Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Annual Reviews
Résumé : International audience
The record of the continental lithosphere is patchy and incomplete; no known rock is older than 4.02 Ga, and less than 5% of the rocks preserved are older than 3 Ga. In addition, there is no recognizable mantle lithosphere from before 3 Ga. We infer that there was lithosphere before 3 Ga and that ∼3 Ga marks the stabilization of blocks of continental lithosphere that have since survived. This was linked to plate tectonics emerging as the dominant tectonic regime in response to thermal cooling, the development of a more rigid lithosphere, and the recycling of water, which may in turn have facilitated plate tectonics. A number of models, using different approaches, suggest that at 3 Ga the volume of continental crust was ∼70% of its present-day volume and that this may be a minimum value. The continental crust before 3 Ga was on average more mafic than that generated subsequently, and this pre-3 Ga mafic new crust had fractionated Lu/Hf and Sm/Nd ratios as inferred for the sources of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite and later granites. The more intermediate composition of new crust generated since 3 Ga is indicated by its higher Rb/Sr ratios. This change in composition was associated with an increase in crustal thickness, which resulted in more emergent crust available for weathering and erosion. This in turn led to an increase in the Sr isotope ratios of seawater and in the drawdown of CO2. Since 3 Ga, the preserved record of the continental crust is marked by global cycles of peaks and troughs of U-Pb crystallization ages, with the peaks of ages appearing to match periods of supercontinent assembly. There is increasing evidence that the peaks of ages represent enhanced preservation of magmatic rocks in periods leading up to and including continental collision in the assembly of supercontinents. These are times of increased crustal growth because more of the crust that is generated is retained within the crust. The rates of generation of continental crust and mantle lithosphere may have remained relatively constant at least since 3 Ga, yet the rates of destruction of continental crust have changed with time. Only relatively small volumes of rock are preserved from before 3 Ga, and so it remains difficult to establish which of these are representative of global processes and the extent to which the rock record before 3 Ga is distorted by particular biases.
ISSN: 0084-6597

hal-01622692
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622692
DOI : 10.1146/annurev-earth-063016-020525

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : In this study, I examine the strain modes of the forearc, arc and back-arc domains in arc-continent collisional settings leading to arc material subduction, delamination and/or accretion. The study focusses on two well-documented colliding island arcs: the Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc in Japan and the Luzon arc in Taiwan, both carried by the Philippine Sea plate. Firstly, there is a body of evidence that both the IBM and the Luzon arcs were built on the same Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous “proto-Philippine Sea Plate” crust. Their internal structure is thus more heterogeneous than expected from Paleogene or Neogene supposedly “intra-oceanic” island arcs. Secondly, those arc systems and proximal “back-arcs” have similar seismic characteristics attesting either for the presence of a middle crust with continental velocities and/or serpentinized uppermost mantle that facilitate crustal shortening/slivering and subsequent decoupling from the rest of the subducting plate. It is shown that the proximal back-arc domain (called “rear-arc” in case of paleoarc activity), overlying the mantle wedge and the subducting slab, may lose its strength if slab-derived hydration occur. Decoupling then occurs below the Moho. Arc delamination likely occurs in mid-crustal levels because middle-crust, heated by nearby magmatism, becomes weak. Accretion of arc material onto the upper plate depends on the characteristics of the arc itself and the geodynamic configuration. Most of the accreted material is probably underplated rather than frontally accreted.
ISSN: 0743-9547

hal-01243080
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243080
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.07.043

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) : HAL CCSD Lambert Academic Publishing
Résumé : The Himalaya-Tibet system is considered as the classical case of continental collision. Nonetheless, some fundamental questions concerning its structure, as well as physical processes influencing its evolution are still pending. This book presents several advances in the subject matter. Based on new high-resolution geophysical data from the field, combined with robust imaging techniques, the structure of the collision is revealed in detail: the underplating of India beneath half of Tibet, as well as the geometry of the surface along which this happens. Various numerical modelling techniques allow to discuss physical processes at work in the collision zone, such as the rheology of the India plate whose strong mantle supports the Himalayas, or the metamorphic reactions at depth emphasizing the role of water. We recommend this book to Earth Scientists in a broader sense. While specialists in seismology or modelling can thumb technical details, all Readers can get an interdisciplinary overview of mountain building in the Himalayas, with a retrospective outlook on early day explorers and the dawn of some classical geological principles.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854592

ISBN : 978-3838323534
hal-00854592
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854592

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier Masson
Résumé : In Vietnam, the Triassic Indosinian collision affected coevally the Truong Son belt and the Kontum Massif,which were not independent tectonic units, but parts of the same Gondwana-derived Indochina continental block. This thermotectonic event took place synchronously throughout Vietnam, during the Lower Triassic 250-240-Ma time interval, as demonstrated by numerous geochronological data, combining Ar-Ar and U-Pb dating methods. Structural and kinematic investigations, in the Indosinian metamorphic rocks, reveal that the collisional process resulted from a consistent northwest-striking convergence of Indochina with respect to the adjacent blocks. It is suggested that this motion was taken up by a pair of opposite subduction zones: to the north, beneath South China, and to the west, beneath western Indochina, along the Song Ma and Po Ko sutures, respectively. Tectonic markers, calc-alkaline subduction-related volcanism and granitic intrusions and the generation of high-pressure rocks that have been recently discovered support this geodynamic setting, at least along Po Ko. Along the northwest-trending Song Ma zone, the obliquity of the convergence during subduction and subsequent collision resulted in the development, within the Truong Son Belt, of a set of subparallel dextral mylonitic shear zones, under amphibolite-facies metamorphism. The intermediate segments remained weakly metamorphic or even almost devoid of metamorphism. Along Po Ko, the convergence was near-orthogonal, with a left-lateral strike-slip component; the ongoing continental subduction resulted in the reworking of the Kontum granulitic basement and the development of Indosinian HP granulitic conditions; the subsequent extension-related exhumation operated approximately in the same northwestwards direction. This Indosinian evolution, applied on a continental crust that had been probably affected, as in South China, by a Caledonian-related event, as judged by the general unconformity of the Lower Devonian sediments, the widespread occurrence of magmatic crystallisation ages of ca 450 Ma (Ordovician-Silurian), and by the approximately similar age of the primary granulitic episode in the Kontum Massif. The similarities of the Devonian facies over central, northern Vietnam and South China imply a land connection, possibly as a consequence of a Caledonian collision along Song Ma, but this does not preclude a further oceanic opening and a closure during the Indosinian.
ISSN: 1631-0713

hal-00411591
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411591
DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2007.10.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In the South Tien Shan range (Kyrgyzstan), the Late Paleozoic geodynamic evolution remains debated especially to the west of the Talas-Fergana fault (TFF) fault where suture-related high-pressure (HP) rocks are scarce. We provide new petrological and geochronological data on garnet amphibolites from the Chatkal range, to the west of the TFF, northwest of the South Tien Shan suture. These rocks are retrogressed eclogites. We used a micro-mapping approach combined with forward modeling and empirical thermobarometry to decipher the P–T path of these amphibolitized eclogites. The metamorphic peak conditions culminated at 490 ± 50 °C and 18.5 ± 2 kbar and were followed by higher temperature retrogression (∼560 °C at 11–7 kbar). In order to constrain the age of the HP stage, we dated allanite crystals texturally coeval to the HP mineral assemblage. Allanite grains dated in situ with a U–Pb LA-ICPMS methodology yield an age of 301 ± 15 Ma. Compared with previously published data for the east of the TFF, these P–T constraints allow improving the understanding of the Late Paleozoic geodynamic evolution of the South Tien Shan. To the east of TFF, the Turkestan Ocean closed around 320 Ma with the collision of the Tarim Craton with the Kazakh microcontinent. To the west of TFF, the Turkestan Ocean closed around 300 Ma, when the Alai block collided with the Kazakh microcontinent. This later collision involved nappe-stacking and intense subvertical folding in the western South Tien Shan. This complex folding explains the S-shape of the suture to the west of the TFF that cannot be observed in the eastern part. These new data allow us to propose a distinct tectonic evolution of the two sides of the TFF, which suggests that this fault was a major transform fault before being a strike-slip intra-continental fault.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-01347171
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01347171
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2015.06.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
The Lanzo peridotite massif is a fragment of oceanic lithosphere generated in an ocean-continent transition context and eclogitized during alpine collision. Despite the subduction history, the massif has preserved its sedimentary oceanic cover, suggesting that it may have preserved its oceanic structure. It is an exceptional case for studying the evolution of a fragment of the lithosphere from its oceanization to its subduction and then exhumation. We present a field and petrological study retracing the different serpentinization episodes and their impact on the massif structure. The Lanzo massif is composed of slightly serpentinized peridotites (<20% serpentinization) surrounded by an envelope of foliated serpentinites (100% serpentinization) bordered by oceanic metabasalts and metasedimentary rocks. The limit between peridotites and serpentinites defines the front of serpentinization. This limit is sharp: it is marked by the presence of massive serpentinites (80% serpentinization) and, locally, by dykes of metagabbros and mylonitic gabbros. The deformation of these gabbros is contemporaneous with the emplacement of the magma. The presence of early lizardite in the peridotites testifies that serpentinization began during the oceanization, which is confirmed by the presence of meta-ophicarbonates bordering the foliated serpentinite envelope. Two additional generations of serpentine occur in the ultramafic rocks. The first is a prograde antigorite that partially replaced the lizardite and the relict primary minerals of the peridotite during subduction, indicating that serpentinization is an active process at the ridge and in the subduction zone. Locally, this episode is followed by the deserpentinization of antigorite at peak P-T (estimated in eclogitized metagabbros at 2-2.5 GPa and 550-620 °C): it is marked by the crystallization of secondary olivine associated with chlorite and/or antigorite and of clinopyroxene, amphibole and chlorite assemblages. A second antigorite formed during exhumation partially to completely obliterating previous textures in the massive and foliated serpentinites. Serpentinites are an important component of the oceanic lithosphere generated in slow to ultraslow spreading settings, and in these settings, there is a serpentinization gradient with depth in the upper mantle. The seismic Moho limit could correspond to a serpentinization front affecting the mantle. This partially serpentinized zone constitutes a less competent level where, during subduction and exhumation, deformation and fluid circulation are localized. In this zone, the reaction kinetics are increased and the later steps of serpentinization obliterate the evidence of this progressive zone of serpentinization. In the Lanzo massif, this zone fully recrystallized into serpentinite during alpine subduction and collision. Thus, the serpentinite envelope represents the oceanic crust as defined by geophysicists, and the sharp front of serpentinization corresponds to an eclogitized seismic palaeo-Moho.
ISSN: 0263-4929

hal-00823051
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00823051
DOI : 10.1111/jmg.12008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This paper aims to present an overview on the influence of rheological heterogeneity and mechanical anisotropy on the deformation of continents. After briefly recapping the concept of rheological stratification of the lithosphere, we discuss two specific issues: (1) as supported by a growing body of geophysical and geological observations, crust=mantle mechanical coupling is usually efficient, especially beneath major transcurrent faults which probably crosscut the lithosphere and root within the sublithospheric mantle; and (2) in most geodynamic environments, mechanical properties of the mantle govern the tectonic behaviour of the lithosphere. Lateral rheological heterogeneity of the continental lithosphere may result from various sources, with variations in geothermal gradient being the principal one. The oldest domains of continents, the cratonic nuclei, are characterized by a relatively cold, thick, and consequently stiff lithosphere. On the other hand, rifting may also modify the thermal structure of the lithosphere. Depending on the relative stretching of the crust and upper mantle, a stiff or a weak heterogeneity may develop. Observations from rift domains suggest that rifting usually results in a larger thinning of the lithospheric mantle than of the crust, and therefore tends to generate a weak heterogeneity. Numerical models show that during continental collision, the presence of both stiff and weak rheological heterogeneities significantly influences the large-scale deformation of the continental lithosphere. They especially favour the development of lithospheric-scale strike-slip faults, which allow strain to be transferred between the heterogeneities. An heterogeneous strain partition occurs: cratons largely escape deformation, and strain tends to localize within or at the boundary of the rift basins provided compressional deformation starts before the thermal heterogeneity induced by rifting are compensated. Seismic and electrical conductivity anisotropies consistently point towards the existence of a coherent fabric in the lithospheric mantle beneath continental domains. Analysis of naturally deformed peridotites, experimental deformations and numerical simulations suggest that this fabric is developed during orogenic events and subsequently frozen in the lithospheric mantle. Because the mechanical properties of single-crystal olivine are anisotropic, i.e. dependent on the orientation of the applied forces relative to the dominant slip systems, a pervasive fabric frozen in the mantle may induce a significant mechanical anisotropy of the whole lithospheric mantle. It is suggested that this mechanical anisotropy is the source of the so-called tectonic inheritance, i.e. the systematic reactivation of ancient tectonic directions; it may especially explain preferential rift propagation and continental break-up along pre-existing orogenic belts. Thus, the deformation of continents during orogenic events results from a trade-off between tectonic forces applied at plate boundaries, plate geometry, and the intrinsic properties (rheological heterogeneity and mechanical anisotropy) of the continental plates.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01389719
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389719
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389719/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389719/file/vauchez_etal_rheology_1998_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/S0040-1951(98)00137-1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The lateral variation of the mechanical properties of continental lithosphere is an important factor controlling the localization of deformation and thus the deformation history and geometry of intraplate mountain belts. A series of three-layer lithospheric-scale analog models, with a strong domain (SD) embedded at various depths, are presented to investigate the development of topography and deformation patterns by having lateral heterogeneities within a weak continental lithosphere. The experiments, performed at a constant velocity and under normal gravity, indicate that the presence or absence of the SD controls whether deformation is localized or distributed at a lithospheric scale. Deformation and topography localize above the edges of the SD, while the SD region itself is characterized by minor amounts of surficial deformation and topography. The depth of the SD (within the ductile crust, ductile mantle lithosphere, or both) controls the pattern of deformation and thus the topography. The presence of a SD in the ductile crust or in the mantle results in limited surficial topographic effects but large variations in the Moho topography. Strong Moho deflection occurs when the SD is in the ductile crust, while the Moho remains almost flat when the SD is in the mantle. When the SD occupies the ductile lithosphere, the SD is tilted. These analog experiments provide insights into intraplate strain localization and could in particular explain the topography around the Tarim Basin, a lithospheric-scale heterogeneity north of the India-Asia collision zone.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01172472
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172472
DOI : 10.1002/2014TC003756

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We analyze in this study a new set of marine data including 3D local tomography, 1992-2008 relocated earthquakes and two recent multichannel seismic lines to characterize the deformation style in the collision area offshore east Taiwan. We have mapped in detail the Mohos of the converging plates as well as the subduction interface with a resolution never reached before. We show that the sharp continental subduction of the Eurasia plate, beneath the middle part of the Central Range, indents the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) as attested by intra-oceanic slicing and incipient subduction of the PSP beneath the east coast of Taiwan. The westernmost part of the PSP slab is probably experiencing a beginning of break-off as attested by NW-trending en-échelon shear zones beneath the southern slope of the southern Ryukyu arc (SRA). These en-échelon shear zones have a sinistral component favored by the "collision-free" subduction of the PSP north of 24°30′N. The down-faulting of the subduction interface forms ramps along which earthquakes clusterize. Three M7 subduction earthquakes occurred offshore Suao city along these ramps with a recurrence interval of about 40 years: 1920 Mw7.7, 1963 Mw7.2 and 2002 Mw7.1 events. The 1966 Mw6.0-7.5 earthquakes sequence likely outlines a WNW-ESE left-lateral intra-slab shear zone. The SRA upper plate accommodates the complex geometry and deformation of the subducting PSP through seismic deformation. Shallow high velocities fringing the Luzon volcanic arc (LVA) beneath the Longitudinal Valley and north of the southernmost Ryukyu forearc basins are interpreted as relics of the LVA forearc basement squeezed in the collision zone. Based on the accommodation of a large part of the convergence through shortening within the PSP and the subsequent segmentation of the shallow subduction interface, we consider that the nucleation of a Mw ≥ 8 earthquake along the southernmost Ryukyu megathrust is unlikely.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00853365
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853365/file/publallemandifremer.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2013.03.020

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Estimating how topography is maintained provides insights into the different factors responsible for surface deformations and their relative roles. Here, we develop a new and simple approach to assess the degree of isostatic compensation of continental topography at regional scale from GOCE gravity gradients. We calculate the ratio between the radial gradient observed by GOCE and that calculated from topography only. From analytical and statistical formulations, simple relationships between this ratio and the degree of compensation are obtained under the Airy–Heiskanen isostasy hypothesis. Then, a value of degree of compensation at each point of study area can be easily deduced. We apply our method to the Alaska-Canada Cordillera and validate our results by comparison with a standard isostatic gravity anomaly model and additional geophysical information for this area. Both our GOCE-based results and the isostatic anomaly show that Airy–Heiskanen isostasy prevails for the Yukon Plateau whereas additional mechanisms are required to support topography below the Northwest Territories Craton and the Yakutat collision zone.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01467540
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467540
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467540/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467540/file/cadioGJI2016.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggw281

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : The Borborema and Benin–Nigeria provinces of NE Brazil and NW Africa, respectively, are key areas in the amalgamation of West Gondwana by continental collision during the Brasiliano/Pan-African orogenies. Both are underlain by complex basement: Nigeria has c. 3.05 Ga Archaean crust but no known Palaeoproterozoic rocks >2.0 Ga; in NE Brazil, 2.6–3.5 Ga Archaean rocks form small cores within Palaeoproterozoic gneiss terrains affected by plutonism at c. 2.17 Ga. Both regions exhibit Late Palaeoproterozoic (c. 1.8 Ga) rift-related magmatism and metasedimentary sequences overlying the basement. The Seridó Group of NE Brazil (<0.65 Ga) is similar to the Igarra Sequence in SW Nigeria. The Ceará Group, which may date back to c. 0.85 Ga, is a passive margin deposit on crust thinned during initiation of an oceanic domain. In both provinces, basement and sedimentary cover were involved in tangential tectonics that resulted in crust-thickening by nappe-stacking associated with closure of this ocean. Frontal collision between c. 0.66 and 0.60 Ga later evolved to an oblique collision, generating north–south continental strike-slip shear zones at c. 0.59 Ga. In NE Brazil, the main Pan-African suture is probably buried beneath the Parnaíba Basin. The Transbrasiliano Lineament, interpreted as the prolongation of the Kandi–4°50 Lineament in Hoggar, may represent a cryptic suture.
West Gondwana: Pre-cenozoic correlations across the south atlantic region

hal-00412234
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00412234
DOI : 10.1144/SP294.4

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
eoproterozoic eclogite and garnet amphibolites, representing retrogressed eclogites, from the Tassendjanet-Tidéridjaouine terrane in the Pan-African Western Hoggar (Tuareg shield, Southern Algeria) form lenses enclosed in 1.8 Ga subalkaline Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses. They lie along a major sinistral shear zone marking the boundary with the Archean/Paleoproterozoic granulitic In Ouzzal terrane and are associated with high-pressure metasediments. According to thermodynamic calculations, peak condition of the eclogitic stage is 650 °C, 20-22 kbar followed by post-peak heating and exhumation at 730 °C, 10-14 kbar and cooling to 610 °C, 7-10 kbar. Their major, trace-element and isotopic compositions are consistent with emplacement of former basalts in the shoulder of a 700-800 Ma continental rift that evolved to an oceanic basin. The eclogite and garnet amphibolites were thus part of the continental portion of a subducting slab that was pulled down by a denser oceanic lithosphere. Sheath and recumbent folds associated with the exhumation of HP units are verging toward the west, meaning that the former slab was dipping to the east. U-Pb zircon dating on metamorphic zircons bordering ilmenite and rutile in the eclogite gave an age of 623 ± 2 Ma, interpreted as the syn-collisional exhumation stage of the high-pressure unit. This event was rapidly followed by transpressional tectonics and abundant magmatism linked to the northward motion of the adjacent In Ouzzal terrane.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01054338
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054338
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2014.04.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We present a new set of brittle microtectonic measurements carried out in the Pliocene and Quaternary rocks outcropping in several key sectors of the western Betic and Rif orogen, the so-called Gibraltar orogenic arc. This data set, along with available earthquake focal mechanisms and borehole breakouts, allowed us to compile the Pliocene and Quaternary stress map of this area. This map provides new constraints for tectonic models and the present-day tectonic activity of the proposed active eastward subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath the Gibraltar Arc and roll-back. The horizontal maximum compressive stress (S-Hmax) is NW-SE in the Betic Orogen and N-S/NNW-SSE in the southern Rif Cordillera. There is a significant consistency between S-Hmax and the displacement field deduced from GPS measurements with respect to the African plate: both appear to reflect the NW-SE convergence between the African and the European plates that is perturbed in the Rif. We propose that part of the eastern Rif behaves as a quasi-rigid block welded to the stable African plate. This block is bounded by important faults that localized most of the deformation disturbing the stress and surface displacement field. Pliocene to Quaternary N-S to NW-SE Africa-Europe plate convergence seem to be associated to the reorganization of the remnant Early Miocene subduction system in a continental-continental collision framework. Three-dimensional reconstruction of available seismic tomography plotted against the intermediate seismicity shows that only part of the old subduction system, whose orientation ranges from N20 degrees E to N100 degrees E, remains active: the portion ranging from N30 degrees E to N40 degrees E, orthogonal to the regional convergence. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0264-3707

hal-00671033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00671033
DOI : 10.1016/j.jog.2010.12.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Mélange rocks outcrop widely in the central and western frontal sectors of the Betic Cordillera, as in many other collisional orogens where they form part of the accretionary wedges. Extrusion of Triassic plastic clays and evaporites was favored by the progressive accretion of the Betic External Zones, mixing rocks of different provenance and forming a synorogenic frontal mélange unit. MT data coupled with gravity data are a valid combined methodology to characterize the geometry of these mélange units, since the characterization of plastic rocks geometry is usually uncertain using seismic techniques. The results correlate well with known geological features (sedimentary basins, calcareous ranges, evaporitic rocks) and reveal the deep geometry. A resistive body, slightly dipping toward the SE, points to the continuity of the Iberian Massif below the Guadalquivir basin (2°) and the External Zones (6-8°). To the south, gravity models show the Iberian continental crust subducting below the Internal Zones with a roughly 20-35° slope. The main conductive bodies are related to the location of evaporitic rocks involved in the frontal mélange. They overlie the Iberian Massif and, southwards, the frontal Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone sequences of the External and Median Subbetics. In this setting, thick plastic rock units placed above the foreland could act as a lubricant facilitating continental subduction, and being progressively accreted toward a frontal mélange.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00750364
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750364
DOI : 10.1029/2012GC004153

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Seoul National University
Résumé : http://www.episodes.org/backissues/302/abstract2.htm
International audience
The Trans-North China Belt (TNCB) is a Paleoproterozoic collisional orogen (ca. 1.9-1.8 Ga) responsible for the amalgamation of the North China Craton. Detail field works in Lüliangshan, Hengshan, Wutaishan and Fuping massifs where the belt is well exposed, allow us to draw new tectonic map and crustal-scale cross sections. The available petrologic, radiometric, geochronologic data are integrated in a geodynamic evolution scheme for this orogen. The Low Grade Mafic Unit (LGMU) is interpreted as an ophiolitic nappe rooted in a suture zone located in the western part of the Lüliangshan. This ophiolitic nappe overthrusts to the SE upon the Orthogneiss-Volcanites Unit (OVU) that consists of a bimodal volcanicsedimentary series metamorphosed under amphibolite facies conditions intruded by calcalkaline orthogneiss. The OVU is a composite Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic magmatic arc developed during two stages (ca. 2500 and 2100 Ma) upon a continental basement corresponding to the western extension of the Neoarchean Fuping massif. The OVU overthrusts to the SE the Fuping massif along the Longquanguan shear zone. This stack of nappe, coeval with an amphibolite facies metamorphism, is dated at ca 1880 Ma. Subsequently, the metamorphic series experienced a widespread migmatization at 1850 Ma and was intruded by post-orogenic plutons dated at 1800 Ma. The weakly to unmetamorphosed Hutuo Supergroup unconformably overlies the metamorphosed and ductilely deformed units (OVU and LGMU), but it is also involved in a second tectonic phase developed in subsurface conditions. These structural features lead us to question the ca 2090 Ma age attributed to the Hutuo supergroup. Moreover, in the Fuping massif, several structural and magmatic lines of evidence argue for an earlier orogenic event at ca 2100 Ma that we relate to an older west-directed subduction below the Fuping Block. The Taihangshan Fault might be the location of a possible suture zone between the Fuping Block and an eastern one. A geodynamic model, at variance with previous ones, is proposed to account for the formation of the TNCB. In this scheme, three Archean continents, namely from West to East, the Ordos, Fuping and Eastern Blocks are separated by the Lüliang and Taihang Oceans. The closure of the Taihang Ocean at ca 2100 Ma by westward subduction below the Fuping Block accounts for the arc magmatism and the 2100 Ma orogeny. The second collision at 1900-1880 Ma between the Fuping and Ordos blocks is responsible for the main structural, metamorphic and magmatic features of the Trans-North China Belt.
ISSN: 0705-3797

insu-00152972
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00152972
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00152972/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00152972/file/Episodes_TNCB_Faure_et_al.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In this contribution we present a reconstruction of the overall lithotectonic architecture, from inner zones to external ones, of the Paleoproterozoic Trans North China Orogen, within the North China Craton. Moreover, forward thermobarometrical modeling on a kyanite-bearing gneiss yields a reliable prograde P-T-t-D path. In addition, 40Ar/39Ar dating on rocks from distinct litho-tectonic units helps us to distinguish several tectono-metamorphic events during the orogenic development. Considering these results, we propose a geodynamic model involving three cratonic blocks, namely the Western, Fuping and Eastern Blocks, separated by two oceans, the Lüliang and Taihang Oceans. The opening of oceanic basins occurred around 2.2-2.3 Ga. After the westward subductions of oceanic lithosphere, the Trans-North-China Orogen was built up through a polyphase tectonic evolution within the period 1900-1800 Ma. The first event (D1) corresponded to the emplacement of lower and upper nappes herein called the Orthogneiss-and-Volcanites Unit (OVU) and the Low-Grade-and-Mafic Unit (LGMU), respectively. The syn-metamorphic D1 deformation (1880 ± 10 Ma) is characterized by a NW-SE stretching and mineral lineation with a top-to-the SE sense of shear. During ongoing compression of the thickening orogenic crust, a second deformation event D2 (1850 ± 10 Ma) was responsible for (1) syn-anatectic lateral flow and exhumation of the orogenic root and (2) folding of the middle and upper parts of the orogenic wedge that consequently acquired a fan-type geometry. The late D3 (1830 ± 10 Ma) and D4 (1810 ± 10 Ma) events are related to late-orogenic normal and strike-slip shearing, respectively. In our present state of knowledge, the Paleoproterozoic Trans-North China Orogen might be regarded as the assemblage of two continent-continent collisional belts, both of which are characterized by nappe stacking accommodated by top-to-the E/SE ductile shearing. Continental subduction, crustal thickening, partial melting of overthickened crust, exhumation of HP rocks and deposition of syn-orogenic detrital basins are typical features of modern collisional-type orogens.
ISSN: 0301-9268

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
insu-00628119
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00628119
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00628119/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00628119/file/Trap-PrecambrianResearch-2011.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2011.09.008

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Geological Society of London
Résumé : International audience
In Eastern China, the North China Block (NCB) has experienced a complex tectonic evolution during Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic times. The unconformable sedimentary cover, which ranges in age from Neoproterozoic to Permian, underwent two tectonic episodes in Early Triassic and Cretaceous times. An early north–south compressional phase, D1, characterized by north-verging recumbent folds with east–west-trending axes and top-to-the-north ductile shear zones can be observed in a gabbroic pluton and the Neoproterozoic sedimentary host rocks. The available radiometric ages allow us to interpret this event as an Early Triassic back-thrusting related to the final stage of the collision between the North China and South China Blocks. During the LateMesozoic, an extensional event characterized by (1) half-grabens filled by continental terrigeneous red beds and lava flows, (2) low-angle detachment faults, (3) synkinematic granitic plutons, and (4) metamorphic core complexes is widespread in the Eastern Liaoning Peninsula. This extensional D2 event can be subdivided into a ductile deformation and a brittle deformation, corresponding to different expressions of crustal deformation. In every area studied in the Eastern Liaoning Peninsula, the ductile D2 deformation is characterized by a NW–SE-trending stretching lineation with a top-to-the-NWsense of shear.Mica and amphibole fromthe metamorphic country rocks, granodioritic or monzogranitic plutons and their mylonitized margins yield 40Ar/39Ar ages ranging from 130 to 120 Ma. These dates support fast cooling and exhumation rates coeval with the extensional tectonics. The brittle D2 deformation is responsible for the formation of high-angle normal faults marked by low-temperature cataclasites bounding half-grabens. During the Mesozoic, the tectonic regime of Eastern China experienced a significant inversion from compression to extension. The Eastern Liaoning Peninsula massif provides an example of this geodynamic transition.
ISSN: 2041-4927

hal-00134055
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00134055
DOI : 10.1144/SP280.7

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Iranian plateau is a flat ~ 1.5–2 km high plateau thought to result from the collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates since ~ 30 ± 5 Ma, and may represent a young analogue to the so far better studied Tibetan plateau. In order to constrain the exhumation history of the internal Zagros and of the Iranian plateau, we herein present apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and apatite (AFT) and zircon fission-track (ZFT) data on plutonic rocks from the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone (SSZ), Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arc (UDMA), Central Iran and Kopet Dagh. Thermochronologic data show that the SSZ was exhumed early in the collision process (essentially before 25–20 Ma), with a likely acceleration of cooling during the late Eocene, from 0.04 to 0.3 mm/year. Results suggest that cooling of the internal Zagros migrated from the SSZ to the UDMA during a more mature stage of the continental collision, after ~ 17 Ma (i.e., coeval with the outward propagation of deformation and topography fronts in the external Zagros). Constant exhumation rates in the UDMA (~ 0.3 mm/year) suggest that no significant variation of erosion rates occurred since the onset of continental collision. In Central Iran, the overlap of ZFT, AFT and AHe ages from gneissic samples points to rapid cooling during the late Eocene (~ 42 °C/Myr), which is consistent with previous reports on the formation of Eocene metamorphic core-complexes.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01115691
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115691
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2014.07.021