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

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

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

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

Éditeur(s) : North-Holland Publishing Company
Résumé : The Rift Valley between 36° 42'N and 36° 55'N in the Atlantic Ocean is 31 km wide, with half-widths of 12 and 19 km for the western and eastern sides respectively. Both outer edges of the Rift Valley stand about 1500 m above an Inner Floor where very fresh pillow lavas occur. The Inner Floor probably includes the locus of new crust ; and its bordering slopes, which are particularly well-defined on the western side, limit to less than about 2.5 km the width of the zone over which new crust may have evolved with little or no vertical displacement. The width of the locus of new crust may be less than 0.5 km between 36° 45'N and 36° 47'N, where the deepest slopes of the Rift Valley walls nearly merge. Near 36° 50'N, the Inner Floor accommodates an approximately 1 km wide, 4 km long Central High, with a height of up to 250 m. In this area, the locus of new crust may also occupy a very narrow zone ; it may lie either along the Central High or along a trough flanking the Central High. The magnetic anomaly pattern indicates that, since the beginning of the Brunhes epoch (6.9 X 10(5) yr B.P.), the eastern limb has grown approximately twice as fast as the western limb. Using extrapolated spreading rates, the ages of the outer edges of the Rift Valley are 1.3 and 1.7 m.y. for the eastern and western sides respectively. Comparison with data for the Rift Valley in other parts of the ocean further suggests that the residence time of new crust in the Rift Valley is about 1.5 m.y. Uplift of crust from the Inner Floor, which may be dominated by lithospheric thickening, may thus be primarily a function of age. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Earth and Planetary Science Letters (North-Holland Publishing Company), 1974 , Vol. 22 , P. 29-43

Droits : North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1974/publication-5159.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5159/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : In the western Mediterranean Sea, the Liguro-Provençal Basin (LPB) is a key area for studying passive margins because of its recent formation and abundance of onshore and offshore data. The Nerthe area located in the northern margin of LPB provides the unique continuous Oligo-Miocene deposits contemporaneous of the transition rifting to drifting. However, the age of the deposits remains debated and the link between outcrops and offshore seismic data is poorly constrained. The purpose of this paper is double. First, we intend to propose a new chronostratigraphic frame based on bio- (planktonic foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils) and magneto-stratigraphy. Second, we aim to make, through the integration of new highly time-resolved seismic data and field works, a coherent onshore-offshore link concretized by a 3D geological model. The new temporal and spatial data presented in this paper allow correlating the Oligo-Miocene sequences, defining their geometry and specifying precisely the timing of syn- and post-rift stages. The first marine transgression is now precisely dated latest Chattian within the syn-rift deposits and appears to be synchronous with the first marine deposits in the offshore wells and other marginal basins. The transition from syn-rift to post-rift appears to last 3.3 Ma at maximum, between 21.8 and 18.5 Ma (late Aquitanian to early Burdigalian). It is underlined by two major erosional unconformities bearing a hiatus of around 1 Ma. The post-rift started with a major marine transgression that is now dated from middle Burdigalian, at around 18.5 Ma, as elsewhere in the LPB. Contrarily to recent proposals, the post-rift deposits are widely represented on the northeastern margin of the "Golfe du Lion". There, the subsidence of the margin was low during the syn-rift and the transitional periods and high during the post-rift. The onset of this high post-rift subsidence appears to be synchronous with the slowdown of the Corsica-Sardinia block (CSb) motion.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00558497
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00558497
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.181.6.591

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Baikal Rift System in southern Siberia is one of the main intracontinental extensional features on Earth. The rift system represents the northwestern boundary of the Amuria plate and in that respect can be considered as an evolving plate boundary. The Baikal Rift System has been widely studied both in terms of geology and geophysics and many models have been proposed for its formation and evolution. However, the age of the initiation of deformation and the mechanism driving this deformation are still largely debated. While major extension has occurred since the Late Miocene-Pliocene, the onset of extension seems older than the India-Asia collision, implying that several driving mechanisms may have acted together or in relay through time. In this work, we review the available data and models for deformation in an area encompassing the Baikal Rift System, the Sayan ranges to the west and the Transbaikal to the east. Using a synthesis of this data and our own field and mapping observations, we show that the Baikal Rift System, along with transpressional deformation in the Sayan ranges and transtension in the Transbaikal area, can be explained through major left-lateral strike-slip systems. The deformation is strongly controlled by inherited crustal and lithospheric structures, and is distributed over a wide area within the western Amuria plate that consequently cannot be considered as a rigid block. Such distributed deformation is likely to have a strong effect on the structure of the future continental margin if extension evolves towards the formation of oceanic crust.
ISSN: 1342-937X

hal-00903612
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00903612
DOI : 10.1016/j.gr.2012.07.017

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In East Asia, widespread extensional sedimentary basins together with the close association of Metamorphic Core Complexes and magmatism are prominent features of the large-scale wide rift system developed during late Mesozoic times. This region thus appears as a proper place to study continental extension as well as questions about the link between continental extension and magmatism. This paper primarily provides pioneer exhumation time-constraints on the Linglong MCC (Jiaodong Peninsula) including cooling and deformation ages. MCC cooling at mid-crustal levels occurred at ca. 143 Ma. Besides, last ductile deformation occurred at ca. 134 Ma while final exhumation stages, under brittle 2 conditions, occurred as late as ca. 128 Ma. Continuous crustal stretching were then recorded by the emplacement of a synkinematic pluton in the upper crust at ca. 128 Ma that cooled fast below an intracrustal shear zone crossing the ductile-brittle transition at ca. 123 Ma. The ca. 120-118 Ma age cluster is ascribed to the fast cooling of undeformed plutons marking the end of extension that lasted, in the area, over a minimum period of ca. 30 My. Combining other MCC exhumation constraints and the onset of subsidence in the sedimentary basins, total duration of late Mesozoic extension in East Asia could be estimated at ca. 60 My, related with a rather long process for extension from 160 to at least 100 Ma. East Asian continental extension is heterogeneously distributed in space and time as revealed by fundamental differences between two end-member classes of migmatite-cored MCC already described in other wide rift systems. Extension seems to have first favoured partial melting which subsequently, in turn, maintained continental extension.
ISSN: 1342-937X

insu-00752551
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00752551
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00752551/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00752551/file/Charles_et_al_Gondwana_Research_2012.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.gr.2012.10.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The East Sayan ranges are a key area to understand the interactions between the transpressive deformation linked to the far-field effects of the India-Asia collision and the extension linked to the opening of the Baikal Rift System. The active deformation that affects this range is very recent (around 5 Ma) but occurs in a very complex morphotectonic setting and the understanding of the Tertiary deformation relies entirely on a detailed knowledge of the pre-deformation situation. Using apatite fission track thermochronology, cosmogenic 10Be and morphological study on Tertiary lava flows we demonstrate that prior to the Oligocene the morphology of the East Sayan area was characterized by a wide, constantly rejuvenated erosion surface. Apatite fission track thermal modelling indicates that this surface started to form at least in Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (140-120 Ma). The long-term exhumation rates (several tens of million years) derived from apatite fission track data (17.5 m/Ma) and the short-term erosion rates (over a few hundred thousand years) derived from cosmogenic 10Be data (12-20 m/Ma) are coherent implying a near constant mean erosion rate since Late Jurassic. This constant, slow erosion prevented the formation of a lateritic-kaolinic weathering crust on the planation surface. By Oligocene-early Miocene times a long wavelength uplift that remains to be explained, induced incision that created shallow valleys later filled by basaltic lava flows. Finally, the present short-wavelength topography initiated during the Pliocene.
ISSN: 0743-9547

insu-00805603
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00805603
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.09.017

Éditeur(s) : Oxford Univ Press
Résumé : This study presents the results of a deep seismic survey across the north Algerian margin, based on the combination of 2-D multichannel and wide-angle seismic data simultaneously recorded by 41 ocean bottom seismometers deployed along a north-south line extending 180 km off Jijel into the Algerian offshore basin, and 25 land stations deployed along a 100-km-long line, cutting through the Lesser Kabylia and the Tellian thrust-belt. The final model obtained using forward modelling of the wide-angle data and pre-stack depth migration of the seismic reflection data provides an unprecedented view of the sedimentary and crustal structure of the margin. The sedimentary layers in the Algerian basin are 3.75 km thick to the north and up to 4.5-5 km thick at the foot of the margin. They are characterized by seismic velocities from 1.9 to 3.8 km s(-1). Messinian salt formations are about 1 km thick in the study area, and are modelled and imaged using a velocity between 3.7 and 3.8 km s(-1). The crust in the deep sea basin is about 4.5 km thick and of oceanic origin, presenting two distinct layers with a high gradient upper crust (4.7-6.1 km s(-1)) and a low gradient lower crust (6.2-7.1 km s(-1)). The upper-mantle velocity is constrained to 7.9 km s(-1). The ocean-continent transition zone is very narrow between 15 and 20 km wide. The continental crust reaches 25 km thickness as imaged from the most landward station and thins to 5 km over a less than 70 km distance. The continental crust presents steep and asymmetric upper- and lower-crustal geometry, possibly due to either asymmetric rifting of the margin, an underplated body, or flow of lower crustal material towards the ocean basin. Present-time deformation, as imaged from three additional seismic profiles, is characterized by an interplay of gravity-driven mobile-salt creep and active thrusting at the foot of the tectonically inverted Algerian margin.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Oxford Univ Press), 2014-09 , Vol. 198 , N. 3 , P. 1486-1503

Droits : 2014 The Royal Astronomical Society
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00217/32836/32150.pdf
DOI:10.1093/gji/ggu179
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00217/32836/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This paper provides a synthesis of current data and interpretations on the crustal structure of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian orogenic belt, and presents new tectonic models for representative transects. The Pyrenean orogeny lasted from Santonian (~84 Ma) to early Miocene times (~20 Ma), and consisted of a spatial and temporal succession of oceanic crust/exhumed mantle subduction, rift inversion and continental collision processes at the Iberia-Eurasia plate boundary. A good coverage by active-source (vertical-incidence and wide-angle reflection) and passive-source (receiver functions) seismic studies, coupled with surface data have led to a reasonable knowledge of the present-day crustal architecture of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian belt, although questions remain. Seismic imaging reveals a persistent structure, from the central Pyrenees to the central Cantabrian Mountains, consisting of a wedge of Eurasian lithosphere indented into the thicker Iberian plate, whose lower crust is detached and plunges northwards into the mantle. For the Pyrenees, a new scheme of relationships between the southern upper crustal thrust sheets and the Axial Zone is here proposed. For the Cantabrian belt, the depth reached by the N-dipping Iberian crust and the structure of the margin are also revised.The common occurrence of lherzolite bodies in the northern Pyrenees and the seismic velocity and potential field record of the Bay of Biscay indicate that the precursor of the Pyrenees was a hyperextended and strongly segmented rift system, where narrow domains of exhumed mantle separated the thinned Iberian and Eurasian continental margins since the Albian-Cenomanian. The exhumed mantle in the Pyrenean rift was largely covered by a Mesozoic sedimentary lid that had locally glided along detachments in Triassic evaporites. Continental margin collision in the Pyrenees was preceded by subduction of the exhumed mantle, accompanied by the pop-up thrust expulsion of the off-scraped sedimentary lid above. To the west, oceanic subduction of the Bay of Biscay under the North Iberian margin is supported by an upper plate thrust wedge, gravity and magnetic anomalies, and 3D inclined sub-crustal reflections. However, discrepancies remain for the location of continent-ocean transitions in the Bay of Biscay and for the extent of oceanic subduction. The plate-kinematic evolution during the Mesozoic, which involves issues as the timing and total amount of opening, as well as the role of strike-slip drift, is also under debate, discrepancies arising from first-order interpretations of the adjacent oceanic magnetic anomaly record.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01683989
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01683989
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01683989/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01683989/file/teixell-tectono-2018.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.01.009

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Deep crustal and mantle rocks are exhumed in core complex mode of extension in three types of structures: metamorphic core complexes, oceanic core complexes and magma poor passive margins. Using available analogue and numerical models and their comparison with natural examples, the present paper reviews the mechanical processes involved in these different types of extensional setting. Three main aspects are considered: i) the primary role of lithosphere rheology, ii) the lithosphere-scale patterns of progressive deformation that lead to the exhumation of deep metamorphic or mantle rocks and iii) the initiation and development of detachment zones. Crustal core complexes develop in continental lithospheres whose Moho temperature is higher than 750 °C with “upper crust-dominated” strength profiles. Contrary to what is commonly believed, it is argued from analogue and numerical models that detachments that accommodate exhumation of core complexes do not initiate at the onset of extension but in the course of progressive extension when the exhuming ductile crust reaches the surface. In models, convex upward detachments result from a rolling hinge process. Mantle core complexes develop in either the oceanic lithosphere, at slow and ultra-slow spreading ridges, or in continental lithospheres, whose initial Moho temperature is lower than 750 °C, with “sub-Moho mantle-dominated” strength profiles. It is argued that the mechanism of mantle exhumation at passive margins is a nearly symmetrical necking process at lithosphere scale without major and permanent detachment, except if strong strain localization could occur in the lithosphere mantle. Distributed crustal extension, by upper crust faulting above a décollement along the ductile crust increases toward the rift axis up to crustal breakup. Mantle rocks exhume in the zone of crustal breakup accommodated by conjugate mantle shear zones that migrate with the rift axis, during increasing extension.
ISSN: 0040-1951

insu-01610186
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01610186
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01610186/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01610186/file/brun-tect-2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.09.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
For the first time, an albite orthogneiss has been recognised and dated within the HP-LT blueschist facies metabasites and metapelites of the Ile de Groix. It is characterised by a peraluminous composition, high LILE, Th and U contents, MORB-like HREE abundances and moderate Nb and Y values. A U-Pb age of 480.8 ± 4.8 Ma was obtained by LA-ICP-MS dating of zircon and titanite. It is interpreted as the age of the magmatic emplacement during the Early Ordovician. Morphologically different zircon grains yield late Neoproterozoic ages of 546.6-647.4 Ma. Zircon and titanite U-Pb ages indicate that the felsic magmatism from the Ile de Groix is contemporaneous with the acid, pre-orogenic magmatism widely recognised in the internal zones of the Variscan belt, related to the Cambro-Ordovician continental rifting. The magmatic protolith probably inherited a specific chemical composition from a combination of orogenic, back-arc and anorogenic signatures because of partial melting of the Cadomian basement during magma emplacement. Besides, the late Devonian U-Pb age of 366 ± 33 Ma obtained for titanite from a blueschist facies metapelite corresponds to the age of the HP-LT peak metamorphism.
ISSN: 1437-3254

insu-00714570
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00714570
DOI : 10.1007/s00531-011-0732-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We present new analytical data from lavas and associated rocks dredged and/or drilled from the South Fiji Basin, Northland Plateau, Colville Ridge and Havre Trough. These results provide much-needed ground truth about the geology, age and tectonic evolution of the Cenozoic submarine ridges and basins between the active intraoceanic Tonga–Kermadec arc, and rifted continental borderlands of New Zealand, the Norfolk Ridge and New Caledonia. Key results from this study include: (1) Ar–Ar dates on Minerva Abyssal Plain oceanic crust suggest that the ages of magnetic anomalies in the South Fiji Basin have been overestimated by earlier workers; (2) subduction-related lavas are widespread across the region, are not presently organised into arc-like chains, and cluster in the age range 22–18 Ma (Early Miocene); (3) the oldest subduction-related lavas occur in the western part of the region (32–26 Ma: Norfolk and Three Kings Ridge); (4) shoshonites, interpreted as rifted arc lavas, were erupted in a narrow 20–21 Ma interval over a wide area. Put together, these results indicate high magmatic flux and large and rapid horizontal tectonic translations and basin opening from 18–23 Ma in the region immediately north of New Zealand. We explain the Miocene tectonomagmatic development of the region by a model of rapid rollback of a single, east-facing Pacific arc–trench system that became established after Northland Allochthon emplacement. Critical testing of this, versus other, tectonic models must await drilling and dating of thus-far unsampled Kupe Abyssal Plain crust.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-00405803
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00405803
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2006.10.033

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : We have integrated the relatively unknown distal domains of the Lower Congo basin, where the main depocenters of the Congo submarine fan are located, with the better-constrained successions on the shelf and upper slope, through the analysis of thousands of km of 2D seismic reflection profiles off-shore the Congo-Angola passive margin. The basin architecture is depicted by two ca. 800-km-long regional cross sections through the northern (Congo) and southern (Angola) margin. A large unit deposited basinward of the Aptian salt limit is likely to be the abyssal-plain equivalent of the upper-Cretaceous carbonate shelf that characterized the first post-rift deposits in West-equatorial African margins. A latest-Turonian shelf-deepening event is recorded in the abyssal plain as a long period (Coniacian-Eocene) of condensed sedimentation and basin starvation. The onset of the giant Tertiary Congo deep-sea fan in early Oligocene following this event reactivates the abyssal plain as the main depocenter of the basin. The time-space partitioning of sedimentation within the deep-sea fan results from the interplay among increasing sediment supply, margin uplift, rise of the Angola salt ridge, and canyon incision throughout the Neogene. Oligocene-early Miocene turbidite sedimentation occurs mainly in NW-SE grabens and ponded inter-diapir basins on the southern margin (Angola). Seaward tilting of the margin and downslope salt withdrawal activates the up-building of the Angola escarpment, which leads to a northward (Congo) shift of the transfer zones during late Miocene. Around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, the incision of the Congo submarine canyon confines the turbidite flows and drives a general basinward progradation of the submarine fan into the abyssal plain The slope deposition is dominated by fine-grained hemipelagic deposits ever since. Results from this work contribute to better understand the signature in the ultra-deep deposits of processes acting on the continental margin as well as the basin-wide sediment redistribution in areas of high river input.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00424533
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424533
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.04.009