Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société Géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
The seaward extension of onshore formations and structures were previously almost unknown in Provence. The interpretation of 2D high-resolution marine seismic profiles together with the integration of sea-bottom rock samples provides new insights into the stratigraphic, structural and paleogeographic framework of pre-Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) deposits of the Provence continental shelf. Seven post-Jurassic seismic units have been identified on seismic profiles, mapped throughout the offshore Provence area and correlated with the onshore series. The studied marine surface and sub-surface database provided new insights into the mid and late Cretaceous paleogeography and structural framework as well as into the syn-and post-rift deformation in Provence. Thick (up to 2000 m) Aptian-Albian series whose deposition is controlled by E-W-trending faults are evidenced offshore. The occurrence and location of the Upper Cretaceous South-Provence basin is confirmed by the thick (up to 1500 m) basinal series downlaping the Aptian-Albian unit. This basin was fed in terrigenous sediments by a southern massif (" Massif Méridional ") whose present-day relict is the Paleozoic basement and its sedimentary cover from the Sicié imbricate. In the bay of Marseille, thick syn-rift (Rupelian to Aquitanian) deposition occurred (>1000 m). During the rifting phase, syn-sedimentary deformations consist of dominant N040 to N060 sub-vertical faults with a normal component and N050 drag-synclines and anticlines. The syn-rift and early post-rift units (Rupelian to early Burdigalian) are deformed and form a set of E-W-trending en echelon folds that may result from sinistral strike-slip reactivation of N040 to N060 normal faults during a N-S com-pressive phase of early-to-mid Burdigalian age (18-20 Ma). Finally, minor fault reactivation and local folding affect post-rift deposits within a N160-trending corridor localized south of La Couronne, and could result from a later, post-Burdigalian and pre-Pliocene compressive phase.
Cadre tectonostratigraphique des formations anté-pliocènes du plateau continental de Provence (golfe du Lion oriental, SE France) Mots-clés. – Géologie marine, Tectonostratigraphie, Stratigraphie sismique, Paléogéographie crétacée, Rifting oligo-miocène, Compression post-rift Résumé. – Le prolongement en mer des formations et des structures provençales était jusqu'alors largement inconnu.L'interprétation de profils de sismique-réflexion marine 2D et l'intégration de dragages et carottages du fond-marin ont permis d'apporter des éléments nouveaux concernant le cadre stratigraphique, structural et paléogéographique des dé-pôts anté-Messiniens du plateau continental de Provence. Sept unités sismiques post-jurassiques ont été identifiées sur les profils sismiques, cartographiées à travers le plateau continental et corrélées avec les séries affleurant à terre. Une épaisse unité apto-albienne (jusqu'à 2000 m) dont le dépôt est contrôlé par des failles E-W a été mise en évidence en mer. L'existence d'un bassin subsident au Crétacé supérieur sur le plateau continental de Provence a été confirmée par le développement d'une épaisse série de bassin (jusqu'à 1500 m) reposant en downlap sur l'Apto-Albien. Le socle mé-tamorphique de l'écaille de Sicié et sa couverture sédimentaire peut être considéré comme une relique allochtone du « Massif Méridional » ayant alimenté le Bassin sud-provençal en éléments terrigènes au Crétacé supérieur. Dans la rade de Marseille, une épaisse unité syn-rift (Rupélien à Aquitanien) a été mise en évidence (>1000 m), structurée en une série de synformes en échelon d'axe E-W et affectée par des failles d'orientation dominante N040 à N060. Sur le flanc sud des synformes, la formation de plis d'axe N050 est associée à une déformation syn-sédimentaire. La formation des synformes en échelon d'axe E-W résulterait d'une réactivation en décrochement des failles N040 à N060 pendant une phase de compression N-S dont l'âge est compris entre le Burdigalien inférieur et moyen (18-20 Ma). Enfin, les dépôts post-rift sont affectés par des déformations mineures (réactivation de failles et plis associés), le long d'un couloir d'orientation N160 à l'ouest de la baie de Marseille, attribuables à une phase de compression post-burdigalienne et anté-pliocène.
ISSN: 0037-9409

hal-01463727
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727/document
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727/file/Fournier_et_al_Provence_2016.pdf
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.187.4-5.187

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Karukéra spur is an easternmost submerged rise of the Lesser Antilles fore-arc in the Guadeloupe archipelago, culminating about 4000 m above the fore-arc basin 150 km west of the deformation front. The analysis of 3500 km 2D high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection and multibeam bathymetric data, and the study of 14 core samples, allow for the first time to reconstruct its sedimentary anatomy and tectonic evolution. Seven seismic units (US1 to US7) are evidenced, organised into four major depositional sequences separated by erosional surfaces. Units US1 to US4 thicken to the south-southeast on the spur. The sedimentary deposits rest upon a deeply eroded metamorphic basement of the Caribbean Plate as in La Désirade Island. Sequence 1 (units US1 and US2) remains unknown in its lower part because it does not outcrop. Its upper part comprises early Miocene shallow water carbonates. Sequence S2 (Unit US3) only comprises an upper Miocene transgressive systems tract deposited into basinal environment. It is bounded by major erosional surfaces SB2 and SB3. Sequence 3 (US4 to US6) is Zanclean to Pleistocene. It is dominantly composed of shallow water, reefal deposits. Sequence 4 corresponds to recent deposits. The Karukéra spur experienced three main extensional episodes with alternations between uplift and subsidence periods. Uplifts are responsible for emersions and erosions. Subsidence severely drowned shallow water deposits. The first extensional episode led to the formation of horsts and grabens in the basement, prior to early Miocene deposits. The second extensional episode occurred during upper Miocene, in accordance with data in surrounding islands. The third tectonic episode developed since Calabrian. Noticeable is the constant reactivation of N130°–N150°, N150°–N180° and N40° trending faults since early Miocene and the neoformation of E–W trending faults since Calabrian. Our results suggest that at the latitude of Guadeloupean archipelago the Lesser Antilles subduction zone is an erosional margin because of the successive sweepings of the Santa Lucia then Tiburon Ridges.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-01172231
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172231
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.02.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The « METYSS » cruise was carried out in June 2009 onboard the R/V « Téthys II » along the eastern Sardinian and south-eastern Corsican margins, western Tyrrhenian Sea, in order to better constrain the potential links between deformation related to either crustal tectonics or salt tectonics and sediment accumulation, especially during the Messinian and Plio-Quaternary times. We acquired 15 high-resolution seismic reflection profiles (about 1200 km in cumulative length) along the south-eastern Corsican margin, immediately north of the Bonifacio Strait and along the upper and middle parts of the eastern Sardinian margin, from the continental slope to the Cornaglia Terrace. The Tyrrhenian Sea is considered as a Neogene back-arc basin that opened during continental rifting and oceanic spreading related to the eastward migration of the Apennine subduction system from Tortonian to Pliocene times (Jolivet et al., 2006). Rifting of the Tyrrhenian Sea started first along the Eastern Sardinian margin during the Tortonian-Messinian times and therefore the series of that age should be considered as syn-rift sediments (Sartori et al., 2004). The « METYSS » seismic profiles clearly illustrate that this part of the Tyrrhenian was highly segmented during the rifting stage by N-S trending normal faults delineating ridges (e.g., Baronie Ridge) and basins (e.g., Sardinian Basin and Cornaglia Terrace), as previously described for example by Thommeret (1999) and Sartori et al. (2004). The Messinian sedimentary units and especially the « Upper Unit » (UU, Lofi et al., this congress, corresponding to the « Upper Evaporites » in the previous literature) are, without any doubt, of syn-rift age, as they display a fan-shaped stratal geometry. The Mobile Unit (MU, Lofi et al., this congress), i.e. the Messinian halite, is clearly imaged in the study area and its spatial repartition can be outlined. The highly-variable thickness of the confined salt basins could be due to the initial basin geometry (i.e. before the Messinian salinity Crisis) or to the syn-rift character of the deposition. Southeastward of the study area, in the vicinity of the Cornaglia Seamount, salt tectonics appears surprisingly vigorous. More surprisingly, several normal faults seem to have remained active in recent times, if not even at present time. Fault slip has been recorded by bathymetric scarps and associated footwall debris flows interfingered within the Plio-Quaternary sequence, even though the eastern Sardinian margin is usually considered to be passive now. Moreover, some amount of tectonic inversion is visible on some normal faults that show contractional or transpressional components of late slip. In addition, this “post-rift” deformation can be illustrated within the Plio-Quaternary sequence by a regional unconformity. Consequently, numerous mass-transport deposits and channel-levees systems observed in the Plio-Quaternary cover could be partly controlled by tectonic activity. These very preliminary results require further investigations in order to better decipher the role of crustal tectonics and salt tectonics, salt-related structures being very efficient markers to discriminate between the respective contribution of gravity-driven, salt tectonics and deep-seated, crustal tectonics (Gaullier et al., 2010). Finally, we aim to precisely determine the relative vertical movements (tilting, subsidence, magmatism. . . ) and geodynamical history of the different segments of the area since 6 Ma.
Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vienne, Austria

hal-00537828
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00537828
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00537828/document
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00537828/file/EGU2010-15469_ref6821.pdf

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Guadeloupe Island (West French Indies) is one of the twenty islands that compose the Lesser Antilles Arc, which results from the subduction of the Atlantic Ocean plate beneath the Caribbean one. The island lies in a complex volcano-tectonic system and the need to understand its geological context has led to numerous on- and offshore geophysical investigations. This work presents the compilation and processing of available, on-land, airborne and marine, gravity and magnetic data acquired during the last 40 years on Guadeloupe Islands and at the scale of the Lesser Antilles Arc. The overall dataset provides new Bouguer and reduced to the pole magnetic anomaly maps at the highest achievable resolution. Regionally, the main central negative gravity trend of the arc allows defining two subsident areas. The first one is parallel to the arc direction (~N160°E) to the north, whereas the second unexpected southern one is oriented parallel to oceanic ridges (N130°E). Along the Outer Arc, the long wavelength positive anomaly is interpreted, at least along the Karukera Spur, as an up-rise of the volcanic basement in agreement with the seismic studies. To the NE of Guadeloupe, the detailed analysis of the geophysical anomalies outlines a series of structural discontinuities consistent with the main bathymetric morphologies, and in continuity of the main fault systems already reported in this area. Based on geophysical evidences, this large scale deformation and faulting of the Outer Arc presumably primarily affects the Atlantic subducting plate and secondarily deforms the upper Caribbean plate and the accretion prism. At the scale of Guadeloupe Island, joined gravity and magnetic modeling has been initiated based on existing interpretation of old seismic refraction profiles, with a general structure in three main layers. According to our geophysical anomalies, additional local structures are also modeled in agreement with geological observations: i) the gravity and magnetic signals confirm an up-rise of the volcanic basement below the limestone platforms outcropping on Grande-Terre Island ; ii) the ancient volcanic complexes of Basse-Terre Island are modeled with high density and reverse magnetized formations; iii) the recent volcanic centre is associated with formations consistent with the low measured density and the underlying hydrothermal system. The EW models coherently image a NNW-SSE depression structure in half-graben beneath Basse-Terre Island, its western scarp following the arc direction in agreement with bathymetric and seismic studies to the north of the island. The so-defined depressed area, and particularly its opening in half-graben toward the SW, is interpreted as the present-day front of deformation of the upper plate associated with the recent volcanic activity on and around Guadeloupe. Based on this regional deformation model, perspectives are given for further integrated investigation of key targets to address the internal structure and evolution of the Lesser Antilles Arc and Guadeloupe volcanic system.
Colloque 2012 du Comité National Français de Géodésie et Géophysique (CNFGG)
Clermont-Ferrand, France

hal-00742653
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00742653
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00742653/document
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00742653/file/CNFGG_Caraibes.pdf

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 Société géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
Guadeloupe island (West French Indies) is one of the twenty islands that compose the Lesser Antilles arc, which results from the subduction of the Atlantic ocean plate beneath the Caribbean one. The island lies in a complex volcano-tectonic system and the need to understand its geological context has led to numerous on- and offshore geophysical investigations. This work presents a compilation and the processing of available, on-land, airborne and marine, gravity and magnetic data acquired during the last 40 years on Guadeloupe islands and at the scale of the Lesser Antilles arc. The overall dataset provides new Bouguer and reduced to the pole magnetic anomaly maps at the highest achievable resolution. Regionally, the main central negative gravity trend of the arc allows defining two subsident areas. The first one is parallel to the arc direction (~N160°E) to the north, whereas the second unexpected southern one is oriented parallel to oceanic ridges (N130°E). Along the Outer arc, the long wavelength positive anomaly is interpreted, at least along the Karukera spur, as an up-rise of the volcanic basement in agreement with the seismic studies. To the NE of Guadeloupe, the detailed analysis of the geophysical anomalies outlines a series of structural discontinuities consistent with the main bathymetric morphologies, and in continuity of the main fault systems already reported in this area. Based on geophysical evidences, this large scale deformation and faulting of the Outer arc presumably primarily affects the Atlantic subducting plate and secondarily deforms the upper Caribbean plate and the accretion prism, as evidenced in bathymetry as well as on the islands. At the scale of Guadeloupe island, combined gravity and magnetic modeling has been initiated based on existing interpretation of old seismic refraction profiles, with a general structure in three main layers. According to our geophysical anomalies, additional local structures are also modeled in agreement with geological observations: i) the gravity and magnetic signals confirm an up-rise of the volcanic basement below the limestone platforms outcropping on Grande-Terre island ; ii) the ancient volcanic complexes of Basse-Terre island are modeled with high density and reverse magnetized formations; iii) the recent volcanic centre is associated with formations consistent with the low measured density and the underlying hydrothermal system. The E-W models coherently image a NNW-SSE depression structure in half-graben beneath Basse-Terre island, its western scarp following the arc direction in agreement with bathymetric and seismic studies to the north of the island. The so-defined depressed area, and particularly its opening in half-graben toward the SW, is interpreted as the present-day front of deformation of the upper plate, associated with the recent volcanic activity on and around Guadeloupe. Based on this regional deformation model, perspectives are given for further integrated investigation of key targets to address the internal structure and evolution of the Lesser Antilles arc and Guadeloupe volcanic system.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00853352
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853352
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.77

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society
Résumé : International audience
An integrated stratigraphic study was conducted on the shallow water carbonate platforms of the Guadeloupe archipelago to refine the tectonic evolution of the Lesser Antilles forearc. The carbonate platforms are now dated to the Zanclean-Calabrian interval, and their demise occurred between 1.5 and 1.07 Ma. The precise chronostratigraphy allows dating of the main extensional tectonic events since the late Miocene. An initial episode occurred during the late Miocene, related to the reactivation of inherited N130°E-trending shear zones, and led to the emergence of most parts of the forearc. Subsequently, Zanclean to early Piacenzian carbonate platforms developed in association with a general subsidence of the forearc. During the late Piacenzan, a second extensional episode occurred. At this time La Désirade underwent major uplift and emergence whereas most of the forearc remained submerged. Prior to 1.07 Ma, a third north-south extensional episode occurred and led to the final demise of the carbonate platforms. Thus the forearc was characterized by general subsidence since the early Pliocene interrupted by three main extensional episodes and related differential uplifts. This suggests that the Lesser Antilles subduction is probably erosive north of latitude 15°N since c. 5 Ma, related to aseismic ridge subduction.
ISSN: 0016-7649

hal-01053696
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053696
DOI : 10.1144/jgs2013-005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
The Sivas Basin, located in the Central Anatolian Plateau of Turkey, is a foreland basin that records a complex interaction between sedimentation, salt tectonics and regional shortening during the Oligo-Miocene leading to the formation of numerous mini-basins. The Oligocene sedimentary infill of the mini-basins consists of a thick continental succession, the Karayün Formation, comprising a vertical succession of three main sub-environments: (i) playa-lake, (ii) fluvial braided, and (iii) saline lacustrine. These sub-environments are seen as forming a large Distributive Fluvial System (DFS) modified through time as a function of sediment supply and accommodation related to regional changes in climate and tectonic regime. Within neighbouring mini-basins and despite a similar vertical stratigraphic succession, subtle variations in facies assemblages and thickness are observed in stratigraphic units of equivalent age, thus demonstrating the local control exerted by halokinesis. Stratigraphic and stratal patterns reveal in great detail the complex interaction between salt tectonics and sedimentation including different types of halokinetic structures such as hooks, wedges and halokinetic folds. The regional variations of accommodation/sediment supply led to coeval changes in the architectural patterns recorded in the mini-basins. The type of accommodation regime produces several changes in the sedimentary record: (i) a regime dominated by regional accommodation limits the impact of halokinesis, which is recorded as very small variations in stratigraphic thickness and facies distribution within and between mini-basins; (ii) a regime dominated by localized salt-induced accommodation linked to the subsidence of each individual mini-basin enhances the facies heterogeneity within the DFS, causing sharp changes in stratigraphic thickness and facies assemblages within and between mini-basins.
ISSN: 0950-091X

hal-01685659
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685659
DOI : 10.1111/bre.12171

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 Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Iran is an active continental domain accommodating the convergence between the Arabia and Eurasia plates. In northwestern Iran, deformation between the Central Iranian block and the Caucasus domain is mainly accommodated by right lateral strike-slip on the Tabriz fault. Cities and villages, including the city of Tabriz, have been destroyed by several strong historical earthquakes (M similar to 7). In this study, we compare the slip-rates estimated from geodetic measurements (radar interferometry and UPS) with those determined by dating a geomorphological offset of an alluvial fan along the Tabriz fault. The GPS measurements along two profiles normal to the Tabriz fault suggest a slip-rate of 7.3 +/- 1.3 mm yr(-1). The persistent scatterer radar interferometry analysis of Envisat satellite archives from 2003 to 2010 shows a velocity gradient (6 +/- 3 mm yr(-1)) across the Tabriz fault in agreement with GPS results. Moreover, it reveals that most of the area located south of the Tabriz fault is affected by subsidence, and that some sections of the fault probably act as barriers to fluid migration which may have an impact on its mechanical behaviour. West of Tabriz morphotectonic investigations on an alluvial fan surface show a right-lateral cumulative offset of 320 +/- 40 m Luminescence analyses of the coarse matrix alluvial fan deposits provide an age of 46 +/- 3 ka. This yields a slip-rate comprised between 6.5 and 7.3 mm yr(-1) along this segment. These results suggest that the Late Quaternary slip-rate is in agreement with the present-day slip-rate estimated by geodetic measurements, showing no slip-rate changes during the past 45 000 yr. Short-term variations within the 45 000 yr related to temporal earthquake clustering over few seismic cycles cannot be ruled out, but if they exist, they do not affect the geodetic and the geomorphological estimates. This study is in agreement with previous ones suggesting that long-term slip-rates (i.e. averaged over several tens of seismic cycles) are consistent with geodetic estimated slip-rates (i.e. extrapolated from few years of interseismic observations), and suggests that perturbations of fault slip-rates are related to variations over few seismic cycles.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00844695
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00844695
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00844695v2/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00844695/file/rizza2013.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt041

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : In the South Gabon Basin, deep multi-channel seismic reflection and gravity modeling analysis have shed light on key features of the structure of the margin. The thinned continental crust beneath the Gabon Margin appears to be composed of two distinct layers, separated by a clear, strong and more or less continuous reflector running in the 7–10 s TWT window. The lower crust is characterized by a higher density, intermediate between the lower values of the upper crust and the denser values of the mantle. The lower crust is irregularly shaped and presents lateral thickness variations along the direction of thinning and along the coast. In the offshore thinned continental domain, the lower and upper crust form a 20–25 km thick body. Crustal thicknesses point to a relatively sharp and narrow transition, along a few tens of kilometers, between the unthinned and the thinned continental crust. The high density layer identified offshore Gabon presents similar characteristics in density, geometry and spatial distribution, as the underplated magmatic bodies observed along volcanic margins, e.g. along the South Atlantic Namibia Margin or the North Atlantic Vøring Margin. Although this lower crustal body could possibly represent ultra mafic serpentinized rocks or high grade metamorphic crustal rocks, we suggest that it could be composed of mafic rocks. Magmas resulting from partial melting during rifting may underplate the crust and/or be intruded in the lower crust through a system of dykes and sills. In this view, the present-day crustal thicknesses along rifted margins, characterized by magmatic underplating and/or intrusion, are not representative of the thinning that the crust experienced during rifting. Results of this study point to relatively shallow sedimentary basins along the South Gabon Margin. The deepest offshore depocenters located under the westernmost side of the continental platform appear to be associated with the deepest syn-rift basins These basins seem to extend along 20 to 40 km in the ~ NE–SW direction with a present-day average thickness of 7.3 km. Offshore Gabon, whereas the crustal thinning appears significant, the syn-rift deposit are not thick. We suggest that the area was anomalously uplifted during the rifting phase, due to an elevated thermal lithospheric gradient. The conclusions derived from our seismic and gravity analysis are consistent with the implications such a thermal anomaly would have on the tectonic evolution of a rifted margin with 1) an underplated high density lower crustal layer, 2) shallow depth syn-rift basins associated with a relatively thin crust and subsequently 3) elevated recorded subsidence rates in the initial post-rift stages. Research Highlights ► The Gabon Margin appears characterized by an underplated high density lower crustal layer. ► Shallow depth syn-rift basins are associated with a relatively thin crust. ► Seismic and gravity analysis points to an anomalous uplift of the Gabon Margin during the rifting phase. ► Crustal structure, syn-rift infill and post-rift subsidence are consistent an uplift of the Gabon Margin during the rifting phase. ► The uplift of the Gabon Margin is possibly due to an elevated thermal lithospheric gradient.
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2011-06 , Vol. 506 , N. 1-4 , P. 31-45

Droits : 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00039/15020/12347.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2011.04.009
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00039/15020/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The marine Messinian deposits of Tunisia cover a narrow littoral strip some 300 km long between the northern Bizerte and Cap Bon areas and the central-eastern Sahel region. Litho- and biofacies analysis of six stratigraphic sections reveals the distinctive features of these deposits.;The lower Messinian deposits are characterized by ubiquitous siliciclastics and abundant oolitic/bioclastic limestones organized in an eastward facing ramp. Westward (landward), this ramp changes into coastal lagoons, sometimes containing evaporites. Eastward, the ramp passes to the reefal Pelagian Platform extending as far as Lampedusa.;Two main sedimentary cycles are distinguished: 1) an early Messinian siliciclastic retrogradational then oolitic/bioclastic progradational cycle (Beni Khiar Formation and lower Oued bel Khedim Formation): 2) a late Messinian brackish to continental cycle that probably accumulated in rapidly subsiding lagoons (Cued el Bir Formation and upper Oued bel Khedim Formation). The Tunisian early Messinian cycle is partly eustatically controlled, but the late Messinian cycle cannot be confidently correlated to other well-known Messinian series because of tectonic movements.;The lower Messinian deposits of Tunisia are also characterized by abundant suspension-feeding organisms (molluscs and bryozoans) and rare corals, calcareous algae, echinoids, and larger benthic foraminifers. The proposed palaeoenvironmental model shows that the lower Messinian ramp of Tunisia was located on a current-protected margin and subjected to continent-derived sediment and nutrient supply. Eastward, nutrient influx diminished and a shallow-water isolated carbonate platform with coralgal facies developed between the western and the eastern Mediterranean basins. The main hydrological connection between these two basins occurred through a narrow seaway situated to the northeast of the Pelagian Platform, south of Sicily and Malta.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00475583
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475583
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.028

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Sandbox experiments, using a two-dimensional and a three-dimensional approach, are used to study the deformation of margins in response to seamount subduction. Successive mechanisms of deformation are activated during the subduction of conical seamounts. First, reactivation of the frontal thrusts and compaction of the accretionary wedge is observed. Then, back thrusting and, conjugate strike-slip faulting develops above the leading slope of the subducted seamount. The basal d6collement is deflected upward in the wake of the subducting high, and a large shadow zone develops behind the seamount trailing slope. Consequently, frontal accretion is inhibited and part of the frontal margin is dragged into the subduction zone. When the main d6collement returns to its basal level in the wake of the seamount, the margin records a rapid subsidence and a new accretionary wedge develops, closing the margin reentrant. The sediments underthrusted in the wake of the seamount into the shadow zone, are underplated beneath the rear part of the accretionary wedge. Substantial shortening and thickening of the deformable seaward termination of the upper plate basement, associated with basal erosion is observed. Seamount subduction induces significant material transfer within the accretionary wedge, favors large tectonic erosion of the frontal margin and thickening of the rear part of the margin. The subduction and underplating of relatively undeformed, water-ladden sediments, associated with fluid expulsion along the fractures affecting the margin could modify the fluid pressure along the basal ddcollement. Consequently, significant variations of the effective basal friction and local mechanical coupling between the two plates could be expected around the subducting seamount.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01261523
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261523
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261523/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261523/file/Dominguez2000-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/1999TC900055

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The chronostratigraphy of the lower Miocene deposits of northwestern Sardinia is refined in the Castelsardo Basin. The combination of new 40Ar/39Ar isotopic datings, 19 micropalaeontological datings (calcareous nannofossils, planktonic and large benthic foraminifers) and 16 palaeomagnetic polarity measurements led to a new chronostratigraphic framework. The continental deposits of the first megasequence (Valledoria and Casteldoria members) are possibly Aquitanian. The overlying marine sediments are early Burdigalian (Vaginella depressa Molasse). The marine transgression can be dated to around 19.7 Ma. Marine conditions ceased 18.83 ± 0.13 Ma, the age of the index aerial τ2 ignimbrite. The continental part of the second megasequence (“Lacustre” unit) is early–middle Burdigalian, between 18.8 and 18 Ma. The overlying marine part (Campulandu and Sedini members) is middle–late Burdigalian. The second marine transgression began in the earliest–late Burdigalian, during the Chron C5Dr reversal, at the time of the eustatic Bur 4 event. The Castelsardo basin went through two main extensional tectonic episodes. The first one occurred as the Valledoria Member was deposited and possibly dates back to the Aquitanian. The second one occurred as the uppermost part of the Vaginella depressa Molasse was deposited during the early Burdigalian. The second extensional episode is related to a rapid rotation of Sardinia. Palaeomagnetic results confirm that Corsica and Sardinia acted as a single block which suffered a 28 ± 17° ccw rotation after 19.2 Ma. The Castelsardo basin is held to be an Aquitanian–early Burdigalian intra-arc rift basin that later evolved in a thermally controlled subsident margin of the Ligurian-Provençal Basin during the middle–late Burdigalian.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00498288
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00498288
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.06.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Fromthe Proterozoic to the Quaternary, the evolution of the Earthwas characterised by recurrent periods of glaciation.However, the margins of many ancient ice-sheets are poorly defined on palaeogeographic reconstructions.The extent and outlines of ancient ice sheets can be better understood through careful documentation ofsediments deposited at the ice-sheet margin. An outstanding example is provided herein based on an end-Ordovician archive in Libya (Tihemboka area, Murzuq Basin). The four sets of structures include: i) subglacialglaciotectonic structures and soft sediment deformations from flowing glacier ice, such as intraformational glacialstriae, intraformational deformation (shear planes, sheath folds), normal microfaults, and large-scaleglaciotectonic folds-and-thrusts; (ii) structures resulting from overpressured subglacial (meltwater) flowssuch as clastic dykes and tunnel valleys; (iii) proglacial depositional structures and facies related to highmagnitudemeltwater floods such as sandstone intraclasts, large-scale bedforms resulting from supercriticalflows, climbing-dune cross-stratification and kettle holes; and (iv) deformation structures resulting from freefloating and nonglacier ice such as ice-keel scours and ice-crystal marks. Such a set of structures points to anice-marginal (essentially continental) depositional setting, and provides an excellent suite of criteria to identifymargins of ancient ice sheets in the stratigraphic record. At a regional scale, a reconstruction through time andspace of the related depositional wedge is proposed. This corresponded to a seismic-scale (N120 m in thickness,40 km in length) ice-marginal wedge in front of an essentially warm-based ice-sheet inducing concomitantlarge-scale glaciotectonic deformation, glacial basin and tunnel valley downcuttings. The related ice-front wasassociated with high-energy meltwater flows feeding a network of deeply incised proglacial channels downstreamand, beyond them, a fluvioglacial deltaic system. Shallow ice-marginal permafrost most likely affectedthe depositional wedge. At a larger scale, the Tihemboka ice-marginal wedge is interpreted as related to a stillstandperiod over the Gondwana platform, developed over an estimated interval of a few thousands of years.Based on these data, the conditions that arose in a particularly favourable context for the development, the preservationand the identification of ice-marginal wedges in the geological record are reviewed. Significantmeltwater-derived sediment deposition and aggradation in an accommodation space resulting either frompreglacial inheritance, glacial downcuttings and/or glacio-isostatic lithospheric flexure, or active tectonic subsidence(>1 Myr) are required for their formation and subsequent preservation.
ISSN: 0012-8252

insu-01184739
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01184739
DOI : 10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.06.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Report
From 2003 to 2006, the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada conducted a study of the sensitivity of the Roberts Bank tidal flats and marsh to rising sea level, under the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program (Project A600). The study was a multi-disciplinary effort involving geologists, biologists and social scientists comprising a scientific study of the tidal flat environment and a stakeholder engagement process. The results of the work were presented at a Final Stakeholder Workshop on 24 March 2006 and compiled into a preliminary report distributed to the major stakeholders.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00856757

hal-00856757
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00856757
DOI : 10.4095/292672

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Tectonics, v. 27, p. TC5011, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007TC002232
International audience
The seismic activity of the Ligurian Basin, the northeastern termination of the western Mediterranean basin, is larger than in surrounding regions, even though recent geodetic studies attest that this area is subject to very low levels of deformation. This basin is an example of a type of passive margins that cannot be considered solely as inert sites of sedimentation and of progressive subsidence and that are reactivated in a compressive pattern; other examples include the Kwanza basin (Angola) and the Brazil margin. We investigated, by means of 2-D thermomechanical modeling, the structural and rheological heterogeneities that can lead to concentration of strain in this marginal basin. We deduced that the deformation of the basin is due to its particular geometric features, narrow and with a thick surrounding continental crust, related to its position at the southern termination of the Alps. This sharp transition, in terms of both geometry and rheological contrast, is a main factor in explaining the weakness of the margin. We discuss the importance of buoyancy forces versus tectonic forces, as well as thermal effects, on the observed reactivation. Influence of contrast in rheology between an oceanic-type crust and continental crust is also studied. Geodynamical implications are proposed for the region. The good agreement between the predicted localized deformation and the observed seismicity distribution should help improve seismic hazard assessment in the region.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00407859
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407859
DOI : 10.1029/2007TC002232

Éditeur(s) : The American Asscoiation of Petroleum Geologists
Résumé : A plate tectonic model of the early opening of the south atlantic is used to des cibe the structural framework of the continental margins and adjacent oceanic and coastal areas on both sides of the ocean. It is proposed that major offsets of the continental margins necessarily induce the subsidence of coastal basins where fracture zones intersect the continents. The configuration of the accreting plate-margin boundary gradually developed throughout the opening of the ocean after Late Jurassic time. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
The American Asscoiation of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (The American Asscoiation of Petroleum Geologists), 1972 , Vol. 56 , N. 6 , P. 991-1007

Droits : The American Asscoiation of Petroleum Geologists
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1972/publication-5033.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5033/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
This work presents a synthesis of the present-day knowledge on both emerged and submerged carbonate platforms of the Guadeloupe archipelago. Onshore and offshore data acquired during the KaShallow project are presented. Since the early Zanclean, some isolated platforms developed onto a Jurassic to Tortonian basement which displayed reliefs inherited from a major extensional tectonic episode dated from −8 to −5 Ma. Marie-Galante, Grande Terre and the southern shelf of Grande-Terre show strong similarities with Zanclean to Gelasian red-algal facies upward changing into early Calabrian coral facies. A major erosional unconformity (SB2) was recognized and allows to distinguish two early Calabrian formations (Calcaires à Agaricia Formation and Calcaires à Acropora Formation). The final emersion of these platforms is late Calabrian. The La Désirade platform displays Zanclean to early Piacenzian red-algal facies upward changing into coral facies. This platform emerged as soon as in the late Piacenzian. The island subsided again in relation with later extensional tectonic episode and early Calabrian reef platform then unconformably deposited. The Colombie bank deposits comprise Pliocene basinal deposits overlain by late Calabrian coral reefs. The Flandre bank might have emerged synchronously with La Désirade but was drowned only in the late Pleistocene-Holocene interval. Four extensional tectonic episodes have been identified in the late Miocene-Recent interval. Their effects depend on the location of the platforms within the fore-arc.
Bulletin Société Géologique de France

insu-00816463
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00816463
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.99