Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : Approximately 4 yr of campaign and continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements across the Dead Sea fault system (DSFS) in Lebanon provide direct measurements of interseismic strain accumulation along a 200-km-long restraining bend in this continental transform fault. Late Cenozoic transpression within this restraining bend has maintained more than 3000 m of topography in the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges. The GPS velocity field indicates 4-5 mm yr(-1) of relative plate motion is transferred through the restraining bend to the northern continuation of the DSFS in northwestern Syria. Near-field GPS velocities are generally parallel to the major, left-lateral strike-slip faults, suggesting that much of the expected convergence across the restraining bend is likely accommodated by different structures beyond the aperture of the GPS network (e.g. offshore Lebanon and, possibly, the Palmyride fold belt in SW Syria). Hence, these geodetic results suggest a partitioning of crustal deformation involving strike-slip displacements in the interior of the restraining bend, and crustal shortening in the outer part of the restraining bend. Within the uncertainties, the GPS-based rates of fault slip compare well with Holocene-averaged estimates of slip along the two principal strike-slip faults: the Yammouneh and Serghaya faults. Of these two faults, more slip occurs on the Yammouneh fault, which constitutes the primary plate boundary structure between the Arabia and Sinai plates. Hence, the Yammouneh fault is the structural linkage that transfers slip to the northern part of the transform in northwestern Syria. From the perspective of the regional earthquake hazard, the Yammouneh fault is presently locked and accumulating interseismic strain.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00406620
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00406620
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03328.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Deformation of the continental lithosphere is traditionally modeled assuming that heat production in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle is negligible. Although this may be appropriate for highly depleted Archean lithosphere, studies of mantle xenoliths and lithospheric-derived mafic rocks suggest that heat productions of up to 0.4 ;μW/m3 may be attained in the mantle of Phanerozoic and Neoproterozoic regions due to modal metasomatism. To investigate the effect of a local enrichment in heat-producing elements within the lithospheric mantle on the continental deformation, we performed a series of 2D thermo-mechanical models simulating the deformation of a lithospheric plate 1000 km long, which contains in its central part a 200 km wide and 20 km-thick mantle layer with a heat production of 0.05;–0.25 ;μW/m3 between 40 and 80 km depth, leading to a local enhancement of the surface heat flow by 1;–5 mW/m2. Compression models show that a 20 km-thick layer with a heat production as low as 0.05 ;μW/m3 within the shallow lithospheric mantle leads to strain localization in both the enriched mantle and the overlying crust. Strain localization depends exponentially on the temperature increase in the lithosphere section, which is controlled by the volume of metasomatized mantle and the intensity of the metasomatic enrichment in heat-producing elements. A heat production of 0.25 μW/m3 between 60 and 80 km depth results, for instance, in strains within and above the metasomatized mantle 5 times higher than in the surrounding lithosphere. Strain localization also depends on the location of the heat-producing domain and on the plate rheological structure; deeper heat-producing domains and weaker plates leading to stronger localization. These results provide an explanation for strain localization in intraplate environments, leading to the formation of orogenic belts situated hundreds to thousands of kilometers away from known plate boundaries, as observed in the Neoproterozoic belts of Gondwana and in the present-day deformation of the Asian plate.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00411386
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411386
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.040

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Betic-Rif orocline surrounding the Alboran Sea, the westernmost tip of the Mediterranean Sea, accommodates the NW–SE convergence between the Nubia and Eurasia plates. Recent GPS observations indicate a ∼4 mm/yr SW motion of the Rif Mountains, relative to stable Nubia, incompatible with a simple two-plate model. New gravity data acquired in this study define a pronounced negative Bouguer anomaly south of the Rif, interpreted as a ∼40 km-thick crust in a state of non-isostatic equilibrium. We study the correlation between these present-day kinematic and geodynamic processes using a finite-element code to model in 2-D the first-order behavior of a lithosphere affected by a downward normal traction (representing the pull of a high-density body in the upper mantle). We show that intermediate viscosities for the lower crust and uppermost mantle (View the MathML source1021–1022Pas) allow an efficient coupling between the mantle and the base of the brittle crust, thus enabling (1) the conversion of vertical movement, resulting from the downward traction, to horizontal movement and (2) shortening in the brittle upper crust. Our results show that incipient delamination of the Nubian continental lithosphere, linked to slab pull, can explain the present-day abnormal tectonics, contribute to the gravity anomaly observed in northern Morocco, and give insight into recent tectonics in the Western Mediterranean region.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01467130
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467130
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.08.041

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We analyze in this study a new set of marine data including 3D local tomography, 1992-2008 relocated earthquakes and two recent multichannel seismic lines to characterize the deformation style in the collision area offshore east Taiwan. We have mapped in detail the Mohos of the converging plates as well as the subduction interface with a resolution never reached before. We show that the sharp continental subduction of the Eurasia plate, beneath the middle part of the Central Range, indents the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) as attested by intra-oceanic slicing and incipient subduction of the PSP beneath the east coast of Taiwan. The westernmost part of the PSP slab is probably experiencing a beginning of break-off as attested by NW-trending en-échelon shear zones beneath the southern slope of the southern Ryukyu arc (SRA). These en-échelon shear zones have a sinistral component favored by the "collision-free" subduction of the PSP north of 24°30′N. The down-faulting of the subduction interface forms ramps along which earthquakes clusterize. Three M7 subduction earthquakes occurred offshore Suao city along these ramps with a recurrence interval of about 40 years: 1920 Mw7.7, 1963 Mw7.2 and 2002 Mw7.1 events. The 1966 Mw6.0-7.5 earthquakes sequence likely outlines a WNW-ESE left-lateral intra-slab shear zone. The SRA upper plate accommodates the complex geometry and deformation of the subducting PSP through seismic deformation. Shallow high velocities fringing the Luzon volcanic arc (LVA) beneath the Longitudinal Valley and north of the southernmost Ryukyu forearc basins are interpreted as relics of the LVA forearc basement squeezed in the collision zone. Based on the accommodation of a large part of the convergence through shortening within the PSP and the subsequent segmentation of the shallow subduction interface, we consider that the nucleation of a Mw ≥ 8 earthquake along the southernmost Ryukyu megathrust is unlikely.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00853365
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365/file/publallemandifremer.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.03.020

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : We present four companion digital models of the age, age uncertainty, spreading rates, and spreading asymmetries of the world's ocean basins as geographic and Mercator grids with 2 arc min resolution. The grids include data from all the major ocean basins as well as detailed reconstructions of back-arc basins. The age, spreading rate, and asymmetry at each grid node are determined by linear interpolation between adjacent seafloor isochrons in the direction of spreading. Ages for ocean floor between the oldest identified magnetic anomalies and continental crust are interpolated by geological estimates of the ages of passive continental margin segments. The age uncertainties for grid cells coinciding with marine magnetic anomaly identifications, observed or rotated to their conjugate ridge flanks, are based on the difference between gridded age and observed age. The uncertainties are also a function of the distance of a given grid cell to the nearest age observation and the proximity to fracture zones or other age discontinuities. Asymmetries in crustal accretion appear to be frequently related to asthenospheric flow from mantle plumes to spreading ridges, resulting in ridge jumps toward hot spots. We also use the new age grid to compute global residual basement depth grids from the difference between observed oceanic basement depth and predicted depth using three alternative age-depth relationships. The new set of grids helps to investigate prominent negative depth anomalies, which may be alternatively related to subducted slab material descending in the mantle or to asthenospheric flow. A combination of our digital grids and the associated relative and absolute plate motion model with seismic tomography and mantle convection model outputs represents a valuable set of tools to investigate geodynamic problems.
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems - G3 (1525-2027) (American Geophysical Union), 2008-04 , Vol. 9 , P. NIL_18-NIL_36

Droits : 2008 American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-3900.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2007GC001743
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3900/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Tethyan ophiolites show an apparent poorly organized association of ultramafic andmafic rocks. By contrast tothe complete mantle-crustal sections of Semail-type ophiolite sheets, Tethyan ophiolites are characterized by asmaller amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by thefrequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associatedgabbroic intrusions. Therefore, they are considered as typical remnants of oceanic lithosphere formed in slowspreadingenvironment or in ocean–continent transition at distal passive margins. In the very first models offormation of the Tethyan ophiolites, in the years 1980, the geodynamical processes leading to mantle unroofingwere poorly understood due to the paucity of data and concepts available at that time from the present-dayoceans. In particular, at that time, little work had focused on the distribution, origin and significance ofmafic rocks with respect to the dominant surrounding ultramafics. Here, we reconsider the geology of sometypical metaophiolites from the Western Alps and Corsica, and we show how results from the past decadeobtained in the current oceans ask for reassessing the significance of the Tethyan ophiolites in general. Revisitedexamples include a set of representative metaophiolites from the blueschists units of the Western Alps (Queyrasregion) and from Alpine Corsica (Golo Valley). Field relationships between the ophiolitic basement andthe metasedimentary/metavolcanic oceanic cover are described, outlining a typical character of the Tethyanophiolite lithological associations. Jurassic marbles and polymictic ophiolite metabreccias are unconformablyoverlying the mantle-gabbo basement, in a way strictly similar to what is observed in the non-metamorphicAppennine ophiolites or Chenaillet massif. This confirms that very early tectonic juxtaposition of ultramafic andmafic rocks occurred in the oceanic domain before subduction. This juxtaposition resulted from tectonic activitythat is now assigned to the development of detachment faults and to the formation of Oceanic Core Complexes(OCCs) at the axis of slow spreading ridges. This fundamental Plate Tectonics process is responsible for the exhumationand for the axial denudation of mantle rocks and gabbros at diverging plate boundaries. In addition, fieldrelationships between the discontinuous basaltic formations and the ultramafic–mafic basement indicate that thistectonic stage is followed or not by a volcanic stage.We discuss this issue in the light of available field constraints.
ISSN: 0012-8252

insu-01096467
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467/file/Lagabrielle-EarthSciRev-2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.11.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Much debate exists concerning the strength distribution of the continental lithosphere, how it controls lithosphere-scale strain localization and hence enables plate tectonics. No rheological model proposed to date is comprehensive enough to describe both the weakness of plate boundary and rigid-like behaviour of plate interiors. Here we show that the duality of strength of the lithosphere corresponds to different stages of microstructural evolution. Geological constraints on lithospheric strength and large strain numerical experiments reveal that the development of layers containing weak minerals and the onset of grain boundary sliding upon grain size reduction in olivine cause strain localisation and reduce strength in the crust and subcontinental mantle, respectively. The positive feedback between weakening and strain localization leads to the progressive development of weak plate boundaries while plate interiors remain
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-00949213
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00949213
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00949213/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00949213/file/Gueydan_et_al_2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.02.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Upper mantle anisotropy beneath the African IRIS and Geoscope stations is investigated through the measurements of splitting of teleseismic shear waves such as SKS, SKKS and PKS phases. Seismic anisotropy data are interesting on their own as a measure of upper mantle active or frozen deformation beneath a given station, but each station is of potential interest since it can be used to retrieve source-side seismic anisotropy at remote sites if one is able to perform station-side anisotropy correction. We performed systematic investigations of teleseismic shear wave splitting at 15 stations from the IRIS and Geoscope global seismic networks, which are located on both the oceanic and the continental parts of the African plate. Anisotropy is generally well observed at continental stations. The patterns we present generally show much more complexity than the results previously published from smaller data sets. Despite this complexity, the splitting parameters generally appear in several places to contain a signature of the regional geodynamic setting (rift structures, Archaean craton, Pan-African belt), although a deeper source of anisotropy (asthenospheric) may be present. At the oceanic stations, anisotropy measurements are much more difficult to perform because the signal is generally of poor quality. MSEY, in the Seychelles (Indian ocean), is the exception and displays a clear correlation of the azimuth of the fast split shear wave with the trend of the absolute plate motion, as defined by hotspot tracks.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01380389
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01380389
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01380389/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01380389/file/Barruol_SKS_afric_GJI2001.pdf
DOI : 10.1046/j.0956-540x.2001.01481.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
In the frame of the Africa-Europe convergence, the Mediterranean tectonic system presents a complex interaction between subduction rollback and upper-plate deformation during the Tertiary. The western Mediterranean is characterized by the exhumation of the largest subcontinental mantle massif worldwide (the Ronda Peridotite) and a narrow arcuate geometryacross the Gibraltar arc within the Betic-Rif belt (the internal part being called the Alboran domain), where the relationship between slab dynamics and surface tectonics is not well understood. New structural and geochronological data are used to argue for 1/ hyperstrechting of the continental lithosphere allowing extensional mantle exhumation to shallow depths, followed by 2/ lower miocene thrusting. Two Lower Miocene E-W-trending strike-slip corridors played a major role in the deformation pattern of the Alboran Domain, in which E-W dextral strike-slip faults, N60°-trending thrusts and N140°-trending normal faults developed simultaneously during dextral strike-slip simple shear. The inferred continuous westward translation of the Alboran Domain is accommodated by a major E-W-trending lateral ramp (strike-slip) and a N60°-trending frontal thrust. At lithosphere-scale, we interpret the observed deformation pattern as the upper-plate expression of a lateral slab tear and of its westward propagation since Lower Miocene. The crustal emplacement of the Ronda Peridotites occurred at the onset of this westward motion.The Miocene tectonics of the western Alboran is therefore marked by the inversion of a continental rift, triggered by shortening of the upper continental plate and accommodated by E-W dextral strike-slip corridors. During thrusting and westward displacement of the Alboran domain with respect to Iberia, the hot upper plate, which involved the previously exhumed sub-continental mantle, underwent fast cooling.
AGU Fall Meeting 2015
San Francisco, United States

insu-01242043
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01242043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mongolia represents the northernmost area affected by the India–Asia collision, and it is actively deformed along transpressive belts closely associated with large-scale strike-slip faults. The active and past mantle flow beneath this region is, however, poorly known. In order to investigate deep mantle deformation beneath central Mongolia and its relation with the surrounding major structures such as the Siberian craton, the Gobi–Altay belt and the Baikal rift, a NS-trending profile of broadband seismic stations has been deployed in the summer 2003 from the southern Siberian craton to the Gobi–Altay range, crossing the entire Hangay dome. Mantle flow is deduced from the splitting of teleseismic shear waves such as SKS phases. In eastern Mongolia, the permanent station ULN in Ulaanbaatar reveals the presence of two anisotropic layers, the upper one being oriented NE–SW, close to the trend of lithospheric structures and the lower one NW–SE, close to the trend of Eurasia absolute plate motion. Along the NS profile in central Mongolia, seismic anisotropy deduced from SKS splitting reveals a homogeneous NW–SE trending structure, fully consistent with the observations made in the Altay–Sayan in western Mongolia. The observed delay times of 1.5 to more than 2.0 s favor consistent mantle flow over large mantle thicknesses. Since the lithosphere is less than 100 km thick beneath central Mongolia and since the observed fast directions are parallel to the trend of the lithospheric structures but also close to the trend of the absolute plate motion, we propose that both the lithosphere and the asthenosphere may join their anisotropic effects beneath central Mongolia to explain the large delay times. Although GPS vectors represent the instantaneous displacement of the Earth's surface and SKS splitting the time and vertical integration of finite strain at depth, we use the opportunity of the dense geodetic measurements available in this region to discuss the anisotropy pattern in term of present-day deformation. In the Eurasia-fixed reference frame, GPS and SKS both depict a similar trend beneath central Mongolia, suggesting a lithospheric block “escaping” toward the east that could orient olivine a-axes in the upper mantle, within a transpressive tectonic regime. A different behaviour is observed in western Mongolia: the GPS vectors trend NS, close to the regional compression direction, whereas the fast SKS directions trend EW, suggesting a tectonic regime close to a mode of axial shortening, generating the development of an EW-trending foliation at depth. We therefore propose that Mongolia is a place where active and frozen lithospheric deformation may add their effects, together with the sublithospheric flow. In the three sources of anisotropy inferred, a fundamental role is played by the Siberian craton that acted as an undeformable core of the continent through time: the frozen Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures wrap around the craton, building up the fast anisotropic direction pattern; the present-day sublithospheric flow induced by the plate motion is likely deflecting around its deep roots; finally, the present-day tectonic regime appears to be controlled by the presence of the craton to the north.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00407853
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407853
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407853/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407853/file/Barruol_SKS_Mongolia_EPSL2008_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.027

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
eoproterozoic eclogite and garnet amphibolites, representing retrogressed eclogites, from the Tassendjanet-Tidéridjaouine terrane in the Pan-African Western Hoggar (Tuareg shield, Southern Algeria) form lenses enclosed in 1.8 Ga subalkaline Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses. They lie along a major sinistral shear zone marking the boundary with the Archean/Paleoproterozoic granulitic In Ouzzal terrane and are associated with high-pressure metasediments. According to thermodynamic calculations, peak condition of the eclogitic stage is 650 °C, 20-22 kbar followed by post-peak heating and exhumation at 730 °C, 10-14 kbar and cooling to 610 °C, 7-10 kbar. Their major, trace-element and isotopic compositions are consistent with emplacement of former basalts in the shoulder of a 700-800 Ma continental rift that evolved to an oceanic basin. The eclogite and garnet amphibolites were thus part of the continental portion of a subducting slab that was pulled down by a denser oceanic lithosphere. Sheath and recumbent folds associated with the exhumation of HP units are verging toward the west, meaning that the former slab was dipping to the east. U-Pb zircon dating on metamorphic zircons bordering ilmenite and rutile in the eclogite gave an age of 623 ± 2 Ma, interpreted as the syn-collisional exhumation stage of the high-pressure unit. This event was rapidly followed by transpressional tectonics and abundant magmatism linked to the northward motion of the adjacent In Ouzzal terrane.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01054338
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054338
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2014.04.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Collisional mountain belts grow as a consequence of continental plate convergence and eventuallydisappear under the combined effects of gravitational collapse and erosion. Using a decade ofGPS data, we show that the western Alps are currently characterized by zero horizontal velocityboundary conditions, offering the opportunity to investigate orogen evolution at the time ofcessation of plate convergence. We find no significant horizontal motion within the belt, but GPS andlevelling measurements independently show a regional pattern of uplift reaching ~2.5 mm/yr in thenorthwestern Alps. Unless a low viscosity crustal root under the northwestern Alps locally enhancesthe vertical response to surface unloading, the summed effects of isostatic responses to erosion andglaciation explain at most 60% of the observed uplift rates. Rock-uplift rates corrected from transientglacial isostatic adjustment contributions likely exceed erosion rates in the northwestern Alps. In theabsence of active convergence, the observed surface uplift must result from deep-seated processes.
ISSN: 2045-2322

hal-01357450
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357450
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357450/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357450/file/noquet2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1038/srep28404

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
New petrographic and microstructural observations, mineral equilibria modelling and U/Pb (monazite) geochronological studies were carried out to investigate the relationships between deformation and metamorphism across the Rehamna massif (Moroccan Variscan belt). In this area, typical Barrovian (muscovite to staurolite) zones developed in Cambrian to Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks that are distributed around a dome-like structure. First assemblages are characterized by the presence of locally preserved andalusite, followed by prograde evolution culminating at 6 kbar and 620 °C in the structurally deepest staurolite zone rocks. This Barrovian sequence was subsequently uplifted to supracrustal levels, heterogeneously reworked at greenschist facies conditions, which was followed locally by static growth of andalusite, indicating heating to 2.5–4 kbar and 530–570 °C. The 206Pb/238U monazite age of 298.3 ± 4.1 Ma is interpreted as minimum age of peak metamorphic conditions, whereas the ages of 275.8 ± 1.7 Ma and 277.0 ± 1.1 Ma date decompression and heating at low pressure, in agreement with previous dating of Permian granitoids intruding the Rehamna massif. The prograde metamorphism occurred during thickening and associated horizontal flow in the deeper crust (S1 horizontal schistosity). The horizontally disposed metamorphic zones were subsequently uplifted by a regional scale antiform during ongoing N–S compression. The re-heating of the massif follows late massive E–W shortening, refolding and retrograde shearing of all previous fabrics coevally with regionally important intrusions of Permian granitoids. We argue that metamorphic evolution of the Rehamna massif occurred several hundred kilometres from the convergent plate boundaries in the interior of continental Gondwanan plate. The tectonometamorphic history of the Rehamna massif is put into Palaeozoic plate tectonic perspective and Late Carboniferous reactivation of (Devonian)–Early Carboniferous basins formed during stretching of the north Gondwana margin and formation of the Palaeotethys Ocean. The inherited heat budget of these magma-rich basins plays a role in the preferential location of this intracontinental orogen. It is shown that rapid transition from lithospheric stretching to compression is characterized by specific HT type of Barrovian metamorphism, which markedly differs from similar Barrovian sequences along Palaeozoic plate boundaries reported from Variscan Europe.
ISSN: 0263-4929

hal-01468009
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01468009
DOI : 10.1111/jmg.12214

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
The Alboran Domain, situated at the western end of the Mediterranean subductionsystem, is characterized by the Ronda Peridotites, one of the world largest exposures of subcontinental mantle. Using U-Pb (LA-ICP-MS) and Ar-Ar dating, we precisely dated twotectonic events associated with the Tertiary exhumation of the Ronda Peridotites. First,shearing along the Crust-Mantle Extensional Shear Zone caused, at ca. 22.5 Ma, mantleexhumation, local partial melting in the deep crust and coeval cooling in the upper crust.Second, the Ronda Peridotites Thrust triggered the final crustal emplacement of theperidotites onto the continental crust at ca. 21 Ma, as testified by granitic intrusions in thethrust hanging-wall. The tectonic evolution of the western Alboran Domain is thereforecharacterized by a fast switch from a continental lithosphere extension in a backarc setting,with sub-continental mantle exhumation, to a rift inversion by thrusting driven by shorteningof the subduction upper plate
ISSN: 0954-4879

insu-01441962
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01441962
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01441962/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01441962/file/Frasca-TerraNova-2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/ter.12255

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We performed forward modelling of seismic anisotropy beneath a migrating strike-slip plate boundary to: (1) test if such a geodynamic context might explain teleseismic shear wave splitting data in the vicinity of the central part of the San Andreas Fault and (2) constrain the power of such data to unravel vertical and lateral variations in deformation patterns in the upper mantle. The modelling involves five steps: (1) thermomechanical modelling, using a finite-element code, of the deformation field, (2) viscoplastic self-consistent modelling of the resulting olivine and pyroxene crystal preferred orientations, (3) calculation of the elasticity tensors for different domains of the finite elements (FEs) model, (4) forward modelling of seismic wave propagation through the model using ray theory, finite-frequency theory and a full-wave approach and (5) performing splitting measurements on the synthetic seismograms. SKS splitting data in central California are best fitted by a model with a hotter geotherm within 60 km of the plate boundary accounting for the opening of an asthenospheric window due to the northward migration of the Mendocino Triple Junction. The westward motion of the plate boundary cannot however explain the rotation of fast polarization directions east of the San Andreas Fault in central California. Comparison between modelled and measured individual shear wave splitting also implies that the homogeneity of the two-layer models accounting for the observations in the vicinity of the San Andreas Fault indicates a sharp transition between lithospheric and asthenospheric deformations beneath this plate boundary. The ability of different synthetic approaches to localize horizontally and vertically the plate boundary-related deformation differs significantly. Splitting in ray theory synthetics closely follow variations in olivine crystallographic preferred orientations in the model. In contrast, splitting analysis on full-wave synthetics, which should be more representative of actual long-period SKS waves, results in smooth apparent lateral variations of anisotropy; the exact location and width of the plate boundary may only be retrieved by comparing fast-polarization profiles obtained using a multichannel analysis on waves with different periods.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01236150
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01236150
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01236150/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01236150/file/Bonnin_San_Andreas_modelling_GJI2012.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2012.05650.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Reactivation of structures inherited from previous collisional or rifting events, especially lithospheric-scale faults, is a major feature of plate tectonics. Its expression ranges from continental break-up along ancient collisional belts(1,2) to linear arrays of intraplate magmatism and seismicity(3,4). Here we use multiscale numerical models to show that this reactivation can result from an anisotropic mechanical behaviour of the lithospheric mantle due to an inherited preferred orientation of olivine crystals. We explicitly consider an evolving anisotropic viscosity controlled by the orientation of olivine crystals in the mantle. We find that strain is localized in domains where shear stresses on the inherited mantle fabric are high, and that this leads to shearing parallel to the inherited fabric. During rifting, structural reactivation induced by anisotropy results in oblique extension, followed by either normal extension or failure. Our results suggest that anisotropic viscosity in the lithospheric mantle controls the location and orientation of intraplate deformation zones that may evolve into new plate boundaries, and causes long-lived lithospheric-scale wrench faults, contributing to the toroidal component of plate motions on Earth.
ISSN: 1752-0894

hal-00413033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413033
DOI : 10.1038/ngeo528

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Lambert Academic Publishing
Résumé : The Himalaya-Tibet system is considered as the classical case of continental collision. Nonetheless, some fundamental questions concerning its structure, as well as physical processes influencing its evolution are still pending. This book presents several advances in the subject matter. Based on new high-resolution geophysical data from the field, combined with robust imaging techniques, the structure of the collision is revealed in detail: the underplating of India beneath half of Tibet, as well as the geometry of the surface along which this happens. Various numerical modelling techniques allow to discuss physical processes at work in the collision zone, such as the rheology of the India plate whose strong mantle supports the Himalayas, or the metamorphic reactions at depth emphasizing the role of water. We recommend this book to Earth Scientists in a broader sense. While specialists in seismology or modelling can thumb technical details, all Readers can get an interdisciplinary overview of mountain building in the Himalayas, with a retrospective outlook on early day explorers and the dawn of some classical geological principles.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854592

ISBN : 978-3838323534
hal-00854592
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854592

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 Elsevier
Résumé : Obduction processes, though spectacular (dense oceanic ophiolites are emplaced on top of light, continental rocks along thousands of km), have been little elucidated since the advent of plate tectonics. Based on convergence velocities and blueschist formation, we show that the two recent large-scale, Upper Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous obductions coincided with periods during which velocities increased abruptly and more than doubled. The latter obduction also modified the interplate coupling across adjacent subduction zones. We critically propose a mechanism in which large-scale obductions are triggered by intraplate instabilities resulting from sharp plate accelerations, possibly in response to superplume events
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00407960
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407960
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.04.002