Search results for "TECTONICS"

Neocomian to early Aptian syn-rift evolution of the normal to oblique-rifted North Gabon Margin (Interior and N'Komi Basins).

2009

18 pages; International audience; The North Gabon coastal rift basins consist of a set of 130–150 long-segment asymmetrically tilted half grabens (Interior Basin) and 000–020 short-segment en échelon half grabens (N'Komi Basin) separated by 040–060 major transverse faults. Tectono-sedimentary analysis of field and subsurface data reveals the control exerted by extensional tectonism over continental sedimentation. During Berriasian to early Barremian times, uniform uniaxial 040–060 extension was responsible for the stretching of the brittle upper crust over a 100-km wide domain. During late Barremian–early Aptian times, the main locus of extension stepped westward resulting in severe end-rif…

A geological field trip to the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana transform margin

1998

Abstract During the Equanaute survey (June 1992), fourteen submersible dives were performed between 4950 and 2250 m water depths across the southern slope of the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Marginal Ridge (CIGMR), in the eastern Equatorial Atlantic. The CIGMR, a high-standing topographic marginal ridge along the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana transform margin, is believed to result from a complex structural evolution due to the specific wrench-related rifting between Western Equatorial Africa and Northeastern Brazil, in Early Cretaceous times. In this paper we report and discuss geological observations made during dives, and sample analyses to resolve the lithology, paleoenvironmental conditions, age and orig…

Oligo-Miocene lacustrine microbial and metazoan buildups from the Limagne Basin (French Massif Central)

2018

The Limagne Basin (French Massif Central) is an extensive continental lacustrine system accommodating microbial and metazoan buildups from Chattian to Aquitanian age. A description of these buildups and their associated biotic components in Grand Gandaillat and Crechy quarries provides insights into their spatio-temporal distribution patterns. Flats, cauliflowers, domes, cones and coalescent columnar morphologies have been identified with a main laminated mesofabric and laminated, columnar, filamentous and caddisfly-coated microfabrics. Two low-gradient margin models emerged based on the changes in the distribution, morphology and size of the microbial and metazoan-rich deposits through tim…

2021

Intracratonic basins tend to subside much longer than the timescale predicted by thermal relaxation of the lithosphere. Many hypotheses have been suggested to explain their longevity, yet few have been tested using quantitative thermo-mechanical numerical models, which capture the dynamic of the lithosphere. Lithospheric-scale geodynamic modelling preserving the tectono-stratigraphic architecture of these basins is challenging because they display only few kilometres of subsidence over 1000 of km during time periods exceeding 250 Myr. Here we present simulations that are designed to examine the relative role of thermal anomaly, tectonics and heterogeneity of the lithosphere on the dynamics …

Sedimentation close to the active Medlicott Wadia Thrust (Western Himalaya): how to estimate climatic base level changes and tectonics.

2017

16 pages; International audience; The Medlicott-Wadia Thrust (MWT) is one of the major active out-of-sequence thrusts in the Himalaya. Studies on Quaternary terraces in its vicinity have been performed using sedimentological, geomorphic and geochronological methods. We focus on the Riasi zone, south of the Pir Panjal range, in the Jammu and Kashmir region of India. The sedimentary units of Quaternary landforms have been mapped as a function of their location with respect to the thrust faults, their relative chronology, and their lithology. Three aggrading sedimentary units, five thin units above strath surfaces at the footwall of the fault system, and seven thin units above strath surfaces …

Seismic sources and stress transfer interaction among axial normal faults and external thrust fronts in the Northern Apennines (Italy): A working hyp…

2016

In this study we analyse the main potential seismic sources in some axial and frontal sectors of the Northern Apennines, in Italy. This region was hit by a peculiar series of earthquakes that started in 1916 on the external thrust fronts near Rimini. Later, in 1917-1921, seismicity (up to Mw approximate to 6.5) shifted into the axial zone and clearly migrated north-westward, along the belt of active normal faults. The collection of fault-slip data focused on the active normal faults potentially involved in this earthquake series. The acquired data allowed us to better characterize the geometry and kinematics of the faults. In a few instances, the installation of local seismic networks durin…

Is there a global carbonate layer in the oceanic mantle?

2021

co-auteur étranger; International audience; Previous modeling of carbonate subduction by high‐pressure experimentation has allowed to propose scenarios for bulk carbon return to the mantle, but the detailed transfer mechanisms have seldom been studied. We monitored carbonate – silicate reactions by combining high‐pressure experiments and synchrotron‐based x‐ray diffraction. Carbonates break down at moderate pressure and high temperature and CO2 is trapped at grain boundaries. Further isothermal compression yields melting, which may control continuous carbon introduction, first in the mantle wedge, and next, away from the wedge. Carbon presence has been discussed in a variety of magmatic con…

Quantifying geological uncertainty in metamorphic phase equilibria modelling; a Monte Carlo assessment and implications for tectonic interpretations

2016

AbstractPseudosection modelling is rapidly becoming an essential part of a petrologist's toolkit and often forms the basis of interpreting the tectonothermal evolution of a rock sample, outcrop, or geological region. Of the several factors that can affect the accuracy and precision of such calculated phase diagrams, “geological” uncertainty related to natural petrographic variation at the hand sample- and/or thin section-scale is rarely considered. Such uncertainty influences the sample's bulk composition, which is the primary control on its equilibrium phase relationships and thus the interpreted pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions of formation. Two case study examples—a garnet–cordierit…

Zipper junctions: A new approach to the intersections of conjugate strike-slip faults

2016

Intersecting pairs of simultaneously active faults with opposing slip sense present geometrical and kinematic problems. Such faults rarely offset each other but usually merge into a single fault, even when they have displacements of many kilometers. The space problems involved are solved by lengthening the merged fault (zippering up the conjugate faults) or splitting it (unzippering). This process can operate in thrust, normal, and strike-slip fault settings. Examples of conjugate pairs of large-scale strike-slip faults that may have zippered up include the Garlock and San Andreas faults in California (USA), the North and East Anatolian faults (Turkey), the Karakoram and Altyn Tagh faults (…

Fluid storage and migration properties of sheared Neptunian dykes

2019

Abstract Neptunian dykes are widely reported along the Tethyan carbonate platforms and are commonly considered as subsurface baffles or barriers to fluid flow. However, the fluid storage and migration properties of sheared Neptunian dykes are poorly known. For this reason, we investigate the inner structure and fluid flow properties of two Neptunian dykes, which can be characterized by different architectures if involved or not in brittle shearing processes. The dykes strike ca. WNW-ESE and crosscutting the tight Jurassic limestones exposed at Maranfusa Mt., NW Sicily, Italy. The unsheared and sheared Neptunian dykes are almost sub-vertical and at high-angle with respect to the horizontal p…