Imprégnation magmatique de la lithosphère océanique (étude microstrucurale et géochimique de séries gabbroïques forées à la dorsale Médio-Atlantique)

Le puits IODP U1309D (Exp. IODP 304-305, 30N) et le Site ODP 1275 (Leg ODP 209, 1545'N) ont permis d'échantillonner deux cores complexes océaniques de la dorsale Médio-Atlantique. Les roches récupérées sont principalement gabbroïques dont certaines très primitives et riches en olivine (ol >70%). Dans le puits U1309D, les compositions en éléments en trace des poeciloblastes de clinopyroxène et de plagioclase des roches riches en olivine indiquent qu'ils précipitent depuis le même magma dans toutes les lithologies. La composition en éléments en trace des olivines est en déséquilibre avec ces deux minéraux. Les fabriques cristallographiques de l'olivine sont faibles avec une concentration sur [001] inhabituelle, néanmoins compatibles avec une déformation plastique de haute température, avec l'activation du système de glissement (010) [100] communément décrit dans le manteau asthénosphérique. L'étude conjointe des caractéristiques géochimiques et microstructurales de ces roches met en lumière une histoire complexe de cristallisation dans un système ouvert où de larges volumes de magma de type MORB ont percolé et interagi avec le manteau appauvri superficiel. Ces roches riches en olivine représenteraient le résidu ultime de ces réactions liquide-manteau. Au site 1275, la formation des roches les plus évoluées de la série n'apparaît pas lié à l'événement d'imprégnation formant les roches riches en olivine. Ces roches correspondent à des injections tardives de magma qui ont entièrement cristallisé en profondeur sous forme de plutons intrusifs. Les résultats présentés dans ce mémoire sont compatibles avec une formation des core complexes océaniques associée à une activité magmatique relativement importante, et à une cristallisation complète de tout ou partie de ces magmas dans la lithosphère sans contre-partie volcanique en surfaceIODP Hole U1309D (IODP Exp. 304-305, 30N) and ODP Site 1275 (ODP Lag 209, 1545'N) sampled two oceanic core complexes, at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The recovered rocks are mostly gabbroic with some very primitive and olivine rich (Ol>70%). In Hole U1309D, trace element compositions of clinopyroxene and plagioclase poikiloblasts from olivine-rich rocks indicate that they crystallized from the same melt in all lithologies. Olivine trace element compositions are in disequilibrium with the two other minerals. Olivine crystallographic preferred orientations are weak, with a relatively strong uncommon [001] concentration but consistent with deformation by dislocation creep with activation of the high-temperature (010) [100] slip system, commonly described in asthenospheric mantle. The joint study of geochemical processes and microstructures in these rocks suggest a complex crystallization history in an open system with percolation of large volume of MORBtype melt and interaction with the depleted shallow mantle. Olivine-rich rocks are interpreted as the ultimate residue of these melt-mantle reaction processes. At Site 1275, the formation of the more evolved rocks of the gabbroic series is not related to the impregnation event creating olivine-rich rocks. These rocks represent late magmatic injections, which are completely crystallized at depth as gabbroic pockets. The results presented in this thesis are consistent with the formation of oceanic core complexes associated with relatively strong magmatic activity, and with the crystallization of most of melt in the lithosphere without basaltic counterpart erupted on the seafloorMONTPELLIER-BU Sciences (341722106) / SudocSudocFranceF

Fossil oceanic core complexes recognized in the blueschist metaophiolites of Western Alps and Corsica

International audienceTethyan 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

Determination of flow directions by combining AMS and thin-section analyses: implications for Oligocene volcanism in the Kerguelen Archipelago (southern Indian Ocean)

International audienceWe report an anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) study carried out on seven Oligocene volcanic sections widely distributed on the surface of the Kerguelen Archipelago. The statistical results at flow scale and at section scale were checked with AMS density diagrams and thin-section analysis. Because of the axis permutations frequently observed for lava flows, two possible flow directions were nicely defined for the majority of the sections. We then used two alternative approaches (imbrication of the minimum axis and symmetry of the AMS distribution) to infer a flow direction for each section. These two methods and thin-section analysis not being decisive for choosing between the two solutions, geological and geomorphological observations were finally used to obtain confident interpretations. The results of this study enable the supposed eruptive centres of the Kerguelen Archipelago to be located more precisely

High-temperature deformation and retrograde strain localization during cooling and exhumation of a gabbroic pluton in an Oceanic Core Complex (Hole U1473A, Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian ridge)

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Plastic deformation of plagioclase in a gabbro pluton accreted at a slow-spreading ridge (Hole U1473A, Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian ridge)

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Journey to the mantle of the Earth

Retrieving a sample of Earth's mantle has been an overarching ambition of the geoscience community for more than a century. In 1909, the Croatian meteorologist Andrija Mohorovi?i? noticed that seismic waves travelling below about 30 kilometres underground move faster than those above that depth, indicating a fundamental change in the composition and physical properties of the rocks. He had discovered the upper boundary of Earth's mantle, now known as the Mohorovi?i? discontinuity, or 'Moho' for short. This boundary marks the start of the bulk of Earth's interior, which extends from the base of Earth's crust — at 30–60 kilometres under the continents but just 6 kilometres under the thinner crust of the oceans — to the core 2,890 kilometres below

Formation of lower fast-spread oceanic crust: a structural and geochemical study of troctolites in the Hess Deep Rift (East Pacific Rise)

International audienceAbstract Troctolites were recovered during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 345 at the Hess Deep Rift, next to fast-spreading East Pacific Rise. These troctolites are divided into three groups based on textural differences: coarse-grained (1–10 mm in length) troctolite, fine-grained (~ 2 mm in length) troctolite, and skeletal olivine-bearing troctolite. All troctolites exhibit a magmatic fabric. The major-element compositions of olivine, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene in the troctolites are intermediate between those of Hess Deep gabbros and harzburgites. The trace-element compositions of olivine, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene in the troctolites overlap with those of troctolites from slow-spread crust, but they record no petrographic evidence indicating assimilation of mantle peridotite. Thermodynamic calculation for mineral chemistry showed that fractional crystallization of melt is the dominant process responsible for the formation of the troctolites. The fine-grained troctolite was crystallized with high crystallization rate resulting from hot melt injection into colder wall gabbro. In contrast, interactions between the unsolidified troctolite containing interstitial melt and newly injected melt resulted in the formation of the skeletal olivine-bearing troctolite. While our results demonstrate that the troctolites exhibit multiple melt injections and partial dissolution of a troctolite precursor, fractional crystallization is the dominant process for the creation of the lower crust in the Hess Deep Rift

Effect of mechanical interactions on the development of shape preferred orientations: a two-dimensional experimental approach

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Petrophysical properties of the root zone of sheeted dikes in the ocean crust: A case study from Hole ODP/IODP 1256D, Eastern Equatorial Pacific

ODP (Ocean Drilling Program)/IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) Site 1256 is located on the Cocos Plate in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean, in a 15. Ma old oceanic lithosphere formed at the EPR during a period of superfast spreading (> 200 mm/yr). ODP/IODP Hole 1256D reached for the first time the contact between sheeted dikes and underlying gabbros. It consequently offers a unique opportunity to study in situ, in present-day oceanic crust, the root zone of the sheeted dike complex. This root zone is a thin, 100. m thick boundary layer between the magmatic system (i.e., the axial melt lens, . 1100°C), and the overlying high temperature hydrothermal system (≤ 450 °C). The understanding of interactions within this boundary layer is critical to that of crustal processes along mid-ocean ridges.This work focuses on the petrophysical characterization of the root zone of the sheeted dike complex in order to further constrain the hydrothermal circulation system in the vicinity of the axial melt lens, as recorded in non-granoblastic dikes, granoblastic dikes, and varitextured gabbros. The petrophysical properties were determined from sample measurements in the laboratory and were compared to in situ downhole geophysical probing. The porosity structure is bipolar, depending on lithology, resulting in a layered system. Non-granoblastic dikes are generally altered in the greenschist facies ( >250°C) with relatively high and interconnected (cementation index m . 1.72, electrical tortuosity τ 28.3) porosity (1.5%). In contrast, gabbros are retrogressively metamorphosed in the amphibolite ( >450°C) and greenschist facies, with lower porosity (1.3%) that involves numerous fissures and cracks, resulting in a more connected medium (m 1.58, τ 11.8) than non-granoblastic dikes. These cracks are more abundant but also tend to close with increasing depth as indicated in downhole geophysical data. Porosity and alteration, as viewed from surface electrical conductivity, appear to be directly correlated. © 2010 Elsevier B.V

Genesis of Carbonatite at Oldoinyo Lengai (Tanzania) from Olivine Nephelinite: Protracted Melt Evolution and Reactive Porous Flow in Deep Crustal Mushes

International audienceAbstract Carbonatites, carbon-rich magmatic rocks, are thought to form by low-degree partial melting of a relatively carbon-poor mantle followed by protracted differentiation and immiscibility. However, the nature of parental magmas and the characteristics of the early stages of differentiation that shape the subsequent crystal and liquid lines of descent remain poorly constrained. To provide new constraints, deep crustal cumulative xenoliths from Oldoinyo Lengai (East African Rift), the only active volcano erupting carbonatite magmas, were studied. We use major and volatile elements in primitive olivine-hosted melt inclusions, as well as major and trace elements in crystals, to reconstruct the conditions of formation and evolution of cumulates (pressure, temperature, composition). Xenoliths are composed of olivine, diopside, phlogopite, amphibole and accessory minerals. One remarkable feature is the presence of diopside and phlogopite oikocrysts enclosing roundish olivine chadacrysts. Melt inclusions do not have vapor bubble and have major element compositions resembling olivine nephelinite (7–10 wt % MgO after corrections for post-entrapment crystallization). The absence of vapor bubbles implies that the concentrations of volatile components (i.e. CO2, H2O, S) were not compromised by well-known post-entrapment volatile loss into the vapor bubble. Based on the melt inclusion study by SIMS, the volatile concentrations in olivine nephelinite magmas (early stage of differentiation) at Oldoinyo Lengai were 20–130 ppm S, 390–4500 ppm F, 50–540 ppm Cl, up to 6074 ppm CO2 and up to 1.5 wt % H2O. According to the calculated CO2-H2O saturation pressures and geophysical data, xenoliths from Embalulu Oltatwa document a mushy reservoir in the lower crust. Primitive olivine nephelinite melt inclusions have higher H2O contents than olivine nephelinite lavas from other further South volcanoes from the North Tanzanian Divergence (0.2–0.5 wt % H2O), suggesting that the lithospheric mantle source beneath the Oldoinyo Lengai is more hydrated than the mantle beneath the rest of North Tanzanian Divergence. We present a model in which resorption features observed in olivine chadacrysts, together with the LREE enrichments in olivine grains, are the consequences of reactive porous flows in a deep crustal mushy reservoir. We provide constraints on the major, trace and volatile element composition of the parental magmas of carbonatite series and demonstrate with Rhyolite-MELTS models that phonolites and related natrocarbonatites from Oldoinyo Lengai can be produced by protracted differentiation of olivine nephelinite melts