Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option A Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Peridotite xenoliths exhumed by Quaternary alkaline magmatism in the Tahalgha district, southern Hoggar, represent fragments of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the boundary between the two major structural domains of the Tuareg Shield: the ‘Polycyclic Central Hoggar’ to the east and the ‘Western Hoggar’, or ‘Pharusian Belt’, to the west. Samples were collected from volcanic centres located on both sides of a major lithospheric shear zone at 4°35' separating these two domains. Although showing substantial variations in their deformation microstructures, equilibrium temperatures and modal and chemical compositions, the studied samples do not display any systematic changes of these features across the 4°35' fault. The observed variations rather record small-scale heterogeneities distributed throughout the study area and reflecting the widespread occurrence of vein conduits and metasomatized wall-rocks related to trans-lithospheric melt circulation during the Cenozoic. These features include partial annealing of pre-existing deformation microstructures, post-deformation metasomatic reactions, and trace-element enrichment, coupled with heating from 750–900°C (low-temperature lherzolites) to 900–1150°C (intermediate-T lherzolites and high-T harzburgites and wehrlites). Trace-element modelling confirms that the range of rare earth element (REE) variations observed in the Tahalgha clinopyroxenes may be accounted for by reactive porous flow involving a single stage of basaltic melt infiltration into a light REE (LREE)-depleted protolith. Whole-rock compositions record the final entrapment of disequilibrium metasomatic melts upon thermal relaxation of the veins–wall-rock system. The striking correlations between equilibrium temperatures and trace-element enrichment favor a scenario in which the high-temperature peridotites record advective heat transport along melt conduits, whereas the intermediate- and low-temperature lherzolites reflect conductive heating of the host Mechanical Boundary Layer. This indicates that the lithosphere did not reach thermal equilibrium, suggesting that the inferred heating event was transient and was rapidly erased by thermal relaxation down to the relatively low-temperature present-day geotherm. The low-T (<900°C) deformed lherzolites (porphyroclastic to equigranular) are characterized by only incipient annealing and LREE-depleted clinopyroxene compositions. They were only weakly affected by the Cenozoic events and could represent relatively well-preserved samples from rejuvenated Pan-African lithosphere. Extensive lithospheric rejuvenation occurred either regionally during the Pan-African orogeny, as a result of lithospheric delamination or thermomechanical erosion after thickening, or more locally along the meridional shear zones. The low-T Tahalgha lherzolites are comparable with lherzolites from Etang de Lherz, southern France, interpreted as lithospheric mantle rejuvenated by melt-induced refertilization during a late stage of the Variscan orogeny.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01107410
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01107410
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egu056

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
At Cima di Gagnone, garnet peridotite and chlorite harzburgite lenses within pelitic schists and gneisses correspond to eclogite-facies breakdown products of hydrated peridotites and are suitable for studying dehydration of serpentinized mantle. Thermobarometry and pseudosection modelling yield peak temperatures of 750-850°C and pressures <3 GPa. The minimum temperature recorded by the garnet peridotite corresponds to the maximum conditions experienced by the chlorite harzburgite, suggesting that these rocks recrystallized cofacially at ∼800°C. Alternatively, they might have decoupled during subduction, as achieved in tectonically active plate interface boundaries. The major and rare earth element (REE) variability of the peridotites was mostly acquired during pre-subduction mantle evolution as a result of partial melting and reactive melt flow. The ultramafic suite is also characterized by fluid-mobile element enrichments (B, Pb, As, Sb, Cs, Li, U, Be), which confirm derivation from variably serpentinized protoliths. Similarity in the U, Pb, B, Li and Sr contents of the Gagnone peridotites to present-day oceanic serpentinites suggests that these elements were partly taken up during initial serpentinization by seawater-derived fluids. Positive Be, As and Sb anomalies suggest involvement of fluids equilibrated with crustal (metasedimentary) reservoirs during subsequent subduction metamorphism and peridotite entrainment in (meta)sediments. Fluid-mobile element enrichment characterizes all peak eclogitic minerals, implying that multiple hydration events and element influx pre-dated the eclogite-facies dehydration. Peak anhydrous minerals retain B, Li, As and Sb concentrations exceeding primitive mantle values and may introduce geochemical anomalies into the Earth's mantle. The relatively low contents of large ion lithophile elements and light REE in the Gagnone peridotites with respect to much higher enrichments shown by metasomatized garnet peridotite pods hosted in migmatites (Ulten Zone, Eastern Alps) suggest that the crustal rocks at Gagnone did not experience partial melting. The Gagnone garnet peridotite, despite showing evidence for chlorite dehydration, retains significant amounts of fluid-mobile elements documenting that no partial melting occurred upon chlorite breakdown. We propose that the Gagnone ultramafic rocks represent a prime example of multi-stage peridotite hydration and subsequent dehydration in a plate interface setting.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01054319
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054319
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egt068

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : East African Rift (EAR) is the divergent plate boundary. EAR exposes different stages of extension, from early stage rifting in Tanzania to oceanic accretion in Afar (Ethiopia). Manyara basin is the southernmost rift system of the east branch of EAR with recent volcanism (< 1.5 Ma) and a seismic swarm in the lower crust (20 – 40 km). Due to its location and tectonic setting, the Manyara basin offers the opportunity to study the earliest stage of rift initiation. Manyara volcanism is composed of several types of hyper-alkaline lavas as Mg-nephelinites (Mg# > 55) (Labait, Kwaraha), calciocarbonatite (Kwaraha) and evolved nephelinites (Mg# < 35) (Hanang).Mg-nephelinites (Labait and Kwaraha) are primary lavas mainly composed of olivine and clinopyroxene (cpx). Geochemical modelling from trace elements suggests that these primary magmas result from a degree of partial melting < 1 % from a CO2-garnet-phlogopite-bearing peridotite. These magmas have an asthenospheric source at depth > 120 km (lava carries xenoliths with equilibrium conditions > 4 GPa). The minerals were crystallized from a magma with a low H2O content (0.1 and 0.5 wt% H2O). The calciocarbonatite and evolved nephelinites are derived from Mg-nephelinites by fractional crystallization and immiscibility processes. Hanang nephelinites are silica- and alkaline-rich lavas (44.2 – 46.7 wt % SiO2, 9.5 –12.1 wt % Na2O+K2O, respectively) composed by cpx, Ti-garnet, nepheline, apatite and titanite. Complex zonation of cpx (e.g. abrupt change of Mg#, Nb/Ta, and H2O) and trace element patterns of nephelinites record magmatic differentiation involving open system with carbonate-silicate immiscibility and primary melt replenishment. The low H2O content of cpx (3 – 25 ppm wt. H2O) indicates that at least 0.3 wt % H2O was present at depth during carbonate-rich nephelinite crystallization at 340 – 640 MPa and 1050 – 1100 °C. The study of hosted-nepheline melt inclusions from Hanang allows constraining the late magmatic evolution of nephelinites during storage and magma ascent. Melt inclusions are composed by a silicate trachytic glass, a carbonate phase and a shrinkage bubble. Trachytic glass contains high content in CO2 (0.43 wt %, SIMS analyses), sulfur (0.21 – 0.92 wt % S), chlorine (0.28 –0.84 wt % Cl) and H2O low content (< 0.1 wt %, Raman analyses). Immiscibility process leading to the formation of carbonate occurs in a closed system during rapid magma ascent between 200 – 500 MPa. The carbonate phase is a Ca-Na-K-S-rich and anhydrous carbonate (33 wt % CaO, 20 wt % Na2O, 3 wt % K2O, and 3 wt % S). The pre-immiscible liquid has a phonolitic composition with 6 ± 1.5 wt % CO2 at 700 MPa. A preliminary study of melt inclusions by XANES spectroscopy and whole rocks by Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to determine these Manyara lavas were formed at oxidizing conditions (~ ΔFMQ +1.5).The early stage rifting volcanism (Manyara Basin) is characterized by CO2-rich and H2O-poor magmas from at least 120 km below the rift escarpment. The presence of CO2-rich magmas and the small amount of volcanic rocks erupted at the surface may indicate that the storage and percolation of these magmas at depth is a potential trigger for deep seismic swarms.
Le rift Est africain (REA) est une frontière de plaque en extension. Ce rift présente plusieurs stades d’extension, de l’initiation du rift en Tanzanie jusqu’à l’accrétion océanique en Afar. Le bassin de Manyara se situe le plus au sud de branche Est du REA. Il est caractérisé par la présence de volcanisme récent (< 1,5 Ma) et d’un essaim sismique dans la croûte inférieure (20 – 40 km). De par sa localisation et son contexte tectonique, le bassin de Manyara offre l’opportunité d’étudier le stade le plus précoce de l’initiation du rift. Le bassin de Manyara est composé de plusieurs types de laves hyperalcalines, les néphélinites magnésiennes (Mg# > 55) (Labait, Kwaraha), de calciocarbonatite (Kwaraha) et des néphélinites différenciées (Mg# < 35) (Hanang).Les néphélinites magnésiennes (Labait et Kwaraha) sont des laves primaires composées d’olivines et de clinopyroxènes (cpx). La modélisation géochimique des éléments en trace suggère que ces magmas primaires résultent d'un degré de fusion partielle ≤ 1 % à partir d'une péridotite à grenat et phlogopite. Ces magmas proviennent d’une profondeur > 120 km (présence de xénolites avec des conditions d’équilibre > 4 GPa). Les minéraux ont cristallisés à partir d’un magma pauvre en eau (0,1 et 0,5 pds % H2O). La calciocarbonatite et les néphélinites différenciés sont issues des néphélinites magnésiennes par cristallisation fractionnée et processus d’immiscibilité. Les néphélinites du Hanang sont riches en éléments alcalins (9,5 – 12,1 pds % Na2O+K2O) et en silice (44,2 – 46,7 pds% SiO2) et sont composés de cpx, grenat, néphéline, titanite et apatite. La zonation complexe dans les cpx (par exemple, changement brusque de Mg#, Nb/Ta, et H2O) implique une différenciation magmatique en système ouvert avec immiscibilité de liquide carbonaté et silicaté ainsi qu’un remplissage de la chambre magmatique avec des liquides primaires. La faible teneur en eau des cpx (3 – 25 ppm H2O) indique la présence d’un magma pauvre en eau (0,3 pds % H2O) lors de la cristallisation des cpx à des conditions crustales (340 – 640 MPa et 1050 – 1100 °C). L’étude des inclusions vitreuses dans les néphélines de Hanang permet de contraindre l'évolution magmatique tardive des néphélinites et le comportement des éléments volatils (CO2, H2O, S, F, Cl) lors du stockage et de la remontée du magma. Les inclusions vitreuses sont composées d’un verre trachytique, d’une phase carbonatée et d’une bulle de rétraction. Le verre trachytique contient du CO2 (0,43 pds % CO2, analyses SIMS), du soufre (0,21 à 0,92 pds% S), du chlore (0,28 – 0,84 pds % Cl) et très peu d’H2O (< 0,1 pds % H2O, analyses Raman). Le processus d’immiscibilité conduisant à la formation du carbonate se produit dans un système fermé pendant l'ascension rapide du magma, entre 200 – 500 MPa. La phase carbonatée est un carbonate anhydre et riche en Ca-Na-K-S (33 pds % CaO, 20 pds % Na2O, 3 pds % K2O, et 3 pds % S). Le liquide pré-immiscible a une composition phonolitique avec 6 ± 1,5 pds % CO2 à une pression de 700 MPa. Une étude préliminaire des inclusions par spectroscopie XANES et des roches par spectroscopie Mössbauer a permis de déterminer que les laves de Manyara se sont formées à conditions oxydantes (~ ∆FMQ +1,5).À l’initiation du rift, le volcanisme dans le bassin de Manyara est caractérisé par des magmas riches en CO2 et pauvres en H2O issus d’au moins 120 km de profondeur sous l'escarpement du rift. La présence de ces magmas riches en CO2 et la faible quantité de roches volcaniques émises à la surface peuvent indiquer que le piégeage et la percolation de ces magmas en profondeur est un déclencheur potentiel des essaims sismiques profonds.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231

NNT : 2016MONTT114
tel-01563231
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231v2/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231/file/2016_BAUDOUIN_archivage.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
This paper aims to decipher the thermal evolution of the Montagne Noire Axial Zone (MNAZ,southern French Massif Central) gneiss core and its metasedimentary cover through determination ofP–T paths and temperature gradients. Migmatitic gneiss from the core of the dome record a clock-wise evolution culminating at 725 25 °C and 0.8 0.1 GPa with partial melting, followed by adecompression path with only minor cooling to 690 25° C and 0.4 0.1 GPa. Field structuralanalyses as well as detailed petrological observations interpreted in a petrogenetic grid indicate thatthe cover sequence experienced LP-HT metamorphism at <0.4 GPa. Apparent thermal gradientswithin the cover were determined with garnet–biotite thermometry and Raman Spectroscopy on Car-bonaceous Matter. High-temperature apparent gradients (e.g. 530 °C km1 along one transect) areexplained by late brittle–ductile extensional shearing evidenced by phyllonites that post-date peakmetamorphism. In areas where normal faults are less abundant and closely spaced, gradients of 20to 50 °C km1 are calculated. These gradients can be accounted for by a combination of domeemplacement and ductile shearing (collapse of isotherms), without additional heat input. Finally, thethermal evolution of the MNAZ is typical for many gneiss domes worldwide as well as with otherLP-HT terranes in the Variscides.
ISSN: 0263-4929

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
insu-01290388
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01290388
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01290388/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01290388/file/jmg12188.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/jmg.12188

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option A Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Peridotites exhumed in the footwall of axial detachment faults at slow-spreading ridges are highly serpentinized. Most mid-ocean ridge detachment settings are magmatically active and hydrous fluid circulation in and near the fault has been shown to be influenced by the presence of melt or magmatic lithologies. Our working area along the Southwest Indian Ridge (62–65°E) is nearly amagmatic and represents an end-member to study the hydrous alteration of exhumed peridotites without these magmatic influences. We use an integrated petrological approach combining microstructural, mineralogical and chemical observations to unravel the sequence of serpentinization in 272 dredged samples of variably serpentinized peridotites and to document the circulation of serpentinizing fluids in and near the exhumation faults. We find that serpentine recrystallization and veins overprint the initial serpentinite mesh texture in ∼25% of the samples. Oxygen isotope data suggest that this sequence developed at relatively high temperatures (271–336°C) and under increasing fluid–rock ratios, from near stoichiometry for mesh texture formation to >10 during recrystallization. Increasing fluid supersaturation relative to serpentine favors the replacement of mesh texture lizardite by chrysotile and polygonal or polyhedral serpentine. We attribute local recrystallization into antigorite to moderate Si-metasomatism, possibly following pyroxene serpentinization. We do not observe the more pronounced Si-metasomatism leading to talc replacing serpentine that is reported for the more magmatically active Mid-Atlantic Ridge detachment settings and is attributed to prior leaching of magmatic rocks. Scales of preferential fluid pathways in our samples evolved from pervasive and close-spaced (<500 µm) microfractures during the formation of the initial serpentine mesh texture, to centimeter-thick planar domains of enhanced fluid flux, spaced at ∼10 cm intervals and probably grouped in corridors that may be up to ∼100 m across. Serpentine minerals are enriched in some fluid-mobile elements (Cl, B, U) relative to the peridotite protolith, and several elements (Al, Fe, Si, Cu, As, Sb, REE) are redistributed at the millimeter to decimeter scale. Serpentinizing fluids were seawater-derived, probably mildly alkaline (small to no europium anomalies), reducing and H2-enriched (formation of magnetite). These fluids may have been similar to, though warmer than, those venting at the ultramafic-hosted Lost City hydrothermal fluid (30°N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge).
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01174047
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174047
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egv014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
IODP Site U1309 was drilled at Atlantis Massif, an oceanic core complex, at 30 degrees N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). We present the results of a bulk rock geochemical study (major and trace elements) carried out on 228 samples representative of the different lithologies sampled at this location. Over 96% of Hole U1309D is made up of gabbroic rocks. Diabases and basalts cross-cut the upper part of the section; they have depleted MORB compositions similar to basalts sampled at MAR 30 degrees N. Relics of mantle were recovered at shallow depth. Mantle peridotites show petrographic and geochemical evidence of extensive melt-rock interactions. Gabbroic rocks comprise: olivine-rich troctolites (>70% modal olivine) and troctolites having high Mg# (82-89), high Ni (up to 2300 ppm) and depleted trace element compositions (Yb 0.06-0.8 ppm); olivine gabbros and gabbros (including gabbronorites) with Mg# of 60-86 and low trace element contents (Yb 0.125-2.5 ppm); and oxide gabbros and leucocratic dykes with low Mg# (<50), low Ni (similar to 65 ppm) and high trace element contents (Yb up to 26 ppm). Troctolites and gabbros are amongst the most primitive and depleted oceanic gabbroic rocks. The main geochemical characteristics of Site U1309 gabbroic rocks are consistent with a formation as a cumulate sequence after a common parental MORB melt, although (lack of systematic) downhole variations indicate that the gabbroic series were built by multiple magma injections. In detail, textural and geochemical variations in olivine-rich troctolites and gabbronorites suggest chemical interaction (assimilation?) between the parental melt and the intruded lithosphere. Site U1309 gabbroic rocks do not represent the complementary magmatic product of 30 degrees N volcanics, although they sample the same mantle source. The bulk trace element composition of Site U1309 gabbroic rocks is similar to primitive MORB melt compositions; this implies that there was no large scale removal of melts from this gabbro section. The occurrence of such a large magmatic sequence implies that a high magmatic activity is associated with the formation of Atlantis Massif. Our results suggest that almost all melts feeding this magmatic system stays trapped into the intruded lithosphere.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00413562
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413562
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.034

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag (Germany) Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
We report here U-series and trace element data for an olivine-melilitite lava flow, erupted in 1957 in the Virunga volcanic field and known as the Mugogo eruption. Petrological and geochemical data show that the Mugogo magma represents a primary mantle melt, derived from a low degree of melting of a metasomatised mantle source. It is highly enriched in very incompatible trace elements (e.g. more than 300-fold compared to primitive mantle for Th), with a distinctly lower enrichment in Rb, Ba and Sr. The high Th/U and low (230Th/232Th) ratios (4.4 and 0.750, respectively, with a (230Th/238U) ratio of 1.09) are close to the values found for the Nyamuragira basanites. But the most striking feature is the very low (226Ra/230Th) ratio of 0.48, the lowest ever measured in a mafic volcanic rock. The most probable origin of this Ra deficit is the presence of phlogopite (having a high Ra partition coefficient) in the lithospheric mantle, either as a residual phase during low-degree isobaric melting (in batch-melting or a diffusion-controlled melting models), or in a phlogopite-bearing upper mantle through which the melt migrates and equilibrates (in an equilibrium porous flow model commonly used to describe adiabatic melting). The disequilibrium pattern (230Th) > (238U) > (210Pb) ≫ (226Ra), reversed compared to the pattern observed in the Oldoinyo Lengai natrocarbonatite, suggests that a carbonatite melt might have been involved to explain the Ra deficit. We thus discuss the possibility of an early separation of a Ra-enriched carbonate melt either from the olivine-melilitite melt or from a carbonated mantle source, followed by the production of a low-degree melt of olivine-melilitite composition, but the lack of available experimental, petrological and geochemical evidences makes this process somewhat speculative at present. Further studies of recent (<5 ky) olivine-melilitites are needed to check whether the large Ra deficit is a general characteristic of this type of magma that can be used to constrain models of its formation.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-01174173
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174173
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-015-1124-9

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Before attaining the mantle wedge, where they trigger partial melting, volatiles released from dehydration reactions in the slab have to migrate across a relatively cold (<750 degrees C), peridotite-layer above the incoming slab. In order to unravel the mechanisms allowing for this initial stage of fluid transport, we performed a detailed field and microstructural study of metamorphic prograde peridotites in the Cerro del Almirez ultramafic massif (Betic Cordillera, Spain), where evidences of one of the most important dehydration reactions in subduction zones, the high-pressure antigorite breakdown (P = 1.6-1.9 GPa and T approximate to 680 degrees C), can be mapped in the field. This reaction led to arborescent growth of centimeter-size olivine and orthopyroxene, producing a chlorite-harzburgite with a spinifex-like texture. Microstructural observations and crystal preferred (CPO) mapping show no evidences of solid-state deformation during the prograde growth of olivine and orthopyroxene at the expenses of antigorite. However, a few tens to a hundred meters away from the reaction front, the metamorphic texture is partially obliterated by grain-size reduction in roughly planar conjugate zones, a few mm to meters wide. Grain size reduction zones (GSRZ) are characterized by (1) sharp contacts with undeformed spinifex-like texture domains, (2) important reduction of the olivine grain size (60-250 mu m), (3) olivine color change from brownish to colorless, (4) decrease in the modal amount of orthopyroxene, and (5) at the mm- to cm-scale, irregular shapes and abrupt terminations. Field and microstructural observations exclude that relative displacement took place across these GSRZ. Changes in modal composition imply reactions with fluids undersaturated in silica. Analysis of olivine crystal-preferred orientations (CPO) in GSRZ shows patterns similar, but more dispersed, than those in neighboring spinifex-like domains. It also reveals mm- to cm-scale discrete domains with rather homogeneous crystallographic orientations suggesting inheritance from the preexisting spinifex-like olivines in the host peridotite. Misorientation angles between neighboring grains in the GSRZ show peaks at similar to 5-10 degrees and similar to 20 degrees, but rotations are not crystallographically controlled. Based on these observations, we rule out the formation of the GSRZ by dynamic recrystallization during dislocation creep and propose that they record brittle deformation (microcraking) of the spinifex-like chlorite-harzburgite, probably induced by hydrofracturing at high pressure and relative low temperature conditions (680-710 degrees C). High-pressure hydrofracturing can, thus, be invoked as an efficient mechanism for fluid flow across the cold top-slab mantle layer, hence allowing the slab-derived fluids to ingress in the wedge.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00534035
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00534035
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.06.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Detailed structural and petrological mapping in the Beni Bousera peridotite (Rif Belt, northern Morocco) shows that this orogenic peridotite massif is composed of four tectono-metamorphic domains with consistent kinematics, marked by a pervasive, shallowly dipping foliation with a NW-SE stretching lineation that progressively rotates towards a NNE-SSW orientation in the lowermost part of the massif. From top to bottom, these domains are garnet-spinel mylonites, Ariègite subfacies fine-grained porphyroclastic spinel peridotites, Ariègite-Seiland subfacies porphyroclastic, and Seiland subfacies coarse-porphyroclastic to coarse-granular spinel peridotites. Microstructures and crystal preferred orientations point to deformation dominantly by dislocation creep in all domains, but the continuous increase in average olivine grain size indicates decreasing plastic work rates from top to bottom. This evolution in deformation conditions is consistent with the change in synkinematic pressure and temperature conditions, from 900°C at 2*0 GPa in garnet-spinel mylonites to 1150°C at 1*8 GPa in the Seiland domain. A pervasive diffuse dunitic-websteritic layering subparallel to the foliation suggests deformation in the presence of melt in the Seiland domain. Gravitational instabilities owing to local melt accumulation may account for <200 m wide areas exhibiting a vertical lineation in this domain. To account for the consistent kinematics and the tectono-metamorphic evolution, which implies a temperature gradient of c. 125°C km−1 preserved across the Beni Bousera massif, we propose that the entire massif records the functioning of a low-angle shear zone, a few kilometres wide, which accommodated exhumation of the base of the lithosphere from ∼90 to ∼60 km depth. Partial melting in the Seiland domain may be explained by fast decompression of the footwall, without the need for exotic heat sources. Moreover, if the present-day orientation of the shear zone is similar to that when it was active in the mantle, the stretching lineations at high angle to the metamorphic gradient imply that shearing parallel to the trend of the belt accompanied thinning; that is, a transtensional deformation of the margin.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00950056
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950056
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egt067

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : We present whole-rock major- and trace-element and Nd–Sr–Pb radiogenic isotope data for Cretaceous igneous suites from eastern Cuba. These rocks are related to the Greater Antilles paleo-island arc magmatism and have three different igneous styles. Group 1 consists of tholeiitic basalts and rare basaltic andesites that have normal mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB)-like compositions similar to those found in back-arc basin basalts (TiO2 = 1·2–2·9 wt%; La/Yb(N) = 0·7–0·9, Th/Nb = 0·06–0·08, and initial 208Pb/ 204Pb = 37·65–37·74). Group 2 comprises basaltic and rare basaltic andesitic subvolcanic dykes with major- and trace-element and isotopic compositions similar to those of island arc tholeiites (TiO2 = 0·7–1·4 wt%; La/Yb(N) = 0·6–0·9, Th/Nb = 0·06–0·68, and initial 208Pb/ 204Pb = 37·74–38·25). Group 3 is composed of low-Ti (TiO2 = 0·3–0·9 wt%) calcalkaline igneous rocks that have an unambiguous subduction-related character (La/Yb(N) = 1·1–5·0, Th/Nb = 0·35–1·55, and initial 208Pb/ 204Pb = 37·94–38·39). The parental magmas of the three groups formed by variable melting degrees (< 5–25%) of spinel lherzolite, with more depleted mantle sources for Groups 2 and 3 than Group 1. The trace-element and radiogenic isotope compositions of primitive Group 3 samples are strongly bimodal. One subgroup of samples is characterized by low Ta/Yb (0·02–0·03) and Th/La (0·10–0·13), slightly subchondritic Nb/Ta (13·3–17·3), and relatively high initial 206Pb/204Pb (18·57–18·62) and {varepsilon}Nd (7·6–9·4). The remaining primitive Group 3 samples have higher Ta/Yb (0·06–0·11) and Th/La (0·24–0·32), and highly subchondritic Nb/Ta (7·6–9·1), coupled with lower initial 206Pb/204Pb (18·24–18·29) and {varepsilon}Nd (3·4–5·5). These signatures were induced by two distinct slab components that mainly reflect the contributions of Cretaceous Atlantic marine and North American continental sediments, respectively. Nb/Ta in the first subgroup was influenced by melting of rutile-bearing subducted crust, whereas in the second it was inherited from recycled continental sediments. The involvement of Atlantic and North American sediments in Cuban Cretaceous magmatism indicates that the Proto-Caribbean (North American-Proto Atlantic) lithosphere subducted beneath the Greater Antilles arc during the Late Cretaceous (pre-Campanian), consistent with geotectonic models involving onset of SW-dipping subduction beneath the Greater Antilles paleo-arc during the Aptian. The variable mantle source depletion and magnitude of the subduction component probably reflect different settings across the arc, from the arc front to a back-arc spreading ridge.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00406373
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00406373
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egm040

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The ultramafic rocks of the Collo region in northeastern Algeria crop out as “stratified” masses that cut across older metamorphic formations of the Petite Kabylie basement. Based on petrological compositions and mineralogical observations, these rocks are mainly peridotites and serpentinites. The peridotites are identified as lherzolites, but dunites may occur rarely. The lherzolites are composed of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and chromian spinel. Their chemical composition shows high MgO (34.4–37.5 wt%), Cr (0.14–0.27 wt%), Ni (0.14–0.26 wt%) and Co (34–133 ppm) contents and low CaO and Al2O3 concentrations (0.02–2.2 wt% and 0.5 to 2.8 wt%, respectively). The chromite, which represents approximately 1–3% of the rock, is ubiquitous and shows two different generations: primary millimetric euhedral crystals and secondary fine xenomorphic grains and interstitial aggregates. The primary chromites are alumino-ferro-magnesian crystals that show high Al2O3 (25.77%–27.36%) and MgO (10.70%–13.36%). Cr# (100 × Cr/(Al + Cr)) ranges from 45 to 48, and Mg# (100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe2+)) from 49 to 59. The secondary interstitial grains are iron-rich chromites. They show low Al2O3 (4.67%–9.54%) and MgO (4.60%–4.65%). Cr# is relatively high (77–88), whereas Mg# shows relatively low values, ranging from 22 to 25. Primary chromite and whole-rock chemistry show that the Collo ultramafic rocks belong to Alpine-type peridotites that were emplaced within an orogenic setting. The oxygen isotopic composition of both peridotites and chromites is consistent with their derivation from a mantle source (δ18O ranges from +3.0 to +5.9‰). Low δ18O values (<+4.4‰) are recorded in serpentinites and are attributed to the effect of serpentinization processes through high-temperature metasomatic fluids. Magnesite-bearing serpentinites show the lowest δ18O values. These are interpreted as the result of surface water input.
ISSN: 0899-5362

hal-01468003
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01468003
DOI : 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2016.10.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
High Pressure - Low Temperature (HP-LT) rocks testify for burying and exhumation of crustal material in subduction zones. The question of their exhumation is nevertheless still unclear. The Aegean domain offers several HP-LT belts. Especially, the Attic-Cycladic Blueschist unit (ACBU) is an example of a HP-LT unit exhumed in a convergent and then in a divergent context. It actually appears in metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) formed in the back-arc of the subduction. The syn-convergence "message" is however difficult to read because of the post-convergence structural and thermal overprint that accompanied the formation of the MCCs. Particularly, the geometry, the timing and the amount of the syn-orogenic exhumation remain unclear. We investigate theses questions with metamorphic petrology (Andros and Ios islands) and phengite population, single grain and in situ 40Ar-39Ar geochronology (Andros, Tinos, Syros and Ios islands). Based on these new constraints and a synthesis of published data, we are able to refine the geometry, the timing and the modes of the exhumation of the ACBU. Data from the whole Cyclades exhibit little differences in the age and P-T conditions at the successive stages of syn-orogenic exhumation. The peak of pressure (500±50 °C-18±1 kbar) has been reached at 50-55 Ma. The onset of the exhumation occurred at 40-45 Ma in blueschist facies conditions, between a basal thrust and a summital detachment. The following decompression was accompanied by cooling until 30-35 Ma (400±50 °C-8±1 kbar). At that time, the boundary conditions switched to extension. The change in boundary conditions is recorded by slowing of the exhumation and isobare heating. The conditions of post-orogenic exhumation differ from an island to another. The onset of post-orogenic exhumation is dated around 30 Ma in the northern Cyclades and 25 Ma in the southern Cyclades. It is related to top-to-the-North deformation in all the studied domain. The end of ductile deformation below the detachments is also diachronous (21 Ma in the North and 18 Ma in the South). Finally, we propose a model for the final steps of the exhumation related to the intrusion of granitic bodies around 14 Ma.
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting
San Francisco, United States

insu-00860510
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00860510
BIBCODE : 2010AGUFM.T23C2301L

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The chemical and isotopic compositions of clay minerals such as illite and chlorite are commonly used to quantify diagenetic and low-grade metamorphic conditions, an approach that is also used in the present study of the Monte Perdido thrust fault from the South Pyrenean fold-and-thrust belt. The Monte Perdido thrust fault is a shallow thrust juxtaposing upper Cretaceous-Paleocene platform carbonates and Lower Eocene marls and turbidites from the Jaca basin. The core zone of the fault, about 6 m thick, consists of intensely deformed clay-bearing rocks bounded by major shear surfaces. Illite and chlorite are the main hydrous minerals in the fault zone. Illite is oriented along cleavage planes while chlorite formed along shear veins (<50 μm in thickness). Authigenic chlorite provides essential information about the origin of fluids and their temperature. δ18O and δD values of newly formed chlorite support equilibration with sedimentary interstitial water, directly derived from the local hanging wall and footwall during deformation. Given the absence of large-scale fluid flow, the mineralization observed in the thrust faults records the P-T conditions of thrust activity. Temperatures of chlorite formation of about 240°C are obtained via two independent methods: chlorite compositional thermometers and oxygen isotope fractionation between cogenetic chlorite and quartz. Burial depth conditions of 7 km are determined for the Monte Perdido thrust reactivation, coupling calculated temperature and fluid inclusion isochores. The present study demonstrates that both isotopic and thermodynamic methods applied to clay minerals formed in thrust fault are useful to help constrain diagenetic and low-grade metamorphic conditions.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00757736
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00757736
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-011-0718-0

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Correlations between major and minor transition elements in tectonically emplaced orogenic peridotites have been ascribed to variable degrees of melt extraction and melt–rock reaction processes, leading to depletion or refertilization. To elucidate how such processes are recorded in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, we processed a large geochemical dataset for peridotites from the four tectono-metamorphic domains of the Beni Bousera orogenic massif (Rif Belt, northern Morocco). Our study reveals that variations in bulk-rock major and minor elements, Mg-number and modal mineralogy of lherzolites, as well as their clinopyroxene trace element compositions, are inconsistent with simple partial melting and mainly resulted from different reactions between melts and depleted peridotites. Up to 30% melting at < 3 GPa and cryptic metasomatism can account for the geochemical variations of most harzburgites. In Grt–Sp mylonites, melting and melt–rock reactions are masked by tectonic mixing with garnet pyroxenites and subsolidus re-equilibration. In the rest of the massif, lherzolites were mostly produced by refertilization of a refractory protolith (Mg-number ∼ 91, Ol ∼ 70%, Cpx/Opx = 0·4) via two distinct near-solidus, melt–rock reactions: (1) clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene precipitation and olivine consumption at melt/rock ratios <0·75 and variable mass ratio between crystallized minerals and infiltrated melt (R), which are recorded fairly homogeneously throughout the massif; (2) dissolution of orthopyroxene and precipitation of clinopyroxene and olivine at melt/rock ratios ≤1 and R = 0·2–0·3, which affected mainly the Ariègite–Seiland and Seiland domains. The distribution of secondary lherzolites in the massif suggests that the first refertilization reaction occurred prior to the differentiation of the Beni Bousera mantle section into petro-structural zones, whereas the second reaction was associated with the development of the tectono-metamorphic domains. Our data support a secondary, refertilization-related origin for most lherzolites in orogenic peridotite massifs.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01526901
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01526901
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egx003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The Karakorum Fault zone (KFZ), lying in the west of the Tibetan plateau, is an important dextral strike-slip fault and the important northern geological boundary of the west Himalaya. In the AyilaRi' gyu Range-Gai Basin area lying in the southeast of the KFZ, Ar-40/Ar-39 thermochronologic analysis was performed on the syn-tectonic minerals in the, metamorphic rocks in the Karakorum ductile shear zone, with the base of petrology and deformation structure researches. According to the microstructure features, the minerals in the shear zone recorded the continuous deformation from high ( > 600 degrees C) to low temperature ( < 250 degrees C) appeared as that the nearly horizontal dextral shearing has transformed into the oblique dextral normal slip, made the greenschist facies of deformation stack oil the early medium-high temperature deformation, indicated the uplift during the slip. The thermochronologic revealed the continuous shear process from the early Miocene to 4Ma at least, which containing three rapid cooling stage: from 25 similar to 22Ma to 21 similar to 18Ma, the deformation locally stopped or slower in the, shallow high temperature shear process; from 15Ma to 12Ma, the rapid uplift of the AyilaRi' gyu Range, the initial formation of the Gar Basin together with the main deep incision of river during the strip-slip of the KFZ; since 9Ma, the AyilaRi' gyu Range has increased the rapid uplift and the Gar Basin has formed finally. According to the different levels of deformation and the dextral displacement of the surface landform with different ages, the long term slip rate and the uplift rate indicated the intense dextral strike slip and uplift associated since the late Quarternary Period.
Acta Petrologica Sinica

hal-00411572
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411572

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : The Erro-Tobbio peridotites (Voltri Massif, Ligurian Alps) represent subcontinental lithospheric mantle tectonically exhumed during Permo-Mesozoic extension of the Europe-Adria lithosphere. Previous studies have shown that exhumation started during Permian times, and occurred along kilometer-scale lithospheric shear zones which enhanced progressive deformation and recrystallization from spinel- to plagioclase-facies conditions. Ongoing field and petrologic investigations have revealed that the peridotites experienced, during uplift, a composite history of diffuse melt migration and multiple episodes of ultramafic-mafic intrusions. In this paper we present the results of field, structural and petrologic-geochemical investigations into a sector of the Erro-Tobbio peridotite unit that preserves well this multiple intrusion history. Melt impregnation in the peridotites is evidenced by significant plagioclase enrichment and crystallization of unstrained orthopyroxene replacing kinked mantle olivine and clinopyroxene; impregnating melts were thus opx-saturated. Melt-rock interaction caused chemical changes in mantle minerals (e.g. Al decrease and REE increase in cpx; Ti and Cr# enrichment in spinel). Nevertheless, clinopyroxenes still exhibit LREE depletion (Ce;N;/Sm;N; = 0.006-0.011), indicating a depleted signature for the percolating melts. Melt impregnation was thus related to diffuse porous flow migration of depleted MORB-type melt fractions that modified their compositions towards opx saturation by mantle-melt interaction during ascent. The impregnated peridotites are intruded by a hectometer-scale stratified cumulate body, mostly consisting of troctolites and plagioclase wehrlites, showing gradational, interfingered contacts with the host mantle rocks. Subsequent intrusion events are revealed by the occurrence of olivine gabbros as decameter-wide lenses, variably thick (centimeter- to meter-scale) dykes and thin dykelets, which crosscut both the peridotite foliation and the magmatic layering in the cumulates. Overall, major and trace element compositions of minerals in the intrusives indicate that they represent variably differentiated cumulus products crystallized from rather primitive N-MORB-type aggregated melts. Slightly more evolved compositions are shown by olivine gabbros, relative to the troctolites and plagioclase wehrlites of the cumulate body. Mineral chemistry features (e.g. the Fo-An correlation and high Na, Ti, Mg# in cpx) indicate that the studied intrusive rocks crystallized at moderate pressure conditions (3-5 kbar, i.e. 9-15 km depth). Our study thus points to a progressive transition from porous flow melt migration to emplacement of magmas in fractures, presumably related to progressive change of lithospheric mantle rheology during extension-related uplift and cooling.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00407669
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00407669
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2006.06.014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The mantle above a subducting slab is the site of complex interactions between deformation, partial melting, fluid migration and magma transport. To constrain these interactions and their effects on olivine deformation, we analyze microstructures, crystal preferred orientations, and water contents of peridotite xenoliths entrained by andesites of the Avacha volcano, southern Kamchatka arc. These xenoliths are refractory spinel harzburgites that have coarse-grained microstructures with widely spaced subgrain boundaries and sinuous grain boundaries in olivine, consistent with deformation by dislocation creep under low deviatoric stress (< 13 MPa) and with a significant contribution from diffusional processes. Analysis of crystal preferred orientations (CPO) indicates dominant activation of high-temperature, low-stress {0kl}[100] slip systems in olivine and of(100)[001] in orthopyroxene. In most samples, coarse opx crystals, elongated parallel to the lineation, enclose small olivine grains in crystallographic continuity with neighbouring crystals, indicating crystallization of orthopyroxene at the expense of olivine as a result of reactive percolation of Si-rich fluids coeval with the high-temperature deformation. Secondary crystallization of interstitial orthopyroxene led locally to development of opx-rich lenses parallel to the foliation, characterized by a decrease in olivine grain size and dispersion of the olivine CPO without changing the dominant slip systems. Half of the samples also show acicular orthopyroxene aggregates with which is associated a fine-grained matrix composed of rounded strain-free olivine, orthopyroxene, spinel, and rare amphibole crystals. This matrix occurs pervasively along grain boundaries or forms millimeter-scale irregular lenses and anastomosing veinlets that crosscut the coarse crystals and their ductile deformation structures. Both acicular orthopyroxene and the fine-grained matrix are interpreted as resulting from reactive transport of H2O-rich fluids under static conditions, probably in the lithospheric mantle. Infrared analyses show that olivine contains 1-8 center dot 6 ppm by weight of water. These low water contents are similar to those observed in spinel peridotites from other subduction zones and probably record both the low solubility of water in olivine at low pressure and dehydration during exhumation of the xenoliths. Water contents in orthopyroxene are highly variable (25-506 ppm H2O), probably recording spatially heterogeneous interaction with fluids or melts and compositional disequilibrium in the studied samples. Change in the dominant percolation mechanism from porous flow to fracturing suggests cooling, consistent with the low temperatures estimated from pyroxene thermometry (< 800-900 degrees C). The Avacha xenoliths therefore record pervasive deformation of a region of the mantle under asthenospheric conditions, followed by its accretion to the base of the lithosphere, probably as a result of cooling of the mantle wedge. Percolation of Si-rich fluids or hydrous melts is recorded at all stages; this probably enhanced diffusion and lowered deviatoric stresses during ductile deformation, but did not change the dominant slip direction in olivine from [100] to [001].
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00456053
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00456053
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egp085

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
The Lanzo peridotite massif is a fragment of oceanic lithosphere generated in an ocean-continent transition context and eclogitized during alpine collision. Despite the subduction history, the massif has preserved its sedimentary oceanic cover, suggesting that it may have preserved its oceanic structure. It is an exceptional case for studying the evolution of a fragment of the lithosphere from its oceanization to its subduction and then exhumation. We present a field and petrological study retracing the different serpentinization episodes and their impact on the massif structure. The Lanzo massif is composed of slightly serpentinized peridotites (<20% serpentinization) surrounded by an envelope of foliated serpentinites (100% serpentinization) bordered by oceanic metabasalts and metasedimentary rocks. The limit between peridotites and serpentinites defines the front of serpentinization. This limit is sharp: it is marked by the presence of massive serpentinites (80% serpentinization) and, locally, by dykes of metagabbros and mylonitic gabbros. The deformation of these gabbros is contemporaneous with the emplacement of the magma. The presence of early lizardite in the peridotites testifies that serpentinization began during the oceanization, which is confirmed by the presence of meta-ophicarbonates bordering the foliated serpentinite envelope. Two additional generations of serpentine occur in the ultramafic rocks. The first is a prograde antigorite that partially replaced the lizardite and the relict primary minerals of the peridotite during subduction, indicating that serpentinization is an active process at the ridge and in the subduction zone. Locally, this episode is followed by the deserpentinization of antigorite at peak P-T (estimated in eclogitized metagabbros at 2-2.5 GPa and 550-620 °C): it is marked by the crystallization of secondary olivine associated with chlorite and/or antigorite and of clinopyroxene, amphibole and chlorite assemblages. A second antigorite formed during exhumation partially to completely obliterating previous textures in the massive and foliated serpentinites. Serpentinites are an important component of the oceanic lithosphere generated in slow to ultraslow spreading settings, and in these settings, there is a serpentinization gradient with depth in the upper mantle. The seismic Moho limit could correspond to a serpentinization front affecting the mantle. This partially serpentinized zone constitutes a less competent level where, during subduction and exhumation, deformation and fluid circulation are localized. In this zone, the reaction kinetics are increased and the later steps of serpentinization obliterate the evidence of this progressive zone of serpentinization. In the Lanzo massif, this zone fully recrystallized into serpentinite during alpine subduction and collision. Thus, the serpentinite envelope represents the oceanic crust as defined by geophysicists, and the sharp front of serpentinization corresponds to an eclogitized seismic palaeo-Moho.
ISSN: 0263-4929

hal-00823051
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00823051
DOI : 10.1111/jmg.12008

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
We show here that the Amalaoulaou complex, in the Pan-African belt of West Africa (Gourma, Mali), corresponds to the lower and middle sections of a Neoproterozoic intra-oceanic arc. This complex records a 90-130-Ma-long evolution of magmatic inputs and differentiation above a subducting oceanic slab. Early c. 793 Ma-old metagabbros crystallised at lower crustal or uppermost mantle depths (25-30 km) and have geochemical characteristic of high-alumina basalts extracted from a depleted mantle source slightly enriched by slab-derived sedimentary components ((La/Sm)(N) < 1; epsilon(Nd): +5.4-6.2; Sr-87/Sr-86: 0.7027-0.7029). In response to crustal thickening, these mafic rocks were recrystallised into garnet-granulites (850-1,000A degrees C; 10-12 kbar) and subject to local dehydration-melting reactions, forming trondhjemititic leucosomes with garnet-clinopyroxene-rutile residues. Slightly after the granulitic event, the arc root was subject to strong HT shearing during partial exhumation (detachment faults/rifting or thrusting), coeval with the emplacement of spinel- and garnet-pyroxenite dykes crystallised from a high-Mg andesitic parental magma. Quartz and hornblende-gabbros (700-660 Ma) with composition typical of hydrous volcanic rocks from mature arcs ((La/Sm)(N): 0.9-1.8; epsilon(Nd): +4.6 to +5.2; Sr-87/Sr-86: 0.7028-0.7031) were subsequently emplaced at mid-arc crust levels (similar to 15 km). Trace element and isotopic data indicate that magmas tapped a depleted mantle source significantly more enriched in oceanic sedimentary components (0.2%). Exhumation occurred either in two stages (700-660 and 623 Ma) or in one stage (623 Ma) with a final exhumation of the arc root along cold P-T path (550A degrees C, 6-9 kbar; epidote-amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions) during the main Pan-African collision event (620-580 Ma). The composition of magmas forming the Cryogenian Amalaoulaou arc and the processes leading to intra-arc differentiation are strikingly comparable to those observed in the deep section of exposed Mezosoic oceanic arcs, namely the Kohistan and Talkeetna complex. This evolution of the Amalaoulaou oceanic arc and its accretion towards the West African craton belong to the life and closure of the Pharusian Ocean that eventually led to the formation of the Greater Gondwana supercontinent, a similar story having occurred on the other side of the Sahara with the Mozambique Ocean.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00639447
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00639447
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-011-0624-5