Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
We present a new 3-D GPS velocity solution for 182 sites for the region encompassing the Western Alps, Pyrenees, and southern France. The velocity field is based on a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) solution, to which we apply a common-mode filter, defined by the 26 longest time series, in order to correct for network-wide biases (reference frame, unmodeled large-scale processes, etc.). We show that processing parameters, such as troposphere delay modeling, can lead to systematic velocity variations of 0.1–0.5 mm yr−1 affecting both accuracy and precision, especially for short (< 5 years) time series. A velocity convergence analysis shows that minimum time-series lengths of  ∼  3 and  ∼  5.5 years are required to reach a velocity stability of 0.5 mm yr−1 in the horizontal and vertical components, respectively. On average, horizontal residual velocities show a stability of  ∼  0.2 mm yr−1 in the Western Alps, Pyrenees, and southern France. The only significant horizontal strain rate signal is in the western Pyrenees with up to 4  ×  10−9 yr−1 NNE–SSW extension, whereas no significant strain rates are detected in the Western Alps (< 1  ×  10−9 yr−1). In contrast, we identify significant uplift rates up to 2 mm yr−1 in the Western Alps but not in the Pyrenees (0.1 ± 0.2 mm yr−1). A correlation between site elevations and fast uplift rates in the northern part of the Western Alps, in the region of the Würmian ice cap, suggests that part of this uplift is induced by postglacial rebound. The very slow uplift rates in the southern Western Alps and in the Pyrenees could be accounted for by erosion-induced rebound.
ISSN: 1869-9529

hal-01395116
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395116
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395116/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395116/file/nguyen2016.pdf
DOI : 10.5194/se-7-1349-2016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : When the upper crust below the mountain ranges shows crustal extension with a direction collinear to the convergence direction, it is generally accepted that it is the result of gravitational collapse. However, recent studies challenge this paradigm by showing that erosion induces uplift and extension in the central part of the low convergent mountain ranges. In this study, we investigate the impact of denudation on the seismotectonic regime of mountain ranges.In order to identify a relationship between seismotectonic regime and erosion, the first part of this work presents a compilation of data in the mountain ranges. Based on these observations, a simple kinematic model is proposed to predict the seismotectonic regime of the study ranges.For low convergence rate and moderate mean elevation ranges, this model predicts an extension regime when the denudation rate is 15% higher than the convergence rate.The second part is devoted to the development of thermomechanical 2D finite element models to study the impact of surface processes on the deformation of the Pyrenees. The results show that the isostatic response to erosion reactivates pre-existing structures. The kinematics of an inherited fault plane can be predicted due to the gradient of the horizontal surface velocity profile. Thus, a plane located in the eroded zone is reactivated in normal fault when near the border of the erosion area, this same plane is reactivated in reverse fault. These results suggest that the current deformation in the North Pyrenean Zone could be the result of surface processes.Given the small number of studies quantifying erosion rates in the Pyrenees, the models developed in the second part suffer from high uncertainty. To remedy this, we study the central Pyrenees through a study that combines two types of data : watershed denudation rates from cosmogenic isotopes concentration, and incision rates from sediments buried in the karst. These results are presented in chapter 3. Denudation profiles obtained are consistent with reactivation of a normal fault plane located in the North Zone of the Central Pyrenees.From our study in the Pyrenees, a good correlation appears between the value of the rate of erosion and the glacier occupation. Given that the glaciers where more developed in the Alps, it raises the question of the impact of the late-würmian deglaciation on the present deformation of this range. A numerical model detailing this relationship is presented in the fourth chapter. Theresults show that deglaciation of the western Alps is controlled by the rheological heterogeneity of the crust. Some of our models predict uplift rates consistent with those highlighted by geodesy.
Lorsque l’extension de la croûte sous les parties hautes des chaînes de montagnes est colinéaire à la direction de convergence, il est traditionnellement admis que le moteur est l’effondrement gravitaire. Pourtant, des études récentes remettent en cause ce paradigme en montrant que l’érosion induit un soulèvement et de l’extension dans la partie centrale des chaînes de montagne à faible taux de convergence. L’objectif de notre étude est d’étudier l’impact de la dénudation de la topographie sur le régime sismo-tectonique des chaînes de montagnes.La première partie de ce travail présente une compilation de données dans les chaînes de montagnes afin de dégager des relations entre régime sismo-tectonique et érosion. Sur la base de ces observations, un modèle cinématique simple permettant de prévoir le régime de la chaîne est proposé. Ainsi, pour les chaînes à faible taux de convergence et d’élévation moyenne, ce modèleprédit de l’extension lorsque le taux de dénudation est 15% plus élevé que le taux de convergence.La deuxième partie est consacrée au développement d’un modèle thermo-mécanique 2D en éléments finis pour étudier l’impact des processus de surface sur la déformation des Pyrénées.Les résultats montrent que la réponse isostatique à l’érosion permet de réactiver des structurespré-existantes. La cinématique d’un plan de faille hérité peut être prédite grâce au gradient du profil des vitesses de surface horizontales. Ainsi, un plan situé dans la zone d’érosion est réactivé en faille normale alors qu’en bordure de cette zone une faille est réactivée en régime inverse. Ces résultats suggèrent que la déformation actuelle des Pyrénées pourrait être la conséquence d’unprocessus d’érosion.Compte tenu du faible nombre d’études quantifiant les taux d’érosion dans les Pyrénées, les modèles développés dans la deuxième partie souffrent d’une forte incertitude. Pour y remédier, nous avons cherché à les quantifier dans les Pyrénées Centrales grâce à une étude qui combine deux types de données : taux de dénudation des bassins versants à partir des isotopes cosmogéniques, et vitesses d’incision à partir des sédiments piégés dans les karsts. Ces résultats sontprésentés dans la troisième partie. Les profils de dénudation obtenus sont compatibles avec unrejeu en faille normale d’un plan situé dans la Zone Nord Pyrénéenne des Pyrénées Centrales.Notre étude dans les Pyrénées, montre une bonne corrélation entre la valeur du taux d’érosion et la cartographie de l’occupation glaciaire. Les glaciers ayant été plus développés dans les Alpes, cela pose la question de l’impact de la déglaciation tardi-Wurmienne sur la déformation actuelle de cette chaîne. Un modèle numérique détaillant cette relation est présenté dans le quatrième chapitre. Les résultats montrent que la déglaciation des Alpes occidentales est contrôléepar l’hétérogénéité rhéologique de la croute. Certains de nos modèles prédisent des vitesses de surrection compatibles avec celles mises en évidence par la géodésie.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01262333

tel-01262333
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01262333
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01262333/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01262333/file/these-Genti-2015-postjury.pdf

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 (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The Calabro-Peloritan belt constitutes the eastward termination of the southern segment of the Alpine Mediterranean belt. This orogenic system was built up during the convergence between the Eurasian and the African plates, roughly directed North-South since the Upper Cretaceous. It was subsequently fragmented during the opening of the Western Mediterranean basins since Oligocene times. The curved shape of the Calabro-Peloritan belt was acquired during the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin since Tortonian. The origin, kinematics and significance of the Calabro-Peloritan tectonic pile are still debated. Our data in the Aspromonte Massif of Southern Calabria reveal an Alpine history marked by two main superimposed kinematic regimes. (i) A first phase corresponds to the piling up of basement nappes with a top-to-the-SE vergence, i.e in a direction orthogonal to the belt trend and towards the Adriatic foreland. This external vergence is similar to what is observed in both Northeastern Sicily and Northern Calabria. In Sicily, the age of nappe piling is Alpine, as evidenced by pinched slices of Mesozoïc sediments. In the Aspromonte Massif, thrusting age is less constrained. Our data suggest remnants of late Hercynian structuration before the Alpine stacking. (ii) A second phase corresponds to the thinning of the continental crust, dated at around 30 Ma by both geochronological and stratigraphical data. This extension is mainly localized on two low-angle detachment contacts, with top-to-the-NE displacement. The lower one corresponds to the reworking of the former main nappe contact. The upper one is a large detachment fault cutting across the pile from upper sedimentary levels down to metamorphic basement. Extension of similar Alpine age and similar internal vergence has been already recognized in other parts of the Calabro-Peloritan Arc: in the basement nappes of Northeastern Sicily and in the ophiolitic units of Northern Calabria. Coming back to the original geometry and position of the Calabro-Peloritan belt, before its bending and the opening of the Liguro-Provençal and Tyrrhenian basins, we evidence a homogeneous Oligocene NE-SW extension all along the Calabro-Peloritan segment of the Alpine Mediterranean belt. This tectonometamorphic history is best explained within the framework of the continuous Tertiary westward dipping subduction of the Tethyan oceanic domain below the European active margin and the progressive eastward retreat of the Apennine trench since Oligocene times.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00283182
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00283182
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00283182/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00283182/file/Heymes_et_al_2008.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2007TC002157

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
Mechanisms that control seismic activity in low strain rate areas such as western Europe remain poorly understood. For example, in spite of low shortening rates of <0.5 mm/ yr, the Western Alps and the Pyrenees are underlain by moderate but frequent seismicity detectable by instruments. Beneath the elevated part of these mountain ranges, analysis of earthquake focal mechanisms indicates extension, which is commonly interpreted as the result of gravitational collapse. Here we show that erosional processes are the predominant control on present-day deformation and seismicity. We demonstrate, using fi nite element modeling, that erosion induces extension and rock uplift of the elevated region of mountain ranges accommodating relatively low overall convergence. Our results suggest that an erosion rate of ~1 mm/yr can lead to extension in mountain ranges accommodating signifi cant shortening of <3 mm/yr. Based on this study, the seismotectonic framework and seismic hazard assessment for low strain rate areas need to be revisited, because erosion-related earthquakes could increase seismic hazard.
ISSN: 0091-7613

insu-00817341
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00817341
DOI : 10.1130/G33942.1