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
Résumé : This historical perspective provides an overall view of the main steps that led to the acceptance of the concept of mantle exhumation accompanying lithosphere stretching and extreme crustal thinning. We first remember that the presence of exposures of mantle rocks along oceanic spreading ridges was early reported in the 60's due to the results of sediment cores and dredge hauls collected along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In the meantime, detailed analysis of the relationships between oceanic sediments of Late Jurassic age and their primary basement in the Apennine ophiolites led many authors to point to the importance of exhumation of mantle rocks on ancient seafloors. By contrast to the thick sections of classical ophiolites (e.g. Oman), the Alpine-Corsican-Appennine ophiolites are characterized by a relatively small amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by the frequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associated gabbroic intrusions. They display some of the characteristics of slow-spreading ridge systems, but, due to their highly tectonized character, they have been interpreted successively either as remnants of oceanic fracture zones of normal ocean or as remnants of very-poorly organized, abnormal oceanic basement. This review shows how the concept of mantle exhumation has been elaborated more or less in the same period both by marine geoscientists and by geologists conducting investigations in ophiolitic units of the Alps-Apennines mountain belt. Dredging and diving results from the Gorringe Bank, the Iberia margin, the Thyrrenian Sea and the Central Atlantic in the 1980's and 1990's provided additional proofs that the mantle is currently exhumed in various oceanic environments, including distal continental margins, back-arc basins and slow-spreading ridges of wide oceans. It is shown finally how renewed cross-information from mountain belts and the oceans, multiplying the examples of sedimentary reworking of mantle material, help better constrain the mechanisms of mantle exhumation. This mechanism progressively appeared as a fundamental step during the processes of extension of both continental and oceanic lithospheres in numerous geological situations worldwide.
Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana

hal-00475653
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475653
DOI : 10.3301/IJG.2009.128.2.279

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Tyrrhenian Sea is usually interpreted to be a Neogene back-arc basin that opened by continental rifting and oceanic spreading caused by the eastward migration of the Apennine subduction system during Miocene and Pliocene times. Rifting of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea started first along the Eastern Sardinian margin during the middle to late Miocene times, including the Messinian. The "METYSS" project aims at better constraining the relationships between crustal tectonics, salt tectonics and sedimentation from Messinian times to present-day. The "METYSS 1" cruise (2009) allowed to acquire about 1200 km of HR seismic-reflection profiles along the Eastern Sardinian margin, Western Tyrrhenian Sea. This data set clearly illustrates that this area has been highly dissected during the rifting stage by N-S trending normal faults delineating ridges and basins, as previously described. The Messinian seismic markers (UU and MU) locally display fan-shaped stratal geometries, but the mechanism responsible for such geometries, salt tectonics or rifting, has yet to be carefully deciphered. We also mapped the spatial distribution of the mobile salt. The highly variable thickness of the small confined salt basins may be related to the initial pre-Messinian basin geometry, to the fact that salt deposition was syn-rift or to salt movement. Southeastward, salt tectonics is vigorous in unconfined basins and appears to have started early during the UU deposition. More surprisingly, our data demonstrate that some of the major faults have been significantly reactivated during the post-rift period, up to late Quaternary time, as shown by bathymetric scarps and associated debris flows. Moreover, some of this post-rift deformation can be evidenced within the Plio-Quaternary sequence by a regional unconformity. The post-Miocene deformation style varies greatly between different areas of the margin, and can also be strongly influenced by the presence or absence of mobile Messinian salt.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00996665
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00996665
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.12.015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Mediterranean geodynamic system is an exceptional natural laboratory to study the complexities of back-arc extension during subduction rollback. Corsica is a key locality that recorded the Alpine subduction-collision history followed by 30 Ma of the Apennines slab rollback, responsible for the successive opening, from West to East, of the Liguro-Provençal basin and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The overall strain pattern of the Alpine metamorphic units of Alpine Corsica is studied through a synthesis of i) available geological maps, ii) geochronological data and iii) newly acquired structural data relative to successive events of ductile and brittle extension, Three main stages of extension are recorded: 1/ Syn-metamorphic Oligocene extension accommodated by N140° trending ductile shear zones, that correspond to the reactivation of a major Alpine thrust; 2/ Burdigalian ramp-flat extension with N60°-70° trending fault zones that controlled the deposition of onshore piggy-back basins (e.g. St Florent basin), and 3/ Serravalian N-S trending fault zones. From a geodynamical point of view, these successive extensional deformations in Alpine Corsica can be correlated to the history of the Apennines slab rollback. The two first stages are related to a southeastward rollback of the Appennines slab that successively triggered: 1/ Continental rifting in Oligocene leading to the opening of the Liguro-Provençal basin and 2/ Burdigalian extension with N60°-70° trending fault zone, oblique to the Alpine thrust that, after a counterclockwise rotation of the Corso-Sardinian block, became unable to accommodate extension. Finally, the third stage that gave NS-trending fault zones developed in Serravalian, at the onset of Tyrrhenian rifting, related to an eastward rollback of the Apennines slab, as a response of slab tearing in Sicily.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01424859
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01424859
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01424859/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01424859/file/gueydan-tectonoph-2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.12.028

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 Wiley
Résumé : The routes through which Norway spruce recolonized the Alps after the last ice age were investigated at the genetic level. Seven populations along the Alpine range plus one Apennine population were characterized for seven sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) loci, detecting an overall FST = 0.118. This rather high value for forest species reflects an uneven distribution of genetic variability, and was analysed through different statistical methods. Alternative hypotheses were tested under the isolation-by-distance model and using the analysis of molecular variance (amova) frame. We conclude that the hypothesis of the existence of a glacial refugium in the Apennines should be rejected, while a putative relict population is identified in the Maritime Alps. The Alpine range of Norway spruce appears to be split in two parts across a north-south line. The results are discussed in comparison with data based on morphological markers, isozymes, chloroplast microsatellites and mitochondrial markers.
ISSN: 0962-1083

hal-01031243
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01031243
DOI : 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.00911.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We present field data from segmented normal faults having particular displacement and overlapping geometries that may be related to down-dip branching of the fault segments. Based on a 3-D numerical modeling study of computed displacement and stress fields around different geometries of down-dip branched normal fault segments, we show that the bends of fault surfaces that coalesce at depth exert a significant influence on (I) the displacement distribution on the fault segment branches and (2) the quasi-static stress fields around the relay zones. The asymmetry in the displacement profiles and low fault interaction at relay zones modeled are consistent with the fault segment geometries observed in field data. As an application, we model the geometry and interaction of the Vallo di Diano normal fault which is segmented at the Earth's surface and which produced an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 along a single fault surface at depth. Numerical modeling of the segmented fault produces an asymmetric displacement profile and low shear stress at the relay zone consistent with the profile and fault interaction inferred from the held. We conclude that asymmetry of the displacement profile and large overlap/separation ratio of the unlinked relay zone can be indicators of the presence of a continuous fault surface underneath. These geometrical attributes are therefore important to consider in the probabilistic analysis of seismic hazard along segmented normal faults.
ISSN: 0191-8141

hal-00411161
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411161
DOI : 10.1016/j.jsg.2008.07.005

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 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 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
Résumé : The Tyrrhenian Sea is usually interpreted to be a Neogene back-arc basin that opened by continental rifting and oceanic spreading caused by the eastward migration of the Apennine subduction system from Tortonian to Pliocene times. Rifting of the Tyrrhenian Sea started first along the Eastern Sardinian margin during the Tortonian-Messinian times. The " METYSS " project aims at better constraining the relations between crustal tectonics, salt tectonics and sedimentation from Messinian times to present-day. The " METYSS 1 " cruise (2009, R/V "Téthys II"-INSU) allowed us to obtain about 1200 km of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles along the SE Corsican margin, and along the upper and middle parts of the Eastern Sardinian margin, Western Tyrrhenian. This new dataset clearly illustrates that this area has been highly dissected during the rifting stage by N-S trending normal faults delineating ridges and basins, as previously described. The Messinian seismic markers (UU and MU) locally display fan-shaped stratal geometries, but the mechanism responsible for such geometries, i.e., salt tectonics or rifting, has yet to be carefully deciphered. We also mapped the spatial distribution of the mobile salt (MU). The highly variable thickness of the confined salt basins may be related to the initial pre-Messinian basin geometry or to the fact that sediment deposition was syn-rift. Southeastward, salt tectonics appears highly vigorous. More surprisingly, our data demonstrate that some of the major faults have been significantly reactivated during the post-rift period, up to late Quaternary time. Such recent fault activity has been recorded by bathymetric scarps and associated footwall debris flows. Moreover, some of this post-rift deformation can be evidenced within the Plio-Quaternary sequence by a regional unconformity. The post-Miocene deformation style varies greatly between different areas of the margin, and can also be strongly influenced by the presence or absence of mobile Messinian evaporites (MU).
13ème Congrès Français de Sédimentologie
Dijon, France

hal-00657310
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00657310

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

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