Du manteau à la croûte, dynamique de subduction et systèmes minéralisés en Méditerranée orientale

Subduction zones display a major economic interest, in terms of mineral resources, with mainly copper and gold deposits. While many studies focus on ore-forming physico-chemical mechanisms, the control of geodynamic processes on such deposits remains poorly investigated. In this study, I track tridimensional (3D) subduction-related mantle and crustal processes that promote ore genesis. The eastern Mediterranean subduction zone is a relevant study area to explore subduction-mineralization interactions, because of its complex tectonic and magmatic evolution and the large number of available metallogenic data. This work consisted in (1) performing a new kinematic reconstruction model of this region, (2) using this model, characterizing the spatial and temporal distribution of magmatic and ore occurrences, (3) evidencing, on the field, the relations between mineralization and large-scale tectonic structures and (4) providing physical constrains to proposed conceptual models, using 3D thermo-mechanical numerical modeling. Two main metallogenic provinces are evidenced: a late Cretaceous copper-rich and an Oligocene-Miocene lead-zinc- then gold-rich provinces emplaced in an arc and back-arc context, respectively. These metallogenic periods are controlled by the subduction zone retreat and associated asthenospheric flow that results in an extensional (or transtensional) tectonic regime in the overriding lithosphere, promoting ore genesis. Their metal content, as well as their typology then depend on (1) how much these processes affect the subduction kinematics and (2) the past geodynamic evolution of this subduction zone.Les zones de subduction présentent un intérêt majeur en termes de ressources minérales, notamment à cuivre et or. De nombreuses études se sont focalisées sur les mécanismes physico-chimiques de formation de ces minéralisations, mais très peu se sont intéressées aux processus géodynamiques qui contrôlent ces mécanismes. Dans cette étude, j’identifie les processus mantelliques et crustaux, liés à la dynamique tridimensionnelle (3D) de la subduction, qui favorisent la genèse de ces concentrations métalliques. La zone de subduction est-Méditerranéenne présente une évolution tectonique et magmatique complexe, avec de nombreuses données métallogéniques disponibles, ce qui en fait une zone d’étude privilégiée afin d’étudier ces interactions entre subduction et minéralisations. Ce travail a consisté à (1) réaliser un nouveau modèle de reconstructions cinématiques de la région, (2) caractériser la distribution spatiale et temporelle des occurrences magmatiques et minéralisées à partir de ce modèle, (3) mettre en évidence, via une étude de terrain, le contrôle structural de ces minéralisations et (4) apporter des contraintes physiques aux modèles conceptuels alors proposés, à l’aide d’une étude de modélisation numérique thermo-mécanique 3D. Deux provinces métallogéniques ont ainsi été mises en évidence : (1) au Crétacé supérieur, une province riche en cuivre qui s’est développée dans un environnement d’arc et (2) à l’Oligocène-Miocène, une province riche en plomb-zinc puis en or, qui s’est mise en place dans un contexte d’arrière-arc. Ces épisodes fertiles sont contrôlés par le retrait de la zone de subduction et les flux asthénosphériques associés qui permettent l’instauration d’un régime tectonique extensif (ou transtensif) dans la lithosphère, favorisant la genèse de ces systèmes minéralisés. Leur contenu métallique ainsi que leur typologie est alors fonction (1) de l’intensité avec laquelle ces processus influent sur la cinématique de subduction et (2) de l’histoire géodynamique antérieure de cette zone de subduction

The north cycladic detachment system and associated mineralization, Mykonos, Greece: Insights on the evolution of the Aegean domain

International audienceIn the Aegean back-arc domain, some 30-35 Ma ago, an increase of the rate of slab retreat led to the initiation of post-orogenic extension, largely accommodated by large-scale structures such as the North Cycladic Detachment System (NCDS). Although this extension is still active nowadays, an E-W compressional regime developed in the Late Miocene with the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault. On Mykonos island (Cyclades), the NE-SW back-arc extension is particularly well expressed with the Livada and Mykonos detachments that belong to the NCDS and that are associated with NW-SE barite veins emplaced during the synkinematic cooling of the Mykonos intrusion. This study shows that the formation of the mineralization occurred when the pluton crossed the ductile-to-brittle transition during its exhumation below the NCDS at ~11-10 Ma. In addition, the kinematics of mineralized structures evolved with time: (1) most of the displacement was accommodated by the top-to-the-NE Livada and Mykonos detachments accompanied by the formation of mineralized normal faults that were (2) reworked in a strike-slip regime with an E-W direction of shortening and a persistent NE-SW stretching and (3) a latepost-mineralization E-W compressional stage with a minor reworking of shallow-dipping faults (locally including the detachments themselves). We interpret this increase of the E-W shortening component recorded during the mineraldeposition as a consequence of the initiation of the westward motion of Anatolia from 10 Ma, thus 4 Ma before the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault in the Dardanelles Strait and the localization of the strain on the Aegean Sea margins

The Ikaria high-temperature Metamorphic Core Complex (Cyclades, Greece): Geometry, kinematics and thermal structure

International audienceThis work attempted at clarifying the structure of Ikaria using primarily intensive geological mapping combined with structural analysis and a geothermometry approach of Raman spectrometry of carbonaceous material. Foliation over the whole island defines a structural dome cored by high-grade to partially-molten rocks. Its exhumation was completed by two top-to-the-N ductile extensional shear zones, operating in the ductile and then the brittle fields, through a single extensional event coeval with progressive strain localization. The thermal structure of the dome with regard to position of ductile shear zones was retrieved using the Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material. Peak-metamorphic temperatures range from 390 °C in the upper parts of the structure down to 625 °C in the core of the dome in the vicinity of migmatites and S-type granite. Pioneer in situ U-Th-Pb analyses on monazite performed on the leucosome parts of these rock yielded a 15.7 ± 0.2 Ma age. Ikaria Island thus completes the series of Miocene migmatite-cored Metamorphic Core Complex in the central part of the Aegean domain where a genuine high-temperature zone can be defined as the central Aegean HT zone. There, the extreme stretching of the continental crust is associated with dominantly top-to-the-N kinematics

Spatial and temporal distribution of Cu-Au-Mo ore deposits along the western Tethyan convergent margin: a link with the 3D subduction dynamics

International audienceAlong the western Tethyan convergent margin, where Tertiary subduction history is well constrained, porphyry, epithermal and skarn ore deposits show a variable evolution of their spatial distribution. Using different and complementary database on European and Middle East ore deposits, three metallogenic episodes have been highlighted: (1) a late Cretaceous - Paleocene phase characterized by a copper mineralization within the Balkan chain and in the Kaçkar mountains (eastern Turkey), (2) an Eocene phase with a few copper ore deposits in eastern Turkey and small Caucasia and (3) an Oligocene - Neogene phase with a more southern distribution along the margin and mainly constituted by epithermal Au systems in the west (Carpathians, Rhodope, Aegean and western Turkey) and by porphyry copper deposits in the east (Zagros). Using paleogeographic tools, it turned out that, in the eastern Mediterranean area, the late Cretaceous - Paleocene and Oligocene - Neogenemetallogenic episodes arecoeval with a significant decrease of the Africa - Eurasia convergence rate, from about 1.5 to 0.4 cm/yr. Indeed, compressional tectonics promote the storage of large volumes of metal-rich magma and the development of an extensive MASH (melting, assimilation, storage and homogenization) zone. When this convergence rate decreases, a stress relaxation occurs in the overriding crust, inducing the ascent of a sufficient flux of this fertile magma and allowing the formation of numerous mineralized systems within the upper crust. The Au-rich Oligocene - Neogenemetallogenic episode in the eastern Mediterranean region is also correlated with an increase of mantle-derived and/or subduction-modified lithospheric mantle components in magmas. This feature may be a consequence of the emplacement of hot asthenosphere at shallow depth related to (1) the development of a wide back-arc region due to slab retreat such as in the Aegean domain and (2) a slab tear and/or a lithospheric delamination, suspected notably in the Carpathians and western Turkey where alkaline to shoshoniticvolcanism occurs. As the behavior of the slab and asthenosphere below the upper plate seems to play a key-role in controlling the distribution of ore deposits, it is worth studying the dynamics of the 3D mantle flow related toslab retreat. Thus, 3D numerical models of subduction dynamics with realistic rheologies have been developed. Around the slab edges, the poloidal (i.e. in a vertical plane) and toroidal (i.e. in a horizontal plane) components of the mantle flow in subduction zone appear to depend on the slab rollback to plate velocity ratio

From mantle to crust, subduction dynamics and mineralization in eastern Mediterranean

Les zones de subduction présentent un intérêt majeur en termes de ressources minérales, notamment à cuivre et or. De nombreuses études se sont focalisées sur les mécanismes physico-chimiques de formation de ces minéralisations, mais très peu se sont intéressées aux processus géodynamiques qui contrôlent ces mécanismes. Dans cette étude, j’identifie les processus mantelliques et crustaux, liés à la dynamique tridimensionnelle (3D) de la subduction, qui favorisent la genèse de ces concentrations métalliques. La zone de subduction est-Méditerranéenne présente une évolution tectonique et magmatique complexe, avec de nombreuses données métallogéniques disponibles, ce qui en fait une zone d’étude privilégiée afin d’étudier ces interactions entre subduction et minéralisations. Ce travail a consisté à (1) réaliser un nouveau modèle de reconstructions cinématiques de la région, (2) caractériser la distribution spatiale et temporelle des occurrences magmatiques et minéralisées à partir de ce modèle, (3) mettre en évidence, via une étude de terrain, le contrôle structural de ces minéralisations et (4) apporter des contraintes physiques aux modèles conceptuels alors proposés, à l’aide d’une étude de modélisation numérique thermo-mécanique 3D. Deux provinces métallogéniques ont ainsi été mises en évidence : (1) au Crétacé supérieur, une province riche en cuivre qui s’est développée dans un environnement d’arc et (2) à l’Oligocène-Miocène, une province riche en plomb-zinc puis en or, qui s’est mise en place dans un contexte d’arrière-arc. Ces épisodes fertiles sont contrôlés par le retrait de la zone de subduction et les flux asthénosphériques associés qui permettent l’instauration d’un régime tectonique extensif (ou transtensif) dans la lithosphère, favorisant la genèse de ces systèmes minéralisés. Leur contenu métallique ainsi que leur typologie est alors fonction (1) de l’intensité avec laquelle ces processus influent sur la cinématique de subduction et (2) de l’histoire géodynamique antérieure de cette zone de subduction.Subduction zones display a major economic interest, in terms of mineral resources, with mainly copper and gold deposits. While many studies focus on ore-forming physico-chemical mechanisms, the control of geodynamic processes on such deposits remains poorly investigated. In this study, I track tridimensional (3D) subduction-related mantle and crustal processes that promote ore genesis. The eastern Mediterranean subduction zone is a relevant study area to explore subduction-mineralization interactions, because of its complex tectonic and magmatic evolution and the large number of available metallogenic data. This work consisted in (1) performing a new kinematic reconstruction model of this region, (2) using this model, characterizing the spatial and temporal distribution of magmatic and ore occurrences, (3) evidencing, on the field, the relations between mineralization and large-scale tectonic structures and (4) providing physical constrains to proposed conceptual models, using 3D thermo-mechanical numerical modeling. Two main metallogenic provinces are evidenced: a late Cretaceous copper-rich and an Oligocene-Miocene lead-zinc- then gold-rich provinces emplaced in an arc and back-arc context, respectively. These metallogenic periods are controlled by the subduction zone retreat and associated asthenospheric flow that results in an extensional (or transtensional) tectonic regime in the overriding lithosphere, promoting ore genesis. Their metal content, as well as their typology then depend on (1) how much these processes affect the subduction kinematics and (2) the past geodynamic evolution of this subduction zone

Kinematic reconstructions and magmatic evolution illuminating crustal and mantle dynamics of the eastern Mediterranean region since the late Cretaceous

International audienceThe relationship between subduction dynamics and crustal deformation in the Mediterranean region has been recently studied using three-dimensional (3D) numerical models. Such models require, however, a detailed information concerning the past geological evolution. We use stratigraphic, petrologic, metamorphic, structural, paleomagnetic and magmatic data to build new kinematic reconstructions of the eastern Mediterranean region since the late Cretaceous using the principle of non-rigid domains. The motions of the 56 deforming domains defined in this work are calculated based on published paleomagnetic rotations, the directions and amounts of displacement on crustal-scale shear zones and the burial and exhumation histories of the main metamorphic units. Extracted from these reconstructions, paleotectonic maps and lithospheric-scale cross-sections illustrate that the present-day subduction zone has been continuously retreating southward since the late Cretaceous and has accreted several small continental domains in the process. We find evidence for two back-arc-related extensional events: (1) slow extension along the Balkans and the Pontides in the late Cretaceous while the trench was long and linear and (2) faster extension in the Rhodope-Aegean-west Anatolian region since the Eocene-Oligocene. Rapid rotation of the Hellenides between 15 and 8 Ma probably indicates a slab tearing event below western Anatolia that could have further accelerated this extensional kinematics. Spatial distribution and the geochemical signature of magmatic centers integrated in these reconstructions allow us to trace mantle-related processes revealing the deep dynamics that controls both the magma genesis and the crustal deformation

Stress-driven fluid flow controls long-term megathrust strength and deep accretionary dynamics

The heterogeneity of frictional strength along the megathrust earthquake zone critically controls plate coupling and long-term subduction dynamics. However, the persistence and distribution of high-friction segments through space and time remain poorly constrained. Here, we show that accretion processes, such as tectonic underplating (i.e., basal accretion of material below the fore-arc region), can be used as a proxy to characterize the long-term frictional zonation of the subduction interface. We carry out numerical thermo-mechanical experiments, which predict a first-order control of tectonic-stress variations on fluid transport in deep fore-arc regions. Accordingly, positive feedback between fluid distribution and effective stress favours the stability of the interface frictional properties at Myr-scale which, in turn, controls the deep accretionary dynamics. We propose that the recognition of thick duplex structures resulting from successive underplating events over tens of Myr, allows for tracking subduction segments exhibiting an increasing frictional behaviour. Our numerical results help ascertain the long-term hydro-mechanical properties and distribution of coupling/decoupling segments of megathrust earthquake zones worldwide where active tectonic underplating is recognized.ISSN:2045-232

The rise and demise of deep accretionary wedges: A long-term field and numerical modeling perspective

International audienceSeveral decades of field, geophysical, analogue, and numerical modeling investigations have enabled documentation of the wide range of tectonic transport processes in accretionary wedges, which constitute some of the most dynamic plate boundary environments on Earth. Active convergent margins can exhibit basal accretion (via underplating) leading to the formation of variably thick duplex structures or tectonic erosion, the latter known to lead to the consumption of the previously accreted material and eventually the forearc continental crust. We herein review natural examples of actively underplating systems (with a focus on circum-Pacific settings) as well as field examples highlighting internal wedge dynamics recorded by fossil accretionary systems. Duplex formation in deep paleo–accretionary systems is known to leave in the rock record (1) diagnostic macro- and microscopic deformation patterns as well as (2) large-scale geochronological characteristics such as the downstepping of deformation and metamorphic ages. Zircon detrital ages have also proved to be a powerful approach to deciphering tectonic transport in ancient active margins. Yet, fundamental questions remain in order to understand the interplay of forces at the origin of mass transfer and crustal recycling in deep accretionary systems. We address these questions by presenting a suite of two-dimensional thermo-mechanical experiments that enable unravelling the mass-flow pathways and the long-term distribution of stresses along and above the subduction interface as well as investigating the importance of parameters such as fluids and slab roughness. These results suggest the dynamical instability of fluid-bearing accretionary systems causes either an episodic or a periodic character of subduction erosion and accretion processes as well as their topographic expression. The instability can be partly deciphered through metamorphic and strain records, thus explaining the relative scarcity of paleo–accretionary systems worldwide despite the tremendous amounts of material buried by the subduction process over time scales of tens or hundreds of millions of years. We finally stress that the understanding of the physical processes at the origin of underplating processes as well as the forearc topographic response paves the way for refining our vision of long-term plate-interface coupling as well as the rheological behavior of the seismogenic zone in active subduction settings

Driving the upper plate surface deformation by slab rollback and mantle flow

International audienceThe relative contribution of crustal and mantle processes to surface deformation at convergent plate margins is still controversial. Conflicting models involving either extrusion mechanisms or slab rollback, in particular, were proposed to explain the surface strain and kinematics across the Tethyan convergent domain. Here, we present new high-resolution 3D thermo-mechanical numerical joint models of continental collision, oceanic subduction and slab tearing, which for the first time allow self-consistent reproduction of first-order Tethyan tectonic structures such as back-arc rifting and large-scale strike-slip faults accommodating continental escape. These models suggest that mantle flow due to slab rollback and tearing can modulate the surface strain and kinematics by locally enhancing trench retreat and dragging the upper plate from below. These results highlight the active role of the asthenospheric flow in driving the surface strain, not only by modulating the vertical stresses and producing dynamic topography but also through sub-horizontal motion. We discuss the implications of these findings based on observations across the Aegean-Anatolian and eastern Indian-Eurasian domains, though similar considerations may as well apply to other settings

Origin and timing of barite, base-metal and gold deposits on Mykonos island in the Aegean back-arc domain (Greece)

International audienc