Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Longmen Shan range is one of the major topographic and structural features of the easternmargin of the Tibetan Plateau. With an impressive topographic gradient and low convergence rates across the range this region has raised important questions concerning the dynamics of plateaumargin settings, such as the long-term mechanisms of topographic evolution. The investigation of the distribution in space and time of denudation can provide critical insight into such dynamics and shed light on still unresolved controversies. For that purpose, we present a new dataset that documents the intensity and distribution of denudation processes across this plateaumargin through field survey of fluvial incision markers, quantitative geomorphology and cosmogenic nuclide derived basin-wide erosion rates. Erosion is < 0.5 mm/year in the frontal region of the Longmen Shan and between 0.5 and 1 mm/year further west, with a gradual decrease when reaching the northern headwaters of the Min Jiang watershed, adjacent to the beginning of the Tibetan Plateau. The spatialdistribution of denudation inferred from the various methods we use suggests that most of the differential uplift in the Central Longmen Shan is accommodated by the Beichuan Fault and frontal structures located in the foothills. The denudation pattern seems also to reflect the large-scale propagation of erosion from the Sichuan Basin toward the Plateau. This suggests that the Longmen Shan range is submitted to the combined influences of slow thrusting activity on the frontal structures and progressive westward regressiveerosion as a probable response to a pulse of uplift of the Tibetan PlateauEasternmargin, that started 10 Ma ago.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01564192
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01564192
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.10.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The dating of alluvial landforms by cosmogenic nuclides requires distinguishing the pre-deposition inheritance from the post-deposition history of the clasts in the studied marker. Moreover, estimating catchment-scale erosion rates from the concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides in active alluvia requires a good knowledge of the local/regional relationships between rock exhumation and transport through space and time. This is still poorly known for timescales of tens of thousand years. In order to document the evolution of clast exhumation and transport rates through time, we analyze in situ 10Be concentrations in boulders and cobbles from hillslopes to outlet of an arid mountainous catchment located in Gobi-Altay, Mongolia, strongly affected by global climatic changes during the Pleistocene-Holocene period. Samples were collected on bedrock, abandoned alluvial deposits, active colluvia and alluvia. Our results show a large 10Be scattering in the active river bed, consistent with a low and discontinuous catchment erosion rate dominated by mass wasting and fluvial incision. On the contrary, pre-exposure signal within abandoned terraces is much more homogeneous, consistent with climatic pulses responsible of strong erosional events on hillslopes and rapid fluvial transport. These results show that exhumation/transport processes at the catchment scale vary in style and intensity through time as a consequence of climatic oscillations. The occurrence of abrupt climatic changes during short periods of time recorded by 10Be concentrations in abandoned alluvia raise questions about the temporal applicability of catchment erosion rates derived from cosmogenic nuclide concentrations measured in sediments of active rivers. On the other hand, strong and short erosion events limit and homogenize the pre-exposure 10Be signal in associated deposits like debris-flows, making them particularly suitable markers for dating in active tectonic and paleoclimatic studies.
ISSN: 0169-555X

hal-00626702
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00626702
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00626702/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00626702/file/GEOMOR-2485R1_corrected.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.07.023

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mass balances are often used to calculate sediment fluxes in foreland basins and denudation rates in adjacent mountain ranges on intermediate to long timescales (from a few tens of thousand to a million years). Here, we study the simple Quaternary catchment-alluvial fan system of the Kuitun River, in northern Tian Shan, to discuss some ideas about sediment storage, release, and bypass in relatively short (100 km long) sediment routing systems. This study shows that the Kuitun catchment and piedmont areas clearly present evidence of a significant and temporary storage of sediments during the Pleistocene. These sediments were then excavated and delivered farther into the foreland basin during the Holocene. The difference between the volumes of materials released from the catchment and piedmont areas (5.5 ± 1.7 km3) and the volume stored in a contemporaneous fan downstream (2.6 ± 0.6 km3) indicates that the latter did not trap the whole sediment load transported by the river. The alluvial fan was bypassed by 27 to 78% of this load toward its distal alluvial plain. If this value is well estimated, it implies a major volumetric partitioning of the deposits between the fan and the alluvial plain, with a very high sedimentation rate in the fan (1.97 ± 0.52 mm*y− 1) and a much lower one downstream (0.11 ± 0.11 mm*y− 1). However, this volumetric partitioning might only occur during periods with a very specific hydrological regime such as the Holocene deglaciation. Eventually, the peculiar sediment storage and release pattern within the Kuitun catchment and piedmont areas during the Pleistocene and Holocene complicates the calculation of mean paleodenudation rates using either sediment budgets or in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides.
ISSN: 0169-555X

insu-00985283
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00985283
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00985283/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00985283/file/jolivet-et_al-2014_HAL.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.01.024

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The investigation of deformation rates on a mountain piedmont can provide key information for improving our understanding of the overall dynamics of a mountain range. Here, we estimate the shortening rate absorbed by a Quaternary emergent detachment fold on the southeastern piedmont of the Tianshan (China). Our work is primarily based on new 10Be cosmogenic exposure dating of deformed alluvial surfaces. The method we have developed combines depth profiling with sampling of surface cobbles, thereby allowing exposure time, erosion rate and inheritance to be simultaneously constrained. The exposure ages of the uppermost uplifted alluvial surfaces are around 140±17 ka140±17 ka, 130±9 ka130±9 ka and 47±9 ka47±9 ka, from west to east. A terrace lying below the 140 ka surface is dated at 65±5 ka65±5 ka. The ages of the uplifted and folded alluvial surfaces were then combined with estimates of shortening obtained using two distinct methods: (1) the excess area method, where sedimentation rates, extracted from magnetostratigraphic studies, are used to determine the amount of sedimentation after the abandonment of the river; and (2) a folding model derived from sandbox experiments. The late Pleistocene shortening rates are shown to be between 0.4±0.1 mm/yr0.4±0.1 mm/yr and 0.8±0.5 mm/yr0.8±0.5 mm/yr on the western part of the fold and 2.1±0.4 mm/yr2.1±0.4 mm/yr along its central part. The central part of the frontal Yakeng anticline therefore accommodates up to 25% of the total shortening currently absorbed across the whole Eastern Tianshan range (8 mm/yr). However, this situation seems to have prevailed for only the last 150 ka, as the shortening rate absorbed by this nascent fold was previously ten times slower. While the initiation of folding of the Yakeng anticline can be traced back to 5.5 Ma ago, the basinward migration of the active deformation front onto the Yakeng fold is a relatively recent phenomenon and appears to be diachronous from west to east, probably in relation to the tectonic activity of the folds in the hinterland.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01306997
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01306997
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.11.041

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : In SW Yukon – SE Alaska, the boundary between the Pacific and North America plates is characterized by a syntaxis at the transition between the Aleutian subduction to the W and the Fairweather – Queen Charlotte strike-slip faults to the SE. The relative motion is oblique to the main fault structures, and the area is marked by the Yakutat block collision. From the Chugach – Saint Elias mountains in the plate boundary zone (up to 6 000 m high) to the intraplate strike-slip faults, markers of the present-day deformation give information on its partition in the system.During my PhD, I first measure surface deformation using a dense GPS network, deployed up to 500 km inland the North America plate. After precise processing and corrections of transient effects in the area (postseismic and glacial isostatic rebound), a new residual velocity field is produced for the syntaxis area, from which I derive strain rates. Those data allow me to quantify the fault slip rates for Fairweather and southern Denali strike-slip faults, and to characterize a bi-modal deformation pattern: Along the plate boundary, the deformation is localized on large-scale structures (accretionary prism to the W, Fairweather to the E); In the syntaxis area, strain rates are the highest and the GPS data shows a diffuse intraplate deformation, similar to an indentor pattern. The Yakutat block seems to strongly drive the North America plate deformation.This indentor pattern induces strong lateral variations on the large intraplate faults: the Denali – Totschunda – Duke River system. In a second part, I realize a regional geomorphological study to characterize the role and slip rate of those faults. From very high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (~ 1 m), a detailed cartography is done. On the basis of fieldwork observations, I measure offsets of fluvial and glacial markers, which are sampled for dating. A dextral cumulative deformation is highlighted on the northern Denali Fault, where as all southern Denali is marked by vertical deformation. This study allows me to quantify new slip rates for the system Denali – Totschunda – Duke River, and to show the leading role of the Totschunda (~ 14 mm/a) and Duke River (~ 6 mm/a) faults, contrary to the Denali Fault (~ 1 mm/a) North of the syntaxis.The new tectonic model for the Yakutat collision provides an important case study for the understanding of indentor systems. The concomitance of a rigid-block deformation (to the West) and diffuse deformation (to the East), as well as the near-zero slip rate on the lithospheric-scale southern Denali Fault highlight the major control of boundary conditions and the structural heritage on the orogen deformation.
Au SO Yukon – SE Alaska, la frontière entre les plaques Pacifique et Nord-Amérique est marquée par une syntaxe à la transition entre la subduction des Aléoutiennes à l’O et le décrochement de Fairweather – Queen Charlotte au SE. Le mouvement relatif est oblique et la région est marquée par la collision du bloc Yakutat. De la chaine des Chugach – Saint Elias en frontière de plaque (jusqu’à 6 000 m d’altitude) aux grands décrochements intraplaque, les marqueurs de la déformation actuelle apportent des informations sur sa partition dans ce système.Au cours de cette thèse, je m’intéresse dans un premier temps à mesurer la déformation de surface à l’aide d’un réseau GPS dense, déployé jusqu’à 500 km à l’intérieur de la plaque Nord-Amérique. Après un travail minutieux de traitement des données et de correction des effets transitoires (rebond post-glaciaire et post-sismique), un champ de vitesses résiduelles robuste et inédit est produit au niveau de la syntaxe, dont je dérive des taux de déformation. Ces données me permettent de quantifier les vitesses de glissement les failles décrochantes de Fairweather et Denali au Sud, et également de caractériser une déformation bimodale : En frontière de plaques, la déformation est localisée sur les grandes structures (prisme d’accrétion à l’O, Fairweather à l’E) ; Au niveau de la syntaxe, les taux de déformation sont les plus importants et les données GPS mettent en évidence une déformation intraplaque diffuse, similaire à un champ attendu à l’aplomb d’un indenteur. Le bloc Yakutat semble donc contrôler fortement la déformation de la plaque Nord-Amérique.Ce champ de déformation induit des variations latérales fortes sur les grandes failles intraplaque : le système Denali-Totschunda-Duke River. Dans une seconde partie, je réalise une étude géomorphologique régionale pour caractériser le rôle et la vitesse de ces failles. À partir de Modèles Numériques de Terrain très haute résolution (~ 1 m), une cartographie de détail est réalisée. Puis une mission de terrain me permet de mesurer des décalages sur des marqueurs fluviatiles et glaciaires et collecter des échantillons pour les dater. Je mets en évidence une déformation cumulée dextre sur le segment Nord de la faille de Denali, alors que toute la partie Sud déforme verticalement la surface. Cette étude me permet de quantifier de nouvelles vitesses de failles sur le système Denali-Totschunda-Duke River, et de montrer le rôle prépondérant des failles de Totschunda (~ 14 mm/a) et Duke River (~ 6 mm/a) contrairement à la faille de Denali (~ 1 mm/a) au Nord de la syntaxe.Le nouveau modèle cinématique proposé pour la région de collision Yakutat permet d’apporter un nouvel exemple à la compréhension des systèmes d’indenteur. La concomitance d’une déformation de blocs (à l’Ouest) et diffuse (à l’Est), ainsi que l’absence de déformation sur la faille lithosphérique de Denali Sud met en évidence le contrôle majeur des conditions aux limites et de l’héritage structural dans la déformation des orogènes.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01241688

tel-01241688
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01241688
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01241688/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01241688/file/manuscrit_anais_v2_optimise.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : National audience
Mass balances are often used to calculate sediment fluxes in sedimentary basins and denudationrates in adjacent topographies on intermediate to long timescales (from a few tens ofthousand to a million years). In this study, we focus on simple Quaternary catchment–alluvial fansystems in the northern Tian Shan Range and its foreland basin to discuss some ideas about sedimentproduction, storage, release, and bypass in relatively short (100 km long) sediment routing systems.Based on a geometrical reconstruction of the fans, we estimated the volumes of sediments exportedout of the range and deposited in its alluvial piedmont during the Middle- Late Pleistocene andthe Holocene. This work shows that the two areas clearly present evidence of a temporary butsignificant storage of sediments during the Pleistocene. These sediments were then excavated anddelivered farther into the foreland basin during the Holocene. The difference between the volumesof materials released from the range and piedmont areas and the volume stored in thecontemporaneous fans downstream indicates that the latter did not trap the whole sediment loadtransported by the rivers. The alluvial fans were bypassed by 27 to 78% of this load toward thedownstream alluvial plain. It implies a major volumetric partitioning of the deposits between thefans and the alluvial plain, with a sedimentation rate about twenty times higher in the fans thanin the plain. However, this volumetric partitioning might only occur during periods with a veryspecific hydrological regime such as the Holocene deglaciation. Eventually, the peculiar sedimentstorage and release pattern within the range and piedmont areas during the Pleistocene and Holocenecomplicates the calculation of mean paleodenudation rates using either sediment budgets or in situproduced cosmogenic nuclides.
Association des Sédimentologistes Français. 15ème congrès français de sédimentologie
Chambéry, France

hal-01252100
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01252100

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) is the source of great earthquakes that have been documented along the range. Its geometry is a key parameter that influences accommodation of tectonic loading and earthquake magnitudes along the Himalayan Arc. Although seismic images are available for both the western and the central part of the range, this geometry remains poorly constrained for the Bhutanese Himalayas. Here we address this issue using a 10Be cosmogenic nuclides denudation transect across western Bhutan. We observe a wide low denudation rate domain between 50 km and 110 km from the front followed by a strong northward increase. Using a joint inversion of denudation rates, GPS data, and Holocene uplift rates, we interpret this pattern as a consequence of a flat-ramp transition along the MHT. Compared to central Nepal and Sikkim, this location of the ramp suggests a wider décollement, with implications for greater seismogenic potential of the MHT in western Bhutan.
ISSN: 0094-8276

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01174088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088v2/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174088/file/lerouxmalloufGRL2015.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2015GL063767