Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer
Résumé : International audience
We present here a synthesis of the evolution of rifted continental margin systems in the Gulf of Aden. These margins are volcanic to the west of the Gulf of Aden, where they are influenced by the Afar hotspot, and non-volcanic east of longitude 46° E. The combined use of magnetics, gravity, seismic reflection, field observations (tectonic, stratigraphic and sedimentological) and oil well data allowed us to obtain better constraints on the timing of continental rifting and seafloor spreading. From the Permo-Triassic to the Oligocene, the Arabian-African plate was subject to distributed extension, probably due, at least from the Cretaceous, to tensile stresses related to the subduction of the Tethysian slab in the north. In Late Eocene-Early Oligocene, 34-33 Ma ago, rifting started to localise along the future area of continental breakup. Initially guided by the inherited basins, continental rifting then occurred synchronously over the entire gulf before becoming localised on the northern and southern borders of the inherited grabens, in the direction of the Afar hotspot. In the areas with non-volcanic margins (in the east), the faults marking the end of rifting trend parallel to the inherited grabens. Only the transfer faults cross-cut the inherited grabens, and some of these faults later developed into transform faults. The most important of these transform faults follow a Precambrian trend. Volcanic margins were formed in the west of the Gulf, up to the Guban graben in the southeast and as far as the southern boundary of the Bahlaf graben in the northeast. Seaward dipping reflectors can be observed on many oil industry seismic profiles. The influence of the hotspot during rifting was concentrated on the western part of the gulf. Therefore, it seems that the western domain was uplifted and eroded at the onset of rifting, while the eastern domain was characterised by more continuous sedimentation. The phase of distributed deformation was followed by a phase of strain localisation during the final rifting stage, just before formation of the Ocean-Continent Transition (OCT), in the most distal graben (DIM graben). About 20 Ma ago, at the time of the continental break-up, the emplacement of the OCT started in the east with exhumation of the subcontinental mantle. Farther west, the system was heated up by the strong influence of the Afar hotspot, which led to breakup with much less extension. In the Gulf of Aden (s.str), up to the Shukra El Sheik fracture zone, oceanic spreading started 17.6 Ma ago. West of this fracture zone, oceanic accretion started 10 Ma ago, and 2 Ma ago in the Gulf of Tadjoura. Post-rift deformation of the eastern margins of the Gulf of Aden can be seen in the distal and proximal domains. Indeed, the substantial post-rift uplift of these margins could be associated with either the continental break-up, or activity of the Afar hotspot and related volcanic/magmatic activity. Uplift of the northern proximal margin was still active (e.g. stepped beach rocks exposed at 60 m of 2 Ma; 30 m of 35,200 years; 10 and 2 m) and active volcanoes can be inferred at depths of between 70 and 200 km beneath the margin (at 5-10 km distance from the coast). On the distal margin, heat flow measurements show a high value that is associated with post-rift volcanic activity and the development of a volcano (with flows and sills) shortly after the formation of the OCT. The Afar hotspot is therefore important for several reasons. It allows the localisation of deformation along the Red Sea/Aden system and the rapid opening of the Gulf after the continental break-up; its influence also seems to persist during the post-rift period.
ISSN: 1866-7411

hal-01053089
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053089
DOI : 10.1007/s12517-011-0475-4

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : The Algerian margin has originated from the opening of the Algerian basin about 25-30 Ma ago. The central margin provides evidence for large-scale normal faults of Oligo-Miocene age, whereas transcurrent tectonics characterizes the western margin. A set of NW-SE oriented dextral transform faults was active during basin opening and divided the 600 km long central margin into segments of similar to 120-150 km. The upper Miocene, Plio-Quaternary, and present-day tectonic setting is, however, compressional and supports the occurrence of a margin inversion, a process still poorly documented worldwide. We show that the central Algerian margin represents a rare example of inverted margin, where the process of subduction inception is particularly well expressed and helps understand how extensional and transtensive structures are involved in margin shortening. Using multibeam bathymetry and multichannel seismic reflection sections from the MAR-ADJA 2003 and 2005 cruises, we evidence Pliocene-Pleistocene shortening with contrasting styles along the margin between west (Khayr Al Din bank) and east (Boumerdes-Dellys margin) of Algiers. Pre-Miocene structures such as basement highs and transform faults appear to control changes of the deformation pattern along this part of the margin, resulting in different widths, geometries, and relative positions of folds and faults. Plio-Quaternary and active blind thrust faults do not reuse Oligo-Miocene normal and transform faults during inversion, but instead grow within the continental margin (as testified for instance by the 21 May 2003 M-w 6.8 Boumerdes-Zemmouri earthquake), at the foot of the continental slope and at the northern sides of basement highs interpreted as stretched continental blocks of the rifted margin. The inherited structures of the margin appear, therefore, to determine this deformation pattern and ultimately the earthquake and tsunami sizes offshore. The complex geometry of the fault system along the Algerian margin suggests a process of initiation of subduction in its central and eastern parts.
Tectonics (0278-7407) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2010-03 , Vol. 29 , N. TC2008 , P. 1-22

Droits : 2010 American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00008/11883/9286.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00008/11883/9287.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2009TC002547
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00008/11883/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Tyrrhenian Sea is usually interpreted to be a Neogene back-arc basin that opened by continental rifting and oceanic spreading caused by the eastward migration of the Apennine subduction system during Miocene and Pliocene times. Rifting of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea started first along the Eastern Sardinian margin during the middle to late Miocene times, including the Messinian. The "METYSS" project aims at better constraining the relationships between crustal tectonics, salt tectonics and sedimentation from Messinian times to present-day. The "METYSS 1" cruise (2009) allowed to acquire about 1200 km of HR seismic-reflection profiles along the Eastern Sardinian margin, Western Tyrrhenian Sea. This data set clearly illustrates that this area has been highly dissected during the rifting stage by N-S trending normal faults delineating ridges and basins, as previously described. The Messinian seismic markers (UU and MU) locally display fan-shaped stratal geometries, but the mechanism responsible for such geometries, salt tectonics or rifting, has yet to be carefully deciphered. We also mapped the spatial distribution of the mobile salt. The highly variable thickness of the small confined salt basins may be related to the initial pre-Messinian basin geometry, to the fact that salt deposition was syn-rift or to salt movement. Southeastward, salt tectonics is vigorous in unconfined basins and appears to have started early during the UU deposition. More surprisingly, our data demonstrate that some of the major faults have been significantly reactivated during the post-rift period, up to late Quaternary time, as shown by bathymetric scarps and associated debris flows. Moreover, some of this post-rift deformation can be evidenced within the Plio-Quaternary sequence by a regional unconformity. The post-Miocene deformation style varies greatly between different areas of the margin, and can also be strongly influenced by the presence or absence of mobile Messinian salt.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00996665
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00996665
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.12.015

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We analyse P-wave receiver functions across the western Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea continental margins in Western Yemen to constrain crustal thickness, internal crustal structure and the bulk seismic velocity characteristics in order to address the role of magmatism, faulting and mechanical crustal thinning during continental breakup. We analyse teleseismic data from 21 stations forming the temporary Young Conjugate Margins Laboratory (YOCMAL) network together with GFZ and Yemeni permanent stations. Analysis of computed receiver functions shows that (1) the thickness of unextended crust on the Yemen plateau is ∼35km; (2) this thins to ∼22km in coastal areas and reaches less than 14km on the Red Sea coast, where presence of a high-velocity lower crust is evident. The average Vp/Vs ratio for the western Yemen Plateau is 1.79, increasing to ∼1.92 near the Red Sea coast and decreasing to 1.68 for those stations located on or near the granitic rocks. Thinning of the crust, and by inference extension, occurs over a ∼130-km-wide transition zone from the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts to the edges of the Yemen plateau. Thinning of continental crust is particularly localized in a <30-km-wide zone near the coastline, spatially co-incident with addition of magmatic underplate to the lower crust, above which on the surface we observe the presence of seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) and thickened Oligo-Miocene syn-rift basaltic flows. Our results strongly suggest the presence of high-velocity mafic intrusions in the lower crust, which are likely either synrift magmatic intrusion into continental lower crust or alternatively depleted upper mantle underplated to the base of the crust during the eruption of the SDRs. Our results also point towards a regional breakup history in which the onset of rifting was synchronous along the western Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea volcanic margins followed by a second phase of extension along the Red Sea margin.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00825194
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00825194
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00825194/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00825194/file/RF_Hakim2012_GJI.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt072

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : During the Fanindien 2006 cruise of R/V 'Beautemps-Beaupre', high resolution multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling and sediment coring was carried out along the East African margin, offshore Tanzania and Mozambique (Indian Ocean). The newly acquired data reveal the presence of a giant deep-sea valley (the Tanzania channel) that is more than 10 km wide at 4000 m water depth, along the continental rise. The valley remains similar to 70 m deep and 7 km wide at 800 km from the Tanzania coast. Morphological comparison with worldwide submarine channels show that the Tanzania channel is one of the largest known submarine valleys. This discovery brings new light on development of submarine valleys that drain sediments originated from the East African Rift System (EARS) highlands (i.e. the Tanzania channel and its neighbor Zambezi channel located similar to 1000 km southward). Both of the systems have a morphology markedly different to the classical sinuous, V-shaped channels located at similar latitudes (e.g. the Zaire or Amazon channels). Their submarine drainage system consists of a downslope converging tributary canyons joining a central trunk channel in the continental rise. The presence of such giant deep-sea drainage systems is probably linked to a strong structural control on the sediment pathway, associated to a massive sediment transfer towards the Indian Ocean in relation with the tectonic activity of the East African Rift System (i.e. the uplift periods trough mid-Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene times) and its interplay with the East African equatorial climate changes.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2008-12 , Vol. 255 , N. 3-4 , P. 179-185

Droits : 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00324/43491/42958.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.09.002
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00324/43491/

Éditeur(s) : Wiley / Blackwell
Résumé : P>New seismic reflection data from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the Newfoundland Basin add to the growing knowledge of the composition, structure and history of this non-volcanic margin. Geophysical imaging is now approaching the extent of that done previously on the conjugate margin along Iberia, providing a valuable database for the development of rifting models. Two parallel profiles over the shelf platform image deep crustal fabric representing Precambrian or possibly Appalachian deformation as well as Mesozoic extension. Progressively more intense extension of continental crust is imaged oceanwards without the highly reflective detachments frequently seen on profiles off Galicia. A landward-dipping event 'L' is imaged sporadically and appears to be analogous to a similar event on the Iberian IAM9 profile. The transition zone is probably exposed serpentinized mantle as interpreted off the Iberian margin although there appears to be a difference in the character of ridge development and reflectivity. The distinctive 'U' reflection identified previously at the base of the Newfoundland Basin deep water sedimentary section and recently identified as one or more thin basalt sills is imaged on newly presented profiles that connect previously published profiles SCR3 and SCR2 showing that 'U' is highly regular and continuous except where interrupted by basement highs. 'U' is also seen to have a major impact on the ability to image underlying basement. A full transect beginning over completely unextended continental crust through to oceanic crust has provided a data set from which estimates of extension and the pre-rifting location of the present continental edge can be made. Two estimates were obtained; 85 km based on faulting and 120 km based on crustal thickness.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Wiley / Blackwell), 2009-08 , Vol. 178 , N. 2 , P. 1004-1020

Droits : 2009 Wiley / Blackwell
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6919.pdf
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04162.x
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6919/

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : High P-wave velocities (7.1-7.8 km/s) lower crustal bodies (LCBs) imaged along volcanic margins are commonly interpreted as plume and break-up-related thick mafic underplating. This interpretation is partly challenged in this paper based on new seismic observations and modelling of the outer Voring Basin (Norway). An exceptional strong amplitude reflection, the T Reflection, is particularly well defined below the North Gjallar Ridge (NGR) between 7 and 8 s TWT. The T Reflection is located near the volcanic lava flows emplaced during the NE Atlantic breakup (similar to 55-54 Ma ago) and coincides with the top of the LCB, forming a mid-crustal dome. Based on structural and temporal relationships, we show that the dome clearly influences the structural development of the NGR and predates the continental breakup at least by 10-15 Ma. Using a thermo-kinematical model, we tried also to investigate and quantify the relationships between the extension, LCB and the magmatic production. Modelling suggests that significant Paleocene-Early Eocene magmatism can be produced without any temperature anomaly in the mantle if differential stretching occurs during the break-up initiation. The conclusion of 2D thermo-kinematical parametric analysis is that the magmatic model predicts, either little extension (beta < 2) with no melting or high extension (beta > 5) with significant melting along the outer Voring Basin. We suggest that the continental part of the LCB could not necessarily be breakup-related and so magmatic, as has often been stated previously. It is concluded here that the continental part of the LCB observed beneath the outer Voring Basin may be partly (or fully) attributed to inherited, high-pressure granulite/eclogite lower crustal rocks. The real amount of mafic material emplaced along the outer Voring Basin could be 20-40% less than thought.
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier), 2006 , Vol. 412 , N. 3-4 , P. 255-278

Droits : 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-1042.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2005.10.038
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1042/

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : During the Fanindien 2006 cruise of R/V 'Beautemps-Beaupre', high resolution multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling and sediment coring was carried out along the East African margin, offshore Tanzania and Mozambique (Indian Ocean). The newly acquired data reveal the presence of a giant deep-sea valley (the Tanzania channel) that is more than 10 km wide at 4000 m water depth, along the continental rise. The valley remains similar to 70 m deep and 7 km wide at 800 km from the Tanzania coast. Morphological comparison with worldwide submarine channels show that the Tanzania channel is one of the largest known submarine valleys. This discovery brings new light on development of submarine valleys that drain sediments originated from the East African Rift System (EARS) highlands (i.e. the Tanzania channel and its neighbor Zambezi channel located similar to 1000 km southward). Both of the systems have a morphology markedly different to the classical sinuous, V-shaped channels located at similar latitudes (e.g. the Zaire or Amazon channels). Their submarine drainage system consists of a downslope converging tributary canyons joining a central trunk channel in the continental rise. The presence of such giant deep-sea drainage systems is probably linked to a strong structural control on the sediment pathway, associated to a massive sediment transfer towards the Indian Ocean in relation with the tectonic activity of the East African Rift System (i.e. the uplift periods trough mid-Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene times) and its interplay with the East African equatorial climate changes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Marine Geology (0025-3227) (Elsevier), 2008-12 , Vol. 255 , N. 3-4 , P. 179-185

Droits : 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-6855.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.09.002

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : In the South Gabon Basin, deep multi-channel seismic reflection and gravity modeling analysis have shed light on key features of the structure of the margin. The thinned continental crust beneath the Gabon Margin appears to be composed of two distinct layers, separated by a clear, strong and more or less continuous reflector running in the 7–10 s TWT window. The lower crust is characterized by a higher density, intermediate between the lower values of the upper crust and the denser values of the mantle. The lower crust is irregularly shaped and presents lateral thickness variations along the direction of thinning and along the coast. In the offshore thinned continental domain, the lower and upper crust form a 20–25 km thick body. Crustal thicknesses point to a relatively sharp and narrow transition, along a few tens of kilometers, between the unthinned and the thinned continental crust. The high density layer identified offshore Gabon presents similar characteristics in density, geometry and spatial distribution, as the underplated magmatic bodies observed along volcanic margins, e.g. along the South Atlantic Namibia Margin or the North Atlantic Vøring Margin. Although this lower crustal body could possibly represent ultra mafic serpentinized rocks or high grade metamorphic crustal rocks, we suggest that it could be composed of mafic rocks. Magmas resulting from partial melting during rifting may underplate the crust and/or be intruded in the lower crust through a system of dykes and sills. In this view, the present-day crustal thicknesses along rifted margins, characterized by magmatic underplating and/or intrusion, are not representative of the thinning that the crust experienced during rifting. Results of this study point to relatively shallow sedimentary basins along the South Gabon Margin. The deepest offshore depocenters located under the westernmost side of the continental platform appear to be associated with the deepest syn-rift basins These basins seem to extend along 20 to 40 km in the ~ NE–SW direction with a present-day average thickness of 7.3 km. Offshore Gabon, whereas the crustal thinning appears significant, the syn-rift deposit are not thick. We suggest that the area was anomalously uplifted during the rifting phase, due to an elevated thermal lithospheric gradient. The conclusions derived from our seismic and gravity analysis are consistent with the implications such a thermal anomaly would have on the tectonic evolution of a rifted margin with 1) an underplated high density lower crustal layer, 2) shallow depth syn-rift basins associated with a relatively thin crust and subsequently 3) elevated recorded subsidence rates in the initial post-rift stages. Research Highlights ► The Gabon Margin appears characterized by an underplated high density lower crustal layer. ► Shallow depth syn-rift basins are associated with a relatively thin crust. ► Seismic and gravity analysis points to an anomalous uplift of the Gabon Margin during the rifting phase. ► Crustal structure, syn-rift infill and post-rift subsidence are consistent an uplift of the Gabon Margin during the rifting phase. ► The uplift of the Gabon Margin is possibly due to an elevated thermal lithospheric gradient.
Tectonophysics (0040-1951) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2011-06 , Vol. 506 , N. 1-4 , P. 31-45

Droits : 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00039/15020/12347.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tecto.2011.04.009
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00039/15020/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Based on fieldwork and modern analytical technics, this work presents an overview of the Mid-Cretaceous hyper-extended rift system exposed in the northern part of the Pyrenean mountain range. Its inversion during the Pyrenean orogeny allows for precious observations of the deep-seated processes occurring at the foot of distal margins. Some peculiar aspects characterizing the pre-Alpine hyper-extended domain are examined throughout the 400km long suture that is fossilized in the North Pyrenean Zone (NPZ). The High Temperature/Low Pressure (HT/LP) thermal imprint of the extensional event is studied thanks to a dataset of more than hundred peak temperature measurement by Raman spectroscopy of the carbonaceous material (RSCM). The pre- and syn-rift metasediments are characterized by an intense ductile deformation. Field and EBSD investigations of the mechanisms of deformation reveal ductile and syn-metamorphic processes. The emplacement conditions of the peridotite into crustal levels and localized exhumation is examined in the key-localities of Urdach, Saraillé-Tos de la Coustette, Moncaup, Lherz, Caussou-Bestiac and Salvezines, The results indicate an early boudinage of the crust during the rifting process, resulting in the direct superposition of pre-rift sediments on top of mantle peridotites. Field, textural and isotopic characterization of the various ophicalcite and breccias found in the vicinity of the peridotite outcrops allow to decipher their exhumation history. New Ar-Ar geochronological results allow to precise the temporal evolution of the NPZ.
Cette thèse présente une analyse structurale et thermique des marges passives crétacées inversées dans la Zone Nord Pyrénéenne (ZNP). L'application du paléothermomètre RSCM (spectrométrie Raman de la matière carbonée) sur plus de cent échantillons répartis à travers la ZNP permet de préciser l'évolution thermique de la déchirure continentale. Un métamorphisme de haute température (450 à >600°C) se développe particulièrement au droit de zones ou la croûte continentale est extrêmement amincie voire éliminée. Les sédiments pré- et syn-rift sont marqués par une intense déformation ductile. L'analyse à l'EBSD des fabriques minérales indique une déformation de Haute-température contemporaine du métamorphisme HT-BP. Les conditions de mise en place crustale des péridotites et leur exhumation localisée sont examinées dans les localités d'Urdach, Saraillé-Tos de la Coustette, Moncaup, Lherz, Caussou-Bestiac et Salvezines. Les résultats indiquent un boudinage de la croûte continentale au cours du processus de rifting. Des décollements de couverture, principalement localisés dans les évaporites triasiques conduisent à la superposition directe des sédiments pré-rift sur le manteau exhumé. La notion nouvelle de soutirage crustal est introduite pour désigner ce processus dans lequel l'écoulement gravitaire ne joue pas un rôle principal. La caractérisation sédimentologique, pétrographique et isotopique (O et C) des différentes formations de brèches et ophicalcites observées à proximité des corps de péridotites permet de reconstituer les étapes de l'exhumation du manteau en pied de marge. Enfin de nouvelles datations permettent de mieux contraindre le calendrier des évènements successifs.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00787952

tel-00787952
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00787952
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00787952/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00787952/file/TheI_se-Clerc-2012.pdf

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

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

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : Simple thermodynamics calculations are applied to processes of a rising plume within an environment of an upward directed gradient of viscosity in the uppermost mantle. Four stages of the development of passive margins are described. Following an initial regional uplift strong lateral movements are induced at asthenospheric levels, stretching the overlying lithosphere. In the second stage plume material also enters the low viscosity lower crust, replacing continental material and forming a new, higher crust-mantle boundary by gravitational differentiation. The inital phase lag between the laterally intruding plume material and the rest of the lithosphere disappears once the continent is rifted and sea floor spreading is established (= stage 3). Finally, at stage 4, quiet subsidence, controlled by contraction, sedimentation, and possible phase changes in the lower crust, is established. The sequence described is in accordance with many observations of geology and geophysics. Rising plumes and sinking slabs are considered equivalent expressions of the heat engine earth which determines global tectonics.
Oceanologica Acta, Special issue (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1981

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00245/35658/34167.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00245/35658/

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : The origin of the Algerian margin remains one of the key questions still discussed in the Western Mediterranean sea, due to the imprecise nature and kinematics of the associated basin during the Neogene. For the first time, the deep structure of the Maghrebian margin was explored during the SPIRAL seismic survey. In this work, we present a N-S transect off Tipaza (west of Algiers), a place where the margin broadens due to a topographic high (Khayr-al-Din Bank). New deep penetration seismic profiles allow us to image the sedimentary sequence in the Algerian basin and the crustal structure at the continent-ocean boundary. Modeling of the wide-angle data shows thinning of the basement, from more than 15km in the continental upper margin to only 5–6km of oceanic-type basement in the Algerian basin, and reveals a very narrow or absent transitional zone. Analysis of the deep structure of the margin indicates features inherited from its complex evolution: (1) an oceanic-type crust in the deep basin, (2) similarities with margins formed in a transform-type setting, (3) a progressive deepening of the whole sedimentary cover, and the thickening of the Plio-Quaternary sediments at the margin foot, coeval with (4) a downward flexure of the basement in the basin. These features argue for a multiphased evolution of the margin, including (1) an early stage of rifting and/or spreading, (2) a late transcurrent episode related to the westward migration of the Alboran domain, and (3) a diffuse Plio-Quaternary compressional reactivation of the margin.
Journal Of Geophysical Research-solid Earth (0148-0027) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2013-08 , Vol. 118 , N. 8 , P. 3899-3916

Droits : 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00152/26333/24412.pdf
DOI:10.1002/jgrb.50318
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00152/26333/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Present Address : ISTO - UMR7327
International audience
The pre-rift Mesozoic sequences of the Cretaceous passive margins fossilized in the North Pyrenean Zone (NPZ) are characterized by high temperature deformation in relation with thinning of the continental basement. Our compilation of chronological and geological data confirms a clear correlation between the distribution of the highest paleotemperatures in the pre-rift sedimentary cover and the loci of extreme crustal stretching. Geological evidences such as the occurrence of peridotite bodies directly underlying metamorphic pre-rift sediments indicate an early attenuation of the rifted continental crust. This leads us to propose a mechanism of rifting involving boudinage of the continental crust. The lateral extraction of the Paleozoic basement occurred under the pre-rift cover that is decoupled on the Triassic clays and evaporates. The thermal conditions allowing coeval ductile deformation of the crust and of the pre-rift sediments leaded to the widening of basins devoid of large faulted blocks. We discuss the implications on the origin and significance of the granulites and the relations between flysch deposition and high temperature metamorphism of the pre-rift sediments. In the NPZ, Albian-Cenomanian flysch sequences were deposited synchronously with the syn-metamorphic ductile deformation of the pre-rift sequences. Since the base of the flysch deposits also recorded locally the high-temperature tectonic event, we propose an original mechanism for the evolution of the basins involving continuous deformation of the pre-rift metamorphic sediments. At the scale of the Pyrenean domain, our results suggest a strong lateral variability in the tectonic style of passive margins, in direct link with their thermic pattern
ISSN: 0278-7407

insu-01017432
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01017432
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01017432/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01017432/file/tect20164.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2013TC003471

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Although magmatism may occur during the earliest stages of continental rifting, its role in strain accommodation remains weakly constrained by largely 2-D studies. We analyze seismicity data from a 13 month, 39-station broadband seismic array to determine the role of magma intrusion on state-of-stress and strain localization, and their along-strike variations. Precise earthquake locations using cluster analyses and a new 3-D velocity model reveal lower crustal earthquakes beneath the central basins and along projections of steep border faults that degas CO2. Seismicity forms several disks interpreted as sills at 6-10 km below a monogenetic cone field. The sills overlie a lower crustal magma chamber that may feed eruptions at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano. After determining a new ML scaling relation, we determine a b-value of 0.87±0.03. Focal mechanisms for 65 earthquakes, and 13 from a catalogue prior to our array reveal an along-axis stress rotation of ∼60° in the magmatically active zone. New and prior mechanisms show predominantly normal slip along steep nodal planes, with extension directions ∼N90°E north and south of an active volcanic chain consistent with geodetic data, and ∼N150°E in the volcanic chain. The stress rotation facilitates strain transfer from border fault systems, the locus of early-stage deformation, to the zone of magma intrusion in the central rift. Our seismic, structural, and geochemistry results indicate that frequent lower crustal earthquakes are promoted by elevated pore pressures from volatile degassing along border faults, and hydraulic fracture around the margins of magma bodies. Results indicate that earthquakes are largely driven by stress state around inflating magma bodies.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01667198
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01667198
DOI : 10.1002/2017GC007027

Éditeur(s) : Wiley-blackwell Publishing, Inc
Résumé : We present the results from processing and interpreting five lines from the 1992 Erable multichannel seismic reflection experiment extending from the southeastern margin of Flemish Cap into the northern Newfoundland Basin. These profiles reveal significant along strike variations in the rifting styles experienced by Flemish Cap. In the southwest, a 100-km-wide transition zone is identified between thinned continental crust and thin oceanic crust. Similar to the conjugate Galicia Bank and Iberian margins, this transition zone contains a section of deep basement adjacent to a series of shallower ridges and is interpreted as exhumed serpentinized mantle. Along strike towards the northeast, this transition zone pinches out completely within 100 km and is replaced by thin oceanic crust directly adjacent to thinned continental crust. By interpreting nearby seismic profiles and profiles on the conjugate margins using the same classification criteria, we construct regional maps of the distribution of crustal domains on both sides of the North Atlantic. These maps reveal significant variations in rifting style on the conjugate margins and along strike of each margin and also highlight the role of ancient transfer zones in compartmentalizing these rifting variations into four distinct regions. We propose that the limited localization of shallow topographically high serpentinized peridotite ridges on the Newfoundland-Iberia and Flemish Cap-Galicia Bank conjugate margins, was directly related to an increase in the rate of extension following the separation of Flemish Cap and Galicia Bank which exhumed deeper, less serpentinized mantle.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Wiley-blackwell Publishing, Inc), 2010-03 , Vol. 180 , N. 3 , P. 976-U4

Droits : 2010 RAS
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00001/11202/7876.pdf
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04477.x
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00001/11202/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
We image the lithospheric and upper asthenospheric structure of western continental Yemen with 24 broadband stations to evaluate the role of the Afar plume on the evolution of the continental margin and its extent eastwards along the Gulf of Aden. We use teleseismic tomography to compute relative P-wave velocity variations in southwestern Yemen down to 300 km depth. Published receiver function analysis suggest a dramatic and localized thinning of the crust in the vicinity of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, consistent with the velocity structure that we retrieve in our model. The mantle part of the model is dominated by the presence of a low velocity anomaly in which we infer partial melting just below thick Oligocene flood basalts and recent off-axis volcanic events (from 15 Ma to present). This low velocity anomaly could correspond to an abnormally hot mantle and could be responsible for dynamic topography and recent magmatism in western Yemen. Our new P-wave velocity model beneath western Yemen suggests the young rift flank volcanoes beneath margins and on the flanks of the Red Sea rift are caused by focused small-scale diapiric upwelling from a broad region of hot mantle beneath the area. Our work shows that relatively hot mantle, along with partial melting of the mantle, can persist beneath rifted margins after breakup has occurred.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01015496
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01015496/file/Korostelev_etal_GGG_2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2014GC005316

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : International audience
The Chaînons Béarnais ranges (North-Pyrenean Zone, west-central Pyrenees) display a fold-and-thrust structure involving the Mesozoic sedimentary cover, decoupled from its substratum at the Keuper evaporites level and associated with a few peridotite bodies and scarce Palaeozoic basement lenses. In the western part of the Chaînons Béarnais, the newly described recumbent fold of the Saraillé massif comprises a peridotite body and several lenses of Palaeozoic basement wrapped by the Triassic to Aptian sedimentary cover. This structure represents a remnant of the distal portion of the Pyrenean paleo-rifted margin where mantle rocks have been exhumed during Albian–Cenomanian times. In this paper, we present the first detailed mapping and microstructural analysis of the Saraillé massif, providing new geological basis for reconstructing the evolution of this part of the paleo-margin. Our mapping (i) shows that the pre-rift Mesozoic cover forms a recumbent fold cored by mantle and crustal rocks and (ii) confirms that the prerift cover was detached from its bedrock along a layer of Triassic evaporites and slid onto the exhumed mantle rocks. Sliding of the prerift cover was associated with extreme crustal thinning and mantle exhumation along a major detachment fault, together with intense metasomatism affecting both the continental basement and the sedimentary cover. We show for the first time (1) that the Mesozoic pre-rift sediments experienced syn-metamorphic ductile thinning during mantle exhumation, and (2) that during its extreme attenuation, the continental basement was reduced to tectonic lenses some ten meters thick by ductile shearing.
ISSN: 1631-0713

insu-01265777
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01265777
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01265777/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01265777/file/corre-CRGeosc-2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2015.11.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Continental rifts and passive continental margins show fundamental along-axis segmentation patterns that have been attributed to one or a number of different processes: extensional fault geometry, variable stretching along strike, preexisting lithospheric compositional and structural heterogeneities, oblique rifting, and the presence or absence of eruptive volcanic centers. The length and width scales of the rift stage fault-bounded basin systems change during the late evolution of the new plate boundary, and the role of magmatism may increase as rifting progresses to continental rupture. Along obliquely spreading ridges, first-order mid-ocean ridge geometries originate during the synrift stage, indicating an intimate relationship between magma production and transform fault spacing and location. The Gulf of Aden rift is a young ocean basin in which the earliest synrift to breakup structures are well exposed onshore and covered by thin sediment layers offshore. This obliquely spreading rift is considered magma-poor and has several large-offset transforms that originated during late stage rifting and control the first-order axial segmentation of the spreading ridge. Widely spaced geophysical transects of passive margins that produce only isolated 2-D images of crust and uppermost mantle structure are inadequate for evaluation of competing rift evolution models. Using closely spaced new geophysical and geological observations from the Gulf of Aden we show that rift sectors between transforms have a large internal variability over short distances (∼10 km): the ocean-continent transition (OCT) evolves from a narrow magmatic transition to wider zones where continental mantle is probably exhumed. We suggest that this small-scale variability may be explained (1) by the distribution of volcanism and (2) by the along-strike differences in time-averaged extension rate of the oblique rift system. The volcanism may be associated with (1) the long-offset Alula-Fartak Fracture Zone, which may enhance magma production on its younger side, or (2) channeled flow from the Afar plume material along the newly formed OCT and the spreading ridge. Oblique extension and/or hot spot interactions may thereby have a significant control on the styles of rifting and continental breakup and on the evolution of many magma-poor margins.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00504866
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00504866
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00504866/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00504866/file/G3-Leroy_al-2010.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2009GC002963

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The mantle deformation processes that control the thinning and break-up of continental lithosphere remain poorly understood. Our knowledge is restricted to either lithospheric scale thermo-mechanical models --that use experimentally derived flow laws--, geophysical imaging and/or rare xenoliths from active continental rifts, such as the East African Rift System. The originality of this work relies on the study of the two largest outcrops of diamond facies subcontinental lithospheric mantle in the world: the Beni Bousera and Ronda peridotite massifs in N Morocco and S Spain, respectively. The structures and petrologic and metamorphic zoning preserved in these massifs --implying a polybaric and polythermal evolution-- provides a unique opportunity to investigate the thermo-mechanical evolution of thick subcontinental lithospheric mantle in extensional settings. In this thesis we studied the deformation mechanisms in both peridotites and pyroxenites to constrain the modes of exhumation of subcontinental lithospheric mantle from garnet-, to spinel-, and finally, to plagioclase lherzolite facies conditions. We combined field mapping of tectonometamorphic domains and structural mapping of ductile structures, microstructural analysis, crystal preferred orientations (CPO) measurements and conventional thermobarometric calculations and thermodynamic modeling (Perple_X) to unravel the pressure and temperature conditions of deformation. We showed that exhumation from garnet- to spinel lherzolite facies conditions was accommodated by fast shearing --in thermal disequilibrium--along a lithospheric scale transtensional shear zone. In this context, the petrological zoning and the large temperature gradient (ca. 100ºC/km) preserved in the Beni Bousera massif represent the mechanical juxtaposition of progressively deeper and hotter lithospheric levels at depths of ca. 60 km in the latest Oligocene (ca. 25 Ma). Final exhumation from spinel- to plagioclase facies lherzolite and emplacement into the crust is best recorded in the Ronda massif where it occurred by inversion and lithospheric scale folding of the highly attenuated continental lithosphere in a back-arc region, probably in relation with southward slab rollback and subsequent collision with the palaeo-Maghrebien passive margin in the early Miocene (21-23 Ma).
Les processus de déformation contrôlant l'amincissement de la lithosphère continentale sont encore mal contraints. Nos connaissances sont principalement basées sur la modélisation thermomécanique d'extension à l'échelle de la lithosphère--utilisant des lois rhéologiques derivées expérimentalement, l'imagerie géophysique et l'analyse de xénolithes provenant de rift continentaux actifs à ce jour, tels que le Rift Est-Africain. L'originalité de ce travail reside dans l'étude des deux plus grands massifs de péridotites sous-continentales ayant enregistrées des conditions primaires du facies à diamant: les massifs de Beni Bousera au nord du Maroc et de Ronda au sud de l'Espagne, respectivement. Les structures et la zonation petrologique et métamorphique --impliquant une évolution polybarique et polythermique-- préservéees dans ces massifs offrent une opportunité unique pour étudier l'évolution thermo-mécanique du manteau sous-continental dans un contexte extensif. Dans ce travail, nous avons étudié les mécanismes de déformation des péridotites et des pyroxénites afin de contraindre les modes d'exhumation du manteau lithosphérique sous-continental, depuis des conditions du facies des lherzolites à grenat, jusqu'au facies à spinelle et enfin à plagioclase. Nous avons combiné la cartographie des faciès tectono-métamorphiques et des structures ductiles de déformation, l'analyse des microstructures, la mesure d'orientations préférentielles de réseau (OPR), et la géothermobarométrie conventionelle couplée à la modélisation thermodynamique (PerpleX) afin de contraindre les conditions de pression et température de la déformation. Nous avons montré que l'exhumation précoce du facies à grenat au facies à spinelle était accomodée par une faille transtensive affectant le manteau lithosphérique. Dans ce contexte, la zonation tectono-métamorphique et le gradient thermique important (ca. 100ºC/km) préservés à Beni Bousera résultent de la juxtaposition mécanique de domaines lithosphériques initialement équilibrés à différentes pressions et températures, fossilisée à une profondeur de ca. 60 km durant l'Oligocène supérieur (ca. 25 Ma). L'exhumation finale du facies de lherzolite à spinelle au facies à plagioclase et l'emplacement final dans la croûte, mieux enregistrés dans Ronda, se sont produits par inversion et plissement de la section lithosphérique fortement amincie dans un contexte arrière-arc, probablement lors du retrait vers le sud de la lithosphère subduite et la collision de l'arc avec les paléo-marges maghrébines au Miocène inférieur (21-23 Ma).
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700

tel-00767700
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700/file/THESE_Frets.pdf