Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A laser ablation ICP-MS U-Pb age of 17.84 +/- 0.12 Ma (late Burdigalian) was obtained from monazites separated from a leucocratic diatexite collected in close proximity to a small peridotite massif incorporated into the lower crustal sequence of the Edough Massif (north-eastern Algeria), a southern segment of the peri-Mediterranean Alpine Belt. Monazites extracted from a neighbouring deformed leucogranite intruding early Paleozoic phyllites yield a consistent age of 17.4 +/- 1.3 Ma. Zircons occurring in the same leucogranite, with magmatic characteristics, have an age of 308 +/- 7 Ma interpreted as dating magmatic crystallisation of the leucogranite and reflecting partial melting during the Hercynian orogeny. Low Th/U domains (Th/U<0.10) from the same grains substantiate recrystallisation during a younger metamorphic event whose upper age limit is 286 +/- 11 Ma. These results emphasize the polycyclic evolution of basement rocks preserved in the crystalline units of the western Mediterranean and indicate that part of their metamorphic features were inherited from older, Hercynian, events. Taken together with published Ar-Ar dates, the late Burdigalian age of monazites indicates a rapid cooling rate of c. 370 degrees C/Ma and is regarded as closely approximating the emplacement of the peridotites into the Hercynian basement. The monazite ages are significantly younger than those recorded for orogenic peridotites from the Betic-Rif oroctine and for the timing of lithospheric extension forming the Alboran sea. It is also younger than rifting and back-arc extension opening the Liguro-Provencal basin. The late Burdigalian age is interpreted as dating the incipient rifting event that opened the Algerian basin, which is consequently not a continuation of the Liguro-Provencal basin. At the scale of the western Mediterranean, these observations concur with current models supporting slab roll-back and an eastwards migration of extension in the western Mediterranean, but suggest that the Algerian basin opened as a result of torsion and stretching of the Thethyan slab due to its steepening under the Alboran microplate.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-00424511
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00424511
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2008.11.016

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Maghrebides, Betics and some parts of the Calabrian, NE Sicilian and Tuscan allochtons constitute dismembered fragments of the Alpine belt that resulted from the Cenozoic collision between Africa and Eurasia and the opening of the Western Mediterranean basin. Mineral and whole-rock geochemical analyses have been performed on three distinct outcrops of mantle material from the Edough Massif of NE Algeria, namely the Bou Maiza (BM) gabbros, the La Voile Noire (LVN) amphibolites and the Sidi Mohamed (SM) peridotites. In all samples, Sr isotopes are largely affected by seawater alteration (87Sr/86Sract. > 0.70384 and up to 0.70888) and cannot be used to evaluate the nature of the source reservoirs. SM peridotites display variable depleted mantle Nd isotopic signatures (εNdact. from + 7.0 to + 12.2) and geochemical features suggesting no significant chemical depletion as a result of partial melting and melt extraction (Mg# < 90; slightly LREE-depleted patterns with La/YbN = 0.33-0.39). These rocks are interpreted as parts of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle incorporated into the crustal units of the Edough Massif during the early stages of opening of the Algerian basin. BM gabbros and LVN amphibolites show geochemical signatures indicating derivation from a common Depleted Mantle reservoir (εNd > + 7.9) and are likely cogenetic, but without filiation with the SM peridotites. Pb isotopes indicate a contribution of sediments in the source reservoir, which is attributed to contamination solely by hydrous fluids released from a sedimentary component. This observation, together with a LILE-enrichment, suggests a back-arc basin environment. These results indicate that BM and LVN units were obducted onto the North African margin and subsequently fragmented, probably during doming and exhumation of the lower continental crust of the Edough massif. Doming resulted in opposite movements of the overlying oceanic units, southward for the BM units and northward for LVN amphibolites.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01122777
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01122777
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.03.031

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Three-quarters of the oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges is composed of plutonic rocks whose mineral assemblages, textures and compositions record the history of melt transport and crystallization between the mantle and the sea floor. Despite the importance of these rocks, sampling them in situ is extremely challenging owing to the overlying dykes and lavas. This means that models for understanding the formation of the lower crust are based largely on geophysical studies1 and ancient analogues (ophiolites)2, 3, 4, 5 that did not form at typical mid-ocean ridges. Here we describe cored intervals of primitive, modally layered gabbroic rocks from the lower plutonic crust formed at a fast-spreading ridge, sampled by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program at the Hess Deep rift. Centimetre-scale, modally layered rocks, some of which have a strong layering-parallel foliation, confirm a long-held belief that such rocks are a key constituent of the lower oceanic crust formed at fast-spreading ridges3, 6. Geochemical analysis of these primitive lower plutonic rocks--in combination with previous geochemical data for shallow-level plutonic rocks, sheeted dykes and lavas--provides the most completely constrained estimate of the bulk composition of fast-spreading oceanic crust so far. Simple crystallization models using this bulk crustal composition as the parental melt accurately predict the bulk composition of both the lavas and the plutonic rocks. However, the recovered plutonic rocks show early crystallization of orthopyroxene, which is not predicted by current models of melt extraction from the mantle7 and mid-ocean-ridge basalt differentiation8, 9. The simplest explanation of this observation is that compositionally diverse melts are extracted from the mantle and partly crystallize before mixing to produce the more homogeneous magmas that erupt.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-00950085
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00950085
DOI : 10.1038/nature12778

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Cratons represent the oldest preserved lithospheric domains. Their lithosphere (lithospheric mantle welded to overlying Precambrian crystalline basement) is considered to be particularly robust and long-lived due to the protecting presence of buoyant and rigid “keels” made up of residual harzburgites. Although the cratons are mostly assumed to form in the Archaean, the timing of their formation remains poorly constrained. In particular, there are very few datasets describing concurrently the age of both the crustal and mantle portions of the lithosphere. In this study, we report new U–Pb ages and Hf isotope compositions for zircons in crustal xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite in the central Siberian craton; this dataset includes samples from both the upper and lower portions of the crust. The zircon ages agree well with model melt-extraction Re–Os ages on refractory peridotite xenoliths from the same pipe; taken together they allow an integrated view of lithosphere formation. Our data reveal that the present day upper crust is Archaean, whereas both the lower crust and the lithospheric mantle yield Paleoproterozoic ages. We infer that the deep lithosphere beneath the Siberian craton was not formed in a single Archaean event, but grew in at least two distinct events, one in the late Archaean and the other in the Paleoproterozoic. Importantly, a complete or large-scale delamination and rejuvenation of the Archaean lower lithosphere (lower crust and lithospheric mantle) took place in the Paleoproterozoic. This further demonstrates that craton formation can be a protracted, multi-stage process, and that the present day crust and mantle may not represent complementary reservoirs formed through the same tectono-magmatic event. Further, deep cratonic lithosphere may be less robust and long living than often assumed, with rejuvenation and replacement events throughout its history.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-01467648
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467648
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.09.046

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We have analyzed the microstructures and crystal preferred orientations (CPO), and calculated the seismic properties of 53 mantle xenoliths from four localities within the North Tanzanian Divergence of the East African rift: two within the rift axis and two in the transverse volcanic belt. Olivine OH concentrations were measured in 15 xenoliths.Most samples have harzburgitic to dunitic compositions and high olivine Mg#. Microstructures and olivine CPO patterns vary strongly depending on the location. In-axis peridotites display mylonitic to porphyroclastic microstructures, which record recent deformation by dislocation creep. Highly stretched orthopyroxenes in mylonites indicate that the deformation was initiated under high stress and probably low temperature. Orthopyroxene replacement by olivine in mylonitic and porphyroclastic peridotites suggest syn-kinematic melt–rock reactions and further deformation under near-solidus conditions. Exsolutions in orthopyroxene imply significant cooling between melt-assisted deformation and xenolith extraction. Late metasomatism is evidenced by the occurrence of veins crosscutting the microstructure and interstitial clinopyroxene and phlogopite. Axial-[100] olivine CPOs predominate, suggesting activation of the high temperature, low pressure [100] {0kl} slip systems and, probably, transtensional deformation. In the volcanic belt, Lashaine peridotites display very coarse-granular textures, indicating deformation by dislocation creep under low deviatoric stress conditions followed by annealing. Axial-[010] olivine CPOs are consistent with transpressional deformation or simultaneous activation of the [100](010) and [001](010) slip systems. Intermediate microstructures and CPOs in Olmani suggests heterogeneous deformation within the volcanic belt. Olivine OH concentrations range between 2 and 12 ppm wt. H2O. No systematic variations are observed between in- and off-axis samples. Maximum P wave azimuthal anisotropy (AVp) ranges between 3.3 and 18.4%, and the maximum S wave polarization anisotropy (AVs) between 2.3 and 13.2%. Comparison between seismic properties of in-axis peridotites and SKS splitting data suggests transtensional deformation in the lithospheric mantle beneath the rift.
ISSN: 0040-1951

hal-01121552
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01121552
DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2014.11.011

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
To constrain the relations between deformation and metasomatism in the subcratonic lithospheric mantle, we have analyzed the microstructures and crystal preferred orientations in 50 mantle xenoliths from the Kaapvaal craton. Water contents in olivine and pyroxenes were measured in 14 samples equilibrated at different depths. Coarse-granular microstructures recording deformation by dislocation creep followed by annealing predominate. Mylonitic (sheared) peridotites with partially or totally recrystallized microstructures are however common below 140 km. Refractory compositions predominate, but multiple metasomatic events resulted in orthopyroxene enrichment or secondary crystallization of clinopyroxene and phlogopite. Coherent orthopyroxene and olivine CPO in most coarse-grained peridotites implies in pre- to syn-kinematic orthopyroxene enrichment or epitaxial growth on primary orthopyroxene. Undeformed, interstitial orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and phlogopite with random orientations in coarse-grained peridotites record post-kinematic modal metasomatic events. Deformation of these phases in the sheared peridotites implies that mylonitization results from a later event, which affected locally the deep cratonic lithosphere. Olivine CPO recording dominant [100] glide predominate at all depths. Only two samples, equilibrated at ~ 3.3 GPa show olivine [001] and orthopyroxene [001] axes subparallel, suggesting dominant [001] glide. Water contents in olivine are maximum (150 wt. ppm H2O) in peridotites equilibrated at ~ 160 km depth. Peridotites equilibrated below 180 km depth are, in contrast, almost dry. Lack of correlation between olivine mg# and water content indicates that the high water contents in olivine record re-hydration after the extensive partial melting, which produced the cratonic root. The vertical variation in water contents in olivine observed in the Kaapvaal peridotites may result from hydrogen addition or loss during extraction by the kimberlites. Comparison with magnetotelluric electrical conductivity data suggests, however, that the observed vertical variation of water contents in olivine may be representative of the present-day state of the Kaapvaal mantle, implying that extensive metasomatism resulted in hydration of the cratonic mantle at intermediate depths. The annealed microstructures of Kaapvaal peridotites indicate however that this metasomatism was not followed by remobilization of the cratonic root.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-00750328
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750328
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2012.05.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The crust of the Paleoproterozoic West African Craton in northern Ghana is dominantly made of Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite (TTG) suites, low-K to high-K calc-alkaline granites, with minor LILE-enriched diorites, and chemically related lavas. Results of zircon U-Pb dating indicate that all these different rock types were formed together over a prolonged period of ca. 100 Ma, between 2.21 and 2.11 Ga. Zircon Hf isotope compositions of five samples are supra-chondritic (εHft from +1 to +6) indicating that the granitoids derive from the reworking of juvenile crustal components as old as 2.60 Ga. Geochemical data show that the TTGs were derived from the reworking of a low-K mafic crust, while biotite granites formed by the reworking of older felsic crustal rocks, and diorites derived from the melting of LILE-enriched mantle sources.The combined datasets support a three-step model for the formation of the crust of the West African craton in northern Ghana: (1) a juvenile, mafic proto-crust was extracted from the depleted mantle between 2.60 and 2.30 Ga, in an oceanic environment remote from any pre-existing continental nucleus; (2) the mafic proto-crust was reworked in several primitive magmatic arcs or in accreted oceanic plateaux. Crustal reworking initially produced minor felsic magmatism between 2.35 and 2.21 Ga, followed by the 2.21–2.15 Ga emplacement of low- to medium-P TTG and K-rich calc-alkaline granitoid suites, and was coeval with the formation of an enriched mantle source. (3) Various proto-continental terranes collided during the Eburnean orogeny between 2.14 and 2.11 Ga, triggering intense reworking of the composite crust and mantle reservoirs formed in the previous two steps, i.e. remnants of the juvenile mafic crust, older TTGs and biotite granites, and previously enriched mantle sources. The emplacement of high-P TTGs, granites and LILE-enriched diorites resulted from lower crustal heating in response to the delamination of the lower crust and lithospheric mantle. The Eburnean collision therefore marks the final stages of a 200–500 Ma long period of juvenile continental crust formation and stabilisation. The datasets further reveal that the Paleoproterozoic West African Craton comprises a minimum of two distinct crustal blocks, with north-western Ghana lying at their interface.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01467999
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467999
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2016.10.011