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) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : To understand the effect of inherited lithospheric structures on the continental plates deformation process, we have developed a multi scale model that explicitly takes into account an anisotropic viscosity due to the Crystal Preferred Orientation (CPO) of olivine in the mantle by coupling a viscoplastic self-consistent simulation of the deformation at the polycrystalline aggregate to a 3D Finite Element code. Using this tool, we calculate the mechanical behavior of a continental lithosphere submitted to extension for various initial structures. The first set of experiments investigates the deformation of a plate with a homogeneous initial olivine CPO. Results show that the macroscopic anisotropy is strongly dependent on the initial orientation of the olivine CPO relative to the solicitation and to its evolution. The second set of experiments aims to analyze the deformation of a continental plate containing pre-existing lithospheric scale shear zones. These multi-domain models show that the olivine mechanical anisotropy may induce the reactivation of pre-existing lithospheric scale shear zones in a plate submitted to rifting. In both cases, the results shows that the macroscopic mechanic anisotropy induced by the evolution of olivine CPO in the upper mantle is a key parameter to understand the deformation of the continental plates and to explain the observed reactivation of inherited structure from past tectonics events
Afin de comprendre l'effet des structures préexistantes sur la déformation des plaques continentales, nous avons développé une méthode de modélisation mécanique multi-échelle utilisant une viscosité anisotrope induite par les Orientations Préférentielles du Réseau (OPR) des cristaux d'olivine présents dans le manteau. Cette méthode en couple le calcul viscoplastique autocohérent de la déformation d'un agrégat d'olivine à un code éléments finis 3D. Elle a été utilisée pour le calcul du comportement mécanique d'une plaque continentale soumise à une extension. Une première série d'expériences numériques sur l'extension de plaque lithosphérique présentant des OPR initiales d'olivine homogènes a permis de montrer que l'anisotropie mécanique macroscopique est fortement dépendante de l'orientation initiale de l'OPR. La seconde série de simulations analyse l'extension d'une plaque continentale présentant une zone présentant des OPR d'olivine héritées d'un événement tectonique précédant. Les résultats de ces calculs multi-domaines que l'anisotropie mécanique de l'olivine peut expliquer la réactivation des zones de cisaillement héritées lors du rifting. Les résultats obtenus dans les deux séries de modèles montrent que l'anisotropie mécanique macroscopique induite par l'évolution des OPR d'olivine dans le manteau supérieur est un paramètre clé pour la compréhension de la déformation des plaques continentales et pour expliquer la réactivation observée de structures tectoniques, tels que les grands décrochements, lors des épisodes tectoniques ultérieurs.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00369463

tel-00369463
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00369463
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00369463/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00369463/file/KnollThese09.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Reactivation of structures inherited from previous collisional or rifting events, especially lithospheric-scale faults, is a major feature of plate tectonics. Its expression ranges from continental break-up along ancient collisional belts(1,2) to linear arrays of intraplate magmatism and seismicity(3,4). Here we use multiscale numerical models to show that this reactivation can result from an anisotropic mechanical behaviour of the lithospheric mantle due to an inherited preferred orientation of olivine crystals. We explicitly consider an evolving anisotropic viscosity controlled by the orientation of olivine crystals in the mantle. We find that strain is localized in domains where shear stresses on the inherited mantle fabric are high, and that this leads to shearing parallel to the inherited fabric. During rifting, structural reactivation induced by anisotropy results in oblique extension, followed by either normal extension or failure. Our results suggest that anisotropic viscosity in the lithospheric mantle controls the location and orientation of intraplate deformation zones that may evolve into new plate boundaries, and causes long-lived lithospheric-scale wrench faults, contributing to the toroidal component of plate motions on Earth.
ISSN: 1752-0894

hal-00413033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413033
DOI : 10.1038/ngeo528