Jacques-Marie Bardintzeff, Volcanologue : de la passion à la vocation

Cet ouvrage a comme sous-titre « De la passion à la vocation », mais cela aurait pu être « Itinéraire d’un volcanologue gâté ». En effet, Jacques-Marie Bardintzeff nous fait parcourir sa vie depuis son enfance dans la banlieue de Grenoble, ses années lycée et surtout revient sur son parcours professionnel depuis les classes préparatoires jusqu’à sa soutenance de thèse. Le lecteur croisera au détour d’une page, entre les nombreuses photos de l’auteur sur le terrain et de volcans, quelques gran..

First paleomagnetic and 40Ar/39Ar study of Paleoproterozoic rocks from the French Guyana (Camopi and Oyapok rivers), northeastern Guyana Shield

In order to understand the Paleoproterozoic geographic evolution of the Guyana Shield, paleomagnetic and 40Ar/39Ar investigations were carried out on granitoids and volcano-sedimentary rocks from the Oyapok and Camopi rivers (French Guyana–Brazil frontier). Scanning electronic microscope, thermomagnetic and isothermomagnetic experiments show that magnetite is the main magnetic remanent carrier in most of the samples. The metavolcano-sedimentary rocks (Paramaca) show a weak magnetization and scattered magnetic directions. Therefore, no reliable magnetic component could be isolated from these samples. Samples taken from tonalite and meta-ultrabasite rocks yield a characteristic magnetic direction, carried by subautomorphous magnetite, that is well defined and distinct from that of the present Earth field and that of nearby Jurassic dikes. A virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) deduced from this probable primary remanence was calculated, namely pole OYA, λ=28.0°S, φ=346.0°E, N=5, k=31.9 and A95=13.8°. Four 40Ar/39Ar ages, ranging from 2052 to 1973 Ma, were obtained from amphiboles and biotites of tonalite rocks, showing a relatively slow cooling rate of ca 4.8+2.6/−2.1°C Ma−1. The linear extrapolation of this cooling rate to the magnetite unblocking temperature (540 to 580°C) yields a magnetization age of 2036±14 Ma for pole OYA. Pole OYA differs significantly from available paleomagnetic results from Venezuela of the West Guyana Shield dated at 2000±10 Ma. This difference may indicate an important latitudinal movement of the Guyana Shield between 2036 and 2000 Ma with a velocity of 9±7 cm/year

New geological and tephrochronological data on the palaeontological site of the Senèze maar (Early Pleistocene, Massif Central, France)

The volcanic system of Senèze (Domeyrat, Haute-Loire) comprises a basanite flow, scoriae, a maar crater and phreatomagmatic products. New field research and detailed cartography clarify their geometry and geological relationships. The maar contains an important palaeontological site of the Early Pleistocene that yielded forty species of mammals attributed to the biozone MNQ 18 (of which it is the reference locality). The excavations undertaken between 2001 and 2006 recovered new fossils and documented their stratigraphic and geodynamic context. The fossiliferous site is located on the shore of the palaeolake and includes several lacustrine and slope deposits linked to the contemporaneous climatic changes which in turn produced a number of locally fossiliferous findspots which appear to be close in age. The discovery of ten tephras emitted by the Mont-Dore strato-volcano, situated 60 km to the NW allowed development of a remarkable tephrochronological framework. Because of the intense weathering of the tephras, their composition is determined by their mineralogical content (feldspars, brown amphiboles, brown and green diopside, titanite, apatite, zircon, biotite-phlogopite, Fe-Ti oxides) and the chemical composition of feldspars (anorthoclase, sodic sanidine and plagioclases). The study of these tephras reveals the importance of the contemporaneous (mainly trachytic) pyroclastic activity and confirms the polyphased deposition of the site. The 40Ar/39Ar laser dating of alkali feldspars from five tephras shows a relatively narrow range of age comprised between 2.09 and 2.21 \textpm 0.02 Ma (1σ, age relative to ACs-2 standard at 1.201 Ma). Senèze is thus confirmed as a key Early Pleistocene palaeontological site in Europe

Fontana Ranuccio (excavations 2019-2022) and Colle Marino (excavations 2020-2021): Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphic evidence of the earliest inhabitants in the Anagni basin

Recent fieldwork of the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana in the Anagni basin (Latin Valley, southern Latium, central Italy) has provided new insights into the dynamics of human settlement and adaptation in this area during the Middle Pleistocene. This paper summarizes the still partially unpublished data on the chronostratigraphy of two important prehistoric sites: Fontana Ranuccio, dating from about 400,000 years ago, and Colle Marino, whose lithic industry has so far been attributed to an early stage of the Middle Pleistocene. At Fontana Ranuccio, stratigraphic studies highlighted the depositional dynamics and the processes involved in the formation of the archeological unit, consisting of partly reworked volcanic material, which can be now divided into distinct sub-units. At Colle Marino, a 35-meter-deep core drilling and an excavation campaign allowed us to verify the nature and provenance of lithic artifacts found on the surface in past decades. Radiometric analyses dated these artifacts from about 700,000 years ago

Pleistocene eruptive chronology of the Gölcük volcano, Isparta Angle, Turkey. Chronologie des épisodes volcaniques pléistocènes du volcan Gölcük, Angle d’Isparta, Turquie

In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Isparta volcanic belongs to the post-collisional alkali-potassic to ultrapotassic magmatism active since the Miocene in this part of the Anatolian peninsula from Afyon to Isparta. In the so-called Isparta Angle (IA) the magmatism is contemporaneous with an extensional regime intiated during Late Miocene and active throughout the Pliocene and Quaternary. Previous K/Ar dating performed on lavas suggested that potassic-ultrapotassic magmatism occurred between 4.7 to 4 Ma. However, a more recent (Quaternary) activity of the Gölcük volcano is evidenced by the present-day morphology and field evidence although it remained undated and poorly studied so far. Field mapping and new radiometric data indicate that the main volcano-forming stages of the Gölcük volcano consist of three main eruptives cycles. (1) Cycle I, represented by more than 200m-thick pyroclastic flow deposits occasionally separated by paleosoils and corresponding to caldera-forming ignimbritic eruptions. (2) Cycle II, consisting of tephriphonolite lava dome-flows extruded throughout the caldera and currently found along the rim of the present crater. (3) Cycle III made up of tuff-ring deposits related to several phreatoplinian eruptions of a maar-type volcanic activity. This youngest cycle ends with trachytic domes protruding within the maar crater. Unspiked 40K/40Ar dating on mesostasis was performed on lavas (tephriphonolites and trachytic domes), and complemented by preliminary 40Ar/39Ar data on tephra deposits (sanidine). Our preliminary results show that the entire activity of Gölcük volcano took place during the Pleistocene and was disconnected from the older Pliocene volcanism. This volcanic activity can be considered as a new volcanic cycle, starting (Cycle I) around 200 ka with major explosive, regional-scale, events represented by at least six ignimbrites sheets. Cycle II occurred between 115 ± 3 ka to 62 ± 2 ka with probably some associated tephra deposits. Tuff-ring of Cycle III formed from 72.7 ± 4.7 ka to 24 ± 2 ka. The associated phreatoplinian eruptions have almost entirely destroyed the previously formed flow-dome. This latest activity corresponds to several volcanic crises as illustrated by the two domes protrusions separated by about 30 ka. The volcanic history of Gölcük ceased around 24 ka ± 2 ka, but the periodicity of eruptive events appears to be long and complex. Currently, the volcano is at rest, but there is no doubt that the Isparta town (more than 120 000 people) built on top of the most recent tephra falls is exposed to a major volcanic hazard in the future.En Méditerranée Orientale, la région active d’Isparta est le siège d’un magmatisme alcalin lié à la distension affectant cette partie de la Péninsule Anatolienne depuis le Miocène supérieur. Le volcanisme Pliocène est alcalin et très potassique, depuis des magmas lamprophyriques à lamproïtiques, jusqu’à des téphriphonolites et des trachytes. La construction du volcan Gölcük au sud d’Isparta marque le début d’un nouveau cycle éruptif après une longue période d’arrêt et d’érosion. L’étude morpho-structurale du volcan couplée aux datations 40K/40Ar sur lave et 39Ar/40Ar sur monograin de feldspath-K indique une histoire éruptive complexe, nettement plus jeune que l’activité antérieure (Pliocène). Ces résultats préliminaires montrent que l’activité volcanique du Gölcük est située dans le Pléistocène supérieur (Paléolithique) entre environ 200 ka et 24 ka. Trois cycles volcaniques majeurs sont reconnus : (1) Cycle I débutant vers 200 ka avec des éruptions ignimbritiques majeures avec un ensemble de coulées pyroclastiques trachytiques comblant les paléo-vallées ouvertes dans les formations sédimentaires et les formations volcaniques d’âge pliocène ; (2) Cycle II avec un épisode effusif de faible importance succède entre 115 ± 3 ka et 62 ± 2 ka à l’activité explosive initiale avec la mise en place d’un édifice central constitué de dômes-coulées téphri-phonolitiques ; (3) Cycle III entre 70 ka et 24 ka, l’activité devient phréatoplinienne et suit de près le cycle précédent. Le dynamisme éruptif phréatomagmatique est celui d’un maar formé d’un large cratère d’explosion entouré d’un anneau de tufs. La dernière crise volcanique se termine par l’extrusion de plusieurs dômes de trachyte dans le cratère et de téphras associés, de nouvelles coulées pyroclastiques se mettent vraisemblablement en place vers le nord-ouest. Les données de terrain et les âges 40Ar/39Ar disponibles indiquent que ces dernières manifestations (construction du maar) sont très récentes et sub-contemporaines du dernier niveau de retombées ponceuses sous les immeubles de la ville et des dômes de lave intra-caldeira. Cet âge récent est confirmé par un âge 14C obtenu sur des bois carbonisés. La morphologie du volcan actuel est relativement bien conservée, malgré l’érosion très active qui remodèle déjà partiellement les pentes. La reprise éventuelle de l’activité du volcan constituerait un risque majeur à l’échelle de la région et en particulier pour la ville d’Isparta établie au pied de l’édifice, notamment sur les coulées pyroclastiques et les retombées ponceuses les plus récentes

Reconstruction of the Holocene seismotectonic activity of the Southern Andes from seismites recorded in Lago Icalma, Chile, 39°S

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 259 (2008): 301-322, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.10.013.South-central Chile is one of the most geodynamically active areas in the world, characterised by frequent volcanic eruptions and numerous earthquakes, which are both recorded in lake sediments. In Lago Icalma (39°S), long piston and short gravity coring, as well as 3.5 kHz high-resolution seismic profiling, has been carried out in order to study the Holocene sedimentary infill of the lake, with a special focus on earthquake-triggered deposits. Macroscopic description of sediment cores and detailed grain-size analyses allow us to identify four types of seismically-induced deposits, or “seismites”: slump deposits, chaotic deposits, turbidites s.s. and homogenites. Homogenites are characterized by the occurrence of three distinct units on grain-size profiles (coarse base, thick homogenous unit topped by a thin layer of very fine sediment) and by the typical distribution of the grain-size parameters in a skewness-sorting diagram, while turbidites s.s. are characterized by a continuous fining upward trend. Radiocarbon, 210Pb dating, and tephrochronology allow us to demonstrate that the regional seismotectonic activity was probably very high between 2200 and 3000 cal. yr. BP as well as between 7000 and 8000 cal. yr. BP and that none of the historically documented earthquakes have triggered any seismite in Lago Icalma. The most recent seismite recognized in the sediments of Lago Icalma is a slump deposit dated at 1100 ± 100 AD, i.e. older than the period covered by historical records. The remarkable record of seismites between 2200 and 3000 cal. yr. BP is probably influenced by a major eruption of Sollipulli volcano at 3000 cal. yr. BP, which has rejuvenated the stock of terrigenous particles available for erosion, by depositing a thick layer of pumices all over the watershed of Lago Icalma and by clearing the vegetation covering the volcanic ash soils. This paper demonstrates that the record of seismically-triggered deposits in lake sediments is not only controlled by the intensity of the triggering earthquake and the occurrence of unstable sediment along the lake slopes but also by the presence of particles available for erosion/remobilisation in the watershed.This research is supported by the Belgian OSTC project EV/12/10B "A continuous Holocene record of ENSO variability in southern Chile"

Recommandation sur l’utilisation des unités de temps en sciences de la terre

International audienc

Evolution géodynamique des cratons des Guyanes et d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Apport des données paléomagnétiques, géochronologiques (40Ar/39Ar) et géochimiques en Guyane et Côte-d'Ivoire.

Renaud GABY : Directeur de Recherche – CNRS Montpellier – RapporteurJean-Pascal COGNE : Professeur – Paris VII – RapporteurYan CHEN : Maître de Conférence – ISTO Orléans – ExaminateurGeorges HAURET : Professeur – CRMHT Orléans – ExaminateurAndré POUCLET : Professeur – ISTO Orléans – PrésidentHervé THEVENIAUT : Ingénieur – BRGM Orléans – ExaminateurGilbert FERAUD : Directeur de Recherche – CNRS Nice – ExaminateurIn order to better constraint the Paleoproterozoic and Mesozoic geodynamic of the French Guyane and Ivory Coast, a multidisciplinary study (paleomagnetism, geochronology Ar/Ar and geochemistry) were done in dolerites, granitoïdes and sesimentary rocks.The combined paleomagnetic and geochronological studies in paleoproterozoic rocks frim the French Guyana indicate that the Jurassic magmatic activity have not perturbed the magnetic remanence and the Argon geochronometer. The calculate cooling rates were low (3,5+2/-1,6°C/Ma et 4,8+2,6/-2,1°C/Ma) and homogeneous from the North to the South. We have highlighted the later cooling of the high anisotropic (P') southern Oyapok zone. Three paleoproterozïc poles were computed ‘OYA, A et B). The magnetic remanence ages varies from 2050 to 1990 Ma. The poles from French Guyana were compared with the C1, C2, C3 (2100 to 2000 Ma) from Ivory Coast, permitted to build two paleoproterozoïc apparent polar wander paths for the Guyana shield and West African craton. The two APWP were coherent after 2020 Ma confirming that the two blocks constituted one block at around 2000 Ma. The older poles were not compatible. Two hypothesis were proposed : I) The two contiental blocks were separate before 2020 Ma ; II) The two blocks were together but the missing data betwween 2080 et 2040 Ma do not allow to prove it.Our new data from the central Atlantic magmatic province indicates that the French Guyana dolerites have particular geochemical and geochronological features as in Amapa Liberia and Ivory Coast. This restricted zone corresponds to high Ti tholeiites, wich have asthenospheric origin and were horizontally fed during multiples pulses. Moreover they are younger (197 to 192 Ma, 40Ar/39 ages) than those of rest of the central Atlantic magmatic province.Afin de mieux comprendre la géodynamique paléoprotérozoïque et mésozoïque en Guyane et Côte-d'Ivoire, une étude pluridisciplinaire (paléomagnétisme, géochronologie 40Ar/39Ar, et géochimie a été menée sur des dolérites, granitoïdes et roches sédimentaires.L'étude combinée paléomagnétique et géochronologique en Guyane sur les roches paléoprotérozoïques a montré que l'activité magmatique jurassique n'a pas pertubé la rémanence magnétique et le géochronomètre Argon. Les vitesses de refroidissement sont lentes (3,5+2/-1,6°C/Ma et 4,8+2,6/-2,1°C/Ma) et régulière du Nord au Sud. Un refroidissement tardif du sud de l'Oyapok, marqué par une forte anisotropie (P') a été mis en évidence. Trois pôles paléoprotérozoïques (OYA, A et B) ont été acquis, dont l'âge de la rémanence est compris entre 2050 et 1990 Ma. Ces trois pôles comparés avec les pôles C1, C2, C3 (2100 et ~ 2000 Ma) acquis en Côte-d'Ivoire ont permis de construire deux courbes apparentes de dérive des pôles paléoprotérozoïques pour les cratons de Guyane et d'Afrique de l'Ouest. La comparaison de ces courbes montre une cohérence entre elles après 2020 Ma, confirmant que les deux cratons constituent un bloc unique à 2000 Ma. Les pôles plus anciens ne sont pas compatibles. Deux propositions sont proposés I) les deux blocs continentaux étaient séparés avant 2020 Ma ; II) les deux blocs étaient ensembles mais le manque de données paléomagnétiques entre 2080 et 2040 Ma ne permet pas de le voir.Nos nouvelles données sur la province magmatique jurassique centrale Atlantique montrent que la Guyane fait partie d'une zone restreinte (Amapa, Libéria, Côte-d'Ivoire) ayant des traits géochimiques et géochronologiques particuliers. Cette zone correspond à la présence majoritaire de tholéiites riches en titane d'origine asthénosphérique mises en place par injection horizontale du magma et en plusieurs injections successives. Ces dolérites ont un âge 40Ar/39Ar plus jeune (197 à 192 Ma) que le reste de la province magmatique centrale Atlantique (~200 Ma)