Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany)
Résumé : International audience
Surface displacements due to temporal changes in environmental mass redistributions are observable in the coordinate time series of many Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sites. In this study, we investigated the effect of loading on estimates of tectonic velocity computed from campaign-style GNSS observations. The study region is in the Pyrenees mountain range between France and Spain (ResPyr campaigns). In this area, seismic activity is continuous and moderate and the expected amplitude of the horizontal tectonic velocity is less than 0.5 mm/yr. In order to determine the velocity, 4 sparse GNSS campaigns were carried out from 1995 to 2010. Considering this small rate of deformation, loading phenomena can contribute a non-negligible artifact to the velocity computation that could affect our geodynamical interpretation. In this investigation, we specifically considered the atmospheric, hydrological, and non-tidal ocean loading phenomena. The computed loading deformations for this region show the horizontal displacements are dominated by the non-tidal ocean loading (maximum 4 mm for the North and 3.1 mm for the East components); the main vertical contributions are due to the atmospheric and continental water storage loading (maximum 14.3 for the atmosphere and 8.1 mm for the hydrology, respectively). We have found that the dominant loading effect on the horizontal velocity is the non-tidal ocean loading (mean of 0.11 mm/yr), whereas the vertical component is dominated by the hydrological loading (mean of 0.21 mm/yr). Since the study area is in a mountainous region, we also analyzed the difference between the atmospheric and the topography dependent atmospheric loading models at our GNSS campaign sites. We did not find any significant difference between the two atmospheric loading models in terms of horizontal velocity. Finally, we performed simulations to identify the optimum timing and frequency of future GNSS campaigns in this area that would minimize the loading effects on tectonic velocity estimates.
ISSN: 0039-3169

hal-00963629
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00963629
DOI : 10.1007/s11200-012-0458-2

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy P - Oxford Open Option A Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Pyrenean mountain range is a slowly deforming belt with continuous and moderate seismic activity. To quantify its deformation field, we present the velocity field estimated from a GPS survey of the Pyrenees spanning 18 yr. The PotSis and ResPyr networks, including a total of 85 GPS sites, were installed and first measured in 1992 and 1995–1997, respectively, and remeasured in 2008 and 2010. We obtain a deformation field with velocities less than 1 mm yr−1 across the range. The estimated velocities for individual stations do not differ significantly from zero with 95 per cent confidence. Even so, we estimate a maximum extensional horizontal strain rate of 2.0 ± 1.7 nanostrain per year in a N–S direction in the western part of the range. We do not interpret the vertical displacements due to their large uncertainties. In order to compare the horizontal strain rates with the seismic activity, we analyse a set of 194 focal mechanisms using three methods: (i) the ‘r’ factor relating their P and T axes, (ii) the stress tensors obtained by fault slip inversion and (iii) the strain-rate tensors. Stress and strain-rate tensors are estimated for: (i) the whole data set, (ii) the eastern and western parts of the range separately, and (iii) eight zones, which are defined based on the seismicity and the tectonic patterns of the Pyrenees. Each of these analyses reveals a lateral variation of the deformation style from compression and extension in the east to extension and strike-slip in the west of the range. Although the horizontal components of the strain-rate tensors estimated from the seismic data are slightly smaller in magnitude than those computed from the GPS velocity field, they are consistent within the 2σ uncertainties. Furthermore, the orientations of their principal axes agree with the mapped active faults.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01171752
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01171752
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggv052

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The southernmost part of the Ryukyu subduction, where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate, is known to be a very seismically active region of transition from a north-dipping subduction along the Ryukyu subduction to an ~ SE-NW collision along the Taiwanese orogenic wedge. In this paper, we will focus on the Ryukyu forearc area close to Taiwan where the deformation is paroxysmal. In order to decipher the nature of the seismic deformation in this region, a three month passive experiment, combining 22 Ocean Bottom Seismometers and 51 onland stations, has been led. Starting from an a-priori heterogeneous model, we have obtained 801 well-located earthquake hypocenters, a precise P-wave tomography model and 14 focal mechanisms. The seismicity along the Ryukyu forearc is mainly located not only in the vicinity of the Interplate Seismogenic Zone (ISZ) but also within both the subducting PSP and the overriding plate. Seismicity within the upper-plate is essentially localized east of Nanao basin where NW-SE extension occurs, and northwest of the Hoping basin where strike-slip dominates. As revealed by both the P-wave velocity structure and the newly derived seismicity, we argue that a sub-vertical step offsetting the subducting PSP around 10 km may support the presence of a trench-parallel tear. The PSP also undergoes extension in its upper part that is probably caused by buckling and slab pull. The P-wave velocity structure reveals three other major features: (1) a continuity between the Central Range and the Ryukyu Arc with a shallower Moho (~ 30 km depth) between ~ 122.3°N and ~ 122.5°N along the Ryukyu Arc, (2) high P-wave velocities along the eastern side of the Central Range and, (3) two bodies with similar high crustal velocities (6.5-7.0 km/s) at 12-18 km depths, embedded within the Ryukyu arc basement, just north of Hoping Basin and north of the Nanao Basin.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00795521
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795521
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.04.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-VCH Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Deciphering the assembly history of the Milky Way is a formidable task, which becomes possible only if one can produce high-resolution chrono-chemo-kinematical maps of the Galaxy. Data from large-scale astrometric and spectroscopic surveys will soon provide us with a well-defined view of the current chemo-kinematical structure of the Milky Way, but will only enable a blurred view on the temporal sequence that led to the present-day Galaxy. As demonstrated by the (ongoing) exploitation of data from the pioneering photometric missions CoRoT, Kepler, and K2, asteroseismology provides the way forward: solar-like oscillating giants are excellent evolutionary clocks thanks to the availability of seismic constraints on their mass and to the tight age-initial-mass relation they adhere to. In this paper we identify five key outstanding questions relating to the formation and evolution of the Milky Way that will need precise and accurate ages for large samples of stars to be addressed, and we identify the requirements in terms of number of targets and the precision on the stellar properties that are needed to tackle such questions. By quantifying the asteroseismic yields expected from PLATO for red-giant stars, we demonstrate that these requirements are within the capabilities of the current instrument design, provided that observations are sufficiently long to identify the evolutionary state and allow robust and precise determination of acoustic-mode frequencies. This will allow us to harvest data of sufficient quality to reach a 10% precision in age. This is a fundamental pre-requisite to then reach the more ambitious goal of a similar level of accuracy, which will only be possible if we have to hand a careful appraisal of systematic uncertainties on age deriving from our limited understanding of stellar physics, a goal which conveniently falls within the main aims of PLATO's core science.
ISSN: 0004-6337

hal-01541393
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01541393
ARXIV : 1706.3778
BIBCODE : 2017AN....338..644M
DOI : 10.1002/asna.201713385

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 Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We analyze in this study a new set of marine data including 3D local tomography, 1992-2008 relocated earthquakes and two recent multichannel seismic lines to characterize the deformation style in the collision area offshore east Taiwan. We have mapped in detail the Mohos of the converging plates as well as the subduction interface with a resolution never reached before. We show that the sharp continental subduction of the Eurasia plate, beneath the middle part of the Central Range, indents the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) as attested by intra-oceanic slicing and incipient subduction of the PSP beneath the east coast of Taiwan. The westernmost part of the PSP slab is probably experiencing a beginning of break-off as attested by NW-trending en-échelon shear zones beneath the southern slope of the southern Ryukyu arc (SRA). These en-échelon shear zones have a sinistral component favored by the "collision-free" subduction of the PSP north of 24°30′N. The down-faulting of the subduction interface forms ramps along which earthquakes clusterize. Three M7 subduction earthquakes occurred offshore Suao city along these ramps with a recurrence interval of about 40 years: 1920 Mw7.7, 1963 Mw7.2 and 2002 Mw7.1 events. The 1966 Mw6.0-7.5 earthquakes sequence likely outlines a WNW-ESE left-lateral intra-slab shear zone. The SRA upper plate accommodates the complex geometry and deformation of the subducting PSP through seismic deformation. Shallow high velocities fringing the Luzon volcanic arc (LVA) beneath the Longitudinal Valley and north of the southernmost Ryukyu forearc basins are interpreted as relics of the LVA forearc basement squeezed in the collision zone. Based on the accommodation of a large part of the convergence through shortening within the PSP and the subsequent segmentation of the shallow subduction interface, we consider that the nucleation of a Mw ≥ 8 earthquake along the southernmost Ryukyu megathrust is unlikely.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00853365
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365/file/publallemandifremer.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.03.020

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 Geological Society of America
Résumé : International audience
Mechanisms that control seismic activity in low strain rate areas such as western Europe remain poorly understood. For example, in spite of low shortening rates of <0.5 mm/ yr, the Western Alps and the Pyrenees are underlain by moderate but frequent seismicity detectable by instruments. Beneath the elevated part of these mountain ranges, analysis of earthquake focal mechanisms indicates extension, which is commonly interpreted as the result of gravitational collapse. Here we show that erosional processes are the predominant control on present-day deformation and seismicity. We demonstrate, using fi nite element modeling, that erosion induces extension and rock uplift of the elevated region of mountain ranges accommodating relatively low overall convergence. Our results suggest that an erosion rate of ~1 mm/yr can lead to extension in mountain ranges accommodating signifi cant shortening of <3 mm/yr. Based on this study, the seismotectonic framework and seismic hazard assessment for low strain rate areas need to be revisited, because erosion-related earthquakes could increase seismic hazard.
ISSN: 0091-7613

insu-00817341
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00817341
DOI : 10.1130/G33942.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU) American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Environmental magnetism of speleothems is still in its early stage of development. Here we report on our investigation of the environmental and paleomagnetic information that has been recorded in speleothems, and what are the factors that control its preservation and reliability. To address these issues, we used a multidisciplinary approach, including rock magnetism, petrography, scanning electron microscopy, stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions, and major and trace element concentrations. We applied this to a set of samples from different stages of speleothem evolution: present-day dripwater (glass plates), a weathered stalactite, a fresh stalagmite, cave sediments, and terra rossa soils. These samples come from the Penico and Excentricas caves, located in two distinct aquifers of the Algarve region, South Portugal. Our results show that the main magnetic carriers of the speleothems under study are primary (detrital) and consist of maghemite (and magnetite?). Similarities in coercivity and temperature dependence of the studied set of samples suggest that iron oxides are inherited from the terra rossa soils that cap the cave and were transported to the speleothems by dripwater. Hence, they represent a regional environmental signature. Interestingly, a stable and probably detrital remanent magnetization could be isolated in the fresh stalagmite, whereas the weathered stalactite yielded chaotic magnetic directions and very low remanent intensities. We propose that these low intensities can be the result from (i) different remanence acquisition mechanisms between stalagmite and stalactite and/or (ii) iron dissolution by fungal activity. We also suggest that magnetic properties and color and the content in detrital elements in the fresh speleothem inform about environmental processes acting on the interface of rock (soil)-atmosphere, while oxygen isotope composition and alkaline-earth element concentrations inform about calcite-water interaction processes. These results provide a better understanding of how environmental information is recorded in speleothems and what the factors are that control the reliability of the paleomagnetic and paleo-environmental signal.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01114953
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01114953
DOI : 10.1002/2014JB011381