Deciphering orogenic evolution

International audienceDeciphering orogenic evolution requires the integration of a growing number of geological and geophysical techniques on various spatial and temporal scales. Contrasting visions of mountain building and lithospheric deformation have been proposed in recent years. These models depend on the respective roles assigned to the mantle, the crust or the sediments. This article summarizes the contents of the Special Issue dedicated to 'Geodynamics and Orogenesis' following the 'Réunion previous termdesnext termprevious termSciencesnext termprevious termdenext termprevious termlaprevious termTerre' 2010 conference held in Bordeaux, France. Further, based on the example of the Western Alps-Mediterranean domain we emphasize the possibility to integrate long and short term, plate- to sample-scale, datasets in order to constrain orogenic evolution

Combination of Numerical Tools to Link Deep Temperatures, Geological Structures and Fluid Flow in Sedimentary Basins: Application to the Thermal Anomalies of the Provence Basin (South-East France)

International audienceIn the Provence basin, south-eastern France, more than 230 Bottom Hole Temperature (BHT) data have been compiled and corrected for transient disturbances to provide a thermal model of this Mesozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary basin. The thermal gradient of the area averages 29.9°C/km (32.5°C/km in all France), but some places show gradients reaching 36°C/km or 22°C/km. To characterize thermal anomalies, a three-dimensional model of the temperatures was built between the surface and 5km depth, allowing us to elaborate sets of thermal maps and cross-sections. The newly identified temperature anomalies may reach temperature difference up to 40°C at 3km depth through the basin. After attempting to find correlations between thermal anomalies and large scale features (Moho depths, sediment cover thickness), it appears that fluid circulation may better explain locations, amplitudes and wavelengths of thermal anomalies along faulted zones. In fact, spatial evolution of anomalous cold/warm zones follow directions of main faulted zones. In addition, it is shown that the account of a depth-dependent permeability allows the superimposition of positive and negative thermal anomalies. Away from permeable zones, thermal anomalies should be explained by conductive processes, among which heat refraction due to thermal conductivity contrasts may be significant. In particular, anisotropy of thermal conductivity of clayey formation is shown to enable the development of thermal anomalies similar to those observed between permeable zones. Evolution of fluid circulation in faulted zones (involving enhanced vertical heat transfer) combined with thick anisotropic sediments (involving enhanced horizontal heat transfer) may explain complex thermal patterns deduced from present-day temperature measurements

Diachronous exhumation of HP-LT metamorphic rocks from southwestern Alps: evidence from fission-track analysis

International audienceNew fission-track ages on zircon and apatite (ZFT and AFT) from the southwestern alpine paleo-accretionary wedge document a contrasting cooling history from east to west. In the eclogitic Monviso ophiolites, the ZFT ages are 19.6 +/- 0.8 Ma and the AFT ages are 8.6 +/- 1.7 Ma. In the HT-blueschist eastern Queyras, ZFT ages range from 27.0 +/- 1.5 Ma to 21.7 +/- 1.6 Ma and AFT ages from 14.2 +/- 2.0 to 9.4 +/- 1.1 Ma. In the LT-blueschist western Queyras, ZFT ages are between 94.7 +/- 3.1 Ma and 63.1 +/- 2.9 Ma and AFT ages are between 22.2 +/- 1.6 and 22.6 +/- 1.5 Ma. The Chenaillet ophiolite yields ages of 118.1 +/- 3.7 Ma on ZFT and of 67.9 +/- 8.5 Ma on AFT. These new FT data combined with petrological and geochronological constraints record a diachronous exhumation in the paleo-accretionary wedge during subduction and collision

Deciphering the nature and age of the protoliths and peak P−T conditions in retrogressed mafic eclogites from the Maures-Tannneron Massif (SE France) and implications for the southern European Variscides

We present new constraints on the age, nature, and tectonic setting of mafic eclogite protoliths from the Maures-Tanneron Massif, southern Variscan belt. Whole-rock major and trace element geochemistry was combined with zircon dating using 206Pb/238U by LA‒ICP‒MS to improve the understanding of this key-target of the European Southern Variscides. Geochemical data show that protoliths of the mafic eclogites are typical MORBs, while REE and HFSE patterns suggest an E-MORB affinity. However, the geochemical study shows several signs of crustal contamination that increases with the degree of retrogression. A comparison with Sardinian eclogites, which belong to the same Variscan microplate, namely, “MECS” (Maures-Estérel-Corsica-Sardinia), demonstrates that the eclogites are included in migmatites, which is the case for the studied samples, are the most contaminated. The Maures-Tanneron mafic eclogites represent the remnant of an oceanic basaltic crust. Zircon cores display homogeneous Th/U ratios (0.3–0.4), which are consistent with a magmatic origin, and define an age peak at 499.5 ± 2.9 Ma that is interpreted as the most likely emplacement age of the basaltic protolith. This age suggests that this protolith was part of an oceanic floor that was older than the Rheic Ocean and located to the north of the Gondwana active continental margin as predicted by recent unified full plate reconstruction models. Although the studied eclogites are retrogressed, the study of mineral inclusions trapped in garnets combined with thermodynamic modelling yields a P−T range of 17.2–18.5 kbar and 640–660 °C, which is consistent with the standard oceanic subduction palaeo-geotherm. These new data suggest that eclogites recognized in the “MECS” Variscan microplate represent the closure of oceanic domains of different ages (Cambrian or Ordovician)

HP-LT rocks exhumed during intra-oceanic subduction: the example of the Escambray massif (Cuba).

High-Presssure metabasites embedded in a serpentinite or metasedimentary matrix from the Sancti Spiritus dome (Escambray massif, Central Cuba) have been studied in order to better understand the origine and the evolution of the Northern Carribean boundary plate during the Cretaceous, in a global subduction context. Geochemical analyses (major, trace elements and isotopes) of the high pressure rocks show that they could be partially derived from the Cretaceous calc-alkaline arc described in Central Cuba, these were probably incorporated in the subduction zone by tectonic erosion. The High-Pressure rocks record a prograde path from the epidote bearing amphibolite facies to the barroisite bearing eclogite facies (P = 19 ± 2 Kbar, T = 590 ± 90 °C). These metabasites show evidence of retrogression starting from the glaucophane bearing eclogite facies to the lawsonite bearing blueschist facies. Therefore, these HP/LT rocks are characterized by a counter-clockwise cooling P/T path, which can be explained by the exhumation of HP rocks while the subduction was still active. Concordant geochronological data (Rb/Sr and Ar/Ar) suggest that the main exhumation of HP/LT rocks from the Sancti Spiritus dome occurred 70 Ma ago by top to SW thrusting. The retrogressed trajectory of these rocks, means that the northeast subduction of the Farallon plate continued after 70Ma. The final exhumation can be correlated with the beginning of the collision between the Bahamas platform and the Cretaceous island arc that induced a change of the subduction kinematic