Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Mosha and North Tehran faults correspond to the nearest seismic sources for the northern part of the Tehran megacity. The present-day structural relationships and the kinematics of these two faults, especially at their junction in Lavasanat region, is still a matter of debate. In this paper, we present the results of a morphotectonic analysis (aerial photos and field investigations) within the central part of the Mosha and eastern part of the North Tehran faults between the Mosha valley and Tehran City. Our investigations show that, generally, the traces of activity do not follow the older traces corresponding to previous long-term dip-slip thrusting movements. The recent faulting mainly occurs on new traces trending E-W to ENE-WSW affecting Quaternary features (streams, ridges, risers, and young glacial markers) and cutting straight through the topography. Often defining en-echelon patterns (right- and left-stepping), these new traces correspond to steep faults with either north- or south-dipping directions, along which clear evidences for left-lateral strike-slip motion are found. At their junction zone, the two sinistral faults display a left-stepping en-echelon pattern defining a positive flower structure system clearly visible near Ira village. Further west, the left-lateral strike-slip motion is transferred along the ENE-WSW trending Niavaran fault and other faults. The cumulative offsets associated with this left-lateral deformation is small compared with the topography associated with the previous Late Tertiary thrusting motion, showing that it corresponds to a recent change of kinematics.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00617778
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617778
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2010.09.013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We use velocities from 65 continuous stations and 31 survey-mode GPS sites as well as kinematic modeling to investigate present day deformation along the Africa-Iberia plate boundary zone in the western Mediterranean region. The GPS velocity field shows southwestward motion of the central part of the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco with respect to Africa varying between 3.5 and 4.0 mm/yr, consistent with prior published results. Stations in the southwestern part of the Betic Mountains of southern Spain move west-southwest with respect to Eurasia (similar to 2-3 mm/yr). The western component of Betics motion is consistent with partial transfer of Nubia-Eurasia plate motion into the southern Betics. The southward component of Betics motion with respect to Iberia is kinematically consistent with south to southwest motion of the Rif Mountains with respect to Africa. We use block modeling, constrained by mapped surface faults and seismicity to estimate the geometry and rates of strain accumulation on plate boundary structures. Our preferred plate boundary geometry includes one block between Iberia and Africa including the SW Betics, Alboran Sea, and central Rif. This geometry provides a good fit to the observed motions, suggesting a wide transpressive boundary in the westernmost Mediterranean, with deformation mainly accommodated by the Gloria-Azores fault system to the West and the Rif-Tell lineament to the East. Block boundaries encompass aspects of earlier interpretations suggesting three main deformation styles: (i) extension along the NE-SW trending Trans-Alboran shear zone, (ii) dextral strike-slip in the Betics corresponding to a well defined E-W seismic lineament, and (iii) right lateral strike-slip motion extending West to the Azores and right-lateral motion with compression extending East along the Algerian Tell. We interpret differential motion in the Rif-Alboran-Betic system to be driven both by surface processes related the Africa-Eurasia oblique convergence and sub-crustal dynamic processes associated with the long history of subduction of the Neotethys ocean lithosphere. The dextral slip identified in the Betic Mountains in Southern Spain may be related to the offshore fault that produced the Great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, and as such may represent a significant seismic hazard for the West Mediterranean region.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00618337
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618337
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.05.048

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : Approximately 4 yr of campaign and continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements across the Dead Sea fault system (DSFS) in Lebanon provide direct measurements of interseismic strain accumulation along a 200-km-long restraining bend in this continental transform fault. Late Cenozoic transpression within this restraining bend has maintained more than 3000 m of topography in the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges. The GPS velocity field indicates 4-5 mm yr(-1) of relative plate motion is transferred through the restraining bend to the northern continuation of the DSFS in northwestern Syria. Near-field GPS velocities are generally parallel to the major, left-lateral strike-slip faults, suggesting that much of the expected convergence across the restraining bend is likely accommodated by different structures beyond the aperture of the GPS network (e.g. offshore Lebanon and, possibly, the Palmyride fold belt in SW Syria). Hence, these geodetic results suggest a partitioning of crustal deformation involving strike-slip displacements in the interior of the restraining bend, and crustal shortening in the outer part of the restraining bend. Within the uncertainties, the GPS-based rates of fault slip compare well with Holocene-averaged estimates of slip along the two principal strike-slip faults: the Yammouneh and Serghaya faults. Of these two faults, more slip occurs on the Yammouneh fault, which constitutes the primary plate boundary structure between the Arabia and Sinai plates. Hence, the Yammouneh fault is the structural linkage that transfers slip to the northern part of the transform in northwestern Syria. From the perspective of the regional earthquake hazard, the Yammouneh fault is presently locked and accumulating interseismic strain.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00406620
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00406620
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03328.x

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : A tectonic model of the evolution of the northern half of the South Fiji Basin, including the Minerva Triple Junction and Cook Fracture Zone, is developed from regional gravity, multibeam bathymetry, and a new interpretation of magnetic anomalies pinned to radiometric dates of oceanic crust in the basin. The geometry and age of a portion of the Minerva Triple Junction and the Cook-Minerva spreading center (the connection from the triple junction to the Cook Fracture Zone, which accommodated coeval opening of the Norfolk Basin), are resolved with multibeam bathymetry and magnetics. The South Fiji Basin opened from about 34 to 15 Ma in an anticlockwise sweep about an Euler pole located at the northern end of the present Lau Ridge. This rotation and a rigidly straight southeastward motion of the Three Kings Ridge were accommodated by the configuration of the triple junction changing from ridge-fault-fault to ridge-ridge-fault to ridge-ridge-ridge. During this evolution the southeastern arm of the system, the Julia Fracture Zone, underwent several transformations and the Cook-Minerva spreading center experienced repeated ridge jumps. The kinematics of the northern South Fiji Basin dictate, to a large extent, the evolution of the southern South Fiji Basin and the Norfolk Basin. This in turn leads to the interpretation of a complex trench-trench-double transform fault framework at the northern New Zealand margin, which explains most aspects of the geology, structure, and arc volcanic history of the margin and provides a radical new setting for the origin of the Northland Allochthon.
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems (1525-2027) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-02 , Vol. 12 , N. Q02004 , P. 1-20

Droits : 2011 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00030/14112/11362.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2010GC003291
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00030/14112/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
Subduction of a narrow slab of oceanic lithosphere beneath a tightly curved orogenic arc requires the presence of at least one lithospheric scale tear fault. While the Calabrian subduction beneath southern Italy is considered to be the type example of this geodynamic setting, the geometry, kinematics and surface expression of the associated lateral, slab tear fault offshore eastern Sicily remain controversial. Results from a new marine geophysical survey conducted in the Ionian Sea, using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic profiling reveal active faulting at the seafloor within a 140 km long, two-branched fault system near Alfeo Seamount. The previously unidentified 60 km long NW trending North Alfeo Fault system shows primarily strike-slip kinematics as indicated by the morphology and steep-dipping transpressional and transtensional faults. Available earthquake focal mechanisms indicate dextral strike-slip motion along this fault segment. The 80 km long SSE trending South Alfeo fault system is expressed by one or two steeply dipping normal faults, bounding the western side of a 500+ m thick, 5 km wide, elongate, syntectonic Plio-Quaternary sedimentary basin. Both branches of the fault system are mechanically capable of generating magnitude 6–7 earthquakes like those that struck eastern Sicily in 1169, 1542, and 1693.
ISSN: 0278-7407

insu-01256887
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01256887/file/GutscherEtal_2015_Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2015TC003898

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The NW-trending Talas-Ferghana Fault (TFF) in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, is one of the largest intracontinental strike-slip faults in the world. It extends over a distance of more than 2000 km from southern Tourghai to western Tarim and exhibits a maximum dextral offset of ∼200 km during the late Palaeozoic to present. The history of the fault provides important insights for the understanding of the evolution of southern Central Asia but remains poorly constrained due to lack of reliable geochronological data. We present new Ar-Ar ages and structural data from the Kyrgyz West Tianshan, that elucidate the kinematic history of the TFF in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic. 40Ar/39Ar ages on mylonitic white micas document a deformational history consisting of several episodes. A late Carboniferous age of 312 ± 4 Ma point to initiation of top-to-the-south and dextral transpressional deformation during a metamorphic overprint in Precambrian and Palaeozoic rocks along the northern compartment of the TFF. The main phase of dextral motion along the entire fault occurred in the Permian as suggested by minimum ages of 260-290 Ma obtained at two different locations in the NW and central parts of the TFF. Partial isotopic resetting occurred between 240 and 210 Ma and younger ages of <200-210 Ma are ascribed to late brittle reactivation and hydrothermal fluid flow in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic times. The Jurassic trans-tensional phase is featured by emplacement of 195 ± 3 Ma pegmatitic dykes. The Ar-Ar mineral ages and structural data argue for a major phase of dextral shearing, affecting the entire region from the West Tianshan to Mongolia in the late Permian and leading to formation of almost equally spaced major NW-trending dextral strike-slip faults. The uniform character of this deformation indicates that the process of amalgamation in this part of the CAOB ended prior to the late Permian, and Central Asia evolved as a single coherent continental block since that time.
ISSN: 0743-9547

hal-00831326
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00831326
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.02.012

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : On November 21, 2004, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred offshore, 10 km south of Les Saintes archipelago in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). There were more than 30000 aftershocks recorded in the following two years, most of them at shallow depth near the islands of the archipelago. The main shock and its main aftershock of February 14, 2005 (M-w = 5.8) ruptured a NE-dipping normal fault (Roseau fault), mapped and identified as active from high-resolution bathymetric data a few years before. This fault belongs to an arc-parallel en echelon fault system that follows the inner edge of the northern part of the Lesser Antilles arc, accommodating the sinistral component of oblique convergence between the North American and Caribbean plates. The distribution of aftershocks and damage (destruction and landslides) are consistent with the main fault plane location and attitude. The slip model of the main shock, obtained by inverting jointly global broadband and local strong motion records, is characterized by two main slip zones located 5 to 10 km to the SE and NW of the hypocenter. The main shock is shown to have increased the Coulomb stress at the tips of the ruptured plane by more than 4 bars where most of the aftershocks occurred, implying that failures on fault system were mainly promoted by static stress changes. The earthquake also had an effect on volcanic activity since the Boiling Lake in Dominica drained twice, probably as a result of the extensional strain induced by the earthquake and its main aftershock.
Journal Of Geophysical Research-solid Earth (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-10 , Vol. 116 , N. B10301 , P. 1-25

Droits : Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00200/31099/29511.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2011JB008310
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00200/31099/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The ∼55 km-long Firouzkuh fault is located in the Central Alborz Mountains of Iran. It is a left-lateral fault, which dips to the south, and possesses a small dip-slip component of motion that we interpret to result from extension. The ratio of horizontal to vertical displacement across the fault, calculated from the cumulative displacement of landscape features, is 7.6. We provide constraints on the timing of the last earthquake on the Firouzkuh fault from two trenches (T1 and T2) across the fault zone, excavated in 2004, and located east of Firouzkuh city. The trenches expose faulted sedimentary deposits. Two optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from sediments in the lower part of trench T1 date from the late Pleistocene (15.9 ± 0.9 ka and 27.1 ± 1.7 ka). The younger of the two dated units in T1 is displaced vertically across the fault by 2.2–4.4 m, from which we estimate a strike-slip displacement of 18.2–33.4 m, and hence a average horizontal slip-rate of 1.1–2.2 mm/yr. The sediments exposed in T1 do not yield constraints on the most recent earthquake history. In trench T2, however, human skeletal remains of a middle aged male, which yield a radiocarbon age of 1159 ± 28 BP (corresponding to a mean calendar age of 791 AD), were found within a faulted alluvial layer at a depth of 60–70 cm from the surface. The existence of these medieval human places shows that a surface-rupturing earthquake occurred at some time after 1159 ± 28 BP. The amount of slip in each earthquake on the Firouzkuh fault is difficult to estimate, but assuming the entire ∼55 km fault length ruptures in each event, they will have had a maximum magnitude of 7.1. At our estimated late Quaternary slip-rate of ∼1.1–2.2 mm/yr magnitude 7.1 earthquakes, involving ∼1.2 m average displacement, would be expected to occur every ∼1100–540 years. As the last earthquake on the Firouzkuh fault may be up to ∼700 years in age we suggest that the Firouzkuh fault is a major hazard for earthquakes in the near future.
ISSN: 0743-9547

hal-01122835
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01122835
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.12.018

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
New high-resolution marine data acquired aboard R/V Le Suroît was used to map active normal faults offshore Montserrat in greater detail. The main faults of the Montserrat-Havers fault zone have cumulative scarps up to 200 m high, and offset sedimentary layers by hundreds of meters. They are arranged in a right-stepping, en echelon, trans-tensional array, which confirms that they accommodate the left-lateral component of motion resulting from slip partitioning of oblique convergence along the volcanic arc. They cut across Montserrat's recent volcanic complex. Faulting and fissuring exerted control on the position of andesitic domes, which are aligned along the N110°E average fault trend. The ≈10 km-long fault segments that cross the island could produce damaging, M ≈ 6 events comparable to the shallow, 16 March 1985, Mw∼6.3 earthquake that ruptured a submarine, N140°E striking, left-lateral fault near Redonda.
ISSN: 0094-8276

insu-01586768
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01586768
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01586768/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01586768/file/Feuillet_et_al-2010-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2010GL042556

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Located in central Europe at the junction of the Southern Alps and the Dinarides, the ≈ 100 km long Idrija fault, striking N310 and dipping ≈ 80°NE is often considered as the potential source of the historical 1511 earthquake (estimated macroseismic magnitude: Mm 6.8). Using 1/25,000 to 1/5000 topographical maps, satellite images (SPOT5), 12.5 m illuminated DEM and airborne LiDAR data-derived 1-m-DEM, we examined in detail the Idrija fault trace along a 20-km-long swath in the central portion of the fault. Combining topographic and remote sensing data allows characterizing the recent activity along the Idrija fault and estimating its cumulative displacement along strike.Between Tolmin and Godovič, the fault trace is mostly linear but appears divided into three disconnected segments of 11–20-km-long. Morphological evidences such as offset streams and ridges and major drainage abandonments suggest ongoing movement. At three sites, field observations and LiDAR-DEM analysis allow measuring cumulative dextral offsets comprised between 35 and 65 m. We found two larger offsets of ≈ 140 m and ≈ 360 m at the southeasternmost site. The vertical component is significant and revealed by a rake ranging from 0 to 33°. The derived N303–N310 striking slip-vector is in agreement with the motion along this fault as suggested by the geodesy. Assuming that the smallest measured offsets have been recorded after the last glacial maximum (LGM, about 20 ka ago), the minimum slip-rate for the Idrija fault is about 1.5 mm/yr over this period of time.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01115724
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115724
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.04.043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The deep structure and deformation mechanisms of the Longmen Shan thrust belt (Sichuan, China), at the eastern border of the Tibetan plateau, were largely debated after the devastating Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake (2008). Recent geophysical studies and field investigations have been focused on the active motion of the major Beichuan fault, which ruptured during the earthquake. However, the total exhumation across the fault still remains unclear. In the hanging wall of the Beichuan fault, the South China block is exhumed in the Pengguan massif. Close to the Beichuan fault, the rocks of the Pengguan massif underwent greenschist facies metamorphism associated with brittle-ductile deformation. No metamorphism is observed in the footwall of the fault. In this study, we characterize and date the metamorphic history recorded in the hanging wall of the Beichuan fault in order to constrain the depth and timing of exhumation of the rocks of the Pengguan massif along the fault. A high-resolution petrological approach involving chemical analyses and X-ray maps was used to analyze the micrometric metamorphic minerals. The P-T conditions of the greenschist facies metamorphic event were estimated by an inverse multi-equilibrium thermodynamic approach. The results, 280 ± 30 °C and 7 ± 1 kbar, suggest that the rocks of the Pengguan massif were exhumed from ca. 20 km depth. Our results underline the importance of the thrusting component in the long-term behavior of the Beichuan fault and provide a minimal depth at which the fault is rooted. In situ laser ablation 40Ar/39Ar dating of metamorphic white mica revealed that the greenschist overprint occurred at 135–140 Ma.The Pengguan massif was therefore partially thrusted along the Beichuan fault during the Lower Cretaceous, long before the Eocene-Miocene exhumation phase which is well-constrained by low-temperature thermochronology. Our results provide the first independent depth information for the exhumation history of the Pengguan massif and reveal a previously undocumented Lower Cretaceous tectonic event that marks the onset of the thick-skinned deformation in the external domain of the Longmen Shan (East of the Wenchuan Fault).
ISSN: 0743-9547

hal-01685556
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685556
DOI : 10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.04.003

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A network of continuous GPS stations has been installed in NW Iran since 2005 to complement the survey GPS network already existing in the region. We present the 1999-2009 GPS-derived velocity field for this region based on the continuous and survey-mode observations. The results confirm a right lateral slip of 7 +/- 1 mm/yr for the North Tabriz fault, in agreement with previous studies. This rate is consistent with earthquakes of magnitude 7-7.3 and recurrence times of 250-300 yr. The higher spatial coverage of the new network shows that deformation is localized in the vicinity of the Chalderan, south Gailatu-Siah Cheshmeh-Khoy fault and the North Tabriz fault. However the eastern end of the North Tabriz fault appears to cross Mount Bozgush rather than following its southern foothills. This new velocity field does not indicate the 8 mm/yr of NNE-SSW extension suggested earlier for the region, but rather shows lower extension of 1-2 +/- 1 mm/yr across the eastern segment of the North Tabriz fault and the Talesh. To the west, the Chalderan and the western North Tabriz fault segment act like pure strike slip faults without significant extension or compression. The denser network in the Rudbar earthquake region (Ms 7.3, 1992) shows no significant motion across the fault, suggesting that the recurrence time of earthquakes like the Rudbar event must be very long. The lack of substantial compressive strain and the sharp azimuth change of the velocity vectors in the transition zone from Arabia to Lesser Caucasus motion imply that processes other than "extrusion", possibly related to old subduction or delamination, contribute to active deformation.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00617666
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00617666
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.04.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Active faults from the Campo de Dalías (SE Betic Cordillera) allow us to constrain the deformation styles involved in the development of segmented oblique-slip faults. This sector constitutes the widest outcrop of Plio-Quaternary sediments in the northern boundary of the Alboran Sea. It has emerged since the Late Pliocene, and therefore provides recent deformation markers that are not disturbed by erosive processes. The faults started to grow during the Pleistocene, reactivating previous hybrid joints, with a normal-dextral slip. We present a detailed map of the largest fault in the area, the Loma del Viento fault, comprising six onshore segments. Based on field work and aerial photography, the distributions of the contiguous joints have been mapped, and the joints reactivated as faults are identified. Some of these fault segments are hard-linked, and fault slip enhances toward the linkage sectors between them with associated sedimentary depocenters. An electrical tomography profile reveals the wedge geometry of a unit of Pleistocene conglomerates and red silts that were coevally deposited during the fault movement. Long-term slip rate in the central part of the fault is estimated at 0.07 ± 0.03 mm/y. In addition, a seismic crisis nucleated close to the Loma del Viento fault during November 2010 was recorded. Moment tensor analysis of the two mainshocks (Mw 3.5 and 4.2) provides a focal solution indicating a N120°E striking right-lateral strike-slip fault. The corrugated morphology of the Loma del Viento fault may have influenced its seismic behavior. Some of the fault segments are oblique to the general motion of the fault. These oblique segments would provide higher resistance against the general fault motion and could lock the fault, leading to accumulate elastic energy.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-00750357
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750357
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.12.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : The role of the Karakorum fault zone (KFZ) is debated. South of 33°N, ongoing dextral-oblique slip along the SW edge of the Gar basin exhumes metamorphic and magmatic rocks of the Ayilari range. Minerals have recorded a continuum of deformation from temperatures >600–400°C down to <250_C. The 40Ar/39Ar ages, the oldest being 21.2 ± 1.0 Ma, yield minimum estimates for the initiation of the KFZ. These are in agreement with the U-Th/Pb ages constraining the onset of deformation at ca 25–22 Ma. Thermochronologic results show slow cooling for the period ca 21– 14 Ma, followed by rapid cooling between 14 and 4 Ma. These data demonstrate that right-lateral motion was in progress in the early Miocene and that shear continued at least until 4 Ma, pointing to >20 Ma of deformation along the fault. Greenschist facies deformation superimposed upon the medium- to high-grade deformation marks a kinematic change from pure dextral to dextral-normal motion associated with the onset of rapid cooling. At the regional scale, the coexistence of transtension in the Gar basin with transpression documented along the Pangong range farther north suggests another example of the ‘‘zipper tectonics'' model developed along the Red River fault. The kinematic shift induced the rise of the Ayilari range starting at 16–12 Ma and the incision of major river courses. The Indus River might have become captive of the relief at this time. The river's 120 km of apparent offset implies dextral motion at a long-term rate of ca 8.5 ± 1.5 mm/yr.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-00197561
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00197561
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00197561/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00197561/file/Valli_Karakorum_thermochron_Tectonics_07_pre_print.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2005TC001913

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Ryukyu subduction is known to generate very few earthquakes in its central segment contrarily to its two extremities. We focus in this study on the southernmost part of the Ryukyu subduction zone offshore east Taiwan. Our first task was to build a homogeneous earthquake catalogue for the period 1900–2007. The new catalogue provides homogenized M′W magnitudes and shows that several M′W≥ 7.0 earthquakes occurred offshore Hualien and Suao cities. We then focused on the 1920 June 5 earthquake (reported surface wave magnitude 8.1) previously located beneath the accretionary prism. The revised moment magnitude has been estimated in our catalogue at 7.7 ± 0.2. It is the biggest earthquake ever recorded in the Taiwan area but the fault that has produced this earthquake has not yet been identified with confidence. We relocated this event using regional phases (seismological bulletins archived at the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan) about 50 km NNE and shallower of its former location, that is, within the Ryukyu Arc basement. According to earthquake bulletin information, revised magnitude, new hypocentral determination and known regional faults, we propose four potential active faults as candidates for the slip associated to this event: (1) the interplate seismogenic zone (ISZ), (2) an out-of-sequence thrust cutting through the forearc and branching on the ISZ, (3) a NS strike-slip fault cutting through the Ryukyu arc and (4) a N–S, westward dipping thrust fault, affecting the Philippine Sea Plate east of the Luzon Arc. The best compromise is to consider a rupture along the ISZ with a shallow nucleation possibly along a splay-fault followed by a downward and lateral propagation of the rupture that would explain the lack of significant seafloor motion and subsequent tsunami. We also estimate the maximum seismic coupling of the ISZ in the region east of Taiwan to about 0.4. In parallel, the evidences of aseismic slip occurring along the ISZ allow us to conclude that this region should only be affected by M < 8 earthquakes.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00545459
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545459
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545459/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545459/file/theunisseGJI2010.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04813.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société Géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
The seaward extension of onshore formations and structures were previously almost unknown in Provence. The interpretation of 2D high-resolution marine seismic profiles together with the integration of sea-bottom rock samples provides new insights into the stratigraphic, structural and paleogeographic framework of pre-Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) deposits of the Provence continental shelf. Seven post-Jurassic seismic units have been identified on seismic profiles, mapped throughout the offshore Provence area and correlated with the onshore series. The studied marine surface and sub-surface database provided new insights into the mid and late Cretaceous paleogeography and structural framework as well as into the syn-and post-rift deformation in Provence. Thick (up to 2000 m) Aptian-Albian series whose deposition is controlled by E-W-trending faults are evidenced offshore. The occurrence and location of the Upper Cretaceous South-Provence basin is confirmed by the thick (up to 1500 m) basinal series downlaping the Aptian-Albian unit. This basin was fed in terrigenous sediments by a southern massif (" Massif Méridional ") whose present-day relict is the Paleozoic basement and its sedimentary cover from the Sicié imbricate. In the bay of Marseille, thick syn-rift (Rupelian to Aquitanian) deposition occurred (>1000 m). During the rifting phase, syn-sedimentary deformations consist of dominant N040 to N060 sub-vertical faults with a normal component and N050 drag-synclines and anticlines. The syn-rift and early post-rift units (Rupelian to early Burdigalian) are deformed and form a set of E-W-trending en echelon folds that may result from sinistral strike-slip reactivation of N040 to N060 normal faults during a N-S com-pressive phase of early-to-mid Burdigalian age (18-20 Ma). Finally, minor fault reactivation and local folding affect post-rift deposits within a N160-trending corridor localized south of La Couronne, and could result from a later, post-Burdigalian and pre-Pliocene compressive phase.
Cadre tectonostratigraphique des formations anté-pliocènes du plateau continental de Provence (golfe du Lion oriental, SE France) Mots-clés. – Géologie marine, Tectonostratigraphie, Stratigraphie sismique, Paléogéographie crétacée, Rifting oligo-miocène, Compression post-rift Résumé. – Le prolongement en mer des formations et des structures provençales était jusqu'alors largement inconnu.L'interprétation de profils de sismique-réflexion marine 2D et l'intégration de dragages et carottages du fond-marin ont permis d'apporter des éléments nouveaux concernant le cadre stratigraphique, structural et paléogéographique des dé-pôts anté-Messiniens du plateau continental de Provence. Sept unités sismiques post-jurassiques ont été identifiées sur les profils sismiques, cartographiées à travers le plateau continental et corrélées avec les séries affleurant à terre. Une épaisse unité apto-albienne (jusqu'à 2000 m) dont le dépôt est contrôlé par des failles E-W a été mise en évidence en mer. L'existence d'un bassin subsident au Crétacé supérieur sur le plateau continental de Provence a été confirmée par le développement d'une épaisse série de bassin (jusqu'à 1500 m) reposant en downlap sur l'Apto-Albien. Le socle mé-tamorphique de l'écaille de Sicié et sa couverture sédimentaire peut être considéré comme une relique allochtone du « Massif Méridional » ayant alimenté le Bassin sud-provençal en éléments terrigènes au Crétacé supérieur. Dans la rade de Marseille, une épaisse unité syn-rift (Rupélien à Aquitanien) a été mise en évidence (>1000 m), structurée en une série de synformes en échelon d'axe E-W et affectée par des failles d'orientation dominante N040 à N060. Sur le flanc sud des synformes, la formation de plis d'axe N050 est associée à une déformation syn-sédimentaire. La formation des synformes en échelon d'axe E-W résulterait d'une réactivation en décrochement des failles N040 à N060 pendant une phase de compression N-S dont l'âge est compris entre le Burdigalien inférieur et moyen (18-20 Ma). Enfin, les dépôts post-rift sont affectés par des déformations mineures (réactivation de failles et plis associés), le long d'un couloir d'orientation N160 à l'ouest de la baie de Marseille, attribuables à une phase de compression post-burdigalienne et anté-pliocène.
ISSN: 0037-9409

hal-01463727
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727/document
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01463727/file/Fournier_et_al_Provence_2016.pdf
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.187.4-5.187

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
The ENE-WSW Autun Shear Zone in the northeastern part of the French Massif Central has been interpreted previously as a dextral wrench fault. New field observations and microstructural analyses document a NE-SW stretching lineation that indicates normal dextral motions along this shear zone. Further east, similar structures are observed along the La Serre Shear Zone. In both areas, a strain gradient from leucogranites with a weak preferred orientation to highly sheared mylonites supports a continuous Autun-La Serre fault system. Microstructural observations, and shape and lattice-preferred orientation document high-temperature deformation and magmatic fabrics in the Autun and La Serre granites, whereas low- to intermediate-temperature fabrics characterize the mylonitic granite. Electron microprobe monazite geochronology of the Autun and La Serre granites yields a ca. 320 Ma age for pluton emplacement, while mica 40Ar-39Ar datings of the Autun granite yield plateau ages from 305 to 300 Ma. The ca. 300 Ma 40Ar-39Ar ages, obtained on micas from Autun and La Serre mylonites, indicate the time of the mylonitization. The ca. 15-Ma time gap between pluton emplacement and deformation along the Autun-La Serre fault system argue against a synkinematic pluton emplacement during late orogenic to postorogenic extension of the Variscan Belt. A ductile to brittle continuum of deformation is observed along the shear zone, with Lower Permian brittle faults controlling the development of sedimentary basins. These results suggest a two-stage Late Carboniferous extension in the northeastern French Massif Central, with regional crustal melting and emplacement of the Autun and La Serre leucogranites around 320 Ma, followed, at 305-295 Ma, by ductile shearing, normal brittle faulting, and subsequent exhumation along the Autun-La Serre transtensional fault system.
ISSN: 1437-3254

insu-00596918
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00596918
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00596918/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00596918/file/Article_Morvan_v_INIST.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00531-011-0673-z

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
I use GPS interseismic velocities and classic 2D elastic half-space models with a screw dislocation to estimate the long-term fault slip rate, locking depth, and the offset between the surface fault trace and the location of the dislocation below the seismogenic zone for 13 segments along 8 major strike-slip faults. Using deduced strike-slip rates and the position of the dislocation to normalize the interseismic velocities to facilitate comparison of spatial patterns of deformation, I show that no substantial differences can be detected, ruling out a large asymmetry in interseismic velocities across the 8 faults used in this study. Only the Carrizo Plain segment of the San Andreas Fault shows a significant asymmetry that cannot be explained by shifting the position of the dislocation at depth relative to the fault trace. However, the resulting perturbation is less than 10% of total strike-slip rate. Fault traces are usually curved, defining a concave side. When the dislocation at depth is significantly offset from the fault trace, the shift is always toward the block on the concave side of the fault trace. This suggests that the fault zone in the lower crust may develop a simpler geometry more consistent with relative motion across the fault than its upper seismogenic part constrained by the structural complexity of the brittle crust. Since the faults used in this study are at different times in their interseismic period, comparing the interseismic velocity fields across them allows identification of possible variations of the interseismic velocities with time. When normalized by slip rate and dislocation location, all the faults show the same interseismic strain with no significant differences between deduced locking depths. These comparisons suggest that if temporal variations occur as suggested by some dynamic earthquake cycle models, they are small and below the accuracy of the available geodetic measurements.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01171753
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01171753
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.01.013

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