La géologie de l'Equateur se distingue de celle du reste des Cordillères andines par la présence de terrains océaniques qui s'accrètent successivement à la marge depuis la fin du Crétacé jusqu'au Paléocène. Ces terrains exotiques sont constitués de fragments de deux plateaux océaniques du Crétacé inférieur (123 Ma) et supérieur (90 Ma) et de plusieurs arcs insulaires (100 à 40 Ma). Dans la Cordillère occidentale, le plateau crétacé inférieur et les terrains océaniques du crétacé supérieur (plateau et arcs insulaires) s'accrètent respectivement à 85-80 Ma et 70-65 Ma. Le plateau océanique daté à 123 Ma est constitué: (i) de cumulats basiques et ultrabasiques (série de San Juan) et (ii) de basaltes en coussins et de dolérites massives recoupés par des petites intrusions de gabbro sub-doléritique. Les cumulats forment une série continue depuis des dunites et wehrlites jusqu'à des gabbros à clinopyroxène. Basaltes, dolérites et gabbros présentent tous les caractères de basalte de plateau océanique (OPB; MgO = 7%; spectres de terres rares plats, pas d'anomalie négative en Nb et Ta). Les compositions isotopiques (Nd et Pb) des cumulats et de l'ensemble basalte-dolérite sont identiques et démontrent que toutes ces roches dérivent d' une source mantellique enrichie. Les picrites et les basaltes enrichis ou non en MgO, associés à des dolérites et des gabbros, représentent des témoins accrétés du plateau océanique crétacé supérieur caraïbe. Les picrites (MgO -20 %) sont appauvries en terres rares légères, peu radiogéniques en Pb et caractérisées par des eNd élevés (+8 à +10). Les basaltes riches en MgO (9-10%) sont enrichis en terres rares légères. La géochimie en éléments traces des basaltes pauvres en MgO est identique à celle d'OPB. Par contre, les rapports isotopiques du Pb des basaltes, riches en MgO ou non, sont très élevés indiquant que toutes ces laves dérivent d'une source enrichie de type HIMU, caractère commun à tous les basaltes du plateau caraïbe .

Seafloor hydrothermal systems play a key role in Earth s energy and geochemical budgets. They also support the existence and development of complex chemosynthetic biological ecosystems that use the mineral-laden fluids as a source of energy and nutrients. This dissertation focuses on two inter-related topics: (1) the heat output at mid-ocean ridge (MOR) hydrothermal sites, and (2) the hydrothermal response to earthquakes at mid-ocean ridges. The response of mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems to seismic and magmatic activity could provide a means of using seafloor observations to assess processes occurring at crustal depths. Three decades of study of the ocean floor have made clear that tectonic/volcanic perturbations and changes in the hydrothermal activity are correlated. Yet, this relationship is still highly misunderstood. In this dissertation, we developed a mathematical model of hydrothermal circulation affected by magmatic and/or tectonic events occurring at depth. We showed that the perturbations they generate need not propagate through the entire upflow zone, as previously suggested, but need only affect the movement of the boundary layers. In this case, the fluid residence time in the discharge zone is on the order of years. The determination of heat output at MOR hydrothermal sites provides important constraints on the physics of these processes. Yet, such measurements are still very limited, available only for ~30 sites out of the ~10^3 estimated worldwide. This dissertation reports the first measurements of hydrothermal heat output at 9°50' N on the East Pacific Rise (EPR), which has been the most intensively studied site for the past 20 years (~10^2 expeditions). The values we obtained helped constraining the afore-mentioned mathematical model, which was tested based on the March 1995 microearthquake swarm near 9°50' N, EPR. Our results showed that the current interpretation based on a thermal cracking episode at the bottom of the upflow zone, may be incorrect. We argue that a diking scenario better explains the seismic and temperature data, while being consistent with the mechanics of inflation of the axial magma chamber in the 9°50' N, EPR area between two major eruptions, in 1991 and 2006.

L'étude des volcans basaltiques a démontré l'importance de leur architecture interne et de leur système intrusif dans le déclenchement de déstabilisations. Découlant d'observations indirectes, les modèles élaborés demeurent néanmoins interprétatifs. À La Réunion, l'importante érosion du Piton des Neiges, en rendant accessible sa structure interne, en fait un atout majeur pour combler ces lacunes d'observation. Ce travail s'est focalisé sur le cirque de Salazie dans le but d'accroitre les connaissances de la structure interne du volcan. Nous proposons ainsi l'existence d'une chambre magmatique litée plurikilométrique située à l'aplomb du cirque de Salazie qui appartiendrait à un édifice plus ancien estimé à plus de 2 Ma. Cette chambre est recoupée par un détachement injecté de plusieurs dizaines d'intrusions basiques et surmonté par une brèche d'avalanche de débris. La déformation cataclasique des minéraux primaires des roches plutoniques du détachement indique que cette structure s'est développée dans le domaine fragile. Une déformation ductile postérieure de basse température (< 250 °C), caractérisé par une cristallisation de chlorite, pumpellyite, zéolite et de calcite s'est ensuite développée dans le détachement. Au toit de la pile de sills, des intrusions sont brèchifiés et disséminés dans la brèche. Une analyse du sill au contact avec la brèche montre l'existence d'une fabrique magmatique asymétrique révélatrice d'un déplacement co-intrusif de l'unité sus-jacente. Ces résultats suggèrent que les volcans basaltiques s'effondrent par déformation le long de plans hydrothermalisés et confirment le rôle majeur des sills dans la déstabilisation des volcans boucliers. / The study of volcanic edifices has shown that both the internal structure and the intrusive system play a role in the initiation of flank destabilization. Arising from indirect observations, the recent models remain interpretative. On Reunion Island, the exceptional erosion of the Piton des Neiges provides a rare access to the inner structure of the basaltic edifice that is propitious to bridge these gaps. Our study focuses on the plutonic rocks outcropping in Mât River (cirque of Salazie) in order to improve our knowledge of the internal structure of Piton des Neiges. Our study allows us to reveal the presence of layered plurikilometric magma chamber under the cirque of Salazie belonging to an edifice older to 2 Ma located to the NNE from the actual summit of the Piton des Neiges. The magma chamber is crosscut by a detachment intruded by tens of basic magmatic intrusions and overlapped by debris avalanche deposits. The cataclastic deformation of primary minerals in the plutonic rocks indicates that the detachment acted as a brittle zone. This is followed by a low temperature ductile deformation (< 250 °C) characterized by crystallization of chlorite, pumpellyite, zeolite and calcite in the detachment zone. At the top of the sill zone, sills are brechified and disseminated in the breccia. The presence of an asymmetric magmatic fabric in the intrusion in contact with the breccia suggests that this sill was emplaced with a normal shear displacement of its hanging wall. These results suggest that deformation of basaltic volcanoes proceeds along hydrothermalized detachments and confirm the major implication of sill intrusions in basaltic volcano flank instability.

No description available.

The principal goal of this Ph.D. Thesis is to contribute to the research on formation of compo- sitional and textural zoning in shallow-level plutons. Processes responsible for emplacement of individual plutons/pulses and the origin of compositional zoning in are addressed in a great detail, from the pluton-scale down to the micro-scale. The main emphasis in the more focused part of this text is on a combination of various quanti- tative data sets from two well-selected plutons (the Říčany Pluton in the Central Bohemian Plu- tonic Complex and the Melechov Pluton in the Moldanubian Batholith). These detailed studies are supported by further research on the Štěnovice, Čistá and Ševětín plutons. In this way we cover the evolution of Variscan magmatism in the heart of Bohemian Massif in its entirety, from Late Devonian till Permian. The thesis is based on combining field and structural studies (including the anisotropy of mag- netic susceptibility, AMS), textural analysis, petrological, geochronological and geochemical methods with geophysical investigations. Mathematical approaches have been designed and applied to the interpretation of geochemical data, with potential applications to other igneous systems. I strongly believe that only such comprehensive studies on well-selected case examples have a...

Mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems are known to extend to deep levels of the oceanic crust, including the plutonic section, but little is known about the timing and nature of fluid-rock interactions at these levels. To investigate the temporal and spatial characteristics of hydrothermal alteration in the lower crust, this study investigates a suite of hydrothermally altered (<5 to >20% hydrous alteration) gabbroic rocks recovered from the Hess Deep Rift, where 1.2 Ma fast-spreading East Pacific Rise crust is well-exposed. These samples were altered to amphibole-dominated assemblages with chlorite-rich samples occurring in a restricted region of the field area. Hornfels, indicative of reheated, previously altered rocks, are clustered in the central part of the field area. The entire sample suite has elevated 87Sr/86Sr (mean: 0.70257±0.00007 (2σ), n=16) with respect to fresh rock (0.7024). Bulk rock 87Sr/86Sr is strongly correlated with percentage of hydrous alteration and weakly correlated with bulk rock Sr content. The distribution of Sr in igneous and metamorphic minerals suggests that greenshist-facies alteration assemblages (chlorite, actinolitic amphibole, albitic plagioclase) lose Sr to the fluid while amphibolite-facies secondary assemblages (secondary hornblende, anorthitic plagioclase) take up Sr. The temperature-dependent mobilization of Sr in hydrothermal systems has implications for the 87Sr/86Sr and ultimately fluid/rock ratio calculations based on the assessed 87Sr/86Sr systematics. Considering Sr behaviour, minimum fluid/rock ratios of ~1 were calculated for the plutonic section. Due to the large uncertainty regarding fluid Sr composition at depth and the sensitivity of fluid/rock ratio calculations on this parameter, a model combining the sheeted dike complex and the plutonic section to one hydrothermal system is introduced, yielding a fluid/rock ratio of 0.5. This value may be more realistic since the fluid composition entering and exiting the sheeted dike complex is better constrained. The regional distribution of hornfelsed material with elevated 87Sr/86Sr suggests that fluid ingress into the upper plutonics at Hess Deep occurred on-axis in a dynamic interface of a vertically migrating axial magma chamber (AMC) and the base of the hydrothermal system. / Graduate