The thermal history of the Western Irish onshore

We present here a low-temperature thermochronological study that combines the apatite fission-track and (U + Th)/He dating methods with a pseudo-vertical sampling approach to generate continuous and well-constrained temperature–time histories from the onshore Irish Atlantic margin. The apatite fission-track and (U + Th)/He ages range from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and the mean track lengths are relatively short. Thermal histories derived from inverse modelling show that following post-orogenic exhumation the sample profiles cooled to c. 75 °C. A rapid cooling event to surface temperatures occurred during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and was diachronous from north to south. It was most probably caused by c. 2.5 km of rift-shoulder related exhumation and can be temporally linked to the main stage of Mesozoic rifting in the offshore basins. A slow phase of reheating during the Late Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic is attributed to the deposition of a thick sedimentary sequence that resulted in c. 1.5 km of burial. Our data imply a final pulse of exhumation in Neogene times, probably related to compression of the margin. However, it is possible that an Early Cenozoic cooling event, compatible with our data but not seen in our inverse models, accounts for part of the Cenozoic exhumation

Réactivation post-rift de la marge sud-est du Brésil

La marge du sud-est du Brésil est une marge passive élevée présentant des évidences d'activité magmatique et tectonique post-rift (intrusions alcalines et bassins sédimentaires). Nous avons mené une étude structurale et de thermochronologie (traces de fission et U-Th/He sur apatite) pour contraindre les âges, l'amplitude, les directions de contraintes et les causes de ces réactivations. La modélisation des données thermochronologiques nous a permis de mettre en évidence deux phases d'exhumation généralisée sur la région au Crétacé Supérieur et au Néogène. Une troisième phase durant le Paléogène est concentrée le long des bassins tertiaires. Au total, depuis la zone côtière jusqu'à la Serra da Mantiqueira, l'exhumation post-rift atteint 4.5 km. Une étude des profils sismiques du bassin de Taubaté, et des données d'affleurement a montré que les bassins tertiaires se formaient en transtension senestre au Paléogène, avec des contraintes compressives orientées SW-NE puis étaient réactivés en transpression dextre durant le Néogène sous l'effet de contraintes compressives E-W. Les âges, comme la cinématique des réactivations sont compatibles avec ceux inférés pour d'autres zones de la plaque sud-américaine ainsi qu'avec la cinématique de la convergence Nazca-Amérique du Sud. Nous avons donc conclu qu'un état compressif de l'ensemble de la plaque sud-américaine, sous l'effet des forces de ridge-push et de traction mantellique, était responsable de la réactivation des zones de faiblesses héritées, et provoquait les différentes phases de réactivation de la marge sud-est du Brésil, provoquant sa surrection et façonnant ainsi la topographie que nous connaissons aujourd'hui.The southeast Brazilian passive margin is elevated and shows evidence for post rift tectonic and magmatic activity (sedimentary basins and alkaline intrusions). We undertook a structural and thermochronological study (apatite fission tracks and U-Th/He) to constrain the timing, magnitude, stress orientation and causes of the reactivations. We infer, from the modelling of thermochronological data, two exhumation phases during Late Cretaceous and Neogene over the whole studied area. A third phase during the Paleogene is restricted to the borders of the onshore Tertiary basins. The amount of exhumation attributable to post-rift reactivation from the coast to the Serra da Mantiqueira reaches about 4.5 km. The study of the seismic profiles of the Taubaté basin together with the outcrop data shown that the Tertiary basins formed under left-lateral transtension during Paleogene, with compressive stress oriented SW-NE, and was subject to right-lateral transpressive reactivation during Neogene under a roughly E-W compressive stress. Because the inferred timing and direction of stresses of the reactivation are consistent with those in other regions in the South-American plate and with the geodynamics of the Nazca South America convergence, we conclude that the whole South American plate is under compression as a result of both ridge-push and basal tractions forces. The compression induced reactivation of inherited weak zones and uplift of the southeast Brazilian margin, leading to rejuvenation of the topography that we see today.RENNES1-BU Sciences Philo (352382102) / SudocRENNES-Géosciences (352382209) / SudocSudocFranceF

Tectonics drives rapid exhumation of the western Himalayan syntaxis: Evidence from low-temperature thermochronometry of the Neelum valley region, Pakistan

International audienc

Northward motion of the Burma Terrane alongside India during the Cenozoic.

International audience<p>Recent paleomagnetic data from early Late Cretaceous and late Eocene rocks from Myanmar (1,2) demonstrate that the Burma Terrane (BT) underwent an important northward translation alongside India in the Cenozoic. We present new paleomagnetic results from Paleocene to Eocene sediments that confirm the slightly southern to equatorial paleolatitudes during the Paleocene to mid Eocene. However, these paleomagnetic results imply a new paleogeography not compatible with the typical view of the geology of Myanmar as an andean-type margin above an active subduction of the Tethys/India oceanic crust below Sundaland.  Most previous models proposed an active subduction below Myanmar during the Paleogene but a slab anchored in the mantle would impede the large northward motion of the BT implied by our paleomagnetic data. We thus review the geology of the BT in light of the new latitudinal constraints provided by the paleomagnetic data. The BT contains >10km thick Cenozoic basins (Central Myanmar Basins (CMBs)) recording the Cenozoic geological evolution of the BT. The CMBs were previously interpreted with sediment sources located within the Myanmar magmatic arc and to the east in Sibumasu. The numerous studies on detrital zircons from the Late Cretaceous - Paleogene sediments  of  the CMBs highlight a clear correlation in the distribution of the ages of the pre-Cretaceous zircons (~40% of the zircons in the sediments) with the one from the Triassic turbidites (Pane Chaung Formation) of the Indo-Burman Ranges and the Triassic sediments from the Tethyan Himalaya (Langjiexue Fm.). Thus, the source of sediments is unlikely to be in Sibumasu but proposed to be in an actively eroding north-western extension of the Indo-Burman ranges (Greater Burma block, (2)) possibly linked to the Tethyan Himalaya and consistent with a BT position within the India plate during the Cenozoic. In any case, we find little evidence for a nearby active magmatic arc in the detrital zircon record supporting the hypothesis of an active subduction below the BT. Thus this review of the geology of the BT supports a rapid northward moving BT alongside India during the Cenozoic. We will discuss the implication of this new paleogeography on the India-Asia collision models.</p><p>(1) Westerweel et al. « Burma Terrane Part of the Trans-Tethyan Arc during Collision with India According to Palaeomagnetic Data ». Nature Geoscience 12, no 10 (octobre 2019): 863‑68. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0443-2.</p><p>(2) Westerweel et al. « Burma Terrane Collision and Northward Indentation in the Eastern Himalayas Recorded in the Eocene‐Miocene Chindwin Basin (Myanmar) ». Tectonics 39, no 10 (octobre 2020). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020TC006413.</p&gt

A two phase escarpment evolution of the Red Sea margin of southwestern Saudi Arabia. Insights from low-temperature apatite thermochronology

International audienceRifting of the Red Sea resulted in the formation of one of the highest escarpments on our planet: the Great Escarpment of southwestern Saudi Arabia. Published low-temperature geochronology ages are around the Paleogene-Neogene transition, but geomorphic features like the height, the steepness and the preservation of the escarpment may indicate a younger aspect to the exhumation history. Here we use apatite fission track (AFT) and (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe) cooling ages in combination with a geomorphic analysis of the region from Jeddah to Jizan to test this idea. Pooled AFT ages range from to Ma (1σ). The base of the AFT partial annealing zone prior to rock uplift is at ∼200 m elevation in most of the studied area, but track length data show that the amount of exhumation is insufficient to affect all coastal plain samples. Consistent with earlier estimates in the literature, the total amount of rock uplift is estimated to be ∼4 km. Single grain AHe ages range from to Ma (1σ) and do not have a clear trend with distance from the escarpment. Overall, the distribution of data appears to indicate widespread downwearing of the elevated topography around the rift flank. In contrast, geomorphic analysis that indicates escarpment retreat including a flexural uplift response. We suggest that the conflict between geomorphological and geochronological data can be resolved by invoking a two-stage erosion model. The first stage involved dome-shaped rift flank uplift since initiation of the Afar plume, downwearing of this topography and cooling recorded by the AFT ages. The second stage involved the massive erosion that excavated the present day Saudi escarpment and reset the AHe ages. We suggest that this second stage is related to the formation of oceanic lithosphere since 13 Ma in the Red Sea, associated downwarping of the margin and flexural updoming of the eastern rift flank. The consequential orographic precipitation initiated asymmetric erosion and formation of a retreating escarpment. This model is consistent with the large age difference between Miocene AFT and Pliocene AHe ages and the geomorphic metrics