permian granitoids intruding the Rehamna massif. The prograde metamorphism occurred during thickening and associated horizontal flow in the deeper crust (S1 horizontal schistosity). The horizontally disposed metamorphic zones were subsequently uplifted by a regional scale antiform during ongoing N–S compression. The re-heating of the massif follows late massive E–W shortening, refolding and retrograde shearing of all previous fabrics coevally with regionally important intrusions of Permian granitoids. We argue that metamorphic evolution of the Rehamna massif occurred several hundred kilometres from the convergent plate boundaries in the interior of continental Gondwanan plate. The tectonometamorphic history of the Rehamna massif is put into Palaeozoic plate tectonic perspective and Late Carboniferous reactivation of (Devonian)–Early Carboniferous basins formed during stretching of the north Gondwana margin and formation of the Palaeotethys Ocean. The inherited heat budget of these magma-rich basins plays a role in the preferential location of this intracontinental orogen. It is shown that rapid transition from lithospheric stretching to compression is characterized by specific HT type of Barrovian metamorphism, which markedly differs from similar Barrovian sequences along Palaeozoic plate boundaries reported from Variscan Europe.
ISSN: 0263-4929

hal-01468009
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01468009
DOI : 10.1111/jmg.12214

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Convergent plate margins typically experience a transition from subduction to collision dynamics as massive continental blocks enter the subduction channel. Studies of high-pressure rocks indicate that tectonic fragments are rapidly exhumed from eclogite facies to mid-crustal levels, but the details of such dynamics are controversial. To understand the dynamics of a subduction channel we report the results of a petrochronological study from the central Sesia Zone, a key element of the internal Western Alps. This comprises two polymetamorphic basement complexes (Eclogitic Micaschist Complex and Gneiss Minuti Complex) and a thin, dismembered cover sequence (Scalaro Unit) associated with pre-Alpine metagabbros and metasediments (Bonze Unit). Structurally controlled samples from three of these units (Eclogitic Micaschist Complex and Scalaro-Bonze Units) yield unequivocal petrological and geochronological evidence of two distinct high-pressure stages. Ages (U-Th-Pb) of growth zones in accessory allanite and zircon, combined with inclusion and textural relationships, can be tied to the multi-stage evolution of single samples. Two independent tectono-metamorphic 'slices' showing a coherent metamorphic evolution during a given time interval have been recognized: the Fondo slice (which includes Scalaro and Bonze rocks) and the Druer slice (belonging to the Eclogitic Micaschist Complex). The new data indicate separate stages of deformation at eclogite-facies conditions for each recognized independent kilometer-sized tectono-metamorphic slice, between ∼85 and 60 Ma, with evidence of intermittent decompression (ΔP ∼ 0*5 GPa) within only the Fondo slice. The evolution path of the Druer slice indicates a different P-T-time evolution with prolonged eclogite-facies metamorphism between ∼85 and 75 Ma. Our approach, combining structural, petrological and geochronological techniques, yields field-based constraints on the duration and rates of dynamics within a subduction channel.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01054335
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054335
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egu029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We provide new insights into the geochemistry of serpentinites from the Alpine orogenic wedge representing a paleo-subduction zone. These serpentinites are derived from similar oceanic protoliths, but they have experienced different metamorphic conditions related to three different structural levels of the paleo-subduction zone ((1) obducted: Chenaillet ophiolite, (2) accretionary wedge: Queyras Schistes lustrés complex and (3) serpentinite channel: Monviso ophiolite). Metamorphism undergone by these three units is well defined, increasing eastward from sub-greenschist to eclogite facies conditions, and allows us to examine trace element behavior from the oceanic ridge environment to subduction. Serpentinites first record moderate trace element enrichment due to seawater interaction resulting in the replacement of olivine and pyroxene by chrysotile and lizardite below 300 °C. In the sediment-dominated accretionary wedge, serpentinites are strongly enriched in fluid-mobile-elements (B, Li, As, Sb, and Cs) and act as a trapping system following the metamorphic gradient (from 300 to 390 °C) up to total replacement of the lizardite/chrysotile assemblage by antigorite. Under higher temperature conditions (T > 390 °C), no enrichment was observed, and some fluid-mobile elements were released (B, Li, Cs, and Sr). Moreover, in the serpentinite channel (T > 460 °C), most of the fluid-mobile elements are absent due to the scarcity of metasediments which prevent geochemical exchange between metasediments and serpentinites. This is also due to the onset of antigorite breakdown and the release of fluid-mobile elements. Thus, we emphasize that the geochemistry of Alpine serpentinites is strongly dependent on (1) the grade of metamorphism and (2) the ability of metasediments to supply fluid-mobile elements. We conclude that serpentinites act as a trap-and-release system for fluid-mobile elements in a subduction context.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00996839
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00996839
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.02.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Cerro del Almirez massif (Nevado–Filábride Complex, Betic Cordillera, SE Spain) is composed of antigorite (Atg-) serpentinite and chlorite (Chl-) harzburgite separated by a thin reaction front formed in a palaeo-subduction setting. These ultramafic rocks preserve unique prograde structures related to the pre- and peak high-pressure event (1.6–1.9 GPa and 680–710 °C). The oldest subduction-related structures are preserved in Atg-serpentinites: a penetrative S1 foliation and associated L1 stretching lineation that formed in a non-coaxial regime with a top-to-the-W sense of shear. This planar–linear fabric is crosscut by olivine ± Ti-clinohumite veins, formed during the prograde breakdown of brucite and pre-metamorphic clinopyroxene, which form a system of veins decimetres long. They record embrittlement processes due to the release of 6 vol.% of H2O associated with brucite dehydration. The growth of prograde olivine and/or tremolite porphyroblasts is syn- to post-kinematic in relation to the S1 foliation. Further reactions at higher temperature related to the complete breakdown of the Atg (i.e. Atg-out) are post-kinematic to S1. Prograde Chl-harzburgite is crosscut by sets of conjugate zones associated with grain-size reduction of olivine grains. These grain-size reduction zones are interpreted as brittle structures generated by hydrofracturing due to overpressure fluids in a compressional setting at low-differential stresses.Structures related to the exhumation process are mainly preserved in the metasedimentary host rock, where an S2/L2 planar–linear fabric developed within a shear zone dominated by a non-coaxial regime with a top-to-the-W sense of movement in a transpressional regime. Peak metamorphic conditions deduced for the schists are similar in pressure (1.3–1.9 GPa) but lower in temperature (560–590 °C) compared to the ultramafic rocks in contact with them, suggesting a major shear zone at the base of the ultramafic massif during D2 deformation in a right-handed transpressional regime.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01172303
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172303
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.12.022

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : An exceptional structural picture of the immerged Variscan basement, offshore the Leon metamorphic domain, is supplied by high-resolution LiDAR and echosounder data recorded in the Molene archipelago, western Brittany (France). Various types of fabrics are identified and, from in situ rock sample analyses further combined with field structural data, are interpreted on a lineament trajectory map as the trace of magmatic and tectonic structures. Our onshore/offshore study leads us to propose a two-phase kinematic model that emphasizes the role of a strike-slip duplex in an EW-trending relay zone linking the North Armorican and Pierres Noires ductile shear zones (NASZ, PNSZ). Dextral shearing occurred within a transtensional setting, synchronously with magmatic intrusions (St-Renan granite and an offshore gabbro-diorite complex) dated at 314-320 Ma by new U-Th/Pb ages. It post-dated an early regional foliation related to top-to-the-NE ductile transpresional shearing. Our study emphasizes the key role of strike-slip tectonics in the NW part of the Armorica Variscan belt.
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2014-09 , Vol. 630 , P. 236-250

Droits : 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00194/30490/28895.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2014.05.026
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00194/30490/

Éditeur(s) : John Wiley & Sons
Résumé : Based on all available seismic refraction data, the seismic structure of the Western Approaches to the English Channel and the South Armorican continental shelf has been established. The correlation of seismic velocities showed a three-fold structure, related to geological layers as follows: 1. High-velocity, deep sequence (4.4-6.6km/sec): metamorphic basement and Lower to Middle Palaeozoic. 2. Intermediate sequence (3.6-4.3km/sec): Permo-Triassic (and Jurassic?) and possibly also Lower Cretaceous on the margin of the Western Approaches. 3. Upper sequence (1.9-3.6km/sec): Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments. An acoustic unconformity appears to be present between the Upper sequence and the High velocity and Intermediate sequences. Different geomorphology characterizes these layers: the Palaeozoic is tectonized and generally follows the Hercynian structural trends; mainly Permo-Triassic sediments fill the depressions of the Palaeozoic floor, but only in the Western Approaches; eastwards-transgressive Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments cover discordantly the preceding layers. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Petroleum and the continental shelf of North-west Europe (John Wiley & Sons), 1975 , P. 29-43

Droits : John Wiley & Sons
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1975/publication-5465.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5465/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Tsavorite, the vanadian variety of green grossular, is a high value economic gemstone. It is hosted exclusively in the metasedimentary formations from the Neoproterozoic Metamorphic Mozambique Belt. The deposits are mined in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar and other occurrences are located in Pakistan and East Antarctica. They are located within metasomatized graphitic rocks such as graphitic gneiss and calc-silicates, intercalated with meta-evaporites. Tsavorite is found as primary deposits either in nodule (type I) or in quartz vein (type II), and in placers (type III). The primary mineralizations (types I and II) are controlled by lithostratigraphy and/or structure. For the African occurrences, the protoliths of the host-rocks were deposited at the beginning of the Neoproterozoic within a marine coastal sabkha environment, located at the margin of the Congo-Kalahari cratons in the Mozambique Ocean. During the East African-Antarctican Orogeny, the rocks underwent high amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism and the formation of tsavorite deposits occurred between 650 and 550 Ma. The nodules of tsavorite were formed during prograde metamorphism, calcium coming from sulphates and carbonates, whereas alumina, silicates, vanadium and chromium probably came from clays and chlorite. The veins were formed during the deformation of the metasedimentary platform units which experienced shearing, leading to the formation of fault-filled veins. Metasomatism developed during retrograde metamorphism. The metasedimentary sequences are characterized by the presence of evaporitic minerals such as gypsum and anhydrite, and scapolite. Evaporites are essential as they provide calcium and permit the mobilization of all the chemical elements for tsavorite formation. The H2S-S8 metamorphic fluids characterized in primary fluid inclusions of tsavorites and the δ11B values of coeval dravite confirm the evaporitic origin of the fluids. The V2O3 and Cr2O3 contents of tsavorite range respectively from 0.05 to 7.5 wt.%, while their δ18O values are in the range of 9.5-21.1‰. The genetic model proposed for tsavorite is metamorphic, based on chemical reactions developed between an initial assemblage composed of gypsum and anhydrite, carbonates and organic matter deposited in a sabkha-like sedimentary basin.
ISSN: 0169-1368

hal-00853279
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853279
DOI : 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2013.01.016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : In Vietnam, the Triassic Indosinian collision affected coevally the Truong Son belt and the Kontum Massif,which were not independent tectonic units, but parts of the same Gondwana-derived Indochina continental block. This thermotectonic event took place synchronously throughout Vietnam, during the Lower Triassic 250-240-Ma time interval, as demonstrated by numerous geochronological data, combining Ar-Ar and U-Pb dating methods. Structural and kinematic investigations, in the Indosinian metamorphic rocks, reveal that the collisional process resulted from a consistent northwest-striking convergence of Indochina with respect to the adjacent blocks. It is suggested that this motion was taken up by a pair of opposite subduction zones: to the north, beneath South China, and to the west, beneath western Indochina, along the Song Ma and Po Ko sutures, respectively. Tectonic markers, calc-alkaline subduction-related volcanism and granitic intrusions and the generation of high-pressure rocks that have been recently discovered support this geodynamic setting, at least along Po Ko. Along the northwest-trending Song Ma zone, the obliquity of the convergence during subduction and subsequent collision resulted in the development, within the Truong Son Belt, of a set of subparallel dextral mylonitic shear zones, under amphibolite-facies metamorphism. The intermediate segments remained weakly metamorphic or even almost devoid of metamorphism. Along Po Ko, the convergence was near-orthogonal, with a left-lateral strike-slip component; the ongoing continental subduction resulted in the reworking of the Kontum granulitic basement and the development of Indosinian HP granulitic conditions; the subsequent extension-related exhumation operated approximately in the same northwestwards direction. This Indosinian evolution, applied on a continental crust that had been probably affected, as in South China, by a Caledonian-related event, as judged by the general unconformity of the Lower Devonian sediments, the widespread occurrence of magmatic crystallisation ages of ca 450 Ma (Ordovician-Silurian), and by the approximately similar age of the primary granulitic episode in the Kontum Massif. The similarities of the Devonian facies over central, northern Vietnam and South China imply a land connection, possibly as a consequence of a Caledonian collision along Song Ma, but this does not preclude a further oceanic opening and a closure during the Indosinian.
ISSN: 1631-0713

hal-00411591
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411591
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2007.10.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Deciphering Variscan versus Alpine history in the internal Rif system is a key to constraining the tectonic evolution of the Alboran domain and hence the geodynamics of the western Mediterranean system during the Cenozoic. This study focuses on the evolution of the metamorphic envelope of the Beni Bousera massif and its relation to the underlying peridotites. Combining structural geology, metamorphic petrology, and LA-ICP-MS U-Th-Pb dating of monazite, this study contributes to the understanding of the tectonic history of the western internal Rif. The regional foliation (S2) is characterized by LP/HT mineral assemblages and obliterates a former foliation (S1) developed along a barrovian (MP/MT) metamorphic gradient. The dating of some metamorphic monazite grains from a micaschist and a migmatitic gneiss demonstrates that the crustal envelope of the peridotite recorded two distinct tectonometamorphic episodes. Data from monazite inclusions in S1 garnet suggest that the first event, D1, is older than 250-170 Ma and likely related to the Variscan collision, in agreement with the barrovian type of the metamorphic gradient. The second event, D2, is Alpine in age (at circa 21 Ma) and corresponds to a strong lithosphere thinning allowing subsequent subcontinental mantle exhumation. Such a tectonic context provides an explanation for the LP/HT metamorphic gradient that is recorded in the regional foliation of the western Betic-Rif system. This extension is probably related to a subduction slab roll-back in the western end of the Mediterranean realm during the Oligo-Miocene times. No evidences for a Tertiary HP/LT metamorphism have been identified in the studied area
ISSN: 0278-7407

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
insu-01152517
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01152517
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01152517/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01152517/file/gueydan-2015.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2014TC003769

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Talc is a hydrous magnesium rich layered silicate that is widely disseminated in the Earth from the seafloor to over 100 km depth, in ultra-high pressure metamorphism of oceanic crust. In this paper we determine the single crystal elastic constants at pressures from 0 to 12 GPa of talc triclinic (C 1¯) and monoclinic (C2/c) polytypes using ab initio methods. We find that talc has an extraordinarily high elastic anisotropy at zero pressure that reduces with increasing pressure. The exceptional anisotropy is complemented by a negative Poisson's ratio for many directions in crystal space. Calculations show that talc is not only one of very few common minerals to exhibit auxetic behaviour, but the magnitude of this effect may be the largest reported so far for a mineral. The compression (Vp) and shear (Vs) wave velocity anisotropy is 80% and 85% for the triclinic polytype. At pressures where talc is known be stable in the Earth (up to 5 GPa) the Vp and Vs anisotropy is reduced to about 40% for both velocities, which is still a very high value. Vp is slow parallel to the c-axis and fast perpendicular to it. This remains unchanged with increasing pressure and is observed in both polytypes. The shear wave splitting (difference between fast and slow S-wave velocities) at low pressure has high values in the plane normal to the c-axis, with a maximum near the alow asterisk-axis in the triclinic and the b-axis in the monoclinic polytype. The c-axis is the direction of minimum splitting. The pattern of shear wave splitting does not change significantly with pressure. The volume fraction of talc varies between 11 and 41% for hydrated mantle rocks, but the lack of data on the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) precludes a detailed analysis of the impact of talc on seismic anisotropy in subduction zones. However, it is highly likely that CPO can easily develop in zones of deformation due to the platy habit of talc crystals. For random aggregates of talc, the isotropic Vp, Vs and Vp/Vs ratio have significantly lower values than those of antigorite and may explain low-velocity regions in the mantle wedge. Vp/Vs ratios are more complex in anisotropic media because there are fast and slow S-waves, resulting in Vp/Vs1 and Vp/Vs2 ratios for every propagation direction, making interpretation difficult in deformed polycrystalline talc with a CPO. Talc on the subduction plate boundary can strongly influence guided wave velocity as CPO would develop in this region of intense shearing. The very low coefficient of friction (< 0.1) of talc above 100 °C could also explain silent earthquakes at shallow depths (ca 30 km) along the subduction plate boundaries, frequently responsible for tsunami.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00411481
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411481
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.047

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union - AGU
Résumé : IODP Expedition 335 "Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4" returned to ODP Hole 1256D with the intent of deepening this reference penetration of intact ocean crust several hundred meters into cumulate gabbros. This was the fourth cruise of the superfast campaign to understand the formation of oceanic crust accreted at fast spreading ridges, by exploiting the inverse relationship between spreading rate and the depth to low velocity zones seismically imaged at active mid-ocean zones, thought to be magma chambers. Site 1256 is located on 15-million-year-old crust formed at the East Pacific Rise during an episode of superfast ocean spreading (>200 mm/yr full rate). Three earlier cruises to Hole 1256D have drilled through the sediments, lavas and dikes and 100 m into a complex dike-gabbro transition zone. The specific objectives of IODP Expedition 335 were to: (1) test models of magmatic accretion at fast spreading ocean ridges; (2) quantify the vigor of hydrothermal cooling of the lower crust; (3) establish the geological meaning of the seismic Layer 2-3 boundary at Site 1256; and (4) estimate the contribution of lower crustal gabbros to marine magnetic anomalies. It was anticipated that even a shortened IODP Expedition could deepen Hole 1256D a significant distance (300 m) into cumulate gabbros. Operations on IODP Expedition 335 proved challenging from the outset with almost three weeks spent re-opening and securing unstable sections of the Hole. When coring commenced, the destruction of a hard-formation C9 rotary coring bit at the bottom of the hole required further remedial operations to remove junk and huge volumes of accumulated drill cuttings. Hole-cleaning operations using junk baskets returned large samples of a contact-metamorphic aureole between the sheeted dikes and a major heat source below. These large (up to 3.5 kg) irregular samples preserve magmatic, hydrothermal and structural relationships hitherto unseen because of the narrow diameter of drill core and previous poor core recovery. Including the ~60 m-thick zone of granoblastic dikes overlying the uppermost gabbro, the dike-gabbro transition zone at Site 1256 is over 170 m thick, of which more than 100 m are recrystallized granoblastic basalts. This zone records a dynamically evolving thermal boundary layer between the principally hydrothermal domain of the upper crust and a deeper zone of intrusive magmatism. The recovered samples document a sequence of evolving geological conditions and the intimate coupling between temporally and spatially intercalated intrusive, hydrothermal, contact-metamorphic, partial melting and retrogressive processes. Despite the operational challenges, we achieved a minor depth advance to 1522 m, but this was insufficient penetration to complete any of the primary objectives. However, Hole 1256D has been thoroughly cleared of junk and drill cuttings that have hampered operations during this and previous Expeditions. At the end of Expedition 335, we briefly resumed coring and stabilized problematic intervals with cement. Hole 1256D is open to its full depth and ready for further deepening in the near future.
InterRidge News

hal-00688821
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688821

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : International audience
In Eastern China, the North China Block (NCB) has experienced a complex tectonic evolution during Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic times. The unconformable sedimentary cover, which ranges in age from Neoproterozoic to Permian, underwent two tectonic episodes in Early Triassic and Cretaceous times. An early north–south compressional phase, D1, characterized by north-verging recumbent folds with east–west-trending axes and top-to-the-north ductile shear zones can be observed in a gabbroic pluton and the Neoproterozoic sedimentary host rocks. The available radiometric ages allow us to interpret this event as an Early Triassic back-thrusting related to the final stage of the collision between the North China and South China Blocks. During the LateMesozoic, an extensional event characterized by (1) half-grabens filled by continental terrigeneous red beds and lava flows, (2) low-angle detachment faults, (3) synkinematic granitic plutons, and (4) metamorphic core complexes is widespread in the Eastern Liaoning Peninsula. This extensional D2 event can be subdivided into a ductile deformation and a brittle deformation, corresponding to different expressions of crustal deformation. In every area studied in the Eastern Liaoning Peninsula, the ductile D2 deformation is characterized by a NW–SE-trending stretching lineation with a top-to-the-NWsense of shear.Mica and amphibole fromthe metamorphic country rocks, granodioritic or monzogranitic plutons and their mylonitized margins yield 40Ar/39Ar ages ranging from 130 to 120 Ma. These dates support fast cooling and exhumation rates coeval with the extensional tectonics. The brittle D2 deformation is responsible for the formation of high-angle normal faults marked by low-temperature cataclasites bounding half-grabens. During the Mesozoic, the tectonic regime of Eastern China experienced a significant inversion from compression to extension. The Eastern Liaoning Peninsula massif provides an example of this geodynamic transition.
ISSN: 2041-4927

hal-00134055
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00134055
DOI : 10.1144/SP280.7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany) Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
La Cabaña peridotite is part of a dismembered ophiolite complex located within the metamorphic basement of the Coastal Cordillera of south-central Chile, and is the only location in Chile were Cr-spinels have been described so far. The La Cabaña peridotite is part of the Western Series unit, which comprises meta-sedimentary rocks, metabasites, and serpentinized ultramafic rocks. This unit has been affected by greenschist-facies metamorphism with reported peak PT conditions of 7.0–9.3 kbar and 380°–420 °C. Within La Cabaña peridotite Cr-spinels are present in two localities: Lavanderos and Centinela Bajo. In Lavanderos, Cr-spinel occurs in small chromitite pods and as accessory/disseminated grains with a porous or spongy texture in serpentinite, whereas in Centinela Bajo Cr-spinel is present as accessory zoned grains in partly serpentinized dunites, and in chromitite blocks. All Cr-spinels display variable degrees of alteration to Fe2+-rich chromite with a variation trend of major elements from chromite to Fe2+-rich chromite similar to those observed in other locations, i.e., an increase in Fe2O3 and FeO, a decrease in Al2O3 and MgO. Cr2O3 content increases from chromite to Fe2+-rich chromite in chromitite pods from Lavanderos and chromitite blocks from Centinela Bajo, but decreases in ferrian chromite zones in accessory grains from Centinela Bajo. The minor element (Ti, V, Zn, Ni) content is mostly low and does not exceed 0.4 wt.%, with the exception of MnO (<0.9 wt.%), which shows a correspondence with increasing degree of alteration. Cr# (Cr/Cr + Al) versus Mg# (Mg/Mg + Fe2+) and Fe3+/Fe3++Fe2+ versus Mg# plots are used to illustrate the Cr-spinel alteration process. Overall, the Cr-spinels from Lavanderos (chromitite pods and disseminated grains) exhibit Cr# values ranging from 0.6 to 1.0, Mg# (Mg/Mg + Fe2+) below 0.5, and (Fe3+/Fe3++Fe2+) <0.4. Cr-spinels from chromitites in Centinela Bajo have Cr# and Mg# values that range from 0.65 to 1.0, and 0.7-0.3, respectively, and (Fe3+/Fe3++Fe2+) < 0.4. Accessory Cr-spinels from Centinela Bajo have Cr# and Mg# values that range from 0.55 to 1.0, and 0.6- < 0.1, respectively. The (Fe3+/Fe3++Fe2+) ratio is less than 0.4 in chromite cores and Fe2+-rich chromite, and >0.5 in ferrian chromite and Cr-magnetite. Interpretation of the data obtained and Cr-spinel textures indicate that the alteration of Cr-spinel is a progressive process that involves in its initial stages the reaction of chromite with olivine under water-saturated conditions to produce clinochlore and Fe2+-rich chromite. During this stage the chromite can also incorporate Ni, Mn, and/or Zn from the serpentinization fluids. As alteration progresses, Fe2+-rich chromite loses mass resulting in the development of a spongy texture. In a later stage and under more oxidizing conditions Fe3+ is incorporated in chromite/Fe2+-rich chromite shifting its composition to an Fe3+-rich chromite (i.e., ferrian chromite). Depending on the fluid/rock and Cr-spinel/silicate ratios, Cr-magnetite can also form over Fe2+-rich chromite and/or ferrian chromite as a secondary overgrowth. The compositional changes observed in Cr-spinels from La Cabaña reflect the initial stages of alteration under serpentinization conditions. Results from this study show that the alteration of Cr-spinels is dependent on temperature. The degree and extent of alteration (formation of Fe2+-rich and/or ferrian chromite) are controlled by the redox nature of the fluids, the Cr-spinel/silicate and the fluid/rock ratios.
ISSN: 0930-0708

hal-01172266
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172266
DOI : 10.1007/s00710-014-0335-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Mineralogical Society of America
Résumé : International audience
Accessory phases are important hosts of trace elements; allanite may contain >90% of the REE in a bulk rock. The mobility and redistribution of several trace elements, notably HREE, Th, U, and Y is thus controlled by reactions involving allanite and other REE phases, as well as several rock-forming minerals. As these elements are commonly concentrated in mature elastic sediments, a suite of impure quartzite was studied. Two eclogite facies samples from the Monometamorphic Cover Complex of the Sesia Zone (Western Italian Alps) are presented in some detail, as they reveal a remarkably rich spectrum of reaction relationships that involve REE phases.;Two allanite-forming reactions were inferred from textures and phase compositions;(1) monazite + Ca-silicate(?) + fluid -> allanite + apatite + thorite;;(2) monazite + thorite + Ca-silicate(?) + fluid -> Th-rich allanite + auerlite +/- apatite.;Petrographic observations and thermodynamic models suggest that allanite entered the HP assemblage at similar to 530 degrees C and 17-18 kbar during prograde metamorphism.;In one sample, allanite is rimmed by epidote rich in Y and HREE that grew at the expense of xenotime. Two net transfer reactions were derived;(3) xenotime + allanite + fluid -> Y-rich epidote + apatite + thorite;;(4) xenotime + allanite + fluid -> Y-rich epidote + aeschynite + thorite + (phosphate?).;Textural relationships and trace element analyses of coexisting allanite/monazite and xenotime/Y-rich epidote reveal systematic partitioning of the REE. Partition coefficients for the HREE are compatible with equilibrium fractionation, whereas those for the LREE show patterns that seem to be inherited from the precursor phases, in this case zircon with variable LREE composition.
ISSN: 0003-004X

hal-00745674
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745674
DOI : 10.2138/am.2012.3832

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In this study, we report new U-Pb zircon ages and amphibole and biotite 40Ar-39Ar cooling ages for igneous and metaigneous rocks from the eastern portion of the Borborema Province (NE Brazil). We combine these results with preliminary thermobarometric estimates and existing data to place constraints on the timing and duration of the Brasiliano-Pan-African Orogeny in northeastern Brazil and on the subsequent late- to post-orogenic history. The Alcantil orthogneiss contains a complex zircon population, but the youngest concordant analyses yielded an age of 632 ± 17 Ma (2σ). These grains have low Th/U ratios (<0.1), and the age of 632 Ma is therefore interpreted as dating the metamorphic event responsible for the acquisition of the gneissic fabric. In the Caruaru biotite amphibole orthogneiss, concordant analyses provided an age of 618 ± 4 Ma (2σ), which we relate to emplacement of the protolith of the Caruaru orthogneiss. Together with available U-Pb data from the literature, the 632-600 Ma age range is regarded as dating development of a regional flat-lying foliation coeval with high-grade metamorphism (upper amphibolite facies conditions). The 586 ± 3 Ma age (2σ) of the Panelas pluton is similar to those of other granitic plutons associated with a voluminous plutonism of high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic nature that occurred at 590-580 Ma. This plutonism slightly predated or was synchronous with development of large strike-slip shear zones. Amphibole grains yielded 40Ar-39Ar ages ranging from 584 ± 4 Ma to about 530 Ma, suggesting that regional temperatures remained near the closing temperature of this mineral (≈500 °C) for a long time. Most 40Ar-39Ar biotite ages range from 552 to 533 Ma, but two samples yielded plateau ages of 519 ± 5 Ma and 509 ± 5 Ma. The inferred rather slow cooling of the studied region possibly reflects low rates of unroofing, allowing persistence of a protracted thermal anomaly caused by the massive injection of magmas at the end of the Neoproterozoic.
ISSN: 0895-9811

hal-00745698
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745698
DOI : 10.1016/j.jsames.2012.06.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We review the geodynamic evolution of the Aegea-Anatolia region and discuss strain localisation there over geological times. From Late Eocene to Present, crustal deformation in the Aegean backarc has localised progressively during slab retreat. Extension started with the formation of the Rhodope Metamorphic Core Complex (Eocene) and migrated to the Cyclades and the northern Menderes massif (Oligocene and Miocene), accommodated by crustal-scale detachments and a first series of core complexes (MCCs). Extension then localised in Western Turkey, the Corinth Rift and the external Hellenic arc after Messinian times, while the North Anatolian Fault penetrated the Aegean Sea. Through time the direction and style of extension have not changed significantly except in terms of localisation. The contributions of progressive slab retreat and tearing, basal drag, extrusion tectonics and tectonic inheritance are discussed and we favour a model (1) where slab retreat is the main driving engine, (2) successive slab tearing episodes are the main causes of this stepwise strain localisation and (3) the inherited heterogeneity of the crust is a major factor for localising detachments. The continental crust has an inherited strong heterogeneity and crustal-scale contacts such as major thrust planes act as weak zones or as zones of contrast of resistance and viscosity that can localise later deformation. The dynamics of slabs at depth and the asthenospheric flow due to slab retreat also have influence strain localisation in the upper plate. Successive slab ruptures from the Middle Miocene to the Late Miocene have isolated a narrow stripe of lithosphere, still attached to the African lithosphere below Crete. The formation of the North Anatolian Fault is partly a consequence of this evolution. The extrusion of Anatolia and the Aegean extension are partly driven from below (asthenospheric flow) and from above (extrusion of a lid of rigid crust).
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-00715950
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00715950
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00715950/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00715950/file/Jolivet-Aegean_Tectonophysics-2012.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.06.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Diamond-bearing UHP metamorphic rocks witness for subduction of lithospheric slabs into the mantle and their return to shallow levels. In this study we present U–Pb and trace elements analyses of zircon and rutile inclusions from a diamond-bearing garnet megacryst collected in a mélange unit exposed on the northern margin of Africa (Edough Massif, NE Algeria). Large rutile crystals (up to 300 μm in size) analyzed in situ provide a U–Pb age of interpreted as dating the prograde to peak subduction stage of the mafic protolith. Trace element analyses of minute zircons (≤30 μm) indicate that they formed in equilibrium with the garnet megacryst at a temperature of 740–810 °C, most likely during HP retrograde metamorphism. U–Pb analyses provide a significantly younger age of attributed to exhumation of the UHP units. This study allows bracketing the age of UHP metamorphism in the Western Mediterranean Orogen to the Oligocene/early Miocene, thus unambiguously relating UHP metamorphism to the Alpine history. Exhumation of these UHP units is coeval with the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia block and most likely resulted from subduction rollback that was driven by slab pull.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01622789
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622789
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Correlations between major and minor transition elements in tectonically emplaced orogenic peridotites have been ascribed to variable degrees of melt extraction and melt–rock reaction processes, leading to depletion or refertilization. To elucidate how such processes are recorded in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, we processed a large geochemical dataset for peridotites from the four tectono-metamorphic domains of the Beni Bousera orogenic massif (Rif Belt, northern Morocco). Our study reveals that variations in bulk-rock major and minor elements, Mg-number and modal mineralogy of lherzolites, as well as their clinopyroxene trace element compositions, are inconsistent with simple partial melting and mainly resulted from different reactions between melts and depleted peridotites. Up to 30% melting at < 3 GPa and cryptic metasomatism can account for the geochemical variations of most harzburgites. In Grt–Sp mylonites, melting and melt–rock reactions are masked by tectonic mixing with garnet pyroxenites and subsolidus re-equilibration. In the rest of the massif, lherzolites were mostly produced by refertilization of a refractory protolith (Mg-number ∼ 91, Ol ∼ 70%, Cpx/Opx = 0·4) via two distinct near-solidus, melt–rock reactions: (1) clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene precipitation and olivine consumption at melt/rock ratios <0·75 and variable mass ratio between crystallized minerals and infiltrated melt (R), which are recorded fairly homogeneously throughout the massif; (2) dissolution of orthopyroxene and precipitation of clinopyroxene and olivine at melt/rock ratios ≤1 and R = 0·2–0·3, which affected mainly the Ariègite–Seiland and Seiland domains. The distribution of secondary lherzolites in the massif suggests that the first refertilization reaction occurred prior to the differentiation of the Beni Bousera mantle section into petro-structural zones, whereas the second reaction was associated with the development of the tectono-metamorphic domains. Our data support a secondary, refertilization-related origin for most lherzolites in orogenic peridotite massifs.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01526901
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01526901
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egx003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
High Pressure - Low Temperature (HP-LT) rocks testify for burying and exhumation of crustal material in subduction zones. The question of their exhumation is nevertheless still unclear. The Aegean domain offers several HP-LT belts. Especially, the Attic-Cycladic Blueschist unit (ACBU) is an example of a HP-LT unit exhumed in a convergent and then in a divergent context. It actually appears in metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) formed in the back-arc of the subduction. The syn-convergence "message" is however difficult to read because of the post-convergence structural and thermal overprint that accompanied the formation of the MCCs. Particularly, the geometry, the timing and the amount of the syn-orogenic exhumation remain unclear. We investigate theses questions with metamorphic petrology (Andros and Ios islands) and phengite population, single grain and in situ 40Ar-39Ar geochronology (Andros, Tinos, Syros and Ios islands). Based on these new constraints and a synthesis of published data, we are able to refine the geometry, the timing and the modes of the exhumation of the ACBU. Data from the whole Cyclades exhibit little differences in the age and P-T conditions at the successive stages of syn-orogenic exhumation. The peak of pressure (500±50 °C-18±1 kbar) has been reached at 50-55 Ma. The onset of the exhumation occurred at 40-45 Ma in blueschist facies conditions, between a basal thrust and a summital detachment. The following decompression was accompanied by cooling until 30-35 Ma (400±50 °C-8±1 kbar). At that time, the boundary conditions switched to extension. The change in boundary conditions is recorded by slowing of the exhumation and isobare heating. The conditions of post-orogenic exhumation differ from an island to another. The onset of post-orogenic exhumation is dated around 30 Ma in the northern Cyclades and 25 Ma in the southern Cyclades. It is related to top-to-the-North deformation in all the studied domain. The end of ductile deformation below the detachments is also diachronous (21 Ma in the North and 18 Ma in the South). Finally, we propose a model for the final steps of the exhumation related to the intrusion of granitic bodies around 14 Ma.
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
San Francisco, United States

insu-00860510
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00860510
BIBCODE : 2010AGUFM.T23C2301L

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Metamorphic soles correspond to m to 500m thick tectonic slices welded beneath most of the large-scale ophiolites.They typically show a steep inverted metamorphic structure where the pressure and temperature conditions ofcrystallization increase upward (from 500100ºC at 0.50.2 GPa to 800100ºC at 1.00.2 GPa), with isogradssubparallel to the contact with the overlying ophiolitic peridotite. The proportion of mafic rocks in metamorphicsoles also increases from the bottom (meta-sediments rich) to the top (approaching the ophiolite peridotites). Thesesoles are interpreted as the result of heat transfer from the incipient mantle wedge toward the nascent slab (associatedwith large-scale fluid transfer and possible shear heating) during the first My of intra-oceanic subduction(as indicated by radiometric ages). Metamorphic soles provide therefore major constraints on early subductiondynamics (i.e. thermal structure, fluid migration and rheology along the nascent slab interface).We present a detailed structural and petrological study of the metamorphic sole from 4 major cross-sections alongthe Oman ophiolite. We show precise pressure–temperature estimates obtained by pseudosection modelling andEBSD measurements performed on both the garnet-bearing and garnet-free high-grade sole. Results allow quantificationof the micro-scale deformation and highlight differences in pressure–temperature–deformation conditionsbetween the 4 different locations, showing that the inverted metamorphic gradient through the sole is not continuousin all locations.Based on these new constraints, we suggest a new tectonic–petrological model for the formation of metamorphicsoles below ophiolites. This model involves the stacking of several homogeneous slivers of oceanic crust leadingto the present-day structure of the sole. In this view, these thrusts are the result of rheological contrasts between thesole and the peridotite as the plate interface progressively cools down. These slivers later underwent several stagesof retrogression (partly mediated by ascending fluids from the slab) from amphibolite- to prehnite/pumpellite-faciesconditions.
Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vienne, Austria

insu-01309369
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01309369