Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Sandbox modeling is used to study the deformation of accretionary wedges caused by the subduction of oceanic ridges. The first experiment incorporates a massive ridge within a sand wedge. The wedge thickens and shortens when the forward propagation of the basal decollement ceases. The wedge thickening results in taper change, reactivation of preexisting thrusts, and retreat of the frontal part of the sand wedge. Similar mechanisms may have affected some margins that have undergone ridge subduction such as the Tonga margin after the subduction of the oblique Louisville oceanic ridge. The second experiment shows the effects of an active basement thrust slice as it enters a subduction zone. This process may have happened in the eastern Nankai accretionary wedge. Initially, the wedge in this experiment behaved similarly to that of the first experiment. Rapidly the topographic slope changed, the wedge thickened above the basement slice generating a slope break in the topography; a deeper propagating accretionary wedge again characterized by a small taper developed. These results, when compared with observations made in the Eastern Nankai Trench, are in agreement with the past subduction of a basement thrust slice in this area.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01261549
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261549
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261549/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261549/file/Lallemand_et_al-1992-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/92TC00637

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
Résumé : International audience
Seismic reflection profiles from the sediment rich Alaska subduction zone image short, frontally accreted, imbricate thrust slices and repeated sequences of long, underthrust sheets. Rapid landward increases in wedge thickness, backthrusting, and uplift of the forearc are observed, suggesting underthrusting beneath the wedge. These features and a widely varying frontal wedge morphology are interpreted to be caused by different modes of accretion active concurrently along the trench at different locations. Episodic wedge growth is observed in high basal friction experiments using sand as an analog material. Two phases of an accretionary cycle can be distinguished: frontal accretion of short imbricate thrust slices, alternating with underthrusting of long, undeformed sheets. The phase is shown experimentally to depend upon the surface slope of the wedge. Mechanical analysis of the forces at work predicts these two modes of deformation due to the varying frictional forces and yield strengths for a temporally varying wedge geometry. Maximum length of thrust slices is calculated for experimental conditions and confirmed by the observations. For a steep frontal slope (at the upper limit of the Mohr-Coulomb taper stability field) the overburden is too great to permit underthrusting, and failure occurs repeatedly at the wedge front producing short imbricate slices. The wedge grows forward, lowering the surface angle to the minimum critical taper. For a shallow frontal slope the reduced overburden along an active roof thrust permits sustained underthrusting, causing frontal erosion and backthrusting, steepening the wedge and thus completing the cycle.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01261538
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261538
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261538/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261538/file/gutscherJGR1998.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica
Résumé : Interaction between surface processes and deep tectonic processes plays a key role in the structural evolution, kinematics and exhumation of rocks in orogenic wedges. The deformation patterns observed in analogue models applied to natural cases of present active or ancient mountain belts reflect several first order processes that result of these interactions. Internal strain partitioning due to mechanical behaviour of a thrust wedge has a strong impact on the vertical component of displacement of tectonic units that in return favour erosion in domains of important uplift. Such strain partitioning is first controlled by tectonic processes, but surface processes exert a strong feed back on wedge dynamics. Indeed, material transfer in thrust wedges not only depends on its internal dynamics, it is also influenced by climate controlled surface processes involving erosion and sedimentation. Effects of erosion are multiple: they allow long term localization of deformed domains, they favour important exhumation above areas of deep underplating and combined with sedimentation in the foreland they contribute to maintain the wedge in a critical state for long time periods. The simple models illustrate well how mountain belts structure, kinematics of tectonic units and exhumation are determined by these complex interactions.
ISSN: 0016-8521

hal-00561361
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00561361
DOI : 10.1134/S0016852110060075

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : We present results from multibeam bathymetric data acquired during 2005 and 2006, in the region of maximum slip of the 26 Dec. 2004 earthquake (Mw 9.2). These data provide high-resolution images of seafloor morphology of the entire NW Sumatra forearc from the Sunda trench to the submarine volcanic arc just north of Sumatra. A slope gradient analysis of the combined dataset accurately highlights those portions of the seafloor shaped by active tectonic, depositional and/or erosional processes. The greatest slope gradients are located in the frontal 30 km of the forearc, at the toe of the accretionary wedge. This suggests that long-term deformation rates are highest here and that probably only minor amounts of slip are accommodated by other thrust faults further landward. Obvious N-S oriented lineaments observed on the incoming oceanic plate are aligned sub-parallel to the fracture zones associated with the Wharton fossil spreading center. Active strike-slip motion is suggested by recent deformation with up to 20-30 m of vertical offset. The intersection of these N-S elongated bathymetric scarps with the accretionary wedge partly controls the geometry of thrust anticlines and the location of erosional features (e.g. slide scars, canyons) at the wedge toe. Our interpretation suggests that these N-S lineaments have a significant impact on the oceanic plate, the toe of the wedge and further landward in the wedge. Finally, the bathymetric data indicate that folding at the front of the accretionary wedge occurs primarily along landward-vergent (seaward-dipping) thrusts, all unusual style in accretionary wedges worldwide. The N-S elongated lineaments locally act as boundaries between zones with predominant seaward versus landward vergence.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters (0012-821X) (Elsevier), 2008-11 , Vol. 275 , N. 3-4 , P. 201-210

Droits : 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-5166.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.04.053
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5166/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Analog sandbox models have been set up to study the impact of syntectonic erosion on thrust wedges with one and two decollement levels. Different accretion mechanisms are activated depending on interactions between surface processes and wedge mechanics: frontal accretion, backthrusting, underthrusting and underplating due to decollement induced duplex formation at depth. These mechanisms may function simultaneously, being located at different parts across the wedge. For all the experiments, a high friction is imposed at the base of models and the volume of eroded material remains equal to the volume of newly accreted material, maintaining a constant surface slope during the shortening. Erosion limits the forward propagation of thrust wedges and favors the underthrusting of basal layers allowing duplex formation. Erosion promotes development of major backthrusts in the thrust wedges without or with one decollement, but no backthrusts was formed in the wedges with two decollements. Slow erosion allows lower extent of basal underthrusting in comparison with regular-rate erosion. Variations in the erosion taper lead to changes in duplex geometry and exhumation rate in thrust wedges with one or two decollements. The 6 degrees erosion taper promotes formation of antiformal stack at the rear part of thrust wedge, high rate of basal underthrusting and high extent of erosional removal. The cover layers are nearly completely eroded above the antiformal stack and form the synformal klippe in frontal part of thrust wedges. The 8 degrees erosion taper allows development of individual ramp-anticlines and active forward thrusting of cover layers above the decollement and low rate of basal underplating below it, with consequent low extent of erosional removal. The results of our experiments support the observations on structural evolution and erosion in the Alberta Foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00617769
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617769
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.01.020

Éditeur(s) : Soc Geol France
Résumé : The Lesser Antilles subduction zone has produced no recent strong thrust earthquakes, making it difficult to quantify the seismic hazard from such events. The Lesser Antilles arc has a low subduction rate and an accretionary wedge that is very wide at its southern end. To investigate the effect of the wedge on seismogenesis, numerical models of forearc thermal structure were constructed along six transects perpendicular to the arc in order to determine the thermally predicted width of the seismogenic zone. The geometry of each section is constrained by published seismic profiles and crustal models derived from gravity and seismic data and by earthquake hypocenters at depth. A major constraint on the deep part of the model is that mantle temperature beneath the volcanic arc should achieve a temperature of 1,100 degrees C to generate partial melts. Predicted surface heat flow is compared to the available heat flow observations. Thermal modeling results indicate a systematic southward increase in the width of the seismogenic zone, more than doubling in width from north to south and corresponding to a dramatic southward increase in forearc width (distance from the arc to the deformation front of the accretionary wedge). The minimum width of the seismogenic zone (distance between the intersections of the subduction interface with the 150 degrees C and 350 degrees C isotherms) increases from about 80 km, north of 16 degrees N, to 230 km, at 13 degrees N. The maximum width (between the 100 degrees C and 450 degrees C isotherms) ranges from about 150 km in the north to up to 320 km in the south. This large variation in the width of the seismogenic zone is a consequence of the increasing width of the accretionary wedge to the south, caused by the increased thickness of sediment on the subducting plate. There is good agreement between the thermally predicted seismogenic limits and the sparse distribution of recorded thrust earthquakes, which are observed only in the northern portion of the arc. Possible scenarios for mega-thrust earthquakes are discussed. Depending on the segment length (along-strike) of the rupture plane, the occurrence of an event of magnitude 8-9 cannot be excluded.
L’absence de grands séismes récents à mécanismes chevauchants dans la zone de subduction des Petites Antilles rend difficile l’évaluation de l’aléa sismique lié à de tels événements. L’arc des Petites Antilles est caractérisé par une faible vitesse de subduction et par la présence d’un prisme d’accrétion très développé à son extrémité méridionale. Afin d’évaluer les effets de la largeur de ce prisme sur la genèse des séismes, nous avons étudié six sections perpendiculaires à l’arc, du nord au sud de celui-ci, pour déterminer la largeur de la zone sismogène prédite par les modèles thermiques appliqués à chacune de ces coupes. La géométrie de ces dernières est contrainte par les profils sismiques publiés, par les modèles de structure crustale déduits des données gravitaires et sismiques, et enfin par la distribution des hypocentres des séismes. Un contrôle important permettant de tester la validité des modèles thermiques en profondeur est qu’une température minimale de 1 100oC, compatible avec la fusion partielle du manteau hydraté, doit être atteinte sous l’arc volcanique actif. Par ailleurs, le flux thermique en surface prédit par ces modèles doit être compatible avec les mesures de flux de chaleur. Les modèles thermiques retenus d’après ces critères montrent une augmentation du simple au double vers le sud de la largeur de la zone sismogène, qui correspond à un élargissement considérable de la taille du domaine avant-arc. En effet, la largeur minimale de la zone sismogène (définie comme la distance entre les intersections de l’interface des plaques avec les isothermes 150o et 350oC) augmente d’environ 80 km au nord de 16oN jusqu’à 230 km à 13oN. La largeur maximale de cette zone (définie par les intersections de l’interface avec les isothermes 100o et 450oC) augmente, quant à elle, d’environ 150 km au nord jusqu’à 320 km au sud de l’arc. Cette variation considérable est la conséquence de l’augmentation de la largeur du prisme d’accrétion, elle-même causée par l’accumulation croissante des sédiments déposés sur la plaque plongeante. Les largeurs de la zone sismogène prédites à l’aide des modèles thermiques sont en bon accord avec les rares données disponibles sur les séismes à mécanismes chevauchants dans la partie nord de l’arc. Les scénarios possibles relatifs à des méga-séismes de ce type n’excluent pas de futurs événements atteignant des magnitudes de 8 à 9.
Bulletin De La Societe Geologique De France (0037-9409) (Soc Geol France), 2013 , Vol. 184 , N. 1-2 , P. 47-59

Droits : 2013 Societe Geologique de France
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00140/25140/29432.pdf
DOI:10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.47
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00140/25140/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : TECTO LITHO
On the basis of a section across the northwestern Alpine wedge and foreland basin, analogue modeling is used to investigate the impact of surface processes on the orogenic evolution. The basis model takes into account both structural and lithological heritages of the wedge. During shortening, erosion and sedimentation are performed to maintain a critical wedge. Frontal accretion leads to the development of a foreland thrust belt; underplating leads to the formation of an antiformal nappe stack in the internal zones. Important volumes of analogue materials are eroded out of the geological record, which in the case of the Alps suggests that the original lengths and volumes may be underestimated. The foreland basin evolves differently depending on the amounts of erosion/sedimentation. Its evolution and internal structuring is governed by the wedge mechanics, thought to be the main controlling mechanism in the development of the Molasse basin in a feedback interaction with surface processes.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00404424
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00404424
DOI : 10.1029/2006TC002048

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In Taiwan , the subduction of the Chinese continental margin under the Luzon arc results in the progressive growth of an active orogenic wedge. It is one of the best places to study the complex relationships that occurs between the tectonic processes controlling deformation (plate rheology and kinematics, metamorphism and magmatism) and surface processes (erosion and sedimentation). In order to study the kinematics of the present day convergence of Philippine Sea plate to the Asian continent around Taiwan, we perform 2D and 3D sandbox modeling and we analyzed the models with PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) software. In 2D experiments, a model Coulomb wedge is submitted to erosion and sedimentation under topography and flux steady state conditions. The 3D experiments are mainly used to study the escape tectonics occurring in the middle west and southwest Taiwan. A wedge shaped indenter and a basement relief were used to simulate the mechanical plate boundary between Philippine Sea plate and Eurasia plate and the basement topography to the west of Taiwan respectively. We examine the exhumation patterns, the mode of fault propagation and displacement patterns by strain partitioning of vertical vs. horizontal displacement and convergent parallel vs. orogen parallel components. The preliminary conclusions are: 1. The interactions between tectonics, erosion and sedimentation control geometry and kinematics of the doubly vergent transpressional orogen. 2. Exhumation processes are controlled by the balance between erosion, frontal accretion and underplating in different structural domains of the wedge. 3. Retrowedge erosion favorites backfolding and backthrusting, induces flower structures and fan shaped cleavage distribution. 4. Sedimentation promotes underplating and out-of sequences thrusting. 5. Continental subduction or subduction of topographic highs will enhance underthrusting/underplating, thick-skin tectonics and inversion of sedimentary basin.
Bolletino di Geofisica teorica ed applicata

hal-00411133
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411133

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Structural, metamorphic, and geochronologic work shows that the Ampelos/Dilek nappe of the Cycladic blueschist unit in the eastern Aegean constitutes a wedge of high-pressure rocks extruded during early stages of orogeny. The extrusion wedge formed during the incipient collision of the Anatolian microcontinent with Eurasia when subduction and deep underthrusting ceased and the Ampelos/Dilek nappe was thrust southward over the greenschist-facies Menderes nappes along its lower tectonic contact, the Cycladic-Menderes thrust, effectively cutting out a ∼30- to 40-km-thick section of crust. The upper contact of the Ampelos/Dilek extrusion wedge is the top-to-the-NE Selçuk normal shear zone, along which the Ampelos/Dilek nappe was exhumed by ∼30–40 km. Detailed Rb-Sr and 40Ar/39Ar dating of mylonites demonstrates that both shear zones operated between 42 and 32 Ma. There is no evidence for episodic motion during the ∼10 Myr life span of the shear zones, suggesting that both shear zones operated in a steady, nonepisodic fashion. Our data provide supporting evidence that simultaneous thrust-type and normal sense shearing can accomplish the early exhumation of deep-seated rocks
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00405013
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00405013
DOI : 10.1029/2005TC001872

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Gulf of Cadiz lies astride the complex plate boundary between Africa and Eurasia west of the Betic-Rif mountain belt. We report on the results of recent bathymetric swathmapping and multi-channel seismic surveys carried out here. The seafloor is marked by contrasting morphological provinces, spanning the SW Iberian and NW Moroccan continental margins, abyssal plains and an elongate, arcuate, accretionary wedge. A wide variety of tectonic and gravitational processes appear to have shaped these structures. Active compressional deformation of the wedge is suggested by folding and thrusting of the frontal sedimentary layers as well as basal duplexing in deeper internal units. There is evidence for simultaneous gravitational spreading occurring upslope. The very shallow mean surface and basal slopes of the accretionary wedge (1° each) indicate a very weak decollement layer, geometrically similar to the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary complex. Locally steep slopes (up to 10°) indicate strongly focused, active deformation and potential gravitational instabilities. The unusual surface morphology of the upper accretionary wedge includes “raft-tectonics” type fissures and abundant sub-circular depressions. Dissolution and/or diapiric processes are proposed to be involved in the formation of these depressions.
ISSN: 0264-8172

insu-00401683
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00401683
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2007.11.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The detailed morphology and internal structure of the Calabrian accretionary wedge and adjacent Eastern Sicily margin are imaged in unprecedented detail by a combined dataset of multi-beam bathymetry and high-resolution seismic profiles. The bathymetric data represent the results of 6 recent marine geophysical surveys since 2010 as well as a compilation of earlier surveys presented as a 2 arc-sec (60 m) grid. Several distinct morpho-tectonic provinces are identified including: the deeply incised Malta–Hyblean Escarpment, numerous submarine canyons, broad regions of relatively flat seafloor dominated by fields of sediment waves, the gently undulating anticlinal fold-and-thrust belts of the external Calabrian accretionary wedge and the adjacent portion of the Western Mediterranean Ridge. The Calabrian arc can be divided into 4 domains (from SE to NW): 1) the undeformed Ionian abyssal plain, 2) the external evaporitic wedge, 3) the internal clastic wedge, 4) the Calabrian backstop (Variscan crystalline basement). The Calabrian accretionary wedge can also be divided laterally into two major lobes, the NE- and the SW lobes, and two minor lobes. The kinematics of the limit between the two major lobes is investigated and shown to be sinistral in the external (evaporitic) wedge. A network of radial slip lines within the southernmost external wedge unequivocally demonstrate ongoing dextral displacement of a rigid indenter (representing the corner of the clastic wedge) into the evaporitic wedge thereby confirming the geodynamic model of an active lateral slab tear fault here off eastern Sicily. The slab tear produces a series of major sub-parallel dextral strike-slip faults offshore Mt. Etna and south of the Straits of Messina consistent with the relative motions between Calabria and the Peloritan domain (NE Sicily). Abundant strike-slip faulting, and wide-spread folding and thrusting observed throughout the entire accretionary wedge, indicate regional shortening between the Ionian abyssal plain (foreland) and the Calabrian–Peloritan backstop caused by active subduction.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01523990
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01523990
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.12.020

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We investigate the timing of end of motion along the South Tibet Detachment System (STDS), a major normal fault system that runs parallel to the Himalayan range for more than 1500 km. Near Dinggye (similar to 28 degrees 10'N, 87 degrees 40'E), the STD dips similar to 10 +/- 5 degrees to the North and separates Paleozoic Tethyan series from Upper Himalayan Crystalline Series (UHCS). Immediately below the STD, the UHCS is highly deformed in the STD shear zone, lineations trend NNE and the shear senses are top to the NE. In micaschist, the P-T path constrained by pseudosection and garnet chemistry, shows successive metamorphic conditions of similar to 0.6 GPa and similar to 550 degrees C and 0.5 GPa and 625 degrees C. U/Pb dating of monazites and zircons in deformed and undeformed leucogranites suggests that ductile deformation lasted until at least similar to 16 Ma but ended prior to similar to 15 Ma in the STD shear zone similar to 100 m below the detachment. Ar/Ar micas ages in the footwall span between similar to 14.6 and 13.6 Ma, indicating rapid cooling down to similar to 320 degrees C, and suggesting persistence of normal faulting, at that time. The STDS is cut and offset by the N-S trending Dinggye active normal fault which initiated prior to 11 Ma thus providing a minimum bound for the end of STDS motion. These data are interpreted as reflecting 0.3 GPa (11 km) to 0.6 GPa (22 km) of exhumation along the STDS starting prior to similar to 16 Ma, ending between 13.6 and 11 Ma. The 1000 km long stretch of the STDS east of the Gurla Mandata probably stopped almost synchronously between 13 and 11 Ma ago, coevally with a sudden switch from NNE-SSW to E-W extension at the top of the accretionary prism, with a jump of the major thrust from the lower Main Central Thrust (MCTI) to the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), and with a change in the India and Asia convergence direction. This synchronism is probably better explained in the frame of a thrust wedge or thrust system model than a lower channel flow model. West of the Gurla Mandata the STDS appears to stop 5 to 3 Ma earlier, possibly related to local interactions with the Karakorum fault in a way that needs to be understood.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00475652
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00475652
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.12.035

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In fold and thrust belts drainage organization and patterns of sedimentation depend conceptually on the ability or not for preexisting reaches to incise uplifting thrust sheets. In this study we investigate experimentally the dynamics of drainage network in a wedge submitted to shortening and erosion. It allows us to reproduce and to monitor the interactions between tectonics, erosion and sedimentation during the development of up to five successive thrust sheets. In the experiments channels adjust to uplift rate by both increasing their slope and narrowing their channels as it is observed in nature. The series of experiments shows that the proportion of persistent preexisting transverse channels increases with the ratio of rainfall over shortening rates. The experiments confirm the view that the competition between discharge and tectonic uplift controls along-strike variations in sediment flux in sedimentary basins by controlling the drainage organization. If the transverse channels draining a wedge are not diverted, a line-source dispersal system develops in front of the active structure. If channels are diverted in the backlimb of the frontal structure it results in point-sourced depositional systems separated by areas fed only by small channels developing in the front of the wedge. Fans accumulated in front of the active structures reveal two stages of sedimentation, one of progradation, while the frontal structure is active and a second one of valley backfilling and thrust sealing during internal deformation of the wedge. The experiments also suggest that spatial variations in rock uplift rate along a thrust front may be evidenced by minimum-discharge variations of persistent transverse channels.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01252482
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01252482
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.09.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In southeastern Taiwan a slice of forearc basement belonging to the Philippine Sea Plate upper-plate is suspected to subduct under the Luzon arc as a consequence of the transition from oceanic to incipient continental subduction. Effects on the morphology, deformation, geometry of structures and tectonic evolution of the orogenic wedge in the collision area are numerous. This study examines the impact of foreare lithosphere subduction on forearc basin and accretionary wedge deformation. A morpho-structural analysis of the geological features observed onland and offshore allows describing in detail the complex deformation suffered by the area. A combined approach by analogue modeling is applied to better understand the phenomenon. Comparison between nature and experimental results shows that subduction of a forearc basement slice induces intense shortening and concomitant deformation in the foreare domain. Such process involves deformation of the foreare basin previously developed in a setting of oceanic subduction. Sediments of the forearc basin are involved in the growth of a new thrust ridge backthrusted against the basement slope of the volcanic arc edifice. Sediments coming from the growing orogenic wedge are trapped in the trough developed between its backpart and the topographic high of the new rising ridge. A syn-collisional orogenic basin develops which structural evolution characterizes the progressive shortening of the forearc domain. Most of the deformation and tectonic events recorded offshore or onland in the complex area south of Taiwan can be explained using results of our specific modeling which well describe the tectonic processes associated with continental subduction under a volcanic are.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00420080
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420080
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2007.11.016

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : After the January 12, 2010, Haiti earthquake, we deployed a mainly offshore temporary network of seismologic stations around the damaged area. The distribution of the recorded aftershocks, together with morphotectonic observations and mainshock analysis, allow us to constrain a complex fault pattern in the area. Almost all of the aftershocks have a N-S compressive mechanism, and not the expected left-lateral strike-slip mechanism. A first-order slip model of the mainshock shows a N264 degrees E north-dipping plane, with a major left-lateral component and a strong reverse component. As the aftershock distribution is sub-parallel and close to the Enriquillo fault, we assume that although the cause of the catastrophe was not a rupture along the Enriquillo fault, this fault had an important role as a mechanical boundary. The azimuth of the focal planes of the aftershocks are parallel to the north-dipping faults of the Transhaitian Belt, which suggests a triggering of failure on these discontinuities. In the western part, the aftershock distribution reflects the triggering of slip on similar faults, and/or, alternatively, of the south-dipping faults, such the Trois-Baies submarine fault. These observations are in agreement with a model of an oblique collision of an indenter of the oceanic crust of the Southern Peninsula and the sedimentary wedge of the Transhaitian Belt: the rupture occurred on a wrench fault at the rheologic boundary on top of the under-thrusting rigid oceanic block, whereas the aftershocks were the result of the relaxation on the hanging wall along pre-existing discontinuities in the frontal part of the Transhaitian Belt. Citation: Mercier de Lepinay, B., et al. (2011), The 2010 Haiti earthquake: A complex fault pattern constrained by seismologic and tectonic observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L22305, doi:10.1029/2011GL049799.
Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-11 , Vol. 38 , N. L22305 , P. 7 p.

Droits : 2011 by the American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00054/16557/14071.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2011GL049799
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00054/16557/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In Western Mediterranean, the Rif belt in Morocco is part of the Gibraltar Arc built during the Tertiary in the framework of Eurasia-Africa convergence. The structural and metamorphic evolution of the internal units of this belt as well as their timing, crucial to constrain the geodynamic evolution of the Alboran Sea, is still largely debated.Our study on the Ceuta Peninsula (Northern Rif) provides new structural, petrological and geochronological data (U-Th-Pb, Ar-Ar), which allow to precise the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Lower Sebtides metamorphic units with:(1) a syn-metamorphic thrusting event developed under granulite facies conditions (7–10 kbar and 780–820 °C). A major thrust zone, the Ceuta Shear Zone, drove the emplacement of metapelites and peridotitic lenses from the Ceuta Upper Unit over the orthogneisses of the Monte Hacho Lower Unit. This compressional event ended during the Upper Oligocene.(2) an extensional event developed at the boundary between amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions (400–550 °C and 1–3 kbar). During this event, the Ceuta Shear Zone has been reactivated as a normal fault. Normal ductile shear zones contributed to the final exhumation of the metamorphic units during the Early Miocene.We propose that the compressional event is related to the formation of an orogenic wedge located in the upper plate, in a backward position, of the subduction zone driving the geodynamic evolution of the Alboran domain. In this context, the episode of lithospheric thinning could be related to the opening of the Alboran basin in a back-arc position.Furthermore, unlike the previous models proposed for the Rif belt, the tectonic coupling between mantle peridotites and crustal metamorphic rocks occurred in Ceuta Peninsula at a depth of 20–30 km under high temperature conditions, before the extensional event, and thus cannot be related to the back-arc extension.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01682810
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01682810
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.11.028

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The Ama Drime range located at the transition between the high Himalayan range and south Tibet is a N-S active horst that offsets the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS). Within the horst, a paragneissic unit, possibly attributed to the upper Himalayan crystalline series, overly the lower Himalayan crystalline series Ama Drime orthogneissic unit containing large metabasite layers and pods that have experienced pressure >= 1.4 GPa. Combining structural analysis with new and published pressure-temperature (P-T) estimates as well as U-Th/Pb, Ar-39/Ar-40 and (U-Th)/He ages, the P-T-deformation-time (P-T-D-t) paths of the main units within and on both sides of the horst are reconstructed. They imply that N-S normal faults initiated prior to 11 Ma and have accounted for a total exhumation <= 0.6 GPa (22 km) that probably occurred in two phases: the first one until similar to 9 Ma and the second one since 6 to 4 Ma at a rate of similar to 1 mm/yr. In the Ama Drime unit, 1 to 1.3 GPa (37 to 48 km) of exhumation occurred after partial melting since similar to 30 Ma until similar to 13 Ma, above the Main Central Trust (MCT) and below the STDS when these two fault systems were active together. The switch from E-W (STDS) to N-S (Ama Drime horst) normal faulting between 13 and 12 Ma occurs at the time of propagation of thrusting from the MCT to the Main Boundary Thrust. These data are in favor of a wedge extrusion or thrust system rather than a crustal flow model for the building of the Himalaya. We propose that the kinematics of south Tibet Cenozoic extension phases is fundamentally driven by the direction and rate of India underthrusting.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00486405
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486405
DOI : 10.1029/2009TC002551

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society
Résumé : International audience
Deformation mechanisms, long-term kinematics and evolution of fold and thrust belts subjected to erosion are studied through 2D analogue experiments involving large convergence. First-order parameters tested include (1) décollements and/or plastic layers interbedded at different locations within analogue materials and (2) synconvergence surface erosion. Weak layers, depending on their location in the model, favour deformation partitioning characterized by the simultaneous development of underplating domains in the inner part of the wedge (basal accretion) and frontal accretion where the wedge grows forward. Interaction between tectonics and surface processes influences this behaviour. Development of antiformal thrust stacks controlled by underplating shows small- and large-scale cyclicity. Thin plastic layers induce folding processes, which are studied at wedge scale. Recumbent and overturned folds, with large inverted limbs, develop in a shear-induced asymmetric deformation regime via progressive unrolling of synclinal hinges. Surface erosion and underplating at depth induce further rotation (passive tilting) and horizontalization of fold limbs. Model results give insights to discuss the mechanisms responsible for the large-scale structures (i.e. antiformal nappe stacks, klippen and kilometre-scale recumbent fold-nappes) encountered in several mountain belts such as the Montagne Noire (French Massif Central), the Galicia Variscan belt (Spain) and the northern Apennines (Italy).
ISSN: 0016-7649

hal-00937644
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00937644
DOI : 10.1144/jgs2013-012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Detailed seafloor mapping in the area east of Taiwan revealed trench-parallel stretching and folding of the Ryukyu forearc and lateral motion of the accretionary wedge under oblique convergence. East of 122ø40'E, a steep accretionary wedge is elongated in an E-W direction. A major transcurrent right-lateral strike-slip fault accommodates the strain partitioning caused by an oblique convergence of 40 ø. A spectacular out-of-sequence thrust may be related to the subduction of a structural high lying in the axis of the N-S trending Gagua Ridge. This asperity is likely responsible for the uplift of the accretionary wedge and forearc basement and may have augmented strain partitioning by increasing the coupling between the two plates. West of 122ø40'E, the low-taper accretionary wedge is sheared in a direction subparallel to the convergence vector with respect to the Ryukyu Arc. The bayonet shape of the southern Ryukyu Arc slope partly results from the recent (re)opening of the southern Okinawa Trough at a rate of about 2 to 4 cm/yr. Right-lateral shearing of the sedimentary forearc with respect to the nonlinear Ryukyu backstop generates trench-parallel extension in the forearc sediment sequence at dilational jogs and trench-parallel folding at compressive jogs. The Hoping Basin lies above a diffuse trench/trench/fault (TTF) or TFF unstable triple junction moving toward the south along a N-S transform zone which accommodates the southward drift of the Ryukyu Arc with respect to Eurasia.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01261555
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261555
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261555/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261555/file/Lallemand_et_al-1999-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/1998TC900011