Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The analysis of 2D deep-seismic-reflection profiles across the slope and abyssal plain of the Angola oceanic basin reveals the existence of a significant and formerly unknown depocentre beneath the giant Cenozoic Congo deep-sea fan, between 7000 m and 9000 m depth, deposited directly onto the Aptian oceanic crust. The unit, which is up to 2.5 km thick and extends for more than 200 km basinwards of the Continent-Ocean boundary, is probably aged Albian-Turonian. Its radial fan-shaped depocentre is centred on the present-day Congo River outlet and contains at least 0.2 Mio km(3) of sediments. These observations and the results from flexural modelling indicate that (1) the location of the Congo River's outlet has remained fairly stable since the Late Cretaceous, and (2) the basal unit was indeed sourced by a palaeo-Congo River probably located nearby the present-day one. Thus, the Atlantic sedimentary system related to the exoreism of the Congo River is much older than previously thought. Thermal modelling indicates that the maturation history of this upper-Cretaceous deposits is highly influenced by the interaction between the initial high heat flow of the young oceanic crust and further increase in sediment supply due to the progradation of the overlying Tertiary deep-sea fan during the Miocene. Hence, despite low present-day heat-flow values, should the unit have source rock potential, its basal section may be currently generating hydrocarbons.;All in all, the results from our models also suggest that the interplay between an initially high heat flow and the further high sediment supply in areas of major river input, may be a key factor for the thermal maturation of potential source rocks deposited onto a present-day "cold" oceanic crust.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00475541
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475541
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.08.015

Résumé : Ifremer launched and coordinated the development of a strategy for the REBENT network (REseau BENThique) in 2000 to monitor the aftermath of the "Erika" oil spill in December 1999. Its aim is to provide consistent baseline knowledge about coastal benthic habitats and constitute a monitoring tool to detect changes at various scales over time and space. Sector-based seabed habitat mapping in shallow water (< 50 m deep), is currently being conducted throughout Brittany's coastal waters through a combination of geoacoustic marine systems and ground-truthing using biological grab sampling and seabed observations. Sedimentological and biological results on Glenan area emphasize a great diversity of subtidal habitats and marine species recognized. Sidescan imagery accentuates the complexity of the communities structure in a marine environment distinguished by strong and regulary roughness of the sea. Maerl biocenose is present at the nord-east of the archipelago. Progressively it gives way to mud sediment colonized by Amphiura filiformis and Haploops in the deeper channel. To the west and the south, substratum types are more coarse, occasionally mobiles, composed of essentially sand community with Nephtys and gravelly sand community with Branchiostoma lanceolatum.
Le Rebent (Réseau benthique), initié en 2000 à la suite de la catastrophe de l'Erika, a pour objectif de suivre les habitats benthiques côtiers et de détecter les changements à différentes échelles de temps et d'espace. L'approche sectorielle dans les petits fonds (< 50 m) des côtes bretonnes combine, des moyens de prospection acoustique, afin de délimiter les principaux types de substrats, avec des prélèvements et des observations biologiques pour caractériser les peuplements macrobenthiques. Les résultats des analyses sédimentologiques et faunistiques montrent autour de l'archipel des Glénan, une grande diversité d'habitats et d'espèces reconnues. L'imagerie acoustique fait ressortir la complexité de leur structuration dans un environnement marin soumis à de fortes et régulières périodes d'agitation. La biocénose de maërl occupe le nord-est de l'archipel. Elle laisse place progressivement aux sédiments envasés à Amphiura filiformis et aux vases à Haploops dans le fond du chenal. A l'ouest et au sud, les subtrats sont plus grossiers, essentiellement sableux à Nephtys et sablo-graveleux à Branchiostoma lanceolatum, épisodiquement mobiles.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/rapport-2301.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/sup-2301.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2301/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
We analyse the fluid flow regime within sediments on the Eastern levee of the modern Mississippi Canyon using 3D seismic data and downhole logging data acquired at Sites U1322 and U1324 during the 2005 Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 308 in the Gulf of Mexico. Sulphate and methane concentrations in pore water show that sulphate-methane transition zone, at 74 and 94 m below seafloor, are amongst the deepest ever found in a sedimentary basin. This is in part due to a basinward fluid flow in a buried turbiditic channel (Blue Unit, 1000 mbsf), which separates sedimentary compartments located below and above this unit, preventing normal upward methane flux to the seafloor. Overpressure in the lower compartment leads to episodic and focused fluid migration through deep conduits that bypass the upper compartment, forming mud volcanoes at the seabed. This may also favour seawater circulation and we interpret the deep sulphate-methane transition zones as a result of high downward sulphate fluxes coming from seawater that are about 5-10 times above those measured in other basins. The results show that geochemical reactions within shallow sediments are dominated by seawater downwelling in the Mars-Ursa basin, compared to other basins in which the upward fluid flux is controlling methane-related reactions. This has implications for the occurrence of gas hydrates in the subsurface and is evidence of the active connection between buried sediments and the water column.
ISSN: 1468-8115

hal-00590501
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00590501
DOI : 10.1111/j.1468-8123.2010.00304.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In orogenic systems, thrust faults play a major role in stacking different tectonic units and may act as conduits for the expulsion of large amounts of fluid of different origins (metamorphic, diagenetic, meteoric). This study focuses on the Monte Perdido thrust unit emplaced in the Paleogene Jaca thrust-sheet-top basin, in the SW-central Pyrenees. We aim to decipher the mechanisms and P-T conditions of deformation in fault zones and characterize the related fluid involvement, through combined microstructural, geochemical and microthermometry analyses. Two thrust faults cutting platform limestones, marls and siliciclastic turbidites of the lower part of the basin-fill (Paleocene-lower Eocene) have been studied. The fault zones are characterized by metre-thick shear zones with highly deformed, foliated clay-rich sediments. Foliation is underlined by preferentially oriented phyllosilicates. Several generations of shear and extension calcite, quartz and chlorite-bearing veins attest to fluid-rock interactions during a multi-stage deformation. Microstructural observations and stable isotope analyses on calcite from veins and host sediments suggest that deformation was aseismic and dominated by diffusive mass transfer from pressure solution sites along cleavage and stylolites to the precipitation sites in veins, with mineralizing fluids in equilibrium with the host sediments. Our results suggest an essentially closed hydrologic system, and imply the absence of significant fluid flow along the studied fault zones. Microthermometric study on fluid inclusions present in calcite and quartz veins, and calcite-quartz oxygen isotopic fractionation determined for the first generation shear veins, allow a geothermal gradient of 34 degrees C/km to be estimated. Analytical results demonstrate an evolution of the fault zones in three stages. The first stage was related to the emplacement of the Monte Perdido thrust unit during the middle Eocene at a temperature of similar to 208 degrees C and a burial depth of similar to 5.7 km. The second stage corresponds to a fault reactivation at a temperature of similar to 240 degrees C and a burial depth of similar to 6.5 km. The latter deformation may have been related to folding of the Monte Perdido thrust unit during the emplacement of the underlying Gavarnie thrust unit during the late Eocene-early Oligocene, with deeper burial resulting from aggradation of the thrust-sheet-top basin-fill. The last event corresponds to the formation of a dilatant vein system likely related to the exhumation of the massif.
ISSN: 0191-8141

hal-00644828
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644828
DOI : 10.1016/j.jsg.2011.06.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : This historical perspective provides an overall view of the main steps that led to the acceptance of the concept of mantle exhumation accompanying lithosphere stretching and extreme crustal thinning. We first remember that the presence of exposures of mantle rocks along oceanic spreading ridges was early reported in the 60's due to the results of sediment cores and dredge hauls collected along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In the meantime, detailed analysis of the relationships between oceanic sediments of Late Jurassic age and their primary basement in the Apennine ophiolites led many authors to point to the importance of exhumation of mantle rocks on ancient seafloors. By contrast to the thick sections of classical ophiolites (e.g. Oman), the Alpine-Corsican-Appennine ophiolites are characterized by a relatively small amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by the frequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associated gabbroic intrusions. They display some of the characteristics of slow-spreading ridge systems, but, due to their highly tectonized character, they have been interpreted successively either as remnants of oceanic fracture zones of normal ocean or as remnants of very-poorly organized, abnormal oceanic basement. This review shows how the concept of mantle exhumation has been elaborated more or less in the same period both by marine geoscientists and by geologists conducting investigations in ophiolitic units of the Alps-Apennines mountain belt. Dredging and diving results from the Gorringe Bank, the Iberia margin, the Thyrrenian Sea and the Central Atlantic in the 1980's and 1990's provided additional proofs that the mantle is currently exhumed in various oceanic environments, including distal continental margins, back-arc basins and slow-spreading ridges of wide oceans. It is shown finally how renewed cross-information from mountain belts and the oceans, multiplying the examples of sedimentary reworking of mantle material, help better constrain the mechanisms of mantle exhumation. This mechanism progressively appeared as a fundamental step during the processes of extension of both continental and oceanic lithospheres in numerous geological situations worldwide.
Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana

hal-00475653
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475653
DOI : 10.3301/IJG.2009.128.2.279

Éditeur(s) : Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : The Congo deep-sea fan is one of the largest fans in the world still affected by presently active turbidity currents. The present activity of deep-sea sedimentary processes is linked to the existence of a direct connection between the Congo River estuary and the Congo canyon head that allows relatively continuous sediment feeding of the deep-sea environment, in spite of a wide continental shelf (150 km). Because of this important activity in terms of sedimentary processes, the deep-sea environment of the Congo-Angola margin presents major interests concerning physical, chemical and biological studies near the seafloor. The main aim of this paper is to present the initial geological context of the BioZaire Program, showing a synthesis of the major results of the ZaiAngo Project including (1) the brief geological setting of the Congo-Angola margin, (2) the structure of the modern Congo deep-sea fan, (3) the sedimentary architecture of the recent Congo turbidite system (from the canyon to the distal lobes) and (4) the recent and present turbidite sedimentation. In order to provide useful information and advice relevant to biological and geochemical studies across the Congo sedimentary system, this article is particularly focused on the present sedimentary processes and the present activity of turbidity current along the Congo canyon and channel.
Deep Sea Research Part Ii Topical Studies In Oceanography (0967-0645) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2009-11 , Vol. 56 , N. 23 , P. 2169-2182

Droits : Crown Copyright 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/11128/7848.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.001
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/11128/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Taiwan is a young mountain belt, known as one of the most active area in the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century more than twenty _ Mw 7 earthquakes have struck the island. However, the occurrence of larger events (_Mw 8) is still a matter of debate. In this framework it is of key importance to obtain longer record in order to evaluate the occurrence of large past earthquakes. The sub-aqueous paleoseismology, based on the record of the sedimentary gravity deposits, appears as a serious alternative to approach this thematic and is a rapidly advancing field that has the potential to illuminate the long-term history of seismicity.The first part of this work was to investigate the present sedimentary systems off east Taiwan, essential to understand the morphosedimentary features, sedimentary facies and processes governing the evolution of the submarine slope, and the controlling factors of the recent sedimentation. Our results showed that the offshore slope east Taiwan is affected by a variety of sedimentary systems and processes, and that turbidity currents appear as the main erosional processes covering nearly 60% of the sedimentary record. Turbidity currents are generated by distinct controlling factors such as tectonic and climatic activity that enabled us to define twoend-members relative to turbidity currents initiation: Turbidity currents preconditioned by tectonic activity and triggered by earthquakes shaking and likely deposited into intra-slope basin and turbidity currents driven by climatic activity such as extreme floods or typhoons, generated in basin directly connected with onland rivers.The second part consisted to apply a paleoseismic approach, based on turbidites record, at two time-scales. First, we tested and validated the method by correlating turbidites deposits with instrumental earthquakes. Then, once calibrated we extended the time-series back in time. We dated the three most recent turbidites layers circa 2001 ± 3 AD, 1950 ± 5 AD and 1928 ± 10 AD. Using empirical relationship that link peakground acceleration, distance and magnitude to calibrate the seismic sources, we correlate these three turbidites with instrumental earthquakes: the Chengkong Earthquake 12/10/2003 (Mw 6.8), the 11/24/1951 Taitung Earthquake (Mw 7.1) and the 9/4/1935 Lutao Earthquake (Mw 7.0) respectively. Applying criteria to discriminating the different triggering mechanisms for turbidity current generation, we propose that earthquakes are the main triggering mechanisms. Dating and age modeling provided a part of the chronology of extreme events since the last 3000 years and allowed us to estimate return time for earthquakes Mw _ 6.8.This work represents a good starting-point for future investigations in order to better assess Holocene time series of extreme events.
La chaine de Taïwan représente l’une des zones les plus actives au monde. Depuis le début du XXe siècle, plus d’une vingtaine de séismes _Mw 7 ont affecté l’île. Cependant la probabilité d’occurrence de séismes plus importants (_Mw 8) est toujours matière à débat. Dans un tel contexte, il apparait donc important d’obtenir des enregistrements plus anciens pour évaluer l’occurrence de tels évènements. La paléosismologie marine, basée sur l’enregistrement des dépôts issus de la sédimentation gravitaire, apparait comme une alternative sérieuse afin d’illuminer l’histoire de la sismicité sur des périodes anciennes. Ce travail de thèse apporte de nouvelles contraintes sur l’histoire sismique au large, à l’est de Taïwan, au cours des derniers 3000 ans.La première partie de ce travail consiste à caractériser les systèmes sédimentaires récents. Cette étape fut essentielle pour la compréhension des processus, faciès sédimentaires et les facteurs de contrôle de la sédimentation qui régissent l’évolution de la pente sous-marine. Ces résultats ont montré que l’Est de Taïwan est caractérisé par une grande variabilité de processus et que les courants de turbidité dominent l’enregistrement sédimentaire.Les courants de turbidité sont générés par deux facteurs distincts : l’activité tectonique/sismique et l’activité climatique. La deuxième partie de ce travail est consacrée à l’approche paléosismique en utilisant les dépôts de turbidités comme marqueurs des paléoséismes. Pour ce faire, nous avons dans un premier temps testé et validé l’approche à l’échelle du siècle dernier. Ensuite une fois calibré, nous avons pu étendre les séries temporelles à l’échelle de l’Holocène. Nous avons daté les trois plus récents évènements turbiditiques autour de 2001 ± 3 AD, 1950 ± 5 AD et 1928 ± 10 AD. En utilisant des relations empiriques intégrant magnitude, distance et valeur du "peak ground acceleration", nous avons pu calibrer la source sismique et ainsi corréler ces trois turbidites à trois séismes instrumentaux : le séisme de Chengkong (12/10/2003) (Mw 6.8), le séisme de Taitung (11/24/1951) (Mw 7.1) et le séisme de Lutao (9/4/1935) (Mw 7.0). Au-delà du siècle dernier, les datations et modèles d’âges nous permettent d’établir une partie de la chronologie des évènements extrêmes sur une période de 3000 ans et d’estimer un temps de retour pour des évènements de l’ordre _Mw 7. Les résultats ont toutefois montré que ces temps de retour sont nettement supérieurs à ceux connus sur le siècle dernier, ce qui suggère que tous les séismes ne sont pas enregistrés par les dépôts sédimentaires marins. Ce travail de thèse a donc permis de montrer que les dépôts issus de la sédimentation évènementielle peuvent être considérés comme marqueurs de la sismicité et que cette approche peut constituer un outil complémentaire pour les études portant sur le risque sismique.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01661529

NNT : 2014MON20133
tel-01661529
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01661529
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01661529/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01661529/file/55796_LEHU_2014_archivage_cor.pdf

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : During the GWADASEIS cruise (Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, February-March 2009) a very high resolution (VHR) seismic-reflection survey was performed in order to constrain Late Quaternary to Present faulting. The profiles we obtained evidence frequent "ponding" of reworked sediments in the deepest areas, similar to the deposition of Mediterranean "homogenites". These bodies are acoustically transparent (few ms t.w.t. thick) and are often deposited on the hanging walls of dominantly normal faults, at the base of scarps. Their thickness appears sufficient to compensate (i.e. bury) co-seismic scarps between successive earthquakes, resulting in a flat and horizontal sea floor through time. In a selected area (offshore Montserrat and Nevis islands), piston coring (4 to 7m long) was dedicated to a sedimentological analysis of the most recent of these particular layers. It corresponds to non-stratified homogenous calcareous silty sand (reworked calcareous plankton and minor volcanoclastics). This layer can be up to 2 m thick, and overlies fine-grained hemipelagites. The upper centimeters of the latter represent the normal RedOx water/sediment interface. Pb-210 and Cs-137 activities lack in the massive sands, while a normal profile of unsupported Pb-210 decrease is observed in the hemipelagite below, together with a Cs-137 peak corresponding to the Atmospheric Nuclear Experiments (1962). The RedOx level was thus capped by a recent instantaneous major sedimentary event considered as post-1970 AD; candidate seismic events to explain this sedimentary deposits are either the 16 March 1985 earthquake or the 8 October 1974 one (M-w = 6.3 and M-w = 7.4, respectively). This leads to consider that the syntectonic sedimentation in this area is not continuous but results from accumulation of thick homogenites deposited after the earthquakes (as observed in the following weeks after Haiti January 2010 event, McHugh et al., 2011). The existence of such deposits suggests that, in the area of study, vertical throw likely results from cumulated effects of separated earthquakes rather than from aseismic creep. Examination of VHR profiles shows that all major co-seismic offsets are recorded in the fault growth sequence and that co-seismic offsets can be precisely estimated. By using a sedimentation rate deduced from Pb-210 decrease curve (0.5 mmyr(-1)) and taking into account minor reworking events detected in cores, we show that the Redonda system may have been responsible for five > M-6 events during the last 34 000 yr. The approach presented in this work differs from fault activity analyses using displaced sets of isochronous surfaces and postulating co-seismic offsets. Combining VHR seismic imagery and coring we can decipher co-seismic vs. slow continuous displacement, and thus actually estimate the amplitude and the time distribution of major co-seismic offsets.
Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences (1561-8633) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2012 , Vol. 12 , N. 5 , P. 1755-1767

Droits : Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20040/21990.pdf
DOI:10.5194/nhess-12-1755-2012
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20040/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mass balances are often used to calculate sediment fluxes in foreland basins and denudation rates in adjacent mountain ranges on intermediate to long timescales (from a few tens of thousand to a million years). Here, we study the simple Quaternary catchment-alluvial fan system of the Kuitun River, in northern Tian Shan, to discuss some ideas about sediment storage, release, and bypass in relatively short (100 km long) sediment routing systems. This study shows that the Kuitun catchment and piedmont areas clearly present evidence of a significant and temporary storage of sediments during the Pleistocene. These sediments were then excavated and delivered farther into the foreland basin during the Holocene. The difference between the volumes of materials released from the catchment and piedmont areas (5.5 ± 1.7 km3) and the volume stored in a contemporaneous fan downstream (2.6 ± 0.6 km3) indicates that the latter did not trap the whole sediment load transported by the river. The alluvial fan was bypassed by 27 to 78% of this load toward its distal alluvial plain. If this value is well estimated, it implies a major volumetric partitioning of the deposits between the fan and the alluvial plain, with a very high sedimentation rate in the fan (1.97 ± 0.52 mm*y− 1) and a much lower one downstream (0.11 ± 0.11 mm*y− 1). However, this volumetric partitioning might only occur during periods with a very specific hydrological regime such as the Holocene deglaciation. Eventually, the peculiar sediment storage and release pattern within the Kuitun catchment and piedmont areas during the Pleistocene and Holocene complicates the calculation of mean paleodenudation rates using either sediment budgets or in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides.
ISSN: 0169-555X

insu-00985283
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00985283
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00985283/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00985283/file/jolivet-et_al-2014_HAL.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.01.024

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Miradouro da Lua cliffs, which are 60 km south of Luanda, record the building and uplift of the late Neogene Palaeo-Cuanza delta. The detailed study of the sedimentary architecture and stacking pattern permitted separation of the pile into five depositional units bounded by erosional surfaces and characterised by separate facies associations (genetic sequences = units in this paper). At the base of the series, aeolian deposits (Unit 1) mark the development of a possible coastal desert during the late Miocene aridification. The major Pliocene sea-level rise (Transgressive Systems Tract) led to the drowning of the continental platform into a discrete shoreface-foreshore sequence (Unit 2), followed by an expanded deltaic sequence (Unit 3) that represents the main outcrop of the area. The sedimentary fabric of this prograding wedge during the Highstand Systems Tract reveals laterally stacked pluri-hectometic mouth bars built by the abrupt switching of a bird-foot delta during the Pliocene highstand. The clinoforms are deeply incised by submarine gullies filled both by periodic river-driven turbidite and tidal currents (Unit 4) during the coeval growing of the delta. The topset of the prograding wedge and associated gullies infill is truncated by an overall erosional unconformity that marks the widespread development of an extensive braid-delta system (Unit 5) during the lower Pleistocene sea-level drop (Lowstand Systems Tract). The last 6 m of the Braid-delta unit is overprinted by a ferallitic profile, forming the surface of the plateau and indicating long-term subaerial exposure and weathering processes consistent with the maximum warming of the middle to late Pleistocene interglacial periods. The successive abrupt shifts of the depositional systems through the sedimentary pile indicate a high-amplitude sea level amplified by major coastal uplifts and the reorganisation of the fluvial network. In this context, the palaeo-Cuanza prograding wedge signals the westward tilting and 60 m total uplift of the coastal plain during the Pliocene. A new uplift pulse by differential tilt and slope increase is deduced from the widespread development of the braid-delta complex during the early Pleistocene. The last tectonic event corresponds to the 80- to 100-m uplift and ferallitic paedogenesis during the middle to late Pleistocene interglacial stages.
ISSN: 0899-5362

hal-01053716
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053716
DOI : 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2014.01.013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study presents the geochemical composition of superficial sediment under oxic and suboxic bottom water conditions along the Chilean continental margin (SE Pacific), where evidence for benthic chemosynthetic activity associated with diffuse seeping of chemically reduced fluids has been reported. The exploration was carried out at: (1) the Chilean Triple Junction (CTJ), at a water depth of ∼2900 m, with the additional indication of hydrothermal activity near a methane-rich cold-seep area (46°S) (German et al., 2010); and (2) the El Quisco methane seep site (EQSS), at ∼340 m water depth (33°S) (Melo et al., 2007; Krylova et al., 2014). While the deeper CTJ is located within an oxic environment (dissolved oxygen in the bottom waters: 164 μM), the shallower EQSS lies within a suboxic environment (dissolved oxygen in bottom water: 23 μM), located within the lower limit of the SE Pacific oxygen minimum zone (OMZ).Pore water from short cores was analyzed for dissolved major, minor, and trace elements (Cl, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Sr, Si, B, P, Ba, Pb, Mn, Fe, Cd, U, and Mo), δ13DIC, sulfide, sulfate, and methane. The solid sediment fraction was likewise analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), metals, and redox potential. Elevated sediment temperatures were found in superficial sediments (5–13 °C) at the CTJ site, which could be due to warm fluids associated with the proximity of the ridge, where hydrothermal vents may occur. Reduced fluids were also present here, indicated by higher Mn fluxes toward the water column even in oxidized sediments (RPD > 8 cm), which contrasted with the lower fluxes in reduced sediments of the EQSS site (RPD ∼ 2 cm). 13C-depleted DIC, anomalously low pore water Cl (∼15 ppb), and low concentrations of other major elements may be the result of dilution by fluid seeping and precipitation of major elements, producing authigenic enrichment (Ca, Mg, Sr). The fluid could also: (a) be diluted by pure water produced during methane hydrate dissociation, as observed in other cold-seep areas; and (b) correspond to clay mineral dehydration, as reported in plate subduction systems. The reducing conditions established at the CTJ conduct the Cd enrichment at a similar magnitude of that seen at the shallower suboxic site (EQSS). Evidence of chimney or vent fauna was not observed. At the EQSS, higher TOC and total sulfide contents were consistent with enhanced deposition of organic matter and reducing conditions developed in the OMZ, favoring the authigenic enrichment of Cd, U and Pb. The geochemical evidence, based only on methane concentrations and δ13DIC, is insufficient to establish the presence of methane seeps, as previously reported.
ISSN: 0079-6611

hal-01412700
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01412700
DOI : 10.1016/j.pocean.2016.09.002

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The Danube River Basin–Black Sea area represents a unique natural laboratory for studying the interplay between lithosphere and surface as well as source to sink relationships and their impact on global change. This paper addresses some information on the “active sink” of the system; i.e. the Danube deep sea fan and the Black Sea basin. The present study focuses on the distal sedimentary processes and the evolution of sedimentation since the Last Glacial Maximum. This is investigated through recently acquired long piston coring and shallow seismic data recovered at the boundary of influence of the distal part of the Danube turbidite system (to the north-west) and the Turkish margin (to the south). This dataset provides a good record of the recent changes in the sedimentary supply and climato-eustasy in the Black Sea region during the last 25 ka. This study demonstrates that the deep basin deposits bear the record of the Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental changes and that the western Black Sea constitutes an asymmetric subsident basin bordered by a northern passive margin with confined, mid-size, mud-rich turbidite systems mainly controlled by sea-level, and a southern turbidite ramp margin, tectonically active. Highlights ► Oceanographic results from survey carried out in the western Black Sea are presented. ► The Danube fan distal part: the Black Sea main depositional feature is described. ► This study is on the morphology and gravity sedimentation in the Black Sea deep basin. ► Data were collected at the boundary between the Danube fan and the Turkish margin. ► The dataset provide a good record of sedimentary supply and climato-eustatic changes.
Global And Planetary Change (0921-8181) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2013-04 , Vol. 103 , P. 232-247

Droits : 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00095/20637/18272.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.05.002
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00095/20637/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
On the New Jersey shelf (offshore North America), the presence of pore water fresher than seawater is known from a series of boreholes completed during the 1970s and 1980s. To account for this fresh water, a fi rst hypothesis involves possible present-day active dynamic connections with onshore aquifers, while a second involves meteoritic and/or sub- ice-sheet waters during periods of lowered sea level. Expedition 313 drilled three boreholes on the middle shelf, offering a unique opportunity for the internal structure of the siliciclastic system to be accessed, at scales ranging from the depositional matrix to the continental margin. This enables the stratigraphic architecture to be correlated with the spatial distribution and salinity of saturating fl uids. Expedition 313 revealed both very low salinities (<3 g/L) at depths exceeding 400 m below the seafl oor and evidence for a multilayered reservoir organization, with freshand/ or brackish-water intervals alternating vertically with salty intervals. In this study we present a revised distribution of the salinity beneath the middle shelf. Our observations suggest that the processes controlling salinity are strongly infl uenced by lithology, porosity, and permeability. Saltier pore waters generally occur in coarse-grained intervals and fresher pore waters occur in fi ne-grained intervals. The transition from fresher to saltier intervals is often marked by cemented horizons that probably act as permeability barriers. In the lowermost parts of two holes, the salinity varies independently of lithology, suggesting different mechanisms and/or sources of salinity. We present an interpretation of the sedimentary facies distribution, derived from core, logs, and seismic profi le analyses, that is used to discuss the marginscale two-dimensional reservoir geometry and permeability distribution. These proposed geometries are of primary importance when considering the possible pathways and emplacement mechanisms for the fresh and salty water below the New Jersey shelf.
EISSN: 1553-040X

insu-00858241
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00858241
DOI : 10.1130/GES00855.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present new groundmass K–Ar ages obtained using the Cassignol–Gillot technique, together with whole-rock major and trace elements, from Les Saintes islands (Terre-de-Haut and Terre-de-Bas). They are located along the northern Lesser Antilles inner arc, between Basse-Terre Island (western Guadeloupe) to the North and Dominica Island to the South. Ages reveal that the main volcanic phase in Terre-de-Haut occurred between 2.98 ± 0.04 and 2.00 ± 0.03 Ma, and show that the onset of sub-aerial volcanism in Terre-de-Haut is slightly older (~ 0.2 Myr) than that of northern Basse-Terre. Volcanism in Les Saintes resumed to the west, with the rapid construction of Terre-de-Bas Island at 0.888 ± 0.009 Ma. Major elements analyses show that most lavas from Les Saintes belong to a sub-alkaline medium-K magmatic series and are mainly andesites, with relatively rare basaltic andesites and dacites. Rare earth elements spectra reveal a strong enrichment in light elements, as observed for Dominica lavas, and significantly higher than observed for Basse-Terre lavas. Noticeably, Terre-de-Bas spectra display more enriched patterns relative to those from Terre-de-Haut lavas, suggesting a lower degree of partial melting or a stronger sedimentary component incorporated to the subducting slab. Overall, geochemical signatures of Les Saintes and Dominica magmas display common characteristics, which we interpret as reflecting strong petrogenetic affinities, while both are significantly different from that of Basse-Terre lavas. Finally, this study provides a precise timing of subaerial volcanism of Les Saintes Islands, which can be used to better constrain through time the development of the tectonic half-graben where these islands lie, which is part of the arc-parallel en-echelon faults system accommodating the oblique convergence of the North American plate from Montserrat to Dominica. In addition, these results reveal that the initiation of Terre-de-Haut volcanism is presently the oldest dated volcanism from the northern part of the Lesser Antilles active arc.
ISSN: 0377-0273

hal-01067336
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01067336

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : A synthesis of backscatter imagery coupled with a large 3D seismic dataset in the Lower Congo Basin (LCB) reveals a patchy distribution of features interpreted to be associated with fluid seepage from 300 m to 2500 m water depth. With the exception of one region of anomalous backscatter positive-relief mounds, all inferred seep sites occur in negative-relief pockmarks. The extensive 3D seismic dataset in the LCB offers a unique opportunity to study the plumbing system that is feeding surface cold seep systems, and in general, to reconstruct the relationship between tectonics and fluid flow in continental margins. The fluid seeps in the LCB are associated with morphologically, stratigraphically or tectonically controlled focused fluid flow. The integration of the geophysical datasets, backscatter imagery coupled to 3D seismic, clearly indicates that fluid seeps are not randomly distributed, but their seabed organization reflects 1) the location of the underlying structure (reservoir or trap) where the fluids are coming from, 2) the geometry and morphology of the reservoir/trap, and 3) the discontinuities in the sedimentary column along which fluids have migrated. In the LCB seafloor pockmarks are always associated with underlying tectonic structures (fault zones, salt diapirs, polygonal faults) or buried sedimentary bodies (turbiditic channels, erosional surfaces), whereas they never occur above sub-horizontal parallel-stratified fine-grained sediments. Even if triggering processes can not be clearly defined here, we propose a model of seafloor fluid seep organization, which represents a new tool for identifying the geometry of flow pathways and the underlying buried bodies where the fluids are originating from. This qualitative 3D model provides insight into the geohydrologic processes of continental margins.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00406640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00406640
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2007.06.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Serpentinites form by hydration of mantle peridotite and constitute the largest potential reservoir of fluid-mobile elements entering subduction zones. Isotope ratios of one such element, boron, distinguish fluid contributions from crustal versus serpentinite sources. Despite 85% of boron hosted within abyssal peridotite being lost at the onset of subduction at the lizardite-to-antigorite transition, a sufficient cargo of boron to account for the composition of island arc magma is retained (c. 7 μg g− 1, with a δ11B of + 22‰) until the down-going slab reaches the antigorite-out isograd. At this point a 11B-rich fluid, capable of providing the distinctive δ11B signature of island arc basalts, is released. Beyond the uniquely preserved antigorite-out isograd in serpentinites from Cerro del Almirez, Betic Cordillera, Spain, the prograde lithologies (antigorite–chlorite–orthopyroxene–olivine serpentinite, granofels-texture chlorite-harzburgite and spinifex-texture chlorite-harzburgite) have very different boron isotope signatures (δ11B = − 3 to + 6‰), but with no significant difference in boron concentration compared to the antigorite-serpentinite on the low P–T side of the isograd. 11B-rich fluid, which at least partly equilibrated with pelagic sediments, is implicated in the composition of these prograde lithologies, which dehydrated under open-system conditions. Serpentinite-hosted boron lost during the early stages of dehydration is readily incorporated into forearc peridotite. This, in turn, may be dragged to sub-arc depths as a result of subduction erosion and incorporated in a mélange comprising forearc serpentinite, altered oceanic crust and pelagic sediment. At the antigorite-out isograd it dehydrates, thus potentially providing an additional source of 11B-rich fluids.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01172276
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172276
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.03.015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
During compressive events, deformation in sedimentary basins is mainly accommodated by thrust faulting and related fold growth. Thrust faults are generally rooted in the basement and may act as conduits or barriers for crustal fluid flow. Most of recent studies suggest that fluid flow through such discontinuities is not apparent and depends on the structural levels of the thrust within the fold-and-thrust belt. In order to constrain the paleofluid flow through the Jaca thrust-sheet-top basin (Paleogene southwest-Pyrenean fold-and-thrust belt) this study compares on different thrust faults located at different structural levels. The microstructures in the different fault zones studied are similar and consist of pervasive cleavage, calcite shear veins (SV1), extension veins (EV1) and late dilatation veins (EV3). In order to constrain the nature and the source of fluids involved in fluid-rock interactions within fault zones, a geochemical approach, based on oxygen and carbon stable isotope and trace element compositions of calcite from different vein generations and host rocks was adopted. The results suggest a high complexity in the paleohydrological behaviors of thrust faults providing evidence for a fluid-flow compartmentalization within the basin. Previous studies in the southern part of the Axial Zone (North of the Jaca basin) indicates a circulation of deep metamorphic water, probably derived from the Paleozoic basement, along fault zones related to the major basement Gavarnie thrust. In contrast, in northern part of the Jaca basin, the Monte Perdido thrust fault is affected by a closed hydrological fluid system involving formation water during its activity. The Jaca and Cotiella thrust faults, in turn, both located more to the south in the basin, are characterized by a composite fluid flow system. Indeed, stable isotope and trace element compositions of the first generations of calcite veins suggest a relatively closed paleohydrological system, whereas the late calcite vein generations, which are probably associated with the late tectonic activity of the basin, support a contribution of both meteoric and marine waters. Based on these results, a schematic fluid-flow model is presented. This model allows visualization of three main fluid flow compartments along a N-S transect.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00963606
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00963606
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.09.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In East Asia, widespread extensional sedimentary basins together with the close association of Metamorphic Core Complexes and magmatism are prominent features of the large-scale wide rift system developed during late Mesozoic times. This region thus appears as a proper place to study continental extension as well as questions about the link between continental extension and magmatism. This paper primarily provides pioneer exhumation time-constraints on the Linglong MCC (Jiaodong Peninsula) including cooling and deformation ages. MCC cooling at mid-crustal levels occurred at ca. 143 Ma. Besides, last ductile deformation occurred at ca. 134 Ma while final exhumation stages, under brittle 2 conditions, occurred as late as ca. 128 Ma. Continuous crustal stretching were then recorded by the emplacement of a synkinematic pluton in the upper crust at ca. 128 Ma that cooled fast below an intracrustal shear zone crossing the ductile-brittle transition at ca. 123 Ma. The ca. 120-118 Ma age cluster is ascribed to the fast cooling of undeformed plutons marking the end of extension that lasted, in the area, over a minimum period of ca. 30 My. Combining other MCC exhumation constraints and the onset of subsidence in the sedimentary basins, total duration of late Mesozoic extension in East Asia could be estimated at ca. 60 My, related with a rather long process for extension from 160 to at least 100 Ma. East Asian continental extension is heterogeneously distributed in space and time as revealed by fundamental differences between two end-member classes of migmatite-cored MCC already described in other wide rift systems. Extension seems to have first favoured partial melting which subsequently, in turn, maintained continental extension.
ISSN: 1342-937X

insu-00752551
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00752551
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00752551/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00752551/file/Charles_et_al_Gondwana_Research_2012.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.gr.2012.10.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The ENE-WSW Autun Shear Zone in the northeastern part of the French Massif Central has been interpreted previously as a dextral wrench fault. New field observations and microstructural analyses document a NE-SW stretching lineation that indicates normal dextral motions along this shear zone. Further east, similar structures are observed along the La Serre Shear Zone. In both areas, a strain gradient from leucogranites with a weak preferred orientation to highly sheared mylonites supports a continuous Autun-La Serre fault system. Microstructural observations, and shape and lattice-preferred orientation document high-temperature deformation and magmatic fabrics in the Autun and La Serre granites, whereas low- to intermediate-temperature fabrics characterize the mylonitic granite. Electron microprobe monazite geochronology of the Autun and La Serre granites yields a ca. 320 Ma age for pluton emplacement, while mica 40Ar-39Ar datings of the Autun granite yield plateau ages from 305 to 300 Ma. The ca. 300 Ma 40Ar-39Ar ages, obtained on micas from Autun and La Serre mylonites, indicate the time of the mylonitization. The ca. 15-Ma time gap between pluton emplacement and deformation along the Autun-La Serre fault system argue against a synkinematic pluton emplacement during late orogenic to postorogenic extension of the Variscan Belt. A ductile to brittle continuum of deformation is observed along the shear zone, with Lower Permian brittle faults controlling the development of sedimentary basins. These results suggest a two-stage Late Carboniferous extension in the northeastern French Massif Central, with regional crustal melting and emplacement of the Autun and La Serre leucogranites around 320 Ma, followed, at 305-295 Ma, by ductile shearing, normal brittle faulting, and subsequent exhumation along the Autun-La Serre transtensional fault system.
ISSN: 1437-3254

insu-00596918
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00596918
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00596918/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00596918/file/Article_Morvan_v_INIST.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00531-011-0673-z

Éditeur(s) : Neidine Editeurs
Résumé : The object of this article is to offer a synthesis of the knowledge clarifying the originality and the diversity of the submarine geological formations of the New Caledonian EEZ. A reminder is given onto the geologic history of the region, based upon the dislocation of the Gondwana Continent, the opening of the Tasman Sea, the presence of submarine volcanism, the setting up of heavy peridotitic rocks, the building up of the Fairway and Lord Howe Ridges and of sedimentary basins, the formation of volcanic domes and sea-mounts or guyots, the subduction along the Vanuatu Trench, the uplift of the Loyalty Islands, the development of carbonated ptatforms around the islands etc.... Of this complex history ensues an exceptional submarine geo-diversity. After this presentation the article clarifies the methods and the tools used in marine geosciences to map, explore, observe, analyze, sample, that they are embarked or are autonomous, teleoperated or inhabited systems. A chapter describes the programs which were set up since about forty years and the results obtained as well as the scientific teams concerned with. In conclusion, based on the unpublished character of this geo-diversity, the article introduces the second text to come in a next issue of theTai Kona magazine, text which will focus on the scientific, economic (mineral resources), environmental (deep biodiversity) and risks (seismicity) challenges that are worn by one of the most original submarine geologic context in the world.
L’objet de cet article est de proposer une synthèse des connaissances explicitant l’originalité et la diversité des formations géologiques sous-marines de la ZEE calédonienne. Un rappel est donné sur l’histoire géologique de la région basée sur la dislocation du continent Gondwana, l’ouverture de la Mer de Tasman, la présence de volcanisme sous-marin, la mise en place des péridotites, la formation des rides de Fairway et Lord Howe et de bassins sédimentaires, la formation de dômes et monts sous-marins ou guyots, la subduction le long de la fosse de Vanuatu, la surrection des Loyautés, la mise en place de plateformes carbonatées etc... De cette histoire complexe découle une géo-diversité sous-marine exceptionnelle. Après cette présentation l’article explicite les méthodes et les outils utilisés en géosciences marines pour cartographier, explorer, observer, analyser, prélever, qu’ils soient embarqués ou soient des systèmes autonomes, télé-opérés ou habités. Un chapitre décrit les programmes qui ont été mis en place depuis une quarantaine d’années et les résultats obtenus ainsi que les équipes scientifiques en place. En conclusion sur le constat du caractère inédit de cette géo-diversité, l’article introduit un deuxième texte à venir dans un prochain numéro de Tai Kona, texte qui se focalisera sur les enjeux scientifiques, économiques (ressources minérales), environnementaux (biodiversité profonde) et de risques (sismicité) portés par un contexte géologique sous-marin des plus originaux.
Tai Kona (2269-7535) (Neidine Editeurs), 2014 , N. 8 , P. 48-57

Droits : 2014 Tai Kona
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00194/30574/29098.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00194/30574/