Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : Gravity data and P-wave teleseismic traveltime residuals from 29 temporary broad-band stations spread over the northern margin of the Gulf of Aden (Dhofar region, Oman) were used to image lithospheric structure. We apply a linear relationship between density and velocity to provide consistent density and velocity models from mid-crust down to about 250 km depth. The accuracy of the resulting models is investigated through a series of synthetic tests. The analysis of our resulting models shows: (1) crustal heterogeneities that match the main geological features at the surface; (2) the gravity edge effect and disparity in anomaly depth locations for layers at 20 and 50 km; (3) two low-velocity anomalies along the continuation of Socotra-Hadbeen and Alula-Fartak fracture zones between 60 and 200 km depth; and (4) evidence for partial melting (3-6 per cent) within these two negative anomalies. We discuss the presence of partial melting in terms of interaction between the Sheba ridge melts and its along-axis segmentation.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00456048
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00456048
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04438.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We analyse P-wave receiver functions across the western Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea continental margins in Western Yemen to constrain crustal thickness, internal crustal structure and the bulk seismic velocity characteristics in order to address the role of magmatism, faulting and mechanical crustal thinning during continental breakup. We analyse teleseismic data from 21 stations forming the temporary Young Conjugate Margins Laboratory (YOCMAL) network together with GFZ and Yemeni permanent stations. Analysis of computed receiver functions shows that (1) the thickness of unextended crust on the Yemen plateau is ∼35km; (2) this thins to ∼22km in coastal areas and reaches less than 14km on the Red Sea coast, where presence of a high-velocity lower crust is evident. The average Vp/Vs ratio for the western Yemen Plateau is 1.79, increasing to ∼1.92 near the Red Sea coast and decreasing to 1.68 for those stations located on or near the granitic rocks. Thinning of the crust, and by inference extension, occurs over a ∼130-km-wide transition zone from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts to the edges of the Yemen plateau. Thinning of continental crust is particularly localized in a <30-km-wide zone near the coastline, spatially co-incident with addition of magmatic underplate to the lower crust, above which on the surface we observe the presence of seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) and thickened Oligo-Miocene syn-rift basaltic flows. Our results strongly suggest the presence of high-velocity mafic intrusions in the lower crust, which are likely either synrift magmatic intrusion into continental lower crust or alternatively depleted upper mantle underplated to the base of the crust during the eruption of the SDRs. Our results also point towards a regional breakup history in which the onset of rifting was synchronous along the western Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea volcanic margins followed by a second phase of extension along the Red Sea margin.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00825194
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00825194
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00825194/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00825194/file/RF_Hakim2012_GJI.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt072

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
We image the lithospheric and upper asthenospheric structure of western continental Yemen with 24 broadband stations to evaluate the role of the Afar plume on the evolution of the continental margin and its extent eastwards along the Gulf of Aden. We use teleseismic tomography to compute relative P-wave velocity variations in southwestern Yemen down to 300 km depth. Published receiver function analysis suggest a dramatic and localized thinning of the crust in the vicinity of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, consistent with the velocity structure that we retrieve in our model. The mantle part of the model is dominated by the presence of a low velocity anomaly in which we infer partial melting just below thick Oligocene flood basalts and recent off-axis volcanic events (from 15 Ma to present). This low velocity anomaly could correspond to an abnormally hot mantle and could be responsible for dynamic topography and recent magmatism in western Yemen. Our new P-wave velocity model beneath western Yemen suggests the young rift flank volcanoes beneath margins and on the flanks of the Red Sea rift are caused by focused small-scale diapiric upwelling from a broad region of hot mantle beneath the area. Our work shows that relatively hot mantle, along with partial melting of the mantle, can persist beneath rifted margins after breakup has occurred.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01015496
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496/file/Korostelev_etal_GGG_2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2014GC005316

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Our knowledge and understanding of the 3-D lithospheric structure of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau is still challenging although numerous geophysical studies have been performed in the region. The GOCE satellite mission has the ambitious goal of mapping Earth's gravity field with unprecedented precision (i.e. an accuracy of 1-2 mGal for a spatial resolution of 100 km) to observe the lithosphere and upper-mantle structure. Consequently, it gives new insights in the lithospheric structure beneath the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Indeed, the GOCE gravity data now allow us to develop a new strategy for joint gravimetry-seismology inversion. Combined with teleseismic data over a large region in a joint inversion scheme, they will lead to lithospheric velocity-density models constrained in two complementary ways. We apply this joint inversion scheme to the Hi-CLIMB (Himalayan-Tibetan Continental Lithosphere during Mountain Building) seismological network which was deployed in South Tibet and the Himalayas for a 3-yr period. The large size of the network, the high quality of the seismological data and the new GOCE gravity data set allow us to image the entire lithosphere of this active area in an innovative way. We image 3-D low velocity and density structures in the middle crust that fit the location of discontinuous low S-velocity zones revealed by receiver functions in previous geophysical studies. In the deeper parts of our velocity model we image a positive anomaly interpreted to be the heterogenous Indian lithosphere vertically descending beneath the centre of the Tibetan Plateau.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00858024
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00858024
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggs110

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Joint inversions are now commonly used in Earth Sciences. They have been developed to better understand Earth structure since they provide more constraints on the inverted parameters. We propose a new process to simultaneously invert several data sets in order to better image 3-D crustal and upper mantle structures. Our inversion uses 3 kind of data which present a good complementarity : (1) P receiver functions to provide Moho depth variations, (2) teleseismic delay times of P waves to retrieve velocity anomalies in the crust and upper mantle, (3) gravity anomalies to image density variations at lithospheric scale. In our scheme, receiver functions are first inverted. The resulting Moho depths are then interpolated and incorporated as a priori information into the joint inversion of teleseismic delay times and gravity anomalies process. In our new approach, we perform a model space search for Moho variations, P-velocity and density structure to find acceptable fit to the three data sets. In order to preferentially sample the good data fit region, we chose the Neighborhood algorithm of Sambridge to optimistically survey the model space. We model the delay times with a 3-D raytracing using velocity nodes evenly spaced and linked with density nodes via a linear relationship. This relationship can evolve through depth, simulating its pressure dependance. We test our scheme on synthetic examples, and apply the method in a continental rifting region where deformation processes are complex and badly known. This joint inversion thus provides more constraints on the inverted parameters, and allows us to better image crust - mantle interactions in the case of the Hangai dome (Central Mongolia). Indeed, in this area, we expect an asthenospheric upwelling to dynamically support the topography, but we image a density - velocity anomaly in the lower crust. The effects on topography and the origin (composition vs. thermal) of this anomaly are still under debate.
Les inversions conjointes sont maintenant communément utilisées en Sciences de la Terre. Elles ont été développées afin d'améliorer notre connaissance et compréhension de la structure interne de la Terre puisqu'elles apportent de plus en plus de contraintes sur les paramètres inversés. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un nouveau processus d'inversion conjointe qui prend en compte trois paramètres différents et qui mène à l'obtention d'un modèle lithosphérique tridimensionnel. Notre méthode utilise trois types de données gravimétriques et sismologiques qui présentent une bonne complémentarité : (1) Les fonctions récepteur P afin d'obtenir les variations de profondeur du Moho, (2) les délais de temps d'arrivées P des téléséismes pour retrouver les anomalies de vitesse dans la croûte et le manteau supérieur, (3) les anomalies gravimétriques qui donnent accès aux variations de densité à l'échelle lithosphérique. Dans le schéma d'inversion proposé, nous inversons d'abord les fonctions récepteur. Les variations de profondeur du Moho qui en résultent sont alors interpolées puis incorporées comme information a priori dans le processus d'inversion conjointe gravimétrie - tomographie télésismique. Que ce soit pour les fonctions récepteur ou pour la partie conjointe, notre méthode d'inversion se base sur un algorithme de recherche afin de trouver la structure qui minimise l'écart aux trois types de données. Nous avons opté pour l'algorithme de voisinage qui présente l'avantage de concentrer sa recherche dans les régions qui minimisent l'écart aux données sans toutefois abandonner les autres régions afin de limiter les risques de convergence vers un minimum local. Nous utilisons un modèle 3-D constitué de noeuds de vitesse afin de modéliser les délais de temps. Ces noeuds de vitesse sont liés aux noeuds de densité grâce à une relation linéaire entre vitesse et densité. Cette relation peut évoluer avec la profondeur de manière à simuler les effets dus aux variations de pression. Nous avons réalisé plusieurs tests synthétiques afin d'évaluer le comportement de notre nouvelle méthode. Ils ont permis de montrer que les variations du Moho ainsi que les anomalies de vitesse et densité sont bien retrouvées. Ils ont également montré l'importance de la prise en compte de ces trois types de données dans un même schéma d'inversion, notamment en ce qui concerne la faculté de discerner les variations d'interfaces des anomalies volumiques. Nous avons ensuite appliqué la méthode dans une région continentale en phase de rifting où les processus de déformation sont complexes et mal connus. Notre nouvelle méthode a apporté davantage de contraintes sur les paramètres inversés et a permis d'obtenir un modèle correctement résolu de la croûte et du manteau supérieur sous le dôme de Hangai (Mongolie Centrale). Une anomalie asthénosphérique sous le dôme est souvent invoquée pour expliquer sa topographie élevée mais c'est une anomalie (en vitesse et densité) crustale (croûte inférieure) qui s'exprime dans nos modèles. Ses effets sur la topographie et son origine (compositionnelle et/ou thermique) sont encore débattus et nécessiteraient des études plus poussées (paramétriques, VP =VS, ...).
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00783524

tel-00783524
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00783524
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00783524/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00783524/file/Basuyau2011.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Joint inversions are now commonly used in the earth sciences. They have been developed to better understand the structure of the earth, since they provide more constraints on the inverted parameters. We propose a new process to simultaneously invert several data sets in order to better image 3D crustal and upper mantle structures. Our inversion uses three kinds of data that present good complementarity: (1) P-wave receiver functions to provide Moho depth variations, (2) teleseismic delay times of P-waves to retrieve velocity anomalies in the crust and the upper mantle, and (3) gravity anomalies to image density variations at the lithospheric scale. We use a stochastic scheme, where receiver functions are first inverted. The interpolated resulting Moho depths are incorporated as a priori information into the joint inversion of teleseismic delay times and gravity anomalies process. Moreover, velocity and density can be linked by empirical relationships, which justifies the joint inversion of those parameters. In our stochastic approach, we perform a model space search for Moho variations, P-velocity, and density structure to find an acceptable fit to the three data sets. In order to preferentially sample the good data fit regions, we chose the neighborhood algorithm of Sambridge to optimistically survey the model space. We model the delay times with 3D raytracing using evenly spaced velocity-density nodes. We present here the first results given by this method on synthetic tests. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0098-3004

hal-00643158
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00643158
DOI : 10.1016/j.cageo.2010.11.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Evidence of anomalous volcanism is readily observed in the Gulf of Aden, although, much of this oceanic basin remains as yet unmapped. In this paper, we investigate the possible connection of the Afar hotspot with a major off-axis volcanic structure and its interpretation as a consequence of a the anomalous presence of melt by integrating several data sets, both published and unpublished, from the Encens-Sheba cruise, the Aden New Century (ANC) cruise and several other onshore and marine surveys. These include bathymetric, gravity, magnetic, magneto-telluric data, and rock samples. Based upon these observations, interpretations were made of seafloor morphology, gravity and magnetic models, seafloor age, geochemical analyses and tectonic setting. We discuss the possible existence of a regional melting anomaly in the Gulf of Aden area and of the probability of its connection to the Afar plume. Several models that might explain the anomalous volcanism are taken into account, such as a local melting anomaly unrelated to the Afar plume, an anomalously large volume of melt associated with seafloor spreading, and interaction of the ridge with the Afar plume. A local melting anomaly and atypical seafloor spreading prove inconsistent with our observations. Two previously proposed models of plume-ridge interactions are examined: the diffuse plume dispersion called pancaked flow and channelized along-axis flow. We conclude that the configuration and structure of this young ocean basin may have the effect of channeling material away from the Afar plume along the Aden and Sheba Ridges to produce the off-axis volcanism observed on the ridge flanks. This interpretation implies that the influence of the Afar hotspot may extend much farther eastwards into the Gulf of Aden than previously believed. The segmentation of the Gulf of Aden and the configuration of the Aden-Sheba system may provide a potential opportunity to study channeled flow of solid plume mantle from the plume along a segmented ridge and nearby continental margins.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00486140
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486140
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.036