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

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

Éditeur(s) : Wiley-blackwell Publishing, Inc
Résumé : We present the results from processing and interpreting five lines from the 1992 Erable multichannel seismic reflection experiment extending from the southeastern margin of Flemish Cap into the northern Newfoundland Basin. These profiles reveal significant along strike variations in the rifting styles experienced by Flemish Cap. In the southwest, a 100-km-wide transition zone is identified between thinned continental crust and thin oceanic crust. Similar to the conjugate Galicia Bank and Iberian margins, this transition zone contains a section of deep basement adjacent to a series of shallower ridges and is interpreted as exhumed serpentinized mantle. Along strike towards the northeast, this transition zone pinches out completely within 100 km and is replaced by thin oceanic crust directly adjacent to thinned continental crust. By interpreting nearby seismic profiles and profiles on the conjugate margins using the same classification criteria, we construct regional maps of the distribution of crustal domains on both sides of the North Atlantic. These maps reveal significant variations in rifting style on the conjugate margins and along strike of each margin and also highlight the role of ancient transfer zones in compartmentalizing these rifting variations into four distinct regions. We propose that the limited localization of shallow topographically high serpentinized peridotite ridges on the Newfoundland-Iberia and Flemish Cap-Galicia Bank conjugate margins, was directly related to an increase in the rate of extension following the separation of Flemish Cap and Galicia Bank which exhumed deeper, less serpentinized mantle.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Wiley-blackwell Publishing, Inc), 2010-03 , Vol. 180 , N. 3 , P. 976-U4

Droits : 2010 RAS
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00001/11202/7876.pdf
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04477.x
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00001/11202/

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : The Mazagan (El Jadida) plateau and escarpment constitute the seaward extension of the Moroccan Meseta. Sedimentary sequence began at least as long ago as the Triassic. A very dense seismic reflection survey (32 profiles at 1 n. mile spacing) and information from 18 Cyana dives on the Mazagan the construction of isochrom map of the depth of the acoustic basement constituted either by jurassic platform carbonates or by Paleozoic granodiorite to Precambrian (?) crystalline basement, and a detailed structural map. The carbonate platform is structured in a succession of tilted blocks from the plateau to the foot of the escarpment. During early Cretaceous times, an important phase of vertical structuration is marked by the denudation of the escarpment. Transgressive sediments of late Cretaceous age cover unconformably the carbonate platform along the outer edge of the Mazagan Plateau. Deformation observed within the sedimentary cover suggests vertical tectonism from late Cretaceous up to the Present.
Oceanologica Acta, Special issue (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1985

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00247/35832/34342.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00247/35832/

Éditeur(s) : Wiley / Blackwell
Résumé : For the first time, a deep seismic data set acquired in the frame of the Algerian-French SPIRAL program provides new insights regarding the origin of the westernmost Algerian margin and basin. We performed a tomographic inversion of traveltimes along a 100-km-long wide-angle seismic profile shot over 40 ocean bottom seismometers offshore Mostaganem (Northwestern Algeria). The resulting velocity model and multichannel seismic reflection profiles show a thin (3-4 km thick) oceanic crust. The narrow ocean-continent transition (less than 10 km wide) is bounded by vertical faults and surmounted by a narrow almost continuous basin filled with Miocene to Quaternary sediments. This fault system, as well as the faults organized in a negative-flower structure on the continent side, marks a major strike-slip fault system. The extremely sharp variation of the Moho depth (up to 45 +/- 3 degrees) beneath the continental border underscores the absence of continental extension in this area. All these features support the hypothesis that this part of the margin from Oran to Tenes, trending N65-N70 degrees E, is a fossil subduction-transform edge propagator fault, vestige of the propagation of the edge of the Gibraltar subduction zone during the westward migration of the Alboran domain.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Wiley / Blackwell), 2015-02 , Vol. 200 , N. 2 , P. 1027-1043

Droits : The Authors 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00255/36670/35278.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00255/36670/35279.pdf
DOI:10.1093/gji/ggu454
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00255/36670/

Éditeur(s) : Springer
Résumé : Based on new multibeam bathymetric data, seismic-reflection profiles and side-scan sonar images, a great number of submarine failures of various types and sizes was identified along the northern margin of the Ligurian Basin and characterized with 3 distinct end-members concerning their location on the margin, sedimentary processes and possible triggering mechanisms. They include superficial landslides mainly located in the vicinity of the main mountain-supplied rivers and on the inner walls of canyons (typically smaller that 10(8) m(3) in volume: Type 1), deep scars 100-500 m high along the base of the continental slope (Type 2), and large-scale scars and Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs) affecting the upper part of the slope (Type 3 failures). The MTDs are located in different environmental contexts of the margin, including the deep Var Sedimentary Ridge (VSR) and the upper part of the continental slope in the Gulf of Genova (Finale Slide and Portofino Slide), with volumes of missing sediment reaching up to 1.5 x 10(9) m(3). High sedimentation rates related to hyperpycnal flows, faults and earthquake activity, together with sea-level fluctuations are the main factors invoked to explain the distribution and sizes of these different failure types.
Marine Geophysical Research (0025-3235) (Springer), 2011-03 , Vol. 32 , N. 1-2 , P. 225-243

Droits : Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00043/15387/14028.pdf
DOI:10.1007/s11001-011-9123-3
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00043/15387/

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : Multichannel seismic reflection profiling has revealed that the basalt layer on the Outer Voring Plateau is underlain in places by steeply dipping layered reflectors. Two opposing theories have been considered for the origin of the layered reflectors: (1) They are Mesozoic sediments deposited before the Tertiary opening of the Norwegian Sea. (2) They are Tertiary deposits formed during the early stage of opening of the Norwegian Sea by seafloor spreading. The authors find that: (a) magnetic anomaly 24 can be traced continuously from the Lofoten Basin on to the Voring Plateau, associated with the oldest seafloor generated in the opening of the Norwegian Sea; (b) the layered reflectors form a characteristically shaped wedge that coincides with anomaly 24; (c) the material comprising the wedge possesses seismic velocities which increase from about 2.6 km/sec. in the upper part to about 6.4 km/sec. in the lower part. The above observations strongly support a Tertiary age for the material comprising the wedge, which consists of basalic flows and volcanogenic sediments and which is associated with sea floor created a few million years after the start of spreading.
Oceanologica Acta, Special issue (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1981

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00245/35669/34177.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00245/35669/

Éditeur(s) : Oxford Univ Press
Résumé : This study presents the results of a deep seismic survey across the north Algerian margin, based on the combination of 2-D multichannel and wide-angle seismic data simultaneously recorded by 41 ocean bottom seismometers deployed along a north-south line extending 180 km off Jijel into the Algerian offshore basin, and 25 land stations deployed along a 100-km-long line, cutting through the Lesser Kabylia and the Tellian thrust-belt. The final model obtained using forward modelling of the wide-angle data and pre-stack depth migration of the seismic reflection data provides an unprecedented view of the sedimentary and crustal structure of the margin. The sedimentary layers in the Algerian basin are 3.75 km thick to the north and up to 4.5-5 km thick at the foot of the margin. They are characterized by seismic velocities from 1.9 to 3.8 km s(-1). Messinian salt formations are about 1 km thick in the study area, and are modelled and imaged using a velocity between 3.7 and 3.8 km s(-1). The crust in the deep sea basin is about 4.5 km thick and of oceanic origin, presenting two distinct layers with a high gradient upper crust (4.7-6.1 km s(-1)) and a low gradient lower crust (6.2-7.1 km s(-1)). The upper-mantle velocity is constrained to 7.9 km s(-1). The ocean-continent transition zone is very narrow between 15 and 20 km wide. The continental crust reaches 25 km thickness as imaged from the most landward station and thins to 5 km over a less than 70 km distance. The continental crust presents steep and asymmetric upper- and lower-crustal geometry, possibly due to either asymmetric rifting of the margin, an underplated body, or flow of lower crustal material towards the ocean basin. Present-time deformation, as imaged from three additional seismic profiles, is characterized by an interplay of gravity-driven mobile-salt creep and active thrusting at the foot of the tectonically inverted Algerian margin.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Oxford Univ Press), 2014-09 , Vol. 198 , N. 3 , P. 1486-1503

Droits : 2014 The Royal Astronomical Society
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00217/32836/32150.pdf
DOI:10.1093/gji/ggu179
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00217/32836/

Éditeur(s) : Geological Society of America
Résumé : A seismic-refraction study of the sedimentary structure of the South West African continental shelf was carried out between lat 17°S and 24°S using expendable sonobuoys. Striking differences exist both in the topography and sedimentary structure between the shelf north and south of the Walvis Ridge. South of the ridge, as far as lat 23°S, the shelf consists of a prograded series, whereas north of the ridge, at least as far as lat 17°S, east-trending canyons cut the shelf sedimentary cover. The steep northem scarp of Walvis Ridge can be traced eastward under the sediment of the continental margin. The southern flank of the ridge is buried under a thicker sedimentary cover and could only be traced eastward to long. 10°E on seismic-reflection records. This flank probably parallels the northern scarp under the continental margin. Two-dimensional structural models, built with the help of seismic-retlection and seismic-refraction results and based on the hypothesis of local isostatic equilibrium, account for the obsewed gravity profiles. A compensating root consists of light material (density 2.95 g/cm3) and reaches a depth of about 25 km. Gravity results also suggest that the Walvis Ridge does not constitute a superimposed load on the lithosphere; rather, the ridge and its underlying compensating mass were created at approximately the same time as the adjacent ocean basins. The creation of the two aseismic ridges of the South Atlantic - the Rio Grande Rise and Walvis Ridge - by a mantle hot spot and plume is accepted; this theory seems to explain most of the peculiar features of the Walvis Ridge. However, it is probable that the surface expression of the mantle hot spot was controlled by the presence of weak zones in the lithosphere such as transform faults. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Geological Society of America Bulletin (Geological Society of America), 1975 , Vol. 86 , P. 1713-1724

Droits : Geological Society of America
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1975/publication-4978.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4978/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Seismic reflection profiles from the sediment rich Alaska subduction zone image short, frontally accreted, imbricate thrust slices and repeated sequences of long, underthrust sheets. Rapid landward increases in wedge thickness, backthrusting, and uplift of the forearc are observed, suggesting underthrusting beneath the wedge. These features and a widely varying frontal wedge morphology are interpreted to be caused by different modes of accretion active concurrently along the trench at different locations. Episodic wedge growth is observed in high basal friction experiments using sand as an analog material. Two phases of an accretionary cycle can be distinguished: frontal accretion of short imbricate thrust slices, alternating with underthrusting of long, undeformed sheets. The phase is shown experimentally to depend upon the surface slope of the wedge. Mechanical analysis of the forces at work predicts these two modes of deformation due to the varying frictional forces and yield strengths for a temporally varying wedge geometry. Maximum length of thrust slices is calculated for experimental conditions and confirmed by the observations. For a steep frontal slope (at the upper limit of the Mohr-Coulomb taper stability field) the overburden is too great to permit underthrusting, and failure occurs repeatedly at the wedge front producing short imbricate slices. The wedge grows forward, lowering the surface angle to the minimum critical taper. For a shallow frontal slope the reduced overburden along an active roof thrust permits sustained underthrusting, causing frontal erosion and backthrusting, steepening the wedge and thus completing the cycle.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01261538
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261538
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261538/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261538/file/gutscherJGR1998.pdf

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

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

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : We present the results from a new grid of deep penetration multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles over the 280-km-long north-central segment of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. The 14 dip-lines and 7 strike-lines image the topographical variations of (i) the subduction interplate décollement, (ii) the top of the arcward subducting Atlantic oceanic crust (TOC) under the huge accretionary wedge up to 7 km thick, and (iii) the trenchward dipping basement of the deeply buried forearc backstop of the Caribbean upper plate. The four northernmost long dip-lines of this new MCS grid reveal several-kilometres-high topographic variations of the TOC beneath the accretionary wedge offshore Guadeloupe and Antigua islands. They are located in the prolongation of those mapped on the Atlantic seafloor entering subduction, such as the Barracuda Ridge. This MCS grid also provides unexpected evidences on huge along-strike topographical variation of the backstop basement and of the deformation style affecting the outer forearc crust and sediments. Their mapping clearly indicates two principal areas of active deformation in the prolongation of the major Barracuda and Tiburon ridges and also other forearc basement highs that correspond to the prolongation of smaller oceanic basement highs recently mapped on the Atlantic seafloor. Although different in detail, the two main deforming forearc domains share similarities in style. The imaged deformation of the sedimentary stratification reveals a time- and space-dependent faulting by successive warping and unwarping, which deformation can be readily attributed to the forearc backstop sweeping over the two obliquely-oriented elongated and localized topographical ridges. The induced faulting producing vertical scarps in this transport does not require a regional arc-parallel extensional regime as proposed for the inner forearc domain, and may support a partitioned tectonic deformation such as in the case of an outer forearc sliver. A contrasted reflectivity of the sedimentary layering at the transition between the outer forearc and accretionary domains was resolved and used to define the seaward edge of the outer forearc basement interpreted as being possibly a proxy to the updip limit of the interplate seismogenic zone. Its mapping documents along-arc variations of some tens of kilometres the subduction backstop with respect to the negative gravity anomaly commonly taken as marking the subduction trench. With the exception of the southernmost part, the newly mapped updip limit reaches 25 km closer to the trench, thus indicating a possible wider seismogenic zone over almost the whole length of the study area.
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2013-09 , Vol. 603 , P. 32-54

Droits : 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00139/25003/23109.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2013.05.028
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00139/25003/

Éditeur(s) : D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht- Holland
Résumé : Serial seismic reflection profiles off Tunisia and between Sardinia and Tunisia are presented. Interpretation is given which includes paleozoïc basement and its autochtonous (Eocene and plio-quaternary) and allochtonous (Numidian nappe) cover. Recent tectonic activity is discussed, (Plio-quaternary foundered basins, 'flexure', local uplifts, intrusions). Then the nature of the basement of the Sardinia-Tunisia zone is discussed with respect to the various hypotheses on the region of the Western Mediterranean. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Une série de profils de sismique réflexion effectués au large de la Tunisie et dans le détroit sardano-tunisien aboutissent à l'élaboration d'un schéma géologique interprétatif dans lequel nous replaçons le socle paléozoïque et sa couverture autochtone (Eocène et plio-quaternaire) et allochtone (nappe numidienne). Nous discutons ensuite des manifestations néotectoniques (bassins d'effondrements plio-quaternaires - mouvement de flexure - surrections locales - venues intrusives). Enfin la nature du substratum du détroit sardano-tunisien est discutée en liaison avec les hypothèses dynamiques et statiques relatives à la formation de la Méditerranée occidentale. [OCR NON CONTRÔLE]
Marine Geophysical Researches (D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht- Holland), 1970-06 , Vol. 1 , P. 162-177

Droits : D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht- Holland
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1970/publication-4912.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4912/

Éditeur(s) : The American Association of Petroleum Geologlists
Résumé : The west African continental margin between Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Walvis Boy (Southwcst Africa) was surveyed in 1971 by the R/V Jean Charcot. Fiftyeight seismic-reflection (flexotir source), bathymetric (3.5 and 12 kc), gravimetric, and magnetic profiles were obtained. The seaward limit of an evaporitic zone outlined during the survey is at the boundary between continental slope and continental rise. Variation of depth of this limit as a function of latitude shows the presence of a large offset at 11°S which seems to be related to an east-east-southeast line of magnetic seamounts cutting into the continental slope. The Annobon-Cameroun volcanic axis separates the salt zones of the Nigerian basin and Congo-Angola basin. The northern limit of Salt deposition in the Congo-Angola basin is marked near 1°N by a strong southwest-northeast magnetic trend. On the south it extends to necr 14°s. The Walvis Ridge, located farther south, does not seem to have an effect on evaporite deposition. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
The American Association of Petroleum Geologlists Bulletin (The American Association of Petroleum Geologlists), 1973 , Vol. 57 , N. 9 , P. 1658-1671

Droits : The American Association of Petroleum Geologlists
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1973/publication-5123.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5123/

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Sci Ltd
Résumé : A detailed morphological analysis of the outer shelf and continental slope of the Western Gulf of Lion is presented, based on swath bathymetry data together with sub-bottom profiles and high resolution seismic reflection profiles. These data reveal two main erosive features, of very different dimensions: the axial incision and the canyon's major valley. The height of axial incisions' flanks with respect to the canyon deepest point (the thalweg) ranges from 40 to 150 m. It creates a small axial erosive path within the canyon's major valley, which is typically bounded by flanks of more than 700 m in height. We interpret the axial incision observed in the sea floor as the imprint of turbidity currents that eroded the floor of canyons during phases of connection to rivers (hyperpycnal turbidity current). Such currents are most likely to have formed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as both proximity of the shoreline (due to the lowstand of sea level) and high detrital sediment supply (due to glacial abrasion upstream) increased the flow of sediments delivered to the canyon heads. Fossil axial incisions, observed in seismic lines, are related to equivalent conditions. The axial incision, however, has a key influence on canyon evolution as it triggers mass wasting of different sizes that affect the canyon's major valley (head and flanks). We interpret the geometry of the canyon's major valley as the result of recurrent activity of axial incisions. These periods of activity occurred during low sea levels at glacial maxima and show a cyclicity of 100,000 years for the last 400,000 years.
Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2005-06 , Vol. 22 , N. 6-7 , P. 805-826

Droits : 2005 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2005/publication-353.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2005.03.011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/353/

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Tyrrhenian Sea is usually interpreted to be a Neogene back-arc basin that opened by continental rifting and oceanic spreading caused by the eastward migration of the Apennine subduction system from Tortonian to Pliocene times. Rifting of the Tyrrhenian Sea started first along the Eastern Sardinian margin during the Tortonian-Messinian times. The " METYSS " project aims at better constraining the relations between crustal tectonics, salt tectonics and sedimentation from Messinian times to present-day. The " METYSS 1 " cruise (2009, R/V "Téthys II"-INSU) allowed us to obtain about 1200 km of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles along the SE Corsican margin, and along the upper and middle parts of the Eastern Sardinian margin, Western Tyrrhenian. This new dataset clearly illustrates that this area has been highly dissected during the rifting stage by N-S trending normal faults delineating ridges and basins, as previously described. The Messinian seismic markers (UU and MU) locally display fan-shaped stratal geometries, but the mechanism responsible for such geometries, i.e., salt tectonics or rifting, has yet to be carefully deciphered. We also mapped the spatial distribution of the mobile salt (MU). The highly variable thickness of the confined salt basins may be related to the initial pre-Messinian basin geometry or to the fact that sediment deposition was syn-rift. Southeastward, salt tectonics appears highly vigorous. More surprisingly, our data demonstrate that some of the major faults have been significantly reactivated during the post-rift period, up to late Quaternary time. Such recent fault activity has been recorded by bathymetric scarps and associated footwall debris flows. Moreover, some of this post-rift deformation can be evidenced within the Plio-Quaternary sequence by a regional unconformity. The post-Miocene deformation style varies greatly between different areas of the margin, and can also be strongly influenced by the presence or absence of mobile Messinian evaporites (MU).
13ème Congrès Français de Sédimentologie
Dijon, France

hal-00657310
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00657310

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : The Fairway Ridge is a buried continental structure that separates the Fairway Basin from the New Caledonia Basin. The proposed Cretaceous age of the Fairway Basin has remained highly hypothetical to date. Deep offshore petroleum exploration wells revealed well-dated Mesozoic carbonaceous sedimentary rocks in the Taranaki Basin at the southern end of the Aotea Basin. In this paper we use geophysical data to confirm the continuity of the 2000 km long Fairway-Aotea Basin connecting New Caledonia to New Zealand and prove its early Late Cretaceous age. Analysis of seismic reflection profiles together with newly compiled gravity and magnetic maps reveals Late Cretaceous NE–SW trending lineaments projecting northeastward from major Tasman Sea fracture zones and the Bellona Trough, which demonstrate that the opening of the Fairway-Aotea Basin predates the opening of the Tasman Sea. This result combined with observations of the Mesozoic regional geology suggests that the Lord Howe, Fairway, and Norfolk ridges are part of a remnant late Early Cretaceous continental arc, which was fragmented into three pieces by the late Early to early Late Cretaceous. This event might be contemporaneous with a plate motion change between the Gondwana and Pacific plates and/or the arrival of the Hikurangi plateau in the subduction zone around 105 Ma, which caused the cessation of subduction along this plate boundary. We interpret either of those two events as being possible trigger events for the post–Early Cretaceous fragmentation of the eastern Gondwana margin in a slab retreat process.
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems - G3 (1525-2027) (American Geophysical Union), 2009-12 , Vol. 10 , N. 12 , P. 1-24

Droits : 2009 American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-7322.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2009GC002612
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/7322/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Selected high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry acquired along the convergent Ecuador margin during the ATACAMES cruise on onboard the R/V L’Atalante (Jan.15–Feb.18, 2012) allow a preliminary evaluation of the neotectonic development and stratigraphic evolution of the margin based on the sismo-stratigraphic analysis of Quaternary sediment preserved on the margin shelf and upper slope. We present three major preliminary results. (1) The evolution of the Esmeraldas, Guayaquil and Santa Elena canyons. The head of the Esmeraldas canyon is the location of a continuous significant sediment transport. The Guayaquil canyon shows several episodes of deposition and incision. Aggrading sedimentation pattern in the canyon records several changes in relative sea-level. The subsidence of the Gulf of Guayaquil probably contributes to the good preservation of the canyon filling stages. The Santa Elena canyon is controlled by a SW–NE trending normal fault. (2) Variations of sediment accumulation and relative vertical motions are shown along-strike the shelf edge. Offshore the uplifted Manta peninsula, a pronounced subsidence of the shelf edge is documented by sedimentary clinoforms that have deposited in a morphological reentrant, and have migrated upslope testifying of a local subsidence meanwhile the adjacent La Plata Island area underwent uplift. In the Esmeraldas canyon area, a local uplift of the shelf is documented. (3) Two neotectonic fault systems with a possible transcurrent component are imaged across the shelf edge and upper margin slope offshore Jama, and Cape Galera. This possible transcurrent motion could be related to the reactivation of ancient faults of the upper plate by the subduction. These preliminary results indicate that the ATACAMES data set has a strong potential to evaluate the spatial and temporal contribution of tectonic and climate changes on the structural development and stratigraphic evolution of the Ecuador continental margin.
ISSN: 0025-3235

insu-01131151
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01131151
DOI : 10.1007/s11001-014-9231-y

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We have integrated the relatively unknown distal domains of the Lower Congo basin, where the main depocenters of the Congo submarine fan are located, with the better-constrained successions on the shelf and upper slope, through the analysis of thousands of km of 2D seismic reflection profiles off-shore the Congo-Angola passive margin. The basin architecture is depicted by two ca. 800-km-long regional cross sections through the northern (Congo) and southern (Angola) margin. A large unit deposited basinward of the Aptian salt limit is likely to be the abyssal-plain equivalent of the upper-Cretaceous carbonate shelf that characterized the first post-rift deposits in West-equatorial African margins. A latest-Turonian shelf-deepening event is recorded in the abyssal plain as a long period (Coniacian-Eocene) of condensed sedimentation and basin starvation. The onset of the giant Tertiary Congo deep-sea fan in early Oligocene following this event reactivates the abyssal plain as the main depocenter of the basin. The time-space partitioning of sedimentation within the deep-sea fan results from the interplay among increasing sediment supply, margin uplift, rise of the Angola salt ridge, and canyon incision throughout the Neogene. Oligocene-early Miocene turbidite sedimentation occurs mainly in NW-SE grabens and ponded inter-diapir basins on the southern margin (Angola). Seaward tilting of the margin and downslope salt withdrawal activates the up-building of the Angola escarpment, which leads to a northward (Congo) shift of the transfer zones during late Miocene. Around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, the incision of the Congo submarine canyon confines the turbidite flows and drives a general basinward progradation of the submarine fan into the abyssal plain The slope deposition is dominated by fine-grained hemipelagic deposits ever since. Results from this work contribute to better understand the signature in the ultra-deep deposits of processes acting on the continental margin as well as the basin-wide sediment redistribution in areas of high river input.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00424533
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424533
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.04.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In this work on a complete transect of the west‐central Pyrenees, we combine low temperature thermochronology (apatite fission tracks, AFT) with a detailed structural analysis to describe vertical movements related to the thrusting system evolution, and to determine the influence of the latter on the sedimentation/burial/exhumation cycle of thesynorogenic deposits of the southern foreland basin (Jaca and Ainsa basins). AFT analysis from a transect of the south‐Pyrenean basin show the southward decrease of the fission track reset level from the southern edge of the Axial Zone to the South‐Pyreneanfrontal thrust, implying the southwards decrease of the burial amount from more than 5kmin the north to less than 3km in the south assuming an average geothermal gradient of 25°C.km‐1. The structural setting of the Jaca basin attests that the burial of the synorogenicsediments was mainly due to the sedimentary accumulation. AFT data from the northernpart of the basin display a late Oligocene‐early (middle) Miocene cooling event. Newinterpretation of industrial seismic reflection profiles across the Jaca basin suggests that the Oturia thrust is rooted in the Bielsa basement thrust, responsible for the early (‐middle) Miocene out‐of‐sequence tectonic reactivation of the southern flank of the Axial Zone (Jolivet et al., 2007). These results reveal a lower Miocene (Burdigalian ‐?Langhian) out‐of sequence episode of tectonic activity of the interior of the south‐Pyrenean foreland basin. AFT data from the Axial Zone and the North‐Pyrenean Zone confirm the general southwardmigration of the thrusting system, and also bring evidence of the late Oligocene‐lowe rMiocene out‐of‐sequence tectonic reactivation of the northern flank of the Axial Zone. All these results attest of a late Oligocene‐lower Miocene (Burdigalian‐?Langhian) "pop‐up" reactivation of the inner part of the west‐central Pyrenees, younger than the sealing of thesouth‐Pyrenean front (Aquitanian‐?Burdigalian) which is classically considered to mark the end of the Pyrenean compression. These results lead us to propose a new crustal scale evolution model of the west‐central Pyrenees in 3 stages: (i) From the Late Cretaceous to themiddle Eocene, the orogenic prism is characterised by the absence of relief, related to theinversion of Cretaceous extensional structures leading to the accretion of thin crustal units; (ii) The late Eocene‐Oligocene stage corresponds to the continental collision, marked by the creation of important relief associated with the accretion of thick crustal units; (iii) During the early Miocene, the inner part of the Pyrenean wedge is tectonically reactivated.
Ce travail de thèse concerne une transversale complète des Pyrénées centro-occidentales, où on a combiné la thermochronologie basse température (traces de fission sur apatites, TFA) avec une analyse structurale détaillée pour décrire les mouvements verticaux associés à l'évolution du système chevauchant, et pour déterminer l'influence de ce dernier sur le cycle sédimentation/enfouissement/exhumation des dépôts synorogéniques du bassin d'avant‐chaine sud (bassins de Jaca et Ainsa). L'analyse TFA complète les données déjà publiées dans la Zone Axiale et la Zone Nord‐Pyrénéenne, e tconstitue la première étude de ce genre dans un bassin d'avant‐chaîne pyrénéen. Les données TFA sur la transversale du bassin sud‐pyrénéen montrent une diminution vers le sud du degré d'effacement des traces de fission, traduisant la diminution vers le sud de la quantité d'enfouissement, supérieure à 5 km au nord et inférieure à 3 km au sud dans l'hypothèse un géotherme de 25°.km‐1. Le contexte géologique montre que l'enfouissement est principalement lié à l'accumulation des dépôts synorogéniques. Les données TFA de lapartie nord du bassin montrent un refroidissement d'âge Oligocène supérieur‐Miocèneinferieur (moyen). Par ailleurs, une nouvelle interprétation de profils de sismiques réflexiondans le bassin de Jaca montre que le chevauchement d'Oturia s'enracine dans lechevauchement de socle de Bielsa, responsable de l'exhumation tectonique hors‐séquencedu bord sud de la Zone Axiale au Miocène inférieur (‐moyen) (Jolivet et al., 2007). Cesrésultats attestent donc de l'exhumation tectonique hors‐séquence au Miocène inférieur (Burdigalien‐ ?Langhien) de la partie nord du bassin d'avant‐chaine sud‐pyrénéen. Des données TFA obtenues dans la Zone Axiale et la Zone Nord‐Pyrénéenne confirment lamigration générale vers le sud du système chevauchant, et mettent également en évidencela réactivation tectonique hors‐séquence du bord nord de la Zone Axiale à l'Oligocèneterminal‐Miocène inférieur. L'ensemble de ces résultats atteste donc de la réactivation en " pop‐up " de la parties interne des Pyrénées centre‐ouest à l'Oligocène supérieur‐Miocèneinférieur (Burdigalien‐ ?Langhien), postérieurement au scellement du front sud‐pyrénéen (Aquitanien‐ ?Burdigalien) classiquement considéré comme marquant la fin de lacompression pyrénéenne. Ces données nous ont permis de proposer un nouveau modèle d'évolution crustale des Pyrénées centro‐occidentales en 3 grandes étapes : (i) du Crétacé supérieur à l'Eocène moyen, le prisme est caractérisé par une absence de relief, en lien avec l'inversion de structures extensives crétacées conduisant à l'accrétion de petites écailles crustales ; (ii) la période Eocène supérieur‐Oligocène correspond à la collision continentale proprement dite, et est marquée par la création d'importants reliefs associés à l'accrétion d'épaisses unités crustales ; (iii) au Miocène inférieur, la partie interne du prisme pyrénéen est réactivée.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00772154

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tel-00772154
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00772154
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00772154/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00772154/file/thesemeresse.pdf