Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
In petroleum industry, the difference between pore pressure (Pp) and minimum horizontal stress Sh (termed the seal or retention capacity) is of major consideration because it is often assumed to represent how close a system is to hydraulic failure and thus the maximum hydrocarbon column height that can be maintained. While Sh and Pp are often considered to be independent parameters, several studies in the last decade have demonstrated that Sh and Pp are in fact coupled. However, the nature of this coupling relationship remains poorly understood. In this paper, we explore the influences of the spatial pore pressure distribution on Sh/Pp coupling and then on failure pressure predictions and trap integrity evaluation. With analytical models, we predict the fluid pressure sustainable within a reservoir before failure of its overpressured shale cover. We verify our analytical predictions with experiments involving analogue materials and fluids. We show that hydraulic fracturing and seal breach occur for fluid pressure greater than it would be expected from conventional retention capacity. This can be explained by the impact of the fluid overpressure field in the overburden and the pressure diffusion around the reservoir on the principal stresses. We calculate that supralithostatic pressure could locally be reached in overpressured covers. We also define the retention capacity of a cover (RC) surrounding a fluid source or reservoir as the difference between the failure pressure and the fluid overpressure prevailing in shale at the same depth. In response to a localized fluid pressure rise, we show that the retention capacity does not only depend on the pore fluid overpressure of the overburden but also on the tensile strength of the cover, its Poisson's ratio, and the depth and width of the fluid source.
ISSN: 0264-8172

hal-00590497
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00590497
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.08.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : This work focus on the characterization of the source and dynamic of compactional fluids during sedimentary burial, through two complementary examples of late orogenic oil‐field half‐grabens: The exhumed Lodève Permian Basin and a deep buried Jurassic basin in the North Viking Graben (North Sea).Constituting the main part of the thesis, a multi‐disciplinary approach was conducted in the Lodève Basin where Ba‐F‐Cu‐Pb polymetallic mineralized systems are trapped into synrift faults and paleokarsts in the carbonate basement at the hinge point of the rollover. The source, timing and P/T conditions of fluid migration were deduced from the analysis of the microfabric, the fluid inclusions microthermometry, and the isotopic (Sr, S, O, H) and Rare Earth Element (REE) signature. Results are then crossed with a structural and thermal modeling that consolidates the sequence and dynamics of fluid during burial.A similar approach was conducted in the North Viking Graben where fluid markers are restricted to 3D seismic and well core data. Comparable Ba‐Pb‐Zn veins are reported in basin margin, plugging one of the most important siliciclastic hydrocarbon reservoir in the substratum. This analysis provides additional constraints on basinal fluid behavior and allows us to propose a global dynamic model for various compositions of fluids and reservoirs.We conclude to a polyphase fluid sequence history including:(a) In the carbonate basement of the Lodève Basin, karstic paleocanyon incisions and associated cavities coupled to synrift fault, act as major drain for fluids. These structures are early affected by hypogen‐sulfuric karstification in response to the interaction between bacterial oxidation of sulfides entrapped within Lower Permian blackshales and the basement oxidizing aquifer.(b) Disequilibrium compaction initiates overpressure‐driven basinal fluid migration towards basin margins, characterized by temperatures around 150‐180°C and salinities between 9 et 18wt%eq.NaCl. Isotopic (Sr, S, O) and REE analyses reveal that Ba‐M+‐rich mineralizing fluids derived mainly from buried blackshales diagenesis. External fluids coming from the lower crust are also identified that play a key role in fluorite precipitation by the leaching of late hercynian granites (mean temperature of 250°C and salinity > 20wt%eq.NaCl).(c) During the synrift period, fluid overpressure is responsible for the periodic reactivation of fault plane according to seismic‐valve process, bedded‐control shearing and hydraulic brecciation at the basement‐seal interface. These mechanisms induce cyclic polymetallic mineralization by the mixing between in‐situ formation water and deep ascending basinal fluids.(d) Thermogenic fluids expulsion starts with last basinal fluids during late burial stage. Hydrocarbons thus migrate along the same regional pathways up to the rollover crest, where they are partly rerouted by the previous mineralized baffle.(e) In the Lodève basin, post‐rift exhumation of the margins led to the remobilization of synrift deposits by subaerial biochemical processes at the sulfate‐methane transition. The latter results from the interaction between the still active hydrocarbon dysmigration with a playa lake sulfate‐rich aquifer. Secondary low‐temperature barite fronts precipitate then within basement meteoric karsts.In addition to the « source to sink » model of basinal fluids, this work provides new insights on the early plugging of hydrocarbon reservoirs and for the metallogenesis of Mississippi Valley‐Type deposits.
Ce travail porte sur la caractérisation de la source et de la dynamique des fluides de bassin au cours de leur chargement à travers deux exemples complémentaires de demi‐grabens tardi‐orogéniques pétroliers : Le Bassin Permien de Lodève, aujourd’hui à l’affleurement et un bassin jurassique enfouis dans le North Viking Graben (Mer du Nord).Le coeur de la thèse concerne le Bassin de Lodève où, à partir d’une approche pluridisciplinaire intégrée, nous avons caractérisé l’architecture des minéralisations (Ba, F, Cu, Pb) piégées dans un réseau paléokarstique alimenté par les failles syn‐rift, dans le substratum carbonaté à l’apex du roll‐over. La source, le calendrier et les conditions de migration des fluides ont été approchés à partir de l’analyse de la micro‐fabrique, la microthermométrie sur inclusions fluides, les analyses isotopiques (Sr, S, O, H) et de Terres Rares. Les résultats analytiques ont été enfin croisés avec un modèle thermique et structural du bassin qui conforte la séquence et la dynamique du système fluide en cours d’enfouissement.Une démarche similaire, mais plus limitée, a été conduite dans le bassin du North Viking Graben où l’accès aux marqueurs fluides est restreint aux données de sismique 3D et de carottes. Comme à Lodève, les minéralisations Ba‐Pb‐Zn colmatent un réservoir dans le substratum à l’apex du roll‐over. Elles se présentent sous forme de ciments dans des grès ou des fractures. Cette analyse apporte des contraintes complémentaires et permet de proposer un modèle dynamique général avec des variantes en fonction de la nature des fluides et des réservoirs.On retiendra donc la séquence fluide suivante :(a) Dans le cas du bassin de Lodève sur substratum carbonaté, les chemins préférentiels de drainage se développent dans des paléocanyons N‐S couplés à un réseau de fractures et d’endokarsts météoriques. Ces derniers sont élargis en début de rifting par la dissolution hypogène sulfurique produite par l’oxydation bactérienne des sulfates et des pyrites des blackshales, au contact de l’aquifère oxydant du Cambrien.(b) Le déséquilibre de compaction initie la migration des fluides interstitiels en surpression vers les marges avec des températures autour de 150‐180°C et des salinités entre 9 et 18wt%eq.NaCl. Les analyses isotopiques (Sr, S, O) révèlent que la majorité des fluides provient de l’altération diagénétique des blackshales riches en métaux. Des interactions sont également mises en évidence avec des fluides profonds (entre 240°C et 260°C ; salinités > à 20wt%eq.NaCl), qui lessivent les granites tardi‐hercyniens.(c) Pendant le syn‐rift, les conditions de surpression de fluide permettent la réactivation cyclique des failles, les décollements stratigraphiques et la formation de brèches hydrauliques, favorisant la mise en connexion avec les réservoirs superficiels à l’apex du rollover. Le modèle de Sibson ajusté aux fluides de bassins est alors le moteur de la migration verticale.(d) Les fluides thermogéniques commencent à être expulsés avec les derniers fluides de compaction au cours d’un stade plus évolué de l’enfouissement en empruntant les mêmes chemins jusqu’à l’apex du roll over. Ils sont alors partiellement freinés et déviés par les colmatages minéralisés antérieurs.(e) A Lodève, la continentalisation des minéralisations antérieures au cours de l’exhumation post‐rift conduit à leur remaniement partiel au niveau de la transition sulfate‐méthane induite par l’interaction entre une playa évaporitique et la dysmigration des hydrocarbures. Des barytines secondaires de basse température, déprimées en Sr sont alors précipitées de manière synsédimentaire dans des karsts météoriques du socle.Outre l’illustration d’un modèle complet (source to sink) de dynamique des fluides dans un bassin, ce travail apporte de nouvelles contraintes dans l’approche du colmatage des réservoirs à hydrocarbures sur les têtes de blocs basculés et sur la genèse des gîtes miniers de type Mississippi Valley‐Type.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01457583

tel-01457583
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01457583
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01457583/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01457583/file/th%C3%A8seLaurent2015V2.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société Géologique de France
Résumé : Based on a High-Resolution 3D seismic block acquired in the Gulf of Lion in 2004–2005 we investigated fluid pipes and pockmarks on the top of the interfluve between the Hérault canyon and the Bourcart canyon both created by turbidity currents and gravity flows from the shelf to the deep basin in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Combining the geometry of the potential fluid pipes with the induced deformation of surrounding sediments leads then to the ability to differentiate between potential fluid sources (root vs source) and to better estimate the triggering mechanisms (allochtonous vs. autochtonous cause). We linked together a set of derived attributes, such as Chaos and RMS amplitude, to a 3D description of pipes along which fluids may migrate. As previously shown in other basins, the induced deformation, creating cone in cone or V-shaped structures, may develop in response to the fluid pipe propagation in unconsolidated sediments in the near surface. The level at the top of a cone structure is diachronous. It means that stratigraphic levels over this surface are deformed at the end of the migration. They collapse forming a depression called a pockmark. These pipes are the result of repeated cycles of fluid expulsion that might be correlated with rapid sea-level rise instead of sediment loading. The most recent event (MIS 2.2 stage) has led to the formation of a pockmark on the modern seafloor. It has been used as a reference for calculating the effect of a rapid sea-level rise on fluid expulsion. As all physical and geometrical parameters are constrained, we were able to define that a + 34 m of sea level rise may account for triggering fluid expulsion from a very shallow silty-sandy layer at 9 m below seafloor since the last glacial stage. This value is consistent with a sea level rise of about 102 m during this period. This study shows that the episodic nature of fluid release resulted from hydromechanical processes during sea-level rise due to the interactivity between high pressure regimes and principal in situ stresses.
ISSN: 0037-9409

hal-01667241
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01667241
DOI : 10.1051/bsgf/2017190

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Sand intrusions (or injectites) are most often the product of post-depositional remobilization of sand leading to its injection into the surrounding rocks. While injectites were recognized for the first time nearly 200 years ago, their emplacement process has been studied for a couple of decades only, since the concepts of deep sea depositional environments have allowed us to better understand their emplacement processes. However, these processes are still relatively poorly understood. Our approach is based on the study of injectites in the Lower Congo Basin from seismic and well data, which we compare to a fossil system in the SE France basin. We have shown that: (1) In buried turbidite channel systems draping deposits on the channel flanks and terraces of channels have the same geophysical signature as 'wing-like' injectites. Finally, the only criterion for identifying seismic injectites is the presence of bedding-discordant seismic reflections, and in the best case the associated uplift of the overlying seismic reflectors. (2) Seismic-scale conical and saucer-shaped sand injectites have been identified in the Lower Congo Basin. The remobilization is likely due to overpressuring induced by the buoyancy effect of hydrocarbons trapped in the margins of a lobe buried underneath 160 m of sediment, followed by the sudden injection of fluidized sand associated with fault reactivation of faults (with a possible role of nearby salt diapirs). (3) A network of injectites (dykes, sills/wings and laccoliths) was formed in the Vocontian basin during the late Albian and/or early Cenomanian, from a lower-middle Albian turbidite channel. The emplacement is probably due to the early compartmentalization of the channel during its burial and the increase of the sedimentation rate generating overpressure; and the subsequent large influx of deep fluids triggering injection. The injection of sand was polyphased: a first episode formed the sills and another emplaced the dykes. Sills/wings and dykes propagated about 2 km laterally away from the parent sand body and about 200 m up to the surface, revealing a much more extended lateral than vertical reach, contrary to the classically accepted idea from the interpretation of seismic data. (4) The emplacement of this large network of injectites was governed by hydrofracturing. Therefore, its morphology is dependent on the host rock heterogeneity (isotropy, fractures), the paleo-stress orientation (ó3 = NW-SE) and the burial depth of the source (300-600 m) at the time of injection. The study of this fossil network allows us to define the relationship between morphology of the injected network and stress state at the time of injection. This relationship can be extrapolated to constrain the morphology of subsurface networks beyond seismicvisibility. (5) Sands injected into low permeability lithologies bear evidence to a major event of fluid escape in the studied basin, but also channeled fluids long after their formation. In this way, injectites both attest to specific episodes of fluid migration in sedimentary basins and contribute to long-lived re-routing of migrating fluids once emplaced. The injection of sand is associated with the sudden escape of fluids, probably resulting from a significant tectonic and/or sedimentary event; in addition, the architecture of injectite networks is governed by the local paleo-stress and heterogeneity in the host rock. Consequently, characterizing injectite networks is an important step in understanding the plumbing systems of continental margins, i.e. the post-depositional evolution of sedimentary basins.
Les intrusions sableuses (ou injectites) sont le plus souvent le produit de la remobilisation post-dépositionnelle des sédiments et de l'injection du sable dans les roches environnantes. Bien que reconnues pour la première fois il y a près de 200 ans, elles ne sont réellement étudiées que depuis quelques dizaines d'années, depuis que les concepts sur les environnements de dépôt dans les domaines marins profonds nous permettent de mieux comprendre les processus de mise en place. Cependant, ces processus restent encore aujourd'hui relativement mal compris. Notre approche repose sur l'étude d'injectites dans le bassin du Bas-Congo a partir de données de sismique et de puits que nous comparerons a un système fossile dans le bassin du SE de la France. Nous avons montre que : (1) Dans des systèmes de chenaux turbiditiques enfouis, les dépôts de drapage sur les marges et terrasses de chenaux présentent la même signature géophysique que les injectites de type "wing". Finalement, le seul critère sismique d'identification des injectites est la présence de réflexions sismiques sécantes vis-a-vis de la stratigraphie associée dans le meilleur des cas au soulèvement des réflecteurs sismiques sus-jacents. (2) Des injectites d'échelle sismique en forme de cône et d'assiette ont été identifiées dans le bassin du Bas-Congo. La remobilisation résulte probablement des pressions anormales induites par l'effet de flottabilité des hydrocarbures piégés dans les marges d'un lobe enfoui sous 160 m de sédiment, puis de l'injection soudaine du sable fluidise associée a la réactivation de failles (possible rôle des diapirs de sel a proximité). (3) Un réseau d'injectites (dykes, sills/wings et laccolites) s'est formé dans le bassin Vocontien entre la fin de l'Albien supérieur et/ou le début du Cénomanien, depuis un chenal turbiditique de l'Albien inférieur-moyen. La mise en place résulte probablement de la compartimentalisation précoce du chenal au cours de son enfouissement et de l'augmentation du taux de sédimentation générant la surpression et de l'apport ulterieur d'importante quantité de fluides profonds déclenchant l'injection. L'injection du sable a été polyphasée : une première injection a formé des sills et une suivante des dykes. Les sills/wings et les dykes se sont propagés latéralement au chenal source sur environ 2 km et vers la surface sur environ 200 m, mettant en évidence une forte remobilisation latérale plutôt que verticale, contrairement a l'idée classiquement admise a partir de l'interprétation des données sismiques. (4) La formation de ce large réseau d'injectites a été gouvernée par des mécanismes d'hydrofracturation. Par conséquent, sa morphologie a été dépendante des hétérogenéités de la roche hôte (milieu isotrope, fracture), des directions de paléo-contraintes (ƒÐ3 = NWSE) et de la profondeur d'enfouissement de la source (300-600 m) au moment de l'injection. L'étude de ce réseau fossile permet de définir les relations entre morphologie du réseau injecté et état de contraintes au moment de l'injection. Cette relation peut être extrapolée de façon à contraindre la morphologie des réseaux de subsurface au-delà de la visibilité sismique. (5) Les sables injectés dans des lithologies de faible perméabilité témoignent d'un épisode d'échappement de fluide important dans les bassins étudiés mais ont aussi guide les fluides longtemps après leur formation. Les injectites contribuent ainsi a l'initiation épisodique et la pérennisation de migrations de fluides dans les bassins sedimentaires. Le processus d'injection est associé a l'échappement brutal de fluides, résultant vraisemblablement d'un évènement tectonique et/ou sédimentaire important, et l'architecture des réseaux d'injectites est gouverné par les paléo-contraintes locales et les hétérogénéités de la roche hôte. Par conséquent, la caractérisation des réseaux d'injectites est une étape importante dans la compréhension de la plomberie des marges, c'est-a-dire l'évolution post-dépôt des bassins sédimentaires.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01011486

tel-01011486
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01011486
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01011486/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01011486/file/These_Monnier_2013_banalisee.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Large sand intrusions often exhibit conical morphologies analogous to magmatic intrusions such as saucer-shaped or cup-shaped sills. Whereas some physical processes may be similar, we show with scaled experiments that the formation of conical sand intrusions may be favoured by the pore-pressure gradients prevailing in the host rock before sand injection. Our experiments involve injecting air into a permeable and cohesive analogue material to produce hydraulic fractures while controlling the pore pressure field. We control the state of overpressure in the overburden by applying homogeneous basal pore pressure, and then adding a second local pore pressure field by injecting air via a central injector to initiate hydraulic fractures near the injection point. In experiments involving small vertical effective stresses (small overburden, or high pore fluid overpressure), the fracturing pressure (lambda(fract)) is supralithostatic and two dipping fractures are initiated at the injection point forming a conical structure. From theoretical considerations, we predict that high values of lambda(fract), are due to strong cohesion or high pore fluid overpressure distributed in the overburden. Such conditions are favoured by the pore pressure/stress coupling induced by both pore pressure fields. The dips of cones can be accounted for elastic-stress rotation occurring around the source. Contrary to magmatic chamber models, the aqueous fluid overpressure developed in a parent sandbody (and prevailing before the formation of injectites) may diffuse into the surrounding overburden, thus favouring stress rotation and the formation of inclined sheets far from the parent source. For experiments involving higher vertical effective stresses (thick overburden or low pore fluid overpressure), the fracturing pressure is lower than the lithostatic stress, and a single fracture is opened in mode I which then grows vertically. At a critical depth, the fracture separates into two dilatant branches forming a flat cone. We make use of a P.I.V. (Particle Imaging Velocimetiy) technique to analyse plastic deformation, showing that these inclined fractures are opened in mixed modes. Close to the surface, they change into steep shear bands where fluids can infiltrate. The final morphology of the fracture network is very similar to the common tripartite architecture of various injection complexes, indicating that different mechanisms may be involved in the formation of dykes. Feeder dykes under the sill zones may open as tensile fractures, while overlying dykes may be guided by the deformation induced by the growth of sills. These deformation conditions may also favour the formation of fluid escape structures and pockmarks. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00745640
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00745640
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.10.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Cerro del Almirez massif (Nevado–Filábride Complex, Betic Cordillera, SE Spain) is composed of antigorite (Atg-) serpentinite and chlorite (Chl-) harzburgite separated by a thin reaction front formed in a palaeo-subduction setting. These ultramafic rocks preserve unique prograde structures related to the pre- and peak high-pressure event (1.6–1.9 GPa and 680–710 °C). The oldest subduction-related structures are preserved in Atg-serpentinites: a penetrative S1 foliation and associated L1 stretching lineation that formed in a non-coaxial regime with a top-to-the-W sense of shear. This planar–linear fabric is crosscut by olivine ± Ti-clinohumite veins, formed during the prograde breakdown of brucite and pre-metamorphic clinopyroxene, which form a system of veins decimetres long. They record embrittlement processes due to the release of 6 vol.% of H2O associated with brucite dehydration. The growth of prograde olivine and/or tremolite porphyroblasts is syn- to post-kinematic in relation to the S1 foliation. Further reactions at higher temperature related to the complete breakdown of the Atg (i.e. Atg-out) are post-kinematic to S1. Prograde Chl-harzburgite is crosscut by sets of conjugate zones associated with grain-size reduction of olivine grains. These grain-size reduction zones are interpreted as brittle structures generated by hydrofracturing due to overpressure fluids in a compressional setting at low-differential stresses.Structures related to the exhumation process are mainly preserved in the metasedimentary host rock, where an S2/L2 planar–linear fabric developed within a shear zone dominated by a non-coaxial regime with a top-to-the-W sense of movement in a transpressional regime. Peak metamorphic conditions deduced for the schists are similar in pressure (1.3–1.9 GPa) but lower in temperature (560–590 °C) compared to the ultramafic rocks in contact with them, suggesting a major shear zone at the base of the ultramafic massif during D2 deformation in a right-handed transpressional regime.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01172303
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172303
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.12.022

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Sci Ltd
Résumé : The eastern Demerara Plateau offshore French Guiana was surveyed in 2003 during the GUYAPLAC cruise (multibeam bathymetry and acoustic imagery, 6-channel seismic reflection and 3.5 kHz echo-sounding). The data show the "post-transform" Cenozoic that the series located on the outer part of the plateau (below c. 2000 m) contain at least twelve stacked mass transport deposits (MTDs) that have recorded a history of large-scale slope failure, as well as two main normal fault sets that provide possible pathways for upward fluid migration through the series, reaching at high as the uppermost MTDs. Seabed data show that the area above the failures is characterized by circular-to-elongate (slope-parallel) depressions interpreted as fluid seeps (pockmarks), some of them have been modified by along slope currents. We suggest that the development of the MTDs to results from the combinaiton of the presence of fluid overpressure at depth the geometry of the margin's deep structure, in particular the existence of a 'free borderlateral border' on the outermost plateau. Our results also emphasise the role of stratigraphic decollements within the Cenozoic series.
Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2013-09 , Vol. 46 , P. 287-303

Droits : 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00157/26850/25316.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.06.010
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00157/26850/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Large-scale conical and saucer-shaped sand injectites have been identified in the Upper Miocene sediments of the Lower Congo Basin. These structures are evidenced on the 3D high-resolution seismic data at about 600 ms TWT (two-way traveltime) beneath the seabed. The conical and saucer-shaped anomalies range from 20 to 80 m in height, 50 to 300 m in diameter, and 10 to 20 ms TWT in thickness. They are located within a sedimentary interval of about 100 m in thickness and are aligned over 20 km in dip direction (NE-SW), above the NW margin of an underlying Upper Miocene submarine fan. We have interpreted the conical and saucer-shaped anomalies as upward-emplaced sand injectites sourced from the Upper Miocene fan because of their discordant character, the postsedimentary uplifting of the sediments overlying the cones and saucer-shaped bodies, the alignment with the lateral fringe of the Upper Miocene submarine fan, and the geological context. Sand injection dates from the Miocene-Pliocene transition (approximately 5.3 Ma). The prerequisite overpressure to the sand injection process may be due to the buoyancy effect of hydrocarbons accumulated in the margins of the fan. Additionally, overpressure could have been enhanced by the lateral transfer of fluids operating in the inclined margins of the lobe. The short duration of sand injection and the presence of many sandstone intrusions suggested that the process of injection was triggered by an event, likely due to a nearby fault displacement related to diapiric movements. This is the first time that sand injectites of seismic scale have been described from the Lower Congo Basin. The localized nature of these injectites has led to a change in the migration path of fluids through the sedimentary cover. Consequently, the sand intrusions are both evidence and vectors of fluid migration within the basin fill.
ISSN: 1468-8115

hal-00963594
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00963594
DOI : 10.1111/gfl.12057

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
We analyse the fluid flow regime within sediments on the Eastern levee of the modern Mississippi Canyon using 3D seismic data and downhole logging data acquired at Sites U1322 and U1324 during the 2005 Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 308 in the Gulf of Mexico. Sulphate and methane concentrations in pore water show that sulphate-methane transition zone, at 74 and 94 m below seafloor, are amongst the deepest ever found in a sedimentary basin. This is in part due to a basinward fluid flow in a buried turbiditic channel (Blue Unit, 1000 mbsf), which separates sedimentary compartments located below and above this unit, preventing normal upward methane flux to the seafloor. Overpressure in the lower compartment leads to episodic and focused fluid migration through deep conduits that bypass the upper compartment, forming mud volcanoes at the seabed. This may also favour seawater circulation and we interpret the deep sulphate-methane transition zones as a result of high downward sulphate fluxes coming from seawater that are about 5-10 times above those measured in other basins. The results show that geochemical reactions within shallow sediments are dominated by seawater downwelling in the Mars-Ursa basin, compared to other basins in which the upward fluid flux is controlling methane-related reactions. This has implications for the occurrence of gas hydrates in the subsurface and is evidence of the active connection between buried sediments and the water column.
ISSN: 1468-8115

hal-00590501
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00590501
DOI : 10.1111/j.1468-8123.2010.00304.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
At the North-Ecuadorian convergent margin (1°S–1.5°N), the subduction of the rough Nazca oceanic plate leads to tectonic erosion of the upper plate and complex seismogenic behavior of the megathrust. We used three selected pre-stack depth migrated, multi-channel seismic reflection lines collected during the SISTEUR cruise to investigate the margin structure and decipher the impact of the subducted Atacames seamounts on tectonic erosion, interseismic coupling, and seismogenesis in the region of the 1942 Mw7.8 earthquake.This dataset highlights a subducted ∼30×40 km∼30×40 km, double-peak seamount that belongs to the Atacames seamount chain and that is associated with a deep morphologic re-entrant containing mass transport deposits.The seamount subduction uplifted the margin basement by ∼1.6 km and pervasively broke the margin by deep and intense reverse faulting ahead of the seamount, a process that is likely to weaken considerably the margin. In the seamount wake, the basement reverse fault system rotated counter-clockwise. This faulted basement is overlain with slope sediment sliding along listric normal faults that sole out onto the BSR. This superposition of deep tectonic contraction within the basement and shallow gravitational extension deformation within the sediment highlights the key role of gas hydrate on outer slope erosion.In addition to long-term regional basal erosion, the margin basement has thinned locally by an extra 0.8–1 km in response to the subduction of the Atacames seamount chain and hydrofracturing by overpressured fluids at the margin toe. This pervasively and deeply fractured margin segment is associated with a seismically quiet and GPS-modeled low interseismic coupling corridor that terminates downdip near the 1942 epicenter and locked zone. We suggest that the deeply buried double-peak Atacames seamount triggered the 1942 earthquake ahead of its leading flank. This result supports previous studies proposing that subducted seamounts provide unfavorable conditions for locking the updip segment of the plate boundary limiting the updip extent of seismogenic zones, but may favor large subduction earthquakes at greater depths.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01256399
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01256399
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.10.043

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Giant Gjallar Vent (GGV), located in the Vøring Basin off mid-Norway, is one of the largest (~ 5 × 3 km) vent systems in the North Atlantic. The vent represents a reactivated former hydrothermal system that formed at about 56 Ma. It is fed by two pipes of 440 m and 480 m diameter that extend from the Lower Eocene section up to the Base Pleistocene Unconformity (BPU). Previous studies based on 3D seismic data differ in their interpretations of the present activity of the GGV, describing the system as buried and as reactivated in the Upper Pliocene. We present a new interpretation of the GGV's reactivation, using high-resolution 2D seismic and Parasound data. Despite the absence of geochemical and hydroacoustic indications for fluid escape into the water column, the GGV appears to be active because of various seismic anomalies which we interpret to indicate the presence of free gas in the subsurface. The anomalies are confined to the Kai Formation beneath the BPU and the overlying Naust Formation, which are interpreted to act as a seal to upward fluid migration. The seal is breached by focused fluid migration at one location where an up to 100 m wide chimney-like anomaly extends from the BPU up to the seafloor. We propose that further overpressure build-up in response to sediment loading and continued gas ascent beneath the BPU will eventually lead to large-scale seal bypass, starting a new phase of venting at the GGV.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-01054142
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01054142
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.03.006

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
Based on observations from both modem convergent margins and sandbox modeling, we examine the possible conditions favoring frontal accretion and/or frontal and basal tectonic erosion. Mean characteristic parameters (!.t, !.t* • and [) are used to discuss the mechanical stability of 28 transects across the frontal part of convergent margins where the Coulomb theory is applicable. Natural observations reveal that "typical accretionary wedges" are characterized by low tapers with smooth surface slope and subducting plate, low convergence rates and thick trench sediment, while "nonaccretionary wedges" display large tapers with irregular surface slopes and rough subducting plate, high convergence rates and almost no trench fill. Sandbox experiments were performed to illustrate the effects of seamounts/ridges in the subduction zone on the deformation of an accretionary wedge. These experiments show that a wedge of sand is first trapped and pushed in front of the seamount which acts as a moving bulldozer. This is followed by a tunnelling effect of the subducting seamount through the frontal wedge material, which results in considerable sand reworking. At an advanced subduction stage, the d6collement jumps back from a high level in the wedge to its former basal position. We conclude that a high trench sedimentation rate relative to the convergence rate leads to frontal accretion. In contrast, several conditions may favor tectonic erosion of the upper plate. First, oceanic features, such as grabens, seamounts or ridges, may trap upper plate material during their subduction process. Second, destabilization of the upper plate material by internal fluid overpressuring causing hydrofracturing is probably another important mechanism.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-01261600
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261600
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261600/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01261600/file/lallemandJGR1994.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Demerara plateau, located offshore French Guiana and Suriname, is part of a passive transform continental margin particularly prone to develop slope instabilities, probably in relation to the presence of a free distal border along its steep continental slope. Slope failure occurred at different periods (Cretaceous to Neogene) and shows an overall retrogressive evolution through time. Upslope these failure headscarp, an enigmatic regional Mio-Pliocene unconformity has been discovered through the interpretation of new academic and industrial datasets. The aim of this work is to describe and understand the origin of this surface. Our analysis shows that this unconformity is made of a series of valleys that cross-cut sedimentary strata. Each one of these valleys has a short lateral extent and is closed along two perpendicular directions, which suggests that it could correspond to a highly meandering system, or to some sub-circular depressions. The infill of these features is equivalent to the regional stratigraphic strata found outside the structures, but in a subdued position. This seems to imply that the structures have originated by a local loss of sediments at their base or by sliding processes. Furthermore, these depressions intersect each other through time, while migrating progressively downslope.We discuss a series of hypotheses that try to explain the onset and evolution of these depressions forming the Mio-Pliocene unconformity (Canyons? Slope failures? Contourite moats? Hydrate pockmarks?). Having established that these structures are depressions formed by collapse, and have many similarities with structures recently described in the literature as pockmarks associated with gas hydrate dissolution, we favor this hypothesis.We propose that these hydrate pockmarks form with a mass failure that was triggered by fluid-overpressure development at the base of the hydrate stability zone.
ISSN: 0025-3227

hal-01365920
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01365920
DOI : 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.04.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Tin mineralization in Achmmach deposit (NE of Moroccan Central Massif) is associated with tourmaline-rich alteration halos and faults, within N70 shear zones, hosted in sandstones and metapelites of the Upper Visean-Namurian. Such deposits were reported as late-Variscan in age and related to the emplacement of late orogenic granite not outcropping in the studied area.From field constraints, it appears that the late Variscan phase is marked by a transition from transpression to extension with conditions of deformation evolving from ductile to brittle environments. During the transpressive phase (horizontal shortening direction roughly trending E-W), pervasive tourmaline is deposited under the form of metasomatic halos around fractures in the upper levels relative to the deep batholith. This hydrothermal activity is coeval with ductile shear zones within a large corridors trending N70. Tourmaline-rich alteration appears as a hardening stage contributing to the modification of the tectonic style of rocks. Thereafter, a strong brecciation occurs in response of re-using and re-opening of the strike-slip structure. The result is (1) the formation of dextral (N070, N020) and sinistral (N120) shears, and (2) the circulation of fluids within early tourmalinites and formation of tourmaline-rich breccia. Subsequently, during the late orogenic extensional phase, tourmalinite breccias reopened as normal faults acting as overpressure fluid pathways for developing other breccias and veins. Such event is marked by deposition of tin mineralization i.e., cassiterite followed by sulphides, and then fluorite and carbonates at the end.From analysis of the shear-zone structure and superimposition of tourmalines and tin mineralization in the same structures, it is possible to suggest a structural control continuum. Such control is well expressed during metasomatism and deposition of hydrothermal tourmaline under the transpressive phase. Thereafter, under the extensive phase allowing open-space, tin-mineralization were trapped.This study has been supported by AI MA/09/210
24ème RST
Pau, France

insu-01546927
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01546927

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Detailed sedimentological investigations on numerous outcrops and drill-core sections in the 2.1-Ga-old Franceville basin, Gabon, provide evidence for a large-scale injectite network. The injectites were formed by the injection of sands through a thickness of about 150 m of the FB1 Member, and now cover a minimum area of 70 km2 corresponding to the Bangombé plateau, but are also recognized close to Franceville 35 km farther south-east. The injectite lithology corresponds to a mud- or carbonate-supported sandstone characterized by a loose and uncompacted fabric contrasting with the host-rock. Because the injectites are often parallel to subparallel to the stratification, they were misinterpreted as depositional beds by previous authors. At outcrop, the injectite bodies exhibit sill, dyke, wing and protrusive geometries emplaced during early burial within poorly compacted material, with partial wall erosion and dissociation. The source of the sand material is attributed to a channel-levee turbidite depositional system located in the lower part of the FB1 Member. These deposits were buried by a thick biochemical muddy cap deposited during a starvation phase, which increased the seal capacity of the system. This type of architecture has a high potential to develop compaction disequilibrium during burial. Moreover, in the case of the Francevillian injectites, the abundance of microbial organic matter favoured early methane degassing and lateral charging of the sand reservoir. The overpressure in the channels was periodically released during early burial, through the effect of rapid sedimentary and tectonic loading, and possible seismic activity. The fluidized sand was injected according to a symmetrical wing pattern. Thus, the injected masses caused a local decrease in the grade of the lateritic manganese ore deposit of the Bangombé plateau.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01667217
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01667217
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2017.09.022