Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
In the Oman ophiolite crustal section, a contact zone between the gabbro unit and the volcanics and diabase sheeted dikes, called the root zone of the sheeted dike complex, has been recently mapped at a fine scale in a selected area. The Oman ophiolite is derived from a fast spreading ridge which had a melt lens located between the main gabbro unit and the root zone of the sheeted dike complex. With a few exceptions accounted for, this horizon has a fairly constant thickness, similar to 100 m, and a crude internal pseudo-stratigraphy. At the base of the root zone are isotropic ophitic gabbros interpreted as a thermal boundary layer. This layer is transitional between the magmatic system of the melt lens, convecting at 1200 degrees C, and a high-temperature (< 1100 degrees C) hydrothermal system, convecting within the root zone. Above this level, the isotropic gabbros have been, locally, largely molten due to an influx of seawater, at similar to 1100 degrees C, thus generating varitextured ophitic and pegmatitic gabbros. These latter gabbros constitute the upper part of the root zone and are associated with trondjhemitic intrusions as screens in the lower sheeted dikes. Diorites and trondjhemites were also generated by hydrous melting, at temperatures below 1000 degrees C. The whole root zone is a domain of very sharp average thermal gradient (similar to 7 degrees C/m). At the top of the root zone, a new thermal boundary layer, with diabase dikes hydrated in amphibolite facies conditions, separates the preceding high- temperature convective system from the well-known greenschist facies (< 450 degrees C) hydrothermal system operating throughout the sheeted dike complex, up to the seafloor. The isotropic gabbros near the base of the root zone are intruded by protodikes with distinctive microgranular margins and an ophitic center. Protodike swarms are exceptional because, intruding a medium at similar to 1100 degrees C, they are largely destroyed by dike-in-dike intrusions and by hydrous melting. However, they demonstrate that this zone was generated by melt conduits issued from the underlying melt lens. Each dike of the sheeted dike complex is thus fed by one protodike. As this zone has been recently drilled by IODP in the eastern Pacific Ocean, a brief comparison is proposed.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00411331
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411331
DOI : 10.1029/2007GC001918

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union - AGU
Résumé : IODP Expedition 335 "Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4" returned to ODP Hole 1256D with the intent of deepening this reference penetration of intact ocean crust several hundred meters into cumulate gabbros. This was the fourth cruise of the superfast campaign to understand the formation of oceanic crust accreted at fast spreading ridges, by exploiting the inverse relationship between spreading rate and the depth to low velocity zones seismically imaged at active mid-ocean zones, thought to be magma chambers. Site 1256 is located on 15-million-year-old crust formed at the East Pacific Rise during an episode of superfast ocean spreading (>200 mm/yr full rate). Three earlier cruises to Hole 1256D have drilled through the sediments, lavas and dikes and 100 m into a complex dike-gabbro transition zone. The specific objectives of IODP Expedition 335 were to: (1) test models of magmatic accretion at fast spreading ocean ridges; (2) quantify the vigor of hydrothermal cooling of the lower crust; (3) establish the geological meaning of the seismic Layer 2-3 boundary at Site 1256; and (4) estimate the contribution of lower crustal gabbros to marine magnetic anomalies. It was anticipated that even a shortened IODP Expedition could deepen Hole 1256D a significant distance (300 m) into cumulate gabbros. Operations on IODP Expedition 335 proved challenging from the outset with almost three weeks spent re-opening and securing unstable sections of the Hole. When coring commenced, the destruction of a hard-formation C9 rotary coring bit at the bottom of the hole required further remedial operations to remove junk and huge volumes of accumulated drill cuttings. Hole-cleaning operations using junk baskets returned large samples of a contact-metamorphic aureole between the sheeted dikes and a major heat source below. These large (up to 3.5 kg) irregular samples preserve magmatic, hydrothermal and structural relationships hitherto unseen because of the narrow diameter of drill core and previous poor core recovery. Including the ~60 m-thick zone of granoblastic dikes overlying the uppermost gabbro, the dike-gabbro transition zone at Site 1256 is over 170 m thick, of which more than 100 m are recrystallized granoblastic basalts. This zone records a dynamically evolving thermal boundary layer between the principally hydrothermal domain of the upper crust and a deeper zone of intrusive magmatism. The recovered samples document a sequence of evolving geological conditions and the intimate coupling between temporally and spatially intercalated intrusive, hydrothermal, contact-metamorphic, partial melting and retrogressive processes. Despite the operational challenges, we achieved a minor depth advance to 1522 m, but this was insufficient penetration to complete any of the primary objectives. However, Hole 1256D has been thoroughly cleared of junk and drill cuttings that have hampered operations during this and previous Expeditions. At the end of Expedition 335, we briefly resumed coring and stabilized problematic intervals with cement. Hole 1256D is open to its full depth and ready for further deepening in the near future.
InterRidge News

hal-00688821
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688821

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : We designed a thermo-mechanical numerical model for fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge with variable viscosity, hydrothermal cooling, latent heat release, sheeted dyke layer, and variable melt intrusion possibilities. The model allows for modulating several accretion possibilities such as the "gabbro glacier" (G), the "sheeted sills" (S) or the "mixed shallow and MTZ lenses" (M). These three crustal accretion modes have been explored assuming viscosity contrasts of 2 to 3 orders of magnitude between strong and weak phases and various hydrothermal cooling conditions depending on the cracking temperatures value. Mass conservation (stream-function), momentum (vorticity) and temperature equations are solved in 2-D cartesian geometry using 2-D, alternate direction, implicit and semi-implicit finite-difference scheme. In a first step, an Eulerian approach is used solving iteratively the motion and temperature equations until reaching steady states. With this procedure, the temperature patterns and motions that are obtained for the various crustal intrusion modes and hydrothermal cooling hypotheses display significant differences near the mid-ocean ridge axis. In a second step, a Lagrangian approach is used, recording the thermal histories and cooling rates of tracers travelling from the ridge axis to their final emplacements in the crust far from the mid-ocean ridge axis. The results show that the tracer's thermal histories are depending on the temperature patterns and the crustal accretion modes near the mid-ocean ridge axis. The instantaneous cooling rates obtained from these thermal histories betray these discrepancies and might therefore be used to characterize the crustal accretion mode at the ridge axis. These deciphering effects are even more pronounced if we consider the average cooling rates occurring over a prescribed temperature range. Two situations were tested at 1275-1125 °C and 1050-850 °C. The first temperature range covers mainly the crystallization range that is characteristic of the high temperature areas in the model (i.e. the near-mid-oceanic-ridge axis). The second temperature range corresponds to areas in the model where the motion is mainly laminar and the vertical temperature profiles are closer to conductive. Thus, this situation results in less discriminating efficiency among the crustal accretion modes since the thermal and dynamic properties that are described are common to all the crustal accretion modes far from the ridge axis. The results show that numerical modeling of thermo-mechanical properties of the lower crusts may bring useful information to characterize the ridge accretion structure, hydrothermal cooling and thermal state at the fast-spreading ridges and may open discussions with petrological cooling rate results.
ISSN: 1991-959X

hal-00907012
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00907012
DOI : 10.5194/gmd-6-1659-2013

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-villars
Résumé : 69 new hydrothermal sites were discovered during the Naudur diving cruise. Dives were conducted between 17 degrees 5 and 18 degrees 40'5 on four segments showing marked contrast in morphology, volcanic, tectonic and hydrothermal activity. At 17 degrees 10'5, 17 degrees 25'5 and 18 degrees 37'5 the ridge has a dome shaped cross-section and is dominated by very active volcanic activity. Early widespread low temperature (<50 degrees C) diffuse hydrothermal discharge is followed by focused high temperature black smokers. At 18 degrees 15'S tectonic activity is dominant, no recent lava was observed, and only two of the 20 hydrothermal sites are active. At 18 degrees 32'5 recent lava representing a new volcanic episode partly covers the bottom of the graben. Deep hydrothermal convection is reactivated with new black smokers along the graben wall. Also, there is low temperature shimmering water from cooling lava flows. These three segments can be considered as successive volcanic/tectonic episodes typical of a fast spreading ridge. Further, the observations support a new model for the temporal evolution of episodic hydrothermal activity. Hydrothermal convection is unstable and superficial during the volcanic stage (dykes injection). At the beginning of the teaonic stage (graben formation) faults allow deep circulation and hot fluid to reach the surface. As the graben widens hydrothermal activity is less important and may cease. The heat of a new volcanic episode reactivates the deep hot water circulation along the graben faults completing a cycle.
69 nouveaux sites hydrothermaux ont été découverts entre 17'5 et 18'40'5 sur quatre segments présentant des activités volcaniques et tectoniques contrastées. A 17°10'S,17025'S et 18'37'5, la ride forme un dôme et l'activité volcanique est dominante. Les émissions hydrothermales sont d'abord diffuses et de basse température, puis focalisées et de haute température. A 18°15'S la majorité des sites hydrothermaux sont inactifs dans un graben axial dépourvu de laves récentes. A 18'32'5, des laves récentes s'épanchent au fond du graben. Les circuits hydrothermaux réactivés par le nouvel épisode volcanique se traduisent par des diffusions sur les laves récentes et par une reprise des émissions de haute température le long des murs du graben. Ces quatre segments traduisent des épisodes volcanoltectoniques successifs, caractéristiques de I'évolution temporelle des dorsales rapides. Les observations permettent de proposer un nouveau modèle de l'activité hydrothermale. Les circuits hydrothermaux sont diffus, peu structurés, instables et superficiels durant les épisodes volcaniques. Au début des épisodes tectoniques, les failles du graben drainent les fluides chauds en profondeur, puis lorsque le graben s'élargit, l'activité s'interrompt. La reprise de l'activité volcanique réamorce les circulations profondes le long des failles du graben.
Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Serie II (1251-8069) (Gauthier-villars), 1994-12 , Vol. 319 , N. 11 , P. 1399-1406

Droits : Académie des Sciences
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00183/29455/27889.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00183/29455/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany) Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Replenished axial melt lenses at fast-spreading mid-oceanic ridges may move upward and intrude into the overlying hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes, resulting in high-grade contact metamorphism with the potential to trigger anatexis in the roof rocks. Assumed products of this process are anatectic melts of felsic composition and granoblastic, two-pyroxene hornfels, representing the residue after partial melting. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 309, 312, and 335 at Site 1256 (eastern equatorial Pacific) sampled such a fossilized oceanic magma chamber. In this study, we simulated magma chamber roof rock anatectic processes by performing partial melting experiments using six different protoliths from the Site 1256 sheeted dike complex, spanning a lithological range from poorly to strongly altered basalts to partially or fully recrystallized granoblastic hornfels. Results show that extensively altered starting material lacking primary magmatic minerals cannot reproduce the chemistry of natural felsic rocks recovered in ridge environments, especially elements sensitive to hydrothermal alteration (e.g., K, Cl). Natural geochemical trends are reproduced through partial melting of moderately altered basalts from the lower sheeted dikes. Two-pyroxene hornfels, the assumed residue, were reproduced only at low melting degrees (<20 vol%). The overall amphibole absence in the experiments confirms the natural observation that amphibole is not produced during peak metamorphism. Comparing experimental products with the natural equivalents reveals that water activity (aH2O) was significantly reduced during anatectic processes, mainly based on lower melt aluminum oxide and lower plagioclase anorthite content at lower aH2O. High silica melt at the expected temperature (1000–1050 °C; peak thermal overprint of two-pyroxene hornfels) could only be reproduced in the experimental series performed at aH2O = 0.1.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-01174139
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174139
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-015-1136-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : Mid-ocean ridges magmatism is, by and large, considered to be mostly dry. Nevertheless, numerous works in the last decade have shown that a hydrous component is likely to be involved in ocean ridges magmas genesis and/or evolution. The petrology and geochemistry of peculiar coarse grained gabbros sampled in the upper part of the gabbroic sequence from the northern Oman ophiolite (Wadi Rajmi) provide information on the origin and fate of hydrous melts in fast-spreading oceanic settings. Uncommon crystallization sequences for oceanic settings (clinopyroxene crystallizing before plagioclase), extreme mineral compositions (plagioclase An% up to 99, and clinopyroxene Mg # up to 96), and the presence of magmatic amphibole, imply the presence of a high water activity during crystallization. Various petrological and geochemical constraints point to hydration, resulting from the recycling of hydrothermal fluids. This recycling event may have occurred at the top of the axial magma chamber where assimilation of anatectic hydrous melts is recurrent along mid-ocean ridges or close to segments ends where fresh magma intrudes previously hydrothermally altered crust. In ophiolitic settings, hydration and remelting of hydrothermally altered rocks producing hydrous melts may also occur during the obduction process. Although dry magmatism dominates oceanic magmatism, the dynamic behavior of fast-spreading ocean ridge magma chambers has the potential to produce the observed hydrous melts (either in ophiolites or at spreading centers), which are thus part of the general mid-ocean ridges lineage.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00939400
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00939400
DOI : 10.1002/ggge.20137

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The transition between the small melt lens observed on top of fast spreading ridge magma chambers and the overlying sheeted dike complex marks the interface between magma and the hydrothermal convective system. It is therefore critical to our understanding of fast spreading ridge accretion processes. We present maps of two areas of the Oman ophiolite where this transition zone is observed as continuous outcrops. Our observations, which include the base of the sheeted dike being crosscut by gabbros, are consistent with episodic dike injections in a steady state model but also suggest that the root of these dikes is commonly erased by vertical movements of the top of the melt lens. Dike assimilation is a possible mechanism for incorporating hydrated phases, which result from hydrothermal alteration, to the melt lens during upward migrations of its upper boundary. Upward migrations are also responsible for a granoblastic overprint of the root of the dikes that is also observed in the stoped diabase xenoliths. This granoblastic overprint attests to reheating of previously hydrothermally altered lithologies which can even trigger hydrous partial melting due to the lowering of the solidus of mafic lithologies by the presence of a water activity. Clinopyroxenes present in these granoblastic lithologies are typically low in Ti and Al content, thus strongly contrasting with corresponding magmatic clinopyroxene. This may attest to the recrystallization of clinopyroxenes after amphiboles under the peculiar conditions present at the root zone of the sheeted dike complex. Downward migrations of the top of the melt lens result in the crystallization of the isotropic gabbros at its roof, which represent the partly fossilized melt lens. Melt lens fossilization eventually occurs when magma supply is stopped or at the melt lens margins where the thermal conditions become cooler. Melt lens migration, recrystallization of hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes during reheating stages, and assimilation processes observed in the Oman ophiolite are consistent with the observations made in IODP Hole 1256D. We propose a general dynamic model in which the melt lens at fast spreading ridges undergoes upward and downward movements as a result of either eruption/replenishment stages or variations in the hydrothermal/magmatic fluxes.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00445249
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00445249
DOI : 10.1029/2009GC002652

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The Oman ophiolite is regarded as derived from a fast spreading oceanic ridge. As in its present-day marine analogs, expectedly, the gabbro unit crystallized in a large magma chamber underneath a small melt lens. In ophiolites, this melt lens is reduced to a horizon mapped in the field, where the floor and the roof of the melt lens joined. The magmatic activity of the former melt lens has been studied in gabbros located below the melt lens horizon. Beneath a stable melt lens, gabbros subside and drift through the steep walls of the magma chamber as steeply foliated gabbros. In contrast, in unstable melt lenses more specifically considered here, flat-lying gabbros are exposed beneath the lens. These gabbros were settling on the floor while the melt lens was retreating. Their strong magmatic foliations and lineations point to a dynamic deposition on the floor, and lineation trends record the structure of convection rolls within the lens. Time constraints suggest a similar to 100 year periodicity of melt recharge by short and powerful melt pulses followed by a shorter time of convection activity after recharge and a longer period of static magma settling, as recently proposed for the East Pacific Rise. At each new melt pulse, the lens nearly doubles its volume by surface expansion, within a short time lapse, before slowly and progressively retreating to feed crustal accretion. Large horizontal surface inflation of the lens better explains the seawater hydration of the accreting crust than melt lens vertical motion through the lid.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00617452
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617452
DOI : 10.1029/2010JB007934

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : A section of ancient fast-spreading ocean crust was sampled at Wadi Gideah, located in the Wadi Tayin Massif of the Oman ophiolite. This sample suite was used for generating a coherent data set combining various petro-geochemical and structural investigations, with the aim of building a reference section for advancing our understanding of crustal accretion processes at fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges. Additionally, this study focuses on one outcrop that represents part of the fossil axial melt lens (AML).Major and trace element analyses reveal a trend of chemical evolution up section in the lower crust, with a marked difference between the layered gabbros and the foliated gabbros above. Petrological modeling shows that the chemical evolution up section can be produced by hydrous fractionation crystallization, with melt H2O contents of ~0.8 wt% and 0.8 to 1.2 wt% for the lower and upper crust, respectively. Together with the observed very steep bulk Zr/Hf vs. Zr gradient, high F and Cl content of magmatic amphibole, general Nb-Ta depletion of melts compared with NMORB, and high Sr87/Sr86 ratio compared with modern fast-spread crust, this suggests that Wadi Gideah layered gabbros were accreted by crystallization of ascending melts in sills, in a context of subduction initiation. The distinct changes in chemical trends and average grain size at the layered to foliated gabbro transition are tentatively explained by enhanced hydrothermal cooling deeper than the AML. The gabbro/dike transition displays complex structural and lithological relationships that, together with fractional crystallization modeling, point to episodic vertical movements of the AML. Plagioclase crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) measured over the whole gabbro section are always consistent with magmatic flow. The CPO strength generally increases downward, with more scattering in the layered gabbro section. From the top to the bottom of the layered gabbros, CPO become progressively more prolate, possibly reflecting increasing shear induced by active mantle flow underneath.Wadi Gideah lower crust recorded a formation history consistent with a hybrid accretion model, combing several processes such as downward magmatic flow and/or upward melt migration in the upper foliated gabbros, sill intrusions in the layered gabbros, and deep hydrothermal circulation. The latter was presumably focused in channels, preserved today as several, up to 100 m wide zones of extensively altered former layered gabbro, cross-cutting the magmatic layering. These metagabbros display significantly higher Sr87/Sr86 ratio, late stage magmatic phases, and evidence for high temperature partial melting.
Une coupe d'ancienne croute océanique rapide a été échantillonnée dans le Wadi Gideah, situé dans le Massif de Wadi Tayin de l'Ophiolite d'Oman. Cette série d'échantillons a permis de générer un jeu de données cohérent, combinant des études pétro-géochimiques et structurales, dans le but de construire une coupe de référence pour mieux contraindre notre compréhension des processus d'accrétion crustale aux dorsales océaniques rapides. Ce travail intègre aussi l'étude détaillée d'un affleurement représentant en partie la lentille magmatique axiale (LMA) fossile.Les analyses d'éléments majeurs et traces révèlent une évolution chimique dans la croûte inférieure, avec une nette différence entre les gabbros lités et les gabbros foliés sus-jacents. La modélisation pétrologique montre que l'évolution chimique vers le haut peut être produite par cristallisation fractionnée hydratée, avec des teneurs en H2O des magmas de ~0.8 wt% dans la croute inférieure et 0.8 to 1.2 wt% dans la croute supérieure. Combiné aux forts gradients de Zr/Hf vs. Zr, aux teneurs élevées de F et Cl dans les amphiboles magmatiques, à l'appauvrissement général en Nb-Ta des magmas comparé aux NMORB, et aux rapports Sr87/Sr86 élevés comparés à la croûte rapide moderne, ceci suggère que les gabbros lités du Wadi Gideah ont été formés par la cristallisation des magmas ascendants dans des sills, dans un contexte d'initiation de subduction. Les changements de signature géochimique et de taille de grain à la transition entre gabbros lités et gabbros foliés témoignent possiblement d'un fort refroidissement hydrothermal plus profond que la LMA. La transition complexe filonien/gabbro montre des relations structurale et lithologiques complexes, qui, combinées o la modélisation de la cristallisation fractionnée, traduisent les mouvements verticaux épisodiques de la LMA. Les orientations préférentielles cristallographiques (OPC) des plagioclases mesurées sur l'ensemble de la coupe dans les gabbros témoignent toujours d'une déformation magmatique. L'intensité des OPC a tendance à augmenter vers le bas, avec une plus forte variabilité dans les gabbros lités. Dans les gabbros lités, les OPC sont de plus en plus linéaires vers le bas, résultant possiblement d'un cisaillement plus fort induit par l'écoulement actif du manteau sous-jacent.La croûte inférieure dans le Wadi Gideah a enregistré une histoire compatible avec un modèle d'accrétion hydride, combinant plusieurs processus tels que l'écoulement magmatique vers le bas et/ou la migration de liquides magmatiques vers le haut dans les gabbros foliés supérieurs, l'intrusion de sills dans les gabbros lités, et une circulation hydrothermale profonde. Cette dernière était probablement concentrée dans des chenaux, préservés aujourd'hui sous la forme de plusieurs zones, dont l'épaisseur atteint 100 m, de gabbros lités fortement altérés, recoupant le litage magmatique. Ces métagabbros ont des rapports Sr87/Sr86 élevés, comportent des phases magmatiques tardives et montrent des évidences de fusion partielle.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01302675

tel-01302675
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01302675
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01302675/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01302675/file/Th%C3%A8se_Tim-Mueller_2015.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : This PhD work is based on field, petrographic, and geochemical observations of rocks originated at the base of the sheeted dike complex, in the Oman ophiolite and at IODP Site 1256, coupled with an experimental study. It provides new constrains on processes that occur at the magma / hydrothermal system transition in oceanic crust formed at fast spreading ridges. The base of the sheeted dike complex is truncated by intrusive isotropic gabbros, and therefore reheated and recrystallized to the "granoblastic dikes" under temperatures up to 1030°C. Xenoliths of granoblastic microgabbros and microgabbronorites derived from the granoblastic dikes are commonly observed in the about 100 meters thick horizon of isotropic gabbro that underlies the sheeted dike complex. These features can be explained by upward migrations of the melt lens that is present at fast spreading centers. The occurrence of several assimilation features (xenoliths and granoblastic patches) in the isotropic gabbro horizon supports the hypothesis that this horizon represents the fossilization of the upper melt lens. The experimental study was designed to simulate experimentally the effect of partial melting of hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes. The results show that melting starts at 850°C, confirm the residual origin of granoblastic dikes and xenoliths, and attest to the anatectic origin of the oceanic plagiogranites that are commonly present close to the base of the sheeted dike complex. The major and trace element composition of the experimental anatectic melt that represents the main contaminant for primitive MORBs at fast spreading ridges has been determined. The upper axial melt lens at fast spreading mid-ocean ridges is herein described as a dynamic system that can migrate vertically, and which fossilizes when moving off-axis.
Ce travail de thèse est basé sur des observations de terrain, sur une étude pétrographique et géochimique des roches formées à la base du complexe filonien dans l'ophiolite d'Oman et au niveau du Site IODP 1256, ainsi que sur une étude expérimentale. De nouvelles contraintes sont apportées sur les processus se produisant à la transition magma / système hydrothermal dans la croute océanique formée au niveau des dorsales à expansion rapide. L'intrusion de gabbros isotropes dans la base du complexe filonien a provoqué son réchauffement et sa recrystallization en « dikes granoblastiques » jusqu'à des températures de 1030°C. Des xénolites de microgabbro à orthopyroxene dérivées des dikes granoblastiques sont souvent observées dans le niveau de gabbros isotropes épais de 100 mètres environ qui est présent à la base du complexe filonien. Ces différentes caractéristiques sont à relier à des migrations verticales vers le haut du sommet de la lentille magmatique supérieure qui est observée aux dorsales rapides. Les nombreuses évidences d'assimilation (xénolites et patchs granoblastiques) dans le niveau des gabbros isotropes appuient l'hypothèse que ce niveau représente la fossilisation de la lentille magmatique supérieure. L'étude expérimentale a consisté à tester l'effet de la fusion partielle du complexe filonien préalablement hydrothermalisé. Les résultats montrent que la fusion commence à 850°C, confirment l'origine résiduelle des dikes granoblastiques et des xénolites associées, et attestent de l'origine anatectique des plagiogranites océaniques qui sont couramment observés à proximité de la base du complexe filonien. La composition en éléments majeurs et traces du liquide anatectique a été déterminée. Ce liquide représente le principal contaminant pour les MORBs primitifs émis au niveau des dorsales rapides. La lentille magmatique supérieure présente au niveau des dorsales médio-océaniques à expansion rapide est ici décrite comme un système dynamique qui peut migrer verticalement, et qui est fossilisée lorsqu'elle se déplace hors axe.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00448699

tel-00448699
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00448699
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00448699/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00448699/file/France_2009_PhD.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
Search String Advanced > Saved Searches >ARTICLE TOOLS Get PDF (3653K) Save to My Profile E-mail Link to this Article Export Citation for this Article Get Citation Alerts Request PermissionsMore Sharing ServicesShare|Share on citeulikeShare on facebookShare on deliciousShare on www.mendeley.comShare on twitter Abstract Article References Cited ByView Full Article (HTML) Enhanced Article (HTML) Get PDF (3653K)AbstractFor the first time, the crystallized remnant of an oceanic ridge magma chamber is documented in the Oman ophiolite. It exists in the centre of a 40 km long monoclinal ridge (Jebel Dihm, Wadi Tayin massif), exposing a full crustal section perpendicular to the spreading direction. New detailed mapping supported by U-Pb zircon geochronology suggests that the active, fast-spreading ridge that died just prior to detachment of the ophiolite is preserved and largely intact. Our observations provide insights into the crystallizing mush zone of a magma chamber, before it crosses the external walls and solidifies as deformed gabbros. Our data provide new constraints on the shape and internal dynamics of a magma chamber, including gabbro subsidence from the floor of a perched melt lens and the limited contribution of sills to crustal accretion. By locating precisely the palaeo-ridge axis, prior full spreading rate estimates can be increased to ~140 km Ma−1.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-01121586
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01121586
DOI : 10.1111/ter.12130

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Three-quarters of the oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges is composed of plutonic rocks whose mineral assemblages, textures and compositions record the history of melt transport and crystallization between the mantle and the sea floor. Despite the importance of these rocks, sampling them in situ is extremely challenging owing to the overlying dykes and lavas. This means that models for understanding the formation of the lower crust are based largely on geophysical studies1 and ancient analogues (ophiolites)2, 3, 4, 5 that did not form at typical mid-ocean ridges. Here we describe cored intervals of primitive, modally layered gabbroic rocks from the lower plutonic crust formed at a fast-spreading ridge, sampled by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program at the Hess Deep rift. Centimetre-scale, modally layered rocks, some of which have a strong layering-parallel foliation, confirm a long-held belief that such rocks are a key constituent of the lower oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges3, 6. Geochemical analysis of these primitive lower plutonic rocks--in combination with previous geochemical data for shallow-level plutonic rocks, sheeted dykes and lavas--provides the most completely constrained estimate of the bulk composition of fast-spreading oceanic crust so far. Simple crystallization models using this bulk crustal composition as the parental melt accurately predict the bulk composition of both the lavas and the plutonic rocks. However, the recovered plutonic rocks show early crystallization of orthopyroxene, which is not predicted by current models of melt extraction from the mantle7 and mid-ocean-ridge basalt differentiation8, 9. The simplest explanation of this observation is that compositionally diverse melts are extracted from the mantle and partly crystallize before mixing to produce the more homogeneous magmas that erupt.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-00950085
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950085
DOI : 10.1038/nature12778

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In the Oman ophiolite, the horizon where the melt lens pinched during drifting away from the ocean ridge axis has been identified. Starting in the Root Zone of the Sheeted Dike Complex (RZSDC) located above this horizon, 18 Sections down to the upper gabbros unit have been mapped in great detail, in selected areas of the southern massifs of this ophiolite. They are complemented by 133 sites, located throughout the entire ophiolite, where the transition from the RZSDC to the uppermost foliated gabbros is well exposed. Altogether, half the sites and 11 cross sections display, within a few tens of meters beneath the RZSDC, a magmatic foliation which is parallel to the overlying sheeted dikes. In the other sites and cross sections, the gabbro foliation is either flat-lying or steep but not parallel to the sheeted dikes. Compared to the RZSDC isotropic ophitic gabbros where clinopyroxene is interstitial between plagioclase laths, in the topmost steeply foliated gabbros, clinopyroxene is idiomorphic, becoming rapidly granular and tabular down section by recrystallization and peripheral alteration to hornblende. Moving down from these uppermost gabbros and over one hundred meters, the steep foliation becomes stronger and the poorly recovered top gabbros grade into the recrystallized, granular gabbros of the gabbro unit. These repeated observations indicate to ascribe these gabbros to subsidence of a compacting mush from the floor of the melt lens into the underlying, main magma chamber. The topmost gabbros beneath RZSDC, which were expelled from the melt lens by drifting very soon after settling on the melt lens floor, display in plagioclase a spectacular zoning pointing to a fast cooling. Moving downwards, stronger foliation, increased compaction and recovery-recrystallization are explained by the time spent by the subsiding mush inside the magma chamber increasing by one order of magnitude (similar to 50 to 500 yr) over this vertical distance. This field-based study brings compelling field evidence supporting the former models of subsidence which were based on the assumption that the mush that settled onto the floor of the melt lens is sucked downwards during drifting of the crust away from the ridge axis.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00420903
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420903
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.04.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
IODP Hole U1309D (Atlantis Massif, Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30 degrees N) is the second deepest hole drilled into slow spread gabbroic lithosphere. It comprises 5.4% of olivine-rich troctolites (->70% olivine), possibly the most primitive gabbroic rocks ever drilled at mid-ocean ridges. We present the result of an in situ trace element study carried out on a series of olivine-rich troctolites, and neighbouring troctolites and gabbros, from olivine-rich intervals in Hole U1309D. Olivine-rich troctolites display poilkilitic textures; coarse-grained subhedral to medium-grained rounded olivine crystals are included into large undeformed clinopyroxene and plagioclase poikiloblasts. In contrast, gabbros and troctolites have irregularly seriate textures, with highly variable grain sizes, and locally poikilitic clinopyroxene oikocrysts in troctolites. Clinopyroxene is high Mg# augite (Mg# 87 in olivine-rich troctolites to 82 in gabbros), and plagioclase has anorthite contents ranging from 77 in olivine-rich troctolites to 68 in gabbros. Olivine has high forsterite contents (82-88 in olivine-rich troctolites, to 78-83 in gabbros) and is in Mg-Fe equilibrium with clinopyroxene. Clinopyroxene cores and plagioclase are depleted in trace elements (e.g., Yb-cpx similar to 5-11 x Chondrite), they are in equilibrium with the same MORB-type melt in all studied rock-types. These compositions are not consistent with the progressively more trace element enriched (evolved) compositions expected from olivine rich primitive products to gabbros in a MORB cumulate sequence. They indicate that clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystallized concurrently, after melts having the same trace element composition, consistent with crystallization in an open system with a buffered magma composition. The slight trace element enrichments and lower Cr contents observed in clinopyroxene rims and interstitial grains results from crystallization of late-stage differentiated melts, probably indicating the closure of the magmatic system. In contrast to clinopyroxene and plagioclase, olivine is not in equilibrium with MORB, but with a highly fractionated depleted melt, similar to that in equilibrium with refractory oceanic peridotites, thus possibly indicating a mantle origin. In addition, textural relationships suggest that olivine was in part assimilated by the basaltic melts after which clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystallized (impregnation). These observations suggest a complex crystallization history in an open system involving impregnation by MORB-type melt(s) of an olivine-rich rock or mush. The documented magmatic processes suggest that olivine-rich troctolites were formed in a zone with large magmatic transfer and accumulation, similar to the mantle-crust transition zone documented in ophiolites and at fast spreading ridges.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00420916
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420916
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.02.013

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-villars
Résumé : The submersible-study of four segments of the East Pacific Rise between 17 degrees and 18 degrees 40'S, where the spreading rate is greater than 150 mm/a, allows us to confirm the variability of the accretion processes. The segment between 17 degrees and 17 degrees 30'S shows an intense present-day magmatic activity. The one between 18 degrees 10' and 18 degrees 22'S shows a mainly tectonic activity. The segment between 18 degrees 22' and 18 degrees 37'S is an intermediate stage with an axial graben in which fresh lavas were emplaced by an extremely young eruption. On all the segments the hydrothermal activity exists ranging from shimmering water up to black smokers, It is associated with different stages of animal colonization.
L'étude par le submersible Nautile de quatre segments de la Dorsale Est Pacifique entre 17° et 18°40'S où le taux d'ouverture est de plus de 150 mm/an, permet de confirmer la variabilité des processus de l'accrétion dans le temps et dans l'espace. Le segment compris entre 17° et 17°30'S montre une intense activité magmatique actuelle ou sub-actuelle, celui compris entre 18°10' et 18°22'S montre une activité essentiellement tectonique et celui compris entre 18°22' et 18°37'S une combinaison des deux, le graben d'extension étant partiellement rempli de laves émises lors d'une éruption extrêmement récente. Partout existe une activité hydrothermale, allant de l'émission de fluides moirés à des fumeurs noirs, associée à divers stades de colonisation animale.
Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Serie II (1251-8069) (Gauthier-villars), 1994-10 , Vol. 319 , N. 7 , P. 811-818

Droits : Académie des Sciences
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00183/29458/27840.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00183/29458/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
A comprehensive model for the activity of the elementary accretion segment at fast-spreading ridges relies on integration of structural data from the Oman ophiolite and geophysical results from the East Pacific Rise (EPR) around 9°N, which are of comparable size and spreading rates. The axial melt lens at shallow crustal level provides a link between Deval segmentation at the seafloor and a lower melt sill at Moho level, imaged at the EPR as a crustal melt zone (CMZ) and mapped in Oman as the Moho transition zone (MTZ). Both are attached to a mantle upwelling at the EPR, and to a frozen diapir in Oman. The physical link between diapiric mantle uprising at the Moho and Devals segmentation at the seafloor is the melt being injected from the mantle into the lower MTZ, ponding there, and then being released by powerful injections into the upper melt lens. The magma chamber covers the diapir at a distance of 5 km from the ridge axis.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-01171958
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01171958
DOI : 10.1111/ter.12137

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) is the most abundant magma on Earth, and provides a geochemical window into the mantle. Deriving mantle composition and melting processes from the erupted lavas requires correction to be made for their evolution as they pass through and generate the oceanic crust. This is typically done by assuming that modification of melts in crustal magma chambers occurs exclusively by fractional crystallisation. However, extensive mineral major- and trace element data from a full section of fast-spread lower crustal rocks exposed in Hess Deep (equatorial Pacific Ocean) demonstrate that their evolution is instead controlled by reactive porous flow. These reactions lead to a strong enrichment in, and fractionation of, incompatible trace elements in the melt (as recorded by clinopyroxene compositions), leading to melt compositions far outside of the compositional realm of MORB both in terms of trace element abundances and ratios. The reactive signature increases in strength up section, peaking in varitextured gabbros interpreted to represent the fossilised axial melt lens, indicating that reactive porous flow occurred on the scale of the entire lower crust. The enrichment of the melt is coupled with a strong trace element depletion of plagioclase, olivine, and, to a lesser extent, clinopyroxene cores, suggesting that these phases represent the residues of the reactions from which trace elements have been removed. The dominant role of reactive porous flow, and the resulting deviations from fractional crystallisation predictions, suggest that the lower oceanic crust plays a much more complex and significant role in modifying the compositions of MORB than previously expected, with consequent implications for models of mantle processes.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00814075
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00814075
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
In ophiolites and in present-day oceanic crust formed at fast spreading ridges, oceanic plagiogranites are commonly observed at, or close to the base of the sheeted dike complex. They can be produced either by differentiation of mafic melts, or by hydrous partial melting of the hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes. In addition, the hydrothermally altered base of the sheeted dike complex, which is often infiltrated by plagiogranitic veins, is usually recrystallized into granoblastic dikes that are commonly interpreted as a result of prograde granulitic metamorphism. To test the anatectic origin of oceanic plagiogranites, we performed melting experiments on a natural hydrothermally altered dike, under conditions that match those prevailing at the base of the sheeted dike complex. All generated melts are water saturated, transitional between tholeiitic and calc-alkaline, and match the compositions of oceanic plagiogranites observed close to the base of the sheeted dike complex. Newly crystallized clinopyroxene and plagioclase have compositions that are characteristic of the same minerals in granoblastic dikes. Published silicic melt compositions obtained in classical MORB fractionation experiments also broadly match the compositions of oceanic plagiogranites; however, the compositions of the coexisting experimental minerals significantly deviate from those of the granoblastic dikes. Our results demonstrate that hydrous partial melting is a likely common process in the root zone of the sheeted dike complex, starting at temperatures exceeding 850A degrees C. The newly formed melt can either crystallize to form oceanic plagiogranites or may be recycled within the melt lens resulting in hybridized and contaminated MORB melts. It represents the main MORB crustal contamination process. The residue after the partial melting event is represented by the granoblastic dikes. Our results support a model with a dynamic melt lens that has the potential to trigger hydrous partial melting reactions in the previously hydrothermally altered sheeted dikes. A new thermometer using the Al content of clinopyroxene is also elaborated.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00534058
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00534058
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-010-0502-6

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) are the most abundant magmas produced on Earth. They are widely studied to infer mantle compositions and melting processes. However, MORB liquids are also the complex end-product of a variety of intra-crustal processes such as partial or fractional crystallization, melt–rock interaction, and contamination. Deciphering the relative contribution of these different processes is of first-order importance. Contamination at ocean crustal levels is likely, and may occur at magma chamber margins where fresh magmas can interact with previously hydrothermally altered rocks. Characterizing the composition of this crustal contaminant component is critical if we are to understand the relative importance of each component in the resulting MORB liquid.Here we present the results of experiments designed to reproduce the processes occurring at oceanic magma chamber roofs, where crustal contamination should be most extensive, by melting a representative sample of the sheeted dike complex. Anatectic melts thus produced are likely to represent the principal crustal contaminant in MORB. These melts were characterized for major and trace elements, showing B, Zr, Hf, and U enrichment, and Sr, Ti, and V depletion relative to original MORB liquids. In comparison to the starting material, relative element fractionations are observed in the anatectic melts, with enrichments of: U relative to Ba, Nb, and Th; LREE and MREE relative to Sr; and Zr–Hf relative to LREE. Bulk partition coefficients for element partitioning during magma chamber roof anatexis are derived and proposed as valuable tools for tracking MORB contamination.Comparison with natural samples from the East Pacific Rise and the Oman ophiolite shows that anatectic melts can crystallize in situ to form oceanic plagiogranite intrusions, and that residual assemblages associated with the hydrous partial melting stage are represented by hornfelsic dikes and enclaves (also named granoblastic basalts). We now recognize these as commonplace at the root of the sheeted dike complex both at present-day and fossil oceanic spreading centers.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01115500
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115500
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2014.05.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Oman ophiolite, a fossil fast-spreading oceanic ridge had a melt lens perched on top of the magma chamber wherein the gabbro unit was crystallizing. In ophiolites, this melt lens is reduced to a horizon that has been identified in the field. The gabbros that subsided from the lens horizon and drifted out of the magma chamber, while developing a steep magmatic foliation, provide insights into the active melt lens processes. A gabbro, sampled right below the horizon where the lens closed, has virtually not subsided and it offers a direct glance at the floor of the lens. Below, the deeper the gabbros are sampled, the more they have subsided before drifting out of the magma chamber, and the closer they derive from the center of the lens floor. Cross sections in these gabbros record successive events occurring within the lens. In particular, anorthosite layers and lenses that are interlayered within the foliated gabbros record the intrusion of a new melt where plagioclase is the first mineral to crystallize on liquidus. Detailed mapping of anorthosite swarms suggest that melt intrusions are massive, lasting less than 4 yr and that their frequency is similar to 100 yr. Their large volume controls the stability of melt lenses. A new melt surge induces rapid and large inflation of the lens. Melt lens deflation follows, that is due to the ongoing process of crustal accretion both in the gabbro unit by continuous subsidence of a thick gabbroic mush from the lens floor, and in the lid above the lens roof by sheeted dike intrusions feeding basalt extrusions at the higher frequency of similar to 10 yr.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00617444
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617444
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.01.029