Salt tectonics,a controlling factor on the development of the Marseilles and Grand-Rhone sedimentary ridges,Gulf of Lions,western Mediterranean Sea

The Marseilles (also called Marseilles/Planier) and Grand Rhone sedimentary ridges, offshore the Gulf of Lions, western Mediterranean Sea, are generated by sediment spillover funnelled by the Marseilles and Grand-Rhone canyons, respectively. We show that the Marseilles and Grand-Rhone canyon directions are tectonically conditioned by Plio-Quaternary salt-induced sea-floor relief. Overburden extension in the area created an assemblage of listric faults running parallel to the strike of the continental margin. This salt-induced topography resulted in accentuated fault scarps impacting the sea-floor morphology and forcing submarine valleys to deflect to the east. Gravity-induced extension equally influenced the morphological pattern of the valley overbanking deposits. Sediment spillover occurred on both flanks of the canyons, but because active faulting generated space accommodation for overflow deposits, it inhibited the development of typical levee morphology along the canyons' left flanks. To cite this article: A.T. dos Reis, C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Vegetation dynamics in southern France during the last 30 ky BP in the light of marine palynology

The composition of the glacial vegetation of southern French plains has been a matter of debate for several decades. Vegetation is considered as steppic according to French and Spanish lacustrine pollen records whereas cave deposits suggest the presence of mesothermophilous trees through the Last Glacial Maximum. In our paper, we display new palynological records from marine sediments of the Gulf of Lions. They indicate the presence of Abies, Picea and deciduous Quercus in the Gulf of Lions, certainly located in the drainage basins of the Pyreneo-Languedocian rivers. These populations that were sensitive to short climatic events during Marine Isotopic Stage 2 could have been linked to northeastern Spanish and southeastern French relicts already evidenced by phylogenetic data. These trees were absent from the Rhone drainage basin during the deglaciation and certainly also disappeared from the Pyreneo-Languedocian drainage basins from ca 17 to 15 ky cal BP. Finally, the Last Glacial Maximum does not appear as stable, cold and dry as previously thought.     

La vallée d'Ys : un paléoréseau hydrographique immergé en baie de Douarnenez (Finistère,France)

Interpretation of the recent high-resolution survey, CANADOU 2000, in the Bay of Douarnenez (Finistère, France) allowed us to restore the morphology of the substratum and the sedimentary filling of the bay. The Brioverian and Palaeozoic substratum reveals a well-defined network of incised valleys as results of successive emergence stages of the Bay during the Quaternary. Valleys join in a westward-widened mean valley, called Ys Valley. The present-day sedimentary fill of the bay of Douarnenez appears mainly controlled by the Holocene rise and the consecutive highstand. It comprises fluvial and estuarine deposits filling up incised valleys and marine sedimentation extending out of the incised valleys. To cite this article: G. Jouet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).To cite this article: G. Jouet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Enregistrement de la dernière remontée du niveau marin dans l'architecture interne d'une vallée incisée : le pertuis Breton (Charente-Maritime)

Recent very high-resolution seismic profiles ground-truthed by vibrocores allow us to evidence an atypical incised valley fill in a drowned valley segment, the ‘Pertuis Breton’ (Bay of Biscay, France). The sedimentary valley-fill architecture mainly includes five superimposed progradational wedges composed by marine sands. Sandbodies show a landward migration of their depocentres upward and are topped by almost flat unconformities extended by submarine terraces. This sedimentary infill pattern is similar to backstepping wedges, described on continental shelfs. It suggests that this valley fill records sea-level rise during the last transgression. To cite this article: N. Weber et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Halocinèse précoce associée au rifting jurassique dans l'Atlas central de Tunisie (région de Majoura–El Hfay)

Seismic and sequence stratigraphy analyses, petroleum-well control and surface data studies of the Majoura–El Hfay region in the Central Atlas of Tunisia had led to identify and calibrate Jurassic seismic horizons. Seismic stratigraphic sections, seismic tectonics analyses, isochron and isopach mapping of Jurassic sequences show a differentiated structuring of platform and depocentre blocks limited by deep-seated NE–SW, north–south east–west and NW–SE faults intruded by Upper Triassic salt. The early salt migration seems to have started by the platform fracturing during the Lower Liassic rifting event. These movements are fossilized by thickness variations of Jurassic horizons, aggrading and retrograding onlap and toplap structures between subsiding rim-syncline gutters and high platform flanks intruded by salt pillows and domes. The salt migration is also attested by Middle and Upper Jurassic space depocentre migrations. Around the Majoura–El Hfay study blocks bounded by master faults, Triassic salt have pierced the Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary cover in a salt diapir extrusion and salt wall structures. To cite this article: D. Tanfous Amri et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Les paléoenvironnements éocènes à crinoïdes pédonculés des marnes de Miretrain (Angoumé, SW France) : interprétations paléobathymétriques

A well-diversified fauna of stalked crinoids was found in the Eocene series exposed in the quarry of Miretrain at Angoumé (Landes, southwestern Aquitaine, northern edge of the Tercis diapir structure). The most frequent taxa belong to the genera Isselicrinus and Conocrinus. Adaptive stalk characters related to depth in the pentacrinid genus Isselicrinus allow us to document the bathymetric zonation of stalked crinoids during the Eocene. Both stalked crinoids, benthic foraminifera and additional organisms give convergent information on palaeodepths throughout the progradation of sedimentary bathyal slope between the two major tectonic events providing Pyrenean foreland shortening. The depth changes from more than 700 m (maybe about 1000 m) at the base of the series (Middle Lutetian) to about 50 m at the top (Late Bartonian). To cite this article: M. Roux et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Évolution thermique des séries sédimentaires de la Marge ardéchoise : étude pétrographique de la matière organique et des argilesThermal evolution of the sedimentary series of the Ardèche Margin: petrological studies of organic matter and clays

Two wells, Balazuc (BA1) and Morte-Mérie (MM1), located in a confined area (1200 m apart) and separated by the Uzer fault (a Liassic structure with a dip fault of 1300 m) were analysed using conventional methodologies and techniques (PRV, TAI, XRD, STEM) in order to compare the diagenetic evolution of clays and organic matter. The thermal convective process allows the circulation of hot fluids and the oxidation of organic matter. The conductive process allows the maturation of the organic matter, the expulsion of hydrocarbons and the deposit of pyrobitumes in the migration channels. To cite this article: L. Martinez et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1021–1028.     

Correlation of the Kimmeridgian succession of the Normandy coast,northern France with that of the Dorset-type area,southern England

The Kimmeridgian Stage is represented in the cliffs of the Dorset-type area and those in Normandy by richly fossiliferous marine mudstones and limestones. Taken together, these coastal exposures provide the only complete composite outcrop through this part of the Jurassic in the Sub-boreal Faunal Province. Detailed correlations between the two successions are presented here: these enable the Normandy-coast sections to be more accurately placed than previously within in their regional chronostratigraphical context. The Normandy succession is more completely exposed than that in Dorset, and is situated midway between Dorset and the Sub-Tethyan succession of the Berry region. It therefore offers a better prospect than any English section for inter-province correlation at this stratigraphical level. To cite this article: R. Gallois, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

La plate-forme carbonatée oxfordienne de Lorraine : arguments pour une ouverture vers la mer Germanique

The study of sedimentary facies in the quarry of Dompcevrin (Middle Oxfordian) located northwestward of St-Mihiel (Meuse department) provides evidences of high-energy depositional conditions. The occurrence of beaches associated with hurricane coral breccias containing megaclasts is characteristic of platform edge environments. The open sea was located northeastward, in the direction of Germany, as it is indicated by the direction of progradation of beaches. It is concluded that the Oxfordian carbonate platform of Lorraine was opened to the northeast toward the Germanic Sea during the Middle Oxfordian. To cite this article: C. Carpentier et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

Impact des crues sur les bilans sédimentaires de chenaux secondaires de la Loire moyenne (France)

Volumes of sediments eroded and deposited during floods were quantified in a vegetated secondary channel of the Loire River at the study site of Bréhémont (France). The topographic survey highlights the temporal variability in filling of secondary channels. Upstream riffle of secondary channels governs sedimentary supply. In these channels, sediments show a by-passing in the lower parts and an accretion in the higher vegetated areas. The asymmetrical morphology is reinforced during both intense and moderate floods. Sedimentary accretion in the vegetated areas leads progressively to channel narrowing. To cite this article: S. Rodrigues et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Immiscible fluids (CO2-brines) in optical fluorite,Nordvik-Taimyr,Russia

Fluid inclusion investigations in optical fluorite from the Nordvik salt dome caprock (Khatanga Gulf, Taimyr Peninsula, Russia) show that the fluorite has been formed at a temperature of about 300?°C, from CO₂-brine immiscible hydrothermal fluids. Unmixing occurred at a depth of several kilometres, resulting in the liberation of dense CO₂-rich fluids, which played a significant role in helping the diapir to reach its intrusive character. Compared to other optical fluorite deposits in Russia, the exceptional quality of the Nordvik occurrence is due to a relatively high formation temperature, as well as a high salinity (30–35 wt% NaCl eq.) of hydrothermal aqueous fluids. To cite this article: V.Y. Prokof'ev et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Apports de la méthode sismique réflexion haute résolution à l'identification des structures profondes des formations tertiaires en Médoc (Gironde,France) : implications hydrogéologiques

Near Bordeaux (France), the Oligocene aquifer is a potential target for drinking water supply. A high-resolution seismic campaign and several exploration wells helped to clarify the geometry of this formation and, as a consequence, the Medoc Tertiary aquifers. The major information extracted from these new data is the existence of a soft deformation inducing two different deposit areas, showing different hydrogeological characteristics (thickness, type, hydraulic properties, etc.). The presence of an erosional gap area affecting the Oligocene formations lead us to propose a new image of groundwater flow in the area, in the context of a predicted intensive exploitation of this resource. To cite this article: F. Larroque, A. Dupuy, C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

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., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Manifestations précoces du rift de Biscaye au Lias inférieur sur la marge Sud-Armoricaine (Talmont-Saint-Hilaire,Vendée,Ouest France)

To the south of Les Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée, France), the Early Liassic (Hettangian) sedimentation locally begins with continental clastics (including the dinosaur footprint-bearing beds of Le Veillon) prior to the deposition of shallow marine carbonates. Subsurface data (water borehole and geophysical line) indicate frequent variations in thickness of the clastics, related to fault block pattern. Simultaneously, numerous sedimentary dyke swarms developed within the metamorphic basement. These tectonic features resulted from an Early Liassic NNE–SSW-trending extension of the basement. Mineralized zones (silicification and metal-bearing mineralization) are related to hydrothermal circulations, contemporaneous (at least in part) with the Early Liassic extension. These different events may be related to the early stage of evolution (Triassic–Liassic) of the Biscay rift. To cite this article: C. Montenat et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Détection de carrières souterraines par sismique haute résolution à Annet-sur-Marne (France)Underground cavities detection by using high resolution seismics at Annet-sur-Marne (France)

Seismic methods were tested to detect underground cavities in the surroundings of Annet-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne, France). Cavities are located in three Ludian gypsum layers, between 30 and 80 m in depth. A high resolution seismic profile 450 m long was carried out so that the first third and the other part are respectively above non-exploited and exploited areas. Data processing highlights a series of reflections related to the marl–gypsum interfaces in the non-exploited area, while these reflections disappear in the exploited area. With the help of numerical simulations, this feature is interpreted as a disorganisation of wave fronts reflected on interfaces because of the presence of cavities. To cite this article: G. Grandjean et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 441–447.     

In situ anaerobic degradation of petroleum alkanes in marine sediments: preliminary results

The degradation of acyclic petroleum hydrocarbons was studied during a 24-month experiment in Mediterranean coastal sediments (Gulf of Fos). Sediment cores entirely contaminated with oil (Arabian Light Crude Oil) were incubated in situ. The use of conservative tracers of sediment's particles reworking (luminophores) allowed the distinction of the reworked layer from the anoxic deeper sediments. Using the 17α,21βC₃₀ hopane (C₃₀H) as an inert internal reference, we could demonstrate that, after 24 months of experiment, acyclic petroleum hydrocarbons can be degraded under natural anaerobic conditions. The reactivity of individual alkanes appeared to depend on their chemical structure. To cite this article: D. Massias et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).To cite this article: D. Massias et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Erosion of particulate inorganic and organic matter in the Gulf of LionÉrosion de la matière particulaire inorganique et organique dans le golfe du Lion

Critical shear stress of erosion and erosion rate of particulate inorganic and organic matter were measured in a flume at three muddy stations. Critical shear stress ranged between 0.022 and $\text{0.038 }\text{N}\text{m}{}^{\mathrm{?2}}$. At the deepest site, annual erosion of particulate organic nitrogen and phosphorus could exceed net deposition fluxes, showing the importance of erosion processes. Erosion may modify total system mineralisation rates by introducing sedimentary particulate organic matter into the water column and thus this process must be taken into account in studies of biogeochemical cycles. To cite this article: E. Schaaff et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 1071–1077.     

La prospection gravimétrique dans la modélisation d'un substratum sous formation sédimentaire : apport à l'hydrogéologie d'une zone semi-aride du Sud de Madagascar

A gravimetric survey has been carried out in a sedimentary basin, south of Madagascar, in order to define the bedrock morphology. The bedrock is made up of crystalline and volcanic rocks. The objective of the survey was to demonstrate whether a relationship could be established between bedrock morphology and groundwater mineralisation. Indeed, bedrock morphology has been successfully mapped and it is confirmed that most of the low mineralisation wells are located in areas where the slope of the bedrock is trending to the south-west, which ensures a higher hydraulic conductivity, i.e. a faster water flow, than in the other parts of the survey area. To cite this article: H. Rakoto et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

墨西哥湾北部深水区Wilcox沉积特征及沉积模式研究

墨西哥湾北部盆地的始新—古新统Wilcox是深水区重要的储集层和产油层,埋深大,分布广.前人对Wilcox的沉积类型认识存在不同的观点,本文通过岩芯观察、薄片分析,结合测井、录井资料和地震资料,对深水区的Wilcox砂岩的沉积环境和沉积特征进行了深入研究.研究表明,Wilcox砂岩为深水扇沉积,中等到好分选,细粒—极细粒,以岩屑砂岩和长石质岩屑砂岩为主.结合沉积物源分析和盐岩演化形变形成的微盆地对Wilcox沉积的影响,建立了Wilcox深水沉积模式,下陆坡区为受盐岩微盆控制的水道沉积,盆地区为深水扇沉积.     

渤海湾地区中生代构造活动与沉积作用

通过研究渤海湾及周边地区中生代南部典型露头剖面的沉积特征及中部岩相古地理特征,认为中生代渤海湾地区由一系列受到断层严格控制的断陷盆地组成,主要发育冲积扇-河流-湖泊沉积体系,湖泊内部包括滨浅湖、滩坝和半深湖等亚相;经历了由冲积扇-河流沉积体系向上演化为湖泊沉积体系,再逐渐演化为冲积扇-河流沉积体系的过程;欧亚构造域的西伯利亚板块、扬子板块与华北板块的挤压拼接在渤海湾地区侏罗纪盆地充填中起到主要的控制作用;郯庐断裂的左行走滑在渤海湾地区白垩纪盆地充填中起到主要的控制作用。