Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The Kazdağ Massif exposes a metamorphic dome in the Biga Peninsula of northwest Turkey. An extensional origin has been proposed for the dome, limited on both flanks by detachments and/or shear zones. The northern flank is bounded by the extensional Alakeçi Shear Zone (ASZ), whose P-T-t path is still poorly known. We therefore focus on its metamorphic conditions and related temporal history to precise its tectono-metamorphic evolution. The local tectonostratigraphy in structurally ascending order comprises: (i) the high-grade metamorphic core rocks of the Kazdaǧ Massif (gneisses and micaschists intercalated with amphibolites and marbles); (ii) the two kilometer-thick ASZ; (iii) the overlaying unmetamorphosed pre-Cenomanian accretionary Çetmi mélange; and (iv) Neogene sedimentary and volcanic cover rocks. ASZ mylonites were derived from both the core rocks and the mélange lithologies. From the north to the south the mylonitic fabrics in the ASZ depict a top-to-the N-NNE shearing, parallel to the NNE-plunging stretching lineation and NNW-dipping mylonitic foliation. This geometry implies normal sense movement i.e. north-side down-dip extensional displacement along this flank of the Kazdaǧ Massif. The northward transition from ductile to brittle-ductile regime through the ASZ shows that the deformation occurred at decreasing temperatures and degree of metamorphism. The paragenesis in equilibrium within the mylonitic gneisses and schists contains Qtz + Fs + Ms + Bt + Grt ± St ± Sill, with late retrogressive chlorite after biotite and garnet. Four samples of ASZ rocks yielded pressures between 6.9-5.7 kbar and temperatures between 706-587°C. Three samples from the mylonitic rocks supplied in situ isochron 36Ar/40Ar mica ages between 31.2-24.2 Ma, which we interpret to date the cooling of the mylonites following the P-T decrease across the ASZ. The metamorphic and structural results support the extensional character of the ASZ, and sketch transition from sillimanite core gneisses in the deeper structural levels to chlorite schists towards the top of the shear zone. These new data allow to precise the peak P-T conditions and the temporal evolution in the northern flank of the Kazdaǧ Massif, where Late Oligocene extensional exhumation was assisted by NNE-directed ductile-brittle ASZ, which had operated from amphibolite to greenschist facies. At the regional scale, this tectono-metamorphic pattern is similar to those observed on other places of the north Aegean domain.
IOP Conference Series
Austin, TE, United States

hal-00642725
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00642725
DOI : 10.1088/1755-1307/2/1/012012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union (EGU)
Résumé : International audience
Pollen and clay mineralogical analyses of a Holocene sequence from Sebkha Boujmel (southern Tunisia) traces the climatic and environmental dynamics in the lower arid bioclimatic zone over the last 8000 years. During the Mid- to Late Holocene transition, between 8 and 3 ka, a succession of five wet/dry oscillations is recorded. An intense arid event occurs between 5.7 and 4.6 ka. This episode marks the onset of a long-term aridification trend with a progressive retreat of Mediterranean woody xerophytic vegetation and of grass steppes. It ends with the establishment of pre-desert ecosystems around 3 ka. The millennial-scale climate change recorded in the data from Sebkha Boujmel is consistent with records from the south and east Mediterranean, as well as with climatic records from the desert region for the end of the African Humid Period (AHP). Eight centennial climatic events are recorded at Sebkha Boujmel and these are contemporary with those recorded in the Mediterranean and in the Sahara. They indicate a clear coupling between the southern Mediterranean and the Sahara before 3 ka. The event at 4.2 ka is not evidenced and the link between events recorded in Sebkha Boujmel and the North Atlantic Cooling events is clearer from 3 ka onwards. These variations indicate the importance of climatic determinism in the structuring of landscapes, with the establishment of the arid climatic conditions of the Late Holocene. It is only from 3 ka onwards that the dynamic of plant associations is modified by both human activity and climatic variability. The climatic episodes identified during the historic period indicate strong regionalisation related to the differential impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Mediterranean Oscillation (MO) on the Mediterranean basin. The local human impact on regional ecosystems is recorded in the form of episodes of intensification of pastoral and/or agricultural activities. The development of olive production and of several taxa associated with agriculture attest to increasing sedentism among human populations during Classical Antiquity. The significant increase in Artemisia (wormwood) between 1.1 and 0.8 ka (850–1150 AD) is linked to intensive pastoral activity, associated with heightened interannual and/or seasonal climatic instability. A complete re-shaping of the landscape is recorded during the 20th century. The remarkable expansion of the olive tree, and the deterioration of regional ecosystems with the spread of desert species, is linked to recent local socio-economic changes in Tunisia.
ISSN: 1814-9324

hal-01319967
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01319967
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01319967/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01319967/file/cp-12-1339-2016.pdf
DOI : 10.5194/cp-12-1339-2016

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : The study, which is based on repetitive bathymetric surveys, assesses changes and effects of one of the most important floods recorded in the Rhone Delta area: bottom morphology and sediment distribution in the Rhone outlet after the December 2003 flood are discussed by comparison between Digital Terrain maps (DTMs) of November 2003 and January 2004. The post-flood morphology shows that the whole of the system is active, mainly in the east. The channel of the Rhbne has been hollowed out on the left bank by more than 5 m, the eastern coast of the mouth has retreated 400 m, the mouth-bar has prograded 200 m and the slope of the delta front has increased by 0.19. The overlay of pre- and post-flood DTMs makes it possible to estimate the total volume deposited in the [0 to -20 m] zone as +7.8 X 10(6) m(3) (i.e. 0.88 m(3) m(-2)), which corresponds to 4 X 10(6) t of sediment. These values are compared with the average annual volume of 0.47 X 10(6) m(3) yr(-1) of sediment deposited in this zone between 1995 and 2003, as well as the average sediment load estimated at the Arles station (50 km upstream) for this flood event (3.1 x 10(6) t to 5.3 x 10(6) t). The acquisition of bathymetric measurements immediately before and after a major flood allows more than a simple morphological description; in addition, an analysis of the solid load transfer processes towards the prodelta is achievable. Three mechanisms are highlighted. Most of the material eroded in the channel and supplied to the delta front corresponds to fine sediment that drape homogeneously over the pre-flood morphology of the delta front. The transit of the coarsest sediment (primarily sand) is slowed down in the channel of the Rh6ne: this sediment builds up in relatively small areas, leading to the formation of gullies on the prodelta slope. The gullies have fixed positions and disappear gradually towards the west, following the progressive migration of the active band towards the east. These old features are not reactivated by floods occurring after their formation. During the flood, only a small volume of coarse sediment bypasses through the gullies, and the fine deposits are remobilised rapidly or compacted. Flood input concerns essentially the delta front, which traps 90% of the fluvial solid discharge between 0 and 20 m depth. The coarse prodelta supply is then due mainly to mass movements of unconsolidated material deposited beforehand on the top of the delta front. Consequently, the main nourishment of the prodelta does not occur directly during and/or immediately after a flood event, but is delayed by sediment being temporarily trapped on the delta front.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2006-12 , Vol. 234 , N. 1-4 , P. 159-177

Droits : 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-2304.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2006.09.025
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2304/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The transition zone at the downdip end of seismic coupling along subduction interfaces is often the site of megathrust earthquake nucleation and concentrated postseismic afterslip, as well as the focus site of episodic tremor and slip features. Exhumed remnants of the former Alpine subduction zone found in the Swiss Alps allow analyzing fluid and deformation processes near the transition zone region (30–40 km paleodepth). The Dent Blanche Thrust (DBT) is a lower blueschist-facies shear zone interpreted as a fossilized subduction interface where granitic mylonites overlie a metamorphosed accretionary wedge. We report field observations from the DBT region where multiple, several tens of meters thick foliated cataclastic networks are interlayered within the basal DBT mylonites. Petrological results and microstructural observations indicate that the various cataclasis events took place at near-peak metamorphic conditions (400–500°C, 1.1–1.3 GPa) during subduction of the Tethyan seafloor in Eocene times (42–48 Ma). Some of these networks exhibit mutual crosscutting relationships between mylonites, foliated cataclasites, and vein systems indicating mutual overprinting between brittle deformation and ductile creep. Whole-rock chemical compositions, in situ 40Ar-39Ar age data of recrystallized phengite, and Sr isotopic signatures reveal that DBT rocks also underwent multiple hydrofracturing and metasomatic events via the infiltration of fluids mainly derived from the oceanic metasediments underneath the DBT. From the rock fabrics, we infer strain rate fluctuations of several orders of magnitude beyond subduction strain rates (∼10−12 s−1) accompanied by fluctuation of supralithostatic and quasi-lithostatic fluid pressures (1 ≥ λ > 0.95). DBT brittle-plastic deformation switches highlight the diversity of deformation processes and fluid-rock interactions in the transition zone region of the subduction interface.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01243526
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243526
DOI : 10.1002/2015GC005776

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD IODP
Résumé : Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 335 (14 April–4 June 2011) will be the fourth ocean cruise of the "Superfast" campaign to drill a deep hole into intact oceanic basement and will return to Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1256D to deepen this scientific reference penetration a significant distance into cumulate gabbros. Cores and data recovered during the Superfast 4 expedition will provide hitherto unavailable observations that will test models of the accretion and evolution of the oceanic crust. Site 1256 was specifically located on oceanic crust that formed at a superfast spreading rate (>200 mm/y) to exploit the observed relationship between spreading rate and depth to axial low velocity zones, thought to be magma chambers, seismically imaged at active mid-ocean ridges. This was a deliberate strategy to reduce the drilling distance to gabbroic rocks because thick sequences of lavas and dikes have proved difficult to penetrate in past. ODP Leg 206 (2002) initiated operations at Site 1256, including the installation in Hole 1256D of a reentry cone with 16 inch casing inserted through the 250 m thick sedimentary cover and cemented into basement to facilitate deep drilling. The hole was then cored ~500 m into basement. IODP Expeditions 309 and 312 (2005) successfully completed the first sampling of an intact section of upper oceanic crust from lavas, through the sheeted dikes, and into the upper gabbros. Hole 1256D now penetrates >1500 meters below seafloor (mbsf) and >1250 m subbasement and currently resides in the dike–gabbro transition zone. The first gabbroic rocks were encountered at 1407 mbsf. Below this lies a ~100 m complex zone of fractionated gabbros intruded into contact metamorphosed dikes. Although previous cruises achieved the benchmark objective of reaching gabbro in intact ocean crust, critical scientific questions remain. These include the following: 1. Does the lower crust form by the recrystallization and subsidence of a high-level magma chamber (gabbro glacier), crustal accretion by intrusion of sills throughout the lower crust, or some other mechanism? 2. Is the plutonic crust cooled by conduction or hydrothermal circulation? 3. What is the geological nature of Layer 3 and the Layer 2/3 boundary at Site 1256? 4. What is the magnetic contribution of the lower crust to marine magnetic anomalies? Hole 1256D is poised at a depth where samples that should conclusively address these questions can be obtained, possibly with only a few hundred meters of drilling. Importantly, as of the end of Expedition 312, the hole was clear of debris and open to its full depth. Increased rates of penetration (1.2 m/h) and enhanced core recovery (>35%) in the gabbros indicate that this return to Hole 1256D could deepen the hole >300 m into plutonic rocks, past the transition from dikes to gabbro, and into a region of solely cumulate gabbroic rocks.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00564953

hal-00564953
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00564953
DOI : 10.2204/iodp.sp.335.2010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The transition between the small melt lens observed on top of fast spreading ridge magma chambers and the overlying sheeted dike complex marks the interface between magma and the hydrothermal convective system. It is therefore critical to our understanding of fast spreading ridge accretion processes. We present maps of two areas of the Oman ophiolite where this transition zone is observed as continuous outcrops. Our observations, which include the base of the sheeted dike being crosscut by gabbros, are consistent with episodic dike injections in a steady state model but also suggest that the root of these dikes is commonly erased by vertical movements of the top of the melt lens. Dike assimilation is a possible mechanism for incorporating hydrated phases, which result from hydrothermal alteration, to the melt lens during upward migrations of its upper boundary. Upward migrations are also responsible for a granoblastic overprint of the root of the dikes that is also observed in the stoped diabase xenoliths. This granoblastic overprint attests to reheating of previously hydrothermally altered lithologies which can even trigger hydrous partial melting due to the lowering of the solidus of mafic lithologies by the presence of a water activity. Clinopyroxenes present in these granoblastic lithologies are typically low in Ti and Al content, thus strongly contrasting with corresponding magmatic clinopyroxene. This may attest to the recrystallization of clinopyroxenes after amphiboles under the peculiar conditions present at the root zone of the sheeted dike complex. Downward migrations of the top of the melt lens result in the crystallization of the isotropic gabbros at its roof, which represent the partly fossilized melt lens. Melt lens fossilization eventually occurs when magma supply is stopped or at the melt lens margins where the thermal conditions become cooler. Melt lens migration, recrystallization of hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes during reheating stages, and assimilation processes observed in the Oman ophiolite are consistent with the observations made in IODP Hole 1256D. We propose a general dynamic model in which the melt lens at fast spreading ridges undergoes upward and downward movements as a result of either eruption/replenishment stages or variations in the hydrothermal/magmatic fluxes.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00445249
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00445249
DOI : 10.1029/2009GC002652

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : International audience
In Eastern China, the North China Block (NCB) has experienced a complex tectonic evolution during Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic times. The unconformable sedimentary cover, which ranges in age from Neoproterozoic to Permian, underwent two tectonic episodes in Early Triassic and Cretaceous times. An early north–south compressional phase, D1, characterized by north-verging recumbent folds with east–west-trending axes and top-to-the-north ductile shear zones can be observed in a gabbroic pluton and the Neoproterozoic sedimentary host rocks. The available radiometric ages allow us to interpret this event as an Early Triassic back-thrusting related to the final stage of the collision between the North China and South China Blocks. During the LateMesozoic, an extensional event characterized by (1) half-grabens filled by continental terrigeneous red beds and lava flows, (2) low-angle detachment faults, (3) synkinematic granitic plutons, and (4) metamorphic core complexes is widespread in the Eastern Liaoning Peninsula. This extensional D2 event can be subdivided into a ductile deformation and a brittle deformation, corresponding to different expressions of crustal deformation. In every area studied in the Eastern Liaoning Peninsula, the ductile D2 deformation is characterized by a NW–SE-trending stretching lineation with a top-to-the-NWsense of shear.Mica and amphibole fromthe metamorphic country rocks, granodioritic or monzogranitic plutons and their mylonitized margins yield 40Ar/39Ar ages ranging from 130 to 120 Ma. These dates support fast cooling and exhumation rates coeval with the extensional tectonics. The brittle D2 deformation is responsible for the formation of high-angle normal faults marked by low-temperature cataclasites bounding half-grabens. During the Mesozoic, the tectonic regime of Eastern China experienced a significant inversion from compression to extension. The Eastern Liaoning Peninsula massif provides an example of this geodynamic transition.
ISSN: 2041-4927

hal-00134055
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00134055
DOI : 10.1144/SP280.7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Convergent plate margins typically experience a transition from subduction to collision dynamics as massive continental blocks enter the subduction channel. Studies of high-pressure rocks indicate that tectonic fragments are rapidly exhumed from eclogite facies to mid-crustal levels, but the details of such dynamics are controversial. To understand the dynamics of a subduction channel we report the results of a petrochronological study from the central Sesia Zone, a key element of the internal Western Alps. This comprises two polymetamorphic basement complexes (Eclogitic Micaschist Complex and Gneiss Minuti Complex) and a thin, dismembered cover sequence (Scalaro Unit) associated with pre-Alpine metagabbros and metasediments (Bonze Unit). Structurally controlled samples from three of these units (Eclogitic Micaschist Complex and Scalaro-Bonze Units) yield unequivocal petrological and geochronological evidence of two distinct high-pressure stages. Ages (U-Th-Pb) of growth zones in accessory allanite and zircon, combined with inclusion and textural relationships, can be tied to the multi-stage evolution of single samples. Two independent tectono-metamorphic 'slices' showing a coherent metamorphic evolution during a given time interval have been recognized: the Fondo slice (which includes Scalaro and Bonze rocks) and the Druer slice (belonging to the Eclogitic Micaschist Complex). The new data indicate separate stages of deformation at eclogite-facies conditions for each recognized independent kilometer-sized tectono-metamorphic slice, between ∼85 and 60 Ma, with evidence of intermittent decompression (ΔP ∼ 0*5 GPa) within only the Fondo slice. The evolution path of the Druer slice indicates a different P-T-time evolution with prolonged eclogite-facies metamorphism between ∼85 and 75 Ma. Our approach, combining structural, petrological and geochronological techniques, yields field-based constraints on the duration and rates of dynamics within a subduction channel.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01054335
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054335
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egu029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Moore proposes in his Comment (Moore, 2017) that marginal zones in olivine grains in kimberlites (Fig. 1a) are produced by crystallization from kimberlite melt. He suggests that the chemical zones observed in these marginal zones (inner transition zones and outer margins, illustrated in his fig. 1) result from abrupt changes in distribution coefficients during crystallization. He proposes that the transition zones, characterized by variable Fo at constant and high Ni contents, are produced by crystallization with high KdFe–Mg (= 0·45) and low DNi (= 4) whereas the margins, characterized by a sharp drop in Ni content at nearly constant Fo (Fig. 1b), are produced by crystallization with higher DNi owing to a sudden change in physical conditions of crystallization (P,...
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01685633
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685633
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egx013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Strain and strain rate partitioning in partially molten rocks are two of the important mechanisms that govern the process of coupling and/or decoupling of the partially molten lithosphere. Consequently, the proportion of partial melt and crystals and their network in partially molten rocks influence the degree of the partitioning along with the bulk rheology of the system. This study explores the possible role of finite strain and strain rate on the rate and volume of partial melting and crystallization in a metapelitic system undergoing deformation. Cylinders of synthetic quartz-muscovite aggregate (7: 3 volume ratio) were deformed in torsion at 750 C, 300 MPa and constant shear strain rate ((gamma) over dot = 3 x 10(-4) s(-1)) for finite shear strains (gamma) 1-15. The deformed samples were studied along the longitudinal tangential ( LT) and axial ( LA) sections to obtain the data along a range of strain rates for a given finite strain and vice versa. The results showed that deformation plays an important role on the kinetics of partial melting and crystallization. With increasing strain rate, amount and rate of crystallization comprise the volumetrically dominant process compared to partial melting at a given finite strain. In contrast, when the strain rate is constant, partial melting is the dominant process over crystallization up to moderate strain (gamma < 5). The dominant process reverses at higher strain, and the system shows more crystallization than partial melting. Application of the experimental data to geological systems implies that for metapelites a significant amount (similar to 20%) of partial melt can generate at high strain rate and moderate strain (gamma similar to 7), but at high strain (gamma = 15) the system is melt depleted. Under such conditions, decoupling should take place in brittle-ductile mode. On the other hand, rocks undergoing deformation with low strain rates and strain (gamma < 3) contain more than 25% partial melt, which can act as a major decoupling agent by localizing ductile shear zones.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00617714
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617714
DOI : 10.1029/2010JB007865

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Correlations between major and minor transition elements in tectonically emplaced orogenic peridotites have been ascribed to variable degrees of melt extraction and melt–rock reaction processes, leading to depletion or refertilization. To elucidate how such processes are recorded in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, we processed a large geochemical dataset for peridotites from the four tectono-metamorphic domains of the Beni Bousera orogenic massif (Rif Belt, northern Morocco). Our study reveals that variations in bulk-rock major and minor elements, Mg-number and modal mineralogy of lherzolites, as well as their clinopyroxene trace element compositions, are inconsistent with simple partial melting and mainly resulted from different reactions between melts and depleted peridotites. Up to 30% melting at < 3 GPa and cryptic metasomatism can account for the geochemical variations of most harzburgites. In Grt–Sp mylonites, melting and melt–rock reactions are masked by tectonic mixing with garnet pyroxenites and subsolidus re-equilibration. In the rest of the massif, lherzolites were mostly produced by refertilization of a refractory protolith (Mg-number ∼ 91, Ol ∼ 70%, Cpx/Opx = 0·4) via two distinct near-solidus, melt–rock reactions: (1) clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene precipitation and olivine consumption at melt/rock ratios <0·75 and variable mass ratio between crystallized minerals and infiltrated melt (R), which are recorded fairly homogeneously throughout the massif; (2) dissolution of orthopyroxene and precipitation of clinopyroxene and olivine at melt/rock ratios ≤1 and R = 0·2–0·3, which affected mainly the Ariègite–Seiland and Seiland domains. The distribution of secondary lherzolites in the massif suggests that the first refertilization reaction occurred prior to the differentiation of the Beni Bousera mantle section into petro-structural zones, whereas the second reaction was associated with the development of the tectono-metamorphic domains. Our data support a secondary, refertilization-related origin for most lherzolites in orogenic peridotite massifs.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01526901
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01526901
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egx003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
without abstract
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00413027
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413027
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.061

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

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

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : We present the results from a new grid of deep penetration multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles over the 280-km-long north-central segment of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. The 14 dip-lines and 7 strike-lines image the topographical variations of (i) the subduction interplate décollement, (ii) the top of the arcward subducting Atlantic oceanic crust (TOC) under the huge accretionary wedge up to 7 km thick, and (iii) the trenchward dipping basement of the deeply buried forearc backstop of the Caribbean upper plate. The four northernmost long dip-lines of this new MCS grid reveal several-kilometres-high topographic variations of the TOC beneath the accretionary wedge offshore Guadeloupe and Antigua islands. They are located in the prolongation of those mapped on the Atlantic seafloor entering subduction, such as the Barracuda Ridge. This MCS grid also provides unexpected evidences on huge along-strike topographical variation of the backstop basement and of the deformation style affecting the outer forearc crust and sediments. Their mapping clearly indicates two principal areas of active deformation in the prolongation of the major Barracuda and Tiburon ridges and also other forearc basement highs that correspond to the prolongation of smaller oceanic basement highs recently mapped on the Atlantic seafloor. Although different in detail, the two main deforming forearc domains share similarities in style. The imaged deformation of the sedimentary stratification reveals a time- and space-dependent faulting by successive warping and unwarping, which deformation can be readily attributed to the forearc backstop sweeping over the two obliquely-oriented elongated and localized topographical ridges. The induced faulting producing vertical scarps in this transport does not require a regional arc-parallel extensional regime as proposed for the inner forearc domain, and may support a partitioned tectonic deformation such as in the case of an outer forearc sliver. A contrasted reflectivity of the sedimentary layering at the transition between the outer forearc and accretionary domains was resolved and used to define the seaward edge of the outer forearc basement interpreted as being possibly a proxy to the updip limit of the interplate seismogenic zone. Its mapping documents along-arc variations of some tens of kilometres the subduction backstop with respect to the negative gravity anomaly commonly taken as marking the subduction trench. With the exception of the southernmost part, the newly mapped updip limit reaches 25 km closer to the trench, thus indicating a possible wider seismogenic zone over almost the whole length of the study area.
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2013-09 , Vol. 603 , P. 32-54

Droits : 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00139/25003/23109.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2013.05.028
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00139/25003/

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : The origin of the Algerian margin remains one of the key questions still discussed in the Western Mediterranean sea, due to the imprecise nature and kinematics of the associated basin during the Neogene. For the first time, the deep structure of the Maghrebian margin was explored during the SPIRAL seismic survey. In this work, we present a N-S transect off Tipaza (west of Algiers), a place where the margin broadens due to a topographic high (Khayr-al-Din Bank). New deep penetration seismic profiles allow us to image the sedimentary sequence in the Algerian basin and the crustal structure at the continent-ocean boundary. Modeling of the wide-angle data shows thinning of the basement, from more than 15km in the continental upper margin to only 5–6km of oceanic-type basement in the Algerian basin, and reveals a very narrow or absent transitional zone. Analysis of the deep structure of the margin indicates features inherited from its complex evolution: (1) an oceanic-type crust in the deep basin, (2) similarities with margins formed in a transform-type setting, (3) a progressive deepening of the whole sedimentary cover, and the thickening of the Plio-Quaternary sediments at the margin foot, coeval with (4) a downward flexure of the basement in the basin. These features argue for a multiphased evolution of the margin, including (1) an early stage of rifting and/or spreading, (2) a late transcurrent episode related to the westward migration of the Alboran domain, and (3) a diffuse Plio-Quaternary compressional reactivation of the margin.
Journal Of Geophysical Research-solid Earth (0148-0027) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2013-08 , Vol. 118 , N. 8 , P. 3899-3916

Droits : 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00152/26333/24412.pdf
DOI:10.1002/jgrb.50318
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00152/26333/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In many orogens, high-pressure (HP) metamorphic rocks such as eclogite occur as lenses in quartzofeldspathic gneiss that equilibrated at much lower pressures. The pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) history of eclogite relative to host gneiss provides information about mechanisms and timescales of exhumation of orogenic crust. The Montagne Noire of the southern Massif Central, France, is an eclogite–bearing gneiss (migmatite) dome located at the orogen-foreland transition of the Variscan belt. Results of our study show that it contains the youngest eclogite in the orogen, similar in age to migmatite and granite that crystallized under low-pressure conditions. P–T conditions for an exceptionally unaltered eclogite from the central Montagne Noire were estimated using a pseudosection supplemented by garnet–clinopyroxene and Zr-in-rutile thermometry. Results indicate peak P∼1.4 GPaP∼1.4 GPa and View the MathML sourceT∼725°C for Mg-rich garnet rim (50 mol% pyrope) + omphacite (36 mol% jadeite) + rutile + quartz. U–Pb geochronology (LA-ICP-MS) of 16 zoned zircon grains yielded ∼360 Ma (4 cores) and ∼315 Ma (12 rims and cores). Rare earth element abundances determined by LA-ICP-MS for dated zircon are consistent with crystallization of ∼315 Ma zircon under garnet-stable, plagioclase-unstable conditions that we interpret to indicate high pressure; in contrast, the ∼360 Ma zircon core corresponds to crystallization under lower pressure plagioclase-stable conditions. Based on garnet zoning and inclusion suites, rutile textures and Zr zoning, P–T results, and zircon petrochronology, we interpret the ∼315 Ma date as the age of eclogite-facies metamorphism that only slightly preceded dome formation and crystallization at 315–300 Ma. This age relation indicates that eclogite formation at high pressure and migmatite dome emplacement at low pressure were closely spaced in time. We propose that collapse-driven material transfer from the hot orogen to the cool foreland resulted in thickening of the orogen edge, leading to eclogite facies metamorphism of the deep crust. Soon after, the low-viscosity partially molten crust flowed from the plateau toward the foreland, incorporating and exhuming eclogite. The P–T–t history of the Montagne Noire eclogite shows that some dome material ascended from >40 km depth to shallow crustal levels, likely in a single decompression event, and that migmatite domes are therefore very efficient at exhuming the deep crust.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01243499
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243499
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.08.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Upon subduction, the oceanic crust transforms to blueschists and eclogites, with seismic properties that gradually become similar to those of the surrounding mantle. In order to evaluate the anisotropy of blueschists and glaucophane-bearing eclogites, the elastic constants of glaucophane single-crystal plates from the Sesia-Lanzo Zone (Aosta Valley, Western Alps) were measured using Brillouin spectroscopy at ambient conditions. The mean P- and S-wave velocities are 7.8 and 4.6 km s−1 respectively, and the anisotropy is high (38.1% (AVP) and 27.3% (AVS)). Glaucophane develops strong LPO, characterized by the [001]-axes concentrated sub-parallel to the lineation, and the {110} poles concentrated sub-perpendicular to the foliation in both blueschist and eclogite rocks. The measured LPO is in good agreement with viscoplastic selfconsistent numerical models. Seismic properties of glaucophane-bearing blueschist and eclogite are calculated by combining measured LPO and the single-crystal elastic moduli of glaucophane with the other main mineral constituents of the rock: mostly epidote for blueschist, and omphacite and garnet for eclogite. Blueschists present stronger anisotropies (AVP=16.1% and AVS=10.3%) than eclogites (AVP=2.9% and AVS=1.7%). The shear-wave splitting and resulting delay times for a 7-km thick layer of eclogite or blueschist are low for the eclogite (b0.03 s), but signi!cant for blueschist (0.16 s). Application to the subducted oceanic crust yields a decrease of velocity contrast with the surrounding mantle and of anisotropy at depth depending on the temperature of the slab. The details of the velocity variations in subducted oceanic crust are dif!cult to reconcile with the blueschist-eclogite transition as probed by exhumed metamorphic rocks and may require additional phases such as lawsonite or chemical variations such as oxidation state.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00564518
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00564518
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2010.09.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Association for the Advancement of Science
Résumé : 6 pages
International audience
Large impacts provide a mechanism for resurfacing planets through mixing near-surface rocks with deeper material. Central peaks are formed from the dynamic uplift of rocks during crater formation. As crater size increases, central peaks transition to peak rings. Without samples, debate surrounds the mechanics of peak-ring formation and their depth of origin. Chicxulub is the only known impact structure on Earth with an unequivocal peak ring, but it is buried and only accessible through drilling. Expedition 364 sampled the Chicxulub peak ring, which we found was formed from uplifted, fractured, shocked, felsic basement rocks. The peak-ring rocks are cross-cut by dikes and shear zones and have an unusually low density and seismic velocity. Large impacts therefore generate vertical fluxes and increase porosity in planetary crust.
ISSN: 0036-8075

hal-01399386
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01399386
PUBMED : 27856906
DOI : 10.1126/science.aah6561

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Microstructures, U-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages and temperature estimates were used to constrain the fabric evolution and timing of mylonitisation in the Patos shear zone (NE Brazil). Melt-bearing HT-mylonitic orthogneiss displays solid-state fabrics with coarse quartz ribbons and sutured grain boundaries. K-feldspar is often fractured and shows peripheral myrmekite. The textures typically become magmatic at the contacts with the Espinho Branco anatexite. Zircon crystals from two samples of the leucosome show Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.2 Ga) inherited cores that are enveloped by recrystallised Neoproterozoic rims. These zircon grains define a discordia with lower intercept ages of 558 and 562 Ma but with large analytical errors. A leucogranite with transitional contacts with host diatexites provides a well-constrained zircon mean age of 566 ± 6 Ma (n = 15, 95% conf.), which is considered the best estimate for the peak metamorphic conditions. The transition from HT-mylonites to fine-grained mylonites and ultramylonites is marked by a progressive grain size reduction assisted by recrystallisation. Quartz crystallographic fabrics display [0 0 0 1] concentrations between Z and Y. K-feldspar and plagioclase fabrics record the activity of the (0 1 0)[0 0 1] and (0 1 0)[1 0 0] slip systems and, in the lower-temperature tectonites, the (1 0 0)[0 1 0] slip system. These results suggest a diachronic evolution in which an initial HT northern domain was deformed by intracrystalline slip and melt-assisted granular flow, followed by medium- to low-temperature solid-state creep in the southern shear zone domain. The mylonites therefore record the rheological heterogeneities responsible for the formation of a late continental shear zone that nucleated under partially molten conditions and was later reactivated through melt-absent strain localization following exhumation.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01053497
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053497
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2013.12.020

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : The Erro-Tobbio peridotites (Voltri Massif, Ligurian Alps) represent subcontinental lithospheric mantle tectonically exhumed during Permo-Mesozoic extension of the Europe-Adria lithosphere. Previous studies have shown that exhumation started during Permian times, and occurred along kilometer-scale lithospheric shear zones which enhanced progressive deformation and recrystallization from spinel- to plagioclase-facies conditions. Ongoing field and petrologic investigations have revealed that the peridotites experienced, during uplift, a composite history of diffuse melt migration and multiple episodes of ultramafic-mafic intrusions. In this paper we present the results of field, structural and petrologic-geochemical investigations into a sector of the Erro-Tobbio peridotite unit that preserves well this multiple intrusion history. Melt impregnation in the peridotites is evidenced by significant plagioclase enrichment and crystallization of unstrained orthopyroxene replacing kinked mantle olivine and clinopyroxene; impregnating melts were thus opx-saturated. Melt-rock interaction caused chemical changes in mantle minerals (e.g. Al decrease and REE increase in cpx; Ti and Cr# enrichment in spinel). Nevertheless, clinopyroxenes still exhibit LREE depletion (Ce;N;/Sm;N; = 0.006-0.011), indicating a depleted signature for the percolating melts. Melt impregnation was thus related to diffuse porous flow migration of depleted MORB-type melt fractions that modified their compositions towards opx saturation by mantle-melt interaction during ascent. The impregnated peridotites are intruded by a hectometer-scale stratified cumulate body, mostly consisting of troctolites and plagioclase wehrlites, showing gradational, interfingered contacts with the host mantle rocks. Subsequent intrusion events are revealed by the occurrence of olivine gabbros as decameter-wide lenses, variably thick (centimeter- to meter-scale) dykes and thin dykelets, which crosscut both the peridotite foliation and the magmatic layering in the cumulates. Overall, major and trace element compositions of minerals in the intrusives indicate that they represent variably differentiated cumulus products crystallized from rather primitive N-MORB-type aggregated melts. Slightly more evolved compositions are shown by olivine gabbros, relative to the troctolites and plagioclase wehrlites of the cumulate body. Mineral chemistry features (e.g. the Fo-An correlation and high Na, Ti, Mg# in cpx) indicate that the studied intrusive rocks crystallized at moderate pressure conditions (3-5 kbar, i.e. 9-15 km depth). Our study thus points to a progressive transition from porous flow melt migration to emplacement of magmas in fractures, presumably related to progressive change of lithospheric mantle rheology during extension-related uplift and cooling.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00407669
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407669
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2006.06.014