Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The Cretaceous paleogeography and the kinematic evolution of the Iberian plate are poorly constrained. Especially problematic is to reconcile Iberian paleomagnetic data with paleomagnetic data of the neighboring plates and with Euler poles derived from seafloor magnetic anomalies. The first limitation arises from the Cretaceous Normal Polarity Superchron where paleogeographic reconstruction using marine magnetic anomalies is handicapped. The second arises from the paucity of reliable paleomagnetic poles with satisfactory statistical criteria and age. In order to address these shortcomings and provide new high quality paleomagnetic poles for Iberia, we conducted a detailed rock magnetic and paleomagnetic study of two Cretaceous magmatic sills, the Paço de Ilhas (PI) and Foz da Fonte (FF) sills, from the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal, recently dated at about 88 and 94 Ma, respectively. Our results show that the magnetic mineralogy of the sills is primary, i.e., acquired during magma cooling, and essentially represented by titanomagnetite. The corresponding paleomagnetic poles match the synthetic APWP from the African plate at 80 and 100 Ma. On the basis of a rigorous selection of Iberian Cretaceous poles, we then calculated mean paleomagnetic poles for different time intervals and found that Iberian paleomagnetic data fit well the global APWP between 70 and 120 Ma, but move far away from the APWP at pre-rift times. Our approach shows that new and better constrained paleomagnetic poles can aide in solving part of the contradiction between Iberian and African APWPs.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00758103
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00758103
DOI : 10.1029/2011JB009067

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Wasilewski et al. (1979) concluded that no magnetic remanence existed in the uppermost mantle and that even if present, such sources would be at temperatures too high to contribute to long wavelength magnetic anomalies (LWMA). However, new collections of unaltered mantle xenoliths indicate that the uppermost mantle could contain ferromagnetic minerals. 1. The analysis of some LWMA over cratons and forearcs suggest magnetic sources in the uppermost mantle. 2. The most common ferromagnetic phase in the uppermost mantle is stoichiometric magnetite. Assuming a 30 km-thick crust, and crustal and mantle geotherms of 15 °C/km and 5 °C/km, respectively, the 600 °C Curie temperature implies a 30 km-thick layer of mantle. 3. The uppermost mantle is cooler than 600 °C in Archean and Proterozoic shields (> 350 °C), subduction zones (> 300 °C) and old oceanic basins (> 250 °C). 4. Recently investigated sets of unaltered mantle xenoliths contain pure magnetite inclusions in olivine and pyroxene formed in equilibrium with the host silicate. 5. The ascent of mantle xenoliths occurs in less than a day. Diffusion rates in olivine suggest that the growth of magnetite possible within this time frame cannot account for the size and distribution of magnetite particles in our samples. 6. Demagnetization of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of unaltered mantle xenoliths unambiguously indicates only a single component acquired upon cooling at the Earth's surface. This is most easily explained as a thermoremanent magnetization acquired by pre-existing ferromagnetic minerals as xenoliths cool rapidly at the Earth's surface from magmatic temperatures, acquired during ascent. 7. Modern experimental data suggest that the wüstite-magnetite oxygen buffer and the fayalite-magnetite-quartz oxygen buffer extend several tens of km within the uppermost mantle. 8. The magnetic properties of mantle xenoliths vary consistently across tectonic settings. In conclusion, the model of a uniformly non-magnetic mantle should be revisited. Keywords
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01053923
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053923
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.01.004

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) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : Over 400,000 km of low level aeromagnetic data were collected by US Navy research organization over the Arctic Basin and Greenland-Norwegian Sea during the years 1972 to 1978. These data provide new constraints on the crustal structure and tectonic evolution of this vast region. Magnetic anomalies over continental fragments (Lomonosov Ridge and Chukchi Borderland) are irregular, with local short-wavelength features indicating relatively shallow basement. Sea-floor spreading between Scandinavia and Greenland commenced about 58 m.y.b.p. during the reversed period preceding anomaly 24. Spreading between the Lomonosov Ridge and Eurasia also began at this time or possibly somewhat earlier. An extinct spreading axis in the Canada Basin is indicated by gravity and magnetic data.
Oceanologica Acta, Special issue (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1981

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00245/35663/34171.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00245/35663/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Imaging deep active volcanic areas remains a challenge in our understanding of their activity and evolution, especially in subduction zones. Study of magnetic anomalies is appropriate to access such dynamics in depth. The magnetic anomaly pattern of the Lesser Antilles Arc (LAA) subduction is studied through Curie Point Depth (CPD), interpreted as the depth of the 580 °C isotherm, and developed to better assess the deep thermal structure of the arc. The depth of the estimated CPD exhibits a complex topography. Keeping in mind the overall uncertainty associated with this method, a main doming is evidenced below the Guadeloupe archipelago. Its apex is shifted towards the ancient arc, suggesting a very hot state of the fore-arc/arc domain. To better understand the LAA thermal state, we perform 2D thermo-mechanical simulations of the subduction zone. Recalling that magnetite is a serpentinization by-product, we simulate water transfer triggered by slab dehydration to test the assumption of fore-arc serpentinization suggested by the positive magnetic anomaly in the vicinity of the Guadeloupe archipelago. In this area, the subduction-induced arc lithosphere hydration and related weakening trigger a fast heating of the upper plate by basal convective removal. This process of fast arc lithosphere thinning may apply where simultaneously the volcanic arc is split in two and normal convergence is high enough. As serpentinization strongly decreases P-wave velocity, we propose a new interpretation of a published seismic profile below Guadeloupe. The seismic layer previously interpreted as the arc lower crust may rather be a layer of serpentinized mantle, as supported by spatial correlations between gravimetric and magnetic anomalies. Consequently, at the scale of Guadeloupe Island, the fore-arc Moho would be shallower than initially assumed, with a dome shape more consistent with both the extensive deformation active since the Oligocene in the inner fore-arc and the CPD doming.
ISSN: 0040-1951

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
insu-01505300
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01505300
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01505300/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01505300/file/Gailler-2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.03.014

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : We present four companion digital models of the age, age uncertainty, spreading rates, and spreading asymmetries of the world's ocean basins as geographic and Mercator grids with 2 arc min resolution. The grids include data from all the major ocean basins as well as detailed reconstructions of back-arc basins. The age, spreading rate, and asymmetry at each grid node are determined by linear interpolation between adjacent seafloor isochrons in the direction of spreading. Ages for ocean floor between the oldest identified magnetic anomalies and continental crust are interpolated by geological estimates of the ages of passive continental margin segments. The age uncertainties for grid cells coinciding with marine magnetic anomaly identifications, observed or rotated to their conjugate ridge flanks, are based on the difference between gridded age and observed age. The uncertainties are also a function of the distance of a given grid cell to the nearest age observation and the proximity to fracture zones or other age discontinuities. Asymmetries in crustal accretion appear to be frequently related to asthenospheric flow from mantle plumes to spreading ridges, resulting in ridge jumps toward hot spots. We also use the new age grid to compute global residual basement depth grids from the difference between observed oceanic basement depth and predicted depth using three alternative age-depth relationships. The new set of grids helps to investigate prominent negative depth anomalies, which may be alternatively related to subducted slab material descending in the mantle or to asthenospheric flow. A combination of our digital grids and the associated relative and absolute plate motion model with seismic tomography and mantle convection model outputs represents a valuable set of tools to investigate geodynamic problems.
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems - G3 (1525-2027) (American Geophysical Union), 2008-04 , Vol. 9 , P. NIL_18-NIL_36

Droits : 2008 American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2008/publication-3900.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2007GC001743
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3900/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Guadeloupe Island (West French Indies) is one of the twenty islands that compose the Lesser Antilles Arc, which results from the subduction of the Atlantic Ocean plate beneath the Caribbean one. The island lies in a complex volcano-tectonic system and the need to understand its geological context has led to numerous on- and offshore geophysical investigations. This work presents the compilation and processing of available, on-land, airborne and marine, gravity and magnetic data acquired during the last 40 years on Guadeloupe Islands and at the scale of the Lesser Antilles Arc. The overall dataset provides new Bouguer and reduced to the pole magnetic anomaly maps at the highest achievable resolution. Regionally, the main central negative gravity trend of the arc allows defining two subsident areas. The first one is parallel to the arc direction (~N160°E) to the north, whereas the second unexpected southern one is oriented parallel to oceanic ridges (N130°E). Along the Outer Arc, the long wavelength positive anomaly is interpreted, at least along the Karukera Spur, as an up-rise of the volcanic basement in agreement with the seismic studies. To the NE of Guadeloupe, the detailed analysis of the geophysical anomalies outlines a series of structural discontinuities consistent with the main bathymetric morphologies, and in continuity of the main fault systems already reported in this area. Based on geophysical evidences, this large scale deformation and faulting of the Outer Arc presumably primarily affects the Atlantic subducting plate and secondarily deforms the upper Caribbean plate and the accretion prism. At the scale of Guadeloupe Island, joined gravity and magnetic modeling has been initiated based on existing interpretation of old seismic refraction profiles, with a general structure in three main layers. According to our geophysical anomalies, additional local structures are also modeled in agreement with geological observations: i) the gravity and magnetic signals confirm an up-rise of the volcanic basement below the limestone platforms outcropping on Grande-Terre Island ; ii) the ancient volcanic complexes of Basse-Terre Island are modeled with high density and reverse magnetized formations; iii) the recent volcanic centre is associated with formations consistent with the low measured density and the underlying hydrothermal system. The EW models coherently image a NNW-SSE depression structure in half-graben beneath Basse-Terre Island, its western scarp following the arc direction in agreement with bathymetric and seismic studies to the north of the island. The so-defined depressed area, and particularly its opening in half-graben toward the SW, is interpreted as the present-day front of deformation of the upper plate associated with the recent volcanic activity on and around Guadeloupe. Based on this regional deformation model, perspectives are given for further integrated investigation of key targets to address the internal structure and evolution of the Lesser Antilles Arc and Guadeloupe volcanic system.
Colloque 2012 du Comité National Français de Géodésie et Géophysique (CNFGG)
Clermont-Ferrand, France

hal-00742653
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00742653
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00742653/document
https://hal-brgm.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00742653/file/CNFGG_Caraibes.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Société géologique de France
Résumé : International audience
Guadeloupe island (West French Indies) is one of the twenty islands that compose the Lesser Antilles arc, which results from the subduction of the Atlantic ocean plate beneath the Caribbean one. The island lies in a complex volcano-tectonic system and the need to understand its geological context has led to numerous on- and offshore geophysical investigations. This work presents a compilation and the processing of available, on-land, airborne and marine, gravity and magnetic data acquired during the last 40 years on Guadeloupe islands and at the scale of the Lesser Antilles arc. The overall dataset provides new Bouguer and reduced to the pole magnetic anomaly maps at the highest achievable resolution. Regionally, the main central negative gravity trend of the arc allows defining two subsident areas. The first one is parallel to the arc direction (~N160°E) to the north, whereas the second unexpected southern one is oriented parallel to oceanic ridges (N130°E). Along the Outer arc, the long wavelength positive anomaly is interpreted, at least along the Karukera spur, as an up-rise of the volcanic basement in agreement with the seismic studies. To the NE of Guadeloupe, the detailed analysis of the geophysical anomalies outlines a series of structural discontinuities consistent with the main bathymetric morphologies, and in continuity of the main fault systems already reported in this area. Based on geophysical evidences, this large scale deformation and faulting of the Outer arc presumably primarily affects the Atlantic subducting plate and secondarily deforms the upper Caribbean plate and the accretion prism, as evidenced in bathymetry as well as on the islands. At the scale of Guadeloupe island, combined gravity and magnetic modeling has been initiated based on existing interpretation of old seismic refraction profiles, with a general structure in three main layers. According to our geophysical anomalies, additional local structures are also modeled in agreement with geological observations: i) the gravity and magnetic signals confirm an up-rise of the volcanic basement below the limestone platforms outcropping on Grande-Terre island ; ii) the ancient volcanic complexes of Basse-Terre island are modeled with high density and reverse magnetized formations; iii) the recent volcanic centre is associated with formations consistent with the low measured density and the underlying hydrothermal system. The E-W models coherently image a NNW-SSE depression structure in half-graben beneath Basse-Terre island, its western scarp following the arc direction in agreement with bathymetric and seismic studies to the north of the island. The so-defined depressed area, and particularly its opening in half-graben toward the SW, is interpreted as the present-day front of deformation of the upper plate, associated with the recent volcanic activity on and around Guadeloupe. Based on this regional deformation model, perspectives are given for further integrated investigation of key targets to address the internal structure and evolution of the Lesser Antilles arc and Guadeloupe volcanic system.
EISSN: 1777-5817

hal-00853352
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00853352
DOI : 10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.77

Éditeur(s) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The opening of the Equatorial and South Atlantic Oceans is still a matter of debate, particularly as concerns the locations of the intraplate deformation. We propose here a critical review of the kinematic models published since Bullard et al., 1965, based on a series of constraints: new interpretation of the magnetic anomalies, seafloor isochrons, flow lines, fracture zones, continental and oceanic homologous structures and radiometric dating of igneous rocks. All of these models present numerous unexplained misfits (gaps, overlaps and misalignments). We present here a new evolution of the Equatorial and South Atlantic Ocean from the tightest reconstruction to Chron C34. This new model confirms the hypothesis of a northward propagation of the South American deformation proposed by Eagles, but rejuvenates slightly the ages for this propagation and refines the plate reconstructions. In particular, we highlight the role of the kinematic "buffer" Santos block, located between the salty Aptian Central segment in the North and the Volcanic Hauterivian Austral segment in the South. The new initial fit presented in this study represents the tightest reconstruction that could be obtained and constitutes the base canvas on which the problem of the continental margin genesis should be addressed.
Earth Science Reviews (0012-8252) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2010 , Vol. 98 , N. 1-2 , P. 1-37

Droits : 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/11160/7883.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.earscirev.2009.08.001
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/11160/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union - AGU
Résumé : IODP Expedition 335 "Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4" returned to ODP Hole 1256D with the intent of deepening this reference penetration of intact ocean crust several hundred meters into cumulate gabbros. This was the fourth cruise of the superfast campaign to understand the formation of oceanic crust accreted at fast spreading ridges, by exploiting the inverse relationship between spreading rate and the depth to low velocity zones seismically imaged at active mid-ocean zones, thought to be magma chambers. Site 1256 is located on 15-million-year-old crust formed at the East Pacific Rise during an episode of superfast ocean spreading (>200 mm/yr full rate). Three earlier cruises to Hole 1256D have drilled through the sediments, lavas and dikes and 100 m into a complex dike-gabbro transition zone. The specific objectives of IODP Expedition 335 were to: (1) test models of magmatic accretion at fast spreading ocean ridges; (2) quantify the vigor of hydrothermal cooling of the lower crust; (3) establish the geological meaning of the seismic Layer 2-3 boundary at Site 1256; and (4) estimate the contribution of lower crustal gabbros to marine magnetic anomalies. It was anticipated that even a shortened IODP Expedition could deepen Hole 1256D a significant distance (300 m) into cumulate gabbros. Operations on IODP Expedition 335 proved challenging from the outset with almost three weeks spent re-opening and securing unstable sections of the Hole. When coring commenced, the destruction of a hard-formation C9 rotary coring bit at the bottom of the hole required further remedial operations to remove junk and huge volumes of accumulated drill cuttings. Hole-cleaning operations using junk baskets returned large samples of a contact-metamorphic aureole between the sheeted dikes and a major heat source below. These large (up to 3.5 kg) irregular samples preserve magmatic, hydrothermal and structural relationships hitherto unseen because of the narrow diameter of drill core and previous poor core recovery. Including the ~60 m-thick zone of granoblastic dikes overlying the uppermost gabbro, the dike-gabbro transition zone at Site 1256 is over 170 m thick, of which more than 100 m are recrystallized granoblastic basalts. This zone records a dynamically evolving thermal boundary layer between the principally hydrothermal domain of the upper crust and a deeper zone of intrusive magmatism. The recovered samples document a sequence of evolving geological conditions and the intimate coupling between temporally and spatially intercalated intrusive, hydrothermal, contact-metamorphic, partial melting and retrogressive processes. Despite the operational challenges, we achieved a minor depth advance to 1522 m, but this was insufficient penetration to complete any of the primary objectives. However, Hole 1256D has been thoroughly cleared of junk and drill cuttings that have hampered operations during this and previous Expeditions. At the end of Expedition 335, we briefly resumed coring and stabilized problematic intervals with cement. Hole 1256D is open to its full depth and ready for further deepening in the near future.
InterRidge News

hal-00688821
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688821

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Evidence of anomalous volcanism is readily observed in the Gulf of Aden, although, much of this oceanic basin remains as yet unmapped. In this paper, we investigate the possible connection of the Afar hotspot with a major off-axis volcanic structure and its interpretation as a consequence of a the anomalous presence of melt by integrating several data sets, both published and unpublished, from the Encens-Sheba cruise, the Aden New Century (ANC) cruise and several other onshore and marine surveys. These include bathymetric, gravity, magnetic, magneto-telluric data, and rock samples. Based upon these observations, interpretations were made of seafloor morphology, gravity and magnetic models, seafloor age, geochemical analyses and tectonic setting. We discuss the possible existence of a regional melting anomaly in the Gulf of Aden area and of the probability of its connection to the Afar plume. Several models that might explain the anomalous volcanism are taken into account, such as a local melting anomaly unrelated to the Afar plume, an anomalously large volume of melt associated with seafloor spreading, and interaction of the ridge with the Afar plume. A local melting anomaly and atypical seafloor spreading prove inconsistent with our observations. Two previously proposed models of plume-ridge interactions are examined: the diffuse plume dispersion called pancaked flow and channelized along-axis flow. We conclude that the configuration and structure of this young ocean basin may have the effect of channeling material away from the Afar plume along the Aden and Sheba Ridges to produce the off-axis volcanism observed on the ridge flanks. This interpretation implies that the influence of the Afar hotspot may extend much farther eastwards into the Gulf of Aden than previously believed. The segmentation of the Gulf of Aden and the configuration of the Aden-Sheba system may provide a potential opportunity to study channeled flow of solid plume mantle from the plume along a segmented ridge and nearby continental margins.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00486140
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00486140
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.036

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD IODP
Résumé : The Superfast Spreading Crust campaign, echoing long-standing ocean lithosphere community endeavors, was designed to help us understand the formation, architecture, and evolution of ocean crust formed at fast spreading rates. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 335, "Superfast Spreading Rate Crust 4" (13 April-3 June 2011), was the fourth scientific drilling cruise of the Superfast Spreading Crust campaign to Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1256D. The expedition aimed to deepen this basement reference site several hundred meters into the gabbroic rocks of intact lower oceanic crust to address the following fundamental scientific questions: Does the lower crust form by subsidence of a crystal mush from a high-level magma chamber (gabbro glacier), by intrusion of sills throughout the lower crust, or by some other mechanism? How does melt percolate through the lower crust, and what are the reactions and chemical evolution of magmas during migration? Is the plutonic crust cooled by conduction or hydrothermal circulation? What are the role and extent of deeply penetrating seawater-derived hydrothermal fluids in cooling the lower crust and the chemical exchanges between the ocean crust and the oceans? What are the relationships among the geological, geochemical, and geophysical structure of the crust and, in particular, the nature of the seismic Layer 2-3 transition? What is the magnetic contribution of the lower crust to marine magnetic anomalies?
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688990

hal-00688990
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00688990
DOI : 10.2204/iodp.pr.335.2011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD IODP
Résumé : Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 335 (14 April–4 June 2011) will be the fourth ocean cruise of the "Superfast" campaign to drill a deep hole into intact oceanic basement and will return to Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1256D to deepen this scientific reference penetration a significant distance into cumulate gabbros. Cores and data recovered during the Superfast 4 expedition will provide hitherto unavailable observations that will test models of the accretion and evolution of the oceanic crust. Site 1256 was specifically located on oceanic crust that formed at a superfast spreading rate (>200 mm/y) to exploit the observed relationship between spreading rate and depth to axial low velocity zones, thought to be magma chambers, seismically imaged at active mid-ocean ridges. This was a deliberate strategy to reduce the drilling distance to gabbroic rocks because thick sequences of lavas and dikes have proved difficult to penetrate in past. ODP Leg 206 (2002) initiated operations at Site 1256, including the installation in Hole 1256D of a reentry cone with 16 inch casing inserted through the 250 m thick sedimentary cover and cemented into basement to facilitate deep drilling. The hole was then cored ~500 m into basement. IODP Expeditions 309 and 312 (2005) successfully completed the first sampling of an intact section of upper oceanic crust from lavas, through the sheeted dikes, and into the upper gabbros. Hole 1256D now penetrates >1500 meters below seafloor (mbsf) and >1250 m subbasement and currently resides in the dike–gabbro transition zone. The first gabbroic rocks were encountered at 1407 mbsf. Below this lies a ~100 m complex zone of fractionated gabbros intruded into contact metamorphosed dikes. Although previous cruises achieved the benchmark objective of reaching gabbro in intact ocean crust, critical scientific questions remain. These include the following: 1. Does the lower crust form by the recrystallization and subsidence of a high-level magma chamber (gabbro glacier), crustal accretion by intrusion of sills throughout the lower crust, or some other mechanism? 2. Is the plutonic crust cooled by conduction or hydrothermal circulation? 3. What is the geological nature of Layer 3 and the Layer 2/3 boundary at Site 1256? 4. What is the magnetic contribution of the lower crust to marine magnetic anomalies? Hole 1256D is poised at a depth where samples that should conclusively address these questions can be obtained, possibly with only a few hundred meters of drilling. Importantly, as of the end of Expedition 312, the hole was clear of debris and open to its full depth. Increased rates of penetration (1.2 m/h) and enhanced core recovery (>35%) in the gabbros indicate that this return to Hole 1256D could deepen the hole >300 m into plutonic rocks, past the transition from dikes to gabbro, and into a region of solely cumulate gabbroic rocks.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00564953

hal-00564953
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00564953
DOI : 10.2204/iodp.sp.335.2010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We report paleomagnetic results from four overlapping stratigraphic sections (55 flows) through the lava pile in Tjörnes peninsula (North Iceland). The initial aim of our study was to check the existence of intermediate directions previously interpreted as belonging to the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal (MBR), and complete this record with Thellier-Thellier paleointensity determinations and 40Ar/39Ar radioisotopic dating. The directional results corroborate the findings by Kristjánsson et al. (1988): a sequence of reversed, transitional, normal, and transitional polarity (R-T-N-T) is found in each section. The polarity change is characterized by a jump from reversed virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) to a quasi-cluster of transitional VGPs located over China, followed by a second jump to a cluster of normal polarity before moving again towards intermediate polarities. Reversely magnetized flows exhibit a magnetic mineralogy well suited for paleointensity determination. Of these 25 flows, 20 yielded paleointensity estimates of good quality. Unfortunately, the systematic presence of coarse multidomain (MD) titanomagnetite in the transitional and normal polarity flows hampered paleointensity estimates for these flows. The Virtual Dipole Moments (VDM) calculated for the reversed polarity flows vary from 4.9 to 7.0 × 1022 Am2 with an arithmetic mean value of 5.5 ± 0.8 × 1022 Am2. This value is identical to the mean VDM obtained for the 0.3-5 Ma time window and thus strengthens the conclusion that the recent geomagnetic field strength is anomalously high compared to that older than 0.3 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar isochron ages were obtained with the incremental heating technique on groundmass separates or phenocryst-poor whole rock samples. Six of the transitionally magnetized lavas yielded isochron ages that are indistinguishable from one another at the 95% confidence level. The weighted average age is 862 ± 51 ka. In the upper part of this volcanic sequence, the normally magnetized flows yielded a weighted average age of 787 ± 40 ka. This finding supports the conclusion that a geomagnetic excursion within the Matuyama chron is recorded in the lower part of the Tjörnes volcanic sequence, whereas only the latest portion of the MBR is recorded by flows in the upper part of the lava pile. This conclusion is supported via comparison of the VGPs obtained from the lavas with those predicted by a geomagnetic field model.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00618515
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618515
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618515/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618515/file/Camps-epsl2011.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.07.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
CK chondrites are highly oxidized meteorites containing abundant magnetite and trace amounts of Fe,Ni metal. Although the group is predominately composed of equilibrated meteorites (types 4-6), in recent years a significant number of new samples have been classified as being either CK3 or CK3-anomalous. These unequilibrated CKs often display a close affinity with members of the CV oxidized subgroup. CKs and CVs (oxidized subgroup) may therefore form a continuum and by implication could be derived from a single common parent body. To investigate the relationship between these two groups a detailed study of the oxygen isotope composition, opaque mineralogy and major and trace element geochemistry of a suite of CV and CK chondrites has been undertaken. The results of oxygen isotope analysis confirm the close affinity between CV and CK chondrites, while excluding the possibility of a linkage between the CO and CK groups. Magnetites in both CV and CK chondrites show significant compositional similarities, but high Ti contents are a diagnostic feature of the latter group. The results of major and trace element analysis demonstrate that both CV and CK chondrites show overlapping variation. Supporting evidence for a single common source for both groups comes from their similar cosmic-ray exposure age distributions. Recent reflectance spectral analysis is consistent with both the CVs and CKs being derived from Eos family asteroids, which are believed to have formed by the catastrophic disruption of a single large asteroid. Thus, a range of evidence appears to be consistent with CV and CK chondrites representing samples from a single thermally stratified parent body. In view of the close similarity between CV and CK chondrites some modification of the present classification scheme may be warranted, possibly involving integration of the two groups. One means of achieving this would be to reassigned CK chondrites to a subgroup of the oxidized CVs. It is recognized that a full evaluation of this proposal may require further study of the still poorly understood CK3 chondrites.
ISSN: 0016-7037

hal-00474633
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00474633
DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2009.11.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option A Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Peridotites exhumed in the footwall of axial detachment faults at slow-spreading ridges are highly serpentinized. Most mid-ocean ridge detachment settings are magmatically active and hydrous fluid circulation in and near the fault has been shown to be influenced by the presence of melt or magmatic lithologies. Our working area along the Southwest Indian Ridge (62–65°E) is nearly amagmatic and represents an end-member to study the hydrous alteration of exhumed peridotites without these magmatic influences. We use an integrated petrological approach combining microstructural, mineralogical and chemical observations to unravel the sequence of serpentinization in 272 dredged samples of variably serpentinized peridotites and to document the circulation of serpentinizing fluids in and near the exhumation faults. We find that serpentine recrystallization and veins overprint the initial serpentinite mesh texture in ∼25% of the samples. Oxygen isotope data suggest that this sequence developed at relatively high temperatures (271–336°C) and under increasing fluid–rock ratios, from near stoichiometry for mesh texture formation to >10 during recrystallization. Increasing fluid supersaturation relative to serpentine favors the replacement of mesh texture lizardite by chrysotile and polygonal or polyhedral serpentine. We attribute local recrystallization into antigorite to moderate Si-metasomatism, possibly following pyroxene serpentinization. We do not observe the more pronounced Si-metasomatism leading to talc replacing serpentine that is reported for the more magmatically active Mid-Atlantic Ridge detachment settings and is attributed to prior leaching of magmatic rocks. Scales of preferential fluid pathways in our samples evolved from pervasive and close-spaced (<500 µm) microfractures during the formation of the initial serpentine mesh texture, to centimeter-thick planar domains of enhanced fluid flux, spaced at ∼10 cm intervals and probably grouped in corridors that may be up to ∼100 m across. Serpentine minerals are enriched in some fluid-mobile elements (Cl, B, U) relative to the peridotite protolith, and several elements (Al, Fe, Si, Cu, As, Sb, REE) are redistributed at the millimeter to decimeter scale. Serpentinizing fluids were seawater-derived, probably mildly alkaline (small to no europium anomalies), reducing and H2-enriched (formation of magnetite). These fluids may have been similar to, though warmer than, those venting at the ultramafic-hosted Lost City hydrothermal fluid (30°N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge).
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-01174047
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174047
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egv014

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

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

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

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