Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Longmen Shan range is one of the major topographic and structural features of the easternmargin of the Tibetan Plateau. With an impressive topographic gradient and low convergence rates across the range this region has raised important questions concerning the dynamics of plateaumargin settings, such as the long-term mechanisms of topographic evolution. The investigation of the distribution in space and time of denudation can provide critical insight into such dynamics and shed light on still unresolved controversies. For that purpose, we present a new dataset that documents the intensity and distribution of denudation processes across this plateaumargin through field survey of fluvial incision markers, quantitative geomorphology and cosmogenic nuclide derived basin-wide erosion rates. Erosion is < 0.5 mm/year in the frontal region of the Longmen Shan and between 0.5 and 1 mm/year further west, with a gradual decrease when reaching the northern headwaters of the Min Jiang watershed, adjacent to the beginning of the Tibetan Plateau. The spatialdistribution of denudation inferred from the various methods we use suggests that most of the differential uplift in the Central Longmen Shan is accommodated by the Beichuan Fault and frontal structures located in the foothills. The denudation pattern seems also to reflect the large-scale propagation of erosion from the Sichuan Basin toward the Plateau. This suggests that the Longmen Shan range is submitted to the combined influences of slow thrusting activity on the frontal structures and progressive westward regressiveerosion as a probable response to a pulse of uplift of the Tibetan PlateauEasternmargin, that started 10 Ma ago.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01564192
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01564192
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.10.026

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
Tethyan ophiolites show an apparent poorly organized association of ultramafic andmafic rocks. By contrast tothe complete mantle-crustal sections of Semail-type ophiolite sheets, Tethyan ophiolites are characterized by asmaller amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by thefrequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associatedgabbroic intrusions. Therefore, they are considered as typical remnants of oceanic lithosphere formed in slowspreadingenvironment or in ocean–continent transition at distal passive margins. In the very first models offormation of the Tethyan ophiolites, in the years 1980, the geodynamical processes leading to mantle unroofingwere poorly understood due to the paucity of data and concepts available at that time from the present-dayoceans. In particular, at that time, little work had focused on the distribution, origin and significance ofmafic rocks with respect to the dominant surrounding ultramafics. Here, we reconsider the geology of sometypical metaophiolites from the Western Alps and Corsica, and we show how results from the past decadeobtained in the current oceans ask for reassessing the significance of the Tethyan ophiolites in general. Revisitedexamples include a set of representative metaophiolites from the blueschists units of the Western Alps (Queyrasregion) and from Alpine Corsica (Golo Valley). Field relationships between the ophiolitic basement andthe metasedimentary/metavolcanic oceanic cover are described, outlining a typical character of the Tethyanophiolite lithological associations. Jurassic marbles and polymictic ophiolite metabreccias are unconformablyoverlying the mantle-gabbo basement, in a way strictly similar to what is observed in the non-metamorphicAppennine ophiolites or Chenaillet massif. This confirms that very early tectonic juxtaposition of ultramafic andmafic rocks occurred in the oceanic domain before subduction. This juxtaposition resulted from tectonic activitythat is now assigned to the development of detachment faults and to the formation of Oceanic Core Complexes(OCCs) at the axis of slow spreading ridges. This fundamental Plate Tectonics process is responsible for the exhumationand for the axial denudation of mantle rocks and gabbros at diverging plate boundaries. In addition, fieldrelationships between the discontinuous basaltic formations and the ultramafic–mafic basement indicate that thistectonic stage is followed or not by a volcanic stage.We discuss this issue in the light of available field constraints.
ISSN: 0012-8252

insu-01096467
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467/file/Lagabrielle-EarthSciRev-2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.11.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The history of the peneplain in East Sayan was studied using apatite fission-track analysis (AFTA). This method is suitable for determining the formation time of the erosional surface and estimating its denudation rate. The largest known relic of the peneplanation surface in this area is the Oka Plateau, separated from the Kropotkin Ridge by the Oka-Jombolok fault. The AFTA shows that the peneplain on the Oka Plateau formed in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. This peneplain is much younger than the erosional surfaces that persist today in the Tien Shan, Gobi Altai, and Mongolian Altai (Early Jurassic). However, it is older than the peneplain on the Chulyshman Plateau, Altai (Late Cretaceous), suggesting asynchronous formation of the ancient peneplain in Central Asia. The similar exhumation histories of samples from the Oka Plateau and Kropotkin Ridge indicate that these morphotectonic structures developed from Jurassic to late Miocene as a single block, which underwent continuous slow denudation at an average rate of 0.0175 mm/yr. Active tectonic processes in the Late Miocene caused the destruction of the peneplanation surface and its partial uplifting to different altitudes. The rate of Pliocene-Quaternary vertical movements along the Oka-Jombolok fault is roughly estimated at 0.046-0.080 mm/yr, which is several times higher than the denudation rate in this area. During the Pliocene-Quaternary, the Oka Plateau has not undergone any significant morphologic changes owing to its intermediate position between the summit plain and datum surface of East Sayan and to its partial shielding by basaltic lavas.
Russian Geology and Geophysics

insu-00839215
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00839215
DOI : 10.1016/j.rgg.2013.06.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : Normal faulting mechanisms observed in the northern foothills of the Central–Western Pyrenees are remarkable, since one expects thrust faults at a convergent plate boundary. To understand the mechanisms involved, we used numerical modeling and investigated the impact of the following processes: gravitational potential energy associated with topography and dense crustal blocks; isostatic compensation in response to denudation and/or sedimentation. To decipher the effects of each process, we designed three model geometries and added a pre-existing weak fault where most of the seismicity occurs. To evaluate our model results, we derived the fault slip rate from the focal mechanisms in the region where we have the fault in our model. We found a slip rate of ∼15 m/Ma, which is in agreement with our modelling results. We conclude that flexural rebound induced by surface processes is able to explain the seismicity in Central–Western Pyrenees.
ISSN: 1631-0713

hal-01346028
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346028
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346028/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346028/file/Genti.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2015.08.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
S U M M A R Y Over the last decade, thermomechanical models have revealed the control of both tectonics and erosion on the morphology of continental plateaus margins. However, unravelling the specific effects of these two coupled processes has been difficult in practice. Here, to assess the control of erosion, we investigate the dynamics of the eastern and the northern borders of the Tibetan Plateau, which are characterized by a low convergence rate and a steep topographic escarpment adjacent to the Sichuan and Tarim basins, respectively. Thermomechanical modelling of continental lithosphere coupled with fluvial denudation reveals that important crustal deformation with large-scale horizontal displacements can occur, without any convergence, as a response to mass transfer due to gravitational collapse and to erosional unloading. These processes are sensitive to crustal structure, geothermal gradient as well as surface erosion. At a timescale of several million years, our results suggest that this denudation-triggered deformation exerts a primary control on the evolution of those plateau margins by counterbalancing the mass removal due to erosion and stabilizing the topographic escarpment. This finding supports a possible explanation for the morphology of the Longmen Shan, eastern Tibet, in which the paradoxical combination of persistent high-topographic gradients close to the foreland and low convergence rates can be related to the influence of erosion on deformation patterns.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01577060
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01577060
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01577060/document
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01577060/file/godard2009erosional.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04324.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : U-Pb ages obtained from detrital zircon from terrigenous sediments are used to determine the sources. Present fluvial sand-bars of the Ogooue river yield age spectra of detrital zircons in agreement with Archean and Early Proterozoic Sources found in the drainage. The large proportion of Late Proterozoic zircons cannot be derived from primary erosion of the watershed basement rocks, since there is no formation of that age in the area. This later group of zircons is in good agreement with reworking of the aeolian Paleogene Bateke Sands, by regressive erosion in the upper reaches of the Ogooue river, as they contain a majority of Late Proterozoic age zircons. The sources of Late Proterozoic zircons in the Bateke Sand are very distant, and transported and reworked - at least in part - by aeolian processes. Our results, together with the widely distributed Paleogene sediments over continental Africa, suggests that Paleogene was it time of subdued erosion of the cratonic areas and extensive reworking, transport and deposition within continental Africa. In contrast, our results from the Ogooue river indicate active present incision of the cratonic area, erosion of the previous continental sediments, and export of the river bed-load to the continental margin. This temporal evolution of erosion-transport-deposition is correlated with the drastic climate change that occurred during the Cenozoic, leading to a more efficient mechanical erosion, and it correlates with the increase of terrigenous flux to the margin, observed during the Neogene.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00411165
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411165
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.179.1.29

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Maguelone shore extends along the northern coast of the Gulf of Lions, west of the Rhone Delta and east of high-gradient coastal streams that have provided most of the clastic sediments to the Gulf of Lions margin since the early Miocene. This 10 km-wide area is constituted by a small coastal watershed (15 km long) in low-lying carbonate hills, a kilometre-wide marsh, a sandy beach barrier and a shoreface experiencing local low sedimentation rates. This onshore-offshore transition zone is a key area to understand the relationships between erosion, by-pass, deposition and preservation processes. Unlike the neighbouring Rhone deposits that display numerous thick deltaic sequences related to a continuous sediment flux, the Maguelone shore exhibits peculiar sedimentary bodies. The analysis of about 250 km of new VHR seismic profiles acquired over the study area, 9 short cores and outcrops data allowed us to determine the three-dimensional high-resolution geometry of the coastal system tracts from Quaternary to present-day. This revealed dominant denudation processes in the Upstream catchments associated with the formation of incised valleys during Quaternary lowstands. In addition, this study investigates the erosion and deposition mechanisms controlled by littoral hydrodynamics that have been taken place on this shore since the last transgression. In particular, metre-high and hundreds of metre-long sandy bodies constructed by alongshore hydrodynamics were identified and their effect on the morphodynamics of the whole littoral system is discussed. The Maguelone shore can be used as an experimental study for onshore/offshore dynamics under the influence of microtidal wave/current hydrodynamics and very low river-derived sediment flux during a eustatic cycle. Geometry of system tracts across flood plain to shoreface is usually considered to be controlled by relative sea-level changes, and is successfully analysed with 2D sequence stratigraphy cross-shore models. It is observed that in areas like the Maguelone shore, traditional sequence stratigraphy methods might not be fully relevant and need to integrate alongshore hydrodynamical processes.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00421060
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00421060
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2009.06.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : International audience
We provide new constraints on the modes of mantle exhumation and denudation in the pre-orogenic Pyrenees by investigating the poorly known peridotites located east of the Lherz body, in eastern Ariè ge (Vicdessos, Urs, Bestiac, Caussou and Prades main peridotitic bodies). We show that: (1) numerous peridotite bodies, not described so far, are constituted by decametric to sub-metric outcrops scattered between and around the main outcrops identified by Monchoux (1970); (2) most of the peridotites form blocks and lenses of various sizes, from millimetric monocrystalline grains to hectometric olistoliths, embedded in debris flows involving mainly Mesozoic metasediments; these peridotites can therefore be linked to the S-type peridotites of Lagabrielle et al. (2010), and share similarities with the peridotites of Lherz region (Clerc et al., 2012). All originated from tectono-sedimentary processes associated with mantle exhumation in relation with extreme thinning and breakoff of the continental basement; (3) the various petrographic characters of these peridotites and their heterogeneity in serpentinisation degree imply a peculiar mode of exhumation, which merges mantle fragments inherited from different structural levels; (4) the lack of tectonic structures such as faults and shear planes associated with the ultramafic-rich breccia formation and the presence of neoformation of metamorphic minerals within the matrix preclude their origin as cataclasites related to the Latest Cretaceous and Tertiary Pyrenean contractional deformation. The peridotites of eastern Ariè ge are indisputable witnesses of the presence of an inverted hyper-extended Cretaceous passive margin forming the current North Pyrenean zone. The geometry of the extensional system was complex and probably associated with strike-slip faults and transcurrent motion. ß 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Acadé mie des sciences. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
ISSN: 1631-0713

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
insu-01280502
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01280502
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01280502/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01280502/file/1-s2.0-S1631071316000043-main.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2015.12.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Coupling between erosion and tectonics is thought to play a determinant role in orogenic evolution. Here, we investigate the interplay in this coupling between the assumed erosion law and the crustal rheology at the margin of a collisional plateau, like the Himalaya of Central Nepal. Lithospheric deformation is calculated over a time scale of 100 kyr by a 2D finite element model that incorporates the rheological layering of the crust and the main features of the convergence across the range. For the upper boundary condition, two surface processes were tested: a linear diffusion model and a 1D1/2 integrative model including fluvial incision along the fluvial network and hillslope erosion by landsliding. Model results and their sensitivity to the chosen combinations of erosion law and crustal properties are discussed in light of the constraining geologic and geomorphologic observations. In contrast with the conclusions of Cattin and Avouac [2000] , where a compliant quartz-rich crustal rheology and diffusion law were required, we combine a composite quartz-diabase rheology for the crust with fluvial incision erosion law to account for erosion and elevation profiles across the Himalaya of Central Nepal. More generally, it is proposed that, because of the interplay between the dominant denudation conditions and the rheology of the crust, both well documented erosion rates and processes can provide significant constraints on crustal properties within an active orogen.
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-00788697
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00788697
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00788697/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00788697/file/godard_et_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2004GL021006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The island of Taiwan is located on the convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea plate and the Chinese continental margin. It offers very active mountain building and collapsing processes well illustrated by the rugged topography, rapid uplift and denudation, young tectonic landforms, active faulting and numerous earthquakes. In this paper, using simple models, we have estimated vertical movements and associated absolute gravity variations which can be expected along a profile crossing the southern part of the island and probably suffering the highest rates of rising. The two different tectonic styles proposed for the island, thin-skinned and thick-skinned, were taken into account. Horizontal and vertical movements were modeled by an elastic deformation code. Gravity variations due to these deformations are then modeled at a second step. They are dominated by plate and free-air effects, i.e. elevation of the topography, with several mu Gal yr(-1). By comparison, gravity changes generated by mass transfers are weak: maximum 0.1 mu Gal yr(-1) with the thin-skinned tectonic and 0.3 mu Gal yr(-1) with the thick-skinned tectonic. Though elastic rheology has limitations, this modeling offers interesting results on what gravity signal can be expected from the AGTO project (Absolute Gravity in the Taiwanese Orogen), which proposes to study the dynamic of these mountain ranges using absolute gravimetry (AG) and also including relative gravimetry (RG) and GPS measurements.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00456035
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00456035
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2009.09.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : The Maguelone shore extends along the northern coast of the Gulf of Lions margin, West of the Rhone delta and East of some high gradient coastal streams that have been providing most of the elastic sediments to the Gulf of Lions margin since the early Miocene. This 10 km wide area comprises an onshore small coastal watershed (15 km long) in low-lying carbonate hills, kilometer wide marshes, sandy beach and shoreface featuring local low sedimentation. Deposit architecture in such a coastal zone records dynamics of incised valley fill under the influence of rivers and wave/current hydrodynamics in a microtidal environment during an eustatic cycle.;A detailed analysis of about 250 km of very high resolution seismic profiles, tens of cores and outcrops data revealed the evolution of the Maguelone coastal system from Late-Quaternary to present-day. It highlighted also dominant denudation processes in the upstream catchments associated to the formation of incised valley seaward during Quaternary. Combination of this inherited morphology together with hydrodynamics controlled the lagoonal environment evolution since the last transgression. In particular, the Maguelone shore is characterized by the formation of built-over-rias lagoonal systems and records an evolution from partially protected lagoon to isolated lagoon environment. These two stages of lagoon evolution correspond to distinct deposit environments. Correlation of fauna contents with deposit geometry improves lagoonal environment models.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00486370
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486370
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.181.2.211