Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Franceville Basin (2.1 Ga) in southeastern Gabon, hosts a black shale series well preserved (FB Formation) which represents an exceptional example of unmetamorphised Paleoproterozoic sediment strata. This basin includes the protore of one of the largest Mn-oxide laterite ore worldwide, mined by Eramet-Comilog. The aim of this this work is to determine formation conditions of this protore and to characterize the global sedimentary evolution of the FB Formation which include the protore. This 75 m thick protore is constituted of Mn carbonate-rich black shales which represent a potential ore deposit for the future. It was drilled, on the Bangombé plateau, during a recent campaign of 24 boreholes with an average depth of 125 m.Through multidisciplinary study on these cores and key outcrops of the basin, this work focuses on : i) the depositional environment of the Mn-protore and FB Formation ; ii) the processes of formation of the Mn-carbonates at 2.1 Ga and iii) the architecture and distribution of Mn-rich levels of the protore on the Bangombé Plateau.A detailed sedimentological and petrological study allowed us to redefine the division of the FB into nine units, named U1 to U9 from the base to the top. These units show a fine upward cycle up to U5 and a reverse coarse loop until U9. This division leads to a new interpretation to propose an evolution from a shoreface depositional environment controlled by deltaic currents (U1) to an offshore depositional environment with anoxic conditions (U2). In this basin, a system of submarine fan is developed, feeding a network of sand injections (injectites) covering the Bangombé plateau (70 km²) and with a thickness of 150 m affecting U4 to U7, including the Mn-protore. The protore depositional environment formed below the wave base limit (U4, U5 and U6) in a starved basin, controlled by biochemical sedimentation allowed the formation of Mn-carbonates. The end of starved basin, would allow the re-opening of the detrital input into the offshore basin (U7). This basin is then filled by storm bar deposits intersected by deltaic sub-aquatic channels (U8). The U9 unit corresponds to a quiet lagoon environment, allowing the multicellular organism development for the first time on the planet.A geochemical study allowed the characterization of the depositional environment of Mn-carbonates as an anoxic to sub-oxic and alkaline environment. For the first time, we showed that the manganese carbonates, present as bacteriomorph forms, are precipitated from the seawater by the mediated photosynthetic cyanobacterial activity, which allows CO2 / HCO3 depression of the environment and a local increase of pH. The cyanobacterial activity is controlled by the absence of bottom currents, which increase the detrital input. This would stop the activity of the cyanobacteria and thus would lead to the decrease of the Mn-concentration along the protore.Finally, well-log and a sequential correlation analyses allowed us to detail spatial and timing repartition of FB Formation deposit, controlled by a tectono-sedimentary model. We propose two- tectono-sedimentary phases. A first syn-tectonic phase (U1 to U3) controls the depocentres and sedimentation gaps. Turbidite coarse deposits are located in the most subsident part, clay deposits rather on the slope and carbonates on shoals. A second post-tectonic phase (U4 to U7) allows isopach deposits. The Mn-protore formed during the post-tectonic phase. However, it shows a variable thickness due to subsidence to the north of the Bangombé plateau. So, on the Bangombé plateau, Mn-contents increase towards the south, whereas the protore thickness increases towards the NNE. Moreover sand injectites decrease Mn-content in the eastern part of the Bangombé plateau and impact on the economic evaluation of the Mn-carbonates. Currently, the protore is structured by post-sedimentary faults, which lead to a non-continuity of the high Mn levels on the Bangombé plateau.
Le Bassin de Franceville situé au SE du Gabon présente une série de black shales (Formation FB) d'âge Paléoprotérozoïque (2,1 Ga) surmontant les grès de la Formation FA. Ce bassin peu déformé et non métamorphique représente une archive exceptionnelle des processus de dépôt de cette période de l’histoire de la Terre où la vie commence à se développer. En particulier, la Formation FB contient le protore d'un gisement mondial d'oxydes de manganèse exploité par la société Eramet-Comilog. L’objectif de ce travail est de préciser les conditions de formation de ce protore et de le replacer dans l’histoire du remplissage du bassin. Ce protore d'une épaisseur moyenne de 75 m est constitué de carbonates de manganèse ; il a fait l'objet d'une récente campagne de 24 forages carottés d'une profondeur moyenne de 125 m sur le plateau de Bangombé.A travers une approche pluridisciplinaire comprenant l'étude de ces forages et des affleurements clefs du bassin, ce travail porte sur la caractérisation i) de l'environnement de dépôt du protore et des séries qui l'encadrent (du toit du FA au toit du FB) ; ii) du mode de formation des carbonates de Mn à 2,1 Ga et iii) de l'architecture et de la répartition des hautes teneurs en Mn du protore qui représente un gisement potentiel du futur.L’étude pétro-sédimentaire détaillée a permis de distinguer neuf unités (U1 à U9) au sein de la Formation FB organisées suivant un cycle rétrogradant jusqu’à U5 puis progradant jusqu’à U9. Ce découpage montre une évolution du milieu de dépôt depuis un domaine de shoreface contrôlé par des courants deltaïques (U1) évoluant vers des dépôts d’offshore restreint (U2). Ce bassin enregistre ensuite un système de chenaux-levées turbiditiques (U3) qui alimentent un réseau d'injectites reconnu sur l’ensemble du Pl. de Bangombé et qui traverse 150 m de série (U4 à U7) en affectant le protore et ainsi les teneurs en Mn. L'environnement de dépôt du protore (U5 et U6) marque l’isolement du bassin qui devient affamé et contrôlé par une sédimentation biochimique à l’origine du dépôt des carbonates de Mn. L'Unité 7 correspond à la réouverture des apports détritiques en domaine d'offshore supérieur puis en domaine de shoreface dominé par des dépôts de tempêtes et de chenaux sous-aquatiques deltaïques (U8), et enfin lagunaire (U9) dans lequel apparaissent les premiers métazoaires de l’histoire de la planète, suivant une séquence régressive.Une étude géochimique a permis de préciser les conditions de dépôt du protore qui se forme en milieu alcalin anoxique à sub-oxique. Dans ce milieu, nous montrons pour la première fois une précipitation directe des carbonates de Mn sous forme bactériomorphe induite par l'activité photosynthétique des cyanobactéries qui consomment le CO2/HCO3 et conduisent à une augmentation du pH favorable à la formation des carbonates de Mn. L'activité cyanobactérienne est conditionnée par l’absence de courants de fond qui augmentent la turbidité du milieu et stoppent cette dernière.Les corrélations diagraphiques et séquentielles permettent de préciser la répartition spatiale et temporelle du FB permettant ainsi de replacer le protore dans l’histoire tectono-sédimentaire du bassin. Une première phase syn-tectonique (U1 à U3) contrôle l’épaisseur et la mise en place de dépôts turbiditiques dans les parties subsidentes, de dépôts argileux sur les pentes et de dépôt de carbonates sur les hauts-fonds. La seconde phase post tectonique (U4 à U7) permet la mise en place de dépôts relativement isopaques, bien que le protore enregistre une subsidence plus importante au nord du Pl. de Bangombé. On observe ainsi, sur le Plateau de Bangombé, des teneurs en Mn qui augmentent vers le sud alors que l’épaisseur du protore augmente vers le NNE. Postérieurement au dépôt du FB, le protore est structuré par des failles qui le compartimentent en touches de piano limitant ainsi sa continuité sur le Plateau de Bangombé.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460

tel-01621460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01621460/file/these_Dubois2017-MnGabon.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer/Terra Scientific Publishing Company
Résumé : International audience
We report oil the discovery of magnetite nanoparticles ranging in size from 2 to 14 full in the mineralized zones of the Pena Colorada iron-ore deposit, southern Mexico. Micrometric scale magnetite was magnetically reduced and divided into distinct size ranges: 85-56 mu m, 56-30 mu m, 30-22 mu m, 22-15 mu m, 15-10 mu m, 10-7 mu m and 7-2 mu m. Nanometric-scale magnetite in the size range 2-14 nm was identified. The magnetite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmitted and reflected light microscope, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high angle annular dark field, Mossbauer spectroscopy and its magnetic properties. Crystallographic identification of nanostructures Was performed using high-resolution TEM. Characteristic changes were observed when the particles make the size transition from micro- to nanometric sizes, as follows: (1) frequency-dependent magnetic Susceptibility percentage (chi FD%) measurements Show high Values (13%) for the 2-14 nm fractions attributed to dominant fractions of superparamagnetic particles; (2) variations of chi FD% < 4.5% in fractions of 56-0.2 mu m occur in association with the presence of microparticles formed by magnetite aggregates of nanoparticles (< 15 nm) embedded in berthierine; (3) Mossbauer spectroscopy results identified a superparamagnetic fraction; (4) nanometric and 0.2-3 mu m grain size magnetite particles require a magnetic field up to 152 mT to reach saturation during the isothermal remanent magnetization experiment; (5) coercivity and remanent magnetization of the magnetite increase when the particle size decreases, probably due to parallel Coupling effects; (6) two-magnetic Susceptibility versus temperature experiments of the same 2-14 nm sample show that the reversibility during the second heating is due to the formation of new magnetite nanoparticles and growth of those already present. during the first heating process.
ISSN: 1343-8832

hal-00413053
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413053

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Une approche par datations multiples a été menée sur les dépôts de sédiments de crue retrouvés dans les gorges du Gardon (Languedoc). Le plomb-210, le césium-137 et l’analyse géochimique des sédiments contaminés par les mines ont été utilisés pour reconstruire l’histoire des dépôts de crue. Cette approche a été combinée avec l’historique des crues du Gardon depuis 1890 pour affiner l’approche géochronologique. Au niveau de la cavité GG et de la terrasse GE les analyses ont permis d’illustrer les mécanismes d’érosion-redéposition pouvant perturber les séquences de sédiments. Les enregistrements des dépôts de sédiments de crue sont complets sur la terrasse GE située à 10 m au-dessus du lit mineur à partir de 1958, et incomplets auparavant. Sur la période 1880-1958, 25 crues ont eu un débit suffisant (>1450 m3/s) pour recouvrir la terrasse, alors que l’on recense seulement 5 à 6 crues depuis 1958 (pour un débit de submersion supérieur à 1700 m3/s). L’augmentation progressive du débit de submersion et la fréquence moindre d’inondation de la terrasse ont pu permettre sur la période récente la stabilisation de la couche de surface par la végétation et limiter l’érosion lors de crues importantes. Les enregistrements semblent complets dans la cavité GG située à 15 m au-dessus du lit mineur. La fréquence moindre de submersion à ce niveau plus élevé peut expliquer une meilleure stabilisation des dépôts de crue, rendus moins vulnérables à l’érosion. La datation au radiocarbone a été testée même si elle ne permet pas de dater avec précision les dépôts de crue des derniers siècles. Sur la terrasse GE, 80% des dates au carbone 14 sur charbon de bois sont beaucoup trop vieilles par rapport aux autres techniques de datation, ce qui peut s’expliquer par une remobilisation/déstockage de charbons de bois anciens. Les datations radiocarbone sur graines donnent de meilleurs résultats, car issues d’une production annuelle, plus facilement décomposable et moins sujette à des dépôts intermédiaires. Au final, il apparaît que la technique de datation par radiocarbone sur des charbons de bois retrouvés dans les séquences sédimentaires n’est pas fiable, alors qu’elle est la plus pratiquée en paléo-hydrologie. L’utilisation combinée du plomb-210, du césium-137, de l’analyse géochimique des sédiments et des informations sur les crues historiques a permis de discriminer et de dater les différents dépôts de crue de ce dernier siècle dans la cavité GG et la terrasse GE. / A multidating approach was carried out on slackwater flood deposits, preserved in valley side rock cave and terrace, of the Gardon River in Languedoc, southeast France. Lead-210, caesium-137, and geochemical analysis of mining-contaminated slackwater flood sediments have been used to reconstruct the history of these flood deposits. These age controls were combined with the continuous record of Gardon flow since 1890, and the combined records were then used to assign ages to slackwater deposits. The stratigraphic records of terrace GE and cave GG were excellent examples to illustrate the effects of erosion/preservation in a context of a progressively self-censoring, vertically accreting sequence. The sedimentary flood record of the terrace GE located at 10 m above the channel bed is complete for years post-1958 but incomplete before. During the 78-year period 1880-1958, 25 floods of a sufficient magnitude (> 1450 m3/s) have covered the terrace. Since 1958, however, the frequency of inundation of the deposits has been lower:only 5 or 6 floods in 52 years have been large enough to exceed the necessary threshold discharge (> 1700 m3/s). The progressive increase of threshold discharge and the reduced frequency of inundation at the terrace could allow stabilisation of the vegetation cover and improved protection against erosion from subsequent large magnitude flood events. The sedimentary flood record seems complete for cave GG located at 15 m above the channel bed. Here, the low frequency of events would have enabled a high degree of stabilisation of the sedimentary flood record, rendering the deposits less susceptible to erosion. Radiocarbon dating are used in this study and compared to the other dating techniques.Eighty percent of radiocarbon dates on charcoals were considerably older than those obtained by the other techniques in the terrace. On the other hand, radiocarbon dating on seeds provided better results. This discrepancy between radiocarbon dates on charcoal and seeds is explained by the nature of the dated material (permanent wood vs. annual production and resistance to degradation process). Finally, we showed in this study that although the most common dating technique used in paleoflood hydrology is radiocarbon dating, usually on charcoal preserved within slackwater flood sediments, this method did not permitus to define a coherent age model. Only the combined use of lead-210, caesium-137, and geochemical analysis of mining-contaminated sediments with the instrumental flood record can be applied to discriminate and date the recent slackwater deposits of the terrace GE and cave GG.
ISSN: 0169-555X

hal-01059669
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01059669
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01059669/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01059669/file/ly2014-pub00040953.pdf
IRSTEA : PUB00040953

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Society of Economic Geologists
Résumé : International audience
The ~8-Moz Sadiola Hill gold deposit is located in the Kédougou-Kénieba inlier, a window of deformed ca. 2200 to 2050 Ma rocks that crop out in eastern Senegal and western Mali. The geology of the inlier differs from other Paleoproterozoic granite-greenstone belts and sedimentary basins by the abundance of carbonate rocks. The Sadiola Hill gold deposit occurs within 3 km of the Senegal-Mali shear zone, and country rocks in the region have undergone polycyclic deformation. The lithostratigraphy of the open pit consists of impure limestones overlain by younger sequences of detrital sedimentary rocks, which include arenite, wacke, and siltstone. The sedimentary rocks have been subjected to regional greenschist-facies metamorphism and have been intruded by multiple generations of synkinematic, calc-alkaline stocks and dikes. The bulk of the ore is hosted within a N-S- to NNW-trending, 10- to 50-m-wide, brittle-ductile dilational shear zone defined as the Sadiola shear zone. Gold lodes also occur along an array of steep NNE-trending shear zones. Geometric and kinematic analyses indicate that the ore-hosting structures were undergoing sinistral displacement at the time of mineralization, locally defined as the D3s NNW-SSE-shortening event. Hydrothermal alteration is polyphase and includes an early high-temperature calc-silicate phase (i.e., porphyroblastic growth of actinolite-tremolite) followed by a potassic phase (i.e., biotite-calcite-quartz ± K-feldspar-tourmaline-actinolite) that was synchronous with ore mineral deposition. Paragenetic studies reveal a multistage ore development that includes an As-rich sulfide stage, followed by an Au-Sb stage. The ore is associated with a metal enrichment suite of Au-As-Sb ± Cu-Fe-W-Mo-Ag-Bi-Zn-Pb-Te. The Sadiola Hill deposit shares a similar relative timing and structural setting to that of other world-class orogenic gold systems in the West African craton (e.g., Ashanti, Loulo), with gold deposition occurring during a period of transcurrent tectonics, after the cessation of region-wide compressional deformation. The high-temperature paragenesis at Sadiola Hill is atypical of gold mineralization in the craton and indicates that the late Eburnean tectono-magmatic activity between ca. 2080 and 2060 Ma played an important role in the dynamics of hydrothermal fluid circulation along the Senegal-Mali shear zone.
ISSN: 0361-0128

hal-01583358
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01583358
DOI : 10.2113/econgeo.112.1.23

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : SUBSURF
International audience
Similarity of form between subaerial and submarine landscapes affected by erosion could suggest similarities in the process of erosion, such as by runoff and sedimentary flows, respectively. On the other hand, if aspects of form vary, its characteristics may be used to identify the environmental origin of erosion. Towards these goals, this contribution addresses the morphology of submarine volcanoes (seamounts) with widely differing histories of erosion. One set from the Pacific Ocean never exposed above sea level includes Cretaceous-age seamounts near Hawai'i (including Apu'upu'u Seamount), two seamounts of < 3 Ma in age near a mid-ocean ridge and the 11-4 Ma Jasper Seamount. These seamounts are all isolated from continents and hence from any erosion associated with mass wasting of unstable terrigenous deposits. In such isolated submarine environments, surfaces erode slowly from in situ weathering, mass wasting and scouring by sedimentary flows initiated by slope failure in pelagic or bedrock materials. The Pacific seamounts are compared with Valencia Seamount in the western Mediterranean, exposed subaerially for 100-400 k.y. during the Messinian Salinity Crisis before 5 Ma. Multibeam and deeply towed sidescan sonar data of Valencia Seamount reveal features typical of subaerial erosion of volcanic islands, such as canyons and relatively uneroded sectors (planezes) between them. Using a simple topographical reconstruction, the apparent erosion depth typically reaches 100 m within canyons and up to 180 m in places. Whereas the younger Pacific seamounts do not show these erosional features, the much older Cretaceous seamounts do have channels, which in one example suggests up to 200 m of incision. Both Valencia and Apu'upu'u seamounts have channel longitudinal profiles that are steep and typically linear to concave upwards. The erosion depth of Apu'upu'u Seamount is significant, despite the seamount's persistent submarine environment, because of its greater age, steeper flanks and greater contributing areas to channels compared with Valencia Seamount. These results illustrate that the channel morphology resulting from submarine erosion can become similar to that produced by subaerial erosion given sufficient time.
ISSN: 0950-091X

hal-00411425
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411425
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2008.00355.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Evidence of a changing environment in the catchment area of a small pond (Lansquenet, Lorraine, France) during the last millennium was provided by coupling palynology data and organic ratios [terrestrial to aquatic ratio: TAR(HC); the C29 vs. C27 sterols, C29/C27(ST); average chain length, ACL and aquatic/macrophytes ratio, Paq]. The depositional and alteration conditions of organic matter (OM) were provided by the 5α(H)-stanols/Δ5-sterols ratio. This study shows that quite simple organic ratios clearly allow identification of the different evolution steps of a watershed, from a swamp to the progressive settlement of a pond. During the swampy period, the C/N(at) (ca. 11.1), TAR(HC) (ca. 36.8), C29/C27(ST) (ca. 8.7) and Paq (<0.3) show a high contribution of allochthonous OM associated with the presence of particular aquatic and mesohygrophilous species. A woody level dated to the XIIIth century reflects the period of the settlement of the pond in a more oxic environment [5α(H)-stanol/Δ5sterol ratio <0.2]. Then, the progressive increase in aquatic input and the development of submerged and floating macrophytes are evidenced by low C/N(at) (<7.6), TAR(HC) (ca. 2.7), C29/C27(ST) (ca. 2) and high Paq (ca. 0.5), suggesting an increase in the water level and eutrophication of the pond. A second oxic event [5α(H)-stanols/Δ5sterols ratio averaging 0.16], associated with extensive OM degradation, corresponds to the most recent dredging in 2002 and reflects an important disturbance of sediments due to pond management.
ISSN: 0146-6380

hal-00758066
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00758066
DOI : 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2012.06.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
New outcrops in the Sinis peninsula (Sardinia, Italy) allow a detailed description of the Messinian erosion surface. The correlation between outcrops, industrial seismic data and data collected offshore Oristano from a recent cruise permits reconstruction of the geometry of this surface from presently emerged interfluves to the deep canyons offshore, with: - onshore: an eroded karstic plateau presently cropping out over a 20 km × 5 km area. Well-preserved karst structures occur locally and can form several metres high reliefs. The southernmost edge of the plateau is limited by a cliff. The karstic plateau and the cliff are sealed by transgressive deposits of Pliocene age; - offshore, an interfluve zone with a mostly flat and low-angle dipping plateau, westward dissected by paleovalleys which were identified down to a depth of 2000 m. In the Oristano Gulf, Messinian paleovalleys were also identified. The Capo San Marco paleocliff was probably located on the edge of a canyon. Onshore, only one major erosion surface was identified, located at the top the Messinian sequence. Offshore, this surface extends down to the abyssal plain. The surface was emplaced above deposits related to the Terminal Carbonate Complex. This indicates that the marginal evaporites are older than the major drawdown of the Mediterranean sea-level. The major drawdown is related to the deposition of the deep evaporites.
ISSN: 0037-0738

hal-00407864
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407864
DOI : 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2008.06.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Blackwell Publishing
Résumé : International audience
In the Causses platform (south-east France), Late Hettangian to Sinemurian deposits were interpreted previously as shallow-water carbonate ramp deposits. A new look at these deposits has shown a fault-controlled mosaic carbonate platform that is different from the carbonate ramp models. Within the platform mosaic, 15 lithofacies have been recognized, which are organized in four facies associations, including peritidal, restricted shallow sub-tidal, sand dunes and sub-tidal shelf facies associations. The rapid lateral and vertical facies changes, and the lack of consistent landward or seaward direction indicated by the pattern of facies changes, question the existence of a shoreline suggested by the traditional models for this region. Instead, the facies organization and cycle stacking pattern suggest deposition in a mosaic of intertidal islands between which sub-tidal restricted or open conditions could coexist in very close proximity. Such a platform mosaic would have been defined by tectonic activities along normal faults which segmented the shallow-water Causses platform. The facies and facies associations are arranged into metre-scale, peritidal and sub-tidal cycles that are also variable. Certain cycles show the same stacking pattern in all the sections and seem to be traceable over tens of kilometres. On the contrary, other cycles cannot be correlated; they are present only in specific sections and have a maximum lateral extension of 1 or 2 km. These metre-scale cycles stack to form four medium-scale cycles bounded by surfaces that display sub-aerial exposure features. Medium-scale cycles stack into two larger-scale cycles (tens of metres thick) and are bounded by well-defined karstic surfaces. Based on their lateral continuity and their stacking pattern, the metre-scale cycles are controlled probably by high frequency eustatic variations overprinting the topographic irregularities formed by differential subsidence of fault-bounded blocks. Episodic fault activities may reorganize the topography so that, even if eustatic changes may still be the major control of cycles, the expression and number of cycles could be different. Cycles of medium and large-scale are interpreted as being allogenic, controlled by changes in eustasy and/or subsidence rates as evidenced by their lateral continuity and the correlations of the large-scale cycles with third-order depositional sequences.
ISSN: 1469-3496

hal-00411940
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411940
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2007.00896.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The analysis of 2D deep-seismic-reflection profiles across the slope and abyssal plain of the Angola oceanic basin reveals the existence of a significant and formerly unknown depocentre beneath the giant Cenozoic Congo deep-sea fan, between 7000 m and 9000 m depth, deposited directly onto the Aptian oceanic crust. The unit, which is up to 2.5 km thick and extends for more than 200 km basinwards of the Continent-Ocean boundary, is probably aged Albian-Turonian. Its radial fan-shaped depocentre is centred on the present-day Congo River outlet and contains at least 0.2 Mio km(3) of sediments. These observations and the results from flexural modelling indicate that (1) the location of the Congo River's outlet has remained fairly stable since the Late Cretaceous, and (2) the basal unit was indeed sourced by a palaeo-Congo River probably located nearby the present-day one. Thus, the Atlantic sedimentary system related to the exoreism of the Congo River is much older than previously thought. Thermal modelling indicates that the maturation history of this upper-Cretaceous deposits is highly influenced by the interaction between the initial high heat flow of the young oceanic crust and further increase in sediment supply due to the progradation of the overlying Tertiary deep-sea fan during the Miocene. Hence, despite low present-day heat-flow values, should the unit have source rock potential, its basal section may be currently generating hydrocarbons.;All in all, the results from our models also suggest that the interplay between an initially high heat flow and the further high sediment supply in areas of major river input, may be a key factor for the thermal maturation of potential source rocks deposited onto a present-day "cold" oceanic crust.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00475541
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475541
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.08.015

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : The distribution and speciation of mercury (Hg) in the water column, the inputs (wet deposition and tributaries) and the outputs (atmospheric evasion and outlet) of an artificial partially anoxic tropical lake (Petit-Sa-Lit reservoir, French Guiana) were investigated oil a seasonal basis in order to appraise the cycling and transformations of this metal. The total mercury (HgT) concentrations in the oxygenated epilimnetic waters averaged 5 +/- 3 pmol L-1 in the unfiltered samples (HgTUNF) and 4 +/- 2 pmol L-1 in the dissolved (HgTD) phase (< 0.45 mu m). On average, the monomethylmercury (MMHg) constituted 8%, 40%, and 18% of the HgT in the dissolved phase, tile particulate suspended matter and in tile unfiltered samples, respectively. Covariant elevated concentrations of particulate MMHg and chlorophyll a in the epilimnion suggest that phytoplankton is ail active component for the MMHg transfer in tile lake. In the anoxic hypolimnion the HgTUNF averages 13 +/- 6 pmol L-1 and tile HgTD 8 +/- 4 pmol L-1. The averages of MMHgP and MMHgD in hypolimnetic waters were two and three times the corresponding values of the epilimnion, 170 +/- 90 pmol g(-1) and 0.9 +/- 0.5 pmol L-1, respectively. In the long dry and wet seasons, at the flooded forest and upstream dam sampling stations, the vertical profiles of MMHgD concentrations accounted for two distinct maxima: one just below the oxycline and the other near the benthic interface. Direct wet atmospheric deposition accounted for 14 moles yr(-1) HgTUNF, with 0.7 moles yr(-1) as MMHgUNF, while circa 76 moles yr(-1) of HgTUNF, with 4.7 moles yr(-1) as MMHgUNF, coming from tributaries. Circa 78 moles (similar to 17% as MMHg) are annually exported through tile dam, while 23 moles yr(-1) of Hg-0 evolve in the atmosphere. A mass balance calculation suggests that the endogenic production of MMHgUNF attained 8.1 moles yr(-1), corresponding to a methylation rate of 0.06% d(-1). As a result, tile Petit-Saut reservoir is a large man-made reactor that has extensively altered mercury speciation in favor of methylated species.
Applied Geochemistry (0883-2927) (Elsevier), 2008-05 , Vol. 23 , N. 5 , P. 1101-1126

Droits : 2008 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-4198.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2007.11.006
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4198/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Karukéra spur is an easternmost submerged rise of the Lesser Antilles fore-arc in the Guadeloupe archipelago, culminating about 4000 m above the fore-arc basin 150 km west of the deformation front. The analysis of 3500 km 2D high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection and multibeam bathymetric data, and the study of 14 core samples, allow for the first time to reconstruct its sedimentary anatomy and tectonic evolution. Seven seismic units (US1 to US7) are evidenced, organised into four major depositional sequences separated by erosional surfaces. Units US1 to US4 thicken to the south-southeast on the spur. The sedimentary deposits rest upon a deeply eroded metamorphic basement of the Caribbean Plate as in La Désirade Island. Sequence 1 (units US1 and US2) remains unknown in its lower part because it does not outcrop. Its upper part comprises early Miocene shallow water carbonates. Sequence S2 (Unit US3) only comprises an upper Miocene transgressive systems tract deposited into basinal environment. It is bounded by major erosional surfaces SB2 and SB3. Sequence 3 (US4 to US6) is Zanclean to Pleistocene. It is dominantly composed of shallow water, reefal deposits. Sequence 4 corresponds to recent deposits. The Karukéra spur experienced three main extensional episodes with alternations between uplift and subsidence periods. Uplifts are responsible for emersions and erosions. Subsidence severely drowned shallow water deposits. The first extensional episode led to the formation of horsts and grabens in the basement, prior to early Miocene deposits. The second extensional episode occurred during upper Miocene, in accordance with data in surrounding islands. The third tectonic episode developed since Calabrian. Noticeable is the constant reactivation of N130°–N150°, N150°–N180° and N40° trending faults since early Miocene and the neoformation of E–W trending faults since Calabrian. Our results suggest that at the latitude of Guadeloupean archipelago the Lesser Antilles subduction zone is an erosional margin because of the successive sweepings of the Santa Lucia then Tiburon Ridges.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-01172231
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172231
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.02.007

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Résumé : The objective of the present work is to study the formation of the passive continental margins of the Central Segment of the South Atlantic, most particularly the Congo and Angola margins. We propose a combined approach, which integrates structural constraints based on geological cross-sections (based on seismic data) and global constraints based on plate kinematic reconstructions. The structural study is based on : i) MCS and refraction data collected during the ZaiAngo programme (a joint project conducted by Ifremer and Total) ; ii) proprietary, industrial seismic data (courtesy of Total) from the Angola margin and iii) on all available seismic lines from the Africa and Brazil conjugated margins, between Walvis Ridge and the Equatorial Fracture Zones. Based on theses data, three structural domains (continental, transitional and oceanic) have been defined, the major characteristics of which are : Crustal thinning occurs abruptly, mostly below the continental slope, over a lateral distance of less than 50 km. The top of the crust deepens as the Moho shallows. Only a few extensional structures are observed ; tilted blocks are very few (one or two, depending on the profile), found only on the upper part of the slope and sealed by a discordance prior to salt deposition. The transitional domain is characterized by the existence of a pre-salt basin lying over a thin crustal layer. No tilted blocks are observed in this domain and reflectors within the pre-salt sediment series are parallel to the base of the Aptian salt, over distances greater than 100 km, precluding the possibility of any significant deformation that would imply large horizontal motions. Two types of crust are observed in the transitional domain. "Type I" crust is found below the undeformed pre-salt sediment series located below the eastern part of the basin ; it is characterized by an upper layer of thickness greater than 5 km and a abnormal velocity layer (7.2 - 7.6 km/s), up to 6 km thick. "Type II" crust is less than 5 km thick and found below the salt compressive front that affects the western part of the basin. The salt cover is continuous (no erosion surface is observed), from the continental shelf to the western termination of the basin. Salt was not deposited in a confined environment (like in the Mediterranean), but in a shallow water, lagunal environment. This imposes the zero-level and constrains the paleo-bathymetry at the time of salt deposition, which dates the latest stage of margin formation. Understanding the formation of a margin cannot be approached without studying the homolog margin. Therefore, it is of major importance to reconstruct the closure of the ocean bordered by these homolog margins and take into account the constraints imposed by the kinematic reconstructions on the lateral motions of the lithospheric plates. In order to assess the relative position of the plates at the ocean closure (prior to crustal thinning), a global study was thus performed, integrating all geophysical and geological constraints, in the ocean and on land. The role of african intra-plate deformation and its limits and their consequences have been thoroughly studied. To juxtapose the margins of the central segment of the Southern Atlantic, it is all the margins bordering the Equatorial Atlantic that need to be adjuste precisely. The kinematic study of this last region shows that the reconstruction obtained are reliable, unambiguous with a quantifiable precision The best fitting poles (obtained using the PLACA software), show that it is impossible to close the margins beyond the superposition of the salt fronts, from the Angola and Brazil margins. The geological cross-sections based on seismic data from the homolog margins indicate that a 330 km wide basin with thin (< 12 km) crust was present at the time of the fit. This basin cannot result from horizontal movement related to pure stretching or simple shear, or any model implying conservative volume. This conclusion is consistent with the existence of presalt reflectors parallel to the salt layer wich extends to the platform: the formation of the pre-salt basin must be related to vertical motions. The scenario that we propose for the evolution of the Congo-Angola margin consist in four stages: the first phase corresponds to extensional deformation limited to the few tilted blocks observed on the upper part of the slope. During the second phase, the main crustal thinning occurs, vertical motions prevailes, resulting in the formation of the continental slope and in the subsidence of the basin. The third phase corresponds to the first stress striction: deformation is concentrated in a limited section of the basin, which corresponds to the salt compression front. A proto-oceanic crust is formed, probably composed of thinned continental crust intruded by mantle material. The second stress striction corresponds to the finale phase, resulting in oceanisation senso stricto. The evolution described shows that we can not apply conservative models for margin formation (such as McKenzie and Wernicke or any of their avatars). In order to explain this thinning, one should investigate non-conservative models (implying geochemical transformation, small scale convection, intrusion...) such as those proposed in marginal or continental basins with no horizontal movments.
Ce travail de thèse aborde la formation des marges continentales passives dans le segment central de l'océan Atlantique Sud (plus particulièrement au Congo et en Angola), en intégrant une étude en coupe (étude structurale à partir des coupes sismiques) et une étude en plan (étude cinématique). L'étude structurale de la marge a été réalisée à partir des données de sismique réflexion et réfraction de la campagne Zaïango et d'une compilation de données sismiques réflexion existantes sur toutes les marges africaine et brésilienne entre les zones de fracture équatoriales et la ride de Walvis. L'interprétation de ces données a permis d'individualiser la structure de la marge en trois domaines : continental, transitionnel et océanique et de déterminer quelques points majeurs sur la structuration de la marge. L'amincissement est abrupt, localisé dans la zone de pente continentale et restreint à 50 km. La marge montre peu de structures distensives : seuls un ou deux blocs basculés sont observés en haut de pente continentale. Le domaine transitionnel est caractérisé par la géométrie particulière de la sédimentation anté-salifère, l'absence de blocs basculés et la faible épaisseur de croûte. La couche sédimentaire anté-salifère montre des réflecteurs plans jusqu'à la base du sel, continus sur 100 km, éliminant toutes possibilités de déformation du socle pendant et après son dépôt. La croûte du domaine transitionnel peut-être divisée en deux types : une croûte de type I sur laquelle se déposent les sédiments non déformés, et une croûte de type II sur laquelle se superposent les limites du « front compressif salifère » bien exprimé dans les séries postsalifères. Enfin le sel, que l'on observe depuis la plate-forme jusqu'au bassin profond, ne se dépose pas dans un bassin confiné (comme en Méditerranée) mais à un niveau proche de 0 m (ressemblant probablement à un dépôt de type lagunaire) et donne la paléo-bathymétrie au moment de son dépôt qui marque la fin de la période de formation de la marge. La compréhension de la genèse d'une marge ne peut être approchée sans son homologue. Cette simple constatation, cette évidence, montre toute l'importance que l'on doit apporter à la reconstruction cinématique initiale de l'océan qui borde ces marges homologues et aux contraintes imposées par les reconstructions cinématiques sur les mouvements horizontaux des plaques lithosphériques. Afin d'étudier la position des marges au moment de cette fermeture, c'est-à-dire avant amincissement, une étude globale intégrant l'ensemble des données disponibles, géophysiques et géologiques, océaniques et continentales, a été réalisée. Le rôle de la déformation intraplaque africaine, ses limites et leurs conséquences a, en particulier, été l'objet d'une attention poussée. Pour juxtaposer les marges du segment central, ce sont toutes les marges de l'océan Atlantique Equatorial qui doivent être ajustées précisément. L'étude cinématique réalisée de la région équatoriale montre que l'on obtient une reconstruction fiable et sans ambiguïté, avec une précision que l'on peut quantifier. Les pôles issus de cette étude (et calculés avec le Logiciel PLACA) indiquent qu'il est impossible d'obtenir une fermeture plus serrée que celle qui conduit à la superposition des fronts salifères brésilien et angolais : les coupes issues de la sismique réflexion des deux marges indiquent qu'il subsiste un bassin aminci, large de plus de 330 km et dont la croûte n'excède jamais 13 kilomètres d'épaisseur. La formation de ce bassin ne peut résulter de mouvements horizontaux, ce qui exclut un amincissement par étirement (pure stretching) ou par l'existence d'une faille de détachement (simple shear) ou par quelque modèle conservatif que ce soit. Cette constatation corrobore l'observation de la présence d'horizons anté-salifère parallèles, entre eux et au sel, couche salifère que l'on retrouve sur la plate-forme : la création de ce bassin anté-salifère ne peut être que liée à un mouvement vertical. Le schéma d'évolution que nous proposons à partir des données structurales et des contraintes cinématiques présente quatre étapes : le premier stade correspond à une phase de déformation distensive limitée aux quelques rares blocs basculés observés en haut de pente continentale. C'est durant la deuxième étape que se déroule la phase d'amincissement principal, les mouvements verticaux prévalent, aboutissant à la formation de la pente continentale et à la subsidence du bassin. La troisième phase correspond à une première striction des contraintes : la déformation se concentre sur une partie réduite du bassin, coïncidant avec le front salifère compressif. Une proto-croûte océanique se forme, probablement composée de croûte continentale amincie et intrudée de matériel mantellique. La seconde striction correspond à la phase finale de formation de la marge et aboutit à l'océanisation sensu stricto. L'étude cinématique et la description de l'évolution de la marge à partir des données sismiques montre donc que l'on ne peut envisager l'application d'un modèle de genèse des marges avec conservation de volume (type McKenzie ou Wernicke et leurs avatars) : pour expliquer l'amincissement du bassin, il faudrait probablement nous intéresser aux modèles non-conservatifs (impliquant transformation, convection à petite échelle, ...) qui sont déjà invoqués pour la formation des bassins marginaux ou continentaux, sans mouvements horizontaux.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2003/these-82.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/82/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Urucum region (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil) contains Neoproterozoic–Cambrian manganese ore in the layers Mn-1, Mn-2, and Mn-3, which are interbedded with iron formations (IFs) from the Santa Cruz Formation (Jacadigo Group) and surrounded by carbonate rocks from the Bocaina and Tamengo Formations (Corumbá Group). These rocks fill an ancient graben, with sediments from the Santa Cruz Formation overlying fluvial deposits from the Urucum Formation and limestones from the Bocaina and Tamengo Formations deposited in the shallow marginal regions. As the graben deepened, it was flooded with microbe-rich seawater and hydrothermalism began. Iron and manganese precipitated within the pores in arkosic sandstones, thereby forming the clastic Lower Mn-1 ore layer. The remaining manganese was simultaneously deposited on the basin floor with clastic clay and silt from turbidity currents, thereby forming the Upper Mn-1 clastic–chemical ore layer. The sedimentation of Mn-1 and its host IFs was controlled by seawater saturation and homogeneous oxidation, which caused manganese and iron sedimentation and the death of microorganisms, generating mangano-ferriferous sediments with high P, Co and Ni contents. Mn-2 formed during periods of tectonic quiescence through water influxes that carried abundant microbes, Fe(II), Mn(II), and SiO2. Under UV radiation, these microbes oxidized Mn(II) and Fe(II) to form hydroxides and died, thereby forming biomass that was enriched in P, Co and Ni and minor carbonate adjacent to and below the oxycline. These microbes also formed kremydilites, oblate structures that resemble manganese stromatolites, within the biomass and produced CH4 and/or H2 gas bubbles. During early diagenesis, wormlike organisms inhabited the biomass and probably separated iron from manganese to produce cryptomelane microbialites, which agglutinated to form manganese micronodules that coalesced to form the massive layer Mn-2. This process ended with the disappearance of microorganisms and the sedimentation of the IFs, and a new water influx generated layer Mn-3 via the same process. The final seawater upwelling precipitated IFs in the basin depocenter, whereas limestone from the Tamengo Formation was deposited along the basin’s edges. The diagenesis initially transformed the manganese oxides into cryptomelane and then into hollandite.
ISSN: 0169-1368

hal-01684668
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01684668
DOI : 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2017.09.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Borntraeger Science Publishers
Résumé : This study characterizes the stratigraphical context as well as the palaeoenvironmental and sealevel trends during the Late Frasnian and Famennian in the Buschteich section (Thuringia, Germany). An integrated approach combines conodont biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy based on carbon and oxygen isotopes, conodont biofacies analyses and investigations of the morphotypes of foraminifera that occur in the section was applied. Conodonts provided a fine-scale biostratigraphical framework. All the Famennian conodont biozones were identified, with the exception of the three lowest. The Frasnian – Famennian transition was further identified by a positive carbon isotope excursion. This continuous Famennian record is developed in a condensed limestone succession. The reddish Griotte facies, typical of strata of this period, were not documented. Black shales were not developed except for an interval of dark colored mud rocks corresponding to the Hangenberg event at the top of the section. The carbonate succession of Buschteich was deposited in an outer ramp environment, pelagic organisms are the dominant fauna. This is corroborated by the overall dominance of the deep-water conodont genus Palmatolepis. Microfacies, conodont biofacies and foramini fera indicated a deepening trend from the Lower crepida to the Lower rhomboidea Zone, followed by a shallowing trend from the Upper rhomboidea to the praesulcata Zone. This sequence overall matches the sea level reference curve for Euramerica. The timing of maximum water depth at Buschteich, as well as the general sea-level reference record, differs from the Col des Tribes (Montagne Noire, France). Differential uplift or overprinting of the long-term eustatic changes may be the cause of the discrepancy in the local sea-level records.
ISSN: 0078-0421

hal-01623111
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01623111
DOI : 10.1127/nos/2016/0318

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union (EGU) European Geosciences Union
Résumé : The Moroccan Mediterranean coast is located in one of the area's most vulnerable to extreme weather events or tsunami hazards. The objective of this research is to reconstruct the historical extreme submersion-event record using sea-induced deposits preserved in coastal lagoon. The Nador lagoon is the largest Moroccan lagoon (115 km2). It is located along the western Mediterranean, which has a high cyclogenetic character and is exposed to tsunamis from the Alboran Sea. The sandy barrier which separates the lagoon from the Mediterranean Sea is marked by much overwash, which indicate how intensely it has been exposed to the adverse sea events through history. Using the UWITEC© gravity coring platform, an undisturbed MC4.5 core (1.15 m long) was successfully sampled in the studied lagoon. To identify extreme sea events, a multi-proxy approach was applied combining sedimentological and geochemical data. Three paleoevents were identified; all of them are concentrated over the last 500 years, and the most recent event corresponds to the 1889 storm. For the others deposits, it is difficult to determine exactly their origin; however, the high frequency of storm events over the relevant period and the absence of historical tsunamis evidence is more in favor of the meteorological origin.
ISSN: 1561-8633

hal-01146451
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01146451
DOI : 10.5194/nhess-15-203-2015

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bucarest - Université de Bretagne occidentale
Résumé : This study is focusing on the architecture and recent sedimentary evolution of the Danube channel, the youngest channel-levee system in the Danube deep-sea fan. The study was conducted as part of the BlaSON French-Romanian Project, and combined high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles and chirp profiles with multibeam bathymetry and piston cores. This data set was acquired in 1998 during a joint survey IFREMER-GeoEcoMar of the north-western Black Sea. Previous seismic and acoustic data were also used. The Danube deep-sea fan is a large passive-margin mud-rich fan. Like the other systems of this type (Amazon fan, Mississippi fan or Indus fan) the Danube fan consists of stacked channel-levee systems intercalated with mass-transport deposits. Seismic and sedimentary facies in the Danube fan are similar to those identified in most of the mud-rich systems. Nevertheless, the Danube fan is distinguished by a specific feature: its development in a freshwater environment. This is due to the peculiar water-level history of the Black Sea controlled by the link to the Mediterranean through the Strait of Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. This connexion was successively interrupted (during sea level lowstands) and re-established (when the sea level was rising above the Bosphorus). Temporary absence of marine water influx during lowstands together with large freshwater inputs from the Danube and other major rivers changed the Black Sea into a freshwater lake during times of fan activity. This peculiarity possibly favourised the development of hyperpycnal flow at the Danube mouth and the initiation of turbidity currents in the deep-sea fan. The Danube channel is directly connected to the large shelf-indenting Danube canyon (also known as Viteaz canyon). The Danube canyon is deeply incised into the shelf margin for 26 km landward of the shelfbreak. During lowstands this canyon acted as the most important path for sediment supply to the deep sea in this part of the continental margin. It consists of a main trough with steep flanks, and a meandering thalweg cut into the flat canyon floor, attesting for the development of the canyon by erosion in the entrenched axial thalweg. Sections with specific morphology, orientation and gradient identified along the canyon, are interpreted as phases of landward expansion of the canyon. Internal structure of the canyon shows several erosional surfaces, which indicate that the present morphology of the canyon is the result of its polyphasic evolution. Instability in the zone of the canyon is related to the important sediment supply at the Danube mouth, to the presence of the gas in the surficial sediment, and possibly under a structural control. The upper part of the Danube channel (between the Danube canyon and ~1400 m depth) consists in a single leveed-channel that has undergone significant overbank deposition, as attested by the well-developed levees. The levees are strongly asymmetrical, being higher and wider on the right-hand side looking downstream. This type of asymmetry is rather common in deep-sea fans, and is generally attributed to the Coriolis effect (Menard, 1955). The channel is slightly sinuous, partially filled and incised by an entrenched thalweg, connected to the axial thalweg of the Danube canyon. Detailed seismic investigation inside the channel trough documented several depositional phases within the channel fill, separated by erosional surfaces. These surfaces are associated with distinct terraces identified on the multibeam bathymetry, that can be followed downward along the main trough axis. The valley fill deposits (where not removed by the subsequent erosional event) show an axial HAR (High Amplitude Reflections) seismic facies with lateral lower amplitude continuous reflections consisting in a levee facies, as proved by sampling. This indicates that filling up was associated with flow within the channel, and not with interruption of fan activity. On the middle slope below 1400 m, this single channel bifurcates through repeated avulsions. As a result, several highly meandering channels developed. The onlap relationships between these channels indicate that only one channel was active at a time. Each phase of avulsion resulted in a depositional unit consisting in a basal unchannelized lobe defined as High Amplitude Reflection Packets (HARP, Flood et al., 1991) that underlies a channel-levee system. The deposition of HARPs was associated with the readjustment of the longitudinal profile of the channel after the breaching of a levee, which resulted in remobilization of upslope channel deposits and eroded levees. When this adjustment was complete, erosion ceased and levees began to develop above the HARPs (Pirmez et al., 1997). All the identified phases of avulsion followed the same pattern: (1) breaching of the lower and narrower left levee; (2) building of a unit of High Amplitude Reflector Packets (HARP) basinward of the bifurcation point by the unchannelized flow, while the former channel was abandoned; and (3) initiation of a new meandering leveed channel. The northward migration of the resulting units through repeated bifurcations is influenced by the asymmetry between levees (hence by the Coriolis effect), and confined between the high levees of the initial phase of the Danube channel (to the south) and the steep relief of the Dniepr fan (to the north). Structure of the fan valley fill indicate that the erosional surfaces inside the upper channel could be formed in response of successive avulsions, by the adjustment of the longitudinal profile of the channel following the breaching of a levee wall. Sediments removed by erosion formed the HARP lobes basinward of the avulsion point. When this adjustment was complete, a channel-levee system developed downward of the bifurcation, overlying the HARPs, but also upward of this point, as a confined channel-levee system inside the erosional trough of the fan valley. Fluvial incisions identified on the continental shelf, together with the coastline location during the last active period of the Danube channel, indicated that the paleo-Danube was directed towards the head of the Danube canyon. Paleo-Danube mouth was fairly close (ca. 10 km) to the Danube canyon, supplying sediment to the Danube channel. Furthermore, hyperpycnal flow probably prevailed in the freshwater environment that characterized the Black Sea during times of fan activity. These conditions would have enabled the development of a quasi-continuous river-canyon-deep-sea fan system, ensuring the effective transfer of the sediment between the coastal zone and the deep sea.
Ce travail est consacré à l'étude de l'architecture et de l'évolution sédimentaire récente de l'éventail profond du Danube, en particulier de son dernier système chenal-levée: le chenal du Danube. L'étude a été réalisée dans le cadre du projet de coopération franco-roumaine BlaSON, à partir des données sismiques, bathymétriques-acoustiques et sédimentologiques acquises en 1998 lors d'une campagne en mer Noire réalisée par IFREMER et GeoEcoMar. Des données sismiques et acoustiques antérieures ont été également utilisées. L'éventail profond du Danube s'enserre dans la catégorie des grands éventails vaseux. Comme les autres systèmes de ce genre (tel que les éventails de l'Amazone, du Mississippi ou de l'Indus) il est constitué d'une succession de systèmes chenaux-levées intercalés avec des dépôts de transport en masse. Le fonctionnement de l'éventail était conditionné par la baisse du niveau marin lors des périodes glaciaires. Ses faciès sismiques et sédimentaires s'apparentent aux faciès qui caractérisent la plupart des éventails de ce type. L'éventail du Danube constitue néanmoins un cas particulier parmi les autres systèmes étudiés, du fait de son fonctionnement dans un bassin lacustre. Ceci est dû à la situation spécifique de la mer Noire dont la connexion avec la Méditerranée, par le détroit de Bosphore et la mer de Marmara, a été successivement interrompue (au cours de périodes de bas niveau) et reprise (quand le niveau marin remontait en dépassant le seuil du Bosphore). L'absence de l'apport d'eau salée pendant les périodes glaciaires, associée avec l'augmentation de l'apport fluvial, ont déterminé l'installation d'un milieu d'eau douce dans la mer Noire à chaque fois que la baisse du niveau permettait la reprise du fonctionnement de l'éventail profond. Cette situation particulière aurait favorisé la formation des courants hyperpycnaux à l'embouchure d'un fleuve du débit du Danube qui déversait ses eaux turbides dans un bassin lacustre, et aurait donc influencé l'apparition de courants de turbidité dans l'éventail profond. Le chenal du Danube s'est développé sur la pente continentale en prolongation du canyon du Danube (ou Viteaz) auquel il est directement connecté. Le canyon est incisé de manière significative (26 km) dans la plate-forme continentale. Au cours de bas-niveaux marins il constituait la principale voie de transfert des sédiments terrigènes vers le bassin profond dans cette partie de la marge. Le canyon est constitué par une entaille avec des flancs abrupts et un talweg axial incisé, qui montre l'importance du processus d'érosion du fond pour le développement du canyon. Les segments qui ont été identifiés le long du canyon, avec des morphologies, des orientations et des pentes spécifiques, sont interprétés comme des phases d'avancement du canyon vers la côte. Plusieurs incisions sont visibles dans la structure interne du canyon et témoignent que la morphologie actuelle du canyon est le résultat de son évolution polyphasée. L'instabilité de la zone du canyon est en relation avec les apports sédimentaires importants à l'embouchure du Danube, avec la présence du gaz dans les sédiments superficiels, et possiblement sous un contrôle structural. Sur la pente supérieure (entre le canyon du Danube et environ 1400 m de profondeur) le chenal du Danube présente des levées bien développées et fortement asymétriques, avec la levée droite plus haute et plus large que la levée gauche. Ce type d'asymétrie, fréquemment décrit dans les éventails profonds est généralement attribué à l'effet Coriolis (Menard, 1955). Le chenal est légèrement sinueux, partiellement comblé et incisé par un talweg axial qui représente la continuation sur la pente du talweg incisé dans le canyon du Danube. L'analyse sismique détaillée du remplissage de la vallée montre plusieurs phases de dépôt, séparées par des discontinuités érosives. Ces surfaces d'érosion correspondent à des terrasses emboîtées, relativement parallèles le long de la vallée, visibles dans la bathymétrie. Les dépôts qui constituent le remplissage du chenal présentent un faciès sismique de type HAR (High Amplitude Reflections) dans l'axe du chenal, partiellement (ou parfois totalement) enlevé par les phases d'érosion subséquentes, qui continue latéralement avec des réflexions litées correspondant à un faciès sédimentaire de levée. Le remplissage de la vallée a été donc associé avec des écoulements dans le chenal, et non pas avec l'interruption de son fonctionnement. Sur la pente inférieure, le chenal unique bifurque plusieurs fois par avulsion et forme de nouveaux systèmes chenaux-levées méandriformes. Ces systèmes se succèdent verticalement en onlap, ce qui montre qu'un seul chenal a été actif à la fois. Chaque phase d'avulsion a eu comme résultat la mise en place d'une unité constituée par un lobe défini comme "High Amplitude Reflection Packets" (HARP, Flood et al., 1991) à la base, et un système chenal-levée au sommet. Le dépôt d'un lobe HARP est associé avec de l'érosion dans le chenal en amont du point d'avulsion pour l'ajustement de son profil après la rupture de la levée. Quand le chenal a retrouvé son profil d'équilibre, l'érosion a cessé et des levées ont commencé à se développer au-dessus des HARPs (Pirmez et al., 1997). Toutes les phases d'avulsion se sont développées d'après le même modèle: (1) la rupture de la levée gauche, plus étroite; (2) le dépôt d'un lobe HARP par les écoulements non-chenalisés en aval du point d'avulsion, et l'abandon de l'ancien chenal; (3) l'initiation d'un nouveau système chenal-levée. La migration systématique du chenal vers le nord est influencée par l'assymétrie des levées (donc par la force de Coriolis), et confinée entre les grandes levées de la phase initiale du chenal du Danube, au sud, et le relief abrupt de l'éventail du Dniepr au nord. La structure sédimentaire du chenal du Danube indique que les surfaces érosives à l'intérieur du remplissage du chenal se seraient formées en réponse aux avulsions, du fait de l'ajustement du profil du chenal après la rupture d'une levée. Les sédiments du chenal érodés au cours de ce processus ont formé les lobes HARP. Quand le chenal a retrouvé son profil d'équilibre, un système chenal-levée s'est développé en aval du point d'avulsion au dessus du lobe HARP, mais aussi en amont de ce point, où il se trouve confiné dans la vallée érosive. Les incisions fluviatiles identifiés sur la plate-forme continentale et la position de la ligne de côte pendant la dernière période d'activité du chenal du Danube montrent que le paléo-Danube se dirigeait directement vers la tête du canyon du Danube. Son embouchure était située à proximité du canyon, qui alimentait le chenal du Danube. Cependant, les courants hyperpycnaux devaient prévaloir dans le milieu de salinité réduite qui caractérisait la mer Noire lors des périodes actives de l'éventail. Ces conditions auraient favorisé la mise en place d'un système quasi-continu fleuve-canyon-éventail profond, qui contrôlait le transfert des sédiments entre la côte et le bassin profond.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2002/these-1206.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1206/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The marine Messinian deposits of Tunisia cover a narrow littoral strip some 300 km long between the northern Bizerte and Cap Bon areas and the central-eastern Sahel region. Litho- and biofacies analysis of six stratigraphic sections reveals the distinctive features of these deposits.;The lower Messinian deposits are characterized by ubiquitous siliciclastics and abundant oolitic/bioclastic limestones organized in an eastward facing ramp. Westward (landward), this ramp changes into coastal lagoons, sometimes containing evaporites. Eastward, the ramp passes to the reefal Pelagian Platform extending as far as Lampedusa.;Two main sedimentary cycles are distinguished: 1) an early Messinian siliciclastic retrogradational then oolitic/bioclastic progradational cycle (Beni Khiar Formation and lower Oued bel Khedim Formation): 2) a late Messinian brackish to continental cycle that probably accumulated in rapidly subsiding lagoons (Cued el Bir Formation and upper Oued bel Khedim Formation). The Tunisian early Messinian cycle is partly eustatically controlled, but the late Messinian cycle cannot be confidently correlated to other well-known Messinian series because of tectonic movements.;The lower Messinian deposits of Tunisia are also characterized by abundant suspension-feeding organisms (molluscs and bryozoans) and rare corals, calcareous algae, echinoids, and larger benthic foraminifers. The proposed palaeoenvironmental model shows that the lower Messinian ramp of Tunisia was located on a current-protected margin and subjected to continent-derived sediment and nutrient supply. Eastward, nutrient influx diminished and a shallow-water isolated carbonate platform with coralgal facies developed between the western and the eastern Mediterranean basins. The main hydrological connection between these two basins occurred through a narrow seaway situated to the northeast of the Pelagian Platform, south of Sicily and Malta.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00475583
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475583
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.028

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We have integrated the relatively unknown distal domains of the Lower Congo basin, where the main depocenters of the Congo submarine fan are located, with the better-constrained successions on the shelf and upper slope, through the analysis of thousands of km of 2D seismic reflection profiles off-shore the Congo-Angola passive margin. The basin architecture is depicted by two ca. 800-km-long regional cross sections through the northern (Congo) and southern (Angola) margin. A large unit deposited basinward of the Aptian salt limit is likely to be the abyssal-plain equivalent of the upper-Cretaceous carbonate shelf that characterized the first post-rift deposits in West-equatorial African margins. A latest-Turonian shelf-deepening event is recorded in the abyssal plain as a long period (Coniacian-Eocene) of condensed sedimentation and basin starvation. The onset of the giant Tertiary Congo deep-sea fan in early Oligocene following this event reactivates the abyssal plain as the main depocenter of the basin. The time-space partitioning of sedimentation within the deep-sea fan results from the interplay among increasing sediment supply, margin uplift, rise of the Angola salt ridge, and canyon incision throughout the Neogene. Oligocene-early Miocene turbidite sedimentation occurs mainly in NW-SE grabens and ponded inter-diapir basins on the southern margin (Angola). Seaward tilting of the margin and downslope salt withdrawal activates the up-building of the Angola escarpment, which leads to a northward (Congo) shift of the transfer zones during late Miocene. Around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, the incision of the Congo submarine canyon confines the turbidite flows and drives a general basinward progradation of the submarine fan into the abyssal plain The slope deposition is dominated by fine-grained hemipelagic deposits ever since. Results from this work contribute to better understand the signature in the ultra-deep deposits of processes acting on the continental margin as well as the basin-wide sediment redistribution in areas of high river input.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00424533
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424533
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.04.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Ben Zireg anticline NW of Bechar yields the currently most-important Frasnian succession on the northern margin of the Algerian Sahara. It represents 26.5 m of calcilutites which are attributed to the middle–late Frasnian. As the early Frasnian is not represented, the succession rests conformably on undifferentiated, probably late Givetian, substrate. Fine-scaled conodont biostratigraphy reveals a continuous sequence of Montagne Noire Zones 5–13, superseded by the earliest Famennian Lower triangularis Zone. The deposits are organized into 15 sedimentary cycles that are initially condensed and become dilated upwards. Conodont biofacies indicate an overall deepening towards the top of the section with an episode of slight shallowing at the MN11/12 transition marked by an increase of ancyrodellids, which is also seen in the Marhouma section of the Ougarta region (SW Algeria). Homogeneous calcareous microfacies with only a few shaly intercalations determine a predominantly oxygenated depositional environment on an outer platform, submarine rise or ramp setting. This is also indicated by relatively low sedimentation rates which are similar in selected sections from the Tafilalt platform, and contrast with those from the Marhouma trough and the Maider basin. Unlike other Frasnian successions south of the Atlas Fault, but similar to the Moroccan Meseta, the Upper Kellwasser horizon is clearly discriminated at Ben Zireg by an outstanding occurrence of black shales on top of the oxygenated latest Frasnian deposits.
ISSN: 0016-7568

hal-01217151
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01217151
DOI : 10.1017/S0016756814000715

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Terrane accretion and intraplate deformation are both common processes occurring during the assembly of large continental masses. The relative roles of these mechanisms are at the heart of a debate concerning the tectonic evolution of the Borborema Province, northeastern Brazil. In the Central subprovince, four terranes or domains have been proposed. In the Alto Moxotó domain, paragneiss of the Sertânia Complex were considered to record a distinct structural and geochronological evolution compared to those in the adjacent Rio Capibaribe domain, in the East. Here, we report the results of a geological study conducted in the type area of the Sertânia Complex. Kinematic criteria and metamorphic mineral assemblages indicate that the main foliation record top-to-the-W tectonic transport under upper amphibolite facies conditions (650–700 °C). The main foliation was affected by overturned folds and upright to inclined folds; the latter two formed coevally with the development of transcurrent shear zones. Samples of mafic orthogneiss and paragneiss tectonically intercalated in the same outcrop were dated by LA-ICP-MS. The orthogneiss sample yields a crystallization age of 1978 ± 8 Ma. Detrital zircons in the paragneiss sample show a multimodal pattern with a well-defined age peak at c. 700 Ma, showing that the paragneiss is younger than 700 Ma and so the main foliation is also younger than this age. In turn, these findings suggest that the occurrence of exclusively Paleoproterozoic zircons in three other dated samples of paragneiss cannot be used to accurately define the deposition age of the detritus. The structural and geochronological characteristics of the Sertânia Complex are similar to those of the Surubim Complex in the Rio Capibaribe domain. Together with previous results showing that the basement of the Alto Moxotó and Rio Capibaribe domains is also similar, we interpret these sequences as having been deposited on a once contiguous tract of continental crust. An accretionary terrane model is thus not required to account for the tectonic evolution of this portion of the Borborema Province. Instead, a model of intracontinental deformation of a preexistent continent is fully supported by the data and also by the lack of evidence for oceanic subduction.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01622825
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622825
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2017.07.006