Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This special issue in honour of the late Olivier Jaoul brings together contributions from experimental and theoretical mineralogy, the area of most of Olivier's own work, focused for the most part on the Earth's mantle. The volume is divided into three sections; diffusion, deformation and seismic properties. New technological developments have often had a strong impact on research in this area, as again shown by Olivier's constant search to improve the resolution of the short diffusion profiles typical of major cations in mantle silicates. In the section on diffusion the impact of improved computer performance for modelling diffusion and point defect configurations on one hand, and high pressure experimental techniques on the other hand, highlight the continued development in this area. The section on deformation deals with wide range of subjects, including the deformation of olivine and quartz and the relation between deformation and diffusion, both subjects close to Olivier's personal interests. This illustrates the new possibilities to undertake deformation experiments at mantle pressures and temperatures, as well as improvement in high-fidelity viscoelastic measurements at high temperature. In the last section on seismic properties we discover theoretical developments on predicting properties near the Earth's surface and a new experimental application, which allows the determination of sound velocity at very high pressures with implications for the Earth's inner core.
ISSN: 0031-9201

hal-00475657
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475657
DOI : 10.1016/j.pepi.2008.09.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
We report measurements of long-period P wave polarization (P pol) in Australia and Tahiti made by combining modeling of the polarization deviation and harmonic analysis. The analysis of the deviation of the horizontal polarization of the P wave as a function of event back azimuth may be used to obtain information about (1) sensor misorientation, (2) dipping discontinuities, (3) seismic anisotropy, and (4) velocity heterogeneities beneath a seismic station. The results from harmonic analysis and a grid search using Snell's law suggest the presence of a dipping seismic discontinuity beneath stations CTAO and CAN in Australia. These results are consistent with published receiver function studies for these stations. The P pol fast axis orientation is close to the N–S absolute plate motion direction at station TAU (Tasmania), which may be due to plate-motion-driven alignment of olivine crystals in the asthenosphere. Interestingly, measurements of SKS splitting at Tahiti (French Polynesia) show an apparent isotropy, whereas an inversion of P pol observations at PPTL seismic station located in Tahiti suggests the presence of two anisotropic layers. The fast axis azimuth is oriented E–W in the upper layer, and it is close to the NW–SE orientation in the lower layer. Since P pol orientations are used for real-time earthquake locations, especially in poorly instrumented areas such as the South Pacific, we show that the bias from anisotropy and sensor misorientation determined here can be corrected to improve the location accuracy, which yields fundamental data for rapid location necessary for effective tsunami warning.
ISSN: 2169-9313

hal-01389113
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389113
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389113/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389113/file/Fontaine_Ppol_JGR2009.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2008JB005709

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
No major earthquake occurred in North Chile since the 1877 Mw 8.6 subduction earthquake that produced a huge tsunami. However, geodetic measurements conducted over the last decade in this area show that the upper plate is actually deforming, which reveals some degree of locking on the subduction interface. This accumulation of elastic deformation is likely to be released in a future earthquake. Because of the long elapsed time since 1877 and the rapid accumulation of deformation (thought to be 6-7 cm yr−1), many consider this area is a mature seismic gap where a major earthquake is due and seismic hazard is high. We present a new Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field, acquired between 2008 and 2012, that describes in some detail the interseismic deformation between 18°S and 24°S. We invert for coupling distribution on the Nazca-South America subduction interface using elastic modelling. Our measurements require that, at these latitudes, 10 to 12 mm yr−1 (i.e. 15 per cent of the whole convergence rate) are accommodated by the clockwise rotation of an Andean block bounded to the East by the subandean fold-and-thrust belt. This reduces the accumulation rate on the subduction interface to 56 mm yr−1 in this area. Coupling variations on the subduction interface both along-strike and along-dip are described. We find that the North Chile seismic gap is segmented in at least two highly locked segments bounded by narrow areas of weak coupling. This coupling segmentation is consistent with our knowledge of the historical ruptures and of the instrumental seismicity of the region. Intersegment zones (Iquique, Mejillones) correlate with high background seismic rate and local tectonic complexities on the upper or downgoing plates. The rupture of either the Paranal or the Loa segment alone could easily produce a Mw 8.0-8.3 rupture, and we propose that the Loa segment (from 22.5°S to 20.8°S) may be the one that ruptured in 1877.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00941279
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00941279
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt183

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A central target in Earth sciences is the study of deformation at various depth levels within the Earth. Seismology has offered a remarkable tool for doing this via seismic anisotropy. It is however not always clear how to interpret those observations. A question of interest is to understand the relation between the deformation of the mantle and the crust, and in studying the relation between the two. Mantle deformation is expressed in seismic anisotropy. In this paper we seek an objective way of extracting information about crustal fabric as well, to be able to compare with seismic anisotropy. The magnetization of crustal rocks offers an attractive possibility for doing this. We thus explore the use of magnetic data, and we compare magnetic crustal fabric orientation with mantle fabric observations from seismic anisotropy. We apply our technique to the North American craton for which we have an excellent magnetic dataset, and we show that there is a clear relation between crustal and mantle fabric for the cratonic region. This has important implications for crustal formation, and for interpreting seismic anisotropy observations.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00424536
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424536
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.10.032

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : We describe for the first time a set of large active thrusts and folds near the foot of the easternmost Algerian margin, Western Mediterranean, from swath bathymetry and high-resolution seismic data acquired in 2005 during the Maradja2/Samra cruise. This active system resumes a previous passive margin and creates growth strata deposition on the limbs of large folds, resulting in the development of perched basins at the foot of the margin since less than similar to 1 Ma. They form a set of overlapping fault segments verging toward the Algerian basin, in a way similar to what has been observed off eastern Algiers on the rupture zone of the 2003 Mw 6.8 Boumerdes earthquake. The horizontal shortening rate across large folds is estimated to be of the order of 1 mm/yr. Although no historical earthquakes are reported here, these fault segments could have been responsible for large (M similar to 7.5) events in the past. This young tectonic system further supports the hypothesis of subduction inception of the Neogene oceanic lithosphere in the context of the Africa-Eurasia convergence.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2009-06 , Vol. 261 , N. 1-4 , P. 17-32

Droits : 2009 Published by Elsevier Inc.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6850.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.05.016
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6850/

Éditeur(s) : Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : Society's needs for a network of in situ ocean observing systems cross many areas of earth and marine science. Here we review the science themes that benefit from data supplied from ocean observatories. Understanding from existing studies is fragmented to the extent that it lacks the coherent long-term monitoring needed to address questions at the scales essential to understand climate change and improve geo-hazard early warning. Data sets from the deep sea are particularly rare with long-term data available from only a few locations worldwide. These science areas have impacts on societal health and well-being and our awareness of ocean function in a shifting climate. Substantial efforts are underway to realise a network of open-ocean observatories around European Seas that will operate over multiple decades. Some systems are already collecting high-resolution data from surface, water column, seafloor, and sub-seafloor sensors linked to shore by satellite or cable connection in real or near-real time, along with samples and other data collected in a delayed mode. We expect that such observatories will contribute to answering major ocean science questions including: How can monitoring of factors such as seismic activity, pore fluid chemistry and pressure, and gas hydrate stability improve seismic, slope failure, and tsunami warning? What aspects of physical oceanography, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystems will be most sensitive to climatic and anthropogenic change? What are natural versus anthropogenic changes? Most fundamentally, how are marine processes that occur at differing scales related? The development of ocean observatories provides a substantial opportunity for ocean science to evolve in Europe. Here we also describe some basic attributes of network design. Observatory networks provide the means to coordinate and integrate the collection of standardised data capable of bridging measurement scales across a dispersed area in European Seas adding needed certainty to estimates of future oceanic conditions. Observatory data can be analysed along with other data such as those from satellites, drifting floats, autonomous underwater vehicles, model analysis, and the known distribution and abundances of marine fauna in order to address some of the questions posed above. Standardised methods for information management are also becoming established to ensure better accessibility and traceability of these data sets and ultimately to increase their use for societal benefit. The connection of ocean observatory effort into larger frameworks including the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the Global Monitoring of Environment and Security (GMES) is integral to its success. It is in a greater integrated framework that the full potential of the component systems will be realised. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Progress In Oceanography (0079-6611) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2011-10 , Vol. 91 , N. 1 , P. 1-33

Droits : 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00044/15557/15923.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.pocean.2011.05.001
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00044/15557/

Éditeur(s) : North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam
Résumé : The Barents Sea is underlain by a thick (up to 5 km) sedimentary basin. Seismic refraction has outlined four main velocity discontinuities which have been correlated with geological units on the basis of the geological history of the region. The basin is underlain by a crystalline basement, the nature of which cannot be determined on the basis of seismic velocity alone. Metamorphosed Paleozoic units (velocities around 5-4 km/sec) lie over this basement. Their thickness is not well established but appears to reach 1 or 2 km in some cases. A very distinct and thick (up to 2.5 km) layer (4.1 km/sec) is found almost everywhere and is thought to correspond to a major discontinuity at the end ot the Paleozoic. This discontinuity is followed by a variable velocity layer (2.4-4 km/sec, up to 1.2 km thick) which includes Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments and is limited to the south of the Barents Sea. The absence of thick Tertiary deposits support the idea that the Barents shelf was emergent at that time. Recent low-velocity sediments are found close to the shelf edge. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Earth and Planetary Science Letters (North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam), 1974 , Vol. 24 , P. 33-47

Droits : North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1974/publication-5447.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5447/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
At the North-Ecuadorian convergent margin (1°S–1.5°N), the subduction of the rough Nazca oceanic plate leads to tectonic erosion of the upper plate and complex seismogenic behavior of the megathrust. We used three selected pre-stack depth migrated, multi-channel seismic reflection lines collected during the SISTEUR cruise to investigate the margin structure and decipher the impact of the subducted Atacames seamounts on tectonic erosion, interseismic coupling, and seismogenesis in the region of the 1942 Mw7.8 earthquake.This dataset highlights a subducted ∼30×40 km∼30×40 km, double-peak seamount that belongs to the Atacames seamount chain and that is associated with a deep morphologic re-entrant containing mass transport deposits.The seamount subduction uplifted the margin basement by ∼1.6 km and pervasively broke the margin by deep and intense reverse faulting ahead of the seamount, a process that is likely to weaken considerably the margin. In the seamount wake, the basement reverse fault system rotated counter-clockwise. This faulted basement is overlain with slope sediment sliding along listric normal faults that sole out onto the BSR. This superposition of deep tectonic contraction within the basement and shallow gravitational extension deformation within the sediment highlights the key role of gas hydrate on outer slope erosion.In addition to long-term regional basal erosion, the margin basement has thinned locally by an extra 0.8–1 km in response to the subduction of the Atacames seamount chain and hydrofracturing by overpressured fluids at the margin toe. This pervasively and deeply fractured margin segment is associated with a seismically quiet and GPS-modeled low interseismic coupling corridor that terminates downdip near the 1942 epicenter and locked zone. We suggest that the deeply buried double-peak Atacames seamount triggered the 1942 earthquake ahead of its leading flank. This result supports previous studies proposing that subducted seamounts provide unfavorable conditions for locking the updip segment of the plate boundary limiting the updip extent of seismogenic zones, but may favor large subduction earthquakes at greater depths.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01256399
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01256399
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.10.043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Although subducting slabs undergo a bending deformation that resists tectonic plate motions, the magnitude of this resistance is not known because of poor constraints on slab strength. However, because slab bending slows the relatively rapid motions of oceanic plates, observed plate motions constrain the importance of bending. We estimated the slab pull force and the bending resistance globally for 207 subduction zone transects using new measurements of the bending curvature determined from slab seismicity. Predicting plate motions Using a global mantle flow model, we constrain the viscosity of the bending slab to be at most similar to 300 times more viscous than the upper mantle: stronger slabs are intolerably slowed by the bending deformation. Weaker slabs, however, cannot transmit a pull force sufficient to explain rapid trenchward plate motions unless slabs stretch faster than seismically observed rates of similar to 10(-15) s(-1). The constrained bending viscosity (similar to 2 x 10(23) Pa s) is larger than previous estimates that yielded similar or larger bending resistance (here similar to 25% of forces). This apparent discrepancy occurs because slabs bend more gently than previously thought, with an average radius of curvature of 390 km that permits subduction Of Strong slabs. This gentle bending may ultimately permit plate tectonics on Earth.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00412383
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412383
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.05.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present a new set of brittle microtectonic measurements carried out in the Pliocene and Quaternary rocks outcropping in several key sectors of the western Betic and Rif orogen, the so-called Gibraltar orogenic arc. This data set, along with available earthquake focal mechanisms and borehole breakouts, allowed us to compile the Pliocene and Quaternary stress map of this area. This map provides new constraints for tectonic models and the present-day tectonic activity of the proposed active eastward subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath the Gibraltar Arc and roll-back. The horizontal maximum compressive stress (S-Hmax) is NW-SE in the Betic Orogen and N-S/NNW-SSE in the southern Rif Cordillera. There is a significant consistency between S-Hmax and the displacement field deduced from GPS measurements with respect to the African plate: both appear to reflect the NW-SE convergence between the African and the European plates that is perturbed in the Rif. We propose that part of the eastern Rif behaves as a quasi-rigid block welded to the stable African plate. This block is bounded by important faults that localized most of the deformation disturbing the stress and surface displacement field. Pliocene to Quaternary N-S to NW-SE Africa-Europe plate convergence seem to be associated to the reorganization of the remnant Early Miocene subduction system in a continental-continental collision framework. Three-dimensional reconstruction of available seismic tomography plotted against the intermediate seismicity shows that only part of the old subduction system, whose orientation ranges from N20 degrees E to N100 degrees E, remains active: the portion ranging from N30 degrees E to N40 degrees E, orthogonal to the regional convergence. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00671033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00671033
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2010.12.003

Éditeur(s) : Nantes : Imprimerie de Vatar
Siècle(s) traité(s) : 18
Droits : Domaine public
Provenance : Communauté d'agglomération de La Rochelle. Médiathèque Michel-Crépeau
Permalien : http://www.manioc.org/patrimon/MMC16124-30
MMC16124-30

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Nowadays, technological advances in satellite imagery measurements as well as the development of dense geodetic and seismologic networks allow for a detailed analysis of surface deformation associated with active fault seismic cycle. However, the study of earthquake dynamics faces several limiting factors related to the difficulty to access the deep source of earthquake and to integrate the characteristic time scales of deformation processes that extend from seconds to thousands of years. To overcome part of these limitations and better constrain the role and couplings between kinematic and mechanical parameters, we have developed a new experimental approach allowing for the simulation of strike-slip fault earthquakes and analyze in detail hundreds of successive seismic cycle. Model rheology is made of multilayered visco-elasto-plastic analog materials to account for the mechanical behavior of the upper and lower crust and to allow simulating brittle/ductile coupling, postseismic deformation phase and far-field stress transfers. The kinematic evolution of the model surface is monitored using an optical system, based on subpixel spectral correlation of high-resolution digital images. First, results show that the model succeed in reproducing the deformation mechanisms and surface kinematics associated to the main phases of the seismic cycle indicating that model scaling is satisfactory. These results are comforted by using numerical algorithms to study the strain and stress distribution at the surface and at depth, along the fault plane. Our analog modeling approach appears, then, as an efficient complementary approach to investigate earthquake dynamics.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01174176
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174176
DOI : 10.1002/2014TC003701

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Seismic anisotropy has been widely studied this last decade, particularly by measuring splitting of vertically propagating core shear waves. The main interest in this technique is to characterize upper mantle flow beneath seismic stations. On the other hand, the major restriction in this method is that a single station gives a single anisotropy measurement. Alternative methods have been developed in order to avoid this restriction. An accurate determination of upper mantle seismic anisotropy beneath a seismic station may allow one, by doing anisotropy correction, to characterize remote or deeper anisotropy. The Geoscope network is ideal for this purpose because it is composed of a large set (about 26) of high-quality, broadband seismometers globally distributed and because some of these stations have run for more than 10 years and most of them for more than 5 years. We selected about 100 events at each site, generally of magnitude (m b) > 6.0, and we performed systematic measurements of the splitting parameters (fast polarization direction φ and delay time δt) on SKS, SKKS, and PKS phases. Splitting on oceanic islands has been difficult to observe owing to the low quality of the signal but also perhaps owing to complex upper mantle structures beneath the stations. Station KIP (Kipapa, Hawaii) in the Pacific is the only oceanic Geoscope station with a clear anisotropy. We determined well-constrained splitting parameters for 10 of the 17 continental stations that may be explained by a single anisotropic layer. The poor correlation between fast polarization directions and the absolute plate motion together with the apparent incoherence between the plate velocities and the observed delay times suggest that a simple drag-induced asthenospheric flow alone fails to explain most of the observations. For some stations located on or near major lithospheric structures (TAM, Tamanrasset, Algeria, for instance), we observe a good correlation between fast polarization directions and regional structures. At station SCZ (Santa Cruz, California), we found clear variations of the splitting parameters as a function of the event backazimuth, compatible with two layers of anisotropy. Three stations (CAN (Canberra), HYB (Hyderabad, India) and SSB (Saint Sauveur Badole, France)) seem to be devoid of detectable anisotropy.
ISSN: 2169-9313

hal-01388830
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01388830
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01388830/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01388830/file/Barruol_anisoGeoscope_JGR1999.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/1999JB900033

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Lateral variations along the Himalayan arc are suggested by an increasing number of studies and carry important information about the orogen’s segmentation. Here we compile the hitherto most complete land gravity dataset in the region which enables the currently highest resolution plausible analysis. To study lateral variations in collisional structure we compute arc-parallel gravity anomalies (APaGA) by subtracting the average arc-perpendicular profile from our dataset; we compute likewise for topography (APaTA). We find no direct correlation between APaGA, APaTA and background seismicity, as suggested in oceanic subduction context. In the Himalayas APaTA mainly reflect relief and erosional effects, whereas APaGA reflect the deep structure of the orogen with clear lateral boundaries. Four segments are outlined and have disparate flexural geometry: NE India, Bhutan, Nepal & India until Dehradun, and NW India. The segment boundaries in the India plate are related to inherited structures, and the boundaries of the Shillong block are highlighted by seismic activity. We find that large earthquakes of the past millennium do not propagate across the segment boundaries defined by APaGA, therefore these seem to set limits for potential rupture of megathrust earthquakes.
ISSN: 2045-2322

hal-01420404
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01420404
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01420404/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01420404/file/hetenyi2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1038/srep33866

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : High-resolution reflection and refraction seismic data were collected in 2004 to investigate, in further detail than allowed by pre-existing low resolution seismic data, the nature of a Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR) that extends over a broad area of the Fairway Basin, a rifted, continental structure located on the eastern flank of the Lord Howe Rise, to the southwest of New Caledonia. Two main reflectors are documented: the shallower (RN) mimics the seafloor and has a negative polarity while the deeper (RP) does not always mimic the seafloor and has a positive polarity. Using the existing regional seismic lines, we can show that reflector RN can be continuously followed up to DSDP 208 drill hole site. Reflector RP is discontinuous and cannot be traced to DSDP 208. Based on DSDP 208 stratigraphic data, Reflector RN is assigned to the Eocene/Oligocene regional unconformity; reflector RP is interpreted in terms of a diagenetic BSR, likely related to an Opal-A/Opal-CT transition front. Heat flow data collected in 2006 suggest that reflector RP lies too deep to be related to methane hydrates, strengthening our interpretation that RP is of diagenetic origin.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2009-10 , Vol. 266 , N. 1-4 , P. 80-90

Droits : 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-7321.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2009.07.014
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/7321/

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Mantle xenoliths in Pliocene alkali basalts of the eastern Betics (SE Iberia, Spain) are spinel ± plagioclase lherzolite, with minor harzburgite and wehrlite, displaying porphyroclastic or equigranular textures. Equigranular peridotites have olivine crystal preferred orientation (CPO) patterns similar to those of porphyroclastic xenoliths but slightly more dispersed. Olivine CPO shows [100]-fiber patterns characterized by strong alignment of [100]-axes subparallel to the stretching lineation and a girdle distribution of [010]-axes normal to it. This pattern is consistent with simple shear or transtensional deformation accommodated by dislocation creep. One xenolith provides evidence for synkinematic reactive percolation of subduction-related Si-rich melts/fluids that resulted in oriented crystallization of orthopyroxene. Despite a seemingly undeformed microstructure, the CPO in orthopyroxenite veins in composite xenoliths is identical to those of pyroxenes in the host peridotite, suggesting late-kinematic crystallization. Based on these observations, we propose that the annealing producing the equigranular microstructures was triggered by melt percolation in the shallow subcontinental lithospheric mantle coeval to the late Neogene formation of veins in composite xenoliths. Calculated seismic properties are characterized by fast propagation of P waves and polarization of fast S waves parallel to olivine [100]-axis (stretching lineation). These data are compatible with present-day seismic anisotropy observations in SE Iberia if the foliations in the lithospheric mantle are steeply dipping and lineations are subhorizontal with ENE strike, implying dominantly horizontal mantle flow in the ENE-WSW direction within vertical planes, that is, subparallel to the paleo-Iberian margin. The measured anisotropy could thus reflect a lithospheric fabric due to strike-slip deformation in the late Miocene in the context of WSW tearing of the subducted south Iberian margin lithosphere.
ISSN: 0278-7407

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01685809
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685809
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685809/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685809/file/Hidas_et_al-2016-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2016TC004165

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
We surveyed the junction between the central and southern Philippine Trench and the Sangihe Trench near 6øN using swath bathymetry, gravity, and magnetics. These data, along with seismicity, allow us to discuss the genetic relations between these trenches and the forces acting on converging plates. Our final model favors the northern extension of the Halmahera Arc up to 8øN, with three segments offset left-laterally along NW-SE transform faults. Accretion of the northern segment to Mindanao Island 4 to 5 m.y. ago resulted in the failure within the Philippine Sea Plate east of the arc. Initiation of the Philippine Trench between 7øN and 10øN agrees with the maximum recorded depth of the Philippine Trench floor (10,000 m below sea-level) and Philippine Sea slab (200 km). South of 6øN (trench junction), another segment of the arc is being subducted beneath the Sangihe margin, while south of 3øN, the southern segment of the Halmahera Arc is still active. The rapid southward shallowing of the trench floor along the southern Philippine Trench, the type of faulting affecting both sides of the trench, the lack of significant interplate seismicity, and the concentration of the seismicity beneath the Miangas-Talaud Ridge are interpreted as a slowing down of the subduction along this branch of the Philippine Trench compared with the rest of the subduction zone. The Sangihe deformation front has been recognized up to 7øN but seems active only south of 6øN.
ISSN: 2169-9275

hal-01261614
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261614
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261614/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261614/file/lallemandJGR1998.pdf

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bretagne Occidentatle
Résumé : This memoir is focused on the comparaison of sediment transfer from the continent to the basin within two different systems: (1) an open slope system and (2) an adjacent deep-sea fan system. This work is essentially based on the interpretation of seismic data acquired during several cruises off the present Rhône Delta.
Ce travail de recherche est consacré à l'étude comparée, par l'intermédiaire des dépôts et des structures sédimentaires, du transfert de matière du continent vers le bassin dans (1) un système de pente continentale ouverte et (2) dans un système adjacent constitué d'un canyon et d'un éventail sous-marin profond. Le travail est essentiellement basé sur l'interprétation de données sismiques haute résolution et 3.5 kHz acquises au cours de plusieurs campagnes au large du Delta du Rhône.

Droits : UBO
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00034/14537/11818.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00034/14537/