Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : Mantle xenoliths in Pliocene alkali basalts of the eastern Betics (SE Iberia, Spain) are spinel ± plagioclase lherzolite, with minor harzburgite and wehrlite, displaying porphyroclastic or equigranular textures. Equigranular peridotites have olivine crystal preferred orientation (CPO) patterns similar to those of porphyroclastic xenoliths but slightly more dispersed. Olivine CPO shows [100]-fiber patterns characterized by strong alignment of [100]-axes subparallel to the stretching lineation and a girdle distribution of [010]-axes normal to it. This pattern is consistent with simple shear or transtensional deformation accommodated by dislocation creep. One xenolith provides evidence for synkinematic reactive percolation of subduction-related Si-rich melts/fluids that resulted in oriented crystallization of orthopyroxene. Despite a seemingly undeformed microstructure, the CPO in orthopyroxenite veins in composite xenoliths is identical to those of pyroxenes in the host peridotite, suggesting late-kinematic crystallization. Based on these observations, we propose that the annealing producing the equigranular microstructures was triggered by melt percolation in the shallow subcontinental lithospheric mantle coeval to the late Neogene formation of veins in composite xenoliths. Calculated seismic properties are characterized by fast propagation of P waves and polarization of fast S waves parallel to olivine [100]-axis (stretching lineation). These data are compatible with present-day seismic anisotropy observations in SE Iberia if the foliations in the lithospheric mantle are steeply dipping and lineations are subhorizontal with ENE strike, implying dominantly horizontal mantle flow in the ENE-WSW direction within vertical planes, that is, subparallel to the paleo-Iberian margin. The measured anisotropy could thus reflect a lithospheric fabric due to strike-slip deformation in the late Miocene in the context of WSW tearing of the subducted south Iberian margin lithosphere.
ISSN: 0278-7407

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
hal-01685809
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685809
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685809/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01685809/file/Hidas_et_al-2016-Tectonics.pdf
DOI : 10.1002/2016TC004165

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
The 1415 m deep IODP Hole U1309D (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30 degrees N) is the second deepest hole drilled into slow spreading oceanic lithosphere. The recovered section comprises essentially gabbroic rocks, with a large range of compositions. The most primitive end-members of the gabbroic sequence, herein referred to as olivine-rich troctolites (ol > similar to 70%), have textures and geochemical compositions intermediate between that of mantle peridotites and primitive cumulates, indicative of melt impregnation processes. We carried out a detailed microstructural study to further characterize the petrogenetic processes leading to their formation, as well as discuss their mode of emplacement and relationship with neighboring mantle lithosphere. In olivine-rich troctolites, olivines range from coarse-grained subhedral crystals, commonly containing well-developed subgrains, to medium-grained rounded crystals with fewer or no substructures. They are embedded in large, undeformed pyroxene and plagioclase poikiloblasts. Olivine substructures reveal dislocation creep that is consistent with activation of the main high-temperature slip systems, dominantly (010)[100]. Olivine crystallographic preferred orientation is very weak but generally shows a relatively stronger, uncommon [001] concentration. These unusual olivine fabrics are interpreted as resulting from melt impregnation of a previously deformed olivine matrix: the solid olivine framework is disrupted by olivine corrosion along grain and subgrain boundaries, and the high-temperature plastic fabric is modified in a liquid-dominated regime. Based on mineral composition and fabrics and in comparison with what is observed in impregnated mantle rocks elsewhere, we posit that olivine represents relicts of mantle peridotites disaggregated by large melt influx, although the mantle origin of olivine is not unequivocally demonstrated yet. Whatever the initial lithology, impregnation by large volumes of melt has strongly modified the original composition and microstructure. If the mantle origin hypothesis is correct, the original olivine fabric could have been efficiently weakened by dunitization prior to disruption of the olivine framework by melt impregnation. Incorporation, at the base of the lithosphere, of small slivers of impregnated dunite into gabbroic sections, trapped between successive igneous units, may be a common mechanism of lower crustal accretion at slow spreading ridges. Extensive melt-rock interaction processes are expected to contribute significantly to the final chemical composition of erupted lavas.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00496391
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00496391
DOI : 10.1029/2009GC002995

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : International audience
We calculated the seismic properties of 47 mantle xenoliths from 9 kimberlitic pipes in the Kaapvaal craton based on their modal composition, the crystal-preferred orientations (CPO) of olivine, ortho- and clinopyroxene, and garnet, the Fe content of olivine, and the pressures and temperatures at which the rocks were equilibrated. These data allow constraining the variation of seismic anisotropy and velocities within the cratonic mantle. The fastest P and S2 wave propagation directions and the polarization of fast split shear waves (S1) are always subparallel to olivine [100] axes of maximum concentration, which marks the lineation (fossil flow direction). Seismic anisotropy is higher for high olivine contents and stronger CPO. Maximum P wave azimuthal anisotropy (AVp) ranges between 2.5 and 10.2% and the maximum S wave polarization anisotropy (AVs), between 2.7 and 8%. Changes in olivine CPO symmetry result in minor variations in the seismic anisotropy patterns, mainly in the apparent isotropy directions for shear wave splitting. Seismic properties averaged over 20 km-thick depth sections are, therefore, very homogeneous. Based on these data, we predict the anisotropy that would be measured by SKS, Rayleigh (SV) and Love (SH) waves for five endmember orientations of the foliation and lineation. Comparison to seismic anisotropy data from the Kaapvaal shows that the coherent fast directions, but low delay times imaged by SKS studies, and the low azimuthal anisotropy with with the horizontally polarized S waves (SH) faster than the vertically polarized S wave (SV) measured using surface waves are best explained by homogeneously dipping (45°) foliations and lineations in the cratonic mantle lithosphere. Laterally or vertically varying foliation and lineation orientations with a dominantly NW-SE trend might also explain the low measured anisotropies, but this model should also result in backazimuthal variability of the SKS splitting data, not reported in the seismological data. The strong compositional heterogeneity of the Kaapvaal peridotite xenoliths results in up to 3% variation in density and in up to 2.3% variation of Vp, Vs, and Vp / Vs ratio. Fe depletion by melt extraction increases Vp and Vs, but decreases the Vp / Vs ratio and density. Orthopyroxene enrichment due to metasomatism decreases the density and Vp, strongly reducing the Vp / Vs ratio. Garnet enrichment, which was also attributed to metasomatism, increases the density, and in a lesser extent Vp and the Vp / Vs ratio. Comparison of density and seismic velocity profiles calculated using the xenoliths' compositions and equilibration conditions to seismological data in the Kaapvaal highlights that (i) the thickness of the craton is underestimated in some seismic studies and reaches at least 180 km, (ii) the deep sheared peridotites represent very local modifications caused and oversampled by kimberlites, and (iii) seismological models probably underestimate the compositional heterogeneity in the Kaapvaal mantle root, which occurs at a scale much smaller than the one that may be sampled seismologically.
ISSN: 1869-9510

hal-01053516
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053516
DOI : 10.5194/se-5-45-2014

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The lithospheric mantle is intrinsically heterogeneous and anisotropic. These two properties govern the repartition of deformation, controlling intraplate strain localization and development of new plate boundaries. Geophysical and geological observations provide clues on the types, ranges, and characteristic length scales of heterogeneity and anisotropy in the lithospheric mantle. Seismic tomography points to variations in geothermal gradient and hence in rheological behavior at scales of hundreds of km. Seismic anisotropy data substantiate anisotropic physical properties consistent at scales of tens to hundreds of km. Receiver functions imply lateral and vertical heterogeneity at scales < 10 km, which might record gradients in composition or anisotropy. Observations on naturally deformed peridotites establish that compositional heterogeneity and Crystal Preferred Orientations (CPOs) are ubiquitous from the mm to the km scales. These data allow discussing the processes that produce/destroy heterogeneity and anisotropy and constraining the time scales over which they are active. This analysis highlights: (i) the role of deformation and reactive percolation of melts and fluids in producing compositional and structural heterogeneity and the feedbacks between these processes, (ii) the weak mechanical effect of mineralogical variations, and (iii) the low volumes of fine-grained microstructures and difficulty to preserve them. In contrast, olivine CPO and the resulting anisotropy of mechanical and thermal properties are only modified by deformation. Based on this analysis, we propose that strain localization at the plate scale is, at first order, controlled by large-scale variations in thermal structure and in CPO-induced anisotropy. In cold parts of the lithospheric mantle , grain size reduction may contribute to strain localization, but the low volume of fine-grained domains limits this effect.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01277174
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277174
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2015.07.026

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Reactivation of structures inherited from previous collisional or rifting events, especially lithospheric-scale faults, is a major feature of plate tectonics. Its expression ranges from continental break-up along ancient collisional belts(1,2) to linear arrays of intraplate magmatism and seismicity(3,4). Here we use multiscale numerical models to show that this reactivation can result from an anisotropic mechanical behaviour of the lithospheric mantle due to an inherited preferred orientation of olivine crystals. We explicitly consider an evolving anisotropic viscosity controlled by the orientation of olivine crystals in the mantle. We find that strain is localized in domains where shear stresses on the inherited mantle fabric are high, and that this leads to shearing parallel to the inherited fabric. During rifting, structural reactivation induced by anisotropy results in oblique extension, followed by either normal extension or failure. Our results suggest that anisotropic viscosity in the lithospheric mantle controls the location and orientation of intraplate deformation zones that may evolve into new plate boundaries, and causes long-lived lithospheric-scale wrench faults, contributing to the toroidal component of plate motions on Earth.
ISSN: 1752-0894

hal-00413033
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00413033
DOI : 10.1038/ngeo528

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Before attaining the mantle wedge, where they trigger partial melting, volatiles released from dehydration reactions in the slab have to migrate across a relatively cold (<750 degrees C), peridotite-layer above the incoming slab. In order to unravel the mechanisms allowing for this initial stage of fluid transport, we performed a detailed field and microstructural study of metamorphic prograde peridotites in the Cerro del Almirez ultramafic massif (Betic Cordillera, Spain), where evidences of one of the most important dehydration reactions in subduction zones, the high-pressure antigorite breakdown (P = 1.6-1.9 GPa and T approximate to 680 degrees C), can be mapped in the field. This reaction led to arborescent growth of centimeter-size olivine and orthopyroxene, producing a chlorite-harzburgite with a spinifex-like texture. Microstructural observations and crystal preferred (CPO) mapping show no evidences of solid-state deformation during the prograde growth of olivine and orthopyroxene at the expenses of antigorite. However, a few tens to a hundred meters away from the reaction front, the metamorphic texture is partially obliterated by grain-size reduction in roughly planar conjugate zones, a few mm to meters wide. Grain size reduction zones (GSRZ) are characterized by (1) sharp contacts with undeformed spinifex-like texture domains, (2) important reduction of the olivine grain size (60-250 mu m), (3) olivine color change from brownish to colorless, (4) decrease in the modal amount of orthopyroxene, and (5) at the mm- to cm-scale, irregular shapes and abrupt terminations. Field and microstructural observations exclude that relative displacement took place across these GSRZ. Changes in modal composition imply reactions with fluids undersaturated in silica. Analysis of olivine crystal-preferred orientations (CPO) in GSRZ shows patterns similar, but more dispersed, than those in neighboring spinifex-like domains. It also reveals mm- to cm-scale discrete domains with rather homogeneous crystallographic orientations suggesting inheritance from the preexisting spinifex-like olivines in the host peridotite. Misorientation angles between neighboring grains in the GSRZ show peaks at similar to 5-10 degrees and similar to 20 degrees, but rotations are not crystallographically controlled. Based on these observations, we rule out the formation of the GSRZ by dynamic recrystallization during dislocation creep and propose that they record brittle deformation (microcraking) of the spinifex-like chlorite-harzburgite, probably induced by hydrofracturing at high pressure and relative low temperature conditions (680-710 degrees C). High-pressure hydrofracturing can, thus, be invoked as an efficient mechanism for fluid flow across the cold top-slab mantle layer, hence allowing the slab-derived fluids to ingress in the wedge.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00534035
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00534035
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.06.029

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union
Résumé : This study presents a unique database of 172 plagioclase Crystallographic Preferred Orientations (CPO) of variously deformed gabbroic rocks. The CPO characteristics as a function of the deformation regime (magmatic or crystal-plastic) are outlined and discussed. The studied samples are dominantly from slow- and fast-spread present-day ocean crust, as well as from the Oman ophiolite. Plagioclase is the dominant mineral phase in the studied samples. Plagioclase CPOs are grouped into three main categories: Axial-B, a strong point alignment of (010) with a girdle distribution of [100]; Axial-A, a strong point maximum concentration of [100] with parallel girdle distributions of (010) and (001); and P-type, point maxima of [100], (010), and (001). A majority of CPO patterns are Axial-B and P-type, in samples showing either magmatic or crystal-plastic deformation textures. Axial-A CPOs are less common; they represent 21% of the samples deformed by crystal-plastic flow. Although fabric strength (ODF J index) does not show any consistent variation as a function of the CPO patterns, there is a significant difference in the relationship between the ODF and pole figures J indices; the magmatic type microstructures have high (010) pole figures J indices, which increase linearly with ODF J index, whereas the high [100] pole figures J indices of plastically deformed samples vary in a more scattered manner with ODF J index. The multistage nature of plastic deformation superposed on a magmatic structure compared with magmatic flow, and the large number of possible slip-systems in plagioclase probably account for these differences. Calculated seismic properties (P wave and S wave velocities and anisotropies) of plagioclase aggregates show that anisotropy (up to 12% for P wave and 14% for S wave) tends to increase as a function of ODF J index. In comparison with the olivine 1998 CPO database, the magnitude of P wave anisotropy for a given J index is much less than olivine, whereas it is similar for S wave anisotropy. Despite a large variation of fabric patterns and geodynamic setting, seismic properties of plagioclase-rich rocks have similar magnitudes of anisotropy. There is a small difference in the aggregate elastic symmetry, with magmatic microstructures having higher orthorhombic and hexagonal components, whereas plastic deformation microstructures have a slightly higher monoclinic component, possibly correlated with predominant monoclinic simple shear flow in plastically deformed samples. Overall, plots for CPO strength (ODF J index), pole figure strength, CPO symmetry and seismic anisotropy show significant scattering. This could be related to sampling statistics, although our database is a factor of ten higher than the olivine database of 1998, or it could be related to the low symmetry (triclinic) structure of plagioclase resulting in the addition of degrees of freedom in the processes creating the CPOs.
ISSN: 1869-9510

hal-00963439
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00963439
DOI : 10.5194/se-4-511-2013

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The northern Mirdita ophiolite massifs in Albanian Dinarides formed at a slow-spreading ridge, active during the Jurassic (160–165 Ma). They share a common horizontal Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous sedimentary cover showing that they were not deeply and intrinsically affected by later Alpine thrusting. The western massifs of Mirdita, first oceanic core complex (OCC) and detachment shear zone described in ophiolites, compare with OCCs in slow-spreading ridges and provide continuous exposure of the deep internal structure of this system, revealing its kinematics, thanks to detailed structural mapping in peridotites and gabbros. The Mirdita detachments root in the Moho transition zone (MTZ), a weak zone at the top of asthenospheric mantle, where basaltic melts impregnate dunites. The OCC domes are plagioclase-amphibole–bearing mylonitic peridotites, ∼400 m thick, grading downward within 200 m to harzburgitic mantle. The mylonitic detachments crossed Moho beneath a NNE-SSW–trending ridge. On the western side of OCC domes, the hanging wall of the ridge, crustal gabbros, and basalts are still preserved, despite being deeply affected by hydrothermal alteration. From there, the partially molten MTZ was detached as a shear zone, mixing with lower gabbros. The OCC emerged, migrating upsection and eastward over 5 km. Finally, the OCC front is observed in hornblende-rich syntectonic mylonites derived from upper gabbros and from the overlying former lid. Serpentinization is static within these mylonites. A low-temperature detachment fault is expressed as a sheared antigoritic mélange at the margin of the mylonitic shear zone. Asthenospheric flow in the harzburgitic mantle beneath the ridge of origin has been preserved below the OCC rooting. The dominant asthenospheric flow direction trends parallel to the ridge axis. This mantle flow rotates over 200 m into the low-temperature mylonitic detachments, where OCC motion turns transversal to the ridge. Crystal preferred orientation measurements on six samples point to brown hornblende crystal growth during mylonitic flow and illustrate the change of olivine intra-crystalline slip system in mylonites compared to porphyroclastic harzburgite.
ISSN: 1553-040X

hal-01504440
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01504440
DOI : 10.1130/GES01383.1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
The Ronda peridotite massif in Southern Spain shows a well-defined 'recrystallization' front that separates a large-scale partial melting domain formed at the expense of the continental lithospheric mantle from a 'preserved' lithospheric domain. To investigate the processes allowing a transient lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary to propagate in the lithospheric mantle, we performed a joint petrostructural and geochemical study of an similar to 2.5 km(2) zone extending from the melting front to the mylonites that mark the western limit of the massif. This study emphasizes a feedback between heat transfer, melt percolation, and deformation in the lithospheric mantle. Petrographical observations and geochemical data show that heterogeneous reactive percolation of melts produced in the underlying partial melting domain led to refertilization of lithospheric peridotites up to 1.5 km ahead from the melting front, producing metre-scale layering of fertile and refractory mantle rocks. Within 800 m from the front, pre-existing garnet pyroxenite layers were partially molten and the resulting melts probably contributed to the refertilization process. Detailed structural mapping and analysis of the microstructures and crystal preferred orientations highlight the relations between reactive melt transport and deformation, and the control of the temperature gradient on both processes. Parallelism between the recrystallization front, compositional boundaries, and deformation structures, as well as variations in the deformation intensity of pyroxenes and spinels, suggest syn- to late-tectonic melt transport controlled by both the deformation and the thermal gradient. Variations in the strength of olivine crystal preferred orientations as a function of the modal and chemical composition of the spinel tectonites point to a higher contribution of diffusion to deformation in the most fertile rocks, corroborating the hypothesis that deformation occurred in presence of melt. Finally, the systematic dispersion of olivine [100] and orthopyroxene [001] axes in the foliation plane suggests a dominantly transpressive deformation regime.
ISSN: 0022-3530

hal-00420904
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00420904
DOI : 10.1093/petrology/egp032

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The subcontinental lithospheric mantle evolves through time due to tectonic events and processes as static recrystallization and melt percolation. To constrain the extent of these processes in the South Patagonian subcontinental mantle lithosphere we performed a microstructural and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) study of a suite of 35 peridotite xenoliths brought to the surface by Plio-Pleistocene alkaline volcanic rocks from Gobernador Gregores and Pali Aike. All samples show a well-developed olivine and pyroxene crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO), consistent with deformation by dislocation creep with dominant activation of [100]{0kl} in olivine. The coarse granular or tabular textures and the low density of intracrystalline deformation features indicate that deformation was followed by annealing under static conditions. The xenoliths also show microstructural evidence of multiple episodes of reactive melt percolation. Neither annealing nor melt percolation erased the olivine CPO, which has [010]-fiber, [100]-fiber and orthorhombic patterns in Pali Aike xenoliths and essentially [010]-fiber and orthorhombic patterns in Gobernador Gregores xenoliths. Seismic properties calculated based on the CPO and modal compositions are, however, rather homogeneous, with fast S-wave polarization and P-wave propagation parallel to the [100] olivine axis. The variation in the olivine CPO solely changes the minimum S-wave birefringence direction, which is normal to the foliation for axial-[010] olivine CPO. Average samples for the two localities, obtained by adding up the individual samples CPO data in a common reference frame, show, however, a 'normal' upper mantle anisotropy with a maximum S-wave birrenfringence of ca. 5% at high angle to the both the maximum [010] and [100] axes concentrations, that is in the foliation, but normal to the lineation, and a minimum birefringence at low angle to the [100] maximum, that is parallel to the lineation.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01053500
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01053500
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.02.017

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Interactions between deformation and melt percolation yield important consequences for the evolution of the mantle lithosphere, controlling its composition and mechanical behavior. In the Lherz massif (Pyrenees, France), the analysis of structural relationships between harzburgites, lherzolites and pyroxenites and of the crystal-preferred orientations (CPO) of olivine and pyroxenes highlights a strong feedback between percolation of basaltic melts and deformation under near-solidus conditions at the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary. Elongated harzburgite bodies up to tens of meters wide, which are the remnants of an old lithospheric mantle, preserve a constant foliation. This foliation is locally outlined by cm-scale flattened websteritic lenses. At the contact with the enclosing lherzolites, the harzburgite foliation is crosscut by the lherzolites foliation and by cm-wide websterite bands parallel to the contact. Strain intensity in the lherzolites increases with distance to the harzburgites. Based on these observations, we propose that reactive percolation was synchronous to the deformation and propose that variations in instantaneous melt fraction, due to pyroxenes and spinel crystallization during reactive melt transport, guided strain localization. Accordingly, the observed decrease in olivine CPO intensity and change in CPO patterns from harzburgites to distal lherzolites are interpreted as recording changes in the relative contribution of dislocation glide and diffusion processes, which is ruled by a balance between the instantaneous melt fraction and the local strain rate. We also propose that the pervasive websteritic layering in the refertilized lherzolites may result from deformation-assisted melt segregation in a system with decreasing permeability due to refertilization reactions. Finally, we discuss the possible timing and geodynamical context of the refertilization episode.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00411724
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00411724
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.053

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : The mantle deformation processes that control the thinning and break-up of continental lithosphere remain poorly understood. Our knowledge is restricted to either lithospheric scale thermo-mechanical models --that use experimentally derived flow laws--, geophysical imaging and/or rare xenoliths from active continental rifts, such as the East African Rift System. The originality of this work relies on the study of the two largest outcrops of diamond facies subcontinental lithospheric mantle in the world: the Beni Bousera and Ronda peridotite massifs in N Morocco and S Spain, respectively. The structures and petrologic and metamorphic zoning preserved in these massifs --implying a polybaric and polythermal evolution-- provides a unique opportunity to investigate the thermo-mechanical evolution of thick subcontinental lithospheric mantle in extensional settings. In this thesis we studied the deformation mechanisms in both peridotites and pyroxenites to constrain the modes of exhumation of subcontinental lithospheric mantle from garnet-, to spinel-, and finally, to plagioclase lherzolite facies conditions. We combined field mapping of tectonometamorphic domains and structural mapping of ductile structures, microstructural analysis, crystal preferred orientations (CPO) measurements and conventional thermobarometric calculations and thermodynamic modeling (Perple_X) to unravel the pressure and temperature conditions of deformation. We showed that exhumation from garnet- to spinel lherzolite facies conditions was accommodated by fast shearing --in thermal disequilibrium--along a lithospheric scale transtensional shear zone. In this context, the petrological zoning and the large temperature gradient (ca. 100ºC/km) preserved in the Beni Bousera massif represent the mechanical juxtaposition of progressively deeper and hotter lithospheric levels at depths of ca. 60 km in the latest Oligocene (ca. 25 Ma). Final exhumation from spinel- to plagioclase facies lherzolite and emplacement into the crust is best recorded in the Ronda massif where it occurred by inversion and lithospheric scale folding of the highly attenuated continental lithosphere in a back-arc region, probably in relation with southward slab rollback and subsequent collision with the palaeo-Maghrebien passive margin in the early Miocene (21-23 Ma).
Les processus de déformation contrôlant l'amincissement de la lithosphère continentale sont encore mal contraints. Nos connaissances sont principalement basées sur la modélisation thermomécanique d'extension à l'échelle de la lithosphère--utilisant des lois rhéologiques derivées expérimentalement, l'imagerie géophysique et l'analyse de xénolithes provenant de rift continentaux actifs à ce jour, tels que le Rift Est-Africain. L'originalité de ce travail reside dans l'étude des deux plus grands massifs de péridotites sous-continentales ayant enregistrées des conditions primaires du facies à diamant: les massifs de Beni Bousera au nord du Maroc et de Ronda au sud de l'Espagne, respectivement. Les structures et la zonation petrologique et métamorphique --impliquant une évolution polybarique et polythermique-- préservéees dans ces massifs offrent une opportunité unique pour étudier l'évolution thermo-mécanique du manteau sous-continental dans un contexte extensif. Dans ce travail, nous avons étudié les mécanismes de déformation des péridotites et des pyroxénites afin de contraindre les modes d'exhumation du manteau lithosphérique sous-continental, depuis des conditions du facies des lherzolites à grenat, jusqu'au facies à spinelle et enfin à plagioclase. Nous avons combiné la cartographie des faciès tectono-métamorphiques et des structures ductiles de déformation, l'analyse des microstructures, la mesure d'orientations préférentielles de réseau (OPR), et la géothermobarométrie conventionelle couplée à la modélisation thermodynamique (PerpleX) afin de contraindre les conditions de pression et température de la déformation. Nous avons montré que l'exhumation précoce du facies à grenat au facies à spinelle était accomodée par une faille transtensive affectant le manteau lithosphérique. Dans ce contexte, la zonation tectono-métamorphique et le gradient thermique important (ca. 100ºC/km) préservés à Beni Bousera résultent de la juxtaposition mécanique de domaines lithosphériques initialement équilibrés à différentes pressions et températures, fossilisée à une profondeur de ca. 60 km durant l'Oligocène supérieur (ca. 25 Ma). L'exhumation finale du facies de lherzolite à spinelle au facies à plagioclase et l'emplacement final dans la croûte, mieux enregistrés dans Ronda, se sont produits par inversion et plissement de la section lithosphérique fortement amincie dans un contexte arrière-arc, probablement lors du retrait vers le sud de la lithosphère subduite et la collision de l'arc avec les paléo-marges maghrébines au Miocène inférieur (21-23 Ma).
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700

tel-00767700
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700/document
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00767700/file/THESE_Frets.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Upper-mantle flow beneath the South Pacific is investigated by analysing shear wave splitting parameters at eight permanent long-period and broad-band seismic stations and 10 broad-band stations deployed in French Polynesia from 2001 to 2005 in the framework of the Polynesian Lithosphere and Upper Mantle Experiment (PLUME). Despite the small number of eventsand the rather poor backazimuthal coverage due to the geographical distribution of the natural seismicity, upper-mantle seismic anisotropy has been detected at all stations except at Tahiti where two permanent stations with 15 yr of data show an apparent isotropy. The median value of fast polarization azimuths (N67.5°W) is parallel to the present Pacific absolute platemotion direction in French Polynesia (APM: N67°W). This suggests that the observed SKS fast polarization directions result mainly from olivine crystal preferred orientations produced by deformation in the sublithospheric mantle due to viscous entrainment by the moving Pacific Plate and preserved in the lithosphere as the plate cools. However, analysis of individualmeasurements highlights variations of splitting parameters with event backazimuth that imply an actual upper-mantle structure more complex than a single anisotropic layer with horizontal fast axis. A forward approach shows that a two-layer structure of anisotropy beneath French Polynesia better explains the splitting observations than a single anisotropic layer. Second ordervariations in the measurements may also indicate the presence of small-scale lateral heterogeneities. The influence of plumes or fracture zones within the studied area does not appear to dominate the large-scale anisotropy pattern but may explain these second-order splitting variations across the network.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01249275
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01249275
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01249275/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01249275/file/GJI2007SKS.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03475.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD AGU and the Geochemical Society
Résumé : International audience
Analysis of the microstructures in the km-scale mantle shear zone that separates the northern and the central parts of the Lanzo peridotite massif provides evidence of an evolution in time and space of deformation processes accommodating shearing in the shallow mantle within an extensional setting. This shear zone displays an asymmetric distribution of deformation facies. From south to north, gradual reorientation of the foliation of coarse porphyroclastic plagioclase-bearing peridotites is followed by development of protomylonites, mylonites, and mm-scale ultramylonite bands. A sharp grain size gradient marks the northern boundary. Early deformation under near-solidus conditions in the south is recorded by preservation of weakly deformed interstitial plagioclase and almost random clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystal orientations. Feedback between deformation and melt transport probably led to melt focusing and strain weakening in the shear zone. Overprint of melt-rock reaction microstructures by solid-state deformation and decrease in recrystallized grain size in the protomylonites and mylonites indicate continued deformation under decreasing temperature. Less enriched peridotite compositions and absence of ultramafic dykes or widespread melt-impregnation microstructures north of the shear zone and clinopyroxene and amphibole enrichment in the mylonites and ultramylonites suggest that the shear zone acted as both a thermal barrier and a high-permeability channel for late crystallizing fluids. These observations, together with chemical data indicating faster cooling of central Lanzo relative to the northern body, corroborate that this shear zone is a mantle detachment fault. All deformation facies have crystal preferred orientations consistent with deformation by dislocation creep with dominant activation of the (010)[100] and (100)[001] systems in olivine and orthopyroxene, respectively. Dynamic recrystallization produces dispersion of olivine CPO but not a change of dominant deformation mechanism. Evidence for activation of grain boundary sliding is limited to mm-scale ultramylonite bands, where solid-state reactions produced very fine grained polymineralic aggregates. Except for these latest stages of deformation, strain localization does not result from the microstructural evolution; the grain size decrease is a consequence of the need to deform a rock volume whose strength continuously increases because of decreasing temperature conditions. Strain localization in the intermediate levels thus essentially results from the more localizing behavior of both the deep, partially molten, and shallow parts of this extensional shear zone distribution.
ISSN: 1525-2027

hal-00644844
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644844
DOI : 10.1029/2011GC003627

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
This paper aims to present an overview on the influence of rheological heterogeneity and mechanical anisotropy on the deformation of continents. After briefly recapping the concept of rheological stratification of the lithosphere, we discuss two specific issues: (1) as supported by a growing body of geophysical and geological observations, crust=mantle mechanical coupling is usually efficient, especially beneath major transcurrent faults which probably crosscut the lithosphere and root within the sublithospheric mantle; and (2) in most geodynamic environments, mechanical properties of the mantle govern the tectonic behaviour of the lithosphere. Lateral rheological heterogeneity of the continental lithosphere may result from various sources, with variations in geothermal gradient being the principal one. The oldest domains of continents, the cratonic nuclei, are characterized by a relatively cold, thick, and consequently stiff lithosphere. On the other hand, rifting may also modify the thermal structure of the lithosphere. Depending on the relative stretching of the crust and upper mantle, a stiff or a weak heterogeneity may develop. Observations from rift domains suggest that rifting usually results in a larger thinning of the lithospheric mantle than of the crust, and therefore tends to generate a weak heterogeneity. Numerical models show that during continental collision, the presence of both stiff and weak rheological heterogeneities significantly influences the large-scale deformation of the continental lithosphere. They especially favour the development of lithospheric-scale strike-slip faults, which allow strain to be transferred between the heterogeneities. An heterogeneous strain partition occurs: cratons largely escape deformation, and strain tends to localize within or at the boundary of the rift basins provided compressional deformation starts before the thermal heterogeneity induced by rifting are compensated. Seismic and electrical conductivity anisotropies consistently point towards the existence of a coherent fabric in the lithospheric mantle beneath continental domains. Analysis of naturally deformed peridotites, experimental deformations and numerical simulations suggest that this fabric is developed during orogenic events and subsequently frozen in the lithospheric mantle. Because the mechanical properties of single-crystal olivine are anisotropic, i.e. dependent on the orientation of the applied forces relative to the dominant slip systems, a pervasive fabric frozen in the mantle may induce a significant mechanical anisotropy of the whole lithospheric mantle. It is suggested that this mechanical anisotropy is the source of the so-called tectonic inheritance, i.e. the systematic reactivation of ancient tectonic directions; it may especially explain preferential rift propagation and continental break-up along pre-existing orogenic belts. Thus, the deformation of continents during orogenic events results from a trade-off between tectonic forces applied at plate boundaries, plate geometry, and the intrinsic properties (rheological heterogeneity and mechanical anisotropy) of the continental plates.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01389719
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389719
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389719/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389719/file/vauchez_etal_rheology_1998_hal.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/S0040-1951(98)00137-1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
We performed forward modelling of seismic anisotropy beneath a migrating strike-slip plate boundary to: (1) test if such a geodynamic context might explain teleseismic shear wave splitting data in the vicinity of the central part of the San Andreas Fault and (2) constrain the power of such data to unravel vertical and lateral variations in deformation patterns in the upper mantle. The modelling involves five steps: (1) thermomechanical modelling, using a finite-element code, of the deformation field, (2) viscoplastic self-consistent modelling of the resulting olivine and pyroxene crystal preferred orientations, (3) calculation of the elasticity tensors for different domains of the finite elements (FEs) model, (4) forward modelling of seismic wave propagation through the model using ray theory, finite-frequency theory and a full-wave approach and (5) performing splitting measurements on the synthetic seismograms. SKS splitting data in central California are best fitted by a model with a hotter geotherm within 60 km of the plate boundary accounting for the opening of an asthenospheric window due to the northward migration of the Mendocino Triple Junction. The westward motion of the plate boundary cannot however explain the rotation of fast polarization directions east of the San Andreas Fault in central California. Comparison between modelled and measured individual shear wave splitting also implies that the homogeneity of the two-layer models accounting for the observations in the vicinity of the San Andreas Fault indicates a sharp transition between lithospheric and asthenospheric deformations beneath this plate boundary. The ability of different synthetic approaches to localize horizontally and vertically the plate boundary-related deformation differs significantly. Splitting in ray theory synthetics closely follow variations in olivine crystallographic preferred orientations in the model. In contrast, splitting analysis on full-wave synthetics, which should be more representative of actual long-period SKS waves, results in smooth apparent lateral variations of anisotropy; the exact location and width of the plate boundary may only be retrieved by comparing fast-polarization profiles obtained using a multichannel analysis on waves with different periods.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01236150
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01236150
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01236150/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01236150/file/Bonnin_San_Andreas_modelling_GJI2012.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2012.05650.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union
Résumé : International audience
A dense network of seismic stations has been deployed on the Kaapvaal craton (South Africa) to investigate the upper mantle seismic structures. In order to bring independent petrophysical constraints, we analyze a direct sampling of the cratonic upper mantle and determine the seismic properties of 48 mantle nodules brought up to the Earth's surface by kimberlite eruptions. Seismic properties of these nodules are calculated from the olivine and pyroxene crystal preferred orientations and the single crystal elastic constants. Despite variations in the nodules compositions, microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientations, seismic anisotropy is rather homogeneous throughout the craton. Mean S-wave anisotropy is weak (2.64 %), which is compatible with the small measured SKS wave splitting (mean delay time of 0.62 s).
ISSN: 0094-8276

hal-01389119
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389119
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389119/document
http://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01389119/file/BenIsmail_GRL_kaapvaal_GRL2001.pdf
DOI : 10.1029/2000GL012419

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : Spinel peridotite xenoliths from Persani Mountains, Southeastern Carpathians, Romania, were submitted to deformation by dislocation creep accompanied by dynamic recrystallization under variable stress and temperature conditions. Predominance of low-angle boundaries parallel to (100) with well-defined [Ovw] rotation axes in olivine indicates that subgrain rotation is the main recrystallization mechanism and that dislocation glide occurs mainly in [100]{0k1} systems. Analysis of olivine crystal preferred orientations highlights that recrystallization results in dispersion of the orientations of recrystallized grains relatively to the parent grains. This dispersion may be quantified by a dimension-less dispersion factor defined as the ratio of the random component of the [100] axis distributions between the recrystallized grains and porphyroclasts. This factor is largely independent from the overall fabric strength, the number of grains analyzed, and the recrystallized grain size. The olivine CPO strength and anisotropy at the rock scale, quantified by J-index, are largely controlled by the volume of recrystallized grains, which depends on finite strain. Comparison of olivine CPO in coarse- and fine-grained porphyroclastic peridotites shows that deviatoric stress and temperature conditions play nevertheless a role on the CPO evolution during recrystallization; selective grain growth, which is favored at high temperature and low stresses, does counteract the dispersion produced by the nucleation processes.
ISSN: 0191-8141

hal-00669963
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00669963
DOI : 10.1016/j.jsg.2011.09.010

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We report microstructural evidence for fluid-assisted ductile strain localization in a ≤ 50 m-wide mylonitic–ultramylonitic shear zone in the Ronda Peridotite massif, Southern Spain. Strain localization occurred at relatively low pressure (< 0.8 GPa) and moderate temperature (750–1000 °C). Initial deformation by dislocation creep resulted in formation of mylonites. Focusing of aqueous fluids in the shear zone favored the activation of dissolution–precipitation creep, resulting in further strain localization. This process is recorded by two generations of ultramylonitic bands composed of fine-grained, well-mixed olivine–orthopyroxene aggregates. Microstructural observations in the ultramylonites suggest alternating dissolution and precipitation of olivine and orthopyroxene, which may be explained by local changes in silica molality of the percolating fluid (disequilibrium and mass transfer at scales > mm). In the mylonites, olivine shows a crystal preferred orientation (CPO) coherent with dominant (001)[100] glide, probably due to the presence of interstitial fluids during deformation. In the ultramylonites, olivine CPO is weak to very weak, consistently with a decreasing contribution of dislocation creep to deformation. In contrast, fine-grained orthopyroxene in both mylonites and ultramylonites displays a clear CPO characterized by a [001] maximum normal to the foliation, which is not consistent with dislocation glide in any known slip system for orthopyroxene. We interpret this CPO as formed by oriented crystallization during dissolution–precipitation. In the present study, dissolution–precipitation creep predominates only in small-scale ultramylonite bands due to limited fluid availability and localized dynamic permeability. However, this process may be important in intermediate temperature domains of subduction zones, where it may lead to a feedback between strain localization and fluid transport.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01395122
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01395122
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2016.07.038

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Carbonation of peridotite is a widespread process in nature, with emerging societal and environmental implications through geological storage of CO2. We studied the micro- and nano-scale structures associated with the carbonation of peridotite pervaded by a CO2-rich water and the induced changes of its hydrodynamic properties. Focused ion beam (FIB) nanotomography was coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. An experimental sample of dunite core percolated by a CO2-rich fluid (pCO2 = 11 MPa) at 160 °C was compared with a naturally carbonated sample from the Atlantic Ridge (Exp. IODP 304). Results of the 8-days percolation experiment show continuous alteration of olivine into magnesite locally associated with a poorly crystalline serpentine-type mineral referred to as proto-serpentine. The experiment is also characterized by an overall decrease in rock porosity (from 7.7 to 6.4%) and permeability (from 8.5 × 10− 16 to 1.7 × 10− 16 m2). The primary inter-granular porosity (1 to 10 μm) is progressively filled with magnesite, leading to the overall decrease of permeability. At the same time, a secondary small-scale porosity (10 nm to 1 μm) is created at the tip of the dissolution features along the (010) cleavage planes of olivine grains. Carbonate crystals grow within these etch-pit structures behind the dissolution front. Dissolution and precipitation occur at a relative rate that maintains the secondary porosity over the timescale of the experiment (i.e. carbonate growth has to be the slowest one). This process is interpreted as an interface coupled dissolution-precipitation mechanism of olivine carbonation. Proto-serpentine is only formed in highly reduced flow areas, such as small olivine etch-pits (10 to 500 nm wide), which are more isolated from CO2 input. SEM-FIB analyses show the 3D preferential orientation of the dissolution-precipitation planes within a given olivine grain. It suggests the formation of lateral connections between the etch-pits (infra-micrometric “channels”) providing access to reactants and removing reaction products at the reaction sites. The experimental results show that olivine dissolution and magnesite precipitation converge to a quasi-steady state resulting in a constant carbonation rate controlled by reaction kinetics and not by mass transfer for this flow regime. The system self-regulates, independently of the porosity change at least during this incipient stage of olivine carbonation. Similar textures are observed in natural samples collected at 170 m-depth in the vicinity of veinlets driving late fluids down into the cooling oceanic lithosphere. This suggests that similar mechanisms are active in nature and can play an important role in the late, low temperature alteration stages of fractured peridotite. These results also highlight the critical role of nm-scale spatial arrangement of dissolution and precipitation features on mass transfers and on the sustainability of olivine carbonation through coupled dissolution-precipitation processes.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01684733
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01684733
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.013