Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
Growth series of Palaeozoic fishes are rare because of the fragility of larval and juvenile specimens owing to their weak mineralisation and the scarcity of articulated specimens. This rarity makes it difficult to describe early vertebrate growth patterns and processes in extinct taxa. Indeed, only a few growth series of complete Palaeozoic fishes are available; however, they allow the growth of isolated elements to be described and individual growth from these isolated elements to be inferred. In addition, isolated and in situ scales are generally abundant and well-preserved, and bring information on (1) their morphology and structure relevant to phylogenetic relationships and (2) individual growth patterns and processes relative to species ontogeny. The Late Devonian acanthodian Triazeugacanthus affinis from the Miguasha Fossil-Lagerstä tte preserves one of the best known fossilised ontogenies of early vertebrates because of the exceptional preservation, the large size range, and the abundance of complete specimens. Here, we present morphological, histological, and chemical data on scales from juvenile and adult specimens (scales not being formed in lar-vae). Histologically, Triazeugacanthus scales are composed of a basal layer of acellular bone housing Sharpey's fibers, a mid-layer of mesodentine, and a superficial layer of ganoine. Developmentally, scales grow first through concentric addition of mesodentine and bone around a central primordium and then through superposition of ganoine layers. Onto-genetically, scales form first in the region below the dorsal fin spine, then squamation spreads anteriorly and posteriorly, and on fin webs. Phylogenetically, Triazeugacanthus scales show similarities with acanthodians (e.g. " box-in-box " growth), chondrichthyans (e.g. squamation pattern), and actinopterygians (e.g. ganoine). Scale histology and growth are interpreted in the light of a new phylogenetic analysis of gnathostomes supporting acantho-dians as stem chondrichthyans.
ISSN: 1932-6203

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01526367
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01526367
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01526367/document
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01526367/file/journal.pone.0174655.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0174655

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Torsion experiments (inline image =3 × 10−4 s−1) were performed to investigate the large strain (γmax = 15) rheology on quartz-muscovite aggregate as analogue to pelitic rocks undergoing melting and crystallization during deformation at 300 MPa confining pressure and 750°C temperature. Microstructures reveal four distinct but gradational stages of crystal-melt interactions during deformation--(a) solid state deformation, (b) initiation and domination of partial melting, (c) simultaneous partial melting and crystallization, and (d) domination of crystallization. The microstructural stages are linked to the rheology of the deforming samples. Partial melting starts at relatively low finite shear strains (γ = 1-3) showing approximately 60% strain softening. At γ = 4-10 the partially molten bulk material shows a steady state flow at low stress. Further crystallization of new crystals at the expense of melt between γ = 10 and 15 causes weak strain hardening until the material fails by developing brittle fractures. The stress exponent (n), calculated at γ = 1, 5, and 10, increases from ∼ 3 to ∼ 43, indicating a transition from power to power law breakdown or exponential flow of the bulk system. Hydrostatic experiments for equivalent times and conditions of the torsion experiments were also conducted to evaluate the reaction kinetics and microstructures under static conditions. The new experimental data establish that partially molten rock does not flow according to a constant strain rate-dependent power law (steady state) rheology. The rheological transition from strain rate sensitive to strain rate insensitive flow is interpreted as a function of melt-crystal ratio, their mutual interactions, and the evolution of microstructures in the partially molten rock.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01053709
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053709
DOI : 10.1002/2013JB010777

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Eastern Rift System (ERS) of northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, where a cratonic lithosphere is in the early stages of rifting, offers an ideal venue for investigating the roles of magma and other fluids in such an environment. To illuminate these roles, we jointly invert arrival times of locally recorded P and S body waves, phase delays of ambient noise generated Rayleigh waves and Bouguer anomalies from gravity observations to generate a 3-D image of P and S wave speeds in the upper 25 km of the crust. While joint inversion of gravity and arrival times requires a relationship between density and wave speeds, the improvement in resolution obtained by the combination of these disparate data sets serves to further constrain models, and reduce uncertainties. The most significant features in the 3-D model are (1) P and S wave speeds that are 10–15 per cent lower beneath the rift zone than in the surrounding regions, (2) a relatively high wave speed tabular feature located along the western edge of the Natron and Manyara rifts, and (3) low (∼1.71) values of Vp/Vs throughout the upper crust, with the lowest ratios along the boundaries of the rift zones. The low P and S wave speeds at mid-crustal levels beneath the rift valley are an expected consequence of active volcanism, and the tabular, high-wave speed feature is interpreted to be an uplifted footwall at the western edge of the rift. Given the high levels of CO2 outgassing observed at the surface along border fault zones, and the sensitivity of Vp/Vs to pore-fluid compressibility, we infer that the low Vp/Vs values in and around the rift zone are caused by the volcanic plumbing in the upper crust being suffused by a gaseous CO2 froth on top of a deeper, crystalline mush. The repository for molten rock is likely located in the lower crust and upper mantle, where the Vp/Vs ratios are significantly higher.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01622055
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622055
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622055/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622055/file/roeckerGJI2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggx220

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
High 3He/4He ratios in some basalts have generally been interpreted as originating in an incompletely degassed lower-mantle source1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. This helium source may have been isolated at the core-mantle boundary region since Earth's accretion4, 5, 6. Alternatively, it may have taken part in whole-mantle convection and crust production over the age of the Earth7, 8, 9; if so, it is now either a primitive refugium at the core-mantle boundary8 or is distributed throughout the lower mantle7, 9. Here we constrain the problem using lavas from Baffin Island, West Greenland, the Ontong Java Plateau, Isla Gorgona and Fernandina (Galapagos). Olivine phenocryst compositions show that these lavas originated from a peridotite source that was about 20 per cent higher in nickel content than in the modern mid-ocean-ridge basalt source. Where data are available, these lavas also have high 3He/4He. We propose that a less-degassed nickel-rich source formed by core-mantle interaction during the crystallization of a melt-rich layer or basal magma ocean5, 6, and that this source continues to be sampled by mantle plumes. The spatial distribution of this source may be constrained by nickel partitioning experiments at the pressures of the core-mantle boundary.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-00941025
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00941025
DOI : 10.1038/nature11771

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Our understanding of the contribution of interspecific interactions to functional diversity in nature lags behind our knowledge of spatial and temporal patterns. Although two-species mutualisms are found in all types of ecosystems, the study of their ecological influences on other community members has mostly been limited to third species, while their influence on entire communities remains largely unexplored. 2. We hypothesized that mutualistic interactions between two respective ant species and an epiphyte mediate the biological traits composition of entire invertebrate communities that use the same host plant, thereby affecting food webs and functional diversity at the community level. 3. Aechmea mertensii (Bromeliaceae) is both a phytotelm ('plant-held water') and an ant-garden epiphyte. We sampled 111 bromeliads (111 aquatic invertebrate communities) associated with either the ant Pachycondyla goeldii or Camponotus femoratus. The relationships between ants, bromeliads and invertebrate abundance data were examined using a redundancy analysis. Biological traits information for invertebrates was structured using a fuzzy-coding technique, and a co-inertia analysis between traits and abundance data was used to interpret functional differences in bromeliad ecosystems. 4. The vegetative traits of A. mertensii depended on seed dispersion by C. femoratus and P. goeldii along a gradient of local conditions. The ant partner selected sets of invertebrates with traits that were best adapted to the bromeliads' morphology, and so the composition of the biological traits of invertebrate phytotelm communities depends on the identity of the ant partner. Biological traits suggest a bottom-up control of community structure in C. femoratus-associated phytotelmata and a greater structuring role for predatory invertebrates in P. goeldii-associated plants. 5. This study presents new information showing that two-species mutualisms affect the functional diversity of a much wider range of organisms. Most biological systems form complex networks where nodes (e. g. species) are more or less closely linked to each other, either directly or indirectly, through intermediate nodes. Our observations provide community-level information about biological interactions and functional diversity, and perspectives for further observations intended to examine whether large-scale changes in interacting species/community structure over broad geographical and anthropogenic gradients affect ecosystem functions.
ISSN: 0269-8463

hal-00817509
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00817509

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : In situ analysis of major elements, platinum-group elements and Os isotope composition data for 170 grains of Ru–Os–Ir alloys from podiform chromitites in the Luobusa and Dongqiao ophiolites, Tibet, provide new constraints on the sources of the alloy grains, the Os-isotope composition of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic upper mantle, and the timing of melt–rock reactions in the ultramafic peridotites of the host ophiolites. Most alloy grains are osmiridium and iridosmine. Based on elemental and isotopic compositions, two populations can be identified. Group I, found in both ophiolite bodies, has fractionated PGE patterns typical of alloys and homogeneous 187Os/188Os 0.12645 ± 4 (2s; n = 145). Group II alloys from the Dongqiao ophiolites show smooth PGE patterns and 187Os/188Os ranges from 0.12003 to 0.12194 (yielding Re-depletion ages ≥ 1.1 Ga). Both the PGE patterns and the Os isotopic compositions of Group II resemble those of sulfides residual after melting. Group I alloys represent an early cumulate phase during the crystallization of magmas and are interpreted as derived from an asthenospheric melt. In contrast, Group II alloys are inferred to derive from the breakdown of residual sulfides from the mantle section of the ophiolite, which may represent relics of a sub-continental lithospheric mantle. The coexistence of the two groups of alloys in Dongqiao samples reflects interaction between asthenosphere-derived melts and old depleted lithospheric mantle and suggests that the chromitites originated through melt–rock reactions. The data on the Group I alloys support the hypothesis that the Re–Os evolution of the convective oceanic mantle resembles that of enstatite chondrites.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00404967
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00404967
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.05.044

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) is the source of great earthquakes that have been documented along the range. Its geometry is a key parameter that influences accommodation of tectonic loading and earthquake magnitudes along the Himalayan Arc. Although seismic images are available for both the western and the central part of the range, this geometry remains poorly constrained for the Bhutanese Himalayas. Here we address this issue using a 10Be cosmogenic nuclides denudation transect across western Bhutan. We observe a wide low denudation rate domain between 50 km and 110 km from the front followed by a strong northward increase. Using a joint inversion of denudation rates, GPS data, and Holocene uplift rates, we interpret this pattern as a consequence of a flat-ramp transition along the MHT. Compared to central Nepal and Sikkim, this location of the ramp suggests a wider décollement, with implications for greater seismogenic potential of the MHT in western Bhutan.
ISSN: 0094-8276

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01174088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088v2/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088/file/lerouxmalloufGRL2015.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2015GL063767

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The lower Pleistocene Kritika Member of the Rhodes Formation is composed of predominantly siliciclastic deposits that are sometimes intercalated with hardbottoms formed by drowning of former beachrock beds. A wide variety of sclerobionts occur in this environment, very different from the poorest soft‐bottom populations occurring in other levels of the Kritika Member. The most characteristic, abundant and frequently diverse are the encrusting forms: coralline algae, bivalves, serpulid worms, and bryozoans. Numerous other groups of sessile and vagile organisms are associated with these crust‐forming communities. A number of skeletal organisms (sometimes including zooxanthellate coral colonies) formed small carbonate buildups on top of several beachrock beds. Boring organisms also occur. Evidence for a two‐step deepening succession over the previously formed beachrock is provided by palaeontological and sedimentological data. The rapidly cemented sandy‐conglomeratic beds were first colonised by a relatively shallow‐water (around 20 m) biocoenosis of mostly encrusting organisms. Another association, with encrusting and erect organisms, was later established in a deeper environment (20-40 m). A comparison with Holocene beachrock occurring on the coast of Rhodes was also undertaken. Their submerged part provided habitat for poorer but similar biotas to those occurring in the Kritika Member. The lower Pleistocene beachrock and associated organogenic fossil assemblages indicate repeated drowning episodes during deposition of the Kritika Member and provide help in sequence stratigraphic interpretations of these siliciclastic deposits. Notably, they can be used as indicators of relative sea‐level changes.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00795591
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795591
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.09.007