Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Observations from deep boreholes at several locations worldwide, laboratory measurements of frictional strength on quartzo-feldspathic materials, and earthquake focal mechanisms indicate that crustal faults are strong (apparent friction μ ≥ 0.6). However, friction experiments on phyllosilicate-rich rocks and some geophysical data have demonstrated that some major faults are considerably weaker. This weakness is commonly considered to be characteristic of mature faults in which rocks are altered by prolonged deformation and fluid-rock interaction (i.e., San Andreas, Zuccale, and Nankai Faults). In contrast, in this study we document fault weakening occurring along a marly shear zone in its infancy (<30 m displacement). Geochemical mass balance calculation and microstructural data show that a massive calcite departure (up to 50 vol %) from the fault rocks facilitated the concentration and reorganization of weak phyllosilicate minerals along the shear surfaces. Friction experiments carried out on intact foliated samples of host marls and fault rocks demonstrated that this structural reorganization lead to a significant fault weakening and that the incipient structure has strength and slip behavior comparable to that of the major weak faults previously documented. These results indicate that some faults, especially those nucleating in lithologies rich of both clays and high-solubility minerals (such as calcite), might experience rapid mineralogical and structural alteration and become weak even in the early stages of their activity.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01211481
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01211481
DOI : 10.1002/2014TC003716

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
During the last decade, the interaction of deep processes in the lithosphere and mantle with surface processes (erosion, climate, sea-level, subsidence, glacio-isostatic readjustment) has been the subject of heated discussion. The use of a multidisciplinary approach linking geology, geophysics, geodesy, modelling, and geotechnology has led to the awareness of coupled deep and surface processes. Deep earth dynamics (topography, erosion, tectonics) are strongly connected to natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis; sedimentary mass transfers have important consequences on isostatic movements and on georesources, geothermal energy repartitions. The ability to read and understand the link between deep Earth dynamics and surface processes has therefore important societal impacts. Ground-truthing at carefully-selected sites of investigation is imperative to better understand these connections.Due to its youth (<30 Ma) and its subsidence history, the almost land-locked Gulf of Lion–Sardinia continental margins system provides a unique record of sedimentary deposition from the Miocene to present. Due to its high subsidence rate, palaeoclimatic variations, tectonic events and vertical evolution are all recorded here at very high resolution. The late Miocene isolation and desiccation of the Mediterranean, the youngest and most catastrophic event, the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), induced drastic changes in marine environments: widespread deposition of evaporite (gypsum, anhydrite and halite) in the central basin, and intense subaerial erosion along its periphery. These extraordinary mass transfers from land to sea induced strong isostatic re-adjustments that are archived in the sedimentary record and represent a window to the lithospheric rheology and the deep processes.The GOLD (Gulf of Lion Drilling) project, proposes to explore this unique sedimentary record as well as the nature of the deep crustal structure, providing valuable information about the mechanisms underlying vertical motions in basins and their margins.
ISSN: 0264-8172

insu-01197393
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01197393
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01197393/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01197393/file/Rabineau%20et%20al.-final-MPG2014_REVISED-FINAL-No-Marked_FINAL%2BFigures.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.03.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
No major earthquake occurred in North Chile since the 1877 Mw 8.6 subduction earthquake that produced a huge tsunami. However, geodetic measurements conducted over the last decade in this area show that the upper plate is actually deforming, which reveals some degree of locking on the subduction interface. This accumulation of elastic deformation is likely to be released in a future earthquake. Because of the long elapsed time since 1877 and the rapid accumulation of deformation (thought to be 6-7 cm yr−1), many consider this area is a mature seismic gap where a major earthquake is due and seismic hazard is high. We present a new Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field, acquired between 2008 and 2012, that describes in some detail the interseismic deformation between 18°S and 24°S. We invert for coupling distribution on the Nazca-South America subduction interface using elastic modelling. Our measurements require that, at these latitudes, 10 to 12 mm yr−1 (i.e. 15 per cent of the whole convergence rate) are accommodated by the clockwise rotation of an Andean block bounded to the East by the subandean fold-and-thrust belt. This reduces the accumulation rate on the subduction interface to 56 mm yr−1 in this area. Coupling variations on the subduction interface both along-strike and along-dip are described. We find that the North Chile seismic gap is segmented in at least two highly locked segments bounded by narrow areas of weak coupling. This coupling segmentation is consistent with our knowledge of the historical ruptures and of the instrumental seismicity of the region. Intersegment zones (Iquique, Mejillones) correlate with high background seismic rate and local tectonic complexities on the upper or downgoing plates. The rupture of either the Paranal or the Loa segment alone could easily produce a Mw 8.0-8.3 rupture, and we propose that the Loa segment (from 22.5°S to 20.8°S) may be the one that ruptured in 1877.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00941279
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00941279
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt183

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
As subducting plates reach the base of the upper mantle, some appear to flatten and stagnate, while others seemingly go through unimpeded. This variable resistance to slab sinking has been proposed to affect long-term thermal and chemical mantle circulation. A review of observational constraints and dynamic models highlights that neither the increase in viscosity between upper and lower mantle (likely by a factor 20–50) nor the coincident endothermic phase transition in the main mantle silicates (with a likely Clapeyron slope of –1 to –2 MPa/K) suffice to stagnate slabs. However, together the two provide enough resistance to temporarily stagnate subducting plates, if they subduct accompanied by significant trench retreat. Older, stronger plates are more capable of inducing trench retreat, explaining why backarc spreading and flat slabs tend to be associated with old-plate subduction. Slab viscosities that are ∼2 orders of magnitude higher than background mantle (effective yield stresses of 100–300 MPa) lead to similar styles of deformation as those revealed by seismic tomography and slab earthquakes. None of the current transition-zone slabs seem to have stagnated there more than 60 m.y. Since modeled slab destabilization takes more than 100 m.y., lower-mantle entry is apparently usually triggered (e.g., by changes in plate buoyancy). Many of the complex morphologies of lower-mantle slabs can be the result of sinking and subsequent deformation of originally stagnated slabs, which can retain flat morphologies in the top of the lower mantle, fold as they sink deeper, and eventually form bulky shapes in the deep mantle.
ISSN: 1553-040X

hal-01571965
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571965
DOI : 10.1130/GES01476.1

Éditeur(s) : Society for Sedimentary Geology
Résumé : The Kramis deep-sea fan extends over 45 km at the base of the western Algerian continental slope between 2000 and 2550 m water depth and covers an area of approximately 1200 km2. The Kramis Fan was initiated after Messinian time, evolved during the Plio-Quaternary, and, is still active, as proved by submarine cable breaks during the 1954 Orléansville earthquake. The Kramis Fan is fed by two perpendicular canyons: the Kramis Canyon and the Khadra Canyon, merging in a single E–W-oriented channel confined at the foot of the slope. It is strongly asymmetric with a super-developed levee on the right-hand side of the channel, the Kramis Ridge. Based on recent multibeam, side-scan sonar, and sediment core data (Maradja, 2003 and 2005, Prisma, 2004, and Prisme, 2007 cruises), we describe the morphology and internal structure of the fan and particularly the sediment ridge, showing marked lateral changes in the sediment-wave morphology and their association with a series of large scours in the intermediate part of the ridge aligned in the continuity of the Khadra Canyon direction. Overall, the Kramis Ridge is formed by turbidity currents overspilling the ridge crest, which is 100 m above the channel floor, with two exceptions. In the distal part of the ridge the subdued ridge-crest height probably causes continuous overspill, testified by sediment waves migrating parallel to the channel. The scours occur in the intermediate part of the ridge where the ridge height is only 50–60 m; scours are interpreted as the result of cyclic steps due to flow stripping of currents provided by the intersection of the Khadra Canyon with the Kramis Canyon and Channel system. The scours probably postdate the main growth of the Kramis Ridge and induce the local erosion of the ridge, which could correspond to a new channel initiation cutting the ridge. The superposition or the interaction of flows with different directions is responsible of the amplification of the size of the sediment waves with erosional downside flanks and their transformation in scours. The Kramis Fan provides a clear example of flow interaction to explain the presence of large sediment waves and scours on modern submarine fans.
SEPM Special Publication (1060-071X) (Society for Sedimentary Geology), 2012 , Vol. 99 , P. 293-308

Droits : 2012 SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology)
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00129/24021/21978.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00129/24021/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
Fluid-rock interactions can control earthquake nucleation and the evolution of earthquake sequences. Experimental studies of fault frictional properties in the presence of fluid can provide unique insights into these interactions. We report the first results from experiments performed on cohesive silicate-bearing rocks (microgabbro) in the presence of pressurized pore fluids (H2O, drained conditions) at realistic seismic deformation conditions. The experimental data are compared with those recently obtained from carbonate-bearing rocks (Carrara marble). Contrary to theoretical arguments, and consistent with the interpretation of some field observations, we show that frictional melting of a microgabbro develops in the presence of water. In microgabbro, the initial weakening mechanism (flash melting of the asperities) is delayed in the presence of water; conversely, in calcite marble the weakening mechanism (brittle failure of the asperities) is favored. This opposite behavior highlights the importance of host-rock composition in controlling dynamic (frictional) weakening in the presence of water: cohesive carbonate-bearing rocks are more prone to slip in the presence of water, whereas the presence of water might delay or inhibit the rupture nucleation and propagation in cohesive silicate-bearing rocks.
ISSN: 0091-7613

hal-01054327
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054327
DOI : 10.1130/G34916.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer
Résumé : Subduction is a major process that plays a first-order role in the dynamics of the Earth. The sinking of cold lithosphere into the mantle is thought by many authors to be the most important source of energy for plates driving forces. It also deeply modifies the thermal and chemical structure of the mantle, producing arc volcanism and is responsible for the release of most of the seismic energy on Earth. There has been considerable achievements done during the past decades regarding the complex interactions between the various processes acting in subduction zones. This volume contains a collection of contributions that were presented in June 2007 in Montpellier (France) during a conference that gave a state of the art panorama and discussed the perspectives about "Subduction Zone Geodynamics". The papers included in this special volume offer a unique multidisciplinary picture of the recent research on subduction zones geodynamics. They are organized into five main topics: Subduction zone geodynamics, Seismic tomography and anisotropy, Great subduction zone earthquakes, Seismogenic zone characterization, Continental and ridge subduction processes. Each of the 13 papers collected in the present volume is primarily concerned with one of these topics. However, it is important to highlight that papers always treat more than one topic so that all are related lighting on different aspects of the complex and fascinating subduction zones geodynamics.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808864

ISBN : 978-3-540-87974
hal-00808864
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808864

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The transition zone at the downdip end of seismic coupling along subduction interfaces is often the site of megathrust earthquake nucleation and concentrated postseismic afterslip, as well as the focus site of episodic tremor and slip features. Exhumed remnants of the former Alpine subduction zone found in the Swiss Alps allow analyzing fluid and deformation processes near the transition zone region (30–40 km paleodepth). The Dent Blanche Thrust (DBT) is a lower blueschist-facies shear zone interpreted as a fossilized subduction interface where granitic mylonites overlie a metamorphosed accretionary wedge. We report field observations from the DBT region where multiple, several tens of meters thick foliated cataclastic networks are interlayered within the basal DBT mylonites. Petrological results and microstructural observations indicate that the various cataclasis events took place at near-peak metamorphic conditions (400–500°C, 1.1–1.3 GPa) during subduction of the Tethyan seafloor in Eocene times (42–48 Ma). Some of these networks exhibit mutual crosscutting relationships between mylonites, foliated cataclasites, and vein systems indicating mutual overprinting between brittle deformation and ductile creep. Whole-rock chemical compositions, in situ 40Ar-39Ar age data of recrystallized phengite, and Sr isotopic signatures reveal that DBT rocks also underwent multiple hydrofracturing and metasomatic events via the infiltration of fluids mainly derived from the oceanic metasediments underneath the DBT. From the rock fabrics, we infer strain rate fluctuations of several orders of magnitude beyond subduction strain rates (∼10−12 s−1) accompanied by fluctuation of supralithostatic and quasi-lithostatic fluid pressures (1 ≥ λ > 0.95). DBT brittle-plastic deformation switches highlight the diversity of deformation processes and fluid-rock interactions in the transition zone region of the subduction interface.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01243526
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243526
DOI : 10.1002/2015GC005776