Les terrasses marines, marqueurs de l'interaction entre soulèvement et oscillation du niveau de la mer

National audienceBilan des mesures de soulèvement grâce aux terrasses marine

A nexus of plate interaction: Vertical deformation of Holocene wave-built terraces on the Kamchatsky Peninsula (Kamchatka, Russia)

Kamchatsky Peninsula lies within a complex meeting place of tectonic plates, in particular, the orthogonal interaction of the west-moving Komandorsky Island block with mainland Kamchatka. Examining the Holocene history of vertical deformation of marine wave-built terraces along the peninsular coast, we differentiated tectonic blocks undergoing uplift and tilting separated by zones of stable or subsided shorelines. We analyzed ~200 excavations along >30 coastal profi les and quantifi ed vertical deformation on single profi les as well as along the coast using paleoshorelines dated with marker tephras. For the past ~2000 yr, the average rates of vertical deformation range from about –1 to +7 mm/yr. Uplift patterns are similar to those detected from historical leveling and from mapping of the stage 5e Quaternary marine terrace (ca. 120 ka). Average vertical deformation in the Holocene is highest for the shortest studied time period, from ca. A.D. 250 to 600, and it is several times faster than rates for marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 5e terraces. Vertical displacements observed along the coast are most likely coseismic and probably have included subsidence as well as uplift events. Because subsidence is generally associated with erosion, almost surely more prehistoric large earthquakes occurred than are recorded as topographic steps in these terraces. We suggest that the distribution of coastal uplift and subsidence observed along the Kamchatsky Peninsula coastline is qualitatively explained by the squeezing of the Kamchatsky Peninsula block between the Bering and Okhotsk plates, and the Komandorsky Island block

Optically stimulated luminescence dating as a geochronological tool for late quaternary sediments in the Red Sea region

This chapter concerns the use of luminescence methods as geochronological tools for dating Late Quaternary sediments in the Red Sea region. The dating methods all use stimulated luminescence to register signals developed in mineral systems in response to long term exposure to ionising radiation in the environment. The principles of luminescence dating are outlined followed by discussion of its application to the Arabian Peninsula, where, particularly in SE Arabia and parts of the interior, a growing corpus of work is emerging, which is helping to define past arid or humid periods of importance to palaeoclimatology and to archaeology. Turning to the Red Sea, studies conducted within the DISPERSE project are presented both in marine and terrestrial settings. The motivation for much of this work concerns definition of the environmental conditions and chronologies for hominin and human dispersion through Arabia. Data are presented which identify, for the first time, late Pleistocene evidence on the inner continental shelf near the Farasan Islands, using material from the 2013 cruise of RV AEGAEO . Results are also presented from the littoral fringe of southwest Saudi Arabia, identifying units associated with MIS5 which have palaeo-environmental and archaeological significance. It is to be hoped that further research in coming decades will continue to extend the regional chronology for the littoral fringe of the Red Sea. In this respect luminescence dating has potential to help define the environmental history of this important area, to assist with assigning marine and terrestrial features into unique stages of Quaternary climate cycles, and to promote better understanding of human-environment interactions in this dynamic area

Neogene-Quaternary slow coastal uplift of Western Europe through the perspective of sequences of strandlines from the Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy, France)

The Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy, France) displays sequences of marine terraces and rasas, the latter being wide Late Cenozoic coastal erosion surfaces, that are typical of Western European coasts in Portugal, Spain, France and southern England. Remote sensing imagery and field mapping enabled reappraisal of the Cotentin coastal sequences. From bottom to top, the N Cotentin sequence includes four previously recognized Pleistocene marine terraces (T1 to T4) at elevations < 40 m as well as four higher and older rasas (R1 to R4) reaching 200 ± 5 m in elevation. Low-standing marine terraces are not observed in the central part of the Peninsula and a limited number of terraces are described to the south. The high-standing rasas are widespread all over the peninsula. Such strandline distributions reveal major changes during the Late Cenozoic. Progressive uplift of an irregular sea-floor led to subaerial exposure of bathymetric highs that were carved into rocky platforms, rasas and marine terraces. Eventually, five main islands coalesced and connected to the mainland to the south to form the Cotentin Peninsula. On the basis of previous dating of the last interglacial maximum terrace (i.e. Marine Isotopic Stage, MIS 5e), sequential morphostratigraphy and modelling, we have reappraised uplift rates and derived: (i) mean Upper Pleistocene (i.e. since MIS 5e ~ 122 +/− 6 ka, i.e. kilo annum) apparent uplift rates of 0.04 ± 0.01 mm/yr, (ii) mean Middle Pleistocene eustasy-corrected uplift rates of 0.09 ± 0.03 mm/yr, and (iii) low mean Pleistocene uplift rates of 0.01 mm/yr. Extrapolations of these slow rates combined with geological evidence implies that the formation of the sequences from the Cotentin Peninsula occurred between 3 Ma (Pliocene) and 15 Ma (Miocene), which cannot be narrowed down further without additional research. Along the coasts of Western Europe, sequences of marine terraces and rasas are widespread (169 preserve the MIS 5e benchmark). In Spain, Portugal, S England and other parts of western France, the sequences morphostratigraphy is very similar to that of Cotentin. The onset of such Western European sequences occurred during the Miocene (e.g. Spain) or Pliocene (e.g. Portugal). We interpret this Neogene-Quaternary coastal uplift as a symptom of the increasing lithospheric compression that accompanies Cenozoic orogenies. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.We thank the ANR GiSeLE as well as the INSU programme Sulamer Hople for funding.Peer reviewe

A Nexus of Plate Interaction: Vertical Deformation of Holocene Wave-built Terraces on the Kamchatsky Peninsula (Kamchatka, Russia)

Kamchatsky Peninsula lies within a complex meeting place of tectonic plates, in particular, the orthogonal interaction of the west-moving Komandorsky Island block with mainland Kamchatka. Examining the Holocene history of vertical deformation of marine wave-built terraces along the peninsular coast, we differentiated tectonic blocks undergoing uplift and tilting separated by zones of stable or subsided shorelines. We analyzed ~200 excavations along \u3e30 coastal profiles and quantified vertical deformation on single profiles as well as along the coast using paleoshorelines dated with marker tephras. For the past ~2000 yr, the average rates of vertical deformation range from about –1 to +7 mm/yr. Uplift patterns are similar to those detected from historical leveling and from mapping of the stage 5e Quaternary marine terrace (ca. 120 ka). Average vertical deformation in the Holocene is highest for the shortest studied time period, from ca. A.D. 250 to 600, and it is several times faster than rates for marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 5e terraces. Vertical displacements observed along the coast are most likely coseismic and probably have included subsidence as well as uplift events. Because subsidence is generally associated with erosion, almost surely more prehistoric large earthquakes occurred than are recorded as topographic steps in these terraces. We suggest that the distribution of coastal uplift and subsidence observed along the Kamchatsky Peninsula coastline is qualitatively explained by the squeezing of the Kamchatsky Peninsula block between the Bering and Okhotsk plates, and the Komandorsky Island block

"Arc-continent collision" of the Aleutian-Komandorsky arc into Kamchatka: Insight into Quaternary tectonic segmentation through Pleistocene marine terraces and morphometric analysis of fluvial drainage

At the NW corner of the Pacific region, just south of the Kamchatsky Peninsula, the northern tip of the Pacific plate subduction and associated volcanic arc interacts with the western end of the Aleutian-Komandorsky dextral transform plate boundary and associated arc. Study of both Holocene and Pleistocene sequences of uplifted marine terraces and also of fluvial drainage patterns on the Kamchatsky Peninsula allows us to highlight active tectonics produced by complex plate interaction. Our results show that the central eastern coast of the peninsula is currently divided into four different zones consisting in uplifted blocks associated with various uplift rates in front of a fold-and-thrust zone to the west. Our main tectonic benchmark—the altitude of the shoreline correlated to the Last Interglacial Maximum (Marine Isotopic Stage 5e)—yields late Pleistocene uplift rates ranging from 0.2 to 2.74 mm/yr. One of the main active faults bounding the coastal blocks is dextral and is interpreted as a prolongation of an offshore fault of the Aleutian-Komandorsky dextral transform plate boundary. We suggest that structures on the Kamchatsky Peninsula accommodate a part of the transform motion, but that mainly, the arc-continent collision of the Aleutian arc against Kamchatka produces a “bulldozer” effect on the Kamchatsky Peninsula