Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Microbathymetry data, in situ observations, and sampling along the 13°20′N and 13°20′N oceanic core complexes (OCCs) reveal mechanisms of detachment fault denudation at the seafloor, links between tectonic extension and mass wasting, and expose the nature of corrugations, ubiquitous at OCCs. In the initial stages of detachment faulting and high-angle fault, scarps show extensive mass wasting that reduces their slope. Flexural rotation further lowers scarp slope, hinders mass wasting, resulting in morphologically complex chaotic terrain between the breakaway and the denuded corrugated surface. Extension and drag along the fault plane uplifts a wedge of hangingwall material (apron). The detachment surface emerges along a continuous moat that sheds rocks and covers it with unconsolidated rubble, while local slumping emplaces rubble ridges overlying corrugations. The detachment fault zone is a set of anostomosed slip planes, elongated in the along-extension direction. Slip planes bind fault rock bodies defining the corrugations observed in microbathymetry and sonar. Fault planes with extension-parallel stria are exposed along corrugation flanks, where the rubble cover is shed. Detachment fault rocks are primarily basalt fault breccia at 13°20′N OCC, and gabbro and peridotite at 13°30′N, demonstrating that brittle strain localization in shallow lithosphere form corrugations, regardless of lithologies in the detachment zone. Finally, faulting and volcanism dismember the 13°30′N OCC, with widespread present and past hydrothermal activity (Semenov fields), while the Irinovskoe hydrothermal field at the 13°20′N core complex suggests a magmatic source within the footwall. These results confirm the ubiquitous relationship between hydrothermal activity and oceanic detachment formation and evolution.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01571973
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571973
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571973v2/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01571973/file/Escart-n_et_al-2017-Geochemistry%2C_Geophysics%2C_Geosystems.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2016GC006775

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : Approximately 4 yr of campaign and continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements across the Dead Sea fault system (DSFS) in Lebanon provide direct measurements of interseismic strain accumulation along a 200-km-long restraining bend in this continental transform fault. Late Cenozoic transpression within this restraining bend has maintained more than 3000 m of topography in the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges. The GPS velocity field indicates 4-5 mm yr(-1) of relative plate motion is transferred through the restraining bend to the northern continuation of the DSFS in northwestern Syria. Near-field GPS velocities are generally parallel to the major, left-lateral strike-slip faults, suggesting that much of the expected convergence across the restraining bend is likely accommodated by different structures beyond the aperture of the GPS network (e.g. offshore Lebanon and, possibly, the Palmyride fold belt in SW Syria). Hence, these geodetic results suggest a partitioning of crustal deformation involving strike-slip displacements in the interior of the restraining bend, and crustal shortening in the outer part of the restraining bend. Within the uncertainties, the GPS-based rates of fault slip compare well with Holocene-averaged estimates of slip along the two principal strike-slip faults: the Yammouneh and Serghaya faults. Of these two faults, more slip occurs on the Yammouneh fault, which constitutes the primary plate boundary structure between the Arabia and Sinai plates. Hence, the Yammouneh fault is the structural linkage that transfers slip to the northern part of the transform in northwestern Syria. From the perspective of the regional earthquake hazard, the Yammouneh fault is presently locked and accumulating interseismic strain.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00406620
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00406620
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03328.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
3D seismic data located in the Gjallar Ridge (Vøring Basin, offshore Norway) reveals a closely-spaced polygonal fault system affecting more than 800 m of homogeneous mud-dominated Quaternary and Tertiary sequences. As some faults reach the modern seafloor, they represent an active polygonal fault system at present day. Even if the processes remain unclear and are still under debate, it is generally agreed that the initiation of polygonal faults is the result of shallow burial dewatering of fine-grained unconsolidated sediments by volumetric compaction. 3D seismic data are commonly interpreted by propagating horizons automatically and by picking faults manually. However, in the case of polygonal fault intervals, this approach is time consuming due to the huge number of faults and because automatic propagation can be misleading. In this study, we applied a new technique of 3D seismic interpretation based on a sequential stratigraphy analysis, using the new PaleoScan© software (Eliis Company). It allowed us to build a 3D geological model computing more than 300 horizons within the faulted intervals. We then used the coherency attribute, depicting anomalies in the shape of seismic waveform like faults, in order to constrain a possible link between fault distribution and stratigraphic levels. Our approach allows fault throws to be calculated in milliseconds on any polygonal fault plane. The result shows that fault segments have been reactivated by dip-linkage. Distribution of faults depends on mechanical units, intervals characterized by different petrophysical properties, which are independent from lithological and diagenetic changes. According to these results, we propose a model showing the evolution of polygonal fault intervals in which faulting stages are separated by a quiescence phase during burial. A first tier of polygonal faults is initiated at a specific depth, according to the Cam-clay model. Then, following a period of quiescence during which mud-rich sediments continued to accumulate, new fault segments are initiated above the first mechanical unit and within this undeformed interval. New nucleated faults then connect downward to pre-existing underlying polygonal fault system, thus progressively increasing the thickness of the faulted interval.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00772470
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00772470
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2012.07.016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : This thesis aims to analyze the active tectonics and the seismic hazard for three main cities of NW Iran (Tehran, Tabriz and Zandjan) using morphotectonics and paleoseismology. Within the Tehran capital, we focused our analysis on the Mosha-North Tehran (M-NT) active fault system. Our investigations show that this fault system is mainly dominated by left-lateral faulting. Along the eastern part of the M-NT fault system, we found evidences of at least seven strong (M>7) paleoearthquakes during the past 10 ka (recurrence interval : 1100-1400 yrs). Our study along the central portion of the fault system (in Abali region) suggests that it corresponds probably to the source of the 1830 AD historical earthquake (M=7.1, Io= IX). Within Tabriz region, we studied the SE segment of the North Tabriz fault. We found evidences of at least three strong events, which occurred during the past 33.5 ka. The North Tabriz dextral fault corresponds to the central portion of a fault system (TFS), and contains two fault segments (NW and SE). Our paleoseismological analysis shows a variation of the slip rate, which decreases from NW to SE along the strike-slip fault. The western (Mishu) and eastern (Bozghush) terminations of the fault system correspond to oblique-compression zones. TFS belongs to the eastern portion of a regional fault system (GSKT), linking the active extension within the central part of the collision and the active compression to the East. Finally, we focus on the Zandjan area, where no important historical seismicitiy is recorded. There, based on morphotectonics analysis we discovered a large active fault network, whose southeastern part affects the Zandjan city. To conclude this work, we replace our observations within the general geodynamic framework of the Arabia- Eurasia collision. One of the striking pictures is the occurrence of opposite kinematics along the M-NT (and other range parallel faults within the south Central Alborz) and the North Tabriz fault systems that have the same trend. This shows the rapid variation of the regional stress field in the Northern Iran.
L'objectif de ce mémoire de thèse est l'étude de la tectonique récente et l'évaluation de l'aléa sismique pour trois villes importante, Téhéran, Tabriz et Zandjan, situées dans le nord-ouest de l'Iran. Dans la capitale de l'Iran, Téhéran, nous nous sommes concentrés sur le système de faille active de Mosha-Nord Téhéran. Nos travaux démontrent que ce système est essentiellement décrochant sénestre. Nos analyses paléosismologiques sur la portion est de ce système (dans la vallée de Tar) montrent au minimum les évidences de sept grands événements sismiques (M>7) pendant les derniers 10000 ans (l'intervalle de récurrence est de 1100 à 1400 ans). Les études que nous avons mené dans la partie centrale de ce système (région d'Abali) révèlent qu'il pourrait être la source du dernier événement sismique ayant affecté la ville de Téhéran en 1830 AD. Dans la région de Tabriz, nous nous sommes intéressés au segment SE de la faille décrochante dextre de Nord Tabriz où nous avons trouvé les évidences de trois grands séismes pendant les derniers 33500 ans. Nos études montrent que la faille Nord Tabriz qui est la portion centrale d'un système de faille (TFS) est constituée par deux segments NW et SE dextres. Notre étude paléosismologique suggère une variation de la vitesse qui diminue du NW vers SE le long de ces segments. Les extrémités ouest (Mishu) et est (Bozghush) de ce système correspondent à des zones compressives qui absorbent les déplacements horizontaux sur les segments NW et SE. D'un point de vue général la TFS est une partie d'un système de failles régionales (GSKT) qui relie une zone d'extension active dans la partie centrale de la collision Arabie-Eurasie et une zone de compression active à l'Est. Enfin, à Zandjan qui est une ville située dans une région de lacune sismique, nous avons découvert un important réseau de failles actives. Le tracé sud-est de ce réseau de failles passe par la ville de Zandjan. En conclusion, les localisations et les cinématiques des systèmes de faille étudiés sont discutées dans le cadre géodynamique général de la collision Arabie-Eurasie. On remarquera que la faille majeure de Nord Tabriz qui correspond essentiellement à un décrochement dextre a la même direction NW-SE que les décrochements sénestres présents dans la chaîne de l'Alborz (les failles de : Mosha, Talaghan et Manjil). Cette observation nécessite une variation de la direction de compression entre ces deux régions.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00539739

tel-00539739
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00539739
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00539739/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00539739/file/thesesoleymani.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The nucleation, propagation, and associated folding of ramp-flat-ramp normal faults were analyzed from field examples developed in a brittle/ductile multilayer sequence of the Huércal-Overa Basin (SE Spain). Gently dipping sandy silt layers, which display a low cohesive strength (C0 = 7 kPa, μ = 34°), favor the development of extensional detachments. A tectonic origin instead of a possible gravitational origin is supported by the perpendicularity between the paleoslope direction of the fluvial-deltaic environment inferred from imbricated pebbles, and the senses of movement deduced from fault slicken-lines. The link between high-angle normal faults (HANFs) --formed at different levels in the layered sequence-- with horizontal fault segments comes to develop ramp-flat-ramp normal faults with associated roll-over in the hanging wall. Observed extensional duplexes are formed by parallel detachments connected through synthetic Riedel faults. These Riedel faults would produce the back-rotation of the individual blocks (horses), i.e., extensional folding of the originally subhorizontal layers. There is no correlation between the analyzed ramp-flat-ramp normal faults, accommodating south-southeastward extension during Serravallian-lower Tortonian, and either the regional Alpujarride/Nevado-Filabride west-directed extensional shear zone or the top-to-the-north detachments within Alpujarride units, which are clearly sealed by Serravallian-lower Tortonian sediments. Therefore, the studied normal faults are restricted to the brittle/ductile multilayer fluvio/deltaic sequence and accommodate moderate late extension instead of belonging to a large crustal extensional system connected with a regional detachment at depth. Therefore, the basin formed in a moderate crustal thickness context where small and medium-scale extensional systems were subordinate structures. These natural examples support the development of low-angle normal faults at very shallow crustal levels in multilayer sequences with suitable rheological conditions.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00750352
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750352
DOI : 10.1029/2012TC003130

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Extensional fault systems in the Earth's crust can exhibit two end-member geometries that we identify as distributed and localized faulting regimes. A satellite image analysis of fault populations from the Main Ethiopian Rift-Afar area reveals that the rift architecture contains these two faulting regimes. The occurrence of these regimes reveals a jump in the scale of fault segmentation and linkage. Strain localization at rift border zones exhibits particularly large-scale fault linkage and a power law size distribution. This regime replaces prior distributed fault systems, showing small-scale fault linkage and an exponential size distribution. The distributed faulting is interpreted as confined to the thick trap basalt carapace. We show that continental fault systems can develop by a combination of these two geometries, and we demonstrate how to quantitatively decipher the jump between them.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00411147
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411147
DOI : 10.1029/2007TC002148

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Active faults from the Campo de Dalías (SE Betic Cordillera) allow us to constrain the deformation styles involved in the development of segmented oblique-slip faults. This sector constitutes the widest outcrop of Plio-Quaternary sediments in the northern boundary of the Alboran Sea. It has emerged since the Late Pliocene, and therefore provides recent deformation markers that are not disturbed by erosive processes. The faults started to grow during the Pleistocene, reactivating previous hybrid joints, with a normal-dextral slip. We present a detailed map of the largest fault in the area, the Loma del Viento fault, comprising six onshore segments. Based on field work and aerial photography, the distributions of the contiguous joints have been mapped, and the joints reactivated as faults are identified. Some of these fault segments are hard-linked, and fault slip enhances toward the linkage sectors between them with associated sedimentary depocenters. An electrical tomography profile reveals the wedge geometry of a unit of Pleistocene conglomerates and red silts that were coevally deposited during the fault movement. Long-term slip rate in the central part of the fault is estimated at 0.07 ± 0.03 mm/y. In addition, a seismic crisis nucleated close to the Loma del Viento fault during November 2010 was recorded. Moment tensor analysis of the two mainshocks (Mw 3.5 and 4.2) provides a focal solution indicating a N120°E striking right-lateral strike-slip fault. The corrugated morphology of the Loma del Viento fault may have influenced its seismic behavior. Some of the fault segments are oblique to the general motion of the fault. These oblique segments would provide higher resistance against the general fault motion and could lock the fault, leading to accumulate elastic energy.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00750357
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750357
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.12.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Thrusting fault zone in foreland basins are characterized by highly foliated zones generally enriched in phyllosilicates which can play a major role on the mechanical behaviour of the fault. In this context, investigations of synkinematic clay minerals permit to determine the origin of the fluid from which they precipitated as well as the mechanisms of deformation. Our study is focused on clay mineral assemblages (illite and chlorite) in a major thrust fault located in the Monte Perdido massif (southern Pyrenees), a shallow thrust that affects upper cretaceous-paleocene platform carbonates and lower Eocene marls and turbidites. It implied 3 km of displacement of the Monte Perdido thrust unit with respect to the underlying Gavarnie unit. In this area the cleavage development by pressure-solution is linked to the Monte Perdido and Gavarnie thrust activity. The core zone of the fault, about 6 m thick, consists of an interval of intensely deformed clay-bearing rocks bounded by major shear surfaces. The deformed sediment is markedly darker than the protolith. Calcite-quartz shear veins along the shear planes are abundant. Detailed SEM and TEM observations of highly deformed fault zone samples indicate that clay mineral enrichment in the core zone of the fault is not only related to passive increase by pressure-solution mechanism but that dissolution-recrystallization of phyllosilicates occurs during deformation. A mineral segregation is observed in the highly deformed zone. Newly formed 2M 1 muscovite is present along the cleavage whereas IIb chlorite crystals fill SV2 shear veins suggesting syntectonic growth of phyllosilicates in the presence of fluids in low-grade metamorphic conditions. These mineralogical reactions act as weakening processes and would favour Monte Perdido fault creeping.
Swiss Journal of Geosciences

hal-00795553
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795553
DOI : 10.1007/s00015-012-0098-0

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Chenaillet Ophiolite in the Franco-Italian Alps represents a well-exposed ocean-floor sequence that was only weakly overprinted by Alpine metamorphism during its emplacement in the Alpine nappe stack. Pillow lavas showing a Mid Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB) signature overlie tectonically exhumed gabbros and serpentinized mantle rocks similar to oceanic core complexes (OCC) described from present-day slow- to ultraslow-spreading ridges. Based on detailed mapping it can be shown that: 1) syn-magmatic high-temperature shear zones are truncated by oceanic detachment faults; 2) sediments consisting exclusively of clasts derived from the footwall of the detachment are overlain by voluminous lavas, and 3) emplacement of lavas is linked with high-angle faulting that overprint the oceanic detachment fault. Based on stratigraphic and cross cutting relationships we conclude that: 1) a complex relation between high- and low-temperature shear zones exists, 2) oceanic detachment faults may be obliterated by later emplaced of MOR basalts, and 3) high-angle faults may serve at shallow levels as feeder channels for the overlying pillow basalts. These observations raise questions about the relative relations in time and space between magmatic, hydrothermal and tectonic processes at spreading systems. We propose that the observed change from exhumation along an oceanic detachment fault to high-angle faulting associated with extrusion of volcanic rocks may represent an evolution within a life cycle of a spreading system that may be comparable to present-day slow- to ultraslow-spreading ridges.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00617678
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617678
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2010.10.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The basis of this study is a new bathymetric map of the northeast Atlantic compiled from previously published maps made from conventional echosounder data, plus all Sea Beam data acquired on board the R/V JEAN CHARCOT since 1977. As most of the Sea Beam data have been obtained on the continental margin from Porcupine Seabight to the south of the Iberian Peninsula, a precise picture of the continental slope is given. A statistical analysis of the canyons, based on 750 measurements, reveals that many of the canyons present sharp changes in their direction, indicating a structural control mainly linked to the late Hercynian trends, especially around the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, the paths of canyons may merely reflect recent gravity processes, as in the Porcupine Seabight. Canyons locally follow the directions of listric and associated transecting faults (Permian to Triassic and upper Jurassic to lower Cretaceous), as on the Celtic
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01261558
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261558
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261558/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261558/file/Lallemand1986-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/TC005i007p01125

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer-Verlag
Résumé : International audience
With hull-mounted multibeam echosounder data, wereport for the first time along the active Ecuadorian margin,acoustic signatures of water column fluid emissions and seep-relatedstructures on the seafloor. In total 17 flare-shaped acousticanomalies were detected from the upper slope (1250 m) to the shelfbreak (140 m). Nearly half of the flare-shaped acoustic anomaliesrise 200–500 m above the seafloor. The base of the flares is generallyassociated with high-reflectivity backscatter patchescontrasting with the neighboring seafloor. We interpret these flaresas caused by fluid escape in the water column, most likely gases.High-resolution seismic profiles show that most flares occur closeto the surface expression of active faults, deformed areas, slopeinstabilities or diapiric structures. In two areas tectonic deformationdisrupts a Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR), suggesting thatburied frozen gas hydrates are destabilized, thus supplying free gasemissions and related flares. This discovery is important as it opensthe way to determine the nature and origin of the emitted fluids andtheir potential link with the hydrocarbon system of the forearcbasins along the Ecuadorian margin.
ISSN: 0033-4533

insu-01267238
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01267238
DOI : 10.1007/s00024-015-1230-7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The Yakutat-St. Elias collision in SE Alaska and adjacent Canada represents a prime example of present-day tectonics associated with an indentor corner. Its eastern syntaxis is marked by high exhumation, a sharp structural bend, and strain concentration at the transition from shortening to oblique transpression. Here we present GPS velocity and strain rate fields that cover the syntaxis, including 11 new stations in the core of the St. Elias Mountains. These data are corrected for transient deformation (glacial isostatic adjustment and postseismic and interseismic loading) to produce residual velocities and strain rates representative of long-term tectonics. The main features of these velocity and strain rate fields are a peak in strain rates (strain knot) in the syntaxis at the junction between the main fault systems and a rapid rotation from convergence-parallel to convergence-normal orientations of the velocities and shortening axes around the syntaxis, leading to shortening across the southern Denali Fault. These features are consistent with the strain and tectonic patterns expected near an indentor corner at the transition from shortening to transpression, with a combination of diffuse and localized deformation. The GPS velocities and strain rates show diffuse deformation around the syntaxis, from pure convergence-parallel shortening in the orogenic wedge to oblique extension that accommodates the strain rotation at the front of the syntaxis. This indentor-corner model also results in a near-zero strike-slip rate on the southern Denali Fault and shows no clear evidence for a throughgoing fault hypothesized to link the Fairweather and Totschunda Faults.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01243510
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243510
DOI : 10.1002/2014JB011842

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In northeastern Vietnam, the major tectonic episode responsible for nappes emplacement is Triassic. These allochtonous structures are intruded by granitic melts. Two post-tectonic massifs showing no sign of deformation have been dated by the LA-ICPMS zircon U-Pb techniques. Dating reveals a multiphase history with zircon cores showing evidence of Proterozoic magmatism. The emplacement of the Phia Bioc granite intrusive in allochtonous units is 248-245 Ma, an age which assesses a younger limit for the major nappes tectonic. This tectonic could be synchronous of the tectonometamorphic strike-slip faulting events (250-245 Ma) defined in the Truong Son Belt as the Indosinian orogen. The Phia Bioc intrusion is probably linked with the intra-plate magmatism of the Emeishan Large Igneous Province or with magma- tism associated with the Paleotethys closure. The age of the Phia Oac granite intrusion in displaced units is much younger, at 87.3 ± 1.2 Ma. This granite is probably linked to the magmatic activity produced dur- ing the Paleo-Pacific plate subduction under the SE Asia continental plate during the Mesozoic. Although the Cenozoic Red River fault system is close to these two plutons, this last thermotectonic episode has not been strong enough to disturb the U/Pb system. Zircons rims do not show any Tertiary magmatic or meta- morphic overprint.
ISSN: 0743-9547

hal-00681725
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00681725
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.12.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Deep Basin of the Gulf of Mexico (DBGM) extends over eastern Mexico, the southeastern part of the United States, west of the Atlantic Ocean. This study, based on the interpretation and integration of seismic profiles, exploration wells and outcrop studies, focus on the deep part of the Gulf of Mexico, where bathymetry varies from 200 to 3750 m, thus comprising both the continental slope and the abyssal plain. The first part of this thesis focus on the description of the sedimentary infill of the western part of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Veracruz State, and to its geodynamic controls. The geodynamic evolution of the Deep Basin of the Gulf of Mexico (DBGM) begins during the Triassic-Jurassic with the break-up and the opening of a continental rift, in the southern part of the North American lithospheric plate. This opening induced a relative movement of the Yucatan Block towards the southeast. This intra-continental rifting episode was followed by a stage of post-rift thermal subsidence in the basins of the continental margin in the west, coeval with oceanic accretion in the DBGM. The thermal subsidence of the margin was subsequently modified by the Laramian orogeny, which impacted strongly the overall architecture of the margin as well as its litho-stratigraphic evolution, inducing the deposition of siliciclastic deposits in various morphotectonic provinces: i.e., near the tectonic front of the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMO), within the adjacent Chicontepec foreland basin, over the Tuxpan Platform (Golden Lane), across the continental slope and up to the deep abyssal plain, these two last morphotectonic provinces belonging to the DBGM. During the Early Paleogene, the effects of the thermal subsidence of the passive margin were stressed by the tectonic load of the Laramian orogen (i.e., the Sierra Madre Oriental, SMO), thus allowing the development of a foreland basin flexural. In this geodynamic framework, the main sedimentary transfers developed from the tectonic front "SMO" in the west, towards the DBGM in the east, the main source for clastic sediments being linked to the erosion of the "SMO" mountains. During the Paleocene and the Early Eocene, the architecture of the silici-clastic syn-tectonic sediments deposited in submarine fans was characterized by sliding, turbidites with A and B Bouma facies, as well as levees and channels. After the stop of the flexural subsidence, the thermal subsidence of the passive margin resumed during the Late Eocene, the Oligocene and the Neogene, allowing the development of a new sedimentary prism, prograding eastwards toward the DBGM. This sedimentary infill was again made up of levees-channels, sand bars and delta systems. During the Neogene, an extensional system with listric faults and roll-over features developed across the slope of the DBGM, due to an active detachment developing within overpressured Eocene-Oligocene clays. This gravitational gliding of Neogene series accounted also for the development of compressional features at the toe of the slope. Approximately 60% of the Miocene siliciclastic sediments have been trapped in growth strata and slope basins associated with this complex gravitational system, ranging from river-delta features towards gravity slides associated with slump facies. The second part of this thesis aims at a quantification of these various processes, including the construction of balanced cross sections, forward Thrustpack kinematic modelling coupling the development of a basal detachment, lithospheric flexure, erosion and sedimentation, as well as subsequent stratigraphic modelling with the Dionisos software, the later aiming at predicting the sand versus clay ratios in Neogene siliciclastic deposits of the DBGM and its surroundings.
Le bassin profond du Golfe du Mexique (BPMG) est localisé à l'est du Mexique, au sud-est des États-Unis et à l'ouest de l'Océan Atlantique. Cette étude de la partie profonde du Golfe du Mexique est basée sur l'intégration de données de sismique, de forages pétroliers et d'études de terrain; elle comprend toute la pente continentale et la plaine abyssale, avec une bathymétrie qui varie de 200 à 3750 m. La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée à la description du remplissage sédimentaire de la bordure occidentale du Golfe du Mexique, dans le secteur de Veracruz, en liaison avec son évolution géodynamique. L'évolution géodynamique du BPMG commence au Trias-Jurassique avec la rupture et la propagation d'un rift continental, dans le secteur sud de la plaque nord américaine. Cette ouverture et le déplacement relatif vers le sud-est du bloc crustal du Yucatan sont à l'origine du BPGM. Cette géodynamique de rift continental est suivie d'une étape post-rift accompagnée de l'océanisation du bassin. Les bassins de la marge passive ont poursuivi leur évolution sous l'effet de la subsidence thermique à l'ouest du Golfe du Mexique, tandis que de la croûte océanique se formait dans le BPGM. Cette subsidence thermique de la marge a ensuite été perturbée par l'orogénèse Laramienne, qui a remodelé l'architecture stratigraphique silico-clastique des dépôts du Tertiaire entre les éléments morphotectoniques suivants: lefront tectonique de la Sierra Madre Orientale (SMO), le bassin d'avant-pays Chicontepec, la Plateforme de Tuxpan-Faja de Oro, la pente continentale et la plaine abyssale, ces deux dernières provinces morphotectoniques appartenant au BPGM. Pendant le Paléogèneinférieur, les effets de la subsidence thermique de la marge passive ont été accentués par la charge tectonique de l'orogénèse laramienne (SMO), permettant ainsi le développement d'un bassin flexural d'avant-pays. Au cours de cette étape, les principaux transferts sédimentaires se sont effectués du front tectonique "SMO" vers le BPGM. La source principale de sédiments clastiques est liée à l'érosion de la chaîne de montagnes "SMO". Pendant le Paléocène et l'Éocène inférieur, l'architecture des premiers sédiments silico-clastiques syn-tectoniques déposés dans des éventails sous-marins sont caractérisés par des figures de glissement, des faciès turbiditiques A et B de Bouma, des chenaux-levées. Après l'arrêt de la subsidence flexurale, la subsidence thermique de la marge passive s'est poursuivie pendant l'Éocène supérieur, l'Oligocène et le Néogène, permettant le développement d'un nouveau prisme sédimentaire progradant. Les remplissages sédimentaires sont encore constitués de chenaux et de levées, avec des barres de sable associées à des systèmes deltaïques sur la plateforme. Pendant le Néogène, un système de failles listriques s'est développé sur la pente du BPGM, au-dessus d'une surface de décollement située, dans la région d'étude, dans les argiles de l'Éocène-Oligocène. Ce système de failles de croissance a piégé plus de 60% des sédiments silico-clastiques du Miocène. Ce remplissage sédimentaire évolue latéralement de faciès fluviaux deltaïques vers des faciès de pente affectés de glissements gravitaires et associés à des turbidites. La deuxième partie de cette thèse est consacrée à une approche quantitative basée sur des modélisations structurales (coupes équilibrées et modélisations cinématiques directes avec Thrustpack, couplant décollement gravitaire, flexure lithosphérique, érosion et sédimentation), puis sédimentaires (prise en compte des transferts de matériel clastique depuis la partie émergée de la chaîne jusqu'au bassin profond, à l'aide du logiciel Dionisos, afin de mieux comprendre les processus de piégeage des sédiments grossiers dans les structures de croissance et les bassins perchés de la marge.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120

tel-00435120
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00435120/file/thesealzaga.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
In many geological reservoirs, open fractures or fault zones generally induce high spatial variability of hydrodynamical properties and shape the main deep-seated flow paths. It is of crucial interest to determine their structure and properties in order to achieve a sound and sustained exploitation of resources or to estimate the risk of failure of any underground storage. Tiltmeters have emerged as new tools to observe deformation generated by groundwater flow. As such instruments are highly sensitive to pressure gradients, they are perfectly suited for monitoring channelized flow in connected fractures and fault zones. Hence, they provide a unique insight of these reservoirs' geometry and dynamics over broad time scales. Here we demonstrate that continuous tilt data from surface long baseline tiltmeters (LBT) can be used alone to evaluate the general functioning of a fractured hardrock system and estimate the hydraulic properties of its main conductive features. The study is applied to the pumping site of Ploemeur observatory (Brittany, France) which is well documented and instrumented, and therefore forms a convenient setting for introducing LBT as tools for fractured media hydrology. On the short term, tilt signals are strongly correlated with pumping cycles and associated head level changes in well-connected boreholes. Besides, when pumps are stopped the maximal tilt direction is systematically perpendicular to a subvertical fault zone whose azimuth of strike has thereby been refined down to degree precision. By using a semi-analytical model of deformation, we establish the link between tilt and pressure change during pumping interruptions which then allows for hydraulic properties estimation from tilt measurements only. Finally, we validate our results with previous estimates obtained from other studies and discuss the orientation of future work that could enhance these estimates.
AGU Fall Meeting 2014
San Francisco, United States

insu-01093437
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01093437

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The « METYSS » cruise was carried out in June 2009 onboard the R/V « Téthys II » along the eastern Sardinian and south-eastern Corsican margins, western Tyrrhenian Sea, in order to better constrain the potential links between deformation related to either crustal tectonics or salt tectonics and sediment accumulation, especially during the Messinian and Plio-Quaternary times. We acquired 15 high-resolution seismic reflection profiles (about 1200 km in cumulative length) along the south-eastern Corsican margin, immediately north of the Bonifacio Strait and along the upper and middle parts of the eastern Sardinian margin, from the continental slope to the Cornaglia Terrace. The Tyrrhenian Sea is considered as a Neogene back-arc basin that opened during continental rifting and oceanic spreading related to the eastward migration of the Apennine subduction system from Tortonian to Pliocene times (Jolivet et al., 2006). Rifting of the Tyrrhenian Sea started first along the Eastern Sardinian margin during the Tortonian-Messinian times and therefore the series of that age should be considered as syn-rift sediments (Sartori et al., 2004). The « METYSS » seismic profiles clearly illustrate that this part of the Tyrrhenian was highly segmented during the rifting stage by N-S trending normal faults delineating ridges (e.g., Baronie Ridge) and basins (e.g., Sardinian Basin and Cornaglia Terrace), as previously described for example by Thommeret (1999) and Sartori et al. (2004). The Messinian sedimentary units and especially the « Upper Unit » (UU, Lofi et al., this congress, corresponding to the « Upper Evaporites » in the previous literature) are, without any doubt, of syn-rift age, as they display a fan-shaped stratal geometry. The Mobile Unit (MU, Lofi et al., this congress), i.e. the Messinian halite, is clearly imaged in the study area and its spatial repartition can be outlined. The highly-variable thickness of the confined salt basins could be due to the initial basin geometry (i.e. before the Messinian salinity Crisis) or to the syn-rift character of the deposition. Southeastward of the study area, in the vicinity of the Cornaglia Seamount, salt tectonics appears surprisingly vigorous. More surprisingly, several normal faults seem to have remained active in recent times, if not even at present time. Fault slip has been recorded by bathymetric scarps and associated footwall debris flows interfingered within the Plio-Quaternary sequence, even though the eastern Sardinian margin is usually considered to be passive now. Moreover, some amount of tectonic inversion is visible on some normal faults that show contractional or transpressional components of late slip. In addition, this “post-rift” deformation can be illustrated within the Plio-Quaternary sequence by a regional unconformity. Consequently, numerous mass-transport deposits and channel-levees systems observed in the Plio-Quaternary cover could be partly controlled by tectonic activity. These very preliminary results require further investigations in order to better decipher the role of crustal tectonics and salt tectonics, salt-related structures being very efficient markers to discriminate between the respective contribution of gravity-driven, salt tectonics and deep-seated, crustal tectonics (Gaullier et al., 2010). Finally, we aim to precisely determine the relative vertical movements (tilting, subsidence, magmatism. . . ) and geodynamical history of the different segments of the area since 6 Ma.
Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vienne, Austria

hal-00537828
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00537828
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00537828/document
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00537828/file/EGU2010-15469_ref6821.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
The Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) is characterized by gigantic erosion that remodels the margins while a thick, essentially evaporitic and detrital, sedimentary sequence forms in the deep basins. Based on recent (MAURESC, 2003) and earlier (MESEA 1, 1990; MAGIRAA, 1996; GEOBREST, 2002) seismic reflection data, this work brings to light the record of the MSC on the Provençal margin, which has until now been rarely explored from this perspective. Beyond its strictly regional interest, this study fits into a larger synthesis of MSC seismic markers in the Mediterranean and Black Sea marine domain [Lofi et al., 2011] and employs the new nomenclature established on this occasion. The results obtained reveal a Messinian detrital body (CU unit) of 625 metres maximum thickness at the foot of the margin, accumulating at the mouths of the principal canyons. Its form, facies and extension assimilate it to clastic fans, fed by subaerial erosion linked to the MSC. The relative geometry of CU and the Messinian units MU and UU deposited in the deep basin give indications to their chronostratigraphic relations. The deposition of the CU unit is posterior to the basal part of the mobile unit consisting of halite (MU), but contemporary to its top. These results agree with the recent scenarii, which propose that the precipitation of MU in the basin began early, during the lowering of the sea level, and ended at a low level during the MSC [Blanc, 2000; Martin et al., 2001; Sage et al., 2005; Ryan, 2009]. The UU unit surmounts MU and is subdivided into two sub-units with perceptibly different seismic facies : UU1 at the base and UU2 at the summit. UU1 could correspond to a unit containing more halite and/or more clastic material than UU2. The UU1 sub-unit could be partially contemporary to the CU unit. Concerning salt tectonics and its markers, three structural provinces have been evidenced in the sector of study, respectively : an upslope domain in extension (normal faults), an intermediary domain in translation (tabular MU) and a downslope domain in contraction (salt diapirs). These domains are directly linked to the gravity spreading and/or gliding of the brittle sedimentary cover formed by the CU, UU and Plio-Quatenary units and of the mobile level, MU. In the study area, a close relation between the distribution and thickness of CU and salt tectonics has additionally been evidenced at the mouths of the large Messinian canyons, being best expressed where CU is thick.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00622998
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00622998
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.182.2.181

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
The Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) is characterized by gigantic erosion that remodels the margins while a thick, essentially evaporitic and detrital, sedimentary sequence forms in the deep basins. Based on recent (MAURESC, 2003) and earlier (MESEA 1, 1990; MAGIRAA, 1996; GEOBREST, 2002) seismic reflection data, this work brings to light the record of the MSC on the Provençal margin, which has until now been rarely explored from this perspective. Beyond its strictly regional interest, this study fits into a larger synthesis of MSC seismic markers in the Mediterranean and Black Sea marine domain [Lofi et al., 2011] and employs the new nomenclature established on this occasion. The results obtained reveal a Messinian detrital body (CU unit) of 625 metres maximum thickness at the foot of the margin, accumulating at the mouths of the principal canyons. Its form, facies and extension assimilate it to clastic fans, fed by subaerial erosion linked to the MSC. The relative geometry of CU and the Messinian units MU and UU deposited in the deep basin give indications to their chronostratigraphic relations. The deposition of the CU unit is posterior to the basal part of the mobile unit consisting of halite (MU), but contemporary to its top. These results agree with the recent scenarii, which propose that the precipitation of MU in the basin began early, during the lowering of the sea level, and ended at a low level during the MSC [Blanc, 2000; Martin et al., 2001; Sage et al., 2005; Ryan, 2009]. The UU unit surmounts MU and is subdivided into two sub-units with perceptibly different seismic facies : UU1 at the base and UU2 at the summit. UU1 could correspond to a unit containing more halite and/or more clastic material than UU2. The UU1 sub-unit could be partially contemporary to the CU unit. Concerning salt tectonics and its markers, three structural provinces have been evidenced in the sector of study, respectively : an upslope domain in extension (normal faults), an intermediary domain in translation (tabular MU) and a downslope domain in contraction (salt diapirs). These domains are directly linked to the gravity spreading and/or gliding of the brittle sedimentary cover formed by the CU, UU and Plio-Quatenary units and of the mobile level, MU. In the study area, a close relation between the distribution and thickness of CU and salt tectonics has additionally been evidenced at the mouths of the large Messinian canyons, being best expressed where CU is thick.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00498286
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00498286

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
In the Pyrenees, the lherzolites nowhere occur as continuous units. Rather, they always outcrop as restricted bodies, never more than 3 km wide, scattered across Mesozoic sedimentary units along the North Pyrenean Fault. We report the results of a detailed analysis of the geological setting of the Lherz massif (central Pyrenees), the type-locality of lherzolites and one of the most studied occurrences of mantle rocks worldwide. The Lherz body is only 1.5 km long and belongs to a series of ultramafic bodies of restricted size (a few metres to some hundreds of metres), occurring within sedimentary formations composed mostly of carbonate breccias originating from the reworking of Mesozoic platform limestones and dolomites. The clastic formations also include numerous layers of polymictic breccias reworking lherzolitic clasts. These layers are found far from any lherzolitic body, implying that lherzolitic clasts cannot derive from the in situ fragmentation of an ultramafic body alone, but might also have been transported far away from their sources by sedimentary processes. A detailed analysis of the contacts between the Lherz ultramafic body and the surrounding limestones confirms that there is no fault contact and that sediments composed of ultramafic material have been emplaced into fissures within the brecciated carapace of the peridotites. These observations bear important constraints for the mode of emplacement of the lherzolite bodies. We infer that mantle exhumation may have occurred during Albian strike-slip deformation linked to the rotation of Iberia along the proto-North Pyrenean Fault.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-00412602
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412602