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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Rifting in a cratonic lithosphere is strongly controlled by several interacting processes including crust/mantle rheology, magmatism, inherited structure and stress regime. In order to better understand how these physical parameters interact, a 2 yr long seismological experiment has been carried out in the North Tanzanian Divergence (NTD), at the southern tip of the eastern magmatic branch of the East African rift, where the southward-propagating continental rift is at its earliest stage. We analyse teleseismic data from 38 broad-band stations ca. 25 km spaced and present here results from their receiver function (RF) analysis. The crustal thickness and Vp/Vs ratio are retrieved over a ca. 200 × 200 km2 area encompassing the South Kenya magmatic rift, the NTD and the Ngorongoro-Kilimanjaro transverse volcanic chain. Cratonic nature of the lithosphere is clearly evinced through thick (up to ca. 40 km) homogeneous crust beneath the rift shoulders. Where rifting is present, Moho rises up to 27 km depth and the crust is strongly layered with clear velocity contrasts in the RF signal. The Vp/Vs ratio reaches its highest values (ca. 1.9) beneath volcanic edifices location and thinner crust, advocating for melting within the crust. We also clearly identify two major low-velocity zones (LVZs) within the NTD, one in the lower crust and the second in the upper part of the mantle. The first one starts at 15–18 km depth and correlates well with recent tomographic models. This LVZ does not always coexist with high Vp/Vs ratio, pleading for a supplementary source of velocity decrease, such as temperature or composition. At a greater depth of ca. 60 km, a mid-lithospheric discontinuity roughly mimics the step-like and symmetrically outward-dipping geometry of the Moho but with a more slanting direction (NE–SW) compared to the NS rift. By comparison with synthetic RF, we estimate the associated velocity reduction to be 8–9 per cent. We relate this interface to melt ponding, possibly favouring here deformation process such as grain-boundary sliding (EAGBS) due to lithospheric strain. Its geometry might have been controlled by inherited lithospheric fabrics and heterogeneous upper mantle structure. We evidence that crustal and mantle magmatic processes represent first order mechanisms to ease and locate the deformation during the first stage of a cratonic lithospheric breakup.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01622078
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622078
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622078/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622078/file/plasmanGJI2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggx177

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We report preliminary results of a seismological experiment, SEISMOTANZ'07, which consisted in the deployment of a local network (35 stations) in the East African Rift System (EARS), North Tanzania, during 6 months in 2007. We compare two earthquake sequences (Gelai and Manyara) occurring respectively in the southern end of the Kenya rift and in the North Tanzanian Divergence (NTD). Only distant of 150 km, their triggering mechanisms are different. None of the sequences depicts typical swarm or mainshock-aftershock patterns. They highlight the change in the magmatic/tectonic nature of the rift where the eastern branch of the EARS enters the Tanzanian craton. The similar shape and long-axis of the elongate sequences emphasize the preferred locus of active strain release along NE-SW discontinuities which probably root at depth into steep Proterozoic shear zones. At Gelai, the deformation is dominated by aseismic process involving slow slip on normal fault and dyke intrusion within the upper crust Calais_et_al_2008. The spatial and temporal earthquake distribution indicates a possible correlation between the Gelai crisis and the eruption of the nearby Oldoinyo Lengai volcano. At Manyara, the sequence is more uncommon, revealing a long-lasting seismic activity deepely rooted (20-35 km depth) possibly related to stress loading transmitted laterally. The yield stress envelope modelled from the depth frequency distribution of earthquakes in the NTD is consistent with the presence of a mafic lower crust and further supports the strength increase of the rifted crust from south Kenya to the NTD.
ISSN: 0899-5362

hal-00420599
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420599
DOI : 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2009.09.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Poster
We deployed a temporary local seismic network in the North Tanzanian Divergence (NTD) for 6 months in 2007 (35 stations, SEISMOTANZ'07 experiment). The region is characterized by major changes in the magmatic/tectonic nature of the rift, at the place where the eastern branch of the East African Rift enters the Tanzanian craton. More than 200 earthquakes were accurately located south of Lake Manyara.
Iceland in the Central Northern Atlantic : hotspot, sea currents and climate change
Plouzané, France

hal-00482059
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00482059
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00482059/document
http://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00482059/file/poster_albaric.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Tsavorite, the vanadian variety of green grossular, is a high value economic gemstone. It is hosted exclusively in the metasedimentary formations from the Neoproterozoic Metamorphic Mozambique Belt. The deposits are mined in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar and other occurrences are located in Pakistan and East Antarctica. They are located within metasomatized graphitic rocks such as graphitic gneiss and calc-silicates, intercalated with meta-evaporites. Tsavorite is found as primary deposits either in nodule (type I) or in quartz vein (type II), and in placers (type III). The primary mineralizations (types I and II) are controlled by lithostratigraphy and/or structure. For the African occurrences, the protoliths of the host-rocks were deposited at the beginning of the Neoproterozoic within a marine coastal sabkha environment, located at the margin of the Congo-Kalahari cratons in the Mozambique Ocean. During the East African-Antarctican Orogeny, the rocks underwent high amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism and the formation of tsavorite deposits occurred between 650 and 550 Ma. The nodules of tsavorite were formed during prograde metamorphism, calcium coming from sulphates and carbonates, whereas alumina, silicates, vanadium and chromium probably came from clays and chlorite. The veins were formed during the deformation of the metasedimentary platform units which experienced shearing, leading to the formation of fault-filled veins. Metasomatism developed during retrograde metamorphism. The metasedimentary sequences are characterized by the presence of evaporitic minerals such as gypsum and anhydrite, and scapolite. Evaporites are essential as they provide calcium and permit the mobilization of all the chemical elements for tsavorite formation. The H2S-S8 metamorphic fluids characterized in primary fluid inclusions of tsavorites and the δ11B values of coeval dravite confirm the evaporitic origin of the fluids. The V2O3 and Cr2O3 contents of tsavorite range respectively from 0.05 to 7.5 wt.%, while their δ18O values are in the range of 9.5-21.1‰. The genetic model proposed for tsavorite is metamorphic, based on chemical reactions developed between an initial assemblage composed of gypsum and anhydrite, carbonates and organic matter deposited in a sabkha-like sedimentary basin.
ISSN: 0169-1368

hal-00853279
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853279
DOI : 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2013.01.016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
North Tanzanian Divergence is the first stage of continental break-up of East African Rift (<6 Ma) and is one of the most concentrated areas of carbonatite magmatism on Earth, with singular Oldoinyo Lengai and Kerimasi volcanoes. Hanang volcano is the southernmost volcano in the North Tanzanian Divergence and the earliest stage of rift initiation. Hanang volcano erupted silica-undersaturated alkaline lavas with zoned clinopyroxene, nepheline, andradite-schorlomite, titanite, apatite, and pyrrhotite. Lavas are low MgO-nephelinite with low Mg# and high silica content (Mg# = 22.4–35.2, SiO2 = 44.2–46.7 wt%, respectively), high incompatible element concentrations (e.g. REE, Ba, Sr) and display Nb–Ta fractionation (Nb/Ta = 36–61). Major elements of whole rock are consistent with magmatic differentiation by fractional crystallization from a parental melt with melilititic composition. Although fractional crystallization occurred at 9–12 km and can be considered as an important process leading to nephelinite magma, the complex zonation of cpx (e.g. abrupt change of Mg#, Nb/Ta, and H2O) and trace element patterns of nephelinites recorded magmatic differentiation involving open system with carbonate–silicate immiscibility and primary melilititic melt replenishment. The low water content of clinopyroxene (3–25 ppm wt. H2O) indicates that at least 0.3 wt% H2O was present at depth during carbonate-rich nephelinite crystallization at 340–640 MPa and 1050–1100 °C. Mg-poor nephelinites from Hanang represent an early stage of the evolution path towards carbonatitic magmatism as observed in Oldoinyo Lengai. Paragenesis and geochemistry of Hanang nephelinites require the presence of CO2-rich melilititic liquid in the southern part of North Tanzanian Divergence and carbonate-rich melt percolations after deep partial melting of CO2-rich oxidized mantle source.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-01467390
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467390
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-016-1273-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Eastern Rift System (ERS) of northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, where a cratonic lithosphere is in the early stages of rifting, offers an ideal venue for investigating the roles of magma and other fluids in such an environment. To illuminate these roles, we jointly invert arrival times of locally recorded P and S body waves, phase delays of ambient noise generated Rayleigh waves and Bouguer anomalies from gravity observations to generate a 3-D image of P and S wave speeds in the upper 25 km of the crust. While joint inversion of gravity and arrival times requires a relationship between density and wave speeds, the improvement in resolution obtained by the combination of these disparate data sets serves to further constrain models, and reduce uncertainties. The most significant features in the 3-D model are (1) P and S wave speeds that are 10–15 per cent lower beneath the rift zone than in the surrounding regions, (2) a relatively high wave speed tabular feature located along the western edge of the Natron and Manyara rifts, and (3) low (∼1.71) values of Vp/Vs throughout the upper crust, with the lowest ratios along the boundaries of the rift zones. The low P and S wave speeds at mid-crustal levels beneath the rift valley are an expected consequence of active volcanism, and the tabular, high-wave speed feature is interpreted to be an uplifted footwall at the western edge of the rift. Given the high levels of CO2 outgassing observed at the surface along border fault zones, and the sensitivity of Vp/Vs to pore-fluid compressibility, we infer that the low Vp/Vs values in and around the rift zone are caused by the volcanic plumbing in the upper crust being suffused by a gaseous CO2 froth on top of a deeper, crystalline mush. The repository for molten rock is likely located in the lower crust and upper mantle, where the Vp/Vs ratios are significantly higher.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01622055
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622055
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622055/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622055/file/roeckerGJI2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggx220