Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Institut de Géographie Alpine
Résumé : International audience
The international symposium on «Urban Growth and Natural Hazards, in particular in Developing Countries» was held in the University Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand (France) on December 2 and 3, 1994. This meeting brought together about 70 research people, Ph.D. students, and professionals from France and 12 countries, representing universities, research agencies, as well as government and private companies. The symposium aimed to gather specialized people who are engaged and acting in programmes on hazard appraisal, risk prevention and urban management in city environment. These people aimed to compare experiences acquired in two different fields: on the one hand urban growth and its consequences, and on the other hand, natural hazards and effects, in particular in Developing Countries.Half-way through the International Decade for Natural Hazard Disaster Reduction, we strove to reconcile two points of view usually distincts: nature-oriented research and society-oriented research on hazards. These convergent approaches should merge, not only to improve knowledge of natural hazards and risks, but also to cope with hazard and risk situation on a day-basis in a city. We also choose to study both approaches in Developing Countries (DC) because most of the large cities of the world already are or will be located there in near future. In addition, city location in DC coincides with tropical areas where natural hazards are most frequent threats to life, in particular in mountains, on seashores, and on active convergent plate margins. We stress the fact that the 3 following topics are often lacking in studies which have been carried out on natural hazard appraisal and management. 1) How should we include social and economical factors, and particularly a sound analysis of vulnerability of people and values at risk ? 2) How should we cope with hazard management in large cities of Developing Countries ? 3) What is the specific task of research people in hazard case studies engaged in urban environment and management?Three themes correspond to the three sessions of the symposium. (1) Natural hazards and environmental factors : inventory, diagnostic and classification, (2) Vulnerability of urban society and environment : concepts, approaches, and classification, (3) Tools for urban risk prevention and risk management in case of crisis and catastrophes.
Ce numéro de la Revue de Géographie Alpine reprend une dizaine parmi les 41 contributions exposées par des chercheurs français et étrangers lors du colloque international « Croissance urbaine et risques naturels dans les pays en développement » qui s'est déroulé à l'Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, les 2 et 3 décembre 1994. L'objectif général du colloque était de rassembler les diverses compétences existant en France et à l'étranger dans le domaine de l'évaluation et de la gestion des risques naturels et de confronter les expériences acquises à l'interface entre les villes en croissance et le champ d'action des phénomènes naturels créateurs de risques. Le colloque a donc réuni des chercheurs, des doctorants et des praticiens français et leurs collègues étrangers chargés de prévention, de gestion des risques naturels et de gestion urbaine, principalement dans les grandes villes des pays en développement (P.E.D.).Parvenus à mi-chemin de la Décennie Internationale pour la Prévention des Catastrophes Naturelles, nous avons porté des regards croisés sur les approches naturalistes et sociologiques des risques naturels. Il est maintenant nécessaire de faire converger ces approches, non seulement dans la connaissance des menaces et des risques, mais dans la gestion du risque quotidien en milieu urbain. Nous avons concentré ces approches dans les pays en développement ; en effet, le site de leurs grandes villes coïncide souvent avec le champ d'action des phénomènes naturels générateurs de risques, notamment dans la zone intertropicale et en particulier dans les marges continent ales actives (par exemple autour du Pacifique).Nous avons porté l'accent sur 3 points principaux, qui semblent en partie faire défaut dans les études et les méthodes actuellement mises en oeuvre dans la gestion des risques naturels : 1) comment prendre en compte les aspects socio-économiques, en particulier les types d'analyse des vulnérabilités ? 2) comment aborder la gestion des risques en milieu urbain dans les P.E.D. ? 3) quel rôle doit jouer le chercheur en Sciences de l'Homme, de la Société et de la Terre dans les analyses, les expertises consacrées aux risques et surtout dans leur gestion globale, à la charnière des sociétés citadines précaires et des milieux « naturels » contraignants ?Les contributions ont été regroupées, exposées et discutées lors du colloque sous forme de 3 thèmes. (1) Les phénomènes naturels créateurs de dommages (= menaces) : diagnostic, inventaire et typologie, (2) Les vulnérabilités des sociétés et des espaces urbanisés : concepts, typologie et modes d'analyse, (3) Les outils d'aide à la prévention et à la gestion du risque en milieu urbain.
Colloque international : "Croissance urbaine et risques naturels dans les pays en développement"
Clermont-Ferrand, Université Blaise Pascal, France

ISBN : 0035-1121
hal-01165252
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01165252

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
This paper investigates the orientation and sources of stress in the forearc of the Cascadia subduction zone in southwest British Columbia, using Bayesian inversion results from focal mechanism data and comparing results with GPS derived short-term strain rates. The subduction margin in this region includes a change in orientation from N-S in Washington State to NW-SE in British Columbia. Over 1000 focal mechanisms from North American crustal earthquakes have been calculated to identify the dominant style of faulting, and ∼600 were inverted to estimate the principal stress orientations and the stress ratio. Our results indicate the maximum horizontal compressive stress orientation changes with distance to the trench, from approximately margin-normal along the coast to approximately margin-parallel 100-150 km inland from the coast. Comparing stress orientations with GPS data, we relate the margin-normal stress direction to subduction-related strain rates due to the locked interface between the North American and Juan de Fuca plates just west of Vancouver Island. Further from the margin the plates are coupled less strongly, and the margin-parallel maximum horizontal compressive stress in the North American Plate relates to the northward push of the Oregon Block, which is also observed in the horizontal shortening direction of the residual strain rates, after the subduction component is removed.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00853734
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853734
DOI : 10.1029/2010JB008003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
An active seismic experiment has been conducted across the southern Ryukyu margin east of Taiwan over the whole trench-arc-backarc system in May 2009. Twenty-four ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed from the Ryukyu trench to the southern Okinawa trough over the Ryukyu arc and forearc. Wide angle seismic data were recorded by the OBS array while coincident reflection seismic data were acquired using a 6 km long streamer and a 6600 cubic inch seismic airgun array. Results from tomographic inversion of 21091 travel time picks along this line allowed us to image crustal structures of the Ryukyu margin down to a depth of 25 km. The transect has been designed to provide a better seismic velocity structure of the subduction zone in a highly deformed area that has produced an M8 earthquake in 1920. The line crosses a seismic cluster of earthquakes which source mechanisms are still poorly understood. The subducting oceanic crust of the Huatung Basin is about 5-6 km thick. The underlying mantle exhibits low seismic velocities around 7.8 km/s suggesting some hydrothermal alterations or alteration of the upper mantle through faults generated by the flexure of the subducting plate as it enters the subduction. Low velocities, up to 4.5 km/s, associated with the accretionary wedge are well imaged from the trench back to the Nanao forearc. A major result concerns the abrupt termination of the buttress at the rear of the accretionary wedge. Despite the low resolution of the tomographic inversion near the subduction interface, several lines of evidence supporting the presence of a low velocity zone beneath the toe of the forearc buttress could be established. The Moho beneath the Ryukyu non-volcanic arc is located at a depth around 25 km depth.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00795573
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795573
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.10.010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU) American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Environmental magnetism of speleothems is still in its early stage of development. Here we report on our investigation of the environmental and paleomagnetic information that has been recorded in speleothems, and what are the factors that control its preservation and reliability. To address these issues, we used a multidisciplinary approach, including rock magnetism, petrography, scanning electron microscopy, stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions, and major and trace element concentrations. We applied this to a set of samples from different stages of speleothem evolution: present-day dripwater (glass plates), a weathered stalactite, a fresh stalagmite, cave sediments, and terra rossa soils. These samples come from the Penico and Excentricas caves, located in two distinct aquifers of the Algarve region, South Portugal. Our results show that the main magnetic carriers of the speleothems under study are primary (detrital) and consist of maghemite (and magnetite?). Similarities in coercivity and temperature dependence of the studied set of samples suggest that iron oxides are inherited from the terra rossa soils that cap the cave and were transported to the speleothems by dripwater. Hence, they represent a regional environmental signature. Interestingly, a stable and probably detrital remanent magnetization could be isolated in the fresh stalagmite, whereas the weathered stalactite yielded chaotic magnetic directions and very low remanent intensities. We propose that these low intensities can be the result from (i) different remanence acquisition mechanisms between stalagmite and stalactite and/or (ii) iron dissolution by fungal activity. We also suggest that magnetic properties and color and the content in detrital elements in the fresh speleothem inform about environmental processes acting on the interface of rock (soil)-atmosphere, while oxygen isotope composition and alkaline-earth element concentrations inform about calcite-water interaction processes. These results provide a better understanding of how environmental information is recorded in speleothems and what the factors are that control the reliability of the paleomagnetic and paleo-environmental signal.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01114953
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01114953
DOI : 10.1002/2014JB011381

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : Giant earthquakes (Mw≥8.5) usually occur on the boundary between subducting and overriding plates of converging margins, but it is not yet clear which (if any) subduction zones are more prone to produce such a kind of events. Here we show that subduction zones may have different capabilities to produce giant earthquakes. We analyze the frequency-magnitude distribution of the interplate earthquakes at subduction zones that occurred during 1976–2007 and calculate the propensity (defined as the average annual rate) of giant events for about half of the subduction zones. We find that the b value of interplate earthquakes is significantly different among the subduction zones, and out-of-sample giant earthquakes (before 1976 and after 2007) have occurred preferentially in high-propensity areas. Besides the importance for seismic hazard assessment and risk mitigation, our results seem to indicate that a higher seismicity rate does not necessarily imply a higher likelihood to generate giant earthquakes, and the way in which the stress is released at a subduction interface does not change significantly after the occurrence of such events.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01467738
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467738
DOI : 10.1002/2016JB013054

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : National audience
The Lesser Antilles subduction zone has produced no recent strong thrust earthquakes, making it difficult to quantify the seismic hazard from such events. The Lesser Antilles arc has a low subduction rate and an accretionary wedge that is very wide at its southern end. To investigate the effect of the wedge on seismogenesis, numerical models of forearc thermal structure were constructed along six transects perpendicular to the arc in order to determine the thermally predicted width of the seismogenic zone. The geometry of each section is constrained by published seismic profiles and crustal models derived from gravity and seismic data and by earthquake hypocenters at depth. A major constraint on the deep part of the model is that mantle temperature beneath the volcanic arc should achieve a temperature of 1,100°C to generate partial melts. Predicted surface heat flow is compared to the available heat flow observations. Thermal modeling results indicate a systematic southward increase in the width of the seismogenic zone, more than doubling in width from north to south and corresponding to a dramatic southward increase in forearc width (distance from the arc to the deformation front of the accretionary wedge). The minimum width of the seismogenic zone (distance between the intersections of the subduction interface with the 150°C and 350°C isotherms) increases from about 80 km, north of 16°N, to 230 km, at 13°N. The maximum width (between the 100°C and 450°C isotherms) ranges from about 150 km in the north to up to 320 km in the south. This large variation in the width of the seismogenic zone is a consequence of the increasing width of the accretionary wedge to the south, caused by the increased thickness of sediment on the subducting plate. There is good agreement between the thermally predicted seismogenic limits and the sparse distribution of recorded thrust earthquakes, which are observed only in the northern portion of the arc. Possible scenarios for mega-thrust earthquakes are discussed. Depending on the segment length (along-strike) of the rupture plane, the occurrence of an event of magnitude 8-9 cannot be excluded.
Bulletin Société Géologique de France

insu-00814056
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00814056
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.47

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Two opposing visions of the Aegean backarc tectonics implicitly contain contrasting images of the rheological behaviour of the lihosphere, supported by different sets of observations. The propagation of the NAF and extension in the Corinth Rift suggest a strongly localising rheology whereas the formation of MCC in the Cyclades and the Rhodope suggests instead a more viscous behaviour. This paradox was the seminal question addressed by the ANR-EGEO programme (2007-2010) that leads to the following conclusions: (1) The exhumation of the Cycladic MCC's is accommodated by the N-dipping North Cycladic Detachment System (NCDS) that partly reworks the Vardar suture and at the base by a series of thrusts, including the basal contact of the Cycladic Blueschists (CBS) over the Cycladic Basement (CB). The activity of LANF is due to the reactivation of pre-existing discontinuities such as thrusts or earlier detachments and much less to the interaction with granitic plutons. (2) Exhumation in the Cyclades has proceeded in two stages: (a) Eocene syn-orogenic exhumation within the subduction lower/upperplate interface while the post-orogenic Rhodope MCC formed further north, (b) Oligo-Miocene post-orogenic extension in an MCC mode coeval with syn-orogenic exhumation in Crete and the Peloponnese. (3) Both stages were associated with slab retreat, as early as the Eocene with an acceleration at 30-35 Ma. (4) The localisation of the presently active steeply-dipping normal faults on the southern margin of the Corinth Rift may have been preceded by a partial reworking of thrusts and syn-orogenic detachments by shallow-dipping decollements. (5) The localisation of the NAF in the Marmara Sea region and the Northern Aegean Sea is now accurately dated between 5.3 and 5 Ma Ma using the erosion and deposition surfaces that mark the Messinian salinity Crisis and nannofossils ages. (6) The formation of MCCs in the Cyclades resulted in the draining of the low viscosity lower crust from the northern Aegean Sea and led to an easier coupling between upper mantle and upper crust, easing the localisation and propagation of the NAF. (7) A comparison between crustal and mantle finite strain suggests that mantle flow due to slab retreat controls the stretching of the crust. Our model involves progressive slab retreat and mantle flow below the overriding plate inducing the observed succession of tectonic episodes with a progressive localisation of extension due to several slab tearing events. There is no paradox in the tectonic history and rheological behaviour of the Aegean lithosphere but an evolution of the kinematic boundary conditions due to slab deformation at depth.
American Geophysical Union
San Francisco, United States

insu-00860518
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00860518
BIBCODE : 2010AGUFM.T13G..04J