Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Tin mineralization in Achmmach deposit (NE of Moroccan Central Massif) is associated with tourmaline-rich alteration halos and faults, within N70 shear zones, hosted in sandstones and metapelites of the Upper Visean-Namurian. Such deposits were reported as late-Variscan in age and related to the emplacement of late orogenic granite not outcropping in the studied area.From field constraints, it appears that the late Variscan phase is marked by a transition from transpression to extension with conditions of deformation evolving from ductile to brittle environments. During the transpressive phase (horizontal shortening direction roughly trending E-W), pervasive tourmaline is deposited under the form of metasomatic halos around fractures in the upper levels relative to the deep batholith. This hydrothermal activity is coeval with ductile shear zones within a large corridors trending N70. Tourmaline-rich alteration appears as a hardening stage contributing to the modification of the tectonic style of rocks. Thereafter, a strong brecciation occurs in response of re-using and re-opening of the strike-slip structure. The result is (1) the formation of dextral (N070, N020) and sinistral (N120) shears, and (2) the circulation of fluids within early tourmalinites and formation of tourmaline-rich breccia. Subsequently, during the late orogenic extensional phase, tourmalinite breccias reopened as normal faults acting as overpressure fluid pathways for developing other breccias and veins. Such event is marked by deposition of tin mineralization i.e., cassiterite followed by sulphides, and then fluorite and carbonates at the end.From analysis of the shear-zone structure and superimposition of tourmalines and tin mineralization in the same structures, it is possible to suggest a structural control continuum. Such control is well expressed during metasomatism and deposition of hydrothermal tourmaline under the transpressive phase. Thereafter, under the extensive phase allowing open-space, tin-mineralization were trapped.This study has been supported by AI MA/09/210
24ème RST
Pau, France

insu-01546927
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01546927

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
The long-lived Andean subduction zone underwent several flat slab episodes and is therefore ideal to study the consequences of a complete cycle of slab flattening and steepening on the upper plate deformation pattern. In the modern Peruvian forearc (15°–17°S), slab flattening caused a Paleogene (52–30 Ma) landward migration of volcanic activity. Combining structural geology and a source-to-sink thermochronological study, we show that the flat slab period is contemporaneous with uplift accommodated by large-scale crustal extension in the forearc. In this light, we argue that the study area is an ancient analog to the modern Mexican and northern Peruvian forearcs located above modern flat slab segments and currently undergoing widespread extension.
ISSN: 0091-7613

hal-01685553
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685553
DOI : 10.1130/G38990.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer-Verlag
Résumé : International audience
High-resolution borehole strainmeters are usually installed in tectonically active regions in order to detect slow-slip events, and to estimate slow transients related to earthquake swarms. However, they are also sensitive to other numerous influences, internal or external. Furthermore, the quality of their coupling to the rock through cementation, and the mechanical properties of the rock mass around them, have a critical influence on their records. Many of the existing strainmeters present such problems, and the correction for these effects often remains a challenge. In this paper, we present the analysis of the records of a high-resolution borehole dilatometer (Sacks–Evertson), located in the seismically active rift of Corinth (Greece) (station TRZ in the Trizonia island). We show that the instrument suffers from an only partial-solid coupling, and that the nearby sea tides have a direct (through elastic response) and indirect (through pore-pressure diffusion) effect on the dilatation signal, which adds up to the solid tidal strain source. We propose a methodology that allows, in a first step, to better separate the internal (solid tide) from the external (air pressure, sea level) influences, by calculating a frequency-dependent transfer function outside the range of the tidal periods. We then extrapolate this function, in particular at the tidal periods. In a second step, the resulting variation with frequency of the coupling coefficients with sea level led us to estimate the proportion of instrument not solidly cemented to rock (thus in contact with water pore pressure), which is about 90 % of the total height. Despite the small proportion of solid coupling, the sensor resolution remains very good up to a few tens of hours of a time period, thanks to the confining effects of the rocks on the local pore pressure. These results allow us to correct for the external effects, and reduce the associated variance by 80–90 % (in the period range of minutes to days). The empirical correction of the sea level effect could be explained using a simple Boussinesq’s approximation and 1D pore-pressure diffusion model, which contributed to better constraint of some of the poro-elastic parameters in the vicinity of the instrument. After correction, the solid tidal signal at the 24-h period is almost anti-correlated with those of the theoretical solid tide. This surprising result is consistent with a similar anti-correlation observed for the longest period surface waves (200 s) comparing the TRZ dilatometer signals to the strain measured by a nearby borehole strainmeter (MOK, 15 km). This could be related to the presence of a shallow fault close to the instrument, which would creep in response to seismic wave-related stress.
ISSN: 0033-4533

hal-01122853
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01122853
DOI : 10.1007/s00024-013-0742-2

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Universidad de Oviedo
Résumé : In recent years attention has been paid to the major role of surface processes on the evolu- tion of mountain belts on different time scales. In this study, sandbox experiments are used to better characterize the complex interactions between surface processes and tectonics. Models results are then applied to better analyze deformation and kinematics of recent active or ancient orogens (case studies are chosen in the Taiwan belt, the Alps and the Hercynian belt).
ISSN: 0474-9588

hal-00853761
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853761

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Two opposing visions of the Aegean backarc tectonics implicitly contain contrasting images of the rheological behaviour of the lihosphere, supported by different sets of observations. The propagation of the NAF and extension in the Corinth Rift suggest a strongly localising rheology whereas the formation of MCC in the Cyclades and the Rhodope suggests instead a more viscous behaviour. This paradox was the seminal question addressed by the ANR-EGEO programme (2007-2010) that leads to the following conclusions: (1) The exhumation of the Cycladic MCC's is accommodated by the N-dipping North Cycladic Detachment System (NCDS) that partly reworks the Vardar suture and at the base by a series of thrusts, including the basal contact of the Cycladic Blueschists (CBS) over the Cycladic Basement (CB). The activity of LANF is due to the reactivation of pre-existing discontinuities such as thrusts or earlier detachments and much less to the interaction with granitic plutons. (2) Exhumation in the Cyclades has proceeded in two stages: (a) Eocene syn-orogenic exhumation within the subduction lower/upperplate interface while the post-orogenic Rhodope MCC formed further north, (b) Oligo-Miocene post-orogenic extension in an MCC mode coeval with syn-orogenic exhumation in Crete and the Peloponnese. (3) Both stages were associated with slab retreat, as early as the Eocene with an acceleration at 30-35 Ma. (4) The localisation of the presently active steeply-dipping normal faults on the southern margin of the Corinth Rift may have been preceded by a partial reworking of thrusts and syn-orogenic detachments by shallow-dipping decollements. (5) The localisation of the NAF in the Marmara Sea region and the Northern Aegean Sea is now accurately dated between 5.3 and 5 Ma Ma using the erosion and deposition surfaces that mark the Messinian salinity Crisis and nannofossils ages. (6) The formation of MCCs in the Cyclades resulted in the draining of the low viscosity lower crust from the northern Aegean Sea and led to an easier coupling between upper mantle and upper crust, easing the localisation and propagation of the NAF. (7) A comparison between crustal and mantle finite strain suggests that mantle flow due to slab retreat controls the stretching of the crust. Our model involves progressive slab retreat and mantle flow below the overriding plate inducing the observed succession of tectonic episodes with a progressive localisation of extension due to several slab tearing events. There is no paradox in the tectonic history and rheological behaviour of the Aegean lithosphere but an evolution of the kinematic boundary conditions due to slab deformation at depth.
American Geophysical Union
San Francisco, United States

insu-00860518
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00860518
BIBCODE : 2010AGUFM.T13G..04J

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes1. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre2, 3. At temperatures above 300–450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10–15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional–mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades4, 5. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-01685757
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685757
DOI : 10.1038/nature22355

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
An active seismic experiment has been conducted across the southern Ryukyu margin east of Taiwan over the whole trench-arc-backarc system in May 2009. Twenty-four ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed from the Ryukyu trench to the southern Okinawa trough over the Ryukyu arc and forearc. Wide angle seismic data were recorded by the OBS array while coincident reflection seismic data were acquired using a 6 km long streamer and a 6600 cubic inch seismic airgun array. Results from tomographic inversion of 21091 travel time picks along this line allowed us to image crustal structures of the Ryukyu margin down to a depth of 25 km. The transect has been designed to provide a better seismic velocity structure of the subduction zone in a highly deformed area that has produced an M8 earthquake in 1920. The line crosses a seismic cluster of earthquakes which source mechanisms are still poorly understood. The subducting oceanic crust of the Huatung Basin is about 5-6 km thick. The underlying mantle exhibits low seismic velocities around 7.8 km/s suggesting some hydrothermal alterations or alteration of the upper mantle through faults generated by the flexure of the subducting plate as it enters the subduction. Low velocities, up to 4.5 km/s, associated with the accretionary wedge are well imaged from the trench back to the Nanao forearc. A major result concerns the abrupt termination of the buttress at the rear of the accretionary wedge. Despite the low resolution of the tomographic inversion near the subduction interface, several lines of evidence supporting the presence of a low velocity zone beneath the toe of the forearc buttress could be established. The Moho beneath the Ryukyu non-volcanic arc is located at a depth around 25 km depth.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00795573
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795573
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.10.010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Field study, thermochronology and geochemistry of the east Lungmu Co (LMC) range highlight some of the geological events that shaped western Tibet. The LMC fault zone has long been interpreted as the boundary between the Tianshuihai terrane of Laurasian affinity and the Qiangtang block of Gondwanian affinity. In the LMC range, the Paleozoic series is intruded by the Mangtsa leucogranite whose zircon have a U/Pb age of 116.9 ± 1 Ma and by mafic rocks with U/Pb zircon ages ranging from 116.9 ± 1 to 95.1 ± 1.7 Ma. Geochemistry of the mafic rocks indicates that they have been emplaced in a supra-subduction zone setting, probably the north dipping Nujiang suture zone. 40Ar/39Ar micas ages of the granite indicate that cooling below ~ 350 °C occurred between 105 and 85 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar K-feldspar data suggest a fast cooling event at 60-55 Ma, which we relate to the reactivation of the LMC suture zone as a thrust at the onset of the India-Eurasia collision. The last, and still active, deformation event corresponds to left-lateral strike-slip faulting along the ENE-WSW LMC fault.
ISSN: 1342-937X

hal-00660491
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00660491
DOI : 10.1016/j.gr.2011.07.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Crystal growth driven by a flowing solution is modeled for a flow with low Reynolds number using a computational dynamic software. Considering equivalent crystallographic faces, the chemical flux is calculated along upstream and downstream faces. Upstream flux is higher compared to downstream and leads to a symmetry breakdown of the crystal shape and develops mirror symmetry parallel to the flow velocity. Moreover the ratio of these two fluxes (upstream / downstream) gives a quantitative relation between the relative crystal growth rate and the flow velocity. Thus, using an inverse method, the flow direction and velocity can be deduced by the study of the variation of the growth band thicknesses of equivalent crystallographic faces. This new method was applied to the formation of metasomatic tourmalinite associated with a leucogranite sill. The approach is complemented by a study of the chemistry of the tourmaline. In the studied case, the application of the new method gives the high fluid velocities in pores (10-3 - 10-4 m/s) during metasomatism. Equivalent Darcy velocities are estimated and discussed accounting for the major role played by the regional deformation. Finally, a two-stage tectono-hydrodynamic model is proposed for the metsomatism. The first stage is genetically linked to the sill injection, and the second is characterized by a wider event with hydrothermal flow passing along the leucogranite sills.
ISSN: 0012-821X

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
insu-00352307
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00352307
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00352307/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00352307/file/Sizaret_et_al_final.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study provides an integrated review of plate tectonic models of the evolution of the Antarctica-Patagonia connection compared to geological records collected on land in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and offshore along the northern edge of the Scotia Sea. A temporal framework for the sedimentary and tectonic events of the North Scotia Ridge and Tierra del Fuego is constructed with additional data compiled from entire Patagonia and the Austral Basin. This review provides robust correlations of seaways and tectonic events along the Scotia and South America plates and indicates that the opening of the Drake Passage was not steady state since ca. 30 Ma. Rather the regions forming the present-day northern limit of this gateway experienced important paleogeographic changes, from deep marine basins to shallow ridges and emerged regions during the late Oligocene and early-middle Miocene time. Our compilation of geological data shows that emergence along the North Scotia Ridge and Tierra del Fuego was achieved at 23-22 Ma, and has been followed by elimination of the Patagoniano Sea in Patagonia, starting at 22-23 Ma and achieved at 20 Ma. This transition towards more continental sedimentation in southern South America is correlated with more shallow marine conditions in the Austral Basin. This succession of events had a strong influence on the general geometry of the Drake Passage, corresponding to a constriction of its northern limit, starting in the window 29-22 Ma and achieved at 21 Ma. This period of active deformation in southern South America also corresponds to a period of the global climate having two anomalies well known from the isotopic records: the Late Oligocene Warming. around 26 Ma and the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum which ended between 15 and 14 Ma. The possible effects of the post-Oligocene tectonic evolution of the Drake Passage region on general oceanic circulation are discussed. Causes for the synchronicity between tectonic events and these global warming events are examined.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00413525
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413525
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.037

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
New estimates of trench migration rates allow us to address the dynamics of trench migration and back-arc strain. We show that trench migration is primarily controlled by the subducting plate velocity V-sub, which largely depends on its age at the trench. Using the hot and weak arc to back-arc region as a strain sensor, we define neutral arcs characterized by the absence of significant strain, meaning places where the forces (slab pull, bending, and anchoring) almost balance along the interface between the plates. We show that neutral subduction zones satisfy the kinematic relation between trench and subducting plate absolute motions: V-t = 0.5V(sub) - 2.3 (in cm a(-1)) in the HS3 reference frame. Deformation occurs when the velocity combination deviates from kinematic equilibrium. Balancing the torque components of the forces acting at the trench indicates that stiff (old) subducting plates facilitate trench advance by resisting bending.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00411731
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411731
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411731/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411731/file/Lallemand2008-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2007TC002212

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In northeastern Vietnam, the major tectonic episode responsible for nappes emplacement is Triassic. These allochtonous structures are intruded by granitic melts. Two post-tectonic massifs showing no sign of deformation have been dated by the LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb techniques. Dating reveals a multiphase history with zircon cores showing evidence of Proterozoic magmatism. The emplacement of the Phia Bioc granite intrusive in allochtonous units is 248-245 Ma, an age which assesses a younger limit for the major nappes tectonic. This tectonic could be synchronous of the tectonometamorphic strike-slip faulting events (250-245 Ma) defined in the Truong Son Belt as the Indosinian orogen. The Phia Bioc intrusion is probably linked with the intra-plate magmatism of the Emeishan Large Igneous Province or with magma- tism associated with the Paleotethys closure. The age of the Phia Oac granite intrusion in displaced units is much younger, at 87.3 ± 1.2 Ma. This granite is probably linked to the magmatic activity produced dur- ing the Paleo-Pacific plate subduction under the SE Asia continental plate during the Mesozoic. Although the Cenozoic Red River fault system is close to these two plutons, this last thermotectonic episode has not been strong enough to disturb the U/Pb system. Zircons rims do not show any Tertiary magmatic or meta- morphic overprint.
ISSN: 0743-9547

hal-00681725
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00681725
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.12.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In the Arokam Tenere, the three studied massifs of granitoids are located around the N-S oriented Raghane mega-shear zone, which separates two of the main domains of the Tuareg shield, the Saharan metacraton and the Central Hoggar. The field observations, AMS analyses and U-Pb zircon dating were completed by a study of Landsat images because of the scarcity of outcrops in several parts of the studied area.;The image analysis allows to distinguish Arokam-East and Abdou granitoids in the eastern plutonic complex. It has also shown that the western plutonic complex corresponds to two different intrusions: the Yvonne granite and granodiorite. This is confirmed by the magnetic fabric that presents different characteristics in the different granitoids. U-Pb zircon dating and field observations show that the Arokam-West basement granite is much older (1915 Ma) than the Hanane granodiorite (582 Ma) in the central plutonic complex. Arokam-East and -West granites then belong to the Eburnean basement. The magnetic fabric of these granites is mainly associated with a post-magmatic deformation, probably of Pan-African age. Yvonne granodiorite is likely contemporaneous of the main displacement along the Raghane shear zone. The Yvonne granite (594 Ma) and Hanane granodiorite have a fabric similar to that previously obtained in most plutons of the Tiririne area. This fabric is related to the regional stress field, associated with the activity of the Raghane shear zone, during the late-magmatic phase in the plutons. On the contrary, the magnetic fabric of the Abdou pluton is still reflecting only the magma flow.
ISSN: 0899-5362

hal-00617478
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617478
DOI : 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2011.02.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In the Gulf of Cadiz key segment of the Africa-Iberia plate boundary (North-East Atlantic ocean), three main different modes of tectonic interference between a recently identified wrench system (SWIM) and the Gulf of Cadiz Accretionary Wedge (GCAW) were tested through analog sand-box modeling: a) An active accretionary wedge on top of a pre-existent inactive basement fault; b) An active strike-slip fault cutting a previously formed, inactive, accretionary wedge; and c) Simultaneous activity of both the accretionary wedge and the strike-slip fault. The results we obtained and the comparison with the natural deformation pattern favor a tectonic evolution comprising two main steps: i) the formation of the Gulf of Cadiz Accretionary Wedge on top of inactive, Tethyan-related, basement faults (Middle Miocene to ~ 1.8 Ma); ii) subsequent reactivation of these basement faults with dextral strike-slip motion (~ 1.8 Ma to present) simultaneously with continued tectonic accretion in the GCAW. These results exclude the possibility of ongoing active SWIM wrench system cross-cutting an inactive GCAW structure. Our results also support a new interpretation of the SWIM wrench system as fundamentally resulting from strike-slip reactivation of an old (Tethyan-related) plate boundary.
ISSN: 0025-3227

insu-00643630
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00643630
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00643630/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00643630/file/Duarte_etal_2011_MS-1.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2011.09.014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Reef positions record the interaction between eustasy and tectonics, and have been used worldwide to characterize vertical deformations of upper-plates at different time-scales and constrain the seismic behavior of megathrusts. Along the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, high-resolution marine geophysical data were collected on the 2–20 km wide eastern Martinique reef platform to reconstruct its stratigraphic and morphologic history, and understand the influence of local normal faulting, volcanism and plate-scale subduction processes on Holocene and Late Pleistocene reef development. The subsiding Martinique platform's stratigraphy is composed of multiple superimposed sea-level highstand deposits separated by subaerial exposure surfaces of sea-level low stands. The carbonate platform consists of two laterally-extensive carbonate units (unit U2 overlying unit U3) that extend to the platform edge to a depth of − 95 m MSL (mean sea level), and form two morphologic terraces, M2 and M3 respectively. The landward portion of unit U2 is partially overlain between 0 and − 60 m MSL by the living reef tract U1. The current reef is composed of a landward fringing reef, a lagoon and a seaward barrier reef, the latter forming a double-bank barrier around the Caravelle Peninsula. In near-shore multi-channel seismic profiles, a distinct reflector at ~− 35 m MSL, probably a subaerial exposure surface E1, separates the reef sequence formed during the last transgression from a Pleistocene fossil reef tract forming unit U2. Offshore of Mount Pelée volcano (Late Pleistocene), the Holocene reef did not develop above unit U2, whose upper surface is incised by channels and apparent sinkholes. During the Holocene transgression, the possibility of excessive turbidity due to volcanic activity may have inhibited reef development in this area. The un-dated unit U2 probably developed 120–130 ka ago during the last interglacial (MIS 5.5) + 6 m MSL highstand as thick, extensive reefs deposited all along the Lesser Antilles arc. Due to subsidence, MIS 5.5 reefs are not represented by onshore facies, except along the southern Sainte Anne Peninsula where normal faulting and uplift balances island-scale subsidence. Based on unit U2's present elevation and assuming an MIS 5.5 age and + 6 m MSL sea level, Martinique has subsided at maximum 0.3 m/ky, likely due to subduction processes that question the coupling state of the megathrust.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-01307036
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01307036
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.08.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
We have analyzed shear wave splitting recorded by portable and permanent broadband and long-period stations located in the eastern United States. Teleseismic shear waves (SKS, SKKS, and PKS) were used to retrieve the splitting parameters: the orientation of the fast wave polarization plane ϕ and the delay time δt. In total, 120 seismic events were processed, allowing for more than 600 splitting measurements. Within the Appalachians, stations located in the western (external) part are characterized by δt≈1s and ϕ trending N50°– 70°E in the south and central regions and N30°–40°E in the north, closely following the trend of the orogenic belt in these areas. The transition region between north and central is characterized by δt≈1–1.3 s and by E-W trending ϕ that are at a high angle to the regional geologic trend. Measurements at two stations located in the eastern (internal) part of the belt indicate very weak anisotropy. The large-scale pattern of anisotropy is not consistent with that predicted for simple asthenospheric flow beneath the plate. Splitting along the southern and eastern margins of the continent is consistent with that expected for Grenvillian deformation, an alternative model of asthenospheric flow around the cratonic keel cannot be ruled out. Within the cratonic core, the correlation between δt and lithospheric thickness suggests a lithospheric anisotropy. Smaller-length-scale variations also argue for a significant contribution of lithospheric structures. The fabric responsible for shear wave splitting may have formed during tectonic episodes that affected the eastern United States, i.e., the Grenville and Appalachian orogenies and the subsequent rifting of the North Atlantic Ocean. Our observations in the western Appalachians suggest that the anisotropy may be preserved since the Grenvillian orogeny. The absence of detectable splitting in the two stations in the eastern Appalachians is attributed to the igneous intrusions related to the Atlantic rifting. The measurements in the transition between the northern and central southern Appalachians, constitute an intriguing anomaly, whose E-W ϕ have little obvious relation to the regional surface geology. We suggest two possible causes: (1) the local dominance of asthenospheric flow, motivated by the proximity of a pervasive low-velocity anomaly and (2) lithospheric deformation in a transcontinental strike-slip fault zone active during the Appalachian collision.
ISSN: 2169-9313

hal-01388859
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01388859
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01388859/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01388859/file/Barruol_JGR_1997.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/96JB03800

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
Sinkholes are frequently observed where soluble rocks are present, in meteoritic recharge areas or when subsurface dissolution causes ground collapse. Seismic profiles on the inner shelf of the Gulf of Lions (W. Mediterranean) display a giant atypical sub-circular structure, up to 800-m thick and 2-km wide. It is characterized by down-warped internal seismic reflections forming a concave V-shaped depression rooted in the substratum, most likely carbonated. This structure is interpreted as a poly-phased solution-subsidence/collapse structure of Plio-Quaternary age. The last phase of deformation probably occurred during the last sea-level low-stand phase. The mechanism proposed for the creation of this structure is collapse/dissolution of the soluble substratum, as a result of a combination of several possible factors including pre-existing deep Messinian palaeo-karst with active groundwater flows during Plio-Quaternary lowstands, and deep-rooted acidic fluids ascending through the substratum.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-00758063
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00758063
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2011.01051.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
We use digital elevation models and satellite imagery data completed with field observations to develop an integrated morphotectonic analysis of the anomalous topography of the Central Cordillera of Patagonia between 46 degrees S and 48 degrees S, in a region overlying subducted segments of the Chile Spreading Ridge. This region shows a number of peculiar features, not expected in a normal subduction-related belt located away from a buried spreading center. First, it is characterized by overall short-wavelength topography and highly contrasted reliefs, typical of deeply incised young mountain belts, but surprisingly, also by an average very low elevation of similar to 900 m. Second, the Cordillera lacks central high reliefs; instead, there is a central, depressed domain with average low slope gradients including the deepest point of the study area (300 m below sea level in the bottom of Lake General Carrera/Buenos Aires). This depressed area is flanked by western and eastern regions of higher elevation having opposite general slope dips. To the east, the central Patagonian Cordillera is now separated from the flat plains of the Pampean domain (representing its former piedmont) and several elevated basaltic plateaus (mesetas) by 160 degrees N-180 degrees N trending morphotectonic corridors and the western border scarps of the mesetas. These scarps correspond to neotectonic features controlled by recent vertical faults, mostly active after 3 Ma. Remnants of a former peneplain, the Avellanos surface, are widespread within the entire Cordilleran region. From geological evidence, this peneplain formed between 15 and 4 Ma and was connected originally with the mesetas domain and now is dissected by these corridors. It is shown that a negative inversion related to extensional and strike-slip faulting occurred in the frontal region of the Cordillera at 3 Ma synchronously with the emplacement of magmatic products. Timing of the extensional deformation in central Patagonia is concomitant with the migration at depth of different segments of the South Chile Ridge, which entered the trench at 6 and 3 Ma, respectively, and the consequent opening of a slab window allows asthenospheric hot mantle to reach lithospheric regions. Finally, migration of segments of the Chile Spreading Ridge since 6 Ma triggered regional uplift of the Cordillera followed by limited extension in relation with increased thermal weakening of the crust.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00486334
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486334
DOI : 10.1029/2009TC002453

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present the 1998-2009 GPS-derived velocity field for the Armenia region based on a survey-mode observation network of 31 GPS sites.We combine our results with previous GPS studies of the region to better assess the deformation of the Lesser Caucasus and Kura basin region. The results show that the Kura basin and the Lesser Caucasus regions are two different blocks, and that the main fault (Pambak-Sevan-Sunik) between these two regions has a right-lateral slip rate of 2±1 mm/yr. This is consistentwithmorphotectonic estimates and suggests a fairly constant slip rate over the last 120-300 ka. The right-lateral slip rate on one of the southern branch of the Pambak-Sevan-Sunik fault is lower than 1 mm/yr and the good agreementwith a geologically estimated slip rate suggests a constant slip rate over the last 1.4 Myr. The Sardarapat and Akhurian faults experience some shortening. This shortening is consistentwith someindependent geological estimates and shows the Arabian push.However, NNW-SSE-orientated faults have an extensional fault normal component instead of the expected shortening due to the Arabia-Eurasia convergence. This substantial extensive strain, and the sharp azimuth change of the velocity vectors between the Arabia promontory and the Lesser Caucasus suggest that processes other than "extrusion", possibly related to old subduction or delamination, contribute to the geodynamics of the region.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00812623
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00812623
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.02.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Coupling between erosion and tectonics is thought to play a determinant role in orogenic evolution. Here, we investigate the interplay in this coupling between the assumed erosion law and the crustal rheology at the margin of a collisional plateau, like the Himalaya of Central Nepal. Lithospheric deformation is calculated over a time scale of 100 kyr by a 2D finite element model that incorporates the rheological layering of the crust and the main features of the convergence across the range. For the upper boundary condition, two surface processes were tested: a linear diffusion model and a 1D1/2 integrative model including fluvial incision along the fluvial network and hillslope erosion by landsliding. Model results and their sensitivity to the chosen combinations of erosion law and crustal properties are discussed in light of the constraining geologic and geomorphologic observations. In contrast with the conclusions of Cattin and Avouac [2000] , where a compliant quartz-rich crustal rheology and diffusion law were required, we combine a composite quartz-diabase rheology for the crust with fluvial incision erosion law to account for erosion and elevation profiles across the Himalaya of Central Nepal. More generally, it is proposed that, because of the interplay between the dominant denudation conditions and the rheology of the crust, both well documented erosion rates and processes can provide significant constraints on crustal properties within an active orogen.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-00788697
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00788697
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00788697/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00788697/file/godard_et_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2004GL021006