Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
We show here that the Amalaoulaou complex, in the Pan-African belt of West Africa (Gourma, Mali), corresponds to the lower and middle sections of a Neoproterozoic intra-oceanic arc. This complex records a 90-130-Ma-long evolution of magmatic inputs and differentiation above a subducting oceanic slab. Early c. 793 Ma-old metagabbros crystallised at lower crustal or uppermost mantle depths (25-30 km) and have geochemical characteristic of high-alumina basalts extracted from a depleted mantle source slightly enriched by slab-derived sedimentary components ((La/Sm)(N) < 1; epsilon(Nd): +5.4-6.2; Sr-87/Sr-86: 0.7027-0.7029). In response to crustal thickening, these mafic rocks were recrystallised into garnet-granulites (850-1,000A degrees C; 10-12 kbar) and subject to local dehydration-melting reactions, forming trondhjemititic leucosomes with garnet-clinopyroxene-rutile residues. Slightly after the granulitic event, the arc root was subject to strong HT shearing during partial exhumation (detachment faults/rifting or thrusting), coeval with the emplacement of spinel- and garnet-pyroxenite dykes crystallised from a high-Mg andesitic parental magma. Quartz and hornblende-gabbros (700-660 Ma) with composition typical of hydrous volcanic rocks from mature arcs ((La/Sm)(N): 0.9-1.8; epsilon(Nd): +4.6 to +5.2; Sr-87/Sr-86: 0.7028-0.7031) were subsequently emplaced at mid-arc crust levels (similar to 15 km). Trace element and isotopic data indicate that magmas tapped a depleted mantle source significantly more enriched in oceanic sedimentary components (0.2%). Exhumation occurred either in two stages (700-660 and 623 Ma) or in one stage (623 Ma) with a final exhumation of the arc root along cold P-T path (550A degrees C, 6-9 kbar; epidote-amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions) during the main Pan-African collision event (620-580 Ma). The composition of magmas forming the Cryogenian Amalaoulaou arc and the processes leading to intra-arc differentiation are strikingly comparable to those observed in the deep section of exposed Mezosoic oceanic arcs, namely the Kohistan and Talkeetna complex. This evolution of the Amalaoulaou oceanic arc and its accretion towards the West African craton belong to the life and closure of the Pharusian Ocean that eventually led to the formation of the Greater Gondwana supercontinent, a similar story having occurred on the other side of the Sahara with the Mozambique Ocean.
ISSN: 0010-7999

hal-00639447
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00639447
DOI : 10.1007/s00410-011-0624-5

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Sedimentary rocks and detrital minerals sample large areas of the continental crust, and they are increasingly seen as a reliable archive for its global evolution. This study presents two approaches to model the growth of the continental crust through the sedimentary archive. The first builds on the variations in U-Pb, Hf and O isotopes in global databases of detrital zircons. We show that uncertainty in the Hf isotope composition of the mantle reservoir from which new crust separated, in the 176Lu/177Hf ratio of that new crust, and in the contribution in the databases of zircons that experienced ancient Pb loss(es), adds some uncertainty to the individual Hf model ages, but not to the overall shape of the calculated continental growth curves. The second approach is based on the variation of Nd isotopes in 645 worldwide fine-grained continental sedimentary rocks with different deposition ages, which requires a correction of the bias induced by preferential erosion of younger rocks through an erosion parameter referred to as K. This dimensionless parameter relates the proportions of younger to older source rocks in the sediment, to the proportions of younger to older source rocks present in the crust from which the sediment was derived. We suggest that a Hadean/Archaean value of K = 1 (i.e., no preferential erosion), and that post-Archaean values of K = 4–6, may be reasonable for the global Earth system. Models built on the detrital zircon and the fine-grained sediment records independently suggest that at least 65% of the present volume of continental crust was established by 3 Ga. The continental crust has been generated continuously, but with a marked decrease in the growth rate at ~ 3 Ga. The period from > 4 Ga to ~ 3 Ga is characterised by relatively high net rates of continental growth (2.9–3.4 km3 yr− 1 on average), which are similar to the rates at which new crust is generated (and destroyed) at the present time. Net growth rates are much lower since 3 Ga (0.6–0.9 km3 yr− 1 on average), which can be attributed to higher rates of destruction of continental crust. The change in slope in the continental growth curve at ~ 3 Ga is taken to indicate a global change in the way bulk crust was generated and preserved, and this change has been linked to the onset of subduction-driven plate tectonics. At least 100% of the present volume of the continental crust has been destroyed and recycled back into the mantle since ~ 3 Ga, and this time marks a transition in the average composition of new continental crust. Continental crust generated before 3 Ga was on average mafic, dense, relatively thin (< 20 km) and therefore different from the calc-alkaline andesitic crust that dominates the continental record today. Continental crust that formed after 3 Ga gradually became more intermediate in composition, buoyant and thicker. The increase in crustal thickness is accompanied by increasing rates of crustal reworking and increasing input of sediment to the ocean. These changes may have been accommodated by a change in lithospheric strength at around 3 Ga, as it became strong enough to support high-relief crust. This time period therefore indicates when significant volumes of continental crust started to become emergent and were available for erosion and weathering, thus impacting on the composition of the atmosphere and the oceans.
ISSN: 0037-0738

hal-01622696
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01622696
DOI : 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2017.06.001

Éditeur(s) : Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Résumé : The objective of the present work is to study the formation of the passive continental margins of the Central Segment of the South Atlantic, most particularly the Congo and Angola margins. We propose a combined approach, which integrates structural constraints based on geological cross-sections (based on seismic data) and global constraints based on plate kinematic reconstructions. The structural study is based on : i) MCS and refraction data collected during the ZaiAngo programme (a joint project conducted by Ifremer and Total) ; ii) proprietary, industrial seismic data (courtesy of Total) from the Angola margin and iii) on all available seismic lines from the Africa and Brazil conjugated margins, between Walvis Ridge and the Equatorial Fracture Zones. Based on theses data, three structural domains (continental, transitional and oceanic) have been defined, the major characteristics of which are : Crustal thinning occurs abruptly, mostly below the continental slope, over a lateral distance of less than 50 km. The top of the crust deepens as the Moho shallows. Only a few extensional structures are observed ; tilted blocks are very few (one or two, depending on the profile), found only on the upper part of the slope and sealed by a discordance prior to salt deposition. The transitional domain is characterized by the existence of a pre-salt basin lying over a thin crustal layer. No tilted blocks are observed in this domain and reflectors within the pre-salt sediment series are parallel to the base of the Aptian salt, over distances greater than 100 km, precluding the possibility of any significant deformation that would imply large horizontal motions. Two types of crust are observed in the transitional domain. "Type I" crust is found below the undeformed pre-salt sediment series located below the eastern part of the basin ; it is characterized by an upper layer of thickness greater than 5 km and a abnormal velocity layer (7.2 - 7.6 km/s), up to 6 km thick. "Type II" crust is less than 5 km thick and found below the salt compressive front that affects the western part of the basin. The salt cover is continuous (no erosion surface is observed), from the continental shelf to the western termination of the basin. Salt was not deposited in a confined environment (like in the Mediterranean), but in a shallow water, lagunal environment. This imposes the zero-level and constrains the paleo-bathymetry at the time of salt deposition, which dates the latest stage of margin formation. Understanding the formation of a margin cannot be approached without studying the homolog margin. Therefore, it is of major importance to reconstruct the closure of the ocean bordered by these homolog margins and take into account the constraints imposed by the kinematic reconstructions on the lateral motions of the lithospheric plates. In order to assess the relative position of the plates at the ocean closure (prior to crustal thinning), a global study was thus performed, integrating all geophysical and geological constraints, in the ocean and on land. The role of african intra-plate deformation and its limits and their consequences have been thoroughly studied. To juxtapose the margins of the central segment of the Southern Atlantic, it is all the margins bordering the Equatorial Atlantic that need to be adjuste precisely. The kinematic study of this last region shows that the reconstruction obtained are reliable, unambiguous with a quantifiable precision The best fitting poles (obtained using the PLACA software), show that it is impossible to close the margins beyond the superposition of the salt fronts, from the Angola and Brazil margins. The geological cross-sections based on seismic data from the homolog margins indicate that a 330 km wide basin with thin (< 12 km) crust was present at the time of the fit. This basin cannot result from horizontal movement related to pure stretching or simple shear, or any model implying conservative volume. This conclusion is consistent with the existence of presalt reflectors parallel to the salt layer wich extends to the platform: the formation of the pre-salt basin must be related to vertical motions. The scenario that we propose for the evolution of the Congo-Angola margin consist in four stages: the first phase corresponds to extensional deformation limited to the few tilted blocks observed on the upper part of the slope. During the second phase, the main crustal thinning occurs, vertical motions prevailes, resulting in the formation of the continental slope and in the subsidence of the basin. The third phase corresponds to the first stress striction: deformation is concentrated in a limited section of the basin, which corresponds to the salt compression front. A proto-oceanic crust is formed, probably composed of thinned continental crust intruded by mantle material. The second stress striction corresponds to the finale phase, resulting in oceanisation senso stricto. The evolution described shows that we can not apply conservative models for margin formation (such as McKenzie and Wernicke or any of their avatars). In order to explain this thinning, one should investigate non-conservative models (implying geochemical transformation, small scale convection, intrusion...) such as those proposed in marginal or continental basins with no horizontal movments.
Ce travail de thèse aborde la formation des marges continentales passives dans le segment central de l'océan Atlantique Sud (plus particulièrement au Congo et en Angola), en intégrant une étude en coupe (étude structurale à partir des coupes sismiques) et une étude en plan (étude cinématique). L'étude structurale de la marge a été réalisée à partir des données de sismique réflexion et réfraction de la campagne Zaïango et d'une compilation de données sismiques réflexion existantes sur toutes les marges africaine et brésilienne entre les zones de fracture équatoriales et la ride de Walvis. L'interprétation de ces données a permis d'individualiser la structure de la marge en trois domaines : continental, transitionnel et océanique et de déterminer quelques points majeurs sur la structuration de la marge. L'amincissement est abrupt, localisé dans la zone de pente continentale et restreint à 50 km. La marge montre peu de structures distensives : seuls un ou deux blocs basculés sont observés en haut de pente continentale. Le domaine transitionnel est caractérisé par la géométrie particulière de la sédimentation anté-salifère, l'absence de blocs basculés et la faible épaisseur de croûte. La couche sédimentaire anté-salifère montre des réflecteurs plans jusqu'à la base du sel, continus sur 100 km, éliminant toutes possibilités de déformation du socle pendant et après son dépôt. La croûte du domaine transitionnel peut-être divisée en deux types : une croûte de type I sur laquelle se déposent les sédiments non déformés, et une croûte de type II sur laquelle se superposent les limites du « front compressif salifère » bien exprimé dans les séries postsalifères. Enfin le sel, que l'on observe depuis la plate-forme jusqu'au bassin profond, ne se dépose pas dans un bassin confiné (comme en Méditerranée) mais à un niveau proche de 0 m (ressemblant probablement à un dépôt de type lagunaire) et donne la paléo-bathymétrie au moment de son dépôt qui marque la fin de la période de formation de la marge. La compréhension de la genèse d'une marge ne peut être approchée sans son homologue. Cette simple constatation, cette évidence, montre toute l'importance que l'on doit apporter à la reconstruction cinématique initiale de l'océan qui borde ces marges homologues et aux contraintes imposées par les reconstructions cinématiques sur les mouvements horizontaux des plaques lithosphériques. Afin d'étudier la position des marges au moment de cette fermeture, c'est-à-dire avant amincissement, une étude globale intégrant l'ensemble des données disponibles, géophysiques et géologiques, océaniques et continentales, a été réalisée. Le rôle de la déformation intraplaque africaine, ses limites et leurs conséquences a, en particulier, été l'objet d'une attention poussée. Pour juxtaposer les marges du segment central, ce sont toutes les marges de l'océan Atlantique Equatorial qui doivent être ajustées précisément. L'étude cinématique réalisée de la région équatoriale montre que l'on obtient une reconstruction fiable et sans ambiguïté, avec une précision que l'on peut quantifier. Les pôles issus de cette étude (et calculés avec le Logiciel PLACA) indiquent qu'il est impossible d'obtenir une fermeture plus serrée que celle qui conduit à la superposition des fronts salifères brésilien et angolais : les coupes issues de la sismique réflexion des deux marges indiquent qu'il subsiste un bassin aminci, large de plus de 330 km et dont la croûte n'excède jamais 13 kilomètres d'épaisseur. La formation de ce bassin ne peut résulter de mouvements horizontaux, ce qui exclut un amincissement par étirement (pure stretching) ou par l'existence d'une faille de détachement (simple shear) ou par quelque modèle conservatif que ce soit. Cette constatation corrobore l'observation de la présence d'horizons anté-salifère parallèles, entre eux et au sel, couche salifère que l'on retrouve sur la plate-forme : la création de ce bassin anté-salifère ne peut être que liée à un mouvement vertical. Le schéma d'évolution que nous proposons à partir des données structurales et des contraintes cinématiques présente quatre étapes : le premier stade correspond à une phase de déformation distensive limitée aux quelques rares blocs basculés observés en haut de pente continentale. C'est durant la deuxième étape que se déroule la phase d'amincissement principal, les mouvements verticaux prévalent, aboutissant à la formation de la pente continentale et à la subsidence du bassin. La troisième phase correspond à une première striction des contraintes : la déformation se concentre sur une partie réduite du bassin, coïncidant avec le front salifère compressif. Une proto-croûte océanique se forme, probablement composée de croûte continentale amincie et intrudée de matériel mantellique. La seconde striction correspond à la phase finale de formation de la marge et aboutit à l'océanisation sensu stricto. L'étude cinématique et la description de l'évolution de la marge à partir des données sismiques montre donc que l'on ne peut envisager l'application d'un modèle de genèse des marges avec conservation de volume (type McKenzie ou Wernicke et leurs avatars) : pour expliquer l'amincissement du bassin, il faudrait probablement nous intéresser aux modèles non-conservatifs (impliquant transformation, convection à petite échelle, ...) qui sont déjà invoqués pour la formation des bassins marginaux ou continentaux, sans mouvements horizontaux.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2003/these-82.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/82/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
The brittle to ductile transition (BDT) in rocks may strongly influence their transport properties (i.e., permeability, porosity topology ...) and the maximum depth and temperature where hydrothermal fluids may circulate. To examine this transition in the context of Icelandic crust, we conducted deformation experiments on a glassy basalt (GB) and a glass-free basalt (GFB) under oceanic crust conditions. Mechanical and micro-structural observations at a constant strain rate of 10(-5) s(-1) and at confining pressure of 100-300 MPa indicate that the rocks are brittle and dilatant up to 700-800 degrees C. At higher temperatures and effective pressures the deformation mode becomes macroscopically ductile, i.e., deformation is distributed throughout the sample and no localized shear rupture plane develops. The presence of glass is a key component reducing the sample strength and lowering the pressure of the BDT. In the brittle field, strength is consistent with a Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with an internal coefficient of friction of 0.42 for both samples. In the ductile field, strength is strain rate-and temperature-dependent and both samples were characterized by the same stress exponent in the range 3 < n < 4.2 but by very different activation energy Q(GB) = 59 +/- 15 KJ/mol and Q(GFB) = 456 +/- 4 KJ/mol. Extrapolation of these results to the Iceland oceanic crust conditions predicts a BDT at similar to 100 degrees C for a glassy basalt, whereas the BDT might occur in non-glassy basalts at deeper conditions, i.e., temperatures higher than 550 +/- 100 degrees C, in agreement with the Icelandic seismogenic zone.
ISSN: 0148-0227

hal-00760905
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00760905
DOI : 10.1029/2011JB008884

Éditeur(s) : Wiley / Blackwell
Résumé : P>New seismic reflection data from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the Newfoundland Basin add to the growing knowledge of the composition, structure and history of this non-volcanic margin. Geophysical imaging is now approaching the extent of that done previously on the conjugate margin along Iberia, providing a valuable database for the development of rifting models. Two parallel profiles over the shelf platform image deep crustal fabric representing Precambrian or possibly Appalachian deformation as well as Mesozoic extension. Progressively more intense extension of continental crust is imaged oceanwards without the highly reflective detachments frequently seen on profiles off Galicia. A landward-dipping event 'L' is imaged sporadically and appears to be analogous to a similar event on the Iberian IAM9 profile. The transition zone is probably exposed serpentinized mantle as interpreted off the Iberian margin although there appears to be a difference in the character of ridge development and reflectivity. The distinctive 'U' reflection identified previously at the base of the Newfoundland Basin deep water sedimentary section and recently identified as one or more thin basalt sills is imaged on newly presented profiles that connect previously published profiles SCR3 and SCR2 showing that 'U' is highly regular and continuous except where interrupted by basement highs. 'U' is also seen to have a major impact on the ability to image underlying basement. A full transect beginning over completely unextended continental crust through to oceanic crust has provided a data set from which estimates of extension and the pre-rifting location of the present continental edge can be made. Two estimates were obtained; 85 km based on faulting and 120 km based on crustal thickness.
Geophysical Journal International (0956-540X) (Wiley / Blackwell), 2009-08 , Vol. 178 , N. 2 , P. 1004-1020

Droits : 2009 Wiley / Blackwell
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6919.pdf
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04162.x
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6919/

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
IODP Site U1309 was drilled at Atlantis Massif, an oceanic core complex, at 30 degrees N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). We present the results of a bulk rock geochemical study (major and trace elements) carried out on 228 samples representative of the different lithologies sampled at this location. Over 96% of Hole U1309D is made up of gabbroic rocks. Diabases and basalts cross-cut the upper part of the section; they have depleted MORB compositions similar to basalts sampled at MAR 30 degrees N. Relics of mantle were recovered at shallow depth. Mantle peridotites show petrographic and geochemical evidence of extensive melt-rock interactions. Gabbroic rocks comprise: olivine-rich troctolites (>70% modal olivine) and troctolites having high Mg# (82-89), high Ni (up to 2300 ppm) and depleted trace element compositions (Yb 0.06-0.8 ppm); olivine gabbros and gabbros (including gabbronorites) with Mg# of 60-86 and low trace element contents (Yb 0.125-2.5 ppm); and oxide gabbros and leucocratic dykes with low Mg# (<50), low Ni (similar to 65 ppm) and high trace element contents (Yb up to 26 ppm). Troctolites and gabbros are amongst the most primitive and depleted oceanic gabbroic rocks. The main geochemical characteristics of Site U1309 gabbroic rocks are consistent with a formation as a cumulate sequence after a common parental MORB melt, although (lack of systematic) downhole variations indicate that the gabbroic series were built by multiple magma injections. In detail, textural and geochemical variations in olivine-rich troctolites and gabbronorites suggest chemical interaction (assimilation?) between the parental melt and the intruded lithosphere. Site U1309 gabbroic rocks do not represent the complementary magmatic product of 30 degrees N volcanics, although they sample the same mantle source. The bulk trace element composition of Site U1309 gabbroic rocks is similar to primitive MORB melt compositions; this implies that there was no large scale removal of melts from this gabbro section. The occurrence of such a large magmatic sequence implies that a high magmatic activity is associated with the formation of Atlantis Massif. Our results suggest that almost all melts feeding this magmatic system stays trapped into the intruded lithosphere.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00413562
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413562
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.034

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD 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 Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Tethyan ophiolites show an apparent poorly organized association of ultramafic andmafic rocks. By contrast tothe complete mantle-crustal sections of Semail-type ophiolite sheets, Tethyan ophiolites are characterized by asmaller amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by thefrequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associatedgabbroic intrusions. Therefore, they are considered as typical remnants of oceanic lithosphere formed in slowspreadingenvironment or in ocean–continent transition at distal passive margins. In the very first models offormation of the Tethyan ophiolites, in the years 1980, the geodynamical processes leading to mantle unroofingwere poorly understood due to the paucity of data and concepts available at that time from the present-dayoceans. In particular, at that time, little work had focused on the distribution, origin and significance ofmafic rocks with respect to the dominant surrounding ultramafics. Here, we reconsider the geology of sometypical metaophiolites from the Western Alps and Corsica, and we show how results from the past decadeobtained in the current oceans ask for reassessing the significance of the Tethyan ophiolites in general. Revisitedexamples include a set of representative metaophiolites from the blueschists units of the Western Alps (Queyrasregion) and from Alpine Corsica (Golo Valley). Field relationships between the ophiolitic basement andthe metasedimentary/metavolcanic oceanic cover are described, outlining a typical character of the Tethyanophiolite lithological associations. Jurassic marbles and polymictic ophiolite metabreccias are unconformablyoverlying the mantle-gabbo basement, in a way strictly similar to what is observed in the non-metamorphicAppennine ophiolites or Chenaillet massif. This confirms that very early tectonic juxtaposition of ultramafic andmafic rocks occurred in the oceanic domain before subduction. This juxtaposition resulted from tectonic activitythat is now assigned to the development of detachment faults and to the formation of Oceanic Core Complexes(OCCs) at the axis of slow spreading ridges. This fundamental Plate Tectonics process is responsible for the exhumationand for the axial denudation of mantle rocks and gabbros at diverging plate boundaries. In addition, fieldrelationships between the discontinuous basaltic formations and the ultramafic–mafic basement indicate that thistectonic stage is followed or not by a volcanic stage.We discuss this issue in the light of available field constraints.
ISSN: 0012-8252

insu-01096467
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01096467/file/Lagabrielle-EarthSciRev-2014.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.11.004

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

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

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1256D reached for the first time the transition zone between the sheeted dike complex and the uppermost gabbros. The recovered crustal section offers a unique opportunity to study the deepest part of the hydrothermal system in present-day oceanic crust. We present a structural analysis of electrical borehole wall images. We identified, and measured the orientations of four categories of structures: major faults, minor fractures, possibly hydrothermal veins, and dikes. All structures tend to strike parallel to the paleo-ridge axis. Three major fault zones (meter thick) and dikes are steeply dipping (~ 75° on average) outward the ridge. Centimeter-thick moderately conductive planar features are interpreted as hydrothermal veins, are organized in arrays of consistent spacing, thickness, and orientation, and are dipping about 15-20° toward the ridge. This structural pattern is interpreted as an on-axis paleohydrothermal circulation system, with vertical, dike-parallel fractures, and sub-horizontal high-temperature hydrothermal veins at the base of the sheeted dike, which was subsequently rotated ~ 15° westward around a ridge-parallel, sub-horizontal axis. This rotation can be caused by upper-crustal block rotation along a listric normal fault, and/or subsidence at the ridge axis.
Ofioliti

hal-00757592
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00757592
DOI : 10.4454/ofioliti.v37i1.402

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) : Elsevier Science Bv
Résumé : The breakup of Pangea and onset of growth of the Pacific plate led to several paleoenvironmental feedbacks, which radically affected paleoclimate and ocean chemistry during the Jurassic. Overall, this period was characterized by intense volcanic degassing from large igneous provinces and circum-Panthalassan arcs, new oceanic circulation patterns, and changes in heat and humidity transports affecting continental weathering. Few studies, however, have attempted to unravel the global interactions linking these processes over the long-term. In this paper, we address this question by documenting the global changes in continental drainage and surface oceanic circulation for the whole Jurassic period. For this purpose, we present 53 new neodymium isotope values (εNd(t)) measured on well-dated fossil fish teeth, ichthyosaur bones, phosphatized nodules, phosphatized ooids, and clastic sediments from Europe, western Russia, and North America. Combined with an extensive compilation of published εNd(t) data, our results show that the continental sources of Nd were very heterogeneous across the world. Volcanic inputs from a Jurassic equivalent of the modern Pacific Ring of Fire contributed to radiogenic εNd(t) values (− 4 ε-units) in the Panthalassa Ocean. For the Tethyan Ocean, the average surface seawater signal was less radiogenic in the equatorial region (− 6.3), and gradually lower toward the epicontinental peri-Tethyan (− 7.4), western Russian (− 7.4) and Euro-Boreal seas (− 8.6). Different Nd sources contributed to this disparity, with radiogenic Nd influxes from westward Panthalassan currents or juvenile volcanic arcs in open oceanic domains, and substantial unradiogenic inputs from old Laurasian and Gondwanan shields for the NW Tethyan platforms. Overall, the εNd(t) values of Euro-Boreal, peri-Tethyan, and western Russian waters varied quite similarly through time, in response to regional changes in oceanic circulation, paleoclimate, continental drainage, and volcanism. Three positive shifts in εNd(t) values occurred successively in these epicontinental seas during the Pliensbachian, in the Aalenian-Bathonian interval, and in the mid-Oxfordian. The first and third events are interpreted as regional incursions of warm surface radiogenic currents from low latitudes. The Aalenian-Bathonian shift seems linked to volcanic outbursts in the NW Tethys and/or circulation of deep currents resulting from extensional events in the Hispanic Corridor and reduced influences of boreal currents crossing the Viking Corridor. In contrast, the εNd(t) signals decreased and remained very low (< − 8) during the global warming events of the Toarcian and Late Oxfordian - Early Tithonian intervals. In these greenhouse contexts, a latitudinal expansion of humid belts could have extended the drainage pathways toward boreal Nd sources of Precambrian age and increased the supply of very unradiogenic crustal-derived inputs to seawater. Finally, a brief negative εNd(t) excursion recorded in parallel with regional drops in seawater temperature suggests that southward circulation of cold unradiogenic Arctic waters occurred in the NW Tethys in the Callovian - Early Oxfordian. All these results show that changes in surface oceanic circulation resulting from the Pangean breakup could have regionally impacted the evolution of seawater temperatures in the NW Tethys.
Gondwana Research (1342-937X) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2015-06 , Vol. 27 , N. 4 , P. 1599-1615

Droits : 2014 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00179/29015/27443.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.gr.2014.02.006
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00179/29015/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : East African Rift (EAR) is the divergent plate boundary. EAR exposes different stages of extension, from early stage rifting in Tanzania to oceanic accretion in Afar (Ethiopia). Manyara basin is the southernmost rift system of the east branch of EAR with recent volcanism (< 1.5 Ma) and a seismic swarm in the lower crust (20 – 40 km). Due to its location and tectonic setting, the Manyara basin offers the opportunity to study the earliest stage of rift initiation. Manyara volcanism is composed of several types of hyper-alkaline lavas as Mg-nephelinites (Mg# > 55) (Labait, Kwaraha), calciocarbonatite (Kwaraha) and evolved nephelinites (Mg# < 35) (Hanang).Mg-nephelinites (Labait and Kwaraha) are primary lavas mainly composed of olivine and clinopyroxene (cpx). Geochemical modelling from trace elements suggests that these primary magmas result from a degree of partial melting < 1 % from a CO2-garnet-phlogopite-bearing peridotite. These magmas have an asthenospheric source at depth > 120 km (lava carries xenoliths with equilibrium conditions > 4 GPa). The minerals were crystallized from a magma with a low H2O content (0.1 and 0.5 wt% H2O). The calciocarbonatite and evolved nephelinites are derived from Mg-nephelinites by fractional crystallization and immiscibility processes. Hanang nephelinites are silica- and alkaline-rich lavas (44.2 – 46.7 wt % SiO2, 9.5 –12.1 wt % Na2O+K2O, respectively) composed by cpx, Ti-garnet, nepheline, apatite and titanite. Complex zonation of cpx (e.g. abrupt change of Mg#, Nb/Ta, and H2O) and trace element patterns of nephelinites record magmatic differentiation involving open system with carbonate-silicate immiscibility and primary melt replenishment. The low H2O content of cpx (3 – 25 ppm wt. H2O) indicates that at least 0.3 wt % H2O was present at depth during carbonate-rich nephelinite crystallization at 340 – 640 MPa and 1050 – 1100 °C. The study of hosted-nepheline melt inclusions from Hanang allows constraining the late magmatic evolution of nephelinites during storage and magma ascent. Melt inclusions are composed by a silicate trachytic glass, a carbonate phase and a shrinkage bubble. Trachytic glass contains high content in CO2 (0.43 wt %, SIMS analyses), sulfur (0.21 – 0.92 wt % S), chlorine (0.28 –0.84 wt % Cl) and H2O low content (< 0.1 wt %, Raman analyses). Immiscibility process leading to the formation of carbonate occurs in a closed system during rapid magma ascent between 200 – 500 MPa. The carbonate phase is a Ca-Na-K-S-rich and anhydrous carbonate (33 wt % CaO, 20 wt % Na2O, 3 wt % K2O, and 3 wt % S). The pre-immiscible liquid has a phonolitic composition with 6 ± 1.5 wt % CO2 at 700 MPa. A preliminary study of melt inclusions by XANES spectroscopy and whole rocks by Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to determine these Manyara lavas were formed at oxidizing conditions (~ ΔFMQ +1.5).The early stage rifting volcanism (Manyara Basin) is characterized by CO2-rich and H2O-poor magmas from at least 120 km below the rift escarpment. The presence of CO2-rich magmas and the small amount of volcanic rocks erupted at the surface may indicate that the storage and percolation of these magmas at depth is a potential trigger for deep seismic swarms.
Le rift Est africain (REA) est une frontière de plaque en extension. Ce rift présente plusieurs stades d’extension, de l’initiation du rift en Tanzanie jusqu’à l’accrétion océanique en Afar. Le bassin de Manyara se situe le plus au sud de branche Est du REA. Il est caractérisé par la présence de volcanisme récent (< 1,5 Ma) et d’un essaim sismique dans la croûte inférieure (20 – 40 km). De par sa localisation et son contexte tectonique, le bassin de Manyara offre l’opportunité d’étudier le stade le plus précoce de l’initiation du rift. Le bassin de Manyara est composé de plusieurs types de laves hyperalcalines, les néphélinites magnésiennes (Mg# > 55) (Labait, Kwaraha), de calciocarbonatite (Kwaraha) et des néphélinites différenciées (Mg# < 35) (Hanang).Les néphélinites magnésiennes (Labait et Kwaraha) sont des laves primaires composées d’olivines et de clinopyroxènes (cpx). La modélisation géochimique des éléments en trace suggère que ces magmas primaires résultent d'un degré de fusion partielle ≤ 1 % à partir d'une péridotite à grenat et phlogopite. Ces magmas proviennent d’une profondeur > 120 km (présence de xénolites avec des conditions d’équilibre > 4 GPa). Les minéraux ont cristallisés à partir d’un magma pauvre en eau (0,1 et 0,5 pds % H2O). La calciocarbonatite et les néphélinites différenciés sont issues des néphélinites magnésiennes par cristallisation fractionnée et processus d’immiscibilité. Les néphélinites du Hanang sont riches en éléments alcalins (9,5 – 12,1 pds % Na2O+K2O) et en silice (44,2 – 46,7 pds% SiO2) et sont composés de cpx, grenat, néphéline, titanite et apatite. La zonation complexe dans les cpx (par exemple, changement brusque de Mg#, Nb/Ta, et H2O) implique une différenciation magmatique en système ouvert avec immiscibilité de liquide carbonaté et silicaté ainsi qu’un remplissage de la chambre magmatique avec des liquides primaires. La faible teneur en eau des cpx (3 – 25 ppm H2O) indique la présence d’un magma pauvre en eau (0,3 pds % H2O) lors de la cristallisation des cpx à des conditions crustales (340 – 640 MPa et 1050 – 1100 °C). L’étude des inclusions vitreuses dans les néphélines de Hanang permet de contraindre l'évolution magmatique tardive des néphélinites et le comportement des éléments volatils (CO2, H2O, S, F, Cl) lors du stockage et de la remontée du magma. Les inclusions vitreuses sont composées d’un verre trachytique, d’une phase carbonatée et d’une bulle de rétraction. Le verre trachytique contient du CO2 (0,43 pds % CO2, analyses SIMS), du soufre (0,21 à 0,92 pds% S), du chlore (0,28 – 0,84 pds % Cl) et très peu d’H2O (< 0,1 pds % H2O, analyses Raman). Le processus d’immiscibilité conduisant à la formation du carbonate se produit dans un système fermé pendant l'ascension rapide du magma, entre 200 – 500 MPa. La phase carbonatée est un carbonate anhydre et riche en Ca-Na-K-S (33 pds % CaO, 20 pds % Na2O, 3 pds % K2O, et 3 pds % S). Le liquide pré-immiscible a une composition phonolitique avec 6 ± 1,5 pds % CO2 à une pression de 700 MPa. Une étude préliminaire des inclusions par spectroscopie XANES et des roches par spectroscopie Mössbauer a permis de déterminer que les laves de Manyara se sont formées à conditions oxydantes (~ ∆FMQ +1,5).À l’initiation du rift, le volcanisme dans le bassin de Manyara est caractérisé par des magmas riches en CO2 et pauvres en H2O issus d’au moins 120 km de profondeur sous l'escarpement du rift. La présence de ces magmas riches en CO2 et la faible quantité de roches volcaniques émises à la surface peuvent indiquer que le piégeage et la percolation de ces magmas en profondeur est un déclencheur potentiel des essaims sismiques profonds.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231

NNT : 2016MONTT114
tel-01563231
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231v2/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01563231/file/2016_BAUDOUIN_archivage.pdf

Éditeur(s) : North-Holland Publishing Company
Résumé : The Rift Valley between 36° 42'N and 36° 55'N in the Atlantic Ocean is 31 km wide, with half-widths of 12 and 19 km for the western and eastern sides respectively. Both outer edges of the Rift Valley stand about 1500 m above an Inner Floor where very fresh pillow lavas occur. The Inner Floor probably includes the locus of new crust ; and its bordering slopes, which are particularly well-defined on the western side, limit to less than about 2.5 km the width of the zone over which new crust may have evolved with little or no vertical displacement. The width of the locus of new crust may be less than 0.5 km between 36° 45'N and 36° 47'N, where the deepest slopes of the Rift Valley walls nearly merge. Near 36° 50'N, the Inner Floor accommodates an approximately 1 km wide, 4 km long Central High, with a height of up to 250 m. In this area, the locus of new crust may also occupy a very narrow zone ; it may lie either along the Central High or along a trough flanking the Central High. The magnetic anomaly pattern indicates that, since the beginning of the Brunhes epoch (6.9 X 10(5) yr B.P.), the eastern limb has grown approximately twice as fast as the western limb. Using extrapolated spreading rates, the ages of the outer edges of the Rift Valley are 1.3 and 1.7 m.y. for the eastern and western sides respectively. Comparison with data for the Rift Valley in other parts of the ocean further suggests that the residence time of new crust in the Rift Valley is about 1.5 m.y. Uplift of crust from the Inner Floor, which may be dominated by lithospheric thickening, may thus be primarily a function of age. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]
Earth and Planetary Science Letters (North-Holland Publishing Company), 1974 , Vol. 22 , P. 29-43

Droits : North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1974/publication-5159.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/5159/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD The Geochemical Society of Japan
Résumé : International audience
The Western Cordillera of Ecuador consists of Cretaceous crustal fragments of oceanic plateaux and superimposed insular arcs, which were accreted to the northwestern South American margin during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. Slices of high-grade metabasites, ultramafic rocks, gabbros and basalts, unmetamorphosed radiolarian cherts and scarce garnet-bearing metasediments were randomly exhumed along Miocene to Recent transcurrent faults crosscutting the Western Cordillera. The basalts show geochemical characteristics of oceanic plateau basalts (flat REE patterns, La/Nb = 0.85). The gabbros differ from the basalts in having lower REE levels, positive Eu anomalies, and negative Nb and Ta anomalies; they are interpreted as resulting from arc magmatism. The amphibolites and banded amphibolites have major and trace element chemistry similar to that of oceanic plateau basalts (flat REE patterns, La/Nb = 0.86) or to cumulate gabbros. The granulite shares with oceanic plateaus similar trace element chemistry (flat REE patterns, La/Nb < 1) and εNdi values (+7.6). Continent-derived metasediments are depleted in heavy REE (La/Y = 4.8) and have a negative Eu anomaly. Foliated lherzolites, melagabbronorites and pyroxenites consist of serpentinized olivine + cpx + opx ± Ca-plagioclase. Lherzolites, melagabbronorites and pyroxenites are LREE depleted with positive Eu anomalies, while the harzburgite displays a U-shaped REE pattern. The trace element abundances of the ultramafic rocks are very low (0.1 to 1 times the chondritic and primitive mantle values). The ultramafic rocks represent fragments of depleted mantle, deformed cpx-rich cumulate, and continental lithospheric mantle or mantle contaminated by subduction-fluid. Except the scarce quartz-rich metasediments, all these rocks likely represent remnants of accreted oceanic crustal fragments and associated depleted mantle. Since these samples were randomly sampled at depth by the fault, we propose that the Western Cordillera and its crustal root are mainly of oceanic nature.
ISSN: 0016-7002

insu-00679228
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00679228

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) is the most abundant magma on Earth, and provides a geochemical window into the mantle. Deriving mantle composition and melting processes from the erupted lavas requires correction to be made for their evolution as they pass through and generate the oceanic crust. This is typically done by assuming that modification of melts in crustal magma chambers occurs exclusively by fractional crystallisation. However, extensive mineral major- and trace element data from a full section of fast-spread lower crustal rocks exposed in Hess Deep (equatorial Pacific Ocean) demonstrate that their evolution is instead controlled by reactive porous flow. These reactions lead to a strong enrichment in, and fractionation of, incompatible trace elements in the melt (as recorded by clinopyroxene compositions), leading to melt compositions far outside of the compositional realm of MORB both in terms of trace element abundances and ratios. The reactive signature increases in strength up section, peaking in varitextured gabbros interpreted to represent the fossilised axial melt lens, indicating that reactive porous flow occurred on the scale of the entire lower crust. The enrichment of the melt is coupled with a strong trace element depletion of plagioclase, olivine, and, to a lesser extent, clinopyroxene cores, suggesting that these phases represent the residues of the reactions from which trace elements have been removed. The dominant role of reactive porous flow, and the resulting deviations from fractional crystallisation predictions, suggest that the lower oceanic crust plays a much more complex and significant role in modifying the compositions of MORB than previously expected, with consequent implications for models of mantle processes.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00814075
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00814075
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.012

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : We designed a thermo-mechanical numerical model for fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge with variable viscosity, hydrothermal cooling, latent heat release, sheeted dyke layer, and variable melt intrusion possibilities. The model allows for modulating several accretion possibilities such as the "gabbro glacier" (G), the "sheeted sills" (S) or the "mixed shallow and MTZ lenses" (M). These three crustal accretion modes have been explored assuming viscosity contrasts of 2 to 3 orders of magnitude between strong and weak phases and various hydrothermal cooling conditions depending on the cracking temperatures value. Mass conservation (stream-function), momentum (vorticity) and temperature equations are solved in 2-D cartesian geometry using 2-D, alternate direction, implicit and semi-implicit finite-difference scheme. In a first step, an Eulerian approach is used solving iteratively the motion and temperature equations until reaching steady states. With this procedure, the temperature patterns and motions that are obtained for the various crustal intrusion modes and hydrothermal cooling hypotheses display significant differences near the mid-ocean ridge axis. In a second step, a Lagrangian approach is used, recording the thermal histories and cooling rates of tracers travelling from the ridge axis to their final emplacements in the crust far from the mid-ocean ridge axis. The results show that the tracer's thermal histories are depending on the temperature patterns and the crustal accretion modes near the mid-ocean ridge axis. The instantaneous cooling rates obtained from these thermal histories betray these discrepancies and might therefore be used to characterize the crustal accretion mode at the ridge axis. These deciphering effects are even more pronounced if we consider the average cooling rates occurring over a prescribed temperature range. Two situations were tested at 1275-1125 °C and 1050-850 °C. The first temperature range covers mainly the crystallization range that is characteristic of the high temperature areas in the model (i.e. the near-mid-oceanic-ridge axis). The second temperature range corresponds to areas in the model where the motion is mainly laminar and the vertical temperature profiles are closer to conductive. Thus, this situation results in less discriminating efficiency among the crustal accretion modes since the thermal and dynamic properties that are described are common to all the crustal accretion modes far from the ridge axis. The results show that numerical modeling of thermo-mechanical properties of the lower crusts may bring useful information to characterize the ridge accretion structure, hydrothermal cooling and thermal state at the fast-spreading ridges and may open discussions with petrological cooling rate results.
ISSN: 1991-959X

hal-00907012
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00907012
DOI : 10.5194/gmd-6-1659-2013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
Résumé : In this report we present the results of laboratory measurements carried out to explore the electrical properties of gabbroic and troctolitic samples from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Hole U1309D in the Atlantis Massif, an oceanic core complex located at 30°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Oceanic core complexes are presumably localized in portions of heterogeneous oceanic crust that are relatively rich in igneous rocks and are the locus of significant hydrothermal activity. Electrical properties of igneous rocks are used to discuss the rocks' porosity structure as a function of mineralogy, alteration processes, and deformation. Electrical properties of the gabbroic suites sampled during IODP Expedition 304/305 can contribute to the understanding of these processes in the Atlantis Massif. We present the full suite of electrical data together with density and porosity measurements on the same suite of samples.
ISSN: 1930-1014

hal-00464179
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00464179
DOI : 10.2204/iodp.proc.304305.204.2009