Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
This paper investigates the orientation and sources of stress in the forearc of the Cascadia subduction zone in southwest British Columbia, using Bayesian inversion results from focal mechanism data and comparing results with GPS derived short-term strain rates. The subduction margin in this region includes a change in orientation from N-S in Washington State to NW-SE in British Columbia. Over 1000 focal mechanisms from North American crustal earthquakes have been calculated to identify the dominant style of faulting, and ∼600 were inverted to estimate the principal stress orientations and the stress ratio. Our results indicate the maximum horizontal compressive stress orientation changes with distance to the trench, from approximately margin-normal along the coast to approximately margin-parallel 100-150 km inland from the coast. Comparing stress orientations with GPS data, we relate the margin-normal stress direction to subduction-related strain rates due to the locked interface between the North American and Juan de Fuca plates just west of Vancouver Island. Further from the margin the plates are coupled less strongly, and the margin-parallel maximum horizontal compressive stress in the North American Plate relates to the northward push of the Oregon Block, which is also observed in the horizontal shortening direction of the residual strain rates, after the subduction component is removed.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00853734
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853734
DOI : 10.1029/2010JB008003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD University of Chicago Press
Résumé : International audience
Contrasting tectonic reconstructions of the westernmost Mediterranean have been proposed to explain the origin of the Alboran marine basin contemporaneously with Cenozoic convergence between the African and European plates. Cr-rich pyroxenites in the Ronda massif record the geochemical processes occurring in the subcontinental mantle of the Alboran domain in the Late Oligocene, thus constraining the geodynamic scenario of Cenozoic extension in the western Mediterranean lithosphere. Clinopyroxene in intrusive Cr-rich websterite dikes crosscutting the Ronda peridotite is strongly depleted in Nb-Ta and enriched in light rare earth elements, as typically observed in arc magmas, and is in trace element equilibrium with Neogene subduction-related lavas from the western and central Mediterranean. Sr-Nd-Pb radiogenic isotopes indicate that the mantle source of the Ronda pyroxenite dikes was contaminated by a subduction component released by detrital sediments likely deposited in passive continental margins. Rather than convective removal or delamination of the lithospheric root, our data strongly support Alboran geodynamic models that envisage slab rollback as the tectonic mechanism responsible for the Miocene lithospheric thinning. The Ronda Cr-rich pyroxenite dikes represent the earliest unambiguous manifestation of subduction-related magmatism in the western Mediterranean and testify to the involvement of terrigenous sediments in the primitive stages of subduction.
ISSN: 0022-1376

hal-00745853
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745853
DOI : 10.1086/663875

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
– The 300 km long allochthonous sheet of oceanic mantle forming the New Caledonia ophiolite displays three specific characters: 1) the ophiolite pile lacks concordant sheeted dykes and pillow basalt layers; 2) the ophiolite, refered to as the Peridotite nappe, is thrusted over the basaltic formations of the Poya terrane which are classicaly thought to originate from a different oceanic environment; 3) The basal contact of the ultramafic sheet is remarkably flat all along New-Caledonia and the Peridotite nappe has not been thickened during obduction, rather it experienced significant extension. This suggests that the peridotites have not been emplaced by a tectonic force applied to the rear. New petrological and geochemical results obtained from mantle rocks finally show that the Poya terrane may originate from the same oceanic basin as the peridotites. In this article, we consider such possible cogenetic links and we propose a simple model for the obduction of the New Caledonia ophiolite in which the Poya basalts represent the original cover of the Peridotite nappe. We infer that continuous uplift of the subducted units buried beneath the oceanic lithosphere in the northern part of New Caledonia drove passive uplift of the ophiolite and led to erosion and to initiation of sliding of the basaltic layer. During the Priabonian (latest Eocene), products of the erosion of the basaltic layer were deposited together with sediments derived from the Norfolk passive oceanic margin. These sediments are involved as tectonic slices into an accretionary wedge formed in response to plate convergence. The volcaniclastic sedimentation ends up with the emplacement of large slided blocks of basalts and rafted mafic units that progressively filled up the basin. Obduction process ended with the gravity sliding of the oceanic mantle sheet, previously scalped from its mafic cover. This process is contemporaneous with the exhumation of the HP-LT units of Pouebo and Diahot. Gravity sliding was facilitated by the occurrence of a continuous serpentine sole resulting from metasomatic hydratation of mantle rocks, which developed during the uplift of the Norfolk basement and overlying Diahot and Pouébo units. Progressive emersion of the obducted lithosphere allowed subsequent weathering under subaerial, tropical conditions. Obduction passive et mise en place gravitaire des grandes nappes ophiolitiques : les ophiolites de Nouvelle-Calédonie (SW Pacifique) sont-elles un cas d'école ? Résumé. – La nappe de manteau de Nouvelle-Calédonie, s'étendant sur 300 km de long montre trois caractéristiques im-portantes: 1) La succession ophiolitique ne contient ni dykes, ni basaltes en coussin, 2) l'ophiolite est charriée sur des formations basaltiques (nappe de Poya) que l'on considère classiquement comme originaires d'un bassin océanique dif-férent de celui d'où est issu le manteau, et 3) le contact basal de la nappe ultrabasique est remarquablement plat tout le long de l'île et celle-ci n'a pas été épaissie durant l'obduction. Cela suggère que les péridotites n'ont pas été mises en place en réponse à une poussée tectonique arrière. De nouveaux résultats pétrologiques et géochimiques obtenus sur l'ophiolite montrent en réalité que les basaltes de Poya peuvent être extraits de la fusion du manteau de l'ophiolite. Nous proposons donc un nouveau modèle pour l'obduction, dans lequel les basaltes de Poya forment la couver-ture initiale primitive du manteau de la nappe des péridotites. La surrection progressive des unités profondes enfouies lors de la subduction de la lithosphère du bassin sud-Loyauté à l'Eocène, a permis le soulèvement passif de l'ophiolite et l'érosion puis le glissement des unités basaltiques. Durant le Priabonien, l'accumulation des produits de l'érosion de la couche des basaltes et de la marge passive de Norfolk ont formé les séquences de flysch comprenant localement des débris basaltiques grossiers. Ces sédiments font partie d'un prisme d'accrétion tectonique construit en réponse à la convergence au front de la subduction. La sédimentation détritique se termine par la mise en place de grandes unités ba-saltiques glissées qui comblent le bassin. Le processus de l'obduction se termine par le glissement gravitaire de l'écaille de manteau océanique sur les basaltes. Cet événement est contemporain de l'exhumation des unités HP-BT de Pouébo et du Diahot. Le glissement gravitaire a été facilité par la présence sous l'ophiolite, d'une semelle continue de serpentines résultant de l'interaction du manteau avec des fluides métasomatiques remontant durant l'exhumation des unités en-fouies pendant la subduction continentale. L'émersion progressive de la lithosphère obduite a placé le manteau dans des conditions d'altération supergène tropicale.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-01257702
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01257702
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01257702/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01257702/file/Lagabrielleetal-BSGF-2012-revised-light.pdf
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.6.545

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Imaging deep active volcanic areas remains a challenge in our understanding of their activity and evolution, especially in subduction zones. Study of magnetic anomalies is appropriate to access such dynamics in depth. The magnetic anomaly pattern of the Lesser Antilles Arc (LAA) subduction is studied through Curie Point Depth (CPD), interpreted as the depth of the 580 °C isotherm, and developed to better assess the deep thermal structure of the arc. The depth of the estimated CPD exhibits a complex topography. Keeping in mind the overall uncertainty associated with this method, a main doming is evidenced below the Guadeloupe archipelago. Its apex is shifted towards the ancient arc, suggesting a very hot state of the fore-arc/arc domain. To better understand the LAA thermal state, we perform 2D thermo-mechanical simulations of the subduction zone. Recalling that magnetite is a serpentinization by-product, we simulate water transfer triggered by slab dehydration to test the assumption of fore-arc serpentinization suggested by the positive magnetic anomaly in the vicinity of the Guadeloupe archipelago. In this area, the subduction-induced arc lithosphere hydration and related weakening trigger a fast heating of the upper plate by basal convective removal. This process of fast arc lithosphere thinning may apply where simultaneously the volcanic arc is split in two and normal convergence is high enough. As serpentinization strongly decreases P-wave velocity, we propose a new interpretation of a published seismic profile below Guadeloupe. The seismic layer previously interpreted as the arc lower crust may rather be a layer of serpentinized mantle, as supported by spatial correlations between gravimetric and magnetic anomalies. Consequently, at the scale of Guadeloupe Island, the fore-arc Moho would be shallower than initially assumed, with a dome shape more consistent with both the extensive deformation active since the Oligocene in the inner fore-arc and the CPD doming.
ISSN: 0040-1951

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
insu-01505300
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01505300
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01505300/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01505300/file/Gailler-2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.03.014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Lesser Antilles is an area of high volcanic and earthquake activity, characterized by a 1000 km convergence zone resulting from the Atlantic plate subduction under the Caribbean plate with a slow convergent motion (2 cm/year). With five years of available data, the CDSA data base presents a more homogeneous vision of Lesser Antilles arc seismicity and allows detecting low seismic activity zones, in the north near the Virgin Islands, and in the south between St-Lucia and Grenada. The accuracy improvements of location is used to better study the relationship between tectonic structures and seismicity, to better define the subduction slab geometry, and to analyse the spatial variations of the Gutenberg-Richter law b-value. Concerning the 21 november 2004 Les Saintes earthquake, EMS98 intensities in Les Saintes islands were evaluated from an individual request and hypocenter relocalisations of the Les Saintes earthquake and the biggest aftershock of 14 february 2005 were made using a method of master/slave in order to contrain the seismic source of the mainchock. As seismic hazard assessment depends from strong ground motion generated by earthquakes, the last part of this work concerns modeling accelerometric records of the Les Saintes earthquakes, combining a composite source model with an empirical Green Function technique. In our study, we used Les Saintes aftershocks as Empirical Green Function.
L'arc des Petites Antilles situé sur la bordure nord-est de la plaque Caraïbe, résulte d'un phénomène de subduction, les plaques américaines plongeant sous celle de la Caraïbe avec une vitesse de 2 cm/an. Les Antilles Françaises représentent la région française où le risque sismique est le plus important. Ce travail dont l'objectif est d'améliorer la connaissance de l'aléa sismique dans les Antilles Françaises, repose sur les données du Réseau Accélérométrique Permanent (RAP) et sur celles du « Centre de Données des Antilles Françaises ». L'analyse de ces données permet de mieux contraindre la sismicité de l'arc. Deux zones de très faible sismicité sont mises en évidence : au nord près des Iles Vierges et au sud entre Sainte-Lucie et Grenade. D'autres points sont aussi résolus : imagerie de la subduction le long de l'arc, relations entre la sismicité superficielle et la tectonique active, variations de la pente (b-value) de la loi de Gutenberg-Richter. Le séisme majeur du 21 novembre 2004 Mw=6.3 est au cœur des deux derniers chapitres. Plusieurs aspects y sont présentés : macrosismicité avec l'évaluation d'intensités EMS98 obtenues du dépouillement de formulaires individuels recueillis pour les Iles des Saintes, et relocalisation par la méthode de maître/esclave du choc principal et de sa plus forte réplique du 14 février 2005, de façon à mieux contraindre l'imagerie de la source du choc principal, étape primordiale pour la dernière partie portant sur la modélisation des signaux du choc principal des Saintes. Nous tentons dans cette dernière partie de modéliser les enregistrements de mouvements forts avec une approche semi-empirique en se basant sur un modèle stochastique large-bande et proposons l'utilisation de plusieurs Fonctions de Green Empiriques (FGE) sélectionnées parmi les répliques du séisme des Saintes.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00409021

tel-00409021
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00409021
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00409021/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00409021/file/these_BengoubouMendy_2008.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The processes active in the deep crust above an oceanic subduction zone during its evolution have been constrained through a detailed geochemical study (major and trace elements and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes) of representative samples through an 30 km thick exhumed crustal section of the Cretaceous Kohistan oceanic island arc (Northern Pakistan). The use of both trace elements and radiogenic isotopes reveals two distinct geochemical suites (suites A and B) within the JijalPatanKiruKamila (JPKK) complex. Suite A is characterized by a progressive enrichment in Pb-207 and a decrease in Nd-143/Nd-144 with increasing La-N/Sm-N. Suite B has higher Pb-207/Pb-204 and lower Nd-143/Nd-144 ratios with approximately constant La-N/Sm-N. By combining trace elements with different partitioning behaviour it is demonstrated that there is an increasing contribution of the subduction component in the magmas with time. It is also possible to distinguish a slab component imprint carried by aqueous fluids from one corresponding to sediment melts. Intrusive granites are abundant in the upper levels of the JPKK section. All were generated at the arc root level (Jijal crustal section) during dehydration-melting of hornblende-rich plutonic rocks. A three-stage geodynamic model is proposed for the evolution of the arc over a period of 30 Myr. The first stage (117105 Ma) starts with the onset of subduction, which was followed by the building of the volcanic arc. The second stage (10599 Ma to 9691 Ma) corresponds to a major igneous event, which was characterized by abundant magma underplating and granulite-facies metamorphism at the arc base. Recycling of the residualcumulative lower crust into the convective asthenospheric mantle was efficient during this stage, and was probably related to thermo-mechanical erosion of the base of the crust. The last stage (9585 Ma) corresponds to a period of low magmatic activity, which marked the end of the intra-oceanic subduction. This is related to the formation of a cold blanket above the slab surface as a result of thermo-mechanical erosion of the cold walls of the subduction zone (i.e. the upper part of the slab and the base of the overriding plate), and corner flow dragging the cold material into the zone of melt generation. Ultimately, a voluminous magmatic pulse occurred around 85 Ma (forming the Chilas complex), before arccontinent collision.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00420068
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420068
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egp010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
In Taiwan, about one third of the lithospheric plate convergence between Eurasia and the Philippine Sea plate is accommodated on the eastern coast across the narrow Longitudinal Valley (LV). The Longitudinal Valley Fault (LVF) is the main seismically active fault zone in this region. However, the spatial distribution of ground deformation due to interseismic loading on locked fault segments remains widely unknown. To address this problem, we use a "permanent scatterer" (PS) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) approach for processing the ERS satellite archives. The PS mean velocity maps allow accurately mapping and quantifying the ground deformation all along the LV. Assuming that, close to the surface, the fault plane along the central LVF creeping segment dips 55 degrees to the east, we derive a slip vector at the surface of similar to 25 mm/yr with a mean rake of 70 degrees. In agreement with our PS observations, shallow seismicity indicates a clear change in the fault mechanical behavior of the creeping segment around Fuli town. Finally, we propose a combination of the PS velocity fields for estimating a 3-D map of ground deformation. In the southern part of the LV, the vertical component reveals an uplift of the Coastal Range with respect to the LV of similar to 10 mm/yr. Moreover, between Taitung and Luyeh, the vertical deformation is essentially accommodated along the Luyeh Strand. Finally, north of Rueisuei, the Coastal Range uniformly subsides at similar to 15 mm/yr relative to the western side of the LV. However, a local uplift pattern is detected around latitude 23 degrees 42'.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00595532
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00595532
DOI : 10.1029/2010JB007898

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The Atlas Mountains are characterized by high elevations and Quaternary volcanism. Long period magnetotelluric data acquired along a NNW-SSE transect reveal the presence of a conductive anomalous mantle below the High Atlas. Data dimensionality analyses show a preferent N80 degrees E strike of the deep resistivity structure in agreement with the induction vector alignment at long periods. Accordingly, a 2D inversion of the data set was carried out. Large resistive bodies at the crustal basement most likely correspond to batholiths emplaced in more conductive metapelites. They are covered by outcropping conductive sedimentary detritic and carbonate rocks. Lithospheric thinning producing anomalous mantle and basin development in the Atlas probably started during Triassic-Jurassic rifting. Inversion tectonics since the Oligocene produced low shortening on previous lithospheric weak zones, with thrusting of the Atlas above the stable African plate. Melting at the top of the anomalous mantle is connected with Quaternary basaltic volcanism in the Middle Atlas.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00671017
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00671017
DOI : 10.1029/2010TC002859

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
The Gibraltar arc, spans a complex portion of the Africa-Eurasia plate boundary marked by slow oblique convergence and intermediate and deep focus seismicity. The seemingly contradictory observations of a young extensional marine basin surrounded by an arcuate fold-and-thrust belt, have led to competing geodynamic models (delamination and subduction). Geophysical data acquired in the past decade provide a test for these models and support a narrow east-dipping, subduction zone. Seismic refraction studies indicate oceanic crust below the western Gulf of Cadiz. Tomography of the upper mantle reveals a steep, east-dipping high P-wave velocity body, beneath Gibraltar. The anisotropic mantle fabric from SKS splitting shows arc-parallel "fast directions", consistent with toroidal flow around a narrow, westward retreating subducting slab. The accompanying WSW advance of the Rif-Betic mountain belt has constructed a thick pile of deformed sediments, an accretionary wedge, characterized by west-vergent thrust anticlines. Bathymetric swath‐mapping images an asymmetric embayment at the deformation front where a 2 km high basement ridge has collided. Subduction has slowed significantly since 5 Ma, but deformation of recent sediments and abundant mud volcanoes suggest ongoing activity in the accretionary wedge. Three possible origins for this deformation are discussed; gravitational spreading, overall NW-SE convergence between Africa and Iberia and finally a WSW tectonic push from slow, but ongoing roll-back subduction. In the absence of arc volcanism and shallow dipping thrust type earthquakes, evidence in favor of present-day subduction can only be indirect and remains the object of debate. Continued activity of the subduction offers a possible explanation for great (M > 8.5) earthquakes known to affect the area, like the famous 1755 Great Lisbon earthquake. Recent GPS studies show SW motion of stations in N Morocco at velocities of 3-6 mm/yr indicating the presence of an independent block, a "Rif-Betic-Alboran" microplate, situated between Iberia and Africa.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-00769762
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00769762
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.08.038

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
We investigate flexural geometry and rheology of the India plate beneath the eastern Himalaya from a new gravity data set acquired in Bhutan. Compared to the well‒studied Nepal Himalaya, the obtained Bouguer anomaly profiles across the range show shorter wavelength flexure of the lithosphere with a narrower and shallower foreland basin. This new data set and seismic Moho constraints are interpreted together in terms of lithospheric flexure using a 2‒D thermomechanical model. Our results suggest that the strongest layer of the continental lithosphere beneath Bhutan is the upper mantle, as it is beneath Nepal. The observed west‒to‒east decrease in flexural wavelength is associated with weakening mantle rheology. The simulations show that this decrease can be related to ductile mantle behavior: either hydrated wet dunite or dry and hot olivine rheology. Both models display decoupled lithospheric layers leading to an eastward decrease of flexural rigidity from ∼1024 to ∼5*1022 N m in Nepal and Bhutan, respectively.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-00903564
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00903564
DOI : 10.1002/grl.50793

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
P>The Strait of Hormuz area is a transition zone between the continental collision of the Zagros (west) and the subduction of an oceanic part of the Arabian Plate beneath the Makran wedge (east). Geology and recent GPS measurements indicate that about 15 mm yr-1 of relative motion in N10 degrees E direction is accommodated by two major fault systems: (1) the NNW-trending Minab-Zendan-Palami (MZP) fault system that connects the Main Zagros Thrust (MZT) to the inner Makran thrust system and the Frontal subduction thrust and (2) the N-trending Sabzevaran-Kahnuj-Jiroft (SKJ) fault system that bounds the Jazmurian depression to the west. We use dense GPS measurements along four transects across these fault systems in order to determine the strains spatial distribution. The northern GPS transect confirms the total fault slip rates for both fault systems estimated by the tectonic analyses (about 10 and 7.3 mm yr-1 in N10 degrees direction across the MZP and SKJ fault systems, respectively). For both fault systems, the elastic deformation spreads over shear zones that are several tens of kilometres wide. However, transects located close to latitude 27 degrees N reveal a much narrower shear zone (similar to 10 km) for the MZP fault system. Moreover, we confirm that most of the present-day strain is transferred towards the frontal subduction thrust rather than towards the inner Makran thrusts. In order to complement this new GPS velocity field with spatially dense measurements, we processed a set of ERS radar images by the radar interferometry (InSAR) technique. We used both a 'stacking' and a 'persistant-scatterers' approach to differentiate the ground deformation signal which spatial gradient is expected to be very low, from the atmospheric signal. Results from these interferograms appear to be relatively in agreement with the GPS-determined strain distribution. Nevertheless, they confirm the absence of any superficial creep behaviour since no sharp discontinuity on interferometric phase can be noted on any interferogram. Finally, we use a purely kinematic 'block model' inversion process to calculate slip rates and locking depths for each fault system from our GPS measurements. These models suggest that the relative quiescence over the last 200 yr has certainly produced a slip deficit as high as 2 m. So, we may wonder if the MZP fault system is not late in the interseismic phase of its earthquake cycle.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00429386
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00429386
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04321.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The Alboran Domain, situated at the western end of the Mediterranean subduction system, is characterized by theRonda Peridotites, one of the world largest exposures of sub-continental mantle. Using U-Pb (LA-ICP-MS) and Ar-Ar dating, we precisely dated two tectonic events associated with the Tertiary exhumation of the Ronda Peridotites.First, shearing along the Crust-Mantle Extensional Shear Zone caused, at ca. 22.5 Ma, mantle exhumation, localpartial melting in the deep crust and coeval cooling in the upper crust. Second, the Ronda Peridotites Thrusttriggered the final crustal emplacement of the peridotites onto the continental crust at ca. 21 Ma, as testified bygranitic intrusions in the thrust hanging-wall. The tectonic evolution of the western Alboran Domain is thereforecharacterized by a fast switch from a continental lithosphere extension in a backarc setting, with sub-continentalmantle exhumation, to a rift inversion by thrusting driven by shortening of the subduction upper plate
European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017
Vienne, Austria

insu-01510393
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01510393

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Dahomey belt in Togo and Benin is an important segment of the larger West Gondwana Orogen. Here, we review the geodynamic evolution of the Dahomey belt and discuss new U–Pb and Lu–Hf zircon data in light of similar data previously acquired on the geologically related Northern Borborema Province, in NE Brazil. Eighteen samples from different tectonic settings and regions within the belt were collected for zircon isotopic investigation. Passive margin deposits of the Atacora Structural Unit and lower units of the Volta Basin have detrital zircon signatures compatible with the flanking West Africa Craton. The arc-related magmatism resulted from the east-dipping subduction of the Goiás-Pharusian oceanic lithosphere and is represented by a variety of granitoids emplaced in the Benino-Nigerian Shield between 670 and 610 Ma. These granitoids were mainly sourced from crustal reservoirs with subordinate juvenile input. Detrital zircon ages from syn-orogenic deposits in Benino-Nigerian Shield suggest that arc development could have started as early as 780 Ma. The main period of melting in the internal part of the belt, the Benino-Nigerian Shield, is related to crustal thickening and occurs only ca. 30 m.y. after initiation of the continental collision, marked by the ca. 610 Ma ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism recorded at Lato Hills. Foreland development represented by the upper units of the Volta basin developed soon after continental collision and persisted with the development of the west-verging thrust front synchronously with the main period of crustal melting due to collision at ca. 580 Ma. The subvertical Transbrasiliano Lineament in South America, that corresponds to the Kandi Lineament in Africa, provides a present-day fit between NW Africa and NE Brazil. Restoration of the movement of the Transbrasiliano-Kandi Lineament (strike-slip plate boundary) places the Dahomey belt and Borborema Province (NE Brazil) along the same section of the West Gondwana Orogen. This configuration would explain some of the misfits previously discussed in the literature and aligns the UHP eclogites in Togo and NE Brazil.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01358584
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01358584
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2016.01.032

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Geodetic data support a short-term continental deformation localized in faults bounding lithospheric blocks. Whether major "faults" observed at the surface affect the lithospheric mantle and, if so, how strain is distributed are major issues for understanding the mechanical behavior of lithospheric plates. A variety of evidence, from direct observations of deformed peridotites in orogenic massifs, ophiolites, and mantle xenoliths to seismic reflectors and seismic anisotropy beneath major fault zones, consistently supports prolongation of major faults into the lithospheric mantle. This review highlights that many aspects of the lithospheric mantle deformation remain however poorly understood. Coupling between deformation in frictional faults in the uppermost crust and localized shearing in the ductile crust and mantle is required to explain the post-seismic deformation, but mantle viscosities deduced from geodetic data and extrapolated from laboratory experiments are only reconciled if temperatures in the shallow lithospheric mantle are high (> 800 °C at the Moho). Seismic anisotropy, especially shear wave splitting, provides strong evidence for coherent deformation over domains several tens of km wide in the lithospheric mantle beneath major transcurrent faults. Yet it cannot detect narrow strain localization zones or shallowly dipping faults. Seismic profiling images shallow-dipping seismic reflectors in the lithospheric mantle interpreted as the continuation of normal or, less frequently, inverse faults in the mantle. However the nature of these reflectors is poorly understood. There is a large discrepancy between the scale at which deformation processes are studied (a few kilometers, at most, due to the limited size of continuous mantle exposures at the Earth's surface) and the scale inferred for strain localization in the mantle from geophysical observations (tens of kilometers). Combining data on deformation microstructures and crystal preferred orientations in naturally deformed peridotites and seismologic observations allows nevertheless discussing strain localization processes that may play a role on the development of mantle shear zones.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00750314
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750314
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.06.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Poster
The Lesser Caucasus in Armenia is an active volcanic and tectonic zone which resulted from the collision of the Arabian and the Eurasian plates since Neogene times. The During Quaternary, Lesser Caucasus was uplifted (0.3 mm/yr; Mitchell and Westaway, 1999) and experienced extensional tectonics times. Large lakes developed in graben structures. The diatomitic sequences of the Shamb paleo-lake (South Armenia) offer a rare opportunity to give new insights of Western Asia paleo-climate. Based on macroflora analysis, Bruch and Gabrielyan (2002) proposed a cooling and drying general climate trend through Pleistocene times in relation with a general uplift of the chain. Several questions have to be answer for this poorly investigated region. Did the climate record humid glacials and arid interglacials as suggested northward in Kazakhstan? What are the vegetation and climate responses to orbital parameters and to the monsoon? Moreover the lesser Caucasus is known as the entrance way used by the first hominids in Eurasia during Pleistocene time. How was the environment at this time? We present an integrated palynological, 40Ar/39Ar isotopic and magnetostratigraphic study for the most complete section (Joannin et al., in press). 40Ar/39Ar dating of two volcaniclastic layers provided ages of 1.24 ± 0.03 and 1.16 ± 0.02 Ma (2. Magnetostratigraphic data show that the entire Shamb section is of reversed polarity which correlates with part of the Matuyama period (1.785-1.070 Ma). Pollen assemblages and macroremains diversity revealed an alternation of glacial and interglacial phases that are compared with climate changes inferred from the global isotopic curve. The Shamb section ranges from approximately 1.300 to 1.080 Ma in age (marine isotopic stages 40 to 31). The vegetation of the Lesser Caucasus developed in a mosaic pattern in a Pleistocene continental, mostly arid climate, similar to the present-day climate. The vegetation changes record a dominant climate response to the obliquity orbital parameter. The influence of precession could not be established from the Shamb data. Pollen and macroflora both indicate that glacial periods were cold and dry and that interglacials were warm with local humidity. The early Pleistocene climatic model for Western Asia is thus similar to the climatic model for the Mediterranean area. Bruch, A., Gabrielyan, I.G., 2002. Quantitative data of the Neogene climatic development in Armenia and Nakhichevan. Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Geologica 46, 41–48. Joannin, S., Cornée, J.J., Münch, P., Fornari, M., Vasiliev, J., Krijgsman, W., Nahapetyan, S., Gabrielyan, Y., Ollivier, V., Roiron, P., Chataîgnier, C. In press. Early Pleistocene climatic cycles in continental deposits of the Lesser Caucasus of Armenia inferred from palynology, magnetostratigraphy, and 40Ar/39Ar dating. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Mitchell, J., Westaway, R., 1999. Chronology of Neogene and Quaternary uplift and magmatism in the Caucasus: constraints from K-Ar dating of volcanism in Armenia. Tectonophysics 304, 157–186.
EGU Eurasian Climate and Tectonics
Vienne, Austria

hal-00481799
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00481799

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : Giant earthquakes (Mw≥8.5) usually occur on the boundary between subducting and overriding plates of converging margins, but it is not yet clear which (if any) subduction zones are more prone to produce such a kind of events. Here we show that subduction zones may have different capabilities to produce giant earthquakes. We analyze the frequency-magnitude distribution of the interplate earthquakes at subduction zones that occurred during 1976–2007 and calculate the propensity (defined as the average annual rate) of giant events for about half of the subduction zones. We find that the b value of interplate earthquakes is significantly different among the subduction zones, and out-of-sample giant earthquakes (before 1976 and after 2007) have occurred preferentially in high-propensity areas. Besides the importance for seismic hazard assessment and risk mitigation, our results seem to indicate that a higher seismicity rate does not necessarily imply a higher likelihood to generate giant earthquakes, and the way in which the stress is released at a subduction interface does not change significantly after the occurrence of such events.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01467738
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467738
DOI : 10.1002/2016JB013054

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Taylor & Francis
Résumé : International audience
ternational Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 352 recovered a high-fidelity record of volcanism related to subduction initiation in the Bonin fore-arc. Two sites (U1440 and U1441) located in deep water nearer to the trench recovered basalts and related rocks; two sites (U1439 and U1442) located in shallower water further from the trench recovered boninites and related rocks. Drilling in both areas ended in dolerites inferred to be sheeted intrusive rocks. The basalts apparently erupted immediately after subduction initiation and have compositions similar to those of the most depleted basalts generated by rapid sea-floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges, with little or no slab input. Subsequent melting to generate boninites involved more depleted mantle and hotter and deeper subducted components as subduction progressed and volcanism migrated away from the trench. This volcanic sequence is akin to that recorded by many ophiolites, supporting a direct link between subduction initiation, fore-arc spreading, and ophiolite genesis.
ISSN: 0020-6814

hal-01685628
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685628
DOI : 10.1080/00206814.2016.1276482

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : International audience
Upper Triassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Mamonia Complex in southwestern Cyprus are exposed in erosional windows through the post-Cretaceous cover, where the Mamonia Complex is tectonically imbricated with the Troodos and Akamas ophiolitic suites. Most of these Upper Triassic volcanic rocks have been considered to represent remnants of Triassic oceanic crust and its associated seamounts. New Nd and Pb isotopic data show that the whole Mamonia volcanic suite exhibits features of oceanic island basalts (OIB). Four rock types have been distinguished on the basis of the petrology and chemistry of the rocks. Volcanism began with the eruption of depleted olivine tholeiites (Type 1) and oceanic island tholeiites (Type 2) associated with deep basin siliceous and/or calcareous sediments. The tholeiites were followed by highly phyric alkali basalts (Type 3) interbedded with pelagic Halobia-bearing limestones or white reefal limestones. Strongly LREE-enriched trachytes (Type 4) were emplaced during the final stage of volcanic activity. Nd and Pb isotopic ratios suggest that tholeiites and mildly alkali basalts derived from partial melting of heterogeneous enriched mantle sources. Fractional crystallization alone cannot account for the derivation of trachytes from alkaline basalts. The trachytes could have been derived from the partial melting at depth of mafic material which shares with the alkali basalts similar trace element and isotopic compositions. This is corroborated by the rather similar isotopic compositions of the alkali basalts and trachytes. The correlations observed between incompatible elements (Nb, Th) and {varepsilon}Nd and Pb isotopic initial ratios suggest that the Mamonia suite was derived from the mixing of a depleted mantle (DMM) and an enriched component of High µ (µ = 238U/204Pb, HIMU) type. Models using both Nd and Pb isotopic initial ratios suggest that the depleted tholeiites (Type 1) derived from a DMM source contaminated by an Enriched Mantle Type 2 component (EM2), and that the oceanic tholeiites (Type 2), alkali basalts (Type 3) and trachytes (Type 4) were derived from the mixing of the enriched mantle source of the depleted tholeiites with a HIMU component. None of the Mamonia volcanic rocks show evidence of crustal contamination. The Upper Triassic within-plate volcanism likely erupted in a small southerly Neotethyan basin, located north of the Eratosthenes seamount and likely floored by oceanic crust.
ISSN: 0016-7568

insu-00353657
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00353657
DOI : 10.1017/S0016756806002937

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We use 3-D mechanical modeling representing faults as planar surfaces with frictional properties that obey Coulomb-failure process to explore the long-term slip rates of the Altyn Tagh fault and Kunlun faults in the north Tibetan plateau. Crustal theology is simplified as an elastoplastic upper crust and a viscoelastic lower crust. Far-field GPS velocities and late Quaternary fault slip rates are used to constrain the model results. Rheological tests show that effective fault friction lower than 0.1-0.08 leads to high slip rates that fit with geologically and geodetically determined slip rates of the Kunlun fault (10-11.7 +/- 1.5 mm/yr). Meanwhile, the modeled Altyn Tagh fault reaches slip rates similar to 13.7 mm/yr to similar to 7.8 mm/yr in its central portion, between ranges of the geological slip rates. Associated with high slip rates, our model predicts that central Tibet (similar to 84 degrees E-95 degrees E) from the Altyn Tagh fault to the north of the Himalayan arc accommodates north-south shortening and east-west extension rates of similar to 10-12 mm/yr and similar to 8-10 mm/yr, respectively. We also question the widely accepted idea that interseismic strain is driven at the base of the seismogenic zone by a screw dislocation. If this assumption fails, the presented model implies that interseismic strain around large strike-slip faults could be distributed in a much broader way if the lithosphere deforms as a thin elastic plate rather than an elastic half-space with an embedded dislocation. If this distributed deformation is ignored, and the instantaneous surface deformation field modeled as that resulting from slip on a dislocation below a specified depth embedded in an elastic half-space, the estimated slip rate will inevitably be lower than the true long-term slip rate. This appears to explain why geodetic slip rates proposed for the Altyn Tagh fault (510 mm/yr) are lower than some of the geological slip rates. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00411926
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411926
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.06.049