Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Ocean Drilling Programm
Résumé : This paper provides a summary of postcruise scientific results from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 209 available to date, building upon shipboard observations and syntheses summarized in the Leg 209 Initial Results volume. During Leg 209, 19 holes were drilled at 8 sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from 14°43´ to 15°44´N, mainly in residual mantle peridotite intruded by gabbroic rocks, in order to understand the tectonic and structural processes responsible for formation of oceanic lithosphere with abundant residual peridotite exposed on the seafloor coupled with a relatively low proportion of volcanic rocks. Based on proportions of recovered lithologies, the entire area may be underlain by mantle peridotite with ~20%–40% gabbroic intrusions and impregnations. Impregnated peridotites with olivine + two pyroxenes + plagioclase + spinel that apparently formed in equilibrium probably record crystallization from primitive mid-ocean-ridge basalt at pressures of 0.5–0.6 GPa. Metamorphic equilibria record isobaric cooling to ~1100°C at this pressure. Thus, the conductively cooled thermal boundary layer beneath the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in this region is >15 km thick. Combined crystallization and reaction with residual peridotite formed a series of impregnated peridotites recording increasing Na content at nearly constant Mg#; this process could explain some of the variation in fractionation-corrected Na (e.g., Na = 8.0) observed in mid-ocean-ridge basalts. Clinopyroxene textures and compositions record such impregnation processes, and they are particularly well documented for Site 1274. Other Leg 209 gabbroic rocks formed from extensive crystallization of highly evolved melts, indicating that a substantial proportion of melt entering the thermal boundary layer crystallizes entirely beneath the seafloor, with no volcanic equivalent. Alteration of peridotites occurred over a range of temperatures and is the result of three distinct processes: rock-dominated serpentinization with formation of brucite in olivine-rich lithologies, fluid-dominated serpentinization with formation of magnetite and no brucite, and fluid-dominated talc alteration with addition of SiO2 as well as H2O and oxygen. The latter two processes also exhibit detectable trace element metasomatism that is distinct in its character from the igneous impregnation described in the previous paragraph. Microstructures show that most residual peridotites were not ductilely deformed at temperatures less than ~1200°C. Structural and paleomagnetic data require tectonic rotations of relatively undeformed blocks; some rotations probably exceeded 60° around nearly horizontal axes parallel to the rift axis. Rotations occurred along several generations of high-temperature mylonitic shear zones extending deeper than 15 km depth and numerous faults at lower temperature. Early formed shear zones and faults were passively rotated around later features; such a process could have produced low-angle fault surfaces without slip on low-angle faults. This region provides end-member examples of processes that are common at many or most slow-spreading ridges. Osmium isotope ratios indicate an ancient history of depletion for residual peridotites from the 14°–16°N region along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Though depleted Os isotope ratios in peridotite have been reported elsewhere along the global ridge system, the values from this region are among the most depleted. In general, Os isotope ratios from mid-ocean-ridge basalts are systematically more radiogenic than Os isotope ratios from ridge peridotite samples, suggesting a polygenetic heterogeneous source for mid-ocean-ridge basalts. Geochemical studies of zircons from Leg 209 gabbroic rocks and impregnated peridotites, together with other ridge and arc-related zircons, indicate that ridge zircons have systematically lower fractionation-corrected U and Th concentrations compared to arc zircons. This observation provides a tool for interpreting the tectonic provenance of ancient detrital zircons and indicates an arclike provenance for Hadean detrital zircons. Geobiological studies and aerobiological studies were also undertaken during Leg 209. The geobiological work found no measurable microbial enhancement of olivine dissolution rate, possibly because the samples from Leg 209 were sterile. The aerobiological study determined that dust from North Africa, collected from the derrick of the JOIDES Resolution during Leg 209, contains a variety of abundant microorganisms.
Proceedings ODP, scientific results, 209

hal-00407966
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407966
DOI : 10.2973/odp.proc.sr.209.001.2007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Detailed structural and petrological mapping in the Beni Bousera peridotite (Rif Belt, northern Morocco) shows that this orogenic peridotite massif is composed of four tectono-metamorphic domains with consistent kinematics, marked by a pervasive, shallowly dipping foliation with a NW-SE stretching lineation that progressively rotates towards a NNE-SSW orientation in the lowermost part of the massif. From top to bottom, these domains are garnet-spinel mylonites, Ariègite subfacies fine-grained porphyroclastic spinel peridotites, Ariègite-Seiland subfacies porphyroclastic, and Seiland subfacies coarse-porphyroclastic to coarse-granular spinel peridotites. Microstructures and crystal preferred orientations point to deformation dominantly by dislocation creep in all domains, but the continuous increase in average olivine grain size indicates decreasing plastic work rates from top to bottom. This evolution in deformation conditions is consistent with the change in synkinematic pressure and temperature conditions, from 900°C at 2*0 GPa in garnet-spinel mylonites to 1150°C at 1*8 GPa in the Seiland domain. A pervasive diffuse dunitic-websteritic layering subparallel to the foliation suggests deformation in the presence of melt in the Seiland domain. Gravitational instabilities owing to local melt accumulation may account for <200 m wide areas exhibiting a vertical lineation in this domain. To account for the consistent kinematics and the tectono-metamorphic evolution, which implies a temperature gradient of c. 125°C km−1 preserved across the Beni Bousera massif, we propose that the entire massif records the functioning of a low-angle shear zone, a few kilometres wide, which accommodated exhumation of the base of the lithosphere from ∼90 to ∼60 km depth. Partial melting in the Seiland domain may be explained by fast decompression of the footwall, without the need for exotic heat sources. Moreover, if the present-day orientation of the shear zone is similar to that when it was active in the mantle, the stretching lineations at high angle to the metamorphic gradient imply that shearing parallel to the trend of the belt accompanied thinning; that is, a transtensional deformation of the margin.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00950056
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950056
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egt067

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer
Résumé : International audience
In the Dent Blanche Tectonic System, the Mont Morion biotite-bearing granite is a km-scale intrusion preserved in a low-strain volume. Zircon saturation thermometry suggests that it crystallised from a melt that reached about 800 °C. U–Pb zircon and allanite geochronology indicates crystallization of the magma in the Permian (290 ± 3 Ma; 280 ± 8 Ma, respectively). Migmatitic biotite-gneiss and amphibolite are found as xenoliths within the Mont Morion granite and constitute its country-rocks. In two samples of migmatitic biotite-gneiss zircon has metamorphic overgrowths that yield U–Pb ages of 285 ± 3 Ma and 281 ± 4 Ma, and are thus contemporaneous with the intrusion of the granite. The Mont Morion granite with its country-rocks of migmatitic biotite-bearing gneiss and amphibolite was thus emplaced at middle crustal levels while amphibolite facies metamorphism affected its country rocks. The magmatic and metamorphic record in the Mont Morion area reflects the high-temperature regime and lithospheric thinning of the Adriatic continental margin during Permian.
ISSN: 1661-8726

insu-01622179
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01622179
DOI : 10.1007/s00015-017-0284-1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Understanding subduction rheology in both space and time has been a challenge since the advent of plate tectonics. We herein focus on "subduction infancy", that is the first ~1-5 My immediately following subduction nucleation, when a newly born slab penetrates into the upper plate mantle and heats up. The only remnants of this critical yet elusive geodynamic step are thin metamorphic soles, commonly found beneath pristine, 100-1000 km long portions of oceanic lithosphere emplaced on continents (i.e., ophiolites).Through the (i) worldwide compilation of pressure-temperature conditions of metamorphic sole formation augmented by pseudosection thermodynamic modeling, (ii) calculations of the viscosity of materials along the plate interface and (iii) generic numerical thermal models, we provide a conceptual model of dynamic plate interface processes during subduction infancy (and initiation s.l.).We show in particular how major rheological switches across the subduction interface control slab penetration, and the formation of metamorphic soles. Due to the downward progression of hydration and weakening of the mantle wedge with cooling, the lower plate (basalt, sediment) and the upper plate (mantle wedge) rheologies equalize and switch over a restricted temperature-time-depth interval (e.g., at ~800°C and ~1 GPa, during 0.1-2 My, for high-temperature metamorphic sole formation). These switches result in episodes of maximum interplate mechanical coupling, thereby slicing the top of the slab and welding pieces (basalt, sediment) to the base of the mantle wedge. Similar mechanical processes likely apply for the later, deeper accretion and exhumation of high-temperature oceanic eclogites in serpentinite mélanges, or for the accretion of larger tectonic slices.This model provides constraints on the effective rheologies of the crust and mantle and general understanding, at both rock and plate scale, for accretion processes and early slab dynamics.
AGU Fall Meeting 2015
San Francisco, United States

insu-01242103
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01242103

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Seoul National University
Résumé : http://www.episodes.org/backissues/302/abstract2.htm
International audience
The Trans-North China Belt (TNCB) is a Paleoproterozoic collisional orogen (ca. 1.9-1.8 Ga) responsible for the amalgamation of the North China Craton. Detail field works in Lüliangshan, Hengshan, Wutaishan and Fuping massifs where the belt is well exposed, allow us to draw new tectonic map and crustal-scale cross sections. The available petrologic, radiometric, geochronologic data are integrated in a geodynamic evolution scheme for this orogen. The Low Grade Mafic Unit (LGMU) is interpreted as an ophiolitic nappe rooted in a suture zone located in the western part of the Lüliangshan. This ophiolitic nappe overthrusts to the SE upon the Orthogneiss-Volcanites Unit (OVU) that consists of a bimodal volcanicsedimentary series metamorphosed under amphibolite facies conditions intruded by calcalkaline orthogneiss. The OVU is a composite Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic magmatic arc developed during two stages (ca. 2500 and 2100 Ma) upon a continental basement corresponding to the western extension of the Neoarchean Fuping massif. The OVU overthrusts to the SE the Fuping massif along the Longquanguan shear zone. This stack of nappe, coeval with an amphibolite facies metamorphism, is dated at ca 1880 Ma. Subsequently, the metamorphic series experienced a widespread migmatization at 1850 Ma and was intruded by post-orogenic plutons dated at 1800 Ma. The weakly to unmetamorphosed Hutuo Supergroup unconformably overlies the metamorphosed and ductilely deformed units (OVU and LGMU), but it is also involved in a second tectonic phase developed in subsurface conditions. These structural features lead us to question the ca 2090 Ma age attributed to the Hutuo supergroup. Moreover, in the Fuping massif, several structural and magmatic lines of evidence argue for an earlier orogenic event at ca 2100 Ma that we relate to an older west-directed subduction below the Fuping Block. The Taihangshan Fault might be the location of a possible suture zone between the Fuping Block and an eastern one. A geodynamic model, at variance with previous ones, is proposed to account for the formation of the TNCB. In this scheme, three Archean continents, namely from West to East, the Ordos, Fuping and Eastern Blocks are separated by the Lüliang and Taihang Oceans. The closure of the Taihang Ocean at ca 2100 Ma by westward subduction below the Fuping Block accounts for the arc magmatism and the 2100 Ma orogeny. The second collision at 1900-1880 Ma between the Fuping and Ordos blocks is responsible for the main structural, metamorphic and magmatic features of the Trans-North China Belt.
ISSN: 0705-3797

insu-00152972
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00152972
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00152972/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00152972/file/Episodes_TNCB_Faure_et_al.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Taylor & Francis
Résumé : New structural data and P-T estimates of syn-deformational assemblages within the Beni Bousera peridotites and their crustal envelope are used to explain their Alpine exhumation. The Beni Bousera peridotites occur as thin sheets within high grade crustal units of the lower Sebtides (inner Rif, Morocco) and are composed of weakly deformed spinel lherzolite in the core of the massif and garnet-spinel mylonite at the rim. The main foliation trajectories in both the peridotites and overlying crustal units show systematic rotation towards their mutual contact, indicating a kilometer-scale top to the NW shearing with a dextral component along this crust/mantle contact. Widespread top to the NW shear criteria within the crustal units overlying the peridotite support this feature. Available ages constrain the development of the main foliation in both the peridotites and crustal rocks between 25 and 20 Ma. New P-T data from the peridotites show that deformation occurs during decompression from approximate to 22 kbar, 1050 degrees C to approximate to 9-15 kbar, 800 degrees C. As a consequence, exhumation of the Beni Bousera peridotites takes place during the Oligo-Miocene lithosphere thinning in the footwall of a lithospheric extensional shear zone. The exceptional preservation of garnet within the mylonitic peridotites results from rapid cooling of the border of the massif due to the juxtaposition with colder crustal rocks along this shear zone. Uplifting of the hot mantle rocks simultaneously induces high temperature metamorphism in the overlying crustal units. These new findings allow us to reconstruct the deformation history of the Beni Bousera region and the Alboran domain in the framework of the western Mediterranean geodynamics during the last 40 Myrs.. (C) 2011 Lavoisier SAS. All rights reserved
ISSN: 0985-3111

hal-00767654
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00767654
DOI : 10.3166/ga.24.49-60

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The Socotra Island belongs to the southern rifted margin of the Gulf of Aden and occupied in Neoproterozoic times a key position to constrain the age and the nature of the largely hidden Neoproterozoic rocks of the Arabian plate. Our integrated field, petrographic, geochemical and geochrono- logical study in the Neoproterozoic rocks recognises three main successive events: (a) high-temperature ductile defor- mation and metamorphism forming probably in a compressive or transpressive regime; (b) mafic to intermediate intrusions as vertical sheets, kilometre-scale gabbro laccoliths, mafic dike swarm and lavas which present mainly a depleted arc signature with some evidences of evolution from an enriched-arc signature; (c) felsic intrusions mainly composed of highly potassic calc-alkaline and pinkish granites dated between 840 and 780 Ma. Relationships between the various petrographic types and U-Pb data suggest that these events occurred during a relatively short time span (80 Ma at max). Earlier high-temperature-low-pressure metamorphism stage as well as geochemical signature of mafic rocks show that development of Cryogenian formations of Socotra were controlled successively by an Andean-arc and a back-arc setting. These features cannot be easily reconciled with those of the Arabian-Nubian shield to the west of Socotra and of the Mozambique Belt to the south. We propose that the Socotra basement was developed at an active margin close to the India block in Cryogenian times.
Arabian Journal of Geoscience

hal-00647487
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00647487
DOI : 10.1007/s12517-011-0476-3

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Copernicus Publications
Résumé : This workshop report describes plans for scientific drilling in the Samail ophiolite in Oman in the context of past, current, and future research. Long-standing plans to study formation and evolution of the Samail crust and upper mantle, involving igneous and metamorphic processes at an oceanic spreading center, have been augmented by recent interest in ongoing, low temperature processes. These include alteration and weathering, and the associated sub-surface biosphere supported by chemical potential energy due to disequilibrium between mantle peridotite and water near the surface. This interest is motivated in part by the possibility of geological carbon capture and storage via engineered, accelerated mineral carbonation in Oman.
ISSN: 1816-8957

hal-00858243
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00858243
DOI : 10.2204/iodp.sd.15.10.2013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society
Résumé : International audience
A polyphase history of oceanic construction and consumption is documented by the distribution of the Tethyan ophiolitic suture zones in Iran. Despite the geodynamic significance of these suture zones, few modern petrological and geochronological data are available from these ophiolitic domains, hampering a full assessment of the timing, thermobaric regimes and palaeotectonic scenarios leading to oceanic suturing and continental assembly in Iran and, more in general, along the southern margin of Eurasia. In this paper, we describe a newly discovered HP ophiolite mélange within the Rasht ophiolites, at the NW termination of the Palaeo-Tethyan suture in Iran. Petrological investigations on the metamorphic units embedded within the ophiolite mélange are integrated with whole-rock geochemistry and Ar–Ar phengite geochronology to constrain the geotectonic setting of formation and to define the associated P–T–t paths. We provide evidence that the Rasht ophiolite domain corresponds to an exhumed subduction complex formed during Early Carboniferous (c. 350 Ma) subduction of a branch of the Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic realm, with peak metamorphism equilibrated under blueschist- to eclogite-facies metamorphic conditions. Implications of these data for the palaeotectonic reconstruction during closure of the Palaeo-Tethyan ocean and the terminal collisional assembly along the southern margin of the Eurasia plate are also discussed.
ISSN: 0016-7649

hal-01571998
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571998
DOI : 10.1144/jgs2016-130

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Carbon is transported from Earth's surface into its interior at subduction zones. Carbonates in sediments overlying hydrothermally altered rocks (including serpentinites) within the subducted slab are the main carriers of this carbon1. Part of the carbon is recycled back to the surface by volcanism, but some is transferred to the deep Earth1, 2. Redox transformations during shallow subduction control the transfer and long-term fate of carbon, but are poorly explored1, 3. Here we use carbon stable isotopes and Raman spectroscopy to analyse the reduction of carbonate in an exhumed serpentinite-sediment contact in Alpine Corsica, France. We find that highly crystalline graphite was formed during subduction metamorphism and was concentrated in the sediment, within a reaction zone in direct contact with the serpentinite. The graphite in this reaction zone has a carbon isotopic signature (δ13C) of up to 0.8±0.1‰, similar to that of the original calcite that composed the sediments, and is texturally associated with the calcium-bearing mineral wollastonite that is also formed in the process. We use mass-balance calculations to show that about 9% of the total carbonaceous matter in the sedimentary unit results from complete calcite reduction in the reaction zone. We conclude that graphite formation, under reducing and low-temperature conditions, provides a mechanism to retain carbon in a subducting slab, aiding transport of carbon into the deeper Earth.
ISSN: 1752-0894

hal-00903464
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00903464
DOI : 10.1038/NGEO1827

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Slices of polycyclic metasediments (marbles and meta-cherts) are tectonically amalgamated with the polydeformed basement of the Dent Blanche tectonic system along a major Alpine shear zone in the Western Alps (Becca di Salé area, Valtournenche Valley). A combination of techniques (structural analysis at various scales, metamorphic petrology, geochronology and trace element geochemistry) was applied to determine the age and composition of accessory phases (titanite, allanite and zircon) and their relation to major minerals. The results are used to reconstruct the polyphase structural and metamorphic histories, comprising both pre-Alpine and Alpine cycles. The pre-Alpine evolution is associated with low-pressure high-temperature metamorphism related to Permo-Triassic lithospheric thinning. In meta-cherts, microtextural relations indicate coeval growth of allanite and garnet during this stage, at ~ 300 Ma. Textures of zircon also indicate crystallisation at HT conditions; ages scatter from 263 to 294 Ma, with a major cluster of data at ~ 276 Ma. In impure marble, U-Pb analyses of titanite domains (with variable Al and F contents) yield apparent 206Pb/238U dates range from Permian to Jurassic. Chemical and isotopic data suggest that titanite formed at Permian times and was then affected by (extension-related?) fluid circulation during the Triassic and Jurassic, which redistributed major elements (Al and F) and partially opened the U-Pb system. The Alpine cycle lead to early blueschist facies assemblages, which were partly overprinted under greenschist facies conditions. The strong Alpine compressional overprint disrupted the pre-Alpine structural imprint and/or reactivated earlier structures. The pre-Alpine metamorphic record, preserved in these slices of metasediments, reflects the onset of the Permo-Triassic lithospheric extension to Jurassic rifting.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00758123
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00758123
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2012.05.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
[1] The Pyrenees, north of the North Pyrenean fault, display a complex structure involving a succession of peridotite massifs, basement massifs, and mid-Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous basins located in a narrow domain, which was affected by a mid-Cretaceous, preorogenic, high-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism. The Late Cretaceous basins were interpreted either as pull-apart basins formed during transcurrent motion of Iberia relative to Eurasia or as remnants of a larger extensional basin. Recent models support that peridotite massifs result from the exhumation of the mantle during this preorogenic event. The northern boundary of the Agly basement massif shows evidence of ductile deformation of the basal formations of the Agly sedimentary cover. Macroscopic and microscopic kinematics indicators consistent with asymmetry of crystallographic fabrics suggest normal sense of shear and thus suggest detachment, at least partial, of the Mesozoic cover from its basement. Triassic to Early Cretaceous limestones are mylonitic and consistently shows a foliation, a NS- to NE-trending lineation, shear criteria suggesting top-to-the-north shearing and locally boudinage. At the microscopic scale, mylonites are characterized by a very fine grain size, frequently <10 µm. They contain larger, partially recrystallized calcite parent grains and undeformed quartz grains with calcite fringes crystallized in pressure shadows. In these mylonites, calcite systematically shows a weak but well-defined crystallographic-preferred orientations, suggesting HT dislocation creep combined to diffusion creep and possibly grain boundary sliding in the finest fraction of the mylonites. Paleotemperatures determined using Raman spectrometry suggest synkinematic temperature conditions in the range 340-390°C, in good agreement with observed microstructures and calcite CPO. The mylonitic fabric in Mesozoic limestones is folded by EW-trending Pyrenean folds north of the Agly basement massif, attesting that this fabric formed before the Pyrenean orogeny. These data consistently support preorogenic extension under medium-temperature conditions of the northern Agly massif and likely of the massif itself. Since simultaneously (~100 Ma) a mid-Cretaceous basin opened south of the basement massif, we suggest a model of preorogenic exhumation of the Agly massif in response to the regional extension associated to the rotation of Iberia. This model may explain the exhumation of the North Pyrenean massifs during a single preorogenic event that allowed the opening of extensional basins and the exhumation of the lithospheric mantle. All these structures being subsequently reworked during the Pyrenean orogeny.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00852833
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00852833
DOI : 10.1002/tect.20015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Subduction infancy corresponds to the first few million years following subduction initiation, when slabs start their descent into the mantle. It coincides with the transient (yet systematic) transfer of material from the top of the slab to the upper plate, as witnessed by metamorphic soles welded beneath obducted ophiolites. Combining structure–lithology–pressure–temperature–time data from metamorphic soles with flow laws derived from experimental rock mechanics, this study highlights two main successive rheological switches across the subduction interface (mantle wedge vs. basalts, then mantle wedge vs. sediments; at ∼800 °C and ∼600 °C, respectively), during which interplate mechanical coupling is maximized by the existence of transiently similar rheologies across the plate contact. We propose that these rheological switches hinder slab penetration and are responsible for slicing the top of the slab and welding crustal pieces (high- then low-temperature metamorphic soles) to the base of the mantle wedge during subduction infancy. This mechanism has implications for the rheological properties of the crust and mantle (and for transient episodes of accretion/exhumation of HP-LT rocks in mature subduction systems) and highlights the role of fluids in enabling subduction to overcome the early resistance to slab penetration.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01383368
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01383368
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01383368/document
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01383368/file/Agard_2016_Plate_interface.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.06.054

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study addresses the mechanical and chemical behavior of allanite during shear zone formation under high-pressure metamorphism. Understanding physico-chemical processes related to the retention or resetting of Pb isotopes in allanite during geological processes is essential for robust petrochronology. Dating of allanite in meta-granodiorite showing variable amounts of strain (from an undeformed protolith to mylonite) at Monte Mucrone (Sesia Zone, NW Italy) gave surprising results. Based on structural and petrographic observations the shear zones at Mt Mucrone are Alpine, yet allanite located within an eclogite facies mylonite yielded Permian ages (208Pb/232Th average age: 287 ± 7 Ma). These mm-sized allanite grains are rimmed by an aggregate of coarse-grained garnet + phengite, thought to derive from former epidote. These aggregates were immersed in a weak matrix that experienced granular flow, and they were thus chemically and mechanically shielded during Alpine mylonitization. In undeformed samples (8a and 8b), two populations of epidote group minerals were found. Allanite forms either coronas around Permian monazite or individual grains with patchy zoning. Both types yield Permian ages (208Pb/232Th age: 291 ± 5 Ma). On the other hand, grains of REE-rich clinozoisite of Cretaceous age are found in undeformed rocks. These grains appear as small fragments with embayed surface outlines and minute satellites or rims around Permian allanite. These (re)crystallized grains are Sr-rich and show mosaic zoning. These results indicate that allanite crystals retained their chemical and isotopic characteristics, and thus their Permian age, as a result of strong strain partitioning between the epidote group porphyroclasts and the eclogite facies matrix in HP-mylonites. The observed partial mobilization of Pb isotopes, which lead to the Cretaceous-aged rims or grains in undeformed samples was facilitated by (re)crystallization of allanite and not by mere Pb diffusion alone under the HP conditions.
ISSN: 0024-4937

insu-00679730
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00679730
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2011.01.005

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) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
An increasing number of field examples in mountain belts show that the formation of passive margins during extreme continent thinning may occur under conditions of high to very high thermal gradient beneath a thin cover of syn-rift sediments. Orogenic belts resulting from the tectonic inversion of distal margins and regions of exhumed continental mantle may exhibit high-temperature, low-pressure (HT-LP) metamorphism and coeval syn-extensional, ductile deformation. Recent studies have shown that the northern flank of the Pyrenean belt, especially the North Pyrenean Zone, is one of the best examples of such inverted hot, passive margin. In this study, we provide a map of HT-LP metamorphism based on a data set of more than 100 peak-temperature estimates obtained using Raman spectroscopy of the carbona-ceous material (RSCM). This data set is completed by previous PT (pressure and temperature) estimates based on mineral assemblages, and new 40 Ar– 39 Ar (amphibole, micas) and U–Pb (titanite) ages from metamorphic and magmatic rocks of the North Pyrenean Zone. The implications on the geological evolution of the Cretaceous Pyrenean paleomar-gins are discussed. Ages range mainly from 110 to 90 Ma, and no westward or eastward propagation of the metamor-phism and magmatism can be clearly identified. In contrast, the new data reveal a progressive propagation of the thermal anomaly from the base to the surface of the continental crust. Focusing on the key localities of the Mauléon basin, Arguenos–Moncaup, Lherz, Boucheville and the Bas-Agly, we analyze the thermal conditions prevailing during the Cre-taceous crustal thinning. The results are synthetized into a series of three regional thematic maps and into two detailed maps of the Arguenos–Moncaup and Lherz areas. The results indicate a first-order control of the thermal gradient by the intensity of crustal thinning. The highest grades of metamor-phism are intimately associated with the areas where subcon-tinental mantle rocks have been unroofed or exhumed.
ISSN: 1869-9510

insu-01161826
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01161826
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01161826/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01161826/file/PL03457.pdf
DOI : 10.5194/se-6-643-2015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD National Research Council Canada
Résumé : International audience
Back-arc extension in the Aegean, which was driven by slab rollback since 45 Ma, is described here for the first time in two stages. From Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene, deformation was localized leading to i) the exhumation of high-pressure metamorphic rocks to crustal depths, ii) the exhumation of high-temperature metamorphic rocks in core complexes and iii) the deposition of sedimentary basins. Since Middle Miocene, extension distributed over the whole Aegean domain controlled the deposition of onshore and offshore Neogene sedimentary basins. We reconstructed this two-stage evolution in 3D and four steps at Aegean scale by using available ages of metamorphic and sedimentary processes, geometry and kinematics of ductile deformation, paleomagnetic data and available tomographic models. The restoration model shows that the rate of trench retreat was around 0.6 cm/y during the first 30 My and then accelerated up to 3.2 cm/y during the last 15 My. The sharp transition observed in the mode of extension, localized versus distributed, in Middle Miocene correlates with the acceleration of trench retreat and is likely a consequence of the Hellenic slab tearing documented by mantle tomography. The development of large dextral NE-SW strike-slip faults, since Middle Miocene, is illustrated by the 450 Km-long fault zone, offshore from Myrthes to Ikaria and onshore from Izmir to Balikeshir, in western Anatolia. Therefore, the interaction between the Hellenic trench retreat and the westward displacement of Anatolia started in Middle Miocene, almost 10 Ma before the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault in the North Aegean.
ISSN: 0008-4077

insu-01271296
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271296
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271296/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271296/file/Brun%20etal%20CJES%202016.pdf
DOI : 10.1139/cjes-2015-0203

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Incipient granulite facies conditions and carnockitization affected metasedimentary formations of northern Nigeria during the early stage of the Late Neo-proterozoic (Pan-African) orogeny. This domain is characterized by recumbent foliations consistent with crustal thickening. Far from the Pan-African plutons, initial Barrovian-type metamorphism (medium temperature) evidenced by kyanite and staurolite inclusions is documented only front garnet cores. This early stage was followed by a temperature increase up to >= 700 C, with decompression coeval with the generation of garnet-cordierite melts and emplacement of garnet granitoid sheets. Hectometric-wide layers of non-retrograded granulites survived conformably within anatexites and S-type garnet-bearing anatectic granites from the Toro area. Temperatures of >= 800 C required for the crystallization of granulites facies rocks at c. 0.7 GPa pressure and coeval dry anatexis, were reached regionally as a result of heat supply from abundant anhydrous monzo-dioritic to noritic magmas injected as metre-wide veins and as stocks and pinions (charnockites, monzodiorites). The available geochronological results suggest a long-lived thermal perturbation (638-585 Ma) in this former continental domain of northern Nigeria rooted by Archaean crust that was later the site of the Jurassic anorogenic magmatism.
Proceedings Of The Geologists Association

hal-00407196
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407196
DOI : 10.1016/S0016-7878(07)80046-0

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In Taiwan , the subduction of the Chinese continental margin under the Luzon arc results in the progressive growth of an active orogenic wedge. It is one of the best places to study the complex relationships that occurs between the tectonic processes controlling deformation (plate rheology and kinematics, metamorphism and magmatism) and surface processes (erosion and sedimentation). In order to study the kinematics of the present day convergence of Philippine Sea plate to the Asian continent around Taiwan, we perform 2D and 3D sandbox modeling and we analyzed the models with PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) software. In 2D experiments, a model Coulomb wedge is submitted to erosion and sedimentation under topography and flux steady state conditions. The 3D experiments are mainly used to study the escape tectonics occurring in the middle west and southwest Taiwan. A wedge shaped indenter and a basement relief were used to simulate the mechanical plate boundary between Philippine Sea plate and Eurasia plate and the basement topography to the west of Taiwan respectively. We examine the exhumation patterns, the mode of fault propagation and displacement patterns by strain partitioning of vertical vs. horizontal displacement and convergent parallel vs. orogen parallel components. The preliminary conclusions are: 1. The interactions between tectonics, erosion and sedimentation control geometry and kinematics of the doubly vergent transpressional orogen. 2. Exhumation processes are controlled by the balance between erosion, frontal accretion and underplating in different structural domains of the wedge. 3. Retrowedge erosion favorites backfolding and backthrusting, induces flower structures and fan shaped cleavage distribution. 4. Sedimentation promotes underplating and out-of sequences thrusting. 5. Continental subduction or subduction of topographic highs will enhance underthrusting/underplating, thick-skin tectonics and inversion of sedimentary basin.
Bolletino di Geofisica teorica ed applicata

hal-00411133
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411133

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Cycladic Blueschist Unit (CBU) represents the northern passive margin of the Adria continental block and ophiolites that are the remnants of the Pindos Ocean, which were affected by high pressure-low temperature metamorphism in the blueschist and eclogite facies during the Eocene. Prior to the Lutetian, the ophiolitic and margin units were thrust towards the SW inside a NE-dipping subduction zone. Two subsequent exhumation stages are characterized by top-to-the-NE senses of shear: i) from mantle depths to lower crustal levels, before 37 Ma, which was accommodated by an extensional inversion of the Vardar suture zone, and ii) from deep crustal levels to the near-surface, between 30 and 20 Ma, which was accommodated by the North Cycladic Detachment. It is during this late stage of ductile exhumation that the central Cyclades Core Complex was exhumed. Segmentation of the CBU by normal faults started at 12 Ma, as recorded by the low temperature thermochronometers, and was coeval with block rotation and folding with NS-trending axes, which were predominantly controlled by the Myrthes-Ikaria strike-slip fault in the centre of the Cyclades. A map restoration of the CBU geometry, prior to segmentation, has been carried out using available structural and paleomagnetic data. The restoration shows that, following the CBU exhumation from mantle depths to crustal levels, a single core complex was exhumed along a single NE dipping detachment.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-00672320
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00672320
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.12.025