Romain Augier

Neogene uplift of the Tian Shan Mountains observed in the magnetic record of the Jingou River section (northwest China)

The Tian Shan Mountains constitute central Asias longest and highest mountain range. Understanding their Cenozoic uplift history thus bears on mountain building processes in general, and on how deformation has occurred under the influence of the India-Asia collision in particular. In order to help decipher the uplift history of the Tian Shan, we collected 970 samples for magnetostratigraphic analysis along a 4571-m-thick section at the Jingou River (Xinjiang Province, China). Stepwise alternating field and thermal demagnetization isolate a linear magnetization component that is interpreted as primary. From this component, a magnetostratigraphic column composed of 67 polarity chrons are correlated with the reference geomagnetic polarity timescale between ∼1 Ma and ∼23.6 Ma, with some uncertainty below ∼21 Ma. This correlation places precise temporal control on the Neogene stratigraphy of the southern Junggar Basin and provides evidence for two significant stepwise increases in sediment accumulation rate at ∼16–15 Ma and ∼11–10 Ma. Rock magnetic parameters also undergo important changes at ∼16–15 Ma and ∼11–10 Ma that correlate with changes in sedimentary depositional environments. Together with previous work, we conclude that growth history of the modern Tian Shan Mountains includes two pulses of uplift and erosion at ∼16–15 Ma and ∼11–10 Ma. Middle to upper Tertiary rocks around the Tian Shan record very young (<∼5 Ma) counterclockwise paleomagnetic rotations, on the order of 15° to 20°, which are interpreted as because of strain partitioning with a component of sinistral shear that localized rotations in the piedmont.

Late Orogenic doming in the eastern Betic Cordilleras: Final exhumation of the Nevado-Filabride complex and its relation to basin genesis

The geometry, timing, and kinematics of late orogenic extension in the Betic Cordilleras pose the problem of a decoupling of upper crustal and lower crustal deformation regimes. Perpendicular directions of extension in metamorphic domes and nearby sedimentary basins remain unexplained. This paper puts kinematic constraints on the final exhumation of the Nevado-Filabride complex, focusing on the formation of metamorphic domes and their relations with the adjacent basins. Structural fabrics and kinematic indicators below the main shear zones as well as their relations with both published changing metamorphic P-T conditions and geochronological data were studied. Our approach describes (1) a consistent top-to-the-west shear parallel to dome axes of during D2 (i.e., during decompression) with distributed ductile flow and the onset of strain localization along major shear zones, (2) further strain localization along the major shear zones under greenschist facies conditions, during D3 leading to S-C′ mylonites formation accompanied with a rock strong thickness reduction, (3) the divergence of shear direction on either limbs of domes during D3 showing the appearance of the dome geometry, and (4) a local evolution toward N-S brittle extension (D4) in the upper plate and formation of sedimentary basins. Continuous ductile to brittle top-to-the-west shear is compatible with the slab retreat hypothesis from the Miocene; the formation of domes which adds gravitational forces responsible for the final stages of exhumation is thus characterized by important kinematics changes necessary to explain coeval N-S opened basins. Later, from the upper Tortonian, a contractional event (D5) amplified the earlier domal structures forming the present north vergent folds.

Exhumation constraints for the lower Nevado-Filabride Complex (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain): : a Raman thermometry and Tweequ multiequilibrium thermobarometry approach

The HP/LT rocks of the Nevado-Filabride complex (eastern Betic Cordillera) were exhumed during the Serravallian but knowledge of their retrograde P-T evolution remains fragmentary and not established for all its tectonic units. The present paper places detailed constraints on the P-T evolution of the two deeper units of the Nevado-Filabride complex, namely the Ragua and the Calar Alto units in order to constrain their exhumation and the role of the km-thick Dos Picos shear zone separating them. Our approach uses both TWEEQU software multiequilibrium thermobarometry and Raman spectrometry thermometry. The study enables to [i] estimate the peak-temperature P-T conditions (c. 520°C) and then to establish the first P-T path of the Ragua unit, [ii] conclude that the Ragua and the Calar Alto units suffered comparable metamorphic evolutions with [iii] a well constrained HT excursion following a strong decompression characterised by limited heating. The study also enables to infer that the major Dos Picos shear zone was a post-metamorphic thrust occurring during the final retrogression stages. These results point to exhumation processes intermediate between those of syn– and post– orogenic contexts during the late evolution of the Betics.

Uppermost Tortonian to Quaternary depocentre migration related with segmentation of the strike-slip Palomares Fault Zone, Vera Basin (SE Spain)

The Palomares Fault Zone (PFZ) is one of the main strike-slip brittle shear zones found in the Betics. It is segmented in several faults that have been active between the Upper Tortonian and present day. Data from drill cores in the Palomares area have permitted us to define the geometry and location of sedimentary depocentres related with the PFZ. These data show an eastward displacement between the Upper Tortonian to Messinian and the Pliocene–Quaternary sedimentary depocentres, towards the presently active Arteal fault, which bounds the western mountain front of Sierra Almagrera, showing that deformation along this fault zone has migrated towards the east, from the Palomares segment, with its main activity during the Upper Tortonian and Messinian, towards the Arteal fault, active during the Pliocene and Quaternary. To cite this article: G. Booth-Rea et al.,

Interactions between plutonism and detachments during Metamorphic Core Complex formation, Serifos Island (Cyclades, Greece)

In order to better understand the interactions between plutonic activity and strain localization during metamorphic core complexes formation the Miocene granodioritic pluton of Serifos (Cyclades, Greece) is studied. This pluton (11.6-9.5 Ma) intruded the Cycladic Blueschists during thinning of the Aegean domain along a system of low-angle normal faults belonging to the south-dipping West Cycladic Detachment System (WCDS). Based on structural fieldwork, together with microstructural observations and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), we recognize a continuum of deformation from magmatic to brittle conditions within the magmatic body. This succession of deformation events is kinematically compatible with the development of the WCDS. The architecture of the pluton shows a marked asymmetry resulting from its interaction with the detachments. We propose a tectonic scenario for the emplacement of Serifos pluton and its subsequent cooling during the Aegean extension. (1) A first stage corresponds to the metamorphic core complex initiation and associated southwestward shearing along the Meghalo Livadhi detachment. (2) In a second stage the Serifos pluton has intruded the dome at shallow crustal level, piercing through the ductile/brittle Meghalo Livadhi detachment. Southwest-directed extensional deformation was contemporaneously transferred upward in the crust along the more localized Kavos Kiklopas detachment. (3) A third stage was marked by syn-magmatic extensional deformation and strain localization at the contact between the pluton and the host rocks resulting in narrow shear zones nucleation which (4) continued to develop after the pluton solidification.

A ‘core-complex-like structure’ formed by superimposed extension, folding and high-angle normal faulting. The Santi Petri dome (western Betics, Spain)

The Santi Petri dome (western Betics, southern Spain) shows a core-complex-like structure, where migmatitic gneisses and schists outcrop below low-grade slates and phyllites, all of which form the basement of the Neogene Malaga basin. The migmatites and schists suffered a coaxial-flattening event during isothermal decompression and were later exhumed by ductile ESE non-coaxial stretching. Further exhumation was achieved by W- to SW-transport brittle low-angle normal faulting. Subsequently these extensional structures were gently folded in the core of a NE/SW-oriented antiform during the Tortonian. Finally the Santi Petri domal geometry was accentuated by the interference of orthogonal high-angle faults with ENE–WSW and NNW–SSE orientation. This core-complex-like structure, formed by superposition of extensional and compressive tectonic events, does not represent a classical, purely extensional core complex, which shows that metamorphic structure and geometry are not decisive criteria to define a core-complex.Abstract The Santi Petri dome (western Betics, southern Spain) shows a core-complex-like structure, where migmatitic gneisses and schists outcrop below low-grade slates and phyllites, all of which form the basement of the Neogene Malaga basin. The migmatites and schists suffered a coaxial-flattening event during isothermal decompression and were later exhumed by ductile ESE non-coaxial stretching. Further exhumation was achieved by W- to SW-transport brittle low-angle normal faulting. Subsequently these extensional structures were gently folded in the core of a NE/SW-oriented antiform during the Tortonian. Finally the Santi Petri domal geometry was accentuated by the interference of orthogonal high-angle faults with ENE–WSW and NNW–SSE orientation. This core-complex-like structure, formed by superposition of extensional and compressive tectonic events, does not represent a classical, purely extensional core complex, which shows that metamorphic structure and geometry are not decisive criteria to define a core-complex.

Exhumation kinematics of the Cycladic Blueschists unit and back‐arc extension, insight from the Southern Cyclades (Sikinos and Folegandros Islands, Greece)

Current models for the Oligo-Miocene post-orogenic back-arc extension of the Aegean domain suggest that stretching is accommodated by two bivergent detachment systems of opposing shear sense. The co-existence in the Eocene of a top-to-the-S thrust at the base of the Cycladic Blueschists unit and top-to-the-N extensional shear zones at the roof raises the problem of differentiating synorogenic and post-orogenic deformations with similar directions and shear senses. Based on structural field data, this study shows that the post-orogenic deformation recorded in the Southern Cyclades is extremely asymmetric as the Cycladic Blueschists unit is pervasively affected by top-to-the-N shearing deformation distributed on four main shear zones. All activated in greenschist-facies conditions, some of these shear zones operated in the brittle regime during the final part of the exhumation. The Cycladic Blueschists/Cycladic Basement contact displays clear polyphased deformation with the preservation of top-to-the-S thrust kinematics. Thermal structure of the Cycladic Blueschists unit with regards to position of ductile shear zones was retrieved using the Raman Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Material peak-metamorphic temperatures. This study shows a series of major metamorphic gaps accommodating an upward and stepwise decrease of more than 200 °C within the Cycladic Blueschists unit. Pressure-temperature estimates show that only lower parts of the Cycladic Blueschists unit recorded ca. 18–20 kbar for 530 °C peak-conditions. While flanking the West Cycladic Detachment System, which shows a top-to-the-S shear sense, the Southern Cyclades are dominated by a top-to-the-N non-coaxial shearing. Deformation is therefore genuinely asymmetric in the center of the Aegean domain.

Basement shear zones development and shortening kinematics in the Ecrins Massif, Western Alps

In the Western Alps, Oligocene shortening affected a highly heterogeneous European crust with Liassic half-grabens inherited from the rifting stage and the finite deformation was strongly partitioned between the rigid basement and the weak Jurassic sediments. In the Ecrins massif (Oisans, External Crystalline Massifs, ECM), where the half-grabens are best exposed and preserved, compressional structures within the basement have to date never been described in details. This massif was shortened under moderate metamorphic conditions (250-350°C and 0.1-0.5GPa) and the rheological contrast between the basement and the cover is strong. While the sediments are intensely folded, the cover-basement interface presents apparent open folds underlined by the lower Triassic layers. The basement itself shows a more localised deformation along several brittle-ductile shear zones. We here report new evidences of such brittle-ductile shear zones characterized by anastomosed phyllonitic shear bands rich in phengite and quartz, a low strength material where strain has localized. New detailed maps of reverse shear zones, faults, schistosity and stretching lineations in both the cover and the basement are provided. We show that the Oligocene crustal shortening was mainly E-W to ENE-WSW. Local N-S to NW-SE shortening occurred and was limited to the eastern border of the Ecrins massif, around the Penninic Frontal Thrust, which likely was a sinistral transpressive structure in this area. Finally, new balanced cross-sections show that these basement shear zones have accommodated more than 50% of the Oligocene crustal shortening.

Tectonic inversion of an asymmetric graben: Insights from a combined field and gravity survey in the Sorbas basin

The formation of sedimentary basins in the Alboran domain is associated with the exhumation of metamorphic core complexes over a ca. 15 Ma period through a transition from regional late-orogenic extension to compression. An integrated study coupling field analysis and gravity data acquisition was performed in the Sorbas basin in the southeastern Betic Cordillera. Detailed field observations revealed for the first time that extensional tectonics occurred before shortening in this basin. Two extensional events were recorded with NW-SE to N-S and NE-SW kinematics respectively; the first of which being likely responsible for the basin initiation. Tectonic inversion of the basin then occurred around 8 Ma in an overall ca. N-S shortening context. 2D-gravity sections reveal that the basin acted as an active depocenter as the basin floor locally exceeding 2 km-depth is characterized by a marked asymmetric architecture. Based on this integrated study, we explore a new evolutionary scenario which can be used as a basis for interpretations of the Neogene tectonic history of the southeastern Betics.

Long‐term evolution of an accretionary prism: The case study of the Shimanto Belt, Kyushu, Japan

The Shimanto Belt in SW Japan is commonly described as a paleo-accretionary prism, whose structure is explained by continuous accretion like in modern accretionary prisms such as Nankai. We carried out a structural study of the Cretaceous to Miocene part of the Shimanto Belt on Kyushu to test this hypothesis of continuous accretion. Most deformation structures observed on the field are top-to-the-SE thrusts, fitting well the scheme of accretionary wedge growth by frontal accretion or underplating. In particular, the tectonic melange at the top of the Hyuga Group records a penetrative deformation reflecting burial within the subduction channel. In contrast, we documented two stages of extension that require modifying the traditional model of the Belt as a “simple” giant accretionary wedge. The first one, in the early Middle Eocene, is mostly ductile and localized in the foliated bases of the Morotsuka and Kitagawa Groups. The second one, postdating the Middle Miocene, is a brittle deformation spread over the whole belt on Kyushu. Integrating these new tectonic features to existing data, we propose 2-D reconstructions of the belt evolution, leading to the following conclusions: (1) Erosion and extension of the margin in the early Middle Eocene resulted from the subduction of a trench-parallel ridge. (2) The Late Eocene to Early Miocene evolution is characterized by rapid growth of the prism, followed by a Middle Miocene stage where large displacements occurred along low-angle out-of-sequence thrusts such as the Nobeoka Tectonic Line. (3) From middle Miocene, the strain regime was extensional.