| Abstract: | We present original heat flow determinations carried out during the Flumed surveys by the CEPM along three transects of the Provençal Basin (Gulf of Lions-West Sardinia; Toulon-Ajaccio; Nice-Calvi). A total of 121 thermal gradients and 37 conductivities are examined together with previous heat flow determinations along depth sections based on previous geophysical investigations. The mean observed heat flows are clearly shown to increase from NW to SE along the profiles (expect for the Toulon-Calvi transect, where results are ambiguous). The observed heat flow increases from 55–65 mW m−2 (Gulf of Lions) to 85 ± 14 mW m−2 (West Sardinia) and from 55–65 mW m−2 (Var Basin) to 103–108 mW m−2 (lower Corsican margin), suggesting an asymmetrical distribution of the observed heat flow. We examine whether this asymmetry could be caused by thermal refraction above salt structures or by any other superficial cause (sedimentation, topography, etc.) and conclude that an asymmetrical distribution of the subcrustal heat flow is probably the cause of this thermal regime. The elevated heat flows observed to the east in the abyssal plain, corrected for sedimentation, cannot be accounted for by the standard age/heat flow relations established for oceanic or attenuated continental lithosphere. The geodynamic significance of this speculative subcrustal origin remains poorly constrained, but could be related to post-rifting magmatic activity. Further investigations are necessary to elucidate the apparent high local variability of the heat flow on the upper margin of the Gulf of Lions and on the Provençal margin of the Ligurian Sea. |
