Marie-Odile Beslier

MANTLE EXHUMATION AT PASSIVE MARGINS

Abstract Laboratory models of lithosphere necking have been used to study the modes of passive margin formation and related mantle exhumation at continent-ocean boundary. Four-layer models were constructed with sand and silicone putty, to represent the brittle and ductile layers, respectively, of both crust and mantle. It is shown that necking of the whole lithosphere model is nearly symmetrical (pure shear) but that asymmetrical structures (simple shear) develop internally, due to heterogeneous boudinage and/or faulting of brittle layers. Relative movements between brittle layers is accommodated by layer-parallel shear in the ductile layers defining a set of conjugate shear zones. With increasing stretching, lower crust and mantle shear zones become juxtaposed as the lower ductile mantle layer rises up through the separation zone of boudins in the brittle layer. The experimental results are used to propose a general model of passive margin formation leading to mantle exhumation. They are also compared to the situation observed on the west Iberia margin. The exhumation of lithosphere mantle is the result of a bulk pure shear at lithospheric scale. Shearing of exhumed mantle rocks does not correspond to detachment faults cross-cutting the whole lithosphere at the onset of rifting but results from heterogeneous stretching and boudinage of the high-strength sub-Moho mantle.

Back arc extension, tectonic inheritance, and volcanism in the Ligurian Sea, Western Mediterranean

[1] The Ligurian basin, western Mediterranean Sea, has opened from late Oligocene to early Miocene times, behind the Apulian subduction zone and partly within the western Alpine belt. We analyze the deep structures of the basin and its conjugate margins in order to describe the tectonic styles of opening and to investigate the possible contributions of forces responsible for the basin formation, especially the pulling force induced by the retreating subduction hinge and the gravitational body force from the Alpine wedge. To undertake this analysis, we combine new multichannel seismic reflection data (Malis cruise, 1995) with other geophysical data (previous multichannel and monochannel seismic sections, magnetic anomalies) and constrain them by geological sampling from two recent cruises (dredges from Marco cruise, 1995, and submersible dives from Cylice cruise, 1997). From an analysis of basement morphology and seismic facies, we refine the extent of the different domains in the Ligurian Sea: (1) the continental thinned margins, with strong changes in width and structure along strike and on both sides of the ocean; (2) the transitional domain to the basin; and (3) a narrow, atypical oceanic domain. Margin structures are characterized by few tilted blocks along the narrow margins, where inherited structures seem to control synrift sedimentation and margin segmentation. On the NW Corsican margin, extension is distributed over more than 120 km, including offshore Alpine Corsica, and several oceanward faults sole on a relatively flat reflector. We interpret them as previous Alpine thrusts reactivated during rifting as normal faults soling on a normal ductile shear zone. Using correlations between magnetic data, seismic facies, and sampling, we propose a new map of the distribution of magmatism. The oceanic domain depicts narrow, isolated magnetic anomalies and is interpreted as tholeitic volcanics settled within an unroofed upper mantle, whereas calcalkaline volcanism appears to be discontinuous but massive and has jumped in space and time, from the beginning of rifting on the Ligurian margin (� 30 Ma), toward the Corsican margin at the end of the Corsica-Sardinia block rotation (� 16 Ma). This space and time shift reveals the importance of the rollback of the Apulian slab and of the migration of the Alpine-Apennines belt front toward the E-SE for driving basin formation. We also state that initial rheological conditions and inherited crustal fabric induce important changes in the styles of deformation observed along margins and between conjugate margins. In the NE Ligurian basin the prerift Alpine crustal thickening together with slow rollback velocity likely contribute to distribute strain across the whole NW Corsican margin, whereas farther south the inherited Hercynian structural pattern combined with a faster rollback of the subducting plate tend to focus the extension at the foot of the margin, up to the Sardinian rift which ends within the SW Corsican margin. Therefore the mode of opening and the margin structures mainly depend on the balance between intrinsic, inherited crustal heterogeneity (fabric and rheological changes) and external conditions imposed by rollback of the subducting lithosphere. INDEX TERMS: 3040 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Plate tectonics (8150, 8155, 8157, 8158); 3025 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Marine seismics (0935); 8109 Tectonophysics: Continental tectonics—extensional (0905); 8159 Tectonophysics: Rheology—crust and lithosphere;

Arabia-Somalia plate kinematics, evolution of the Aden-Owen-Carlsberg triple junction, and opening of the Gulf of Aden

New geophysical data collected at the Aden‐Owen‐Carlsberg (AOC) triple junction between the Arabia, India, and Somalia plates are combined with all available magnetic data across the Gulf of Aden to determine the detailed Arabia‐Somalia plate kinematics over the past 20 Myr. We reconstruct the history of opening of the Gulf of Aden, including the penetration of the Sheba Ridge into the African continent and the evolution of the triple junction since its formation. Magnetic data evidence three stages of ridge propagation from east to west. Seafloor spreading initiated ∼20 Myr ago along a 200 kmlong ridge portion located immediately west of the Owen fracture zone. A second 500 kmlong ridge portion developed westward up to the Alula‐Fartak transform fault before Chron 5D (17.5 Ma). Before Chron 5C (16.0 Ma), a third 700 km‐long ridge portion was emplaced between the Alula‐Fartak transform fault and the western end of the Gulf of Aden (45°E). Between 20 and 16 Ma, the Sheba Ridge propagated over a distance of 1400 km at an extremely fast average rate of 35 cm yr−1. The ridge propagation resulted from the Arabia‐Somalia rigid plate rotation about a stationary pole. Since Chron 5C (16.0 Ma), the spreading rate of the Sheba Ridge decreased first rapidly until 10 Ma and then more slowly. The evolution of the AOC triple junction is marked by a change of configuration around 10 Ma, with the formation of a new Arabia‐India plate boundary. Part of the Arabian plate was then transferred to the Indian plate.

Ocean-continent boundary in the Iberia Abyssal Plain from multichannel seismic data

Abstract The Ocean-Continent Boundary of the West Iberia margin is marked by a basement ridge trending N-S. Four segments of this ridge are recognized, each of them being progressively offset westward from 40°N to 43°N. Because the setting and seismic character of the ridge in the Iberia Abyssal Plain are similar to those of the Galicia margin ridge, which is made of serpentinized peridotite, we think that the southern segments of the ridge are also made of the same mantle material. The segmentation of the ridge suggests that the northward propagation of the continental break-up during the North Atlantic opening in Early Cretaceous times was discontinuous, each segment possibly corresponding to a propagation step. East of the ridge, the basement of the whole Iberia Abyssal Plain consists of highly thinned continental crust locally resting on a seismic reflector that resembles the S reflector previously recognized off Galicia. By analogy with the Galicia margin, we propose that the tilted crustal blocks lay on serpentinized peridotite derived from the upper mantle, the S reflector corresponding to the contact between crustal rocks and serpentinite.

Contrasted styles of rifting in the eastern Gulf of Aden: A combined wide-angle, multichannel seismic, and heat flow survey

Continental rifts and passive continental margins show fundamental along-axis segmentation patterns that have been attributed to one or a number of different processes: extensional fault geometry, variable stretching along strike, preexisting lithospheric compositional and structural heterogeneities, oblique rifting, and the presence or absence of eruptive volcanic centers. The length and width scales of the rift stage fault-bounded basin systems change during the late evolution of the new plate boundary, and the role of magmatism may increase as rifting progresses to continental rupture. Along obliquely spreading ridges, first-order mid-ocean ridge geometries originate during the synrift stage, indicating an intimate relationship between magma production and transform fault spacing and location. The Gulf of Aden rift is a young ocean basin in which the earliest synrift to breakup structures are well exposed onshore and covered by thin sediment layers offshore. This obliquely spreading rift is considered magma-poor and has several large-offset transforms that originated during late stage rifting and control the first-order axial segmentation of the spreading ridge. Widely spaced geophysical transects of passive margins that produce only isolated 2-D images of crust and uppermost mantle structure are inadequate for evaluation of competing rift evolution models. Using closely spaced new geophysical and geological observations from the Gulf of Aden we show that rift sectors between transforms have a large internal variability over short distances (∼10 km): the ocean-continent transition (OCT) evolves from a narrow magmatic transition to wider zones where continental mantle is probably exhumed. We suggest that this small-scale variability may be explained (1) by the distribution of volcanism and (2) by the along-strike differences in time-averaged extension rate of the oblique rift system. The volcanism may be associated with (1) the long-offset Alula-Fartak Fracture Zone, which may enhance magma production on its younger side, or (2) channeled flow from the Afar plume material along the newly formed OCT and the spreading ridge. Oblique extension and/or hot spot interactions may thereby have a significant control on the styles of rifting and continental breakup and on the evolution of many magma-poor margins.

Gabbro and related rock emplacement beneath rifting continental crust: UPb geochronological and geochemical constraints for the Galicia passive margin (Spain)

The thinned continental crust of the west Galicia margin is bound by a belt of serpentinized peridotites (‘peridotite ridge’) lying about 300 km off the coast in the North Atlantic ocean. From this ridge, a gabbro and a chlorite rock were studied in an attempt to substantiate rift-related subcontinental magmatism, occurring prior to sea-floor spreading. U-Pb dating of 13 different zircon fractions yields a precise age of 122.1 ± 0.3 Ma (2σ) for the emplacement of the chlorite rock protolith, from which more than 50% of Si and alkali-calc-alkali elements were lost during greenschist facies tectonometamorphism. Sr and Nd isotope signatures suggest that the gabbro and chlorite rock protoliths were derived from mantle sources that were moderately depleted in LILE, relative to a chondritic reservoir. No evidence for the presence of continental material in the magma source regions can be observed. From the new zircon age of 122.1 ± 0.3 Ma, and earlier determined39Ar40Ar age of 122.0 ± 0.6 Ma for amphibole from the same locality, it can be documented that magma formation, solidification and unroofing of the mantle rocks occurred during a short period of time of about 3.4 Ma, which means that the peridotite ridge detached from the continent and rose to the surface immediately after, or even coevally with mantle melting.

Compressional deformation at the ocean–continent transition in the NE Atlantic

Local zones of compressional deformation, spatially coincident with the ocean-continent transition. occur in the NE Atlantic off western Iberia, on the northern margin of the Bay of Biscay and in the southern Rockall Trough. The deformation zones are typically broad oceanward-facing monoclines several tens of kilometres in width. The amount of shortening is small, although the structures may also accommodate some strike-slip motion. Deformation peaked during the Mid-Late Eocene in Biscay. off Galicia Bank and in Rockall Trough, and in the mid-Miocene off western Iberia. These deformation pulses were contemporary with the Pyrenean and Betic Orogenies in western Europe and may have resulted from structural reorganizations within the evolving orogens driven by changes in plate motion. Possible mechanisms which might concentrate deformation at the ocean-continent transition include slip within serpentinized peridotite underlying the transitional region and reactivation of a pre-existing detachment fault within the thinned continental crust. Our observations may imply that rifted continental margins, when reactivated, can develop into new sites of plate subduction.

Analog models of oblique rifting in a cold lithosphere

New lithospheric analog models of oblique rifting presented here capture the main characteristics of natural oblique rifts and provide insights into the fault evolution, basin segmentation, and mantle exhumation occurring during rift localization. We present two models: one with a preexisting oblique lithospheric weakness (model B) and another with no weakness zone (model A). Both oblique rifts have an obliquity of about 40°. The main results are as follows. (1) The fault populations, especially during the early stages of deformation, are composed of faults that in strike are largely intermediate between rift-parallel and perpendicular to displacement. This fault population is characteristic of oblique rifts observed in previous studies. (2) In later stages, faults parallel to the rift become numerous in both models. Buoyancy forces related to thickness variations in the lithosphere during rift localization play a significant role and control the initiation of rift-parallel faults. (3) During the final stages of extension, in model B the crust is deformed by rift-parallel faults, while in the basins the small-scale deformation pattern is composed of displacement-normal faults. However, in model A, displacement-normal faults tend to accommodate most of the extension, controlling its final stages. They probably also control the formation of the ocean-continent transition, any possible mantle exhumation, as well as the geometry of oceanic accretion centers. These results provide an insight into the possible evolution of the Gulf of Aden conjugate margins, which developed in an oblique context and most probably without any preexisting rift-parallel localizing heterogeneity in the lithosphere.

A wide ocean-continent transition along the south-west Australian margin: first results of the MARGAU/MD110 cruise

Syn-rift exhumation of mantle rocks in a continental breakup zone was highlighted along the present-day west Iberian passive margin [e.g. Boillot et al., 1988, 1995; Whitmarsh et al., 1995, 2001; Beslier et al., 1996; Brun and Beslier, 1996; Boillot and Coulon, 1998; Krawczyk et al., 1996; Girardeau et al., 1998] and along the fossil Tethyan margins [e.g. Froitzheim and Manatschal, 1996; Manatschal and Bernoulli, 1996; Marroni et al., 1998; Muntener et al., 2000; Desmurs et al., 2001]. Along the west Iberian margin, serpentinized peridotite and scarce gabbro and basalt lay directly under the sediments, over a 30 to 130 km-wide transition between the thinned continental crust and the first oceanic crust [Girardeau et al., 1988, 1998; Kornprobst and Tabit, 1988; Boillot et al., 1989; Beslier et al., 1990, 1996; Cornen et al., 1999]. The formation of a wide ocean-continent transition (OCT), mostly controlled by tectonics and associated with an exhumation of deep lithospheric levels, would be an essential stage of continental breakup and a characteristic of magma-poor passive margins. The southwest Australian margin provides an opportunity to test and to generalize the models proposed for the west Iberian margin, as both margins present many analogies. The south Australian margin formed during the Gondwana breakup in the Mesozoic, along a NW-SE oblique extension direction [Willcox and Stagg, 1990]. From north to south, the continental slope is bounded by (1) a magnetic quiet zone (MQZ) where the nature of the basement is ambiguous [Talwani et al., 1979; Tikku and Cande, 1999; Sayers et al., 2001], (2) a zone where the basement shows a rough topography associated with poorly expressed magnetic anomalies [Cande and Mutter, 1982; Veevers et al., 1990; Tikku and Cande, 1999; Sayers et al., 2001], and which is the eastward prolongation of the Diamantina Zone, and (3) an Eocene oceanic domain. The continental breakup zone is believed to be located near or at the southern edge of the MQZ [Cande and Mutter, 1982; Veevers et al., 1990; Sayers et al., 2001]. Breakup is dated at 125 Ma [Stagg and Willcox, 1992], 95 ± 5 Ma [Veevers, 1986] or at 83 Ma [Sayers et al., 2001], and followed by ultra-slow seafloor spreading until the Eocene (43 Ma), and fast spreading afterwards [Weissel and Hayes, 1972; Cande and Mutter, 1982; Veevers et al., 1990; Tikku and Cande, 1999]. The western end of the margin (fig. 1) is starved and bounded in the OCT by basement ridges where peridotite, gabbro and basalt were previously dredged [Nicholls et al., 1981]. Altimetry data [Sandwell and Smith, 1997] show that some of these ridges are continuous over 1500 km along the OCT of the south Australian margin and of the conjugate Antarctic margin. The objectives of the MARGAU/MD110 cruise (May-June 1998; [Royer et al., 1998]; fig. 2) were to define the morpho-structure and the nature and evolution of the basement in the SW Australian OCT. An area of 180 000 km2 was explored with swath bathymetry. Gravimetric data (11382 km) were simultaneously recorded whereas few single channel seismic (1353 km) and magnetic (5387 km) data were obtained due to technical difficulties. Crystalline basement rocks, made of varied and locally well-preserved lithologies, were dredged at 11 sites located on structural highs.

Importance du volcanisme calco-alcalin miocène sur la marge sud-ouest de la Corse (campagne MARCO)

Abstract During the MARCO cruise, systematic exploration along the western and northern Corsican margins was carried out by dredging. The compositions of the dredged rocks range from basalt to amphibole-biotite bearing andesite with a broad calc-alkaline character. A Miocene age has been obtained for the amphibole-biotite andesite sample DR02 both by 40Ar-39Ar dating on hornblende (16.0 ± 0.4 My) and using fission-track method on apatite (17.2 ± 0.8 My). The south-western Corsican volcanic zone represents the direct extension of the Miocene Sardinian graben volcanism north of 42 °00 N. It could either be synchronous with or post-date the oceanic opening event. Such an arc volcanism probably results from the subduction to the north of the Liguro-Piemont ocean beneath Europe, the Provencal-Ligurian basin being in back-arc position with respect to the studied volcanic centres.