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

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

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU) AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
To study how an impacting plume modifies the mantle lithosphere, we analyzed the microstructures and crystal preferred orientations (CPO) of 29 peridotites and 37 pyroxenites that sample the mantle root of the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) from 60 to 120 km depth. The peridotites show a strong compositional variability, but homogeneous coarse granular to tabular microstructures, except for those equilibrated at the shallowest and deepest depths, which are porphyroclastic. All peridotites have clear olivine CPO, with dominant fiber-[010] patterns. Low intragranular misorientations and straight grain boundaries in olivine suggest that, above 100 km depth, annealing often followed deformation. Calculated density and P wave velocities of the peridotites decrease weakly with depth. S wave velocities decrease faster, resulting in increasing Vp/Vs ratio with depth. Calculated densities and seismic velocity profiles are consistent with those estimated for normal mantle compositions under a cold oceanic geotherm. Enrichment in pyroxenites may further increase seismic velocities. The calculated seismic properties cannot therefore explain the low S waves velocities predicted by Rayleigh wave tomography and ScS data in the mantle beneath the OJP. Calculated P and S waves anisotropy is variable (2–12%). It is higher on average in the deeper section of the lithosphere. Because olivine has dominantly [010]-fiber CPO patterns, if foliations are horizontal, vertically propagating S waves and Rayleigh waves will sample very weak anisotropy in the OJP mantle lithosphere. Moreover, if the orientation of the lineation changes with depth, the anisotropy-induced contrast in seismic properties might produce an intralithospheric reflector marking the stratification of the OJP mantle root.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-01116428
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01116428
DOI : 10.1002/2014GC005452

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The present study addresses the question of increasing need in water supply. One line of research consists in investigating karst aquifers that represent significant water supplies for the areas around the Mediterranean. This work aims at developing a methodology of predictive evaluation of karst distribution and karst thickness within the carbonate massifs. It is based on the study of the Tethysian carbonate platform from the area of Montpellier, South of France. This area underwent a polyphased, complex, tectonic evolution, involving successive karst forming events. The approach is based on the relationships between eustacy and geodynamics, on one hand, and base-level variation recorded within palaeokarsts, on the other hand. Sedimentary fill of palaeokarsts allows to identify distinct karstification phases and sometimes to date them. It is a marker of base-level variations, which we attempt to quantify, that is responsible for karst formation and karst filling and sealing. For three palaeokarsts of regional extent, we analyze : karst sedimentary-fill, the distribution along upstream-downstream profile, the vertical extension of palaeokarsts, indicative of the base-level lowering. - The " Bauxite palaeokarst " results from the two-stage evolution of the " Isthme Durancien " : i) Bauxitic weathering of the Neocomian cover over the southern Massif Central , related to an inversion during Barremian ; ii) ≥1600 m uplift and exhumation during Aptian-Albian, inducing erosion of alterites, upstream, and deposition of detrital bauxites, downstream. - The " Early Paleocene palaeokarsts with marine sedimentary-fill " indicate base level variations of more than 350m in the upstream area. It is suggested here that such base-level variations, exceeding eustacy and recorded in tabular undeformed series, result from desiccation-flooding events in an endoreic silled basin. - The " Miocene palaeokarst with Cevennes-sourced sediment-fill " records a Serravalian-Tortonian base-level drop, depicted by canyon incision in the hinterland of the Gulf of Lion Margin. Uplift values of ≥ 400m upstream, about 250m in an intermediate area and 10's of m downstream, are measured. The present 3D geometry and distribution of carbonate massifs (exposed and covered) are modeled in the study area, from the Cevennes to the Mediterranean. The 3D geological model integrates seismic reflection, borehole and gravimetric data. Tectonic restoration of a N-S section, extracted from the 3D model, allows to reconstruct paleo-base-levels with respect with the carbonate massifs, at different stages of deformation and successive phases of karstification. The 3D paleo-flows through carbonates across the study area, are thus constrained, especially during the Messinian desiccation stage. Application of the results to hydrogeology leads to the following : - Uplift of upstream hinterland (Cretaceous, Miocene) produces large amplitude karsts, but they do not make significant reservoirs. - Karstification responsible for the development of important and deep karst reservoirs is related to desiccation of endoreic basins (early Paleocene and Messinian). - Theses two events have produced two main deep karst reservoirs, with a gravimetric signature : (1) Upstream of Montpellier Thrust, between Pic St Loup, Les Matelles Fault and Hérault Basin, a deep karsts developed over 900m thickness in the Malm limestone, during Paleocene. (2) Downstream (south) of Montpellier Thrust, the coastal karsts extend offshore over more than 10km, they are sealed by a thick Miocene to Quaternary cover, and they result from the Messinian event.
Cette étude s'inscrit dans un contexte de demande croissante en ressources en eau, conduisant à mieux contraindre et estimer la distribution des aquifères karstifiés qui représentent une ressource importante, notamment sur le pourtour méditerranéen. Le but de ce travail est d'élaborer une méthode prédictive de la distribution de la karstification et de l'épaisseur de massifs carbonatés karstifiés, notamment pour les karsts profonds. La méthodologie est développée à partir de l'étude des karsts de la plateforme carbonatée téthysienne du Languedoc montpelliérain; région qui a subi une histoire tectonique complexe et polyphasée, entrainant des phases de karstification successives. Elle est basée sur la compréhension des relations entre eustatisme, géodynamique et niveau de base, enregistrées par les paléokarsts de la région. Le remplissage sédimentaire des paléokarsts permet d'identifier les épisodes de karstification et de les dater ; c'est un marqueur des variations -que l'on cherche à quantifier- du niveau de base local responsable de la formation et du comblement des karsts. On analyse 3 paléokarsts d'extension régionale dont on peut étudier : le remplissage karstique, la distribution le long de profils amont-aval et l'extension verticale indicatrice de l'amplitude de l'abaissement du niveau de base dont il est issu. On en déduit les causes géodynamiques à l'origine de leur formation: - Le " paléokarst des bauxites " à remplissage caractéristique, résulte de l'évolution en 2 phases de " l'Isthme Durancien " : altération bauxitique de la couverture néocomienne sur le sud du Massif Central, liée à une inversion au Barrémien, suivi d'une surrection ≥ 1600m à l'Aptien-Albien, causant l'érosion des altérites en amont et le dépôt des bauxites détritiques en aval. - Le " paléokarst à remplissage marin paléocène inférieur " indique des variations du niveau de base local ≥350m dans la zone amont sud-cévenole. On propose que ces variations de niveau de base d'amplitude très supérieures aux variations eustatiques et dans une zone faiblement déformée, résultent d'assèchements et d'ennoiements d'un bassin endoréique à seuil. - Le " paléokarst à remplissage détritique d'origine cévenole ", enregistre la chute du niveau de base au Serravalien-Tortonien, qui se traduit par l'incision de canyons dans l'arrière-pays de la marge du Golfe du Lion. On détermine une surrection de plus de 400 mètres à l'amont, près de 250m dans les blocs faillés intermédiaires et quelques dizaines de mètres dans la zone avale. En parallèle, on établit la géométrie et la distribution actuelles des massifs carbonatés dans la zone d'étude (y compris sous couverture), en construisant un modèle géologique 3D, des Cévennes à la Méditerranée. On intègre les données de sismique réflexion, de forages et les données gravimétriques. La restauration tectonique séquentielle d'une coupe Nord-Sud extraite du modèle géologique permet d'appréhender la position des paléo-niveaux de base par rapport aux massifs carbonatés, pour chaque époque de karstification. On déduit l'organisation 3D des paléo-écoulements à travers la géométrie complexe des massifs carbonatés languedociens, notamment pendant l'évènement messinien. En terme d'évaluation de la ressource en eau, on déduit que: - Les surrections de l'arrière-pays (Crétacé " moyen ", Miocène) produisent des karsts de grande amplitude, mais ne constituent pas de réservoirs significatifs. - La karstification à l'origine de réservoirs exploitables importants et profonds est créée par l'assèchement de bassins endoréiques, qui ont affecté la région au Paléocène inférieur et au Messinien . - Ces deux évènements sont à l'origine de deux principaux réservoirs karstiques profonds qui ont une signature gravimétrique : (1) En amont du chevauchement de Montpellier, entre le Pic Saint Loup, la faille des Matelles et le bassin de l'Hérault, le karst profond se développe sur une épaisseur atteignant 900m, et est attribuée à l'événement du Paléocène. (2) Au Sud du chevauchement de Montpellier les karsts côtiers s'étendent jusqu'à plus de 10 km au large, scellés par une épaisse couverture Miocène et Plio-Quaternaire, et résultent de l'événement Messinien.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257

tel-00936257
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00936257/file/thA_se_husson_couleurs.pdf

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

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

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
This paper presents a new balanced structural cross-section of the Jaca thrust-sheet-top basin of the southern Pyrenees combined with paleo-thermometry and apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology data. The cross-section, based on field data and interpretation of industrial seismic reflection profiles, allows refinement of previous interpretations of the south-directed thrust system, involving the identification of new thrust faults, and of the kinematic relationships between basement and cover thrusts from the middle Eocene to the early Miocene. AFT analysis shows a southward decrease in the level of fission track resetting, from totally reset Paleozoic rocks and lower Eocene turbidites (indicative of heating to Tmax > ~120 °C), to partially reset middle Eocene turbidites and no/very weak resetting in the upper Eocene-lower Oligocene molasse (Tmax < ~60 °C). AFT results indicate a late Oligocene-early Miocene cooling event throughout the Axial Zone and Jaca Basin. Paleo-maximum temperatures determined by vitrinite reflectance measurements and Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material reach up to ~240 °C at the base of the turbidite succession. Inverse modelling of AFT and vitrinite reflectance data with the QTQt software for key samples show compatibility between vitrinite-derived Tmax and the AFT reset level for most of the samples. However, they also suggest that the highest temperatures determined in the lowermost turbidites correspond to a thermal anomaly rather than burial heating, possibly due to fluid circulation during thrust activity. From these results, we propose a new sequential restoration of the south Pyrenean thrust system propagation and related basin evolution.
ISSN: 0278-7407

insu-01312746
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01312746
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01312746/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01312746/file/Labaume_et_al-2016-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2016TC004192

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
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 Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Lateral variations along the Himalayan arc are suggested by an increasing number of studies and carry important information about the orogen’s segmentation. Here we compile the hitherto most complete land gravity dataset in the region which enables the currently highest resolution plausible analysis. To study lateral variations in collisional structure we compute arc-parallel gravity anomalies (APaGA) by subtracting the average arc-perpendicular profile from our dataset; we compute likewise for topography (APaTA). We find no direct correlation between APaGA, APaTA and background seismicity, as suggested in oceanic subduction context. In the Himalayas APaTA mainly reflect relief and erosional effects, whereas APaGA reflect the deep structure of the orogen with clear lateral boundaries. Four segments are outlined and have disparate flexural geometry: NE India, Bhutan, Nepal & India until Dehradun, and NW India. The segment boundaries in the India plate are related to inherited structures, and the boundaries of the Shillong block are highlighted by seismic activity. We find that large earthquakes of the past millennium do not propagate across the segment boundaries defined by APaGA, therefore these seem to set limits for potential rupture of megathrust earthquakes.
ISSN: 2045-2322

hal-01420404
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01420404
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01420404/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01420404/file/hetenyi2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1038/srep33866

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) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
To estimate the seismic hazard, the geometry (dip, length and orientation) and the dynamics (type of displacements and amplitude) of the faults in the area of interest need to be understood. In this paper, in addition to geomorphologic observations, we present the results of two ground penetrating radar (GPR) campaigns conducted in 2010 and 2011 along the Emeelt fault in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia, located in an intracontinental region with low deformation rate that induces long recurrence time between large earthquakes. As the geomorphology induced by the fault activity has been highly smoothed by erosion processes since the last event, the fault location and geometry is difficult to determine precisely. However, by using GPR first, a non-destructive and fast investigation, the fault and the sedimentary deposits near the surface can be characterized and the results can be used for the choice of trench location. GPR was performed with a 50 MHz antenna over 2-D lines and with a 500 MHz antenna for pseudo-3-D surveys. The 500 MHz GPR profiles show a good consistency with the trench observations, dug next to the pseudo-3-D surveys. The 3-D 500 MHz GPR imaging of a palaeochannel crossed by the fault allowed us to estimate its lateral displacement to be about 2 m. This is consistent with a right lateral strike-slip displacement induced by an earthquake around magnitude 7 or several around magnitude 6. The 2-D 50 MHz profiles, recorded perpendicular to the fault, show a strong reflection dipping to the NE, which corresponds to the fault plane. Those profiles provided complementary information on the fault such as its location at shallow depth, its dip angle (from 23 • to 35 •) and define its lateral extension. Central Asia is known for its high level of seismic hazards, especially Mongolia, which has been one of the most seismically active intracontinental regions in the world with four large earthquakes (magnitude around 8) along its active faults in the western part of the country during the last century (Khilko et al. 1985). The deformation in Mongolia is located between compressive structures related to the collision and penetration of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate and extensive structures in the north of the country related with the Baykal rift (Tapponnier & Molnar 1979; Baljinnyam et al. 1993; Schlupp 1996; Bayasgalan & Jackson 1999). The seismic activity observed in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar (UB), capital of Mongolia, is relatively low compared to the activity observed in western Mongolia. Nevertheless, since 2005, the seismic activity around UB not only has increased, but is also organized (see Fig. 1) at the west of UB along two perpendicular directions, which determine two active faults: Emeelt fault, discovered in 2008 (NNW-SSE direction, 25-km-long minimum and situated about 10 km W of UB) and Hustai fault (WSW–ENE direction, 80 km long, with its NE tip at less than 20 km west of UB); their length and morphology indicate that they can produce earthquakes of magnitude 6.5–7.5 (Schlupp et al. 2012). Most of the Mongolian population (1.2 million over 3 million) is concentrated at UB, which is the main political and economical centre of the country. Hence, the study of seismic hazard and the estimation of the probability of future destructive earthquakes are of primary importance for the country (Dugarmaa et al. 2006). Since the last large earthquake, the faults geomorphology has been highly smoothed by erosional processes and the exact location of the fault plane surface rupture is thus hidden within a several metre wide strip. The GPR method has been proven to give good and useful results to characterize faults by identifying offsets of radar reflections (Malik et al. 2007; Christie et al. 2009; Yalçiner et al. 2013) and
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01342629
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01342629
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01342629/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01342629/file/Dujardin_Bano_etal_Geoph.%20J.%20Int._2014_final.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggu130

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer-Verlag
Résumé : International audience
With hull-mounted multibeam echosounder data, wereport for the first time along the active Ecuadorian margin,acoustic signatures of water column fluid emissions and seep-relatedstructures on the seafloor. In total 17 flare-shaped acousticanomalies were detected from the upper slope (1250 m) to the shelfbreak (140 m). Nearly half of the flare-shaped acoustic anomaliesrise 200–500 m above the seafloor. The base of the flares is generallyassociated with high-reflectivity backscatter patchescontrasting with the neighboring seafloor. We interpret these flaresas caused by fluid escape in the water column, most likely gases.High-resolution seismic profiles show that most flares occur closeto the surface expression of active faults, deformed areas, slopeinstabilities or diapiric structures. In two areas tectonic deformationdisrupts a Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR), suggesting thatburied frozen gas hydrates are destabilized, thus supplying free gasemissions and related flares. This discovery is important as it opensthe way to determine the nature and origin of the emitted fluids andtheir potential link with the hydrocarbon system of the forearcbasins along the Ecuadorian margin.
ISSN: 0033-4533

insu-01267238
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01267238
DOI : 10.1007/s00024-015-1230-7

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : The current interpretation of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) involves the deposition of the so-called “peripheral or marginal” evaporites in onshore basins, as well as the erosion of the margins and the formation of thick evaporites in the deep parts of the basins. The present study focuses on intermediate depth basins, i.e. located between the onshore outcrops and the deep basins. Indeed, the Balearic Promontory shows small stepped basins filled with MSC deposits between its western extremity on the Alicante shelf and its eastern end around the Menorca block. New and already available seismic reflection profiles and onshore data allow us to investigate the nature and geometrical relationships of these deposits in the area between the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca.Our observations suggest the existence of three MSC-related units in this area. The lowermost transparent seismic unit can be interpreted as a 100 to 200-m-thick salt layer deposited in the deepest part of the Central Mallorca Depression. These evaporites pass laterally and upward into a thin-bedded seismic unit, which could be lithologically equivalent to the Upper Evaporites of the deep basins. All around the borders of the Central Mallorca Depression, this bedded seismic unit onlaps a Slope Unit which shows bedded to chaotic and rafted facies. The Messinian continental shelf is eroded and incised by a valley extending from the Palma onshore area to the Mallorca downslope domain.Our results suggest the presence offshore of at least two generations of diachronous MSC deposits. The observation of salt on a continental high and the widespread MSC deposits on the margins of the Central Mallorca Depression call into question the location of halite preferentially in the deep abyssal basins and the significance of the deep basin MSC units that onlap onto the Margin Erosional Surface (MES), as observed all around the passive margins of the Northwest-Mediterranean Basin. The dual terminology used for peripheral/deep MSC evaporites cannot be applied to any of the MSC units found in the study area.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-01115656
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115656
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.10.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
The Jaca basin is a thrust-sheet top basin transported southward andunderlain by basement and cover thrusts separated by a Triassic décollement.Basin-fill upper Cretaceous to lower Oligocene synorogenic sequencesrecord a southward depocenter migration, while growth stratadate a shift of deformation from the mid-Eocene in the N to the earlyMiocene in the S (S-Pyrenean front). However, the deep geometry andkinematic relationships between the cover and basement thrusts remainnon-consensual. We present a new structural and kinematic interpretationfor the eastern Jaca basin, based on subsurface structural maps andcross-sections constructed using industrial seismic reflection profiles.Raman Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Material (RSCM), vitrinite reflectanceand apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology data givefurther constraints for the restoration of the deformation and burialexhumationsequence. We define 3 main basement thrusts under thenorthern part of the basin, from N to S the Broto, Fiscal and Guargathrusts. The study also clarifies the deep structure of the cover thrustsand their links with these basement thrusts and those located more tothe north in the Axial Zone (AZ), which altogether define the timing ofthe basement thrust sequence as follows : the Lakoura-Eaux Chaudesthrust system (northern AZ) active up to the end Bartonian, the Gavarnie(central AZ) and Broto thrusts during the Priabonian-Rupelian andthe Fiscal and Guarga thrusts during the late Oligocene-early Miocene.AFT results in the basin fill and AZ date the exhumation of the basinto the late Oligocene-early Miocene, in relation to the Fiscal-Guargathrusting. AFT partial reset argues for a maximum burial < 6 km forthe base of the Eocene detrital sequence (Hecho Group turbidites). Bycontrast, RSCM and vitrinite thermometry at the same level indicatesTmax around 180°C, locally up to 240°C, attesting to a temperature anomalypossibly related to transient fluid circulation.
24 ème Réunion des sciences de la Terre 2014
Pau, France

insu-01080836
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01080836

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The analysis of 2D deep-seismic-reflection profiles across the slope and abyssal plain of the Angola oceanic basin reveals the existence of a significant and formerly unknown depocentre beneath the giant Cenozoic Congo deep-sea fan, between 7000 m and 9000 m depth, deposited directly onto the Aptian oceanic crust. The unit, which is up to 2.5 km thick and extends for more than 200 km basinwards of the Continent-Ocean boundary, is probably aged Albian-Turonian. Its radial fan-shaped depocentre is centred on the present-day Congo River outlet and contains at least 0.2 Mio km(3) of sediments. These observations and the results from flexural modelling indicate that (1) the location of the Congo River's outlet has remained fairly stable since the Late Cretaceous, and (2) the basal unit was indeed sourced by a palaeo-Congo River probably located nearby the present-day one. Thus, the Atlantic sedimentary system related to the exoreism of the Congo River is much older than previously thought. Thermal modelling indicates that the maturation history of this upper-Cretaceous deposits is highly influenced by the interaction between the initial high heat flow of the young oceanic crust and further increase in sediment supply due to the progradation of the overlying Tertiary deep-sea fan during the Miocene. Hence, despite low present-day heat-flow values, should the unit have source rock potential, its basal section may be currently generating hydrocarbons.;All in all, the results from our models also suggest that the interplay between an initially high heat flow and the further high sediment supply in areas of major river input, may be a key factor for the thermal maturation of potential source rocks deposited onto a present-day "cold" oceanic crust.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00475541
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475541
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.08.015

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : [1] During the Zoneco 11 marine geophysical survey (September 2004), two deep reflection seismic profiles recorded by ocean bottom seismometers were acquired in the offshore domain west of New Caledonia. The northern profile crosses the New Caledonia Basin, the Fairway Ridge, the Fairway Basin, and the Lord Howe Rise. The southern profile crosses the Norfolk Rise south of New Caledonia, the New Caledonia Basin, the Fairway Ridge and Basin, and ends at the foot of Lord Howe Rise. On the northern profile the Lord Howe Rise has a crustal thickness of 23 km and exhibits seismic velocities and velocity gradients characteristic of continental crust. The crust thins to 12-15 km in the neighboring Fairway Basin, which is interpreted to be of thinned continental origin based on the seismic velocities. The crustal thickness of the Fairway Rise is 22 km, and it is also interpreted to be of continental origin. The New Caledonian Basin is underlain by crust of 10 km thickness, which shows unusally high velocities (between 7.0 and 7.4) uncharacteristic for either thinned continental or oceanic crust. On the southern profile the Norfolk Rise is also found to be of continental nature. Here, the New Caledonia Basin shows velocities, crustal thickness, and basement roughness characteristic of typical oceanic crust. The crust in the Fairway Basin shows higher velocities than on the northern profile, which could be caused by volcanic intrusions into the crust during extension. A deep reflector in the upper mantle was imaged underneath the New Caledonian Basin on the northern profile.
Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid earth (0148-0227) (American Geophysical Union), 2007-11 , Vol. 112 , N. B11102 , P. NIL_71-NIL_88

Droits : 2007 American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2007/publication-3543.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2007JB005093
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3543/