Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Gulf of Cadiz lies astride the complex plate boundary between Africa and Eurasia west of the Betic-Rif mountain belt. We report on the results of recent bathymetric swathmapping and multi-channel seismic surveys carried out here. The seafloor is marked by contrasting morphological provinces, spanning the SW Iberian and NW Moroccan continental margins, abyssal plains and an elongate, arcuate, accretionary wedge. A wide variety of tectonic and gravitational processes appear to have shaped these structures. Active compressional deformation of the wedge is suggested by folding and thrusting of the frontal sedimentary layers as well as basal duplexing in deeper internal units. There is evidence for simultaneous gravitational spreading occurring upslope. The very shallow mean surface and basal slopes of the accretionary wedge (1° each) indicate a very weak decollement layer, geometrically similar to the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex. Locally steep slopes (up to 10°) indicate strongly focused, active deformation and potential gravitational instabilities. The unusual surface morphology of the upper accretionary wedge includes “raft-tectonics” type fissures and abundant sub-circular depressions. Dissolution and/or diapiric processes are proposed to be involved in the formation of these depressions.
ISSN: 0264-8172

insu-00401683
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00401683
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2007.11.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Ryukyu subduction is known to generate very few earthquakes in its central segment contrarily to its two extremities. We focus in this study on the southernmost part of the Ryukyu subduction zone offshore east Taiwan. Our first task was to build a homogeneous earthquake catalogue for the period 1900–2007. The new catalogue provides homogenized M′W magnitudes and shows that several M′W≥ 7.0 earthquakes occurred offshore Hualien and Suao cities. We then focused on the 1920 June 5 earthquake (reported surface wave magnitude 8.1) previously located beneath the accretionary prism. The revised moment magnitude has been estimated in our catalogue at 7.7 ± 0.2. It is the biggest earthquake ever recorded in the Taiwan area but the fault that has produced this earthquake has not yet been identified with confidence. We relocated this event using regional phases (seismological bulletins archived at the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan) about 50 km NNE and shallower of its former location, that is, within the Ryukyu Arc basement. According to earthquake bulletin information, revised magnitude, new hypocentral determination and known regional faults, we propose four potential active faults as candidates for the slip associated to this event: (1) the interplate seismogenic zone (ISZ), (2) an out-of-sequence thrust cutting through the forearc and branching on the ISZ, (3) a NS strike-slip fault cutting through the Ryukyu arc and (4) a N–S, westward dipping thrust fault, affecting the Philippine Sea Plate east of the Luzon Arc. The best compromise is to consider a rupture along the ISZ with a shallow nucleation possibly along a splay-fault followed by a downward and lateral propagation of the rupture that would explain the lack of significant seafloor motion and subsequent tsunami. We also estimate the maximum seismic coupling of the ISZ in the region east of Taiwan to about 0.4. In parallel, the evidences of aseismic slip occurring along the ISZ allow us to conclude that this region should only be affected by M < 8 earthquakes.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00545459
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545459
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545459/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545459/file/theunisseGJI2010.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04813.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
This paper aims to demonstrate that the use of a modern tool, the GPS (Global PositioningSystem), can significantly improve our understanding of active faults and their seismic cycle. We focus on theNorth-Caribbean plate boundary, specifically in the Dominican Republic, and present some quantificationsof velocities that result from measurements that have been made possible by the instrumentation of the areaby a consortium of researchers from France, the USA and the Dominican Republic, since 1994. Then, wediscuss the velocities in terms of seismic potential of the regional major faults.
Cet article présente comment l'utilisation d'un outil moderne, le GPS (Global Positioning System) peut apporter des éléments significatifs dans la connaissance des failles actives et de leur cycle sismique. Nous nous intéressons ici à la frontière de plaque Nord-Caraibe, en République Dominicaine, et présentons des quantifications de vitesses de déplacement obtenues grâce à l'instrumentation de la zone depuis 1994 par un groupe de chercheurs français, états-uniens et dominicains. Les résultats sont ensuite discutés en termes d'aléas sismologiques des failles majeures.
ISSN: 2551-6116

hal-01537725
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01537725
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01537725/document
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01537725/file/Mazabraud-et-Forissier-2007.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The region of Bhutan is thought to be the only segment of the Himalayas not having experienced a major earthquake over the past half millennium. A proposed explanation for this apparent seismic gap is partial accommodation of the India-Asia convergence further south across the Shillong Plateau, yet the seismic behavior of the Himalayan megathrust in Bhutan is unknown. Here we present historical documents from the region reporting on an earthquake in 1714 A.D. and geological evidence of surface rupture to constrain the latest large event in this area. We compute various earthquake scenarios using empirical scaling relationships relating magnitude with intensity, source location and rupture geometry. Our results constrain the 1714 A.D. earthquake to have ruptured the megathrust in Bhutan, most likely during a M7.5–8.5 event. This finding reclassifies the apparent seismic gap to a former information gap and implies that the entire Himalayan arc has a high level of earthquake potential.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-01467822
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467822
DOI : 10.1002/2016GL071033

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This paper provides a synthesis of current data and interpretations on the crustal structure of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian orogenic belt, and presents new tectonic models for representative transects. The Pyrenean orogeny lasted from Santonian (~84 Ma) to early Miocene times (~20 Ma), and consisted of a spatial and temporal succession of oceanic crust/exhumed mantle subduction, rift inversion and continental collision processes at the Iberia-Eurasia plate boundary. A good coverage by active-source (vertical-incidence and wide-angle reflection) and passive-source (receiver functions) seismic studies, coupled with surface data have led to a reasonable knowledge of the present-day crustal architecture of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian belt, although questions remain. Seismic imaging reveals a persistent structure, from the central Pyrenees to the central Cantabrian Mountains, consisting of a wedge of Eurasian lithosphere indented into the thicker Iberian plate, whose lower crust is detached and plunges northwards into the mantle. For the Pyrenees, a new scheme of relationships between the southern upper crustal thrust sheets and the Axial Zone is here proposed. For the Cantabrian belt, the depth reached by the N-dipping Iberian crust and the structure of the margin are also revised.The common occurrence of lherzolite bodies in the northern Pyrenees and the seismic velocity and potential field record of the Bay of Biscay indicate that the precursor of the Pyrenees was a hyperextended and strongly segmented rift system, where narrow domains of exhumed mantle separated the thinned Iberian and Eurasian continental margins since the Albian-Cenomanian. The exhumed mantle in the Pyrenean rift was largely covered by a Mesozoic sedimentary lid that had locally glided along detachments in Triassic evaporites. Continental margin collision in the Pyrenees was preceded by subduction of the exhumed mantle, accompanied by the pop-up thrust expulsion of the off-scraped sedimentary lid above. To the west, oceanic subduction of the Bay of Biscay under the North Iberian margin is supported by an upper plate thrust wedge, gravity and magnetic anomalies, and 3D inclined sub-crustal reflections. However, discrepancies remain for the location of continent-ocean transitions in the Bay of Biscay and for the extent of oceanic subduction. The plate-kinematic evolution during the Mesozoic, which involves issues as the timing and total amount of opening, as well as the role of strike-slip drift, is also under debate, discrepancies arising from first-order interpretations of the adjacent oceanic magnetic anomaly record.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01683989
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01683989
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01683989/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01683989/file/teixell-tectono-2018.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.01.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Based on global earthquake catalogs, the hypocenters, nodal planes, and seismic moments of worldwide subduction plate interface earthquakes were extracted for the period between 1900 and 2007. Assuming that the seismogenic zone coincides with the distribution of 5.5 <= M < 7 earthquakes, the subduction interface seismogenic zones were mapped for 80% of the trench systems and characterized with geometrical and mechanical parameters. Using this database, correlations were isolated between significant parameters to identify cause-effect relationships. Empirical laws obtained in previous studies were revisited in light of this more complete, accurate, and uniform description of the subduction interface seismogenic zone. The seismogenic zone was usually found to end in a fore-arc mantle, rather than at a Moho depth. The subduction velocity was the first-order controlling parameter for variations in the physical characteristics of plate interfaces, determining both the geometry and mechanical behavior. As such, the fast subduction zones and cold slabs were associated with large and steep plate interfaces, which, in turn, had large seismic rates. The subduction velocity could not account for the potential earthquake magnitude diversity that was observed along the trenches. Events with M-w >= 8.5 preferentially occurred in the vicinity of slab edges, where the upper plate was continental and the back-arc strain was neutral. This observation was interpreted in terms of compressive normal stresses along the plate interface. Large lateral ruptures should be promoted in neutral subduction zones due to moderate compressive stresses along the plate interface that allow the rupture to propagate laterally.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00617681
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617681
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617681/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617681/file/heuretG32011.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2010GC003230

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : A previously unknown pattern of multiple bottom-simulating reflections (BSRs) occurs on high-resolution reflection seismic data in the Danube deep-sea fan, associated with acoustic features indicating free gas. Our study provides evidence that this pattern is developed in relation with the architecture of distinct channel-levee systems of the Danube fan. Channel-levee systems hosting multiple BSRs act as relatively sealed gas-bearing systems whose top is situated above the base of the gas hydrate stability zone (BGHSZ). Inside these systems, free gas accumulates below the BGHSZ under a combined lithological, structural and stratigraphical control. The uppermost BSR marks the current equilibrium BGHSZ, for a gas composition of more than 99% methane. Model-derived depths of the BGHSZ for different gas compositions and pressure-temperature conditions show that multiple BSRs would correspond to the BGHSZ either for (1) layers of gas hydrates with high contents of heavy hydrocarbons or hydrogen sulphide, or (2) stable climatic episodes with temperatures between glacial values and the present-day conditions. As the gas hydrate compositions required by hypothesis (I) are in sharp contradiction with the general background of the gas composition in the study area, we suggest that multiple BSRs are most probably relics of former positions of the BGHSZ, corresponding to successive steps of climate warming. In this case, they can provide sea-bottom paleotemperature values for these episodes, and hence they are potential new proxies for deciphering past climate conditions.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2006-03 , Vol. 227 , N. 3-4 , P. 163-176

Droits : 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-1210.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2005.12.006
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1210/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
P>Tehran is one of the largest cities in the world (12 million people) facing seismic hazard. Standing at the foothills of Alborz Mountains, the capital of Iran is exposed to potential earthquakes associated with several nearby active faults. Classically mentioned as active features, the Kahrizak, the North Rey and the South Rey scarps cross the town itself and would be the sources of several destructive historical earthquakes. However, the nature of these topographic scarps remains uncertain. To assess whether these features correspond to active faults, we carried out a morphological and stratigraphic study. Our results show that the three scarps define horizontal scarp lines that follow contour lines matching ancient shorelines further East. This point, associated with other morphological characteristics such as the flatness of the upper and the lower surfaces, the long and regular streams that incised the upslope upper surfaces and the fact that the deposits are horizontal and without deformations, suggests in fact that the Kahrizak, the North Rey and the South Rey scarps correspond most likely to ancient shore lines and are not fault scarps.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-00496390
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00496390
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2010.00938.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : International audience
The mylonitic Cambrian quartzites, Moine Thrust Zone, NW Scotland, have long been used to study microstructural and petrofabric evolution and to develop understanding of grain-scale processes accommodating large-scale displacements. Today, structural geology is entering a new age of understanding of the basic processes involved in microstructural evolution due to the emergence of novel instrumental techniques and theoretical models. It seems apposite therefore to re-evaluate the microstructure of one example of this classic quartz mylonite from the Stack of Glencoul, Assynt, using arguably the most important of these new techniques, electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The three-dimensional (3D) microstructure and petrofabric of this rock was analysed using EBSD, to: 1) corroborate previous optical and X-ray texture goniometry measurements; 2) investigate the potential for sampling and/or tectonic sectioning bias that may be introduced inadvertently into any petrofabric analysis; and 3) predict its seismic properties. It is found that microstructures do differ between orthogonal structural sections, leading to variations in strengths of different components in the overall petrofabric that might impact on seismic properties. The results emphasize the true 3D nature of microstructures and petrofabrics, which can be recognized and accommodated more readily by this new generation of analytical techniques.
Continental Tectonics and Mountain Building: The Legacy of Peach and Horne

hal-00565749
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00565749

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : Coastal Quaternary deposits of western Oranie show typical soft-sediment deformations including sedimentary dykes, sand volcanoes, sismoslumps, thixotropic bowls, thixotropic wedges, diapir-like structures, and faults grading. Field observations indicate that these deformations exist at several levels of the studied deposits along the west Oranian coast. This study demonstrated that these structures are earthquakes-related, by analysis of potential trigger sources. Several arguments demonstrate the seismic origin: the depositional environment rich in water that located in an active tectonic region, the thixotropic nature of deformations and their large vertical and horizontal diffusion in the Quaternary series consistent with a seismic recurrence. This allows characterizing these Quaternary soft-sediment deformations as seismites that were triggered by earthquakes.
ISSN: 1383-4649

hal-01560975
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01560975
DOI : 10.1007/s10950-016-9616-2

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Selected high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry acquired along the convergent Ecuador margin during the ATACAMES cruise on onboard the R/V L’Atalante (Jan.15–Feb.18, 2012) allow a preliminary evaluation of the neotectonic development and stratigraphic evolution of the margin based on the sismo-stratigraphic analysis of Quaternary sediment preserved on the margin shelf and upper slope. We present three major preliminary results. (1) The evolution of the Esmeraldas, Guayaquil and Santa Elena canyons. The head of the Esmeraldas canyon is the location of a continuous significant sediment transport. The Guayaquil canyon shows several episodes of deposition and incision. Aggrading sedimentation pattern in the canyon records several changes in relative sea-level. The subsidence of the Gulf of Guayaquil probably contributes to the good preservation of the canyon filling stages. The Santa Elena canyon is controlled by a SW–NE trending normal fault. (2) Variations of sediment accumulation and relative vertical motions are shown along-strike the shelf edge. Offshore the uplifted Manta peninsula, a pronounced subsidence of the shelf edge is documented by sedimentary clinoforms that have deposited in a morphological reentrant, and have migrated upslope testifying of a local subsidence meanwhile the adjacent La Plata Island area underwent uplift. In the Esmeraldas canyon area, a local uplift of the shelf is documented. (3) Two neotectonic fault systems with a possible transcurrent component are imaged across the shelf edge and upper margin slope offshore Jama, and Cape Galera. This possible transcurrent motion could be related to the reactivation of ancient faults of the upper plate by the subduction. These preliminary results indicate that the ATACAMES data set has a strong potential to evaluate the spatial and temporal contribution of tectonic and climate changes on the structural development and stratigraphic evolution of the Ecuador continental margin.
ISSN: 0025-3235

insu-01131151
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01131151
DOI : 10.1007/s11001-014-9231-y

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The identification of the structures and deformation patterns in magma-poor continental rifted margins is essential to characterize the processes of continental lithosphere necking. Brittle faults, often termed mantle detachments, are believed to play an essential role in the rifting processes that lead to mantle exhumation. However, ductile shear zones in the deep crust and mantle are rarely identified and their mechanical role remains to be established. The western Betics (Southern Spain) provides an exceptional exposure of a strongly thinned continental lithosphere, formed in a supra-subduction setting during Oligocene-Lower Miocene. A full section of the entire crust and the upper part of the mantle is investigated. Variations in crustal thickness are used to quantify crustal stretching that may reach values larger than 2000% where the ductile crust almost disappear, defining a stage of hyper-stretching. Opposite senses of shear top-to-W and top-to-E are observed in two extensional shear zones located close to the crust-mantle boundary and along the brittle-ductile transition in the crust, respectively. At locations where the ductile crust almost disappears, concordant top-to-E-NE senses of shear are observed in both upper crust and serpentinized mantle. Late high-angle normal faults with ages of ca. 21 Ma or older (40Ar/39Ar on white mica) crosscut the previously hyper-stretched domain, involving both crust and mantle in tilted blocks. The western Betics exemplifies, probably better than any previous field example, the changes in deformation processes that accommodate the progressive necking of a continental lithosphere. Three successive steps can be identified: i/a mid-crustal shear zone and a crust-mantle shear zone, acting synchronously but with opposite senses of shear, accommodate ductile crust thinning and ascent of subcontinental mantle; ii/hyper-stretching localizes in the neck, leading to an almost disappearance of the ductile crust and bringing the upper crust in contact with the subcontinental mantle, each of them with their already acquired opposite senses of shear; and iii/high-angle normal faulting, cutting through the Moho, with related block tilting, ends the full exhumation of the mantle in the zone of localized stretching. The presence of a high strength sub-Moho mantle is responsible for the change in sense of shear with depth. Whereas mantle exhumation in the western Betics occurred in a backarc setting, this deformation pattern controlled by a high-strength layer at the top of the lithosphere mantle makes it directly comparable to most passive margins whose formation lead to mantle exhumation. This unique field analogue has therefore a strong potential for the seismic interpretation of the so-called “hyper-extended margins”.
ISSN: 0264-8172

insu-01310895
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01310895
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01310895/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01310895/file/Frasca-MarPetGeol-2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.04.020

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Extreme rainfall events can trigger numerous landslides in mountainous areas and a prolonged increase of river sediment load. The resulting mass transfer at the Earth surface in turn induces stress changes at depth, which could be sufficient to trigger shallow earthquakes. The 2009 Morakot typhoon represents a good case study as it delivered 3 m of precipitation in 3 days and caused some of the most intense erosion ever recorded. Analysis of seismicity time-series before and after the Morakot typhoon reveals a systematic increase of shallow (i.e. 0-15 km of depth) earthquake frequency in the vicinity of the areas displaying a high spatial density of landslides. This step-like increase in frequency lasts for at least 2-3 years and does not follow an Omori-type aftershock sequence. Rather, it is associated to a step change of the Gutenberg-Richter b-value of the earthquake catalog. Both changes occurred in mountainous areas of southwest Taiwan, where typhoon Morakot caused extensive landsliding. These spatial and temporal correlations strongly suggest a causal relationship between the Morakot-triggered landslides and the increase of earthquake frequency and their associated b-value. We propose that the progressive removal of landslide materials from the steep mountain landscape by river sediment transport acts as an approximately constant increase of the stress rate with respect to pre-typhoon conditions, and that this in turn causes a step-wise increase in earthquake frequency. To test this hypothesis, we investigate the response of a rate-and-state fault to stress changes using a 2-D continuum elasto-dynamic model. Consistent with the results of Ader et al. (2013), our preliminary results show a step-like increase of earthquake frequency in response to a step-like decrease of the fault normal stress. We also investigate the sensitivity of the amplitude and time-scale of the earthquake frequency increase to the amplitude of the normal stress change and to rheological parameters. Our study offers new insights on the potential influence of extreme erosional events on the short-time scale dynamics of faults and earthquakes.
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2016
San Francisco, United States

insu-01416987
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01416987

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Detailed sedimentological investigations on numerous outcrops and drill-core sections in the 2.1-Ga-old Franceville basin, Gabon, provide evidence for a large-scale injectite network. The injectites were formed by the injection of sands through a thickness of about 150 m of the FB1 Member, and now cover a minimum area of 70 km2 corresponding to the Bangombé plateau, but are also recognized close to Franceville 35 km farther south-east. The injectite lithology corresponds to a mud- or carbonate-supported sandstone characterized by a loose and uncompacted fabric contrasting with the host-rock. Because the injectites are often parallel to subparallel to the stratification, they were misinterpreted as depositional beds by previous authors. At outcrop, the injectite bodies exhibit sill, dyke, wing and protrusive geometries emplaced during early burial within poorly compacted material, with partial wall erosion and dissociation. The source of the sand material is attributed to a channel-levee turbidite depositional system located in the lower part of the FB1 Member. These deposits were buried by a thick biochemical muddy cap deposited during a starvation phase, which increased the seal capacity of the system. This type of architecture has a high potential to develop compaction disequilibrium during burial. Moreover, in the case of the Francevillian injectites, the abundance of microbial organic matter favoured early methane degassing and lateral charging of the sand reservoir. The overpressure in the channels was periodically released during early burial, through the effect of rapid sedimentary and tectonic loading, and possible seismic activity. The fluidized sand was injected according to a symmetrical wing pattern. Thus, the injected masses caused a local decrease in the grade of the lateritic manganese ore deposit of the Bangombé plateau.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01667217
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01667217
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2017.09.022

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) is the source of great earthquakes that have been documented along the range. Its geometry is a key parameter that influences accommodation of tectonic loading and earthquake magnitudes along the Himalayan Arc. Although seismic images are available for both the western and the central part of the range, this geometry remains poorly constrained for the Bhutanese Himalayas. Here we address this issue using a 10Be cosmogenic nuclides denudation transect across western Bhutan. We observe a wide low denudation rate domain between 50 km and 110 km from the front followed by a strong northward increase. Using a joint inversion of denudation rates, GPS data, and Holocene uplift rates, we interpret this pattern as a consequence of a flat-ramp transition along the MHT. Compared to central Nepal and Sikkim, this location of the ramp suggests a wider décollement, with implications for greater seismogenic potential of the MHT in western Bhutan.
ISSN: 0094-8276

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01174088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088v2/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088/file/lerouxmalloufGRL2015.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2015GL063767