Éditeur(s) : Springer
Résumé : The Golo Margin in eastern Corsica is dissected by four canyons and two gullies which fed turbidite systems. Study of the dispersal of surficial sediments and flow dynamic in the Golo system is based on Kullenberg and interface cores interpreted in relation to a previously published seismic dataset. Cores were described in detail and interpreted within a sedimentary and stratigraphic framework. During the last 42,000 years, gravity processes which occurred in the large systems with a canyon source were mainly slide-induced, differentiated turbulent surges and hyperpycnal flows. Processes occurring in the small system with a gully source are mainly hyperconcentrated and concentrated flows. Deposits from the Corsican Margin can intercalate with products of processes triggered on the Pianosa Ridge located in the eastern part of the basin. During relative sea-level lowstands or during periods of rapid or high-amplitude sea-level fall, only large canyons (South and North Golo) are supplied by carbonate-rich hyperconcentrated and concentrated flows which are channelled in incised valleys on the shelf. During periods of slow or low-amplitude sea-level fall and during sea-level rise, sediments are trapped on a shelf delta and intensely winnowed by shelf hydrodynamic processes. Sand-rich hyperconcentrated and concentrated flows occur. All the systems fed by a canyon are active simultaneously. Gullies form and are active only during periods of sea-level rise. During relative highstands of sea level (Holocene), all the system is draped by hemipelagic sediments. Relative sea-level changes and canyon location relative to river mouths have a strong influence on the nature of sediment input, and the initiation and type of gravity flows which, in turn, control morphology and geometry.
Geo-Marine Letters (0276-0460) (Springer), 2006-12 , Vol. 26 , N. 6 , P. 373-395

Droits : 2006 Springer
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-3594.pdf
DOI:10.1007/s00367-006-0045-z
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3594/

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : Dissolved and particulate Hg fluxes in the Lot-Garonne-Gironde fluvial-estuarine system were obtained from observation of daily discharge and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations. In addition to the measurements of the total dissolved (< 0.45 gm) and particulate Hg (> 0.45 gm), called HgTD and HgTp respectively, the dissolved inorganic Hg species (HgRD) were determined monthly. Geochemical background values for HgTp in sediments and SPM were similar to crustal values and to typical concentrations in SPM of non-contaminated river systems, respectively. The Riou Mort watershed already known as the origin of important historical polymetallic (e.g., Cd, Zn) pollution was identified as an important Hg point source. In the downstream Lot River, Hg concentrations were clearly higher than those in other moderately contaminated systems. The mean relative contribution of HgRD to HgTD in the Lot River and in the Garonne River was close to 25% and 50%, respectively, and showed no correlation with water discharge or SPM concentration. Depending on the origin and nature of SPM, HgTp concentrations were correlated or not with particulate organic C (POC). Maximum HgTp concentrations were measured in samples containing low POC concentrations and were attributed to sediment resuspension. In contrast, high POC concentrations (6-17%) during algal blooms were associated with low/moderate HgTp concentrations (< 0.5 mg kg(-1)) at different sites, suggesting that Hg concentrations in fluvial phytoplankton may be limited by bioavailability of dissolved Hg and/or physiologically controlled Hg accumulation. Mercury was mostly (up to 98%) transported in the particulate phase with estimated annual Hg fluxes at the outlet of the Lot River system ranging from 35 to 530 kg a(-1) for the past decade. The minimum anthropogenic component (58-84% of total Hg fluxes) could not be explained by present Riou Mort point source contributions, suggesting important Hg release from contaminated sediment as a major source and from downstream point sources (e.g., coal-fired power plants and/or metal processing industries). HgTp concentrations and fluxes were strongly related to hydrologic variations and were clearly increased by riverbed dredging during lock construction. Therefore, the estimated Hg stocks in the Lot River sediment (5-13 tons) represent an important potential Hg source for the downstream fluvial-estuarine system.
Applied Geochemistry (0883-2927) (Elsevier), 2006-03 , Vol. 21 , N. 3 , P. 515-527

Droits : 2006 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-1343.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2005.12.004
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1343/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Deep Basin of the Gulf of Mexico (DBGM) extends over eastern Mexico, the southeastern part of the United States, west of the Atlantic Ocean. This study, based on the interpretation and integration of seismic profiles, exploration wells and outcrop studies, focus on the deep part of the Gulf of Mexico, where bathymetry varies from 200 to 3750 m, thus comprising both the continental slope and the abyssal plain. The first part of this thesis focus on the description of the sedimentary infill of the western part of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Veracruz State, and to its geodynamic controls. The geodynamic evolution of the Deep Basin of the Gulf of Mexico (DBGM) begins during the Triassic-Jurassic with the break-up and the opening of a continental rift, in the southern part of the North American lithospheric plate. This opening induced a relative movement of the Yucatan Block towards the southeast. This intra-continental rifting episode was followed by a stage of post-rift thermal subsidence in the basins of the continental margin in the west, coeval with oceanic accretion in the DBGM. The thermal subsidence of the margin was subsequently modified by the Laramian orogeny, which impacted strongly the overall architecture of the margin as well as its litho-stratigraphic evolution, inducing the deposition of siliciclastic deposits in various morphotectonic provinces: i.e., near the tectonic front of the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMO), within the adjacent Chicontepec foreland basin, over the Tuxpan Platform (Golden Lane), across the continental slope and up to the deep abyssal plain, these two last morphotectonic provinces belonging to the DBGM. During the Early Paleogene, the effects of the thermal subsidence of the passive margin were stressed by the tectonic load of the Laramian orogen (i.e., the Sierra Madre Oriental, SMO), thus allowing the development of a foreland basin flexural. In this geodynamic framework, the main sedimentary transfers developed from the tectonic front "SMO" in the west, towards the DBGM in the east, the main source for clastic sediments being linked to the erosion of the "SMO" mountains. During the Paleocene and the Early Eocene, the architecture of the silici-clastic syn-tectonic sediments deposited in submarine fans was characterized by sliding, turbidites with A and B Bouma facies, as well as levees and channels. After the stop of the flexural subsidence, the thermal subsidence of the passive margin resumed during the Late Eocene, the Oligocene and the Neogene, allowing the development of a new sedimentary prism, prograding eastwards toward the DBGM. This sedimentary infill was again made up of levees-channels, sand bars and delta systems. During the Neogene, an extensional system with listric faults and roll-over features developed across the slope of the DBGM, due to an active detachment developing within overpressured Eocene-Oligocene clays. This gravitational gliding of Neogene series accounted also for the development of compressional features at the toe of the slope. Approximately 60% of the Miocene siliciclastic sediments have been trapped in growth strata and slope basins associated with this complex gravitational system, ranging from river-delta features towards gravity slides associated with slump facies. The second part of this thesis aims at a quantification of these various processes, including the construction of balanced cross sections, forward Thrustpack kinematic modelling coupling the development of a basal detachment, lithospheric flexure, erosion and sedimentation, as well as subsequent stratigraphic modelling with the Dionisos software, the later aiming at predicting the sand versus clay ratios in Neogene siliciclastic deposits of the DBGM and its surroundings.
Le bassin profond du Golfe du Mexique (BPMG) est localisé à l'est du Mexique, au sud-est des États-Unis et à l'ouest de l'Océan Atlantique. Cette étude de la partie profonde du Golfe du Mexique est basée sur l'intégration de données de sismique, de forages pétroliers et d'études de terrain; elle comprend toute la pente continentale et la plaine abyssale, avec une bathymétrie qui varie de 200 à 3750 m. La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée à la description du remplissage sédimentaire de la bordure occidentale du Golfe du Mexique, dans le secteur de Veracruz, en liaison avec son évolution géodynamique. L'évolution géodynamique du BPMG commence au Trias-Jurassique avec la rupture et la propagation d'un rift continental, dans le secteur sud de la plaque nord américaine. Cette ouverture et le déplacement relatif vers le sud-est du bloc crustal du Yucatan sont à l'origine du BPGM. Cette géodynamique de rift continental est suivie d'une étape post-rift accompagnée de l'océanisation du bassin. Les bassins de la marge passive ont poursuivi leur évolution sous l'effet de la subsidence thermique à l'ouest du Golfe du Mexique, tandis que de la croûte océanique se formait dans le BPGM. Cette subsidence thermique de la marge a ensuite été perturbée par l'orogénèse Laramienne, qui a remodelé l'architecture stratigraphique silico-clastique des dépôts du Tertiaire entre les éléments morphotectoniques suivants: lefront tectonique de la Sierra Madre Orientale (SMO), le bassin d'avant-pays Chicontepec, la Plateforme de Tuxpan-Faja de Oro, la pente continentale et la plaine abyssale, ces deux dernières provinces morphotectoniques appartenant au BPGM. Pendant le Paléogèneinférieur, les effets de la subsidence thermique de la marge passive ont été accentués par la charge tectonique de l'orogénèse laramienne (SMO), permettant ainsi le développement d'un bassin flexural d'avant-pays. Au cours de cette étape, les principaux transferts sédimentaires se sont effectués du front tectonique "SMO" vers le BPGM. La source principale de sédiments clastiques est liée à l'érosion de la chaîne de montagnes "SMO". Pendant le Paléocène et l'Éocène inférieur, l'architecture des premiers sédiments silico-clastiques syn-tectoniques déposés dans des éventails sous-marins sont caractérisés par des figures de glissement, des faciès turbiditiques A et B de Bouma, des chenaux-levées. Après l'arrêt de la subsidence flexurale, la subsidence thermique de la marge passive s'est poursuivie pendant l'Éocène supérieur, l'Oligocène et le Néogène, permettant le développement d'un nouveau prisme sédimentaire progradant. Les remplissages sédimentaires sont encore constitués de chenaux et de levées, avec des barres de sable associées à des systèmes deltaïques sur la plateforme. Pendant le Néogène, un système de failles listriques s'est développé sur la pente du BPGM, au-dessus d'une surface de décollement située, dans la région d'étude, dans les argiles de l'Éocène-Oligocène. Ce système de failles de croissance a piégé plus de 60% des sédiments silico-clastiques du Miocène. Ce remplissage sédimentaire évolue latéralement de faciès fluviaux deltaïques vers des faciès de pente affectés de glissements gravitaires et associés à des turbidites. La deuxième partie de cette thèse est consacrée à une approche quantitative basée sur des modélisations structurales (coupes équilibrées et modélisations cinématiques directes avec Thrustpack, couplant décollement gravitaire, flexure lithosphérique, érosion et sédimentation), puis sédimentaires (prise en compte des transferts de matériel clastique depuis la partie émergée de la chaîne jusqu'au bassin profond, à l'aide du logiciel Dionisos, afin de mieux comprendre les processus de piégeage des sédiments grossiers dans les structures de croissance et les bassins perchés de la marge.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120

tel-00435120
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120/file/thesealzaga.pdf

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : During the Fanindien 2006 cruise of R/V 'Beautemps-Beaupre', high resolution multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling and sediment coring was carried out along the East African margin, offshore Tanzania and Mozambique (Indian Ocean). The newly acquired data reveal the presence of a giant deep-sea valley (the Tanzania channel) that is more than 10 km wide at 4000 m water depth, along the continental rise. The valley remains similar to 70 m deep and 7 km wide at 800 km from the Tanzania coast. Morphological comparison with worldwide submarine channels show that the Tanzania channel is one of the largest known submarine valleys. This discovery brings new light on development of submarine valleys that drain sediments originated from the East African Rift System (EARS) highlands (i.e. the Tanzania channel and its neighbor Zambezi channel located similar to 1000 km southward). Both of the systems have a morphology markedly different to the classical sinuous, V-shaped channels located at similar latitudes (e.g. the Zaire or Amazon channels). Their submarine drainage system consists of a downslope converging tributary canyons joining a central trunk channel in the continental rise. The presence of such giant deep-sea drainage systems is probably linked to a strong structural control on the sediment pathway, associated to a massive sediment transfer towards the Indian Ocean in relation with the tectonic activity of the East African Rift System (i.e. the uplift periods trough mid-Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene times) and its interplay with the East African equatorial climate changes.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2008-12 , Vol. 255 , N. 3-4 , P. 179-185

Droits : 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00324/43491/42958.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.09.002
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00324/43491/

Résumé : L’arc des Petites Antilles résulte de la lente subduction vers l'Ouest des plaques Nord et Sud-Américaines sous la plaque Caraïbes (2cm/an). A la latitude de l’archipel guadeloupéen et à ~150 km à l’Ouest du front de déformation, le bassin d'avant-arc de Marie-Galante forme un bassin perché, incliné vers la fosse et limité vers l’Est par un haut-fond, l’Eperon Karukéra. À cette latitude, le bassin de Marie-Galante domine le prisme d’accrétion de la Barbade et fait face à la ride de Tiburon qui balaye la zone du Nord au Sud depuis la fin du Miocène supérieur. Le remplissage sédimentaire du Bassin de Marie-Galante montre des déformations actives au moins depuis ~30 millions d’années. L’objectif du travail est de reconstituer l’évolution tectono-sédimentaire de ce bassin pour apporter de nouvelles contraintes sur la compréhension globale de la zone de subduction frontale des Petites Antilles. Ce travail s'appuie sur les données de bathymétrie multifaisceaux et de sismique réflexion multi-traces haute résolution acquises lors des campagnes du programme KaShallow. Cette base de données, complétée de profils sismiques plus basse résolution de campagnes antérieures, permet d’avoir une couverture pseudo 3D et à quatre échelles de résolution de l'ensemble du bassin. Un échantillonnage par ROV et carottage ciblé a fourni 40 prélèvements dans les principales unités sismiques. Les analyses pétrologiques et les datations biostratigraphiques autorisent des reconstitutions paléo-environnementales depuis le Paléogène supérieur jusqu’à Actuel. L’interprétation sismique multi-échelle montre un bassin sédimentaire atteignant ~4,5s temps double (~4500 à 5625 m) sur un substratum magmatique pré-structuré. Ce bassin est composé de 5 grands ensembles sédimentaires (E-1, E1, E2, E3 et E4) subdivisés en 13 unités limitées par 14 surfaces de discontinuités. L’organisation séquentielle des unités sismiques permet de mettre en évidence 10 séquences de dépôts de troisièmes ordres (S-1 à S9). Le calage biostratigraphique de l’ensemble des séquences permet de proposer une évolution tectono-sédimentaire du bassin de l’Éocène à l’Actuel. Ainsi, nous distinguons quatre systèmes de failles normales associées à trois phases d’extensions qui contrôlent l’évolution architecturale et sédimentaire du bassin. 1/ Un système N050±10°E hérité, actif dès le Paléogène supérieur, qui contrôle le basculement général du bassin vers le SSE. Il est responsable de la formation de l'escarpement de Désirade d’environ 4500 m de dénivelé. Cette première extension est interprétée comme résultant de la fragmentation de l'avant-arc en réponse à l'augmentation du rayon de courbure de la zone de subduction. 2/ Un système N130°-N150°E, structurant à l’échelle de l’Éperon Karukéra, qui contrôle la sédimentation dès le Miocène inférieur et marque une première phase d'extension transverse à l’arc. 3/ Un système N160°-N180°E qui segmente le Bassin de Marie-Galante en un sous-bassin à l'Ouest et l'Éperon Karukéra à l'Est. Cette seconde extension, globalement perpendiculaire à la marge, s'accompagne d’une subsidence et d'une inversion de la polarité du bassin en réponse à son basculement vers la fosse qui débute au cours du Miocène moyen et se poursuit actuellement à l'Est du bassin. Cette évolution à long terme de l'avant-arc, concomitante avec le recul de l'arc volcanique vers l’Ouest, est considérée comme résultant d’une érosion basale de la plaque supérieure. 4/ Un système N090±10°E plus tardif est localisé au centre du bassin et qui contrôle le développement de plates-formes carbonatées néritiques sur certaines têtes de blocs, comme par exemple à Marie-Galante. Cette dernière extension, parallèle à l’arc, se manifeste dans le bassin à partir du Pliocène inférieur. Elle se superpose au régime d'extension perpendiculaire à l'avant-arc et est interprétée comme l'accommodation du partitionnement de la déformation en réponse à l’obliquité croissante du front subduction vers le Nord.
The Lesser Antilles result of the slow westward subduction of the North and South American plate under the Caribbean plate (2 cm / year). At the latitude of the Guadeloupe archipelago and ~ 150 km to the west of the deformation front, the fore-arc basin of Marie-Galante forms a perched basin tilted to the pit and limited to the East by a shoal, the Spur Karukéra. At this latitude, Marie-Galante basin dominates the accretionary prism of Barbados and faces wrinkle Tiburon sweeping the area from North to South from the late Miocene. The sedimentary fill Basin Marie-Galante shows active deformation since at least ~ 30 million years. The aim of the work is to reconstruct the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the basin to provide new constraints on the overall understanding of the frontal subduction zone Lesser Antilles. This work relies on multibeam bathymetry data and high-resolution seismic reflection multi-traces acquired during campaigns KaShallow program. This database, supplemented by lower resolution of previous campaigns seismic profiles, provides a pseudo-3D coverage and four scales of resolution of the entire basin. ROV sampling and targeted core provided 40 samples in the main seismic units. Petrological analysis and biostratigraphic dating allow paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the upper Paleogene up Actuel. Seismic interpretation multiscale shows a sedimentary basin reaching ~ 4,5s double (~ 4500-5625 m) on a substrate pre-structured magma. This basin consists of 5 main sedimentary units (E-1, E1, E2, E3 and E4) divided into 13 units bounded by discontinuities 14 surfaces. The sequential organization of seismic units allows to highlight sequences 10 deposits of third order (S-1 to S9). The biostratigraphic calibration of all sequences able to offer a tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Eocene basin to Present. Thus, we distinguish four normal fault systems associated with three phases of extensions that control the architectural and sedimentary evolution of the basin. 1 / A system N050 ± 10 ° E inherited assets from the upper Paleogene, which controls the overall pelvic tilt towards the SSE. He is responsible for the formation of the escarpment Désirade about 4500 m elevation. The first extension is interpreted as resulting from the fragmentation of the fore-arc in response to the increase in the radius of curvature of subduction. 2 / A system N130 ° -N150 ° E, structuring across the Spur Karukéra, which controls sediment from the Miocene and marks the first phase of transverse extension arc. 3 / A system N160 ° E ° -N180 which segments Basin Marie-Galante in a sub-basin to the west and the Spur Karukéra in the East. This second extension, generally perpendicular to the margin, is accompanied by subsidence and reversing the polarity of the basin in response to his switch to the pit, beginning during the Middle Miocene and is ongoing in the East the basin. This long-term evolution of the forearc, concurrent with the decline in volcanic arc to the west, is considered as resulting from a basal erosion of the top plate. 4 / A system N090 ± 10 ° later E is located in the center of the basin and controlling the development of neritic carbonate platforms on certain blocks heads, such as Marie-Galante. This latest extension, parallel to the arc occurs in the basin from the lower Pliocene. It is superimposed on the expansion plan perpendicular to the fore-arc and is interpreted as the accommodation of the partitioning of deformation in response to the increasing obliquity front subduction north.

http://www.theses.fr/2014AGUY0799/document

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Sci Ltd
Résumé : Several marine geophysical data and piston-coring surveys acquired during the last decade allow one to better understand the close dynamic interactions between the sand-rich Orinoco turbidite system and the compressional structures of the Barbados prism. These interactions have been active since Eocene time as illustrated by the study of outcrops onshore Barbados Island. Because of strong morphologic and tectonic control in the east-Caribbean active margin, the present-day Orinoco turbiditic pattern system does not exhibit a classic fan geometry. The sea-floor geometry between the slope of the front of the Barbados prism and the slope of the South-American margin induces the convergence of the turbidite channels toward the abyssal plain, at the front of the accretionary prism. Also, whereas in most passive margins the turbidite systems are organized upstream to downstream as canyon, channel-levee and lobes, here, due to the tectonic control, the sedimentary system is organized upstream to downstream as channel-levee, canyons and channelized lobes. Indeed, at the edge of the Orinoco platform, the system has multiple sources with several distributaries and downstream the channel courses are complex with frequent convergences or divergences that are emphasized by the effects of the undulating seafloor tectonic morphologies associated with active thrust tectonics and mud volcanism. On top of the accretionary prism, turbidite sediments are filling transported piggy-back basins whose timing of sedimentation vs. deformation is complex. While erosion processes are almost absent on the highly subsiding Orinoco platform and in the upper part of the turbidite system, they develop mostly between 2000 and 4000 m of water depth, above the compressional structures of the Barbados prism (canyons up to 3 km wide and 300 m deep). In the abyssal plain, the main turbiditic channel develops toward the east and connects with the Vidal mid-Atlantic channel. The sediments transported in this channel are filling several elongated basins linked with fracture zones (notably the Barracuda Basin), and finally end their course in the Puerto-Rico trench, the deepest morphologic depression of the region. Piston-cores have demonstrated that turbidite sediments above the accretionary prism and in the abyssal plain are mostly coarse sandy deposits covered by recent pelagic planktonic-rich sediments, which corresponds to slower sand deposition during the post-glacial sea level rise. Numerical stratigraphic modelling suggests that during the last glacial event, the main depocentres were located above the tectonic prism and in the abyssal plain, at the front of the prism and that, during the Holocene eustatic rise, a large accommodation space formed on the shelf confining sedimentation mostly on the Orinoco deltaic platform and producing a starvation downstream in the turbidite system.
Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2015-06 , Vol. 64 , P. 76-103

Droits : 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00252/36373/34913.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.12.015
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00252/36373/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Sedimentary rocks and detrital minerals sample large areas of the continental crust, and they are increasingly seen as a reliable archive for its global evolution. This study presents two approaches to model the growth of the continental crust through the sedimentary archive. The first builds on the variations in U-Pb, Hf and O isotopes in global databases of detrital zircons. We show that uncertainty in the Hf isotope composition of the mantle reservoir from which new crust separated, in the 176Lu/177Hf ratio of that new crust, and in the contribution in the databases of zircons that experienced ancient Pb loss(es), adds some uncertainty to the individual Hf model ages, but not to the overall shape of the calculated continental growth curves. The second approach is based on the variation of Nd isotopes in 645 worldwide fine-grained continental sedimentary rocks with different deposition ages, which requires a correction of the bias induced by preferential erosion of younger rocks through an erosion parameter referred to as K. This dimensionless parameter relates the proportions of younger to older source rocks in the sediment, to the proportions of younger to older source rocks present in the crust from which the sediment was derived. We suggest that a Hadean/Archaean value of K = 1 (i.e., no preferential erosion), and that post-Archaean values of K = 4–6, may be reasonable for the global Earth system. Models built on the detrital zircon and the fine-grained sediment records independently suggest that at least 65% of the present volume of continental crust was established by 3 Ga. The continental crust has been generated continuously, but with a marked decrease in the growth rate at ~ 3 Ga. The period from > 4 Ga to ~ 3 Ga is characterised by relatively high net rates of continental growth (2.9–3.4 km3 yr− 1 on average), which are similar to the rates at which new crust is generated (and destroyed) at the present time. Net growth rates are much lower since 3 Ga (0.6–0.9 km3 yr− 1 on average), which can be attributed to higher rates of destruction of continental crust. The change in slope in the continental growth curve at ~ 3 Ga is taken to indicate a global change in the way bulk crust was generated and preserved, and this change has been linked to the onset of subduction-driven plate tectonics. At least 100% of the present volume of the continental crust has been destroyed and recycled back into the mantle since ~ 3 Ga, and this time marks a transition in the average composition of new continental crust. Continental crust generated before 3 Ga was on average mafic, dense, relatively thin (< 20 km) and therefore different from the calc-alkaline andesitic crust that dominates the continental record today. Continental crust that formed after 3 Ga gradually became more intermediate in composition, buoyant and thicker. The increase in crustal thickness is accompanied by increasing rates of crustal reworking and increasing input of sediment to the ocean. These changes may have been accommodated by a change in lithospheric strength at around 3 Ga, as it became strong enough to support high-relief crust. This time period therefore indicates when significant volumes of continental crust started to become emergent and were available for erosion and weathering, thus impacting on the composition of the atmosphere and the oceans.
ISSN: 0037-0738

hal-01622696
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622696
DOI : 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2017.06.001

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : During the Fanindien 2006 cruise of R/V 'Beautemps-Beaupre', high resolution multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling and sediment coring was carried out along the East African margin, offshore Tanzania and Mozambique (Indian Ocean). The newly acquired data reveal the presence of a giant deep-sea valley (the Tanzania channel) that is more than 10 km wide at 4000 m water depth, along the continental rise. The valley remains similar to 70 m deep and 7 km wide at 800 km from the Tanzania coast. Morphological comparison with worldwide submarine channels show that the Tanzania channel is one of the largest known submarine valleys. This discovery brings new light on development of submarine valleys that drain sediments originated from the East African Rift System (EARS) highlands (i.e. the Tanzania channel and its neighbor Zambezi channel located similar to 1000 km southward). Both of the systems have a morphology markedly different to the classical sinuous, V-shaped channels located at similar latitudes (e.g. the Zaire or Amazon channels). Their submarine drainage system consists of a downslope converging tributary canyons joining a central trunk channel in the continental rise. The presence of such giant deep-sea drainage systems is probably linked to a strong structural control on the sediment pathway, associated to a massive sediment transfer towards the Indian Ocean in relation with the tectonic activity of the East African Rift System (i.e. the uplift periods trough mid-Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene times) and its interplay with the East African equatorial climate changes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2008-12 , Vol. 255 , N. 3-4 , P. 179-185

Droits : 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-6855.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.09.002

Éditeur(s) : OMICS Publishing Group
Résumé : Coastal tropical shrimp farming may impact the adjacent ecosystems through the release of large quantities of effluents rich in nutrients. In New Caledonia, mangroves are considered as a natural biofilter to reduce impacts on the surrounding World Heritage listed lagoon. Our main objective was to understand the influence of effluent discharge on the biogeochemistry of mangrove sediments. A monitoring of the physico-chemical parameters of mangrove sediments was carried out during a whole year, including active and non active periods of the farm. The parameters studied were: i) benthic primary production (Chl-a concentrations), ii) physico-chemical parameters of sediments (redox potential, pH, salinity, TOC, TN, TS, δ13C and δ15N), iii) concentrations of dissolved nitrogen, iron and phosphorus. A mangrove developing in the same physiographic conditions, presenting the same zonation, and free of anthropogenic input was used as reference. The concentration of benthic Chl-a measured at sediment surface in the effluent receiving mangrove was twice to three times that measured in the control zone whatever the season. We thus suggest that nutrients inputs significantly increased the phytobenthic production in the effluent receiving mangrove during the whole year, even after the cessation of discharges and because of natural seasonal dynamic of phytobenthos. Although the flow of surface OM was increased, the OM content at depth was not higher than in the control mangrove. However, the contribution of mangrove detritus to the sedimentary organic pool was higher probably as a result of higher density and much greater individual size of the mangrove trees. Unlike the control mangrove sediment, the effluent receiving mangrove sediment was not stratified, redox potential values were high and presence of Fe3+ was detected down to 50 cm depth, probably as a result of a larger root system, allowing a better sediment oxygenation and accentuated OM decomposition processes, and thus limiting ecosystem saturation.
Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development (21559546) (OMICS Publishing Group), 2014-07-03 , Vol. 5 , N. 5 , P. 1-13

Droits : 2014 Marchand C, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00251/36253/34801.pdf
DOI:10.4172/2155-9546.1000262
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00251/36253/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Continental erosion and weathering destroy parts of the stratigraphic record. Analyses of the sedimentary filling of paleokarsts help completing the geological record of regions that have been submitted to post-depositional, long-term, continental evolution. Jurassic carbonate platform of Languedoc (South of France) has undergone several karstification phases from Cretaceous to Neogene. Later incision of canyons through the carbonate massifs allows to observe paleokarsts over 400m depth, within the massifs. Paleokarsts are partly filled with sediments. Some have yielded marine bioclasts (echinoderms, radiolars), foraminifera and nannofossils; others are composed of polygenic detrital sediments, including sources from the upstream Paleozoic basement (Cevennes). The age of the filling of successive paleokarsts can be constrained by structural relationships and by biostratigraphy. These findings suggests 1) the marine elements of the karstic filling relate to a Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene interval, while 2) the Paleozoic basement-sourced-sediments were trapped in the karst during Miocene to Present. Karstic sediment containing Early Paleocene foraminifera and nannofossils are found in paleokarsts cavities distributed across the entire thickness of the carbonate massif (≥350m). This requires base-level lowering and associated karstification, followed by base-level rise and karst filling of at least 350 m amplitude, respectively. The time interval corresponding to the occurrence of foraminifera and nannofossils in karsts covers 10 Myrs ; surprisingly, no equivalent marine sediments are preserved on the surface. In addition, analyses of the different forams species suggests several (up to 3) distinct karstification and marine filling cycles. Finally, sedimentological facies analysis of the karst filling reveals the following succession of processes: low energy settling of mudstone, high energy reworking, transport and deposition of silts and sandstones within the karst system. Integration of geological, paleontological and sedimentological data, leads to a polyphase scenario in response to repeated base-level variations, more than 350m amplitude. Such an amplitude excludes eustacy, and the improbable repeated sequence of uplift and subsidence rules out tectonics, as driving forces for base-level change, respectively. We propose that the high-amplitude base-level changes results from a succession of desiccation-flooding events of an endorheic, silled, basin during Early Paleogene. The later detrital assemblage sourced in the Cevennes occurs on perched paleosurfaces and in karst cavities across the whole 350m-deep canyon walls. When found on paleosurfaces, they correspond to the south-flowing Early Miocene fluvial drainage, and can be correlated downstream with the marine, well dated, Early Miocene, sediments. When found within the karst cavities, they correspond to successive base-level surfaces connected to the progressive incision of the canyon. This canyon incision is coeval with a Late Miocene uplift of the hinterland.
24th International Karstological School "Classical karst" : Paleokarst
Postojna, Slovenia

hal-01306683
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01306683
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01306683/document
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01306683/file/Abstract_IKS.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Franceville Basin (2.1 Ga) in southeastern Gabon, hosts a black shale series well preserved (FB Formation) which represents an exceptional example of unmetamorphised Paleoproterozoic sediment strata. This basin includes the protore of one of the largest Mn-oxide laterite ore worldwide, mined by Eramet-Comilog. The aim of this this work is to determine formation conditions of this protore and to characterize the global sedimentary evolution of the FB Formation which include the protore. This 75 m thick protore is constituted of Mn carbonate-rich black shales which represent a potential ore deposit for the future. It was drilled, on the Bangombé plateau, during a recent campaign of 24 boreholes with an average depth of 125 m.Through multidisciplinary study on these cores and key outcrops of the basin, this work focuses on : i) the depositional environment of the Mn-protore and FB Formation ; ii) the processes of formation of the Mn-carbonates at 2.1 Ga and iii) the architecture and distribution of Mn-rich levels of the protore on the Bangombé Plateau.A detailed sedimentological and petrological study allowed us to redefine the division of the FB into nine units, named U1 to U9 from the base to the top. These units show a fine upward cycle up to U5 and a reverse coarse loop until U9. This division leads to a new interpretation to propose an evolution from a shoreface depositional environment controlled by deltaic currents (U1) to an offshore depositional environment with anoxic conditions (U2). In this basin, a system of submarine fan is developed, feeding a network of sand injections (injectites) covering the Bangombé plateau (70 km²) and with a thickness of 150 m affecting U4 to U7, including the Mn-protore. The protore depositional environment formed below the wave base limit (U4, U5 and U6) in a starved basin, controlled by biochemical sedimentation allowed the formation of Mn-carbonates. The end of starved basin, would allow the re-opening of the detrital input into the offshore basin (U7). This basin is then filled by storm bar deposits intersected by deltaic sub-aquatic channels (U8). The U9 unit corresponds to a quiet lagoon environment, allowing the multicellular organism development for the first time on the planet.A geochemical study allowed the characterization of the depositional environment of Mn-carbonates as an anoxic to sub-oxic and alkaline environment. For the first time, we showed that the manganese carbonates, present as bacteriomorph forms, are precipitated from the seawater by the mediated photosynthetic cyanobacterial activity, which allows CO2 / HCO3 depression of the environment and a local increase of pH. The cyanobacterial activity is controlled by the absence of bottom currents, which increase the detrital input. This would stop the activity of the cyanobacteria and thus would lead to the decrease of the Mn-concentration along the protore.Finally, well-log and a sequential correlation analyses allowed us to detail spatial and timing repartition of FB Formation deposit, controlled by a tectono-sedimentary model. We propose two- tectono-sedimentary phases. A first syn-tectonic phase (U1 to U3) controls the depocentres and sedimentation gaps. Turbidite coarse deposits are located in the most subsident part, clay deposits rather on the slope and carbonates on shoals. A second post-tectonic phase (U4 to U7) allows isopach deposits. The Mn-protore formed during the post-tectonic phase. However, it shows a variable thickness due to subsidence to the north of the Bangombé plateau. So, on the Bangombé plateau, Mn-contents increase towards the south, whereas the protore thickness increases towards the NNE. Moreover sand injectites decrease Mn-content in the eastern part of the Bangombé plateau and impact on the economic evaluation of the Mn-carbonates. Currently, the protore is structured by post-sedimentary faults, which lead to a non-continuity of the high Mn levels on the Bangombé plateau.
Le Bassin de Franceville situé au SE du Gabon présente une série de black shales (Formation FB) d'âge Paléoprotérozoïque (2,1 Ga) surmontant les grès de la Formation FA. Ce bassin peu déformé et non métamorphique représente une archive exceptionnelle des processus de dépôt de cette période de l’histoire de la Terre où la vie commence à se développer. En particulier, la Formation FB contient le protore d'un gisement mondial d'oxydes de manganèse exploité par la société Eramet-Comilog. L’objectif de ce travail est de préciser les conditions de formation de ce protore et de le replacer dans l’histoire du remplissage du bassin. Ce protore d'une épaisseur moyenne de 75 m est constitué de carbonates de manganèse ; il a fait l'objet d'une récente campagne de 24 forages carottés d'une profondeur moyenne de 125 m sur le plateau de Bangombé.A travers une approche pluridisciplinaire comprenant l'étude de ces forages et des affleurements clefs du bassin, ce travail porte sur la caractérisation i) de l'environnement de dépôt du protore et des séries qui l'encadrent (du toit du FA au toit du FB) ; ii) du mode de formation des carbonates de Mn à 2,1 Ga et iii) de l'architecture et de la répartition des hautes teneurs en Mn du protore qui représente un gisement potentiel du futur.L’étude pétro-sédimentaire détaillée a permis de distinguer neuf unités (U1 à U9) au sein de la Formation FB organisées suivant un cycle rétrogradant jusqu’à U5 puis progradant jusqu’à U9. Ce découpage montre une évolution du milieu de dépôt depuis un domaine de shoreface contrôlé par des courants deltaïques (U1) évoluant vers des dépôts d’offshore restreint (U2). Ce bassin enregistre ensuite un système de chenaux-levées turbiditiques (U3) qui alimentent un réseau d'injectites reconnu sur l’ensemble du Pl. de Bangombé et qui traverse 150 m de série (U4 à U7) en affectant le protore et ainsi les teneurs en Mn. L'environnement de dépôt du protore (U5 et U6) marque l’isolement du bassin qui devient affamé et contrôlé par une sédimentation biochimique à l’origine du dépôt des carbonates de Mn. L'Unité 7 correspond à la réouverture des apports détritiques en domaine d'offshore supérieur puis en domaine de shoreface dominé par des dépôts de tempêtes et de chenaux sous-aquatiques deltaïques (U8), et enfin lagunaire (U9) dans lequel apparaissent les premiers métazoaires de l’histoire de la planète, suivant une séquence régressive.Une étude géochimique a permis de préciser les conditions de dépôt du protore qui se forme en milieu alcalin anoxique à sub-oxique. Dans ce milieu, nous montrons pour la première fois une précipitation directe des carbonates de Mn sous forme bactériomorphe induite par l'activité photosynthétique des cyanobactéries qui consomment le CO2/HCO3 et conduisent à une augmentation du pH favorable à la formation des carbonates de Mn. L'activité cyanobactérienne est conditionnée par l’absence de courants de fond qui augmentent la turbidité du milieu et stoppent cette dernière.Les corrélations diagraphiques et séquentielles permettent de préciser la répartition spatiale et temporelle du FB permettant ainsi de replacer le protore dans l’histoire tectono-sédimentaire du bassin. Une première phase syn-tectonique (U1 à U3) contrôle l’épaisseur et la mise en place de dépôts turbiditiques dans les parties subsidentes, de dépôts argileux sur les pentes et de dépôt de carbonates sur les hauts-fonds. La seconde phase post tectonique (U4 à U7) permet la mise en place de dépôts relativement isopaques, bien que le protore enregistre une subsidence plus importante au nord du Pl. de Bangombé. On observe ainsi, sur le Plateau de Bangombé, des teneurs en Mn qui augmentent vers le sud alors que l’épaisseur du protore augmente vers le NNE. Postérieurement au dépôt du FB, le protore est structuré par des failles qui le compartimentent en touches de piano limitant ainsi sa continuité sur le Plateau de Bangombé.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460

tel-01621460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460/file/these_Dubois2017-MnGabon.pdf

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bucarest - Université de Bretagne occidentale
Résumé : This study is focusing on the architecture and recent sedimentary evolution of the Danube channel, the youngest channel-levee system in the Danube deep-sea fan. The study was conducted as part of the BlaSON French-Romanian Project, and combined high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles and chirp profiles with multibeam bathymetry and piston cores. This data set was acquired in 1998 during a joint survey IFREMER-GeoEcoMar of the north-western Black Sea. Previous seismic and acoustic data were also used. The Danube deep-sea fan is a large passive-margin mud-rich fan. Like the other systems of this type (Amazon fan, Mississippi fan or Indus fan) the Danube fan consists of stacked channel-levee systems intercalated with mass-transport deposits. Seismic and sedimentary facies in the Danube fan are similar to those identified in most of the mud-rich systems. Nevertheless, the Danube fan is distinguished by a specific feature: its development in a freshwater environment. This is due to the peculiar water-level history of the Black Sea controlled by the link to the Mediterranean through the Strait of Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. This connexion was successively interrupted (during sea level lowstands) and re-established (when the sea level was rising above the Bosphorus). Temporary absence of marine water influx during lowstands together with large freshwater inputs from the Danube and other major rivers changed the Black Sea into a freshwater lake during times of fan activity. This peculiarity possibly favourised the development of hyperpycnal flow at the Danube mouth and the initiation of turbidity currents in the deep-sea fan. The Danube channel is directly connected to the large shelf-indenting Danube canyon (also known as Viteaz canyon). The Danube canyon is deeply incised into the shelf margin for 26 km landward of the shelfbreak. During lowstands this canyon acted as the most important path for sediment supply to the deep sea in this part of the continental margin. It consists of a main trough with steep flanks, and a meandering thalweg cut into the flat canyon floor, attesting for the development of the canyon by erosion in the entrenched axial thalweg. Sections with specific morphology, orientation and gradient identified along the canyon, are interpreted as phases of landward expansion of the canyon. Internal structure of the canyon shows several erosional surfaces, which indicate that the present morphology of the canyon is the result of its polyphasic evolution. Instability in the zone of the canyon is related to the important sediment supply at the Danube mouth, to the presence of the gas in the surficial sediment, and possibly under a structural control. The upper part of the Danube channel (between the Danube canyon and ~1400 m depth) consists in a single leveed-channel that has undergone significant overbank deposition, as attested by the well-developed levees. The levees are strongly asymmetrical, being higher and wider on the right-hand side looking downstream. This type of asymmetry is rather common in deep-sea fans, and is generally attributed to the Coriolis effect (Menard, 1955). The channel is slightly sinuous, partially filled and incised by an entrenched thalweg, connected to the axial thalweg of the Danube canyon. Detailed seismic investigation inside the channel trough documented several depositional phases within the channel fill, separated by erosional surfaces. These surfaces are associated with distinct terraces identified on the multibeam bathymetry, that can be followed downward along the main trough axis. The valley fill deposits (where not removed by the subsequent erosional event) show an axial HAR (High Amplitude Reflections) seismic facies with lateral lower amplitude continuous reflections consisting in a levee facies, as proved by sampling. This indicates that filling up was associated with flow within the channel, and not with interruption of fan activity. On the middle slope below 1400 m, this single channel bifurcates through repeated avulsions. As a result, several highly meandering channels developed. The onlap relationships between these channels indicate that only one channel was active at a time. Each phase of avulsion resulted in a depositional unit consisting in a basal unchannelized lobe defined as High Amplitude Reflection Packets (HARP, Flood et al., 1991) that underlies a channel-levee system. The deposition of HARPs was associated with the readjustment of the longitudinal profile of the channel after the breaching of a levee, which resulted in remobilization of upslope channel deposits and eroded levees. When this adjustment was complete, erosion ceased and levees began to develop above the HARPs (Pirmez et al., 1997). All the identified phases of avulsion followed the same pattern: (1) breaching of the lower and narrower left levee; (2) building of a unit of High Amplitude Reflector Packets (HARP) basinward of the bifurcation point by the unchannelized flow, while the former channel was abandoned; and (3) initiation of a new meandering leveed channel. The northward migration of the resulting units through repeated bifurcations is influenced by the asymmetry between levees (hence by the Coriolis effect), and confined between the high levees of the initial phase of the Danube channel (to the south) and the steep relief of the Dniepr fan (to the north). Structure of the fan valley fill indicate that the erosional surfaces inside the upper channel could be formed in response of successive avulsions, by the adjustment of the longitudinal profile of the channel following the breaching of a levee wall. Sediments removed by erosion formed the HARP lobes basinward of the avulsion point. When this adjustment was complete, a channel-levee system developed downward of the bifurcation, overlying the HARPs, but also upward of this point, as a confined channel-levee system inside the erosional trough of the fan valley. Fluvial incisions identified on the continental shelf, together with the coastline location during the last active period of the Danube channel, indicated that the paleo-Danube was directed towards the head of the Danube canyon. Paleo-Danube mouth was fairly close (ca. 10 km) to the Danube canyon, supplying sediment to the Danube channel. Furthermore, hyperpycnal flow probably prevailed in the freshwater environment that characterized the Black Sea during times of fan activity. These conditions would have enabled the development of a quasi-continuous river-canyon-deep-sea fan system, ensuring the effective transfer of the sediment between the coastal zone and the deep sea.
Ce travail est consacré à l'étude de l'architecture et de l'évolution sédimentaire récente de l'éventail profond du Danube, en particulier de son dernier système chenal-levée: le chenal du Danube. L'étude a été réalisée dans le cadre du projet de coopération franco-roumaine BlaSON, à partir des données sismiques, bathymétriques-acoustiques et sédimentologiques acquises en 1998 lors d'une campagne en mer Noire réalisée par IFREMER et GeoEcoMar. Des données sismiques et acoustiques antérieures ont été également utilisées. L'éventail profond du Danube s'enserre dans la catégorie des grands éventails vaseux. Comme les autres systèmes de ce genre (tel que les éventails de l'Amazone, du Mississippi ou de l'Indus) il est constitué d'une succession de systèmes chenaux-levées intercalés avec des dépôts de transport en masse. Le fonctionnement de l'éventail était conditionné par la baisse du niveau marin lors des périodes glaciaires. Ses faciès sismiques et sédimentaires s'apparentent aux faciès qui caractérisent la plupart des éventails de ce type. L'éventail du Danube constitue néanmoins un cas particulier parmi les autres systèmes étudiés, du fait de son fonctionnement dans un bassin lacustre. Ceci est dû à la situation spécifique de la mer Noire dont la connexion avec la Méditerranée, par le détroit de Bosphore et la mer de Marmara, a été successivement interrompue (au cours de périodes de bas niveau) et reprise (quand le niveau marin remontait en dépassant le seuil du Bosphore). L'absence de l'apport d'eau salée pendant les périodes glaciaires, associée avec l'augmentation de l'apport fluvial, ont déterminé l'installation d'un milieu d'eau douce dans la mer Noire à chaque fois que la baisse du niveau permettait la reprise du fonctionnement de l'éventail profond. Cette situation particulière aurait favorisé la formation des courants hyperpycnaux à l'embouchure d'un fleuve du débit du Danube qui déversait ses eaux turbides dans un bassin lacustre, et aurait donc influencé l'apparition de courants de turbidité dans l'éventail profond. Le chenal du Danube s'est développé sur la pente continentale en prolongation du canyon du Danube (ou Viteaz) auquel il est directement connecté. Le canyon est incisé de manière significative (26 km) dans la plate-forme continentale. Au cours de bas-niveaux marins il constituait la principale voie de transfert des sédiments terrigènes vers le bassin profond dans cette partie de la marge. Le canyon est constitué par une entaille avec des flancs abrupts et un talweg axial incisé, qui montre l'importance du processus d'érosion du fond pour le développement du canyon. Les segments qui ont été identifiés le long du canyon, avec des morphologies, des orientations et des pentes spécifiques, sont interprétés comme des phases d'avancement du canyon vers la côte. Plusieurs incisions sont visibles dans la structure interne du canyon et témoignent que la morphologie actuelle du canyon est le résultat de son évolution polyphasée. L'instabilité de la zone du canyon est en relation avec les apports sédimentaires importants à l'embouchure du Danube, avec la présence du gaz dans les sédiments superficiels, et possiblement sous un contrôle structural. Sur la pente supérieure (entre le canyon du Danube et environ 1400 m de profondeur) le chenal du Danube présente des levées bien développées et fortement asymétriques, avec la levée droite plus haute et plus large que la levée gauche. Ce type d'asymétrie, fréquemment décrit dans les éventails profonds est généralement attribué à l'effet Coriolis (Menard, 1955). Le chenal est légèrement sinueux, partiellement comblé et incisé par un talweg axial qui représente la continuation sur la pente du talweg incisé dans le canyon du Danube. L'analyse sismique détaillée du remplissage de la vallée montre plusieurs phases de dépôt, séparées par des discontinuités érosives. Ces surfaces d'érosion correspondent à des terrasses emboîtées, relativement parallèles le long de la vallée, visibles dans la bathymétrie. Les dépôts qui constituent le remplissage du chenal présentent un faciès sismique de type HAR (High Amplitude Reflections) dans l'axe du chenal, partiellement (ou parfois totalement) enlevé par les phases d'érosion subséquentes, qui continue latéralement avec des réflexions litées correspondant à un faciès sédimentaire de levée. Le remplissage de la vallée a été donc associé avec des écoulements dans le chenal, et non pas avec l'interruption de son fonctionnement. Sur la pente inférieure, le chenal unique bifurque plusieurs fois par avulsion et forme de nouveaux systèmes chenaux-levées méandriformes. Ces systèmes se succèdent verticalement en onlap, ce qui montre qu'un seul chenal a été actif à la fois. Chaque phase d'avulsion a eu comme résultat la mise en place d'une unité constituée par un lobe défini comme "High Amplitude Reflection Packets" (HARP, Flood et al., 1991) à la base, et un système chenal-levée au sommet. Le dépôt d'un lobe HARP est associé avec de l'érosion dans le chenal en amont du point d'avulsion pour l'ajustement de son profil après la rupture de la levée. Quand le chenal a retrouvé son profil d'équilibre, l'érosion a cessé et des levées ont commencé à se développer au-dessus des HARPs (Pirmez et al., 1997). Toutes les phases d'avulsion se sont développées d'après le même modèle: (1) la rupture de la levée gauche, plus étroite; (2) le dépôt d'un lobe HARP par les écoulements non-chenalisés en aval du point d'avulsion, et l'abandon de l'ancien chenal; (3) l'initiation d'un nouveau système chenal-levée. La migration systématique du chenal vers le nord est influencée par l'assymétrie des levées (donc par la force de Coriolis), et confinée entre les grandes levées de la phase initiale du chenal du Danube, au sud, et le relief abrupt de l'éventail du Dniepr au nord. La structure sédimentaire du chenal du Danube indique que les surfaces érosives à l'intérieur du remplissage du chenal se seraient formées en réponse aux avulsions, du fait de l'ajustement du profil du chenal après la rupture d'une levée. Les sédiments du chenal érodés au cours de ce processus ont formé les lobes HARP. Quand le chenal a retrouvé son profil d'équilibre, un système chenal-levée s'est développé en aval du point d'avulsion au dessus du lobe HARP, mais aussi en amont de ce point, où il se trouve confiné dans la vallée érosive. Les incisions fluviatiles identifiés sur la plate-forme continentale et la position de la ligne de côte pendant la dernière période d'activité du chenal du Danube montrent que le paléo-Danube se dirigeait directement vers la tête du canyon du Danube. Son embouchure était située à proximité du canyon, qui alimentait le chenal du Danube. Cependant, les courants hyperpycnaux devaient prévaloir dans le milieu de salinité réduite qui caractérisait la mer Noire lors des périodes actives de l'éventail. Ces conditions auraient favorisé la mise en place d'un système quasi-continu fleuve-canyon-éventail profond, qui contrôlait le transfert des sédiments entre la côte et le bassin profond.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2002/these-1206.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1206/

Résumé : This study contributes to inventory programme on emerging pollutants in French waters and to the general reflection which will enable to update the list of relevant substnaces to be included in the new monitoring programmes to come. This work concerns the coastal part of the inventory programme on marine waters and sediments of France and five overseas french departments (OFD). In this goal, passive sampling techniques and direct extraction techniques have been tested through the implementation of in situ systems integrators POCIS (Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler) and the extraction by SBSE bars (Stir bar sorptive extraction) directly in the waters sampled. Finally, analyzes of sediment completed the acquisition of data. Arount 40 stations were sampled for shore waters and sediments were collected from 7 stations in France and 5 stations in the OFD (one station/OFD). In analytical terms, 1054 analyzes were carried out on POCIS membranes and only 64 data exceeded the limit of detection (LD), 12726 analyzes came from SBSE extractions and 304 were above the LD and 1536 analyzes in sediment showed that 237 data were above the limit of quantification (LQ). Finally, 169 different substances were investigated and 68 of them were detected at least once in water or sediment. The lack of replicates for POCIS analyzes and those in the sediment limited the statistical treatment of data. The results were used to determine the level of contamination, the detection frequency (FD), the distribution of substances between France and OFD, the comparison with environmental thresholds (the PNEC) and the origin/use of the substances. In littoral waters, 32 substances were identified and 19 were quantified. In the sediment, 47 substances were quantified. Nine substances were detected in both water and sediment. In France, the 15 substances that were quantified at higher frequencies (> 50 %, one out of 2 sites) were quantified in sediments. These are the congeners of PAHs (11 substances), organic forms of tin (2 substances), diethyl lead and 209 PBDE congener. In the OFD, the 22 substances that were quantified at higher frequencies (> 50 %, one out of 2 sites) were measured in sediments. These are congeners of PAHs (13 substances) , alkylphenols ( 3 molecules: the mono and diethoxyate nonylphenol and the 4-ter butylphenol ), the organic forms of tin (2 substances), products of metabolism insecticide DDT ( 2 products), diethyl lead and the 209 PBDE congener. The study of the highest concentrations distribution of substances between France and OFD shows that the 5 (among 19 molecules) highest concentrations in water and the 6 (among 47 molecules) highest concentrations in sediments are found in OFD. Reference to PNEC indicates that four pesticides in water and 11 different substances in sediments exceed the environmental thresholds. Substances with highest detection frequency are found in the sediment. The distribution of data by use or nature of the substance shows that plasticizers and pesticides predominate in raw water, both in France and overseas departments while PAHs in sediments dominate in France and in OFD.
Cette étude contribue au programme d’inventaire des substances chimiques émergentes dans les eaux françaises et à la réflexion qui doit permettre d’actualiser la liste des substances pertinentes à surveiller de manière régulière dans le cadre des nouveaux programmes de surveillance. Ce travail concerne la partie littorale de l’inventaire, sur les eaux brutes et les sédiments de la métropole et des 5 DOM. Dans ce cadre, des techniques d’échantillonnage passif (EP) et d’extraction directe ont été testées grâce à la mise en place in situ de systèmes intégrateurs POCIS (Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler) et à l’extraction par des barres SBSE (Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction) directement dans les eaux échantillonnées. Enfin des analyses de sédiments ont complété l’acquisition des données. L’eau d’une quarantaine de stations a été échantillonnée et des sédiments ont été prélevés sur 7 stations en métropole et dans 5 stations dans les DOM (une station par DOM). En termes analytiques, 1054 analyses ont été réalisées sur les membranes POCIS et 64 dépassaient la limite de détection (LD), 12726 analyses ont concerné les extractions par SBSE pour 304 résultats situés au dessus de la LD et 1536 analyses effectuées dans le sédiment ont donné 237 valeurs supérieures à la limite de quantification (LQ). Au bilan 169 substances différentes ont été recherchées et 68 d’entre elles ont été détectées au moins une fois dans l’eau brute ou le sédiment. L’absence de réplicats pour les analyses POCIS et celles dans le sédiment a limité le traitement statistique des données. Les résultats ont permis de déterminer le niveau de contamination, la fréquence de détection (FD), la distribution métropole/DOM des substances, la comparaison avec les seuils environnementaux (PNEC) et l’origine des substances. Dans l’eau 32 substances ont été identifiées et 19 ont été quantifiées. Dans le sédiment 47 substances sont quantifiées .Neuf substances sont détectées à la fois dans l’eau et le sédiment. En métropole, les 15 substances quantifiées aux plus hautes fréquences (> 50%, soit un site sur 2) sont quantifiées dans les sédiments. Ce sont les congénères de la famille des HAP (11 substances), des formes organiques de l’étain (2 substances), le plomb diéthyle et le congénère 209 des PBDE. Dans les DOM, les 22 substances quantifiées aux plus hautes fréquences (> 50%, soit un site sur 2) sont mesurées dans les sédiments. Ce sont des congénères de la famille des HAP dans (13 substances), des alkylphénols (3 substances : nonylphénols mono et diéthoxylés et 4-ter butylphénol), des formes organiques de l’étain (2 substances), des produits de métabolisation de l’insecticide DDT (2 produits), du plomb diéthyle et du congénère 209 des PBDE. L’étude de la répartition des plus fortes concentrations entre la métropole et les DOM montre que les 5 (sur 19) concentrations les plus élevées mesurées dans l’eau et les 6 (sur 47) plus fortes concentrations mesurées dans les sédiments sont trouvées dans les DOM. Les substances mesurées aux fortes fréquences sont observées dans le sédiment. La référence à la PNEC indique le dépassement de la norme pour 4 pesticides dans l’eau brute et 11 substances diverses dans les sédiments. L’exploitation des données par usage ou nature des substances montre que les plastifiants et les pesticides sont majoritaires dans les eaux brutes, à la fois en métropole et dans les DOM alors que ce sont les HAP qui dominent dans les sédiments, en métropole et dans les DOM.

Droits : 2014 ONEMA, Ifremer
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00259/36994/35483.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00259/36994/

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Résumé : Study of mineral suspended particulate matter (SPM) is essential to understand ecosystem dynamics. SPM influences light penetration which is closely related to primary production and carries pollutants and nutrients within the water masses. This work aims to study near-surface mineral SPM dynamics in the English Channel using two complementary methods: remote-sensing by satellites and numerical modelling. Firstly, MODIS and MERIS satellite images processed by the IFREMER semi-analytical algorithm and describing non-algal SPM, are analysed to build three statistical models which are able to estimate near-surface SPM using simple variables, e.g., tidal coefficient, significant wave height and mean chlorophyll-a concentration. Secondly, the three-dimensional hydrosedimentary model ROMS (Regional Ocean Modeling System) is applied in the English Channel. It considers tidal forcing along open boundaries, wind stress at the sea-surface, wave-current interactions in the bottom boundary layer and realistic heterogeneous bottom sediments. Results of the more sophisticated statistical model is also used to impose SPM concentrations at open boundaries. Sensitivity tests on SPM boundary conditions show the importance of prescribing realistic sediment concentrations to improve the model predictions. Biological influences on mineral SPM are also tested using settling velocity and critical shear stress for erosion which vary with seasons. Both statistical and numerical models highlight and locate respective influences of tide, waves and biology on mineral SPM. Numerical predictions indicate that near-surface SPM is mainly composed of silts (>70%). Near-surface suspended silts come largely from seabed resuspension alongshore in the Eastern Channel and from the open boundaries of our limited-area coastal model at the West of Cotentin Peninsula and offshore. Near-surface SPM variations are investigated at semi-diurnal, neap-spring tidal cycle time scales and during a wave event. Finally, dynamics of sediments in the turbidity maximum zone around the Isle of Wight is examined depending on hydrodynamical conditions in order to distinguish the role played by advection and local erosion/settling processes in this area. Keywords: Suspended particulate matter, satellite, remote-sensing, modelling, English Channel, sediments, turbidity, tide, wave
L'étude des matières en suspension (MES) minérales est essentielle pour comprendre le fonctionnement des écosystèmes en Manche : les MES influencent la pénétration de la lumière dans la colonne d'eau, paramètre clé pour la production biologique, et sont susceptibles de transporter des polluants et nutriments. Lors de ce travail, la dynamique des MES minérales de surface en Manche est étudiée à l'aide de deux méthodes complémentaires : l'observation par satellite et la modélisation numérique tridimensionnelle. Dans un premier temps, les images satellite MODIS et MERIS, traitées par l'algorithme semi-analytique développé par l'IFREMER et représentant les MES non-algales de surface, sont analysées afin d'élaborer trois modèles statistiques permettant d'estimer la MES de surface en fonction de variables basiques telles que le coefficient de marée, la hauteur significative des vagues et la concentration moyenne en chlorophylle-a. Dans un deuxième temps, le modèle hydrosédimentaire multiclasse tridimensionnel ROMS (Regional Ocean Modeling System) est implémenté en Manche. Il prend en considération le forçage par la marée aux frontières ouvertes, la contrainte exercée par le vent à la surface de la mer, l'interaction houle-courant en couche limite de fond et l’hétérogénéité spatiale réaliste du lit sédimentaire. Les résultats du modèle statistique le plus sophistiqué sont également utilisés pour forcer la concentration en MES aux frontières ouvertes du domaine de calcul. Des tests de sensibilité sur les conditions limites montrent l'importance de considérer de manière réaliste les sédiments entrant en Manche par les frontières ouvertes lors de la modélisation numérique. L'influence de la biologie sur les MES minérales est testée en utilisant une formulation de la vitesse de chute et de la contrainte critique d'érosion variant saisonnièrement. Grâce à ces deux outils associés, les influences respectives de la marée, de la houle et de la biologie sur les MES minérales sont mises en avant et localisées en Manche. Le modèle numérique prédit que les MES de surface sont composées principalement de silts (>70%). Les silts en suspension en surface proviennent majoritairement du lit sédimentaire près des côtes en Manche orientale et des frontières ouvertes du domaine de calcul à l'ouest de la presqu'île du Cotentin et au large en Manche centrale et orientale. Les variations des MES de surface sont ensuite étudiées aux échelles des cycles de marée semi-diurnes, vive-eau/morte-eau et autour d'un épisode de houles. Enfin, l'évolution de la concentration de sédiments dans la zone de forte turbidité autour de l'île de Wight peut être analysée suivant les conditions hydrodynamiques afin d'évaluer les rôles respectifs des processus locaux d'érosion/dépot et d'advection dans la génération de ces turbidités remarquables. Mots-clés : Matière en suspension, télédétection, satellite, modélisation, Manche, sédiments, turbidité, marée, houle

Droits : 2013 UBO
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00157/26783/24884.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00157/26783/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD SAGE Publications
Résumé : International audience
The distribution of redox-sensitive elements (V, U, Mo, Mn) was studied in a sedimentary archive of the Pierre-Blanche lagoon encompassing 3500 years of sedimentation. Between 240 and 255 cm (i.e. between 0 and 350 cal. ad) in the core, there was a dark layer with no mollusc shells. Enrichments of V, U and Mo and depletion of Mn were observed in this layer compared with overlying and underlying sediments. This was attributed to the occurrence of anoxia in bottom water or at the sediment/water interface during the Roman period. This episode was concomitant with the formation of a sandy barrier, which now isolates the lagoon from the sea. Our results suggest that the isolation of the lagoon, which was deeper in the period concerned than at present, favoured stagnation of the water. Combined with the excess nutrient inputs because of human activities in Lattara harbour, stagnation may have caused anoxia in bottom water at least in some parts of the Palavasian lagoon system. Bottom conditions nevertheless remained sufficiently reducing for the accumulation of U and Mo to persist until around 800 cal. ad. Although the lagoon has been hyper-eutrophic since at least the middle of the 20th century and although anoxia occurs frequently in summer, redox proxies show no evidence for their occurrence. The shallow water and associated resuspension and reoxidation events explain the lack of V, Mo and U enrichment in recent sediments.
ISSN: 0959-6836

hal-01062151
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01062151

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Polygonal faulting is a widespread phenomenon in sedimentary basins worldwide. It changes basin-scale fluid flow patterns and alters the physical properties of the sediments making it important for hydrocarbon exploration and geohazard analysis. It is generally accepted that polygonal fault patterns derive from dewatering and compaction of the host sediments, but there is debate regarding the processes that control polygonal faulting. New multibeam-bathymetry data from the Hatton Basin, NE Atlantic, show up to 10 m deep and 200-600 m wide troughs at the seabed. They connect to each other forming polygons that are several hundred metres across, i.e. of similar size as buried polygonal fault systems observed in 3D seismic data. The troughs are symmetrical and resemble elongated pockmarks. Previously unpublished high-resolution 2D seismic data from the same area show seismic disturbance zones similar to pipes observed under pockmarks elsewhere as well as faults that have all the characteristics of polygonal fault systems. The observation of the wide disturbance zones is enigmatic, as they appear to follow the polygonal seafloor pattern. The observed extent of the polygonal sediment contraction system is substantial covering almost 37,000 km2. We calculate that some 2600 km3 of possibly carbon-bearing fluids have been expelled from this system and we expect that this will affect the benthic ecosystems, although so far there is only limited evidence for chemosynthetic habitats.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00772468
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00772468
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2012.09.013

Éditeur(s) : Estuaries Research Federation
Résumé : Estuarine systems are complex environments where seasonal and spatial variations occur in concentrations of suspended particulate matter, in primary constituents, and in organic matter content. This study investigated in the laboratory the flocculation potential of estuarine-suspended particulate matter throughout the year in order to better identify the controlling factors and their hierarchy. Kinetic experiments were performed in the lab with a "video in lab" device, based on a jar test technique, using suspended sediments sampled every 2 months over a 14-month period at three stations in the Seine estuary (France). These sampling stations are representative of (1) the upper estuary, dominated by freshwater, and (2) the middle estuary, characterized by a strong salinity gradient and the presence of an estuarine turbidity maximum. Experiments were performed at a constant low turbulent shear stress characteristic of slack water periods (i.e., a Kolmogorov microscale > 1,000 A mu m). Flocculation processes were estimated using three parameters: flocculation efficiency, flocculation speed, and flocculation time. Results showed that the flocculation that occurred at the three stations was mainly influenced by the concentration of the suspended particulate matter: maximum floc size was observed for concentrations above 0.1 g l(-1) while no flocculation was observed for concentrations below 0.004 g l(-1). Diatom blooms strongly enhanced flocculation speed and, to a lesser extent, flocculation efficiency. During this period, the maximum flocculation speed of 6 A mu m min(-1) corresponded to a flocculation time of less than 20 min. Salinity did not appear to automatically enhance flocculation, which depended on the constituents of suspended sediments and on the content and concentration of organic matter. Examination of the variability of 2D fractal dimension during flocculation experiments revealed restructuring of flocs during aggregation. This was observed as a rapid decrease in the floc fractal dimension from 2 to 1.4 during the first minutes of the flocculation stage, followed by a slight increase up to 1.8. Deflocculation experiments enabled determination of the influence of turbulent structures on flocculation processes and confirmed that turbulent intensity is one of the main determining factors of maximum floc size.
Estuaries and coasts : Journal of the Estuarine Research Federation (1559-2723) (Estuaries Research Federation), 2009-07 , Vol. 32 , N. 4 , P. 678-693

Droits : 2009 Springer
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6631.pdf
DOI:10.1007/s12237-009-9160-1
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6631/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Subduction of a narrow slab of oceanic lithosphere beneath a tightly curved orogenic arc requires the presence of at least one lithospheric scale tear fault. While the Calabrian subduction beneath southern Italy is considered to be the type example of this geodynamic setting, the geometry, kinematics and surface expression of the associated lateral, slab tear fault offshore eastern Sicily remain controversial. Results from a new marine geophysical survey conducted in the Ionian Sea, using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic profiling reveal active faulting at the seafloor within a 140 km long, two-branched fault system near Alfeo Seamount. The previously unidentified 60 km long NW trending North Alfeo Fault system shows primarily strike-slip kinematics as indicated by the morphology and steep-dipping transpressional and transtensional faults. Available earthquake focal mechanisms indicate dextral strike-slip motion along this fault segment. The 80 km long SSE trending South Alfeo fault system is expressed by one or two steeply dipping normal faults, bounding the western side of a 500+ m thick, 5 km wide, elongate, syntectonic Plio-Quaternary sedimentary basin. Both branches of the fault system are mechanically capable of generating magnitude 6–7 earthquakes like those that struck eastern Sicily in 1169, 1542, and 1693.
ISSN: 0278-7407

insu-01256887
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887/file/GutscherEtal_2015_Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2015TC003898

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This paper focuses on the analyses of the clastic sedimentary infill of the Coastal Plain of Eastern Mexico, which initiated synchronously with the Laramide orogeny in the vicinity of the Golden Lane. Results of these analyses are used as boundary conditions for calibrating/interpreting seismic profiles across more distal depocenters in the offshore of the Gulf of Mexico, from the sea shore and continental slope in the west to the abyssal plain in the east. The objective of the study is to better predict the reservoir distribution in the Deep offshore Basin of the Gulf of Mexico (DBGM), in order to explore for petroleum. The Coastal Plain is underlain by three morpho-tectonic domains: the tectonic front of the Sierra Madre Orientale (SMO), the Chicontepec deep water flexural basin, and the Tuxpan Platform (also known as the Golden Lane). Each domain is characterized by a distinct, dominantly siliciclastic Cenozoic lithostratigraphy. After a Jurassic rifting episode, followed by thermal subsidence, the oceanic basin and its western passive margin were deformed during the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene, by far field stresses associated with the Cordilleran-Laramide Orogeny. Starting in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleogene and during the Early Eocene, the tectonic load associated with the Laramide Orogen (Sierra Madre Oriental, SMO) caused flexural subsidence of the foreland located under the Coastal Plain. During this period, a massive transfer of siliciclastic sediments occurred from the Laramide foothills into the adjacent foreland. Sediments were eroded of the Sierra Madre tectonic wedge. Loading by these sediments pushed source units associated with the former passive margin down ward. The first syn-tectonic sediments of the Laramide orogeny were turbiditic silt layers in submarine fans which record also numerous collapse episodes and gravity slides. During the Late Eocene and Oligocene, the flexural subsidence stopped in the hinterland, whereas the subsidence of the passive margin resumed. This resulted in a change in the overall sedimentary architecture of the basin. Paleo-highs and reefs facies of the Golden Lane were flooded. Clastics by-passed the reefs and progradational clastic stratification formed as sediment moved towards the DBGM in the east. The final depositional environment of the continental platform/Coastal Plain became deltaic, marked by a succession of sand bars, levees and channels systems. From Miocene times onward, a system of gravitational listric faults developed near the platform to slope transition, resulting in a coeval compressional system at the transition between the slope and the abyssal plain. This system is driven by sediments charge. Because the sedimentation rate is larger than the subsidence, a large amount of clastics and slumped sediments are deposited in hangingwall basins.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00424586
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424586
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2008.03.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
During the last decade, the interaction of deep processes in the lithosphere and mantle with surface processes (erosion, climate, sea-level, subsidence, glacio-isostatic readjustment) has been the subject of heated discussion. The use of a multidisciplinary approach linking geology, geophysics, geodesy, modelling, and geotechnology has led to the awareness of coupled deep and surface processes. Deep earth dynamics (topography, erosion, tectonics) are strongly connected to natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis; sedimentary mass transfers have important consequences on isostatic movements and on georesources, geothermal energy repartitions. The ability to read and understand the link between deep Earth dynamics and surface processes has therefore important societal impacts. Ground-truthing at carefully-selected sites of investigation is imperative to better understand these connections.Due to its youth (<30 Ma) and its subsidence history, the almost land-locked Gulf of Lion–Sardinia continental margins system provides a unique record of sedimentary deposition from the Miocene to present. Due to its high subsidence rate, palaeoclimatic variations, tectonic events and vertical evolution are all recorded here at very high resolution. The late Miocene isolation and desiccation of the Mediterranean, the youngest and most catastrophic event, the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), induced drastic changes in marine environments: widespread deposition of evaporite (gypsum, anhydrite and halite) in the central basin, and intense subaerial erosion along its periphery. These extraordinary mass transfers from land to sea induced strong isostatic re-adjustments that are archived in the sedimentary record and represent a window to the lithospheric rheology and the deep processes.The GOLD (Gulf of Lion Drilling) project, proposes to explore this unique sedimentary record as well as the nature of the deep crustal structure, providing valuable information about the mechanisms underlying vertical motions in basins and their margins.
ISSN: 0264-8172

insu-01197393
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01197393
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01197393/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01197393/file/Rabineau%20et%20al.-final-MPG2014_REVISED-FINAL-No-Marked_FINAL%2BFigures.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.03.018