Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Geology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-47).

Les semelles métamorphiques sont des unités d’origine océanique (≤ 500 m d’épaisseur) situées à la base des grandes ophiolites obductées (≤ 20 km d’épaisseur). Ces unités sont caractérisées par un gradient métamorphique inverse, où les conditions de pression (P) et de température (T) de cristallisation augmentent de la base vers le contact avec l’ophiolite sus-jacente : depuis 500±100˚C et 0.5±0.2 GPa jusqu'à 800±100˚C et 1.0±0.2 GPa. Formées et exhumées au cours des 2 Ma suivant l’initiation des subductions océaniques, les semelles sont des témoins directs de leur dynamique précoce. Les assemblages minéralogiques qu’elles portent et leur déformation fournissent des contraintes majeures, et rares, sur l’évolution de la structure thermique et sur le comportement mécanique de l’interface de subduction naissante. Au terme d'une étude pétrologique, (micro-) structurale et expérimentale sur les amphibolites naturelles de la semelle de Semail (Oman, UAE) et synthétisées en laboratoire, nous proposons un modèle où la semelle métamorphique résulte d’épisodes multiples d’accrétion d’unités homogènes en P–T (donc sans gradient métamorphique) au cours des premières étapes de subduction océanique. L’écaillage subséquent résulte de changements majeurs dans la distribution de la déformation, du fait des variations des propriétés mécaniques des roches à l’interface de subduction lors de son équilibration thermique et de l’augmentation au cours du temps de la proportion de sédiments entrant en subduction. Ce modèle rend compte d’une grande complexité thermique et mécanique à l’interface de subduction, encore insuffisamment examinée dans les études numériques actuelles. / Metamorphic soles are m to ~500 m thick tectonic slices welded beneath most large-scale ophiolites (usually ≤ 20 km thick). They typically show a steep inverted metamorphic structure where the pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions of crystallization increase upward, from the base of the sole (500±100ºC at 0.5±0.2 GPa) to the contact with the overlying peridotite (800±100ºC at 1.0±0.2 GPa). Soles are interpreted as a result of heat transfer from the incipient mantle wedge toward the nascent slab during the first My of intra-oceanic subduction. Metamorphic soles are therefore direct witnesses of petrological processes during early subduction. Their mineralogical assemblage and deformation pattern provide major constraints on the evolution of the thermal structure, on the migration of fluids and on the effective rheology along the nascent slab interface. We present a detailed petrological, (micro-)structural and experimental study, with refined P–T estimates obtained with pseudosection modelling and EBSD measurements, on the garnet-bearing and garnet-free (natural and synthetized) amphibolite. We suggest a new tectonic–petrological model for the formation of metamorphic soles below ophiolites, which involves the stacking of several homogeneous slivers (without any T gradient) of oceanic crust to form the present-day structure of the sole. These successive thrusts are the result of rheological contrasts between the slab material and the peridotites of the upper plate as the plate interface progressively cools. This model outlines the thermal and mechanical complexity of the early subduction dynamics, and highlights the need for more refined numerical modelling studies.

The Metchosin Igneous Complex, a partial ophiolite exposed on southern Vancouver Island, is the most northerly exposure of the Eocene Crescent Terrane. The role of the Crescent Terrane in crustal genesis and Cordilleran tectonics would be affected by its tectonic setting, however that setting is in debate. Analysis of trace element compositions of basalt from the Metchosin Igneous Complex by ICP-MS was used to determine the tectonic setting in which the complex formed. REE and HFSE compositions are transitional between N-MORB and E-MORB and do not suggest a unique tectonic setting. Strong enrichments of Nb and Ta relative to N-MORB are contrary to formation in a subduction zone. In conjunction with existing plate motion data, this makes a rifted-margin origin unlikely. Interaction at a distance between the Yellowstone hot spot and the Kula-Farallon ridge is proposed to satisfy all the geological and geochemical data. Many studies of ophiolites have interpreted high-temperature phases as hydrothermal in origin despite high permeability and low temperatures in sea floor volcanics. Metamorphic assemblages and compositions of metamorphic minerals were used to determine if alteration in the Metchosin Igneous Complex was related to sea floor alteration or obduction. Chlorite geothermometry and amphibole compositions show that peak metamorphic temperatures increase from east to west across the complex. The metamorphic facies increase from prehnite-actinolite and greenschist in the east to amphibolite in the west, corresponding with the temperatures inferred from mineral compositions. The temperature gradient is perpendicular to stratigraphy, whereas hydrothermal patterns are expected to be parallel to stratigraphy. Therefore the pattern of alteration in the Metchosin Igneous Complex is unrelated to sea floor alteration. Metamorphism during obduction has overprinted any hydrothermal alteration patterns. The east-west thermal gradient is attributed to tilting of the complex, either by tectonic forces or by unequal exhumation due to orographic effects.

Graduation date: 1983 / Best scan available for p.26, 111. Original is a copy of a copy. / For master (tiff) digital images of maps contained in this document contact scholarsarchive@oregonstate.edu

Description pétrographique des ophiolites .

published_or_final_version / Earth Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Oct. 22, 2008). Supplemental files include a color map in PDF. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-73).

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. / Bibliography: leaves 347-364. Also available online.

Thesis (M.Sc.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 136-158. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D)--Memorial University of Newfoundland. / Bibliography: leaves [159]-198. Also available online.