Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : During the GWADASEIS cruise (Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, February-March 2009) a very high resolution (VHR) seismic-reflection survey was performed in order to constrain Late Quaternary to Present faulting. The profiles we obtained evidence frequent "ponding" of reworked sediments in the deepest areas, similar to the deposition of Mediterranean "homogenites". These bodies are acoustically transparent (few ms t.w.t. thick) and are often deposited on the hanging walls of dominantly normal faults, at the base of scarps. Their thickness appears sufficient to compensate (i.e. bury) co-seismic scarps between successive earthquakes, resulting in a flat and horizontal sea floor through time. In a selected area (offshore Montserrat and Nevis islands), piston coring (4 to 7m long) was dedicated to a sedimentological analysis of the most recent of these particular layers. It corresponds to non-stratified homogenous calcareous silty sand (reworked calcareous plankton and minor volcanoclastics). This layer can be up to 2 m thick, and overlies fine-grained hemipelagites. The upper centimeters of the latter represent the normal RedOx water/sediment interface. Pb-210 and Cs-137 activities lack in the massive sands, while a normal profile of unsupported Pb-210 decrease is observed in the hemipelagite below, together with a Cs-137 peak corresponding to the Atmospheric Nuclear Experiments (1962). The RedOx level was thus capped by a recent instantaneous major sedimentary event considered as post-1970 AD; candidate seismic events to explain this sedimentary deposits are either the 16 March 1985 earthquake or the 8 October 1974 one (M-w = 6.3 and M-w = 7.4, respectively). This leads to consider that the syntectonic sedimentation in this area is not continuous but results from accumulation of thick homogenites deposited after the earthquakes (as observed in the following weeks after Haiti January 2010 event, McHugh et al., 2011). The existence of such deposits suggests that, in the area of study, vertical throw likely results from cumulated effects of separated earthquakes rather than from aseismic creep. Examination of VHR profiles shows that all major co-seismic offsets are recorded in the fault growth sequence and that co-seismic offsets can be precisely estimated. By using a sedimentation rate deduced from Pb-210 decrease curve (0.5 mmyr(-1)) and taking into account minor reworking events detected in cores, we show that the Redonda system may have been responsible for five > M-6 events during the last 34 000 yr. The approach presented in this work differs from fault activity analyses using displaced sets of isochronous surfaces and postulating co-seismic offsets. Combining VHR seismic imagery and coring we can decipher co-seismic vs. slow continuous displacement, and thus actually estimate the amplitude and the time distribution of major co-seismic offsets.
Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences (1561-8633) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2012 , Vol. 12 , N. 5 , P. 1755-1767

Droits : Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20040/21990.pdf
DOI:10.5194/nhess-12-1755-2012
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00089/20040/

Éditeur(s) : Scientific Technical Research Council Turkey-tubitak
Résumé : In 2002, the Bosphorus outlet was mapped using an EM 300 multibeam echo-sounder together with a Chirp sonar system. This survey, carried out on board the Ifremer RV 'Le Suroit' in the frame of the BlaSON project, completes the data previously acquired directly at the mouth of the Bosphorus by Di Iorio et al. (1999) in the frame of a NATO SACLANT Undersea Research project using jointly the NATO RV Alliance, and the Turkish Navy Survey ship 'Cubuklu'. This acoustic imaging has identified a canyon system at the slope and a shallow marine fan, which contains shelf incisions extending the Istanbul Strait incision. Multibeam bathymetry, ultra-high resolution seismic profiling and coring correlations on this subaqueous fan area allowed reconstruction of morphology and patterns of sediment distribution indicative of high energy sediment transport processes. The discovery of a shallow water/shelf type fan directly off shore from the Bosphorus and connected to its outlet is consistent with the theories of sudden discharges of large volumes of water. Age dating obtained at the bottom of this subaqueous shelf fan yielded an age of 6700 yr C-14 BP (uncorrected age) for the first marine mollusc encountered at the base. This is in accordance with a last and abrupt reconnection of the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea. A detailed morphological map of the shelf and slope along with seismic profile interpretation and core correlation is presented here. A synthesis is proposed to explain the formation of this subaqueous fan and its relationship with the last connection between Black and Marmara seas aft er the Last Glacial Maximum. This interpretation can be summarized as follows: stage A corresponds to the first erosion surface seen on the shelf related to the Last Glacial Maximum low stand; stage B is the ravine surface onlapping to ca. -30, -40 m; stage C is a second erosional surface related to a sea level fall and eroding most of underlying Unit 1B; and stage D corresponds to the onset of the fan deposit during a period of high water run-off from the Black Sea entering from the Bosphorus. Avulsion branches show that this fan has been active for a long time.
Turkish Journal Of Earth Sciences (1300-0985) (Scientific Technical Research Council Turkey-tubitak), 2011 , Vol. 20 , N. 3 , P. 287-305

Droits : 2011 TÜBİTAK
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00036/14676/13677.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00036/14676/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Progress in seismic methodology and ambitious large-scale seismic projects are enabling high-resolution imaging of the continental crust. The ability to constrain interpretations of crustal seismic data is based on laboratory measurements on rock samples and calculations of seismic properties. Seismic velocity calculations and their directional dependence are based on the rock microfabric, which consists of mineral aggregate properties including crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO), grain shape and distribution, grain boundary distribution, and misorientation within grains. Single-mineral elastic constants and density are crucial for predicting seismic velocities, preferably at conditions that span the crust. However, high-temperature and high-pressure elastic constant data are not as common as those determined at standard temperature and pressure (STP; atmospheric conditions). Continental crust has a very diverse mineral composition; however, a select number of minerals appear to dominate seismic properties because of their high-volume fraction contribution. Calculations of microfabric-based seismic properties and anisotropy are performed with averaging methods that in their simplest form takes into account the CPO and modal mineral composition, and corresponding single crystal elastic constants. More complex methods can take into account other microstructural characteristics, including the grain shape and distribution of mineral grains and cracks and pores. Dynamic or active wave propagation schemes have recently been developed, which offer a complementary method to existing static averaging methods generally based on the use of the Christoffel equation. A challenge for the geophysics and rock physics communities is the separation of intrinsic factors affecting seismic anisotropy, due to properties of crystals within a rock and apparent sources due to extrinsic factors like cracks, fractures, and alteration. This is of particular importance when trying to deduce crustal composition and the state of deformation from seismic parameters.
ISSN: 8755-1209

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01685568
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685568
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685568/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685568/file/Almqvist_et_al-2017-Reviewssur Geophysics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2016RG000552

Résumé : L’arc des Petites Antilles résulte de la lente subduction vers l'Ouest des plaques Nord et Sud-Américaines sous la plaque Caraïbes (2cm/an). A la latitude de l’archipel guadeloupéen et à ~150 km à l’Ouest du front de déformation, le bassin d'avant-arc de Marie-Galante forme un bassin perché, incliné vers la fosse et limité vers l’Est par un haut-fond, l’Eperon Karukéra. À cette latitude, le bassin de Marie-Galante domine le prisme d’accrétion de la Barbade et fait face à la ride de Tiburon qui balaye la zone du Nord au Sud depuis la fin du Miocène supérieur. Le remplissage sédimentaire du Bassin de Marie-Galante montre des déformations actives au moins depuis ~30 millions d’années. L’objectif du travail est de reconstituer l’évolution tectono-sédimentaire de ce bassin pour apporter de nouvelles contraintes sur la compréhension globale de la zone de subduction frontale des Petites Antilles. Ce travail s'appuie sur les données de bathymétrie multifaisceaux et de sismique réflexion multi-traces haute résolution acquises lors des campagnes du programme KaShallow. Cette base de données, complétée de profils sismiques plus basse résolution de campagnes antérieures, permet d’avoir une couverture pseudo 3D et à quatre échelles de résolution de l'ensemble du bassin. Un échantillonnage par ROV et carottage ciblé a fourni 40 prélèvements dans les principales unités sismiques. Les analyses pétrologiques et les datations biostratigraphiques autorisent des reconstitutions paléo-environnementales depuis le Paléogène supérieur jusqu’à Actuel. L’interprétation sismique multi-échelle montre un bassin sédimentaire atteignant ~4,5s temps double (~4500 à 5625 m) sur un substratum magmatique pré-structuré. Ce bassin est composé de 5 grands ensembles sédimentaires (E-1, E1, E2, E3 et E4) subdivisés en 13 unités limitées par 14 surfaces de discontinuités. L’organisation séquentielle des unités sismiques permet de mettre en évidence 10 séquences de dépôts de troisièmes ordres (S-1 à S9). Le calage biostratigraphique de l’ensemble des séquences permet de proposer une évolution tectono-sédimentaire du bassin de l’Éocène à l’Actuel. Ainsi, nous distinguons quatre systèmes de failles normales associées à trois phases d’extensions qui contrôlent l’évolution architecturale et sédimentaire du bassin. 1/ Un système N050±10°E hérité, actif dès le Paléogène supérieur, qui contrôle le basculement général du bassin vers le SSE. Il est responsable de la formation de l'escarpement de Désirade d’environ 4500 m de dénivelé. Cette première extension est interprétée comme résultant de la fragmentation de l'avant-arc en réponse à l'augmentation du rayon de courbure de la zone de subduction. 2/ Un système N130°-N150°E, structurant à l’échelle de l’Éperon Karukéra, qui contrôle la sédimentation dès le Miocène inférieur et marque une première phase d'extension transverse à l’arc. 3/ Un système N160°-N180°E qui segmente le Bassin de Marie-Galante en un sous-bassin à l'Ouest et l'Éperon Karukéra à l'Est. Cette seconde extension, globalement perpendiculaire à la marge, s'accompagne d’une subsidence et d'une inversion de la polarité du bassin en réponse à son basculement vers la fosse qui débute au cours du Miocène moyen et se poursuit actuellement à l'Est du bassin. Cette évolution à long terme de l'avant-arc, concomitante avec le recul de l'arc volcanique vers l’Ouest, est considérée comme résultant d’une érosion basale de la plaque supérieure. 4/ Un système N090±10°E plus tardif est localisé au centre du bassin et qui contrôle le développement de plates-formes carbonatées néritiques sur certaines têtes de blocs, comme par exemple à Marie-Galante. Cette dernière extension, parallèle à l’arc, se manifeste dans le bassin à partir du Pliocène inférieur. Elle se superpose au régime d'extension perpendiculaire à l'avant-arc et est interprétée comme l'accommodation du partitionnement de la déformation en réponse à l’obliquité croissante du front subduction vers le Nord.
The Lesser Antilles result of the slow westward subduction of the North and South American plate under the Caribbean plate (2 cm / year). At the latitude of the Guadeloupe archipelago and ~ 150 km to the west of the deformation front, the fore-arc basin of Marie-Galante forms a perched basin tilted to the pit and limited to the East by a shoal, the Spur Karukéra. At this latitude, Marie-Galante basin dominates the accretionary prism of Barbados and faces wrinkle Tiburon sweeping the area from North to South from the late Miocene. The sedimentary fill Basin Marie-Galante shows active deformation since at least ~ 30 million years. The aim of the work is to reconstruct the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the basin to provide new constraints on the overall understanding of the frontal subduction zone Lesser Antilles. This work relies on multibeam bathymetry data and high-resolution seismic reflection multi-traces acquired during campaigns KaShallow program. This database, supplemented by lower resolution of previous campaigns seismic profiles, provides a pseudo-3D coverage and four scales of resolution of the entire basin. ROV sampling and targeted core provided 40 samples in the main seismic units. Petrological analysis and biostratigraphic dating allow paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the upper Paleogene up Actuel. Seismic interpretation multiscale shows a sedimentary basin reaching ~ 4,5s double (~ 4500-5625 m) on a substrate pre-structured magma. This basin consists of 5 main sedimentary units (E-1, E1, E2, E3 and E4) divided into 13 units bounded by discontinuities 14 surfaces. The sequential organization of seismic units allows to highlight sequences 10 deposits of third order (S-1 to S9). The biostratigraphic calibration of all sequences able to offer a tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Eocene basin to Present. Thus, we distinguish four normal fault systems associated with three phases of extensions that control the architectural and sedimentary evolution of the basin. 1 / A system N050 ± 10 ° E inherited assets from the upper Paleogene, which controls the overall pelvic tilt towards the SSE. He is responsible for the formation of the escarpment Désirade about 4500 m elevation. The first extension is interpreted as resulting from the fragmentation of the fore-arc in response to the increase in the radius of curvature of subduction. 2 / A system N130 ° -N150 ° E, structuring across the Spur Karukéra, which controls sediment from the Miocene and marks the first phase of transverse extension arc. 3 / A system N160 ° E ° -N180 which segments Basin Marie-Galante in a sub-basin to the west and the Spur Karukéra in the East. This second extension, generally perpendicular to the margin, is accompanied by subsidence and reversing the polarity of the basin in response to his switch to the pit, beginning during the Middle Miocene and is ongoing in the East the basin. This long-term evolution of the forearc, concurrent with the decline in volcanic arc to the west, is considered as resulting from a basal erosion of the top plate. 4 / A system N090 ± 10 ° later E is located in the center of the basin and controlling the development of neritic carbonate platforms on certain blocks heads, such as Marie-Galante. This latest extension, parallel to the arc occurs in the basin from the lower Pliocene. It is superimposed on the expansion plan perpendicular to the fore-arc and is interpreted as the accommodation of the partitioning of deformation in response to the increasing obliquity front subduction north.

http://www.theses.fr/2014AGUY0799/document

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Gulf of Cadiz spans the plate boundary between Africa and Eurasia west of the Betic–Rif mountain belt. A narrow east dipping subduction zone descends beneath the Gulf of Cadiz and the straits of Gibraltar. The deep crustal structure of the Gulf and the adjacent SW Iberian and Moroccan margins is constrained by numerous multi-channel seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic surveys. A compilation of these existing studies is presented in the form of depth to basement, sediment thickness, depth to Moho and crustal thickness maps. These structural maps image an E–W trending trough, with thin (< 10 km) crust beneath the Gulf of Cadiz. This trough is filled by an eastward thickening wedge of sediments, reaching a thickness of 10–15 km in the eastern Gulf. These sediments are tectonically deformed, primarily along a series of westward-vergent thrust faults and represent a 200–250 km wide accretionary wedge. The northern and especially the southern limits of the accretionary wedge are marked by sharp morphological lineaments showing evidence of recent deformation. These tectonic limits are situated in an internal position with respect to the Miocene deformation front (external Betic and Rif allocthons), which has been abandoned. At the western boundary of the accretionary wedge, near the adjacent Seine and Horseshoe abyssal plains, an E–W trending basement high (Coral Patch Ridge) can be seen indenting the deformation front in an asymmetric manner. Analog modeling is performed using granular materials accreted against a semicircular backstop (representing the basement of the Rif and Betic mountain belts). The modeling initially produces a symmetric, arcuate accretionary wedge. The ensuing collision of an oblique rigid indenter retards accretion on one side, resulting in an embayment and a locally steeper deformation front. The deformation pattern observed in morphology and high-resolution seismic profiles suggests the accretionary wedge and underlying subduction system is still active. The implications of active subduction for the source region of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the regional seismic hazard assessment are discussed.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00424922
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00424922
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00424922/document
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00424922/file/Gutscher_09Tphys_rev.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.11.031

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We use first first-principle methods and the Peierls-Nabarro model to evaluate the resistance to glide, characterized by the Peierls stress, of glide systems for end-member MgSiO3 Perovskite at mantle pressures. [010](100) is the easiest glide system in Mg-Perovskite at all pressures. Peierls stresses increase systematically with pressure for all systems except [001](010), indicating the importance of lattice friction at lower mantle pressures. The ratio of the maximum Peierls stress for each system relative to the [010](100) value defines their critical resolved shear stress (CRSS). These CRSS are used in a visco-plastic self-consistent homogenization model to predict the evolution of crystal preferred orientations (CPO) during deformation of polycrystalline Mg-Perovskite. In axial compression, [100] tends to align with the compression direction, in agreement with in situ observations in axial compression experiments. In simple shear, [010] concentrates near the shear direction and (100), although more dispersed, tends to align near the shear plane, consistent with the dominant activity of the easier [010](100) system. The calculated seismic anisotropy for a 100% Mg-Perovskite aggregate using the CPO in simple shear and the elastic constants Of MgSiO3 perovskite at lower mantle pressures and temperatures is weak (>3% for P-waves with and >2% for S-waves) and decreases with increasing temperature and pressure. P-waves show the fastest propagation parallel to the lineation and S-waves fast polarization is in the foliation at 38 GPa and normal to the lineation at 88 GPa. This weak anisotropy is consistent with global seismological observations of a nearly isotropic lower mantle. There are however two regions where strain-induced Mg-Perovskite CPO could contribute to anisotropy; a) low temperature regions in the uppermost lower mantle, where the predicted S-wave polarization anisotropy may attain 1.6% with a fast polarization parallel to the foliation, b) in high high-temperature domains in the D '' layer, where Mg-Perovskite may be the major stable phase, leading to polarization of fast S-waves normal to the lineation for propagation directions at high angle to the lineation and an apparent isotropy for all other propagation directions.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00411460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411460
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.058

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société Géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
The seaward extension of onshore formations and structures were previously almost unknown in Provence. The interpretation of 2D high-resolution marine seismic profiles together with the integration of sea-bottom rock samples provides new insights into the stratigraphic, structural and paleogeographic framework of pre-Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) deposits of the Provence continental shelf. Seven post-Jurassic seismic units have been identified on seismic profiles, mapped throughout the offshore Provence area and correlated with the onshore series. The studied marine surface and sub-surface database provided new insights into the mid and late Cretaceous paleogeography and structural framework as well as into the syn-and post-rift deformation in Provence. Thick (up to 2000 m) Aptian-Albian series whose deposition is controlled by E-W-trending faults are evidenced offshore. The occurrence and location of the Upper Cretaceous South-Provence basin is confirmed by the thick (up to 1500 m) basinal series downlaping the Aptian-Albian unit. This basin was fed in terrigenous sediments by a southern massif (" Massif Méridional ") whose present-day relict is the Paleozoic basement and its sedimentary cover from the Sicié imbricate. In the bay of Marseille, thick syn-rift (Rupelian to Aquitanian) deposition occurred (>1000 m). During the rifting phase, syn-sedimentary deformations consist of dominant N040 to N060 sub-vertical faults with a normal component and N050 drag-synclines and anticlines. The syn-rift and early post-rift units (Rupelian to early Burdigalian) are deformed and form a set of E-W-trending en echelon folds that may result from sinistral strike-slip reactivation of N040 to N060 normal faults during a N-S com-pressive phase of early-to-mid Burdigalian age (18-20 Ma). Finally, minor fault reactivation and local folding affect post-rift deposits within a N160-trending corridor localized south of La Couronne, and could result from a later, post-Burdigalian and pre-Pliocene compressive phase.
Cadre tectonostratigraphique des formations anté-pliocènes du plateau continental de Provence (golfe du Lion oriental, SE France) Mots-clés. – Géologie marine, Tectonostratigraphie, Stratigraphie sismique, Paléogéographie crétacée, Rifting oligo-miocène, Compression post-rift Résumé. – Le prolongement en mer des formations et des structures provençales était jusqu'alors largement inconnu.L'interprétation de profils de sismique-réflexion marine 2D et l'intégration de dragages et carottages du fond-marin ont permis d'apporter des éléments nouveaux concernant le cadre stratigraphique, structural et paléogéographique des dé-pôts anté-Messiniens du plateau continental de Provence. Sept unités sismiques post-jurassiques ont été identifiées sur les profils sismiques, cartographiées à travers le plateau continental et corrélées avec les séries affleurant à terre. Une épaisse unité apto-albienne (jusqu'à 2000 m) dont le dépôt est contrôlé par des failles E-W a été mise en évidence en mer. L'existence d'un bassin subsident au Crétacé supérieur sur le plateau continental de Provence a été confirmée par le développement d'une épaisse série de bassin (jusqu'à 1500 m) reposant en downlap sur l'Apto-Albien. Le socle mé-tamorphique de l'écaille de Sicié et sa couverture sédimentaire peut être considéré comme une relique allochtone du « Massif Méridional » ayant alimenté le Bassin sud-provençal en éléments terrigènes au Crétacé supérieur. Dans la rade de Marseille, une épaisse unité syn-rift (Rupélien à Aquitanien) a été mise en évidence (>1000 m), structurée en une série de synformes en échelon d'axe E-W et affectée par des failles d'orientation dominante N040 à N060. Sur le flanc sud des synformes, la formation de plis d'axe N050 est associée à une déformation syn-sédimentaire. La formation des synformes en échelon d'axe E-W résulterait d'une réactivation en décrochement des failles N040 à N060 pendant une phase de compression N-S dont l'âge est compris entre le Burdigalien inférieur et moyen (18-20 Ma). Enfin, les dépôts post-rift sont affectés par des déformations mineures (réactivation de failles et plis associés), le long d'un couloir d'orientation N160 à l'ouest de la baie de Marseille, attribuables à une phase de compression post-burdigalienne et anté-pliocène.
ISSN: 0037-9409

hal-01463727
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727/document
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727/file/Fournier_et_al_Provence_2016.pdf
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.187.4-5.187

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We performed torsional deformation experiments on pre-hydrated fine-grained olivine aggregates using an innovative experimental assembly to investigate water weakening in mantle rocks at high shear strains. San Carlos olivine powder was cold-pressed and then hot-pressed under hydrous conditions, producing aggregates with average grain sizes of 7 or 15 μm. Deformation experiments were performed in a high-resolution gas-medium apparatus equipped with a torsional actuator, under a confining pressure of 300 MPa, a temperature of 1200 °C, and constant shear strain rates ranging from 8 × 10−5 to 1.4 × 10−4 s−1. Maximum shear stresses range from 150 to 195 MPa. These values are 30% lower relative to those determined in previous torsion experiments on dry, fined-grained dunites under similar conditions. Textures and microstructures of the starting and deformed specimens were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. All deformed aggregates exhibit a shape-preferred orientation marking a foliation and lineation, as well as a reduction in mean grain size from 15 μm down to 3-4 μm due to dynamic recrystallization. Olivine crystallographic fabrics developed rapidly (γ < 0.1), but their strength, characterized by the J-index, is low compared to naturally deformed peridotites or to polycrystalline olivine deformed at similar finite shear strains under dry conditions. The crystallographic fabrics are consistent with deformation by a dislocation accommodated creep mechanism with activation of multiple {0 k l}[1 0 0] systems, among which the (0 1 0)[1 0 0] slip system is dominant, and minor participation of the (0 1 0)[0 0 1] slip system. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the occurrence of dislocations with [1 0 0] and [0 0 1] Burgers vectors in most grains. Analysis of unpolarized infrared spectra indicates that hydrogen concentration in the olivine lattice is below the saturation level of 18 ppm wt H2O, which is similar to those typically observed in spinel-bearing peridotite xenoliths, and also provide evidence for water-rich inter-granular material trapped in pores and grain boundaries. Seismic properties computed from the CPO observations correspond to those most commonly observed in naturally deformed mantle peridotites with fast P-wave propagation and S-wave polarization subparallel to the shear direction. These torsion experiments on fine-grained olivine polycrystals under hydrous conditions indicate that water weakening under lithospheric conditions is linked to various defects with hydrogen in the olivine structure, as well as with water-derived species in grain boundaries or pores.
ISSN: 0031-9201

hal-00745170
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745170
DOI : 10.1016/j.pepi.2012.05.001

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : Analysis of new high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, chirp profiles and previously published sidescan data, together with piston cores on the Danube Fan provide new insight into the recent sedimentation processes in the deep northwestern Black Sea.The latest channel-levee system on the Danube Fan developed probably during the Neoeuxinian lowstand (oxygene isotope stage 2) in a semi-freshwater basin with a water level about 100 m lower than today. Sediment supplied by the Danube was transported to the deep basin through the Viteaz Canyon, which was directly connected to the leveed channel of this system on the middle slope. Channel avulsion was common in the middle fan, as indicated by four main phases of bifurcation. Each phase developed after the same pattern: breaching of the lower and narrower left levee by turbidity currents, building of a unit of High Amplitude Reflection Packets (HARP) by the unchannelized flow while the former channel was abandoned, followed by initiation of a new meandering leveed channel. The northward migration through successive bifurcations is influenced by the asymmetry between levees, hence by the Coriolis effect. In the lower fan where the levees became too low to maintain a stable pathway for the turbiditic flows, channel migration occurred. Locations of HARPs and channels after bifurcation are controlled by the pre-existing bathymetry. Sedimentary deposits are confined between the high levees of unit 0 (the initial phase of the youngest channel-levee system) to the south, and the steep relief of the Dniepr Fan to the north.The HARPs of the most recent phase of avulsion are the most severely constrained by local topography and form a very narrow elongate structure that is at most half as thick as the previous HARPs. Their distal part is not covered by channel-levee systems and is visible both on sidescan mosaics and on chirp profiles and was sampled in core BLKS 98-20.Sea level controlled fan activity but the evolution of the last channel-levee system with several bifurcations during a single sea level lowstand suggests that the primary control of channel avulsion and sand delivery is probably autocyclic.The presence of important HARP sand bodies in the mud-rich Danube Fan is presumed by analogy with a similar seismic facies on the Amazon Fan and indicated by the sands cored in BLKS98-20. However, only drilling of the HARP units could verify this interpretation.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2001-09 , Vol. 179 , N. 1-2 , P. 25-37

Droits : 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2001/publication-474.pdf
DOI:10.1016/S0025-3227(01)00197-9
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/474/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
During the GWADASEIS cruise (Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, February-March 2009) a very high resolution (VHR) seismic-reflection survey was performed in order to constrain Late Quaternary to Present faulting. The profiles we obtained evidence frequent "ponding" of reworked sediments in the deepest areas, similar to the deposition of Mediterranean "homogenites". These bodies are acoustically transparent (few ms t.w.t. thick) and are often deposited on the hanging walls of dominantly normal faults, at the base of scarps. Their thickness appears sufficient to compensate (i.e. bury) co-seismic scarps between successive earthquakes, resulting in a flat and horizontal sea floor through time. In a selected area (offshore Montserrat and Nevis islands), piston coring (4 to 7 m long) was dedicated to a sedimentological analysis of the most recent of these particular layers. It corresponds to non-stratified homogenous calcareous silty sand (reworked calcareous plankton and minor volcanoclastics). This layer can be up to 2 m thick, and overlies finegrained hemipelagites. The upper centimeters of the latter represent the normal RedOx water/sediment interface. 210Pb and 137Cs activities lack in the massive sands, while a normal profile of unsupported 210Pb decrease is observed in the hemipelagite below, together with a 137Cs peak correspond- ing to the Atmospheric Nuclear Experiments (1962). The RedOx level was thus capped by a recent instantaneous major sedimentary event considered as post-1970 AD; candidate seismic events to explain this sedimentary deposits are either the 16 March 1985 earthquake or the 8 October 1974 one (Mw=6.3 and Mw=7.4, respectively). This leads to consider that the syntectonic sedimentation in this area is not continuous but results from accumulation of thick homogenites deposited after the earthquakes (as observed in the following weeks after Haiti January 2010 event, McHugh et al., 2011). The existence of such deposits suggests that, in the area of study, vertical throw likely results from cumulated effects of separated earthquakes rather than from aseismic creep. Examination of VHR profiles shows that all major co-seismic offsets are recorded in the fault growth sequence and that co-seismic offsets can be precisely estimated. By using a sedimentation rate deduced from 210Pb decrease curve (0.5 mm yr−1) and taking into account minor reworking events detected in cores, we show that the Redonda system may have been responsible for five >M6 events during the last 34 000 yr. The approach presented in this work differs from fault activity analyses using displaced sets of isochronous surfaces and postulating co-seismic offsets. Combining VHR seismic imagery and coring we can decipher co-seismic vs. slow continuous displacement, and thus actually estimate the amplitude and the time distribution of major co-seismic offsets.
ISSN: 1561-8633

insu-00844581
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00844581
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00844581/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00844581/file/nhess-12-1755-2012.pdf
DOI : 10.5194/nhess-12-1755-2012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This special issue in honour of the late Olivier Jaoul brings together contributions from experimental and theoretical mineralogy, the area of most of Olivier's own work, focused for the most part on the Earth's mantle. The volume is divided into three sections; diffusion, deformation and seismic properties. New technological developments have often had a strong impact on research in this area, as again shown by Olivier's constant search to improve the resolution of the short diffusion profiles typical of major cations in mantle silicates. In the section on diffusion the impact of improved computer performance for modelling diffusion and point defect configurations on one hand, and high pressure experimental techniques on the other hand, highlight the continued development in this area. The section on deformation deals with wide range of subjects, including the deformation of olivine and quartz and the relation between deformation and diffusion, both subjects close to Olivier's personal interests. This illustrates the new possibilities to undertake deformation experiments at mantle pressures and temperatures, as well as improvement in high-fidelity viscoelastic measurements at high temperature. In the last section on seismic properties we discover theoretical developments on predicting properties near the Earth's surface and a new experimental application, which allows the determination of sound velocity at very high pressures with implications for the Earth's inner core.
ISSN: 0031-9201

hal-00475657
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475657
DOI : 10.1016/j.pepi.2008.09.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
An active seismic experiment has been conducted across the southern Ryukyu margin east of Taiwan over the whole trench-arc-backarc system in May 2009. Twenty-four ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed from the Ryukyu trench to the southern Okinawa trough over the Ryukyu arc and forearc. Wide angle seismic data were recorded by the OBS array while coincident reflection seismic data were acquired using a 6 km long streamer and a 6600 cubic inch seismic airgun array. Results from tomographic inversion of 21091 travel time picks along this line allowed us to image crustal structures of the Ryukyu margin down to a depth of 25 km. The transect has been designed to provide a better seismic velocity structure of the subduction zone in a highly deformed area that has produced an M8 earthquake in 1920. The line crosses a seismic cluster of earthquakes which source mechanisms are still poorly understood. The subducting oceanic crust of the Huatung Basin is about 5-6 km thick. The underlying mantle exhibits low seismic velocities around 7.8 km/s suggesting some hydrothermal alterations or alteration of the upper mantle through faults generated by the flexure of the subducting plate as it enters the subduction. Low velocities, up to 4.5 km/s, associated with the accretionary wedge are well imaged from the trench back to the Nanao forearc. A major result concerns the abrupt termination of the buttress at the rear of the accretionary wedge. Despite the low resolution of the tomographic inversion near the subduction interface, several lines of evidence supporting the presence of a low velocity zone beneath the toe of the forearc buttress could be established. The Moho beneath the Ryukyu non-volcanic arc is located at a depth around 25 km depth.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00795573
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795573
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.10.010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Polygonal faulting is a widespread phenomenon in sedimentary basins worldwide. It changes basin-scale fluid flow patterns and alters the physical properties of the sediments making it important for hydrocarbon exploration and geohazard analysis. It is generally accepted that polygonal fault patterns derive from dewatering and compaction of the host sediments, but there is debate regarding the processes that control polygonal faulting. New multibeam-bathymetry data from the Hatton Basin, NE Atlantic, show up to 10 m deep and 200-600 m wide troughs at the seabed. They connect to each other forming polygons that are several hundred metres across, i.e. of similar size as buried polygonal fault systems observed in 3D seismic data. The troughs are symmetrical and resemble elongated pockmarks. Previously unpublished high-resolution 2D seismic data from the same area show seismic disturbance zones similar to pipes observed under pockmarks elsewhere as well as faults that have all the characteristics of polygonal fault systems. The observation of the wide disturbance zones is enigmatic, as they appear to follow the polygonal seafloor pattern. The observed extent of the polygonal sediment contraction system is substantial covering almost 37,000 km2. We calculate that some 2600 km3 of possibly carbon-bearing fluids have been expelled from this system and we expect that this will affect the benthic ecosystems, although so far there is only limited evidence for chemosynthetic habitats.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00772468
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00772468
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2012.09.013

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
During the GWADASEIS cruise (Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, February–March 2009) a very high resolution (VHR) seismic-reflection survey was performed in order to constrain Late Quaternary to Present faulting. The profiles we obtained evidence frequent " ponding " of reworked sediments in the deepest areas, similar to the deposition of Mediterranean " homogenites ". These bodies are acoustically transparent (few ms t.w.t. thick) and are often deposited on the hanging walls of dominantly normal faults, at the base of scarps. Their thickness appears sufficient to compensate (i.e. bury) co-seismic scarps between successive earthquakes, resulting in a flat and horizontal sea floor through time. In a selected area (offshore Montserrat and Nevis islands), piston coring (4 to 7 m long) was dedicated to a sedimento-logical analysis of the most recent of these particular layers. It corresponds to non-stratified homogenous calcareous silty sand (reworked calcareous plankton and minor volcanoclas-tics). This layer can be up to 2 m thick, and overlies fine-grained hemipelagites. The upper centimeters of the latter represent the normal RedOx water/sediment interface. 210 Pb and 137 Cs activities lack in the massive sands, while a normal profile of unsupported 210 Pb decrease is observed in the hemipelagite below, together with a 137 Cs peak corresponding to the Atmospheric Nuclear Experiments (1962). The RedOx level was thus capped by a recent instantaneous major sedimentary event considered as post-1970 AD; candidate seismic events to explain this sedimentary deposits are either the 16 March 1985 earthquake or the 8 October 1974 one (M w = 6.3 and M w = 7.4, respectively). This leads to consider that the syntectonic sedimentation in this area is not continuous but results from accumulation of thick homogen-ites deposited after the earthquakes (as observed in the following weeks after Haiti January 2010 event, McHugh et al., 2011). The existence of such deposits suggests that, in the area of study, vertical throw likely results from cu-mulated effects of separated earthquakes rather than from aseismic creep. Examination of VHR profiles shows that all major co-seismic offsets are recorded in the fault growth sequence and that co-seismic offsets can be precisely estimated. By using a sedimentation rate deduced from 210 Pb decrease curve (0.5 mm yr −1) and taking into account minor reworking events detected in cores, we show that the Redonda system may have been responsible for five > M 6 events during the last 34 000 yr. The approach presented in this work differs from fault activity analyses using displaced sets of isochronous surfaces and postulating co-seismic offsets. Combining VHR seismic imagery and coring we can decipher co-seismic vs. slow continuous displacement, and thus actually estimate the amplitude and the time distribution of major co-seismic offsets.
Natural Hazards and Earth System Science

insu-01585969
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01585969
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01585969/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01585969/file/nhess-12-1755-2012-beck.pdf
DOI : 10.5194/nhess-12-1755-2012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société Géologique de France
Résumé : Based on a High-Resolution 3D seismic block acquired in the Gulf of Lion in 2004–2005 we investigated fluid pipes and pockmarks on the top of the interfluve between the Hérault canyon and the Bourcart canyon both created by turbidity currents and gravity flows from the shelf to the deep basin in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Combining the geometry of the potential fluid pipes with the induced deformation of surrounding sediments leads then to the ability to differentiate between potential fluid sources (root vs source) and to better estimate the triggering mechanisms (allochtonous vs. autochtonous cause). We linked together a set of derived attributes, such as Chaos and RMS amplitude, to a 3D description of pipes along which fluids may migrate. As previously shown in other basins, the induced deformation, creating cone in cone or V-shaped structures, may develop in response to the fluid pipe propagation in unconsolidated sediments in the near surface. The level at the top of a cone structure is diachronous. It means that stratigraphic levels over this surface are deformed at the end of the migration. They collapse forming a depression called a pockmark. These pipes are the result of repeated cycles of fluid expulsion that might be correlated with rapid sea-level rise instead of sediment loading. The most recent event (MIS 2.2 stage) has led to the formation of a pockmark on the modern seafloor. It has been used as a reference for calculating the effect of a rapid sea-level rise on fluid expulsion. As all physical and geometrical parameters are constrained, we were able to define that a + 34 m of sea level rise may account for triggering fluid expulsion from a very shallow silty-sandy layer at 9 m below seafloor since the last glacial stage. This value is consistent with a sea level rise of about 102 m during this period. This study shows that the episodic nature of fluid release resulted from hydromechanical processes during sea-level rise due to the interactivity between high pressure regimes and principal in situ stresses.
ISSN: 0037-9409

hal-01667241
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01667241
DOI : 10.1051/bsgf/2017190

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The association of experimental data showing that the plastic deformation of olivine, the main constituent of the upper mantle, is highly anisotropic and the ubiquitous seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle, which indicates that olivine crystals show coherent orientations over scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers, implies that the long-term deformation in the upper mantle is anisotropic. We propose a multiscale approach, based on a combination of finite element and homogenization techniques, to model the deformation of a lithospheric plate while fully considering the mechanical anisotropy stemming from a strain-induced orientation of olivine crystals in the mantle. This multiscale model explicitly takes into account the evolution of crystal preferred orientations (CPO) of olivine and of the mechanical anisotropy during the deformation. We performed a series of numerical experiments simulating the uniaxial extension of a homogeneous (100% olivine) but anisotropic plate to test the role of the olivine CPO on the plate mechanical behavior and the link between CPO and mechanical anisotropy evolution. Even for this simple solicitation, different orientations and intensity of the initial olivine CPO result in variable plate strengths and deformation regimes. A plate with an initial CPO where the olivine [100] and [010] axes are concentrated at 45 degrees to the extension direction has high resolved shear stresses on the easy (010)[100] and (001)[100] slip systems of olivine. This results in low strength and in deformation by transtension. Plates with an initial CPO where the maximum of [100] axes is parallel or normal to the extension direction show a high initial strength. Isotropic plates have an intermediate behavior. The progressive rotation of olivine [100] axes toward the imposed stretching direction results in hardening in all models, except in those characterized by an initial concentration of olivine [100] axes normal to the imposed extension, in which softening is followed by hardening.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00420063
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420063
DOI : 10.1029/2009GC002423

Éditeur(s) : Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : Society's needs for a network of in situ ocean observing systems cross many areas of earth and marine science. Here we review the science themes that benefit from data supplied from ocean observatories. Understanding from existing studies is fragmented to the extent that it lacks the coherent long-term monitoring needed to address questions at the scales essential to understand climate change and improve geo-hazard early warning. Data sets from the deep sea are particularly rare with long-term data available from only a few locations worldwide. These science areas have impacts on societal health and well-being and our awareness of ocean function in a shifting climate. Substantial efforts are underway to realise a network of open-ocean observatories around European Seas that will operate over multiple decades. Some systems are already collecting high-resolution data from surface, water column, seafloor, and sub-seafloor sensors linked to shore by satellite or cable connection in real or near-real time, along with samples and other data collected in a delayed mode. We expect that such observatories will contribute to answering major ocean science questions including: How can monitoring of factors such as seismic activity, pore fluid chemistry and pressure, and gas hydrate stability improve seismic, slope failure, and tsunami warning? What aspects of physical oceanography, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystems will be most sensitive to climatic and anthropogenic change? What are natural versus anthropogenic changes? Most fundamentally, how are marine processes that occur at differing scales related? The development of ocean observatories provides a substantial opportunity for ocean science to evolve in Europe. Here we also describe some basic attributes of network design. Observatory networks provide the means to coordinate and integrate the collection of standardised data capable of bridging measurement scales across a dispersed area in European Seas adding needed certainty to estimates of future oceanic conditions. Observatory data can be analysed along with other data such as those from satellites, drifting floats, autonomous underwater vehicles, model analysis, and the known distribution and abundances of marine fauna in order to address some of the questions posed above. Standardised methods for information management are also becoming established to ensure better accessibility and traceability of these data sets and ultimately to increase their use for societal benefit. The connection of ocean observatory effort into larger frameworks including the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the Global Monitoring of Environment and Security (GMES) is integral to its success. It is in a greater integrated framework that the full potential of the component systems will be realised. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Progress In Oceanography (0079-6611) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2011-10 , Vol. 91 , N. 1 , P. 1-33

Droits : 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00044/15557/15923.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.pocean.2011.05.001
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00044/15557/

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : High-resolution reflection and refraction seismic data were collected in 2004 to investigate, in further detail than allowed by pre-existing low resolution seismic data, the nature of a Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR) that extends over a broad area of the Fairway Basin, a rifted, continental structure located on the eastern flank of the Lord Howe Rise, to the southwest of New Caledonia. Two main reflectors are documented: the shallower (RN) mimics the seafloor and has a negative polarity while the deeper (RP) does not always mimic the seafloor and has a positive polarity. Using the existing regional seismic lines, we can show that reflector RN can be continuously followed up to DSDP 208 drill hole site. Reflector RP is discontinuous and cannot be traced to DSDP 208. Based on DSDP 208 stratigraphic data, Reflector RN is assigned to the Eocene/Oligocene regional unconformity; reflector RP is interpreted in terms of a diagenetic BSR, likely related to an Opal-A/Opal-CT transition front. Heat flow data collected in 2006 suggest that reflector RP lies too deep to be related to methane hydrates, strengthening our interpretation that RP is of diagenetic origin.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2009-10 , Vol. 266 , N. 1-4 , P. 80-90

Droits : 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-7321.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2009.07.014
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/7321/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Subduction of a narrow slab of oceanic lithosphere beneath a tightly curved orogenic arc requires the presence of at least one lithospheric scale tear fault. While the Calabrian subduction beneath southern Italy is considered to be the type example of this geodynamic setting, the geometry, kinematics and surface expression of the associated lateral, slab tear fault offshore eastern Sicily remain controversial. Results from a new marine geophysical survey conducted in the Ionian Sea, using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic profiling reveal active faulting at the seafloor within a 140 km long, two-branched fault system near Alfeo Seamount. The previously unidentified 60 km long NW trending North Alfeo Fault system shows primarily strike-slip kinematics as indicated by the morphology and steep-dipping transpressional and transtensional faults. Available earthquake focal mechanisms indicate dextral strike-slip motion along this fault segment. The 80 km long SSE trending South Alfeo fault system is expressed by one or two steeply dipping normal faults, bounding the western side of a 500+ m thick, 5 km wide, elongate, syntectonic Plio-Quaternary sedimentary basin. Both branches of the fault system are mechanically capable of generating magnitude 6–7 earthquakes like those that struck eastern Sicily in 1169, 1542, and 1693.
ISSN: 0278-7407

insu-01256887
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887/file/GutscherEtal_2015_Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2015TC003898