Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica
Résumé : Interaction between surface processes and deep tectonic processes plays a key role in the structural evolution, kinematics and exhumation of rocks in orogenic wedges. The deformation patterns observed in analogue models applied to natural cases of present active or ancient mountain belts reflect several first order processes that result of these interactions. Internal strain partitioning due to mechanical behaviour of a thrust wedge has a strong impact on the vertical component of displacement of tectonic units that in return favour erosion in domains of important uplift. Such strain partitioning is first controlled by tectonic processes, but surface processes exert a strong feed back on wedge dynamics. Indeed, material transfer in thrust wedges not only depends on its internal dynamics, it is also influenced by climate controlled surface processes involving erosion and sedimentation. Effects of erosion are multiple: they allow long term localization of deformed domains, they favour important exhumation above areas of deep underplating and combined with sedimentation in the foreland they contribute to maintain the wedge in a critical state for long time periods. The simple models illustrate well how mountain belts structure, kinematics of tectonic units and exhumation are determined by these complex interactions.
ISSN: 0016-8521

hal-00561361
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00561361
DOI : 10.1134/S0016852110060075

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : The mechanical equilibrium of an orogenic wedge is maintained thanks to interactions between tectonic processes and surface processes. To better constrain the influence of erosion and sedimentation on the evolution of orogens, we performed a series of analogue models based on the tapered wedge principle, varying the amounts of erosion and sedimentation. The models develop by frontal accretion in the foreland basin and by simple underthrusting and subsequent underplating in the hinterland. The variations in rates of erosion and sedimentation strongly modify the extent, the morphology, the structures, the timing of development and the material paths in the different models. Under certain conditions, entire structural units can be formed and subsequently eroded out of the geological record, leading to important underestimations when restoring sections. Particles located in the converging lower-plate or in the upper-plate show complex uplift paths related to tectonic stages. The correlation between models and three Alpine tectonic cross-sections emphasizes the role of erosion and sedimentation on the dynamics and development of the orogen and adjacent Molasse basin. Along strike changes in the present structure of the orogen could be explained in part by differences in surface processes.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00411140
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411140
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.3.297

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : orogenic wedges
Interaction between surface and tectonic processes plays a key role in the structural evolution, kinematics, and exhumation of rocks in orogenic wedges. The deformation patterns observed in analog models show that strain partitioning has a strong impact on the vertical component of displacement of tectonic units, which in return favors erosion in domains of important uplift. Partitioning is controlled by tectonic processes and by climate-dependent surface processes, including erosion and sedimentation. The effects of partitioning include localization of deformed domains, exhumation above areas of deep underplating, and steady-state maintenance of wedges for long time periods. Simple models illustrate well how the morphostructural evolution of mountain belts is determined by these complex interactions.
ISSN: 1052-5173

hal-00558931
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00558931
DOI : 10.1130/GSATG48A.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : TECTO LITHO
On the basis of a section across the northwestern Alpine wedge and foreland basin, analogue modeling is used to investigate the impact of surface processes on the orogenic evolution. The basis model takes into account both structural and lithological heritages of the wedge. During shortening, erosion and sedimentation are performed to maintain a critical wedge. Frontal accretion leads to the development of a foreland thrust belt; underplating leads to the formation of an antiformal nappe stack in the internal zones. Important volumes of analogue materials are eroded out of the geological record, which in the case of the Alps suggests that the original lengths and volumes may be underestimated. The foreland basin evolves differently depending on the amounts of erosion/sedimentation. Its evolution and internal structuring is governed by the wedge mechanics, thought to be the main controlling mechanism in the development of the Molasse basin in a feedback interaction with surface processes.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00404424
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00404424
DOI : 10.1029/2006TC002048

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In southeastern Taiwan a slice of forearc basement belonging to the Philippine Sea Plate upper-plate is suspected to subduct under the Luzon arc as a consequence of the transition from oceanic to incipient continental subduction. Effects on the morphology, deformation, geometry of structures and tectonic evolution of the orogenic wedge in the collision area are numerous. This study examines the impact of foreare lithosphere subduction on forearc basin and accretionary wedge deformation. A morpho-structural analysis of the geological features observed onland and offshore allows describing in detail the complex deformation suffered by the area. A combined approach by analogue modeling is applied to better understand the phenomenon. Comparison between nature and experimental results shows that subduction of a forearc basement slice induces intense shortening and concomitant deformation in the foreare domain. Such process involves deformation of the foreare basin previously developed in a setting of oceanic subduction. Sediments of the forearc basin are involved in the growth of a new thrust ridge backthrusted against the basement slope of the volcanic arc edifice. Sediments coming from the growing orogenic wedge are trapped in the trough developed between its backpart and the topographic high of the new rising ridge. A syn-collisional orogenic basin develops which structural evolution characterizes the progressive shortening of the forearc domain. Most of the deformation and tectonic events recorded offshore or onland in the complex area south of Taiwan can be explained using results of our specific modeling which well describe the tectonic processes associated with continental subduction under a volcanic are.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00420080
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420080
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2007.11.016

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : High Pressure - Low Temperature (HP-LT) rocks testify for burying and exhumation of crustal material in subduction zones. Their complete exhumation is the result of processes acting during (syn-orogenic) and after (post-orogenic) subduction is active, the latter partly obliterating the first. In the Aegean domain, the Attic-Cycladic Blueschist unit (ACBU) is a HP-LT unit exhumed in metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) in the back-arc domain of the Hellenic subduction zone. This study is an attempt to distinguish features related to syn-orogenic exhumation processes responsible for the first stages of exhumation This syn-orogenic "message" has to be read through the post-convergence structural and thermal overprint that accompanied the formation of the MCCs. Particularly, the geometry, the timing and the amount of the syn-orogenic exhumation has to be determined. We investigate these features with coupled field, metamorphic petrology and radiochronology studies First, based on observations on Ios (southern Cyclades), it has recently been proposed that syn-orogenic exhumation of the ACBU was accommodated by a basal thrust over the Cycladic Basement (CB) [Huet, et al., 2009]. The peak conditions, deduced from pseudosections calculation for the Ios main lithologies, are 500 °C-19 kbar for the ACBU and 550 °C-16 kbar for the CB. Exhumation until 400 °C-8 kbar is considered as syn-orogenic. Second, phengites populations, single grains and in situ 40Ar-39Ar geochronology has been carried out on samples from Tinos and Andros (northern Cyclades), Syros (central Cyclades) and Ios. The results gather in several clusters: 50-55 Ma, 40-45 Ma, 30-35 Ma, and 22-26 Ma. Based on these new P-T-t data and a synthesis of published data, we are able to refine the geometry and the timing of the exhumation of the ACBU. Data from the whole Cyclades exhibit little differences in ages and P-T conditions for the successive stages of exhumation. The peak of pressure (500±50 °C-18±1 kbar) has been reached at 50-55 Ma from Tinos to Ios. The onset of the exhumation occurred at 40-45 Ma in blueschist facies conditions, between a thrust at their bottom and a detachment at their top. The following decompression was accompanied by cooling until 30-35 Ma (400±50 °C-8±1 kbar). At that time, the boundary conditions switched to extension. Finally, we propose a model for the exhumation of HP-LT units accounting for these data. We also consider the rheological implications of the syn-orogenic structuration of the Aegean wedge on the post-orogenic evolution. B. Huet, L. Labrousse, and L. Jolivet [2009] Thrust or detachment? Exhumation processes in the Aegean: Insight from a field study on Ios (Cyclades, Greece), Tectonics, 28, 3, doi:10.1029/2008TC002397.
EGU General Assembly
Vienne, Austria

insu-00839054
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00839054
BIBCODE : 2010EGUGA..1214098H

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Orogenic wedges locally present chaotic tectonostratigraphic units that contain exotic blocks of various size, origin, age and lithology, embedded in a sedimentary matrix. The occurrence of ophiolitic blocks, sometimes huge, in such “mélanges” raises questions on (i) the mechanisms responsible for the incorporation of oceanic basement rocks into an accretionary wedge and (ii) the mechanisms allowing exhumation and redeposition of these exotic elements in “mélanges” during wedge growth.To address these questions, we present the results of a series of analogue experiments performed to characterize the processes and parameters responsible for accretion, exhumation and tectonosedimentary reworking of oceanic basement lithospheric fragments in an accretionary wedge.The experimental setup is designed to simulate the interaction between tectonics, erosion and sedimentation. Different configurations are applied to study the impact of various parameters, such as irregular oceanic floor due to structural inheritance, or the presence of layers with contrasted rheology that can affect deformation partitioning in the wedge (frontal accretion vs basal accretion) influencing its growth. Image correlation technique allows extracting instantaneous velocity field, and tracking of passive particles. By retrieving the particle paths determined from models, the pressure-temperature path of mélange units or elementary blocks can be discussed. The experimental results are then compared with observations from ophiolite-bearing mélanges in Taiwan (Lichi and Kenting mélanges) and Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) Thermometry data on rocks from the northern Apennines (Casanova mélange). A geological scenario is proposed following basic observations. The tectonic evolution of the retroside of doubly vergent accretionary wedges is mainly controlled by backthrusting and backfolding. The retro wedge is characterized by steep slopes that are prone to gravitational instabilities. It triggers submarine landslides inducing huge mass transfers. This erosion combined with backthrusting could favour exhumation of the ophiolitic fragments formerly accreted at the base of the wedge along the rough seafloor-sediments interface. Such an exhumed material can be reworked and deposited as debris- flows in proximal basins located at the foot of the retrowedge slope forming a tectono-sedimentary mélange. These syntectonic basins are continuously deformed and involved in prograding backthrusting-induced deformation.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-01395127
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395127
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2016.05.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Structural, metamorphic, and geochronologic work shows that the Ampelos/Dilek nappe of the Cycladic blueschist unit in the eastern Aegean constitutes a wedge of high-pressure rocks extruded during early stages of orogeny. The extrusion wedge formed during the incipient collision of the Anatolian microcontinent with Eurasia when subduction and deep underthrusting ceased and the Ampelos/Dilek nappe was thrust southward over the greenschist-facies Menderes nappes along its lower tectonic contact, the Cycladic-Menderes thrust, effectively cutting out a ∼30- to 40-km-thick section of crust. The upper contact of the Ampelos/Dilek extrusion wedge is the top-to-the-NE Selçuk normal shear zone, along which the Ampelos/Dilek nappe was exhumed by ∼30–40 km. Detailed Rb-Sr and 40Ar/39Ar dating of mylonites demonstrates that both shear zones operated between 42 and 32 Ma. There is no evidence for episodic motion during the ∼10 Myr life span of the shear zones, suggesting that both shear zones operated in a steady, nonepisodic fashion. Our data provide supporting evidence that simultaneous thrust-type and normal sense shearing can accomplish the early exhumation of deep-seated rocks
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00405013
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00405013
DOI : 10.1029/2005TC001872

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In Western Mediterranean, the Rif belt in Morocco is part of the Gibraltar Arc built during the Tertiary in the framework of Eurasia-Africa convergence. The structural and metamorphic evolution of the internal units of this belt as well as their timing, crucial to constrain the geodynamic evolution of the Alboran Sea, is still largely debated.Our study on the Ceuta Peninsula (Northern Rif) provides new structural, petrological and geochronological data (U-Th-Pb, Ar-Ar), which allow to precise the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Lower Sebtides metamorphic units with:(1) a syn-metamorphic thrusting event developed under granulite facies conditions (7–10 kbar and 780–820 °C). A major thrust zone, the Ceuta Shear Zone, drove the emplacement of metapelites and peridotitic lenses from the Ceuta Upper Unit over the orthogneisses of the Monte Hacho Lower Unit. This compressional event ended during the Upper Oligocene.(2) an extensional event developed at the boundary between amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions (400–550 °C and 1–3 kbar). During this event, the Ceuta Shear Zone has been reactivated as a normal fault. Normal ductile shear zones contributed to the final exhumation of the metamorphic units during the Early Miocene.We propose that the compressional event is related to the formation of an orogenic wedge located in the upper plate, in a backward position, of the subduction zone driving the geodynamic evolution of the Alboran domain. In this context, the episode of lithospheric thinning could be related to the opening of the Alboran basin in a back-arc position.Furthermore, unlike the previous models proposed for the Rif belt, the tectonic coupling between mantle peridotites and crustal metamorphic rocks occurred in Ceuta Peninsula at a depth of 20–30 km under high temperature conditions, before the extensional event, and thus cannot be related to the back-arc extension.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01682810
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01682810
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.11.028

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We provide new insights into the geochemistry of serpentinites from the Alpine orogenic wedge representing a paleo-subduction zone. These serpentinites are derived from similar oceanic protoliths, but they have experienced different metamorphic conditions related to three different structural levels of the paleo-subduction zone ((1) obducted: Chenaillet ophiolite, (2) accretionary wedge: Queyras Schistes lustrés complex and (3) serpentinite channel: Monviso ophiolite). Metamorphism undergone by these three units is well defined, increasing eastward from sub-greenschist to eclogite facies conditions, and allows us to examine trace element behavior from the oceanic ridge environment to subduction. Serpentinites first record moderate trace element enrichment due to seawater interaction resulting in the replacement of olivine and pyroxene by chrysotile and lizardite below 300 °C. In the sediment-dominated accretionary wedge, serpentinites are strongly enriched in fluid-mobile-elements (B, Li, As, Sb, and Cs) and act as a trapping system following the metamorphic gradient (from 300 to 390 °C) up to total replacement of the lizardite/chrysotile assemblage by antigorite. Under higher temperature conditions (T > 390 °C), no enrichment was observed, and some fluid-mobile elements were released (B, Li, Cs, and Sr). Moreover, in the serpentinite channel (T > 460 °C), most of the fluid-mobile elements are absent due to the scarcity of metasediments which prevent geochemical exchange between metasediments and serpentinites. This is also due to the onset of antigorite breakdown and the release of fluid-mobile elements. Thus, we emphasize that the geochemistry of Alpine serpentinites is strongly dependent on (1) the grade of metamorphism and (2) the ability of metasediments to supply fluid-mobile elements. We conclude that serpentinites act as a trap-and-release system for fluid-mobile elements in a subduction context.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00996839
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00996839
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.02.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In this contribution we present a reconstruction of the overall lithotectonic architecture, from inner zones to external ones, of the Paleoproterozoic Trans North China Orogen, within the North China Craton. Moreover, forward thermobarometrical modeling on a kyanite-bearing gneiss yields a reliable prograde P-T-t-D path. In addition, 40Ar/39Ar dating on rocks from distinct litho-tectonic units helps us to distinguish several tectono-metamorphic events during the orogenic development. Considering these results, we propose a geodynamic model involving three cratonic blocks, namely the Western, Fuping and Eastern Blocks, separated by two oceans, the Lüliang and Taihang Oceans. The opening of oceanic basins occurred around 2.2-2.3 Ga. After the westward subductions of oceanic lithosphere, the Trans-North-China Orogen was built up through a polyphase tectonic evolution within the period 1900-1800 Ma. The first event (D1) corresponded to the emplacement of lower and upper nappes herein called the Orthogneiss-and-Volcanites Unit (OVU) and the Low-Grade-and-Mafic Unit (LGMU), respectively. The syn-metamorphic D1 deformation (1880 ± 10 Ma) is characterized by a NW-SE stretching and mineral lineation with a top-to-the SE sense of shear. During ongoing compression of the thickening orogenic crust, a second deformation event D2 (1850 ± 10 Ma) was responsible for (1) syn-anatectic lateral flow and exhumation of the orogenic root and (2) folding of the middle and upper parts of the orogenic wedge that consequently acquired a fan-type geometry. The late D3 (1830 ± 10 Ma) and D4 (1810 ± 10 Ma) events are related to late-orogenic normal and strike-slip shearing, respectively. In our present state of knowledge, the Paleoproterozoic Trans-North China Orogen might be regarded as the assemblage of two continent-continent collisional belts, both of which are characterized by nappe stacking accommodated by top-to-the E/SE ductile shearing. Continental subduction, crustal thickening, partial melting of overthickened crust, exhumation of HP rocks and deposition of syn-orogenic detrital basins are typical features of modern collisional-type orogens.
ISSN: 0301-9268

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
insu-00628119
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00628119
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00628119/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00628119/file/Trap-PrecambrianResearch-2011.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2011.09.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Experimental modelling applied to the study of orogenic wedge dynamics has been a subject of fruitful research for more than 30 years, although the technique dates back as far as the early XIXth century. On one hand, several first order parameters controlling the structural evolution of mountain belts have been intensively investigated using the classic tectonic "sandbox" models. The main parameters are the properties of the basal décollement, the deforming material, the backstop, and fluxes, kinematics and surface processes. On the other hand, the morphological evolution of a mountain relief subjected to changing tectonic or climatic forcing has been addressed using another kind of approach called "geomorphic" models. Nowadays, the literature is extremely rich, particularly for the sandbox technique, so that it becomes difficult to have an exhaustive view of the effects of the above parameters on mountain evolution. In this article, we propose a detailed review of the main results obtained using both "tectonic" and "geomorphic" approaches. Our goal is to provide an almost complete state-of-the-art in the experimental study of relief dynamics to guide present and future researchers in their understanding of mountain belt evolution.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00757713
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00757713
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.01.027

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society
Résumé : International audience
Deformation mechanisms, long-term kinematics and evolution of fold and thrust belts subjected to erosion are studied through 2D analogue experiments involving large convergence. First-order parameters tested include (1) décollements and/or plastic layers interbedded at different locations within analogue materials and (2) synconvergence surface erosion. Weak layers, depending on their location in the model, favour deformation partitioning characterized by the simultaneous development of underplating domains in the inner part of the wedge (basal accretion) and frontal accretion where the wedge grows forward. Interaction between tectonics and surface processes influences this behaviour. Development of antiformal thrust stacks controlled by underplating shows small- and large-scale cyclicity. Thin plastic layers induce folding processes, which are studied at wedge scale. Recumbent and overturned folds, with large inverted limbs, develop in a shear-induced asymmetric deformation regime via progressive unrolling of synclinal hinges. Surface erosion and underplating at depth induce further rotation (passive tilting) and horizontalization of fold limbs. Model results give insights to discuss the mechanisms responsible for the large-scale structures (i.e. antiformal nappe stacks, klippen and kilometre-scale recumbent fold-nappes) encountered in several mountain belts such as the Montagne Noire (French Massif Central), the Galicia Variscan belt (Spain) and the northern Apennines (Italy).
ISSN: 0016-7649

hal-00937644
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00937644
DOI : 10.1144/jgs2013-012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The Ama Drime range located at the transition between the high Himalayan range and south Tibet is a N-S active horst that offsets the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS). Within the horst, a paragneissic unit, possibly attributed to the upper Himalayan crystalline series, overly the lower Himalayan crystalline series Ama Drime orthogneissic unit containing large metabasite layers and pods that have experienced pressure >= 1.4 GPa. Combining structural analysis with new and published pressure-temperature (P-T) estimates as well as U-Th/Pb, Ar-39/Ar-40 and (U-Th)/He ages, the P-T-deformation-time (P-T-D-t) paths of the main units within and on both sides of the horst are reconstructed. They imply that N-S normal faults initiated prior to 11 Ma and have accounted for a total exhumation <= 0.6 GPa (22 km) that probably occurred in two phases: the first one until similar to 9 Ma and the second one since 6 to 4 Ma at a rate of similar to 1 mm/yr. In the Ama Drime unit, 1 to 1.3 GPa (37 to 48 km) of exhumation occurred after partial melting since similar to 30 Ma until similar to 13 Ma, above the Main Central Trust (MCT) and below the STDS when these two fault systems were active together. The switch from E-W (STDS) to N-S (Ama Drime horst) normal faulting between 13 and 12 Ma occurs at the time of propagation of thrusting from the MCT to the Main Boundary Thrust. These data are in favor of a wedge extrusion or thrust system rather than a crustal flow model for the building of the Himalaya. We propose that the kinematics of south Tibet Cenozoic extension phases is fundamentally driven by the direction and rate of India underthrusting.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00486405
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486405
DOI : 10.1029/2009TC002551

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This study provides new Ar-40/Ar-39 geochronological constraints on the age of the Alpine tectonics in the Aspromonte Massif (southern part of the Calabrian-Peloritan belt). This massif exposes the upper units of the Calabride Complex which originated from the European continental margin. The Calabride Complex was incorporated in the Alpine orogenic wedge and then integrated into the Apennines and Maghrebides fold- and-thrust belts. Throughout the Calabride Complex there is evidence for a two stage tectonic history, which remains however rather poorly dated: Alpine nappe stacking is followed by extensional reworking along the former thrust contacts or along new detachment surfaces. Our new ages suggest that exhumation of the uppermost units, which accompanied nappe stacking, probably started at 45 Ma and that the deepest units were almost completely exhumed at 33 Ma. This kinematics probably corresponds to syn-orogenic extension while the end of exhumation is clearly related to the extensional tectonics dated at 28.6 Ma along detachment structures.;Our geochronological data reveal a very short lag time between accretional and extensional processes in this part of the Mediterranean Alpine orogenic belt. The direction of extension, when the units are restored to their initial position (i.e. before the opening of the Western Mediterranean basins and the bending of the arc) is NNE-SSW. Such a direction does not fit with the eastward slab-retreat model generally put forward to explain extension in the Western Mediterranean. In contrast, we provide evidence for roughly N-S middle Oligocene extension in the accretionary prism, not previously described in this part of the Mediterranean domain.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00475649
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475649
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2009.10.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
This study investigates three-dimensional flow modes of orogenic plateaus by means of physical modeling. Experiments consist of shortening two contiguous lithospheres of contrasting strength, one being a weak plateau-type lithosphere and the other a strong craton-type lithosphere. The lateral boundaries are either totally confined or allow escape toward a lateral foreland on one side. Two synconvergence flow regimes are distinguished, which are governed by the balance between the gravity potential and the strength of the plateau crust and the resistance of its lateral foreland. The first regime implies transversal (orogen-normal) injection of plateau lower crust into the collision zone as a result of confinement of the plateau by an increasingly stiffer lateral boundary. As a precursor mechanism to channel flow, transversal injection responds to downward thickening of the plateau crust that is forcedly extruded into the orogenic wedge. The second regime is that of collapse-driven lateral escape of the plateau. This regime is established after a threshold is attained in the interplate coupling in the collision zone, which allows the gravity potential of the plateau to overcome the resistance of its lateral boundary. Under the collapse-driven escape regime (orogen parallel), such as that governing Tibet during the last 13 Ma, most of the convergence in the plateau and the top and rear of the collisional wedge is transformed into lateral flow and extension.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01229107
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01229107
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01229107/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01229107/file/2015JB012110_revised.pdf
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01229107/file/SupplementaryMaterial_final.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In oblique collision settings, parallel and perpendicular components of the relative plate motion can be partitioned into different structures of deformation and may be localized close to the plate boundary, or distributed on a wider region. In the Southern Alps of New Zealand, it has been proposed that one-third of the regional convergence is distributed in a broad area along the Southern Alps orogenic wedge. To better document and understand the regional dynamics of such systems, reliable markers of the horizontal tectonic motion over geological time scales are needed. River networks are able to record a large amount of distributed strain and they can thus be used to reconstruct the mode and rate of distribution away from major active structures. To explore the controls on river resilience to deformation, we develop an experimental model to investigate river pattern evolution over a doubly-vergent orogenic wedge growing in a context of oblique convergence. We use a rainfall system to activate erosion, sediment transport and river development on the model surface. At the end of the experiment, the drainage network is statistically rotated clockwise, confirming that rivers can record the distribution of motion along the wedge. Image analysis of channel time-space evolution shows how the fault-parallel and fault-perpendicular components of motion decrease toward the fault and impose rotation to the main trunk valleys. However, rivers do not record the whole imposed rotation rate, which suggest that the natural lateral channel dynamics can alter the capacity of rivers to act as passive markers of deformation.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01467564
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467564
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.04.016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The Alps/Apennines system, as well as many collisional orogens through the world, shows a finite deformation produced during a long geological history which involves numerous superimposed tectonic events. As a result, complex and often contrasted reconstructions for the setting and tectonics of the different stages of the growing and interfering Alps/Apennines system have been proposed. To enlight some of the geometric and kinematic signatures related to past geodynamics in the composite Alps(Corsica)/Apennines system, we analyse the major deformation processes, their superimposition, and resulting finite structural geometries in the currently growing Taiwan orogenic system. The Taiwan island and its offshore northward and southward prolongations represent the emerged and the sub-marine parts of an orogenic wedge related to the interactions between the Eurasian and the Philippine Sea and recording different subduction settings. Using the Taiwan actualistic geodynamic scenarios and the related first-order geometric-kinematic constraints, we will attempt a reconstruction of the tectonic evolution for the Corsica/Apennines orogenic system foregrounding the key role of continental subduction and subduction reversal during such evolution.
ISSN: 1437-3254

hal-00617149
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617149
DOI : 10.1007/s00531-010-0598-y

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Mélange rocks outcrop widely in the central and western frontal sectors of the Betic Cordillera, as in many other collisional orogens where they form part of the accretionary wedges. Extrusion of Triassic plastic clays and evaporites was favored by the progressive accretion of the Betic External Zones, mixing rocks of different provenance and forming a synorogenic frontal mélange unit. MT data coupled with gravity data are a valid combined methodology to characterize the geometry of these mélange units, since the characterization of plastic rocks geometry is usually uncertain using seismic techniques. The results correlate well with known geological features (sedimentary basins, calcareous ranges, evaporitic rocks) and reveal the deep geometry. A resistive body, slightly dipping toward the SE, points to the continuity of the Iberian Massif below the Guadalquivir basin (2°) and the External Zones (6-8°). To the south, gravity models show the Iberian continental crust subducting below the Internal Zones with a roughly 20-35° slope. The main conductive bodies are related to the location of evaporitic rocks involved in the frontal mélange. They overlie the Iberian Massif and, southwards, the frontal Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone sequences of the External and Median Subbetics. In this setting, thick plastic rock units placed above the foreland could act as a lubricant facilitating continental subduction, and being progressively accreted toward a frontal mélange.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00750364
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750364
DOI : 10.1029/2012GC004153