Sur les anomalies structurales de l'anticlinal de l'oued Bahloul de Tunisie : héritage tectonique et plissement cisaillant de couverture

The Oued Bahloul structure exists in the central Atlas of Tunisia. This structure is oriented N70 and it shows a very particular geometry characterized by: (i) an important disharmony between the northern and the southern flanks; (ii) a dissymmetry between the east and the west parts of the structure; (iii) several gaps and progressive unconformities present in the Cretaceous and Eocene series.Three major tectonic directions characterize this structure: (i) the N120 appears in the western part of the anticline; (ii) some north–south faults distinguish the oriental part; (iii) the strike fault, which is confirmed by seismic data, affects the central part of this anticline. To cite this article: A. Saadi et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Compressive palaeostress in the Mesozoic cover of the Tunisian atlas in relation with Africa–Europe moving together

The current structure of the central Tunisian Atlas fossilizes the different tectonic events that have succeeded and that have structured this region. The Lower Cretaceous of this sector reflects, through variations of thickness and facies, the importance of the tectonic activity during this period. The tectonic study detailed in this sector has revealed the existence of structures from the kilometric scale down to the metric one related to a compressive regime that has dominated the studied zone at least from the Upper Hauterivian until the Lower Aptian.     

Volcanic passive margins

Compared to non-volcanic ones, volcanic passive margins mark continental break-up over a hotter mantle, probably subject to small-scale convection. They present distinctive genetic and structural features. High-rate extension of the lithosphere is associated with catastrophic mantle melting responsible for the accretion of a thick igneous crust. Distinctive structural features of volcanic margins are syn-magmatic and continentward-dipping crustal faults accommodating the seaward flexure of the igneous crust. Volcanic margins present along-axis a magmatic and tectonic segmentation with wavelength similar to adjacent slow-spreading ridges. Their 3D organisation suggests a connection between loci of mantle melting at depths and zones of strain concentration within the lithosphere. Break-up would start and propagate from localized thermally-softened lithospheric zones. These ‘soft points’ could be localized over small-scale convection cells found at the bottom of the lithosphere, where adiabatic mantle melting would specifically occur. The particular structure of the brittle crust at volcanic passive margins could be interpreted by active and sudden oceanward flow of both the unstable hot mantle and the ductile part of the lithosphere during the break-up stage. To cite this article: L. Geoffroy, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Failles normales Paléocène à Lutétien en zone sud-pyrénéenne (Aragon,Espagne) et flexuration de la plaque ibérique

Close to the South Pyrenean thrust front, synsedimentary normal faults develop in the ‘Garumnian’ continental deposits (Maastrichtian to Palaeocene) and in the carbonate platform during the Lutetian. During the Lutetian, this deformation is accompanied by a change in the sedimentation characterized by the deposit of two series of laminated limestones associated to monogenetic breccias. These normal faults would have formed at the bending of the Iberian plate subducting under Europe. They may also be considered as the starting point for the megaturbidites that deposited further north in the Eocene turbiditic basin. To cite this article: Y. Hervouët et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).