abstract: Impact cratering has played a key role in the evolution of the solid surfaces of Solar System bodies. While much of Earth’s impact record has been erased, its Moon preserves an extensive history of bombardment. Quantifying the timing of lunar impact events is crucial to understanding how impacts have shaped the evolution of early Earth, and provides the basis for estimating the ages of other cratered surfaces in the Solar System. Many lunar impact melt rocks are complex mixtures of glassy and crystalline “melt” materials and inherited clasts of pre-impact minerals and rocks. If analyzed in bulk, these samples can yield complicated incremental release 40Ar/39Ar spectra, making it challenging to uniquely interpret impact ages. Here, I have used a combination of high-spatial resolution 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and thermal-kinetic modeling to gain new insights into the impact histories recorded by such lunar samples. To compare my data to those of previous studies, I developed a software tool to account for differences in the decay, isotopic, and monitor age parameters used for different published 40Ar/39Ar datasets. Using an ultraviolet laser ablation microprobe (UVLAMP) system I selectively dated melt and clast components of impact melt rocks collected during the Apollo 16 and 17 missions. UVLAMP 40Ar/39Ar data for samples 77135, 60315, 61015, and 63355 show evidence of open-system behavior, and provide new insights into how to interpret some complexities of published incremental heating 40Ar/39Ar spectra. Samples 77115, 63525, 63549, and 65015 have relatively simple thermal histories, and UVLAMP 40Ar/39Ar data for the melt components of these rocks indicate the timing of impact events—spanning hundreds of millions of years—that influenced the Apollo 16 and 17 sites. My modeling and UVLAMP 40Ar/39Ar data for sample 73217 indicate that some impact melt rocks can quantitatively retain evidence for multiple melt-producing impact events, and imply that such polygenetic rocks should be regarded as high-value sampling opportunities during future exploration missions to cratered planetary surfaces. Collectively, my results complement previous incremental heating 40Ar/39Ar studies, and support interpretations that the Moon experienced a prolonged period of heavy bombardment early in its history. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2017

New and existing U–Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data, and oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope data, are combined with structural and metamorphic data from Thor–Odin, the southern culmination of the Monashee Complex. This leads to a new interpretation of the timing of deformation and metamorphism. Amphibolites in Thor–Odin with hornblende 40Ar/39Ar dates between ~75–70 and ~51 Ma experienced more 18O- and D-depletion than amphibolites with older dates. The younger dates that were previously interpreted as cooling ages, may have resulted from complete or partial Ar loss in the presence of meteoric fluids that were introduced into the rock during extension. <br><br> Monazite crystals in pelitic schist, quartzite and orthogneiss, which have U–Pb ages younger than 40Ar/39Ar hornblende ages in amphibolite in northwest Thor–Odin, may have grown during tension in the presence of fluids. Titanite, xenotime and zircon dates may be interpreted in the same way. Thus, the U–Pb dates that were previously interpreted as representing peak of metamorphism and the hornblende 40Ar/39Ar dates that were previously interpreted as representing cooling ages, may be interpreted as reflecting meteoric fluid penetration of the crust during regional extension. This implies that the age of the thermal peak of metamorphism is older than ~75–70 Ma. Migmatisation in a basement orthogneiss in Thor–Odin occurred at ~1.8 Ga. Dissolution rims are preserved in zircon between ~1.8 Ga domains and 52 Ma overgrowths. Because growth of new zircon (and possibly other U–Pb accessory phases) did not take place, any geological event that occurred during the ~1.8 Ga to 52 Ma time interval is not recorded. Cordilleran deformation and metamorphism may have taken place within that time interval, e.g. in the Middle Jurassic and/or mid- to Late Cretaceous, the time of Cordilleran deformation and metamorphism in the rocks overlying the Monashee Complex. <br><br> The Joss Mountain orthogneiss, west of the Monashee Complex in the Selkirk Allochthon, is dated at 362 +/– 13 Ma. F3 folding in pelitic schist at Joss Mountain is constrained between ~73 and ~70 Ma. Existing structural, metamorphic and geochronological data in, and close to, the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex in the southern Canadian Cordillera are shown to be consistent with a channel flow model.

La Cordillère des Andes, issue de la subduction de la plaque Pacifique sous le continent Sud-Américain, est un système orogénique propice à la formation de grands systèmes volcaniques acides, dans lesquels coexistent des produits d’éruptions volcaniques explosives de grandes magnitudes et des laves et dômes, associés à des calderas mono- ou polygéniques. Ce mémoire de thèse apporte de nouvelles connaissances sur certains systèmes volcaniques acides du Sud du Pérou, dont les produits affleurent dans les canyons d’Ocoña-Cotahuasi-Maran (OCM). Ces canyons, les plus profonds des Andes (3 à 3,5 km), résultent de la combinaison des processus de soulèvement tectonique, d’incision, et d’érosion depuis 15 Ma. Les imposantes séries ignimbritiques exposées dans cette région (env. 10000 km²), témoignent de l’existence d’un volcanisme explosif de grande ampleur, associé à des systèmes acides peu connus d’après les études antérieures. Cette étude vise tout d’abord à obtenir une chrono-stratigraphie améliorée des événements ignimbritiques (groupes, unités) dans la région OCM pour mieux connaître les récurrences des super-éruptions dans cette région au cours des derniers 25 Ma. Ensuite, nous cherchons à localiser les sources des grandes unités et à identifier les éventuelles structures d’effondrement associées (calderas). Pour ce faire, nous avons combiné diverses techniques, associant l’étude de la stratigraphie et de la lithologie des dépôts volcaniques, les datations par la méthode 40Ar-39Ar des principales unités ignimbritiques et coulées de lave, l’imagerie satellitaire (Landsat, SPOT) et la pétrologie (assemblages minéralogiques, étude des textures et des compositions chimiques) et enfin, les mesures de densité et d’anisotropie de susceptibilité magnétique des ignimbrites (ASM) pour analyser les directions d’écoulement et tenter de localiser leurs sources. Ainsi, les résultats nous ont permis d’identifier huit événements ignimbritiques, dont six majeurs, datés entre ~24 Ma et ~2 Ma. Les âges des grandes unités (Nazca, Alpabamba, Huaylillas, Caraveli, Sencca inférieure et supérieure) montrent une récurrence moyenne de l’ordre de 4-5 Ma depuis 25 Ma. Les lithologies sont assez semblables, bien que les degrés de soudure varient beaucoup, allant de produits meubles jusqu’aux faciès eutaxitiques. L’étude pétrologique révèle des assemblages de minéraux assez homogènes, les paragenèses étant dominées par le quartz, le feldspath, la biotite, l’amphibole et des oxydes. Les volumes bruts des unités principales que nous avons déterminés se situent entre ~40 et ~500-800 km3. Cependant, il ne s’agit que de valeurs minimales, puisque nous considérons que les volumes initiaux sont au moins le double ou le triple, probablement dans la gamme ~100 à ~2400 km3. La distribution des unités ignimbritiques d’OCM et les résultats des analyses ASM désignent plusieurs zones sources. L’unité de Caraveli provient de la caldera de Trapiche, qui contient le lac Parinacochas. Cette structure que nous identifions, d'un diamètre de ~22 km, est située dans un bassin tectonique allongé selon la direction N-S. Elle est occupée dans sa partie ouest par un dôme résurgent de 800 m de haut, le Cerro Trompo Orjo. Les unités Huaylillas et Alpabamba, ainsi que les groupes Sencca (inférieure et supérieure) seraient issus d’une source entièrement recouverte par le massif volcanique quaternaire du Nevado Coropuna. Des estimations de volumes éruptifs suggèrent une atténuation significative du volcanisme ignimbritique depuis 9 Ma, peut-être liée à la maturation orogénique de l’Altiplano-Puna. En profondeur, le magmatisme a probablement contribué à l’épaississement crustal par adjonction de grands volumes de magma. (...) / The Andes, resulting from the subduction of Pacific plate under South-America continental plate, is an orogenic system suitable for large acidic volcanic systems formation. These structures display at the same time volcanic products from high magnitude explosive eruptions, lavas and domes, and mono- or polygenetic calderas. This manuscript brings a new expertise on some of the acidic volcanic systems in South Peru, which products outcrop in the Ocoña - Cotahuasi - Maran canyons (OCM). This canyons system, one of the deepest worldwide (up to 3.5 km), was created by combined tectonic uplift, incision and erosion processes since 15 Ma. Voluminous ignimbritic series widespread in this region (around 10000 km2) are evidences for a past high amplitude explosive volcanic activity related to little-known acidic systems. The topic of this study is to obtain an enhanced chrono-stratigraphy of the OCM region ignimbritic succession (groups and units). This would provide a better knowledge on the regional super-eruptions recurrence since the last 25 Ma. Then, we focus on localizing the largest ignimbrites sources and identify the possible related collapse structures (calderas). For that purpose we combine several studies, from stratigraphy, deposits lithology to 40Ar-39Ar dating of the main ignimbritic units and lava flows. We also use satellite imagery (Landsat, SPOT) and petrology (mineralogical assemblage, textures and geochemical composition). Finally, we measure the ignimbrites density and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) to determine their flowing directions and estimate their sources locations. Thus, the results let us identify eight ignimbritic events among which, six happened between ~24 Ma and ~2 Ma. The main units ages (Nazca, Alpabamba, Huaylillas, Caraveli, lower and upper Sencca) show an average recurrence of 4-5 Ma since 25 Ma. Lithologies are similar even if welding degrees ranges are spread from loose deposits to eutaxitic facies. Petrological study show quite homogeneous mineralogical assemblages since quartz, feldspar, biotite, amphibole and oxydes dominate the paragenesis. Our estimations of the main units bulk volumes range from ~ 40 to ~ 500-800 km3. However, these are only minimum values since we consider that initial volumes as twice or three times higher, probably in the range of ~100 to ~2400 km3. The OCM ignimbrite flow units distribution and the AMS study results indicate several regions as sources for these units. Caraveli unit flowed from Trapiche caldera in which the Parinacochas lake rests. This structure is estimated to be ~22 km of diameter and lays in a N-S orientated tectonic basin. Its western part is occupied with a 800 m high resurgent dome, named Cerro Trompo Orjo. Alpabamba and Huaylillas units, as Sencca units (lower and upper) would come from a source presently entirely covered with the quaternary massif of Nevado Coropuna. Estimations of eruptive volumes recall an important decrease of ignimbritic volcanism since 9 Ma, which might be related to simultaneous Altiplano-Puna orogenic growing. It is supported that deep magmatism have probably contributed to crustal thickening thanks to the addition of large volumes of magma. These results also involve that canyons erosion and incision would have taken place at a rate ranging from 150 to 500 m/Ma during the last 13 Ma. Given that the large-volume acidic system studied in this work is considerable, further research are necessary to improve these results.

L’Escarpement des Ghâts Occidentaux borde la marge passive Ouest de l’Inde péninsulaire et sépare le bas-pays de la plaine côtière des hauts-plateaux à l’Est comme celui des trapps du Deccan vieux de 63 Ma et celui des roches précambriennes. Il a été suggéré une mise en place de cet escarpement par érosion d’un épaulement de rift élevé, et des mesures thermochronologiques ont estimé une forte dénudation dans la plaine côtière autour de ~ 50 Ma.Nous apportons des contraintes temporelles complémentaires quant à l’évolution de cette marge passive, par datation 40Ar-39Ar d’oxydes de manganèse potassiques (cryptomélane) extraits de formations latéritiques, reliques des paléosurfaces d’altération, sur le plateau et dans la plaine côtière. Trois principales paléosurfaces ont été identifiées, échantillonnées puis datées sur le plateau à différentes altitudes, ainsi qu’une quatrième dans la plaine côtière. Des latérites datées à 47 Ma dans la plaine côtière impliquent que l’escarpement existait déjà à l’Eocène moyen alors qu’une intense altération bauxitique affectait les deux côtés de l’escarpement. Nos résultats indiquent également des taux d’érosion faibles (~ 4 m.Ma-1) au pied de l’escarpement depuis 47 Ma, et un taux d’incision aussi faible (~ 5 m.Ma-1) depuis 19 Ma. Sur le plateau, l’érosion est plus importante mais inférieure à 15 m.Ma-1 depuis 45 Ma, et l’incision est inférieure à 6 m.Ma-1 depuis 23 Ma. Nos résultats indiquent de surcroit un diachronisme longitudinal des érosions et altérations de part et d’autre de l’escarpement depuis sa formation, et suggèrent la mise en place d’un gradient climatique fort entre l’Ouest et l’Est dès l’optimum climatique Eocène. / The western continental passive margin of Peninsular India is marked by the Western Ghats escarpment, which separates the coastal lowland from the highland plateaus and is carved both into the 63-Ma old Deccan Trapps and their Archean basement. Previous studies suggested establishment of the escarpment by erosion across an elevated rift shoulder, and thermochronologic models predicted strong denudation in the coastal lowland by ~ 50 Ma.We provided complementary time constraints on the evolution of the passive margin by 40Ar-39Ar dating of supergene K-Mn oxides (cryptomelane) sampled in lateritic formations exposed on paleosurfaces, which are preserved as relicts on the highland plateau and in the coastal lowland on both sides of the escarpment. Three main lateritic paleosurfaces were identified, sampled and dated in the highland at different altitude ranges, and one in the lowland.Preservation of laterites as old as 47 Ma in the coastal lowland implies that the escarpment already existed in the Mid-Eocene while intense bauxitic weathering was taking place on both sides of the escarpment. Our results indicate limited erosion (~ 4 m.Ma-1) at the foot of the escarpment since 47 Ma, and low incision rate of the lowland (~ 5 m.Ma-1) since 19 Ma. Ages obtained on the highland indicate further Neogene erosion but at less than 15 m.Ma-1 since 45 Ma, and incision lower than 6 m.Ma-1 since 23 Ma. Our results further document post-Eocene divergent erosion and weathering histories across the escarpment since it was formed, suggesting installation of a dual climatic regime on either sides of this escarpment after the Eocene peak greenhouse.