L'extrémité occidentale de la zone de fracture fidjienne et le point triple de 16°40S-résultats du leg III de la campagne SEAPSO du N.O. Jean-Charcot (décembre 1985) dans le bassin nord-Fidjien (SW Pacifique)

Au cours du leg III de la campagne SEAPSO du N.O. Jean-Charcot, à été réalisé un levé géophysique et bathymétrique Seabeam de l'extrémité occidentale de la fracture nord-Fidjienne, à la jonction avec la dorsale du bassin nord-Fidjien. Une étude détaillée de ce levé permet de mettre en évidence un réarrangement récent de la direction du système d'accrétion de part et d'autre de cette jonction, accompagné du fonctionnement synchrone d'un point triple centré sur 16°40S. (Résumé d'auteur

Building of the Amsterdam-Saint Paul plateau: A 10 Myr history of a ridge-hot spot interaction and variations in the strength of the hot spot source

International audienceThe Amsterdam-Saint Paul plateau results from a 10 Myr interaction between the South East Indian Ridge and the Amsterdam-Saint Paul hot spot. During this period of time, the structure of the plateau changed as a consequence of changes in both the ridge-hot spot relative distance and in the strength of the hot spot source. The joint analysis of gravity-derived crust thickness and bathymetry reveals that the plateau started to form at ~10 Ma by an increase of the crustal production at the ridge axis, due to the nearby hot spot. This phase, which lasted 3-4 Myr, corresponds to a period of a strong hot spot source, maybe due to a high temperature or material flux, and decreasing ridge-hot spot distance. A second phase, between ~6 and ~3 Ma, corresponds to a decrease in the ridge crustal production. During this period, the hot spot center was close to the ridge axis and this reduced magmatic activity suggests a weak hot spot source. At ~3 Ma, the ridge was located approximately above the hot spot center. An increase in the hot spot source strength then resulted in the building of the shallower part of the plateau. The variations of the melt production at the ridge axis through time resulted in variations in crustal thickness but also in changes in the ridge morphology. The two periods of increased melt production correspond to smooth ridge morphology, characterized by axial highs, while the intermediate period corresponds to a rougher, rift-valley morphology. These variations reveal changes in axial thermal structure due to higher melting production rates and temperatures

Evolution of the accretion processes along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge north of the Azores since 5.5 Ma: An insight into the interactions between the ridge and the plume

International audienceHigh-resolution bathymetry and gravity data north of the Azores Plateau show that this part of the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge is presently undergoing a phase of weak crustal production and magmatism. Most of the ridge segments are small and short-lived, suggesting a disrupted and highly variable accretion regime since anomaly 3A. The influence of the nearby plume appears to be relatively minor and corresponds more to a weak thermal signal than to any major input of plume material and increased crustal production at the axis. A period of increased magmatism was identified at the southern limit of the study area (near 40°N) around anomaly 5. This magmatic "pulse" caused the emplacement of a topographic high, probably underlain by a thickened crust. This pulse probably marks the northernmost and last significant arrival of material from the Azores plume to the MAR axi

Seismic structure of an oceanic core complex at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 22°19′N

We present results from a seismic refraction and wide-angle experiment surveying an oceanic core complex on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 22°19′N. Oceanic core complexes are settings where petrological sampling found exposed lower crustal and upper mantle rocks, exhumed by asymmetric crustal accretion involving detachment faulting at magmatically starved ridge sections. Tomographic inversion of our seismic data yielded lateral variations of P wave velocity within the upper 3 to 4 km of the lithosphere across the median valley. A joint modeling procedure of seismic P wave travel times and marine gravity field data was used to constrain crustal thickness variations and the structure of the uppermost mantle. A gradual increase of seismic velocities from the median valley to the east is connected to aging of the oceanic crust, while a rapid change of seismic velocities at the western ridge flank indicates profound differences in lithology between conjugated ridge flanks, caused by un-roofing lower crust rocks. Under the core complex crust is approximately 40% thinner than in the median valley and under the conjugated eastern flank. Clear PmP reflections turning under the western ridge flank suggest the creation of a Moho boundary and hence continuous magmatic accretion during core complex formation

Magnetic structure of a slow spreading ridge segment: Insights from near-bottom magnetic measurements on board a submersible

International audienceNear-bottom magnetic measurements on board submersible Nautile were carried out on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 21 degrees 40'N segment, and deep-sea geomagnetic vector anomalies along 19 dive tracks were obtained by applying the processing method for shipboard three-component magnetometer data. A forward modeling technique using short-wavelength components of the anomalies arising from local topography and vertical motion of the submersible was designed to estimate the absolute magnetization intensity of the seafloor. In the vicinity of the spreading axis a considerable number of magnetization estimations are reliably confirmed by the high correlation between observed and modeled anomalies, whereas less reliable estimations are obtained off-axis, probably because the sediment buries the basement topography. The natural remanent magnetization (NRM) measured on basalt samples collected during these dives is compared with the magnetization from anomalies. Though both results give a similar range of magnetization intensity, no correlation is confirmed between them, possibly because the magnetization from anomalies represents laterally averaged seafloor magnetization, whereas the NRM has variations at the scale of individual pillow or lava pile. Equivalent magnetization inverted from the sea-surface magnetic anomalies shows axial magnetization increases significantly from the segment center to the segment ends. However, the results of eight dives conducted near the spreading axis at different locations along the segment show much less variation in magnetization intensity along the axis. We ascribe the high equivalent magnetization at segment ends to preferential serpentinization of peridotite near the segment ends and the associated formation of magnetite. The results of three across-axis transects composed of 15 dives running in the spreading direction can be consistently interpreted as recording geomagnetic paleointensity variations during the Brunhes epoch. Although magnetization lows are generally correspondent to periods of low paleointensity, they show deeper drop than predicted from the paleointensity variation

Faulting and volcanism in the axial valley of the slow-spreading center of the Mariana back arc basin from Wadatsumi side-scan sonar images

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 6 (2005): Q05006, doi:10.1029/2004GC000881.We analyzed in detail the geology of the median valley floor of the Mariana Basin slow-spreading ridge using sea surface geophysical data and a high-resolution deep-tow side-scan sonar survey over one spreading segment. Analysis of surface magnetic data indicates highly asymmetric accretion, with the half-spreading rate on the western side of the basin being two to three times larger than on the eastern side. Surface magnetic and reflectivity data together suggest that asymmetric spreading is accomplished through eastward ridge jumps of ∼10 km of amplitude. Deep-tow backscatter data indicate along-axis variations of the volcanic processes with the emplacement of smooth and hummocky flows at the segment center and end, respectively. This variation likely relates to changes in the effusion rate due to the deepening or even disappearance of the magma chamber toward the segment end. Concerning tectonic processes, we find a power law distribution of the fractures, with an exponent of 1.74. This suggests that within the inner valley floor, fracture growth prevails over fracture nucleation and coalescence and that fractures accommodate less than 8% of the strain. According to our calculation based on a ratio of 0.02 to 0.03 between the vertical displacement and the length of faults, the amount of tectonic strain accommodated in the inner valley floor would consistently be ∼1.1–3.4%. Data also show two distinct sets of fractures. One trend is parallel to the rift direction at the segment center (∼N160°E) and perpendicular to the plate separation direction. Another set trends ∼17° oblique to this direction (∼N175°E) and is located over the eastern part of the valley, in the vicinity of a major bounding fault also trending ∼N175°E, that is, obliquely to the direction of plate motion. We modeled the stress field near a major fault that is oblique to the regional stress field associated with plate separation using a three-dimensional boundary element approach. We found that the orientation of the predicted fissuring near the oblique fault is locally rotated by ∼15° due to a flexure of the bending plate close to this fault.The KR03-12 cruise was funded by both JAMSTEC and ORI. This research was supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by the United States Geological Survey

Accretion, structure and hydrology of intermediate spreading-rate oceanic crust from drillhole experiments and seafloor observations

Downhole measurements recorded in the context of the Ocean Drilling Program in Hole 504B, the deepest hole drilled yet into the oceanic crust, are analyzed in terms of accretion processes of the upper oceanic crust at intermediate spreading-rate. The upper part of the crust is found to support the non steady-state models of crustal accretion developed from seafloor observations (Kappel and Ryan, 1986; Gente, 1987). The continuous and vertical nature of borehole measurements provides stratigraphic and structural data that cannot be obtained solely from seafloor studies and, in turn, these models define a framework to analyze the structural, hydrological, and mineralogical observations made in the hole over the past decade.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43190/1/11001_2005_Article_BF01204282.pd

Etude morphostructurale comparative de dorsales oceaniques a taux d'expansion varies : schema d'evolution morphologique de l'axe des dorsales, liaison avec l'hydrothermalisme

SIGLECNRS T Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc