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Le Liban se caractérise au sein de la Méditerranée orientale par sa diversité climatique, son organisation orographique (littoral/montagne/bassin) et la prépondérance des terrains carbonatés (60 % de son territoire). Ces caractéristiques font que le Liban connait sur un espace relativement réduit une grande diversité de phénomènes karstiques. Il constitue alors un espace-clé pour développer des référentiels tant pour les événements paléogéographiques qu'environnementaux qui puissent être appliquées sur le Proche-Orient. Plusieurs questionnements relatifs à la genèse des paysages et leur évolution restent encore non résolus face à la rareté des témoins morphogéniques de surface. L'endokarst constitue alors une nouvelle archive naturelle et environnementale pour pallier à ces contraintes. Ces archives se situent à la fois dans les formes des réseaux souterrains et dans les enregistrements sédimentaires (dépôts détritiques et chimiques : spéléothèmes). La recherche doctorale se concentre sur "l'apport des enseignements de l'endokarst dans la reconstitution des environnements passés et de la morphogénèse des vallées karstiques‘. Les sites d'études retenues dans cette recherche sont situées dans le Mont-Liban central: i) la vallée du Nahr el-Kelb et le réseau de Jeita et, ii) la vallée d'Antelias et la grotte de Kanaan et le réseau de Kassarat-Nabay. La recherche a deux principaux objectifs: i) poser le cadre paléogéographique des principaux systèmes karstiques dépendant de la Méditerranée (systèmes de Jeita et d'Antelias) à partir de l'approche géomorphologique appliquée dans les grottes de Kanaan, de Kassarat-Nabay et de Jeita. Celle-ci met en œuvre la démarche cartographique des systèmes souterrains étudiés pour replacer les différents objets d'étude dans leur contexte spatial, morphogénique et chronologique ; et ii) appréhender les changements environnementaux de cette région liés aux variations climatiques et aux occupations humaines. L'étude sédimentaire (détritique) repose sur une analyse fine (morphoscopique, morphométrique, minéralogique, colorimétrique et magnétique) des dépôts endokarstiques. / The lebanese landscape is characterized by karstic mountain chains (Mount-Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon) with a variety of surface karstic forms as well as endokarstic network systems. Karst landforms covers up to 60% of the lebanese territory. Several questions related to the morphogenesis and evolution of landscapes, espacially coastal valleys remain unsolved. Whereas geomorphic indicators are rare on the surface due to urban pressure and topgraphic constraints, we used sub-surface geomorphologic indicators revealed from the speleogenesis study of caves. Subsusrface karst network systems are an alternative mean to address these constraints and reconstitute the morphogenesis stages of the coastal valleys' landscape. Morphogeneitic and environmental reconstitution are based on both geomorphoic indiators of underground networks and on the sediments (clastic and speleothems) in caves. The PhD research focuses on "the contribution of endokarst networks in reconstituting past environments and morphogenestic phases of coastal valleys of Mount-Lebanon”. Two valleys located in the central part of Mount-Lebanon, are chosen for this study: i) the valley of Nahr el-Kelb with a study focused on Jeita cave network system, and ii) the Antelias valley two cave were selected in this sector, Kanaan cave (162 m long) and Kassarat Nabay cave network system (4,6 km long). The first objective of the study are: i) to reconstitute the stages of the karst system related with the downcutting of the Mediterranean hydrographic network (Antelias and Kelb river). The palaeogeographical framework is based on the geomorphological approach applied in the caves of Kanaan, of Ksarat-Nabay and Jeita. It implements the mapping process applied on the underground systems and analyses of the stages of cave evolution. The second objective is to understand the environmental changes in this region related to climate variations and human settlement. The study (detrital) is based on a detailed analysis (morphoscopic, morphometric, mineralogical, and magnetic color) of sediements in cave systems.

The Neoproterozoic is one of the most enigmatic periods in Earth history. In the juxtaposition of glacial and tropical deposits the sedimentary record provides evidence for extreme climate change. Various models have tried to explain these apparent contradictions. One of the most popular models is the Snowball Earth Hypothesis which envisages periods of global glaciations. All climatic models are dependent on palaeogeography which as yet remains poorly constrained for the Neoproterozoic. This thesis presents a multidisciplinary study of two Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins on the Congo and West Africa cratons including radiometric dating of glacial deposits themselves. In the West Congo Belt, western Congo Craton, a new U-Pb baddeleyite age for the Lower Diamictite provides the first high quality direct age for the older of two glacial intervals. This age is significantly different from previously dated glaciogenic deposits on the Congo Craton. This result strongly suggests that the mid-Cryogenian was a period during which several local glaciations occurred, none of which were global. While the palaeomagnetic results from carbonates around the younger glacial interval are probably remagnetised, detrital zircon and chemostratigraphic results allow correlation with numerous late-Cryogenian glaciogenic deposits worldwide and a Snowball Earth scenario is favoured here. In the Adrar Sub-Basin of the vast Taoudéni Basin, West Africa, the terrigenous Jbeliat glacial horizon has been studied in great detail. Detrital zircon geochronology reveals large changes in provenance through this glacial unit with implications for sedimentological approaches and techniques for provenance characterisations based on one sample alone. Together with recently published U-Pb data these results constrain the age of the Jbeliat Group to a narrow window providing vital geochronological information for this younger glacial event. Combining provenance geochemistry, chemostratigraphy and U-Pb dating has greatly improved our understanding of two of the largest Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins. The dominance of Mesoproterozoic detrital material, for which no source has been reported near either of the field areas, has consequences for the proximity of other cratons at the time of deposition, prior to the final amalgamation of Gondwana.

Η περιοχή του κεντρικού Αιγαίου έχει υποβληθεί σε ηπειρωτική διαστολή από το κατώτερο Μειόκαινο. Κατά το στάδιο της διαστολής είχαμε διείσδυση ενός πλουτωνίτη ο οποίος σχετίζεται με το σύστημα αποκόλλησης της Μυκόνου. Η Μύκονος κυριαρχείται από έναν μονζογρανίτη, Ι-τύπου, ηλικίας 10 Ma ο οποίος διείσδυσε μέσα σε μάρμαρα, μεταπηλίτες και μεταβασίτες της Κατώτερης Ενότητας. Τα γρανιτοειδή της Μυκόνου έχουν μορφή λακκόλιθου με μονζογρανιτική έως γρανοδιοριτική σύσταση και υπέρκειται από την αποκόλληση της Λιβάδας η οποία ήταν ενεργή ταυτόχρονα με την εκταφή του γρανίτη και έχει υποβληθεί σε έντονη μυλωνιτίωση. Η τοποθέτηση του λακκόλιθου χρονολογείται στα 13,5 +/- Ma όπως βρέθηκε από χρονολογήσεις U/Pb σε ζιρκόνιο. Η εκταφή του λακκόλιθου της Μυκόνου ήταν γρήγορη όπως υποδεικνύεται από θερμοχρονολογικά δεδομένα. Το τέλος της περιόδου δραστηριότητας της αποκόλλησης είναι ισόχρονο με την απόθεση του συστήματος των φλεβών βαρύτη το οποίο αποτέθηκε στην περιοχή του Πανόρμου. Δείγματα που συλλέχθηκαν από την περιοχή του Πανόρμου χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για την ισοτοπική ανάλυση των ρευστών εγκλεισμάτων που απομονώθηκαν από τις βαρυτικές φλέβες. Οι αναλύσεις μπορούν να μας δώσουν χρήσιμα δεδομένα για τις συνθήκες που επικρατούσαν κατά την απόθεση του βαρύτη καθώς και την προέλευση της μεταλλοφορίας του πλουτωνίτη της Μυκόνου. / The central Aegean region has undergone continental extension since at least the Early Miocene. The extensional stage was accompanied by the intrusion of granitic plutons and associated detachments such as the Mykonos detachment. Mykonos is dominated by a 10 Ma I-type monzogranite intruded into marble, metapelite and metabasite of the Lower Unit. The Mykonos granitoids form a laccolith-like intrusion with a monzogranitic to granodioritic composition and are topped by a low angle normal fault system. The top of the laccolith has been reworked by the Livada detachment which was active along with the exhumation of the granite and has undergone through intensive mylonitization and brecciation. Emplacement of the laccolith is dated at 13,5 +/- Ma using the U/Pb technique on Zircon. The exhumation of the Mykonos laccolith was very fast as indicated by thermochronological data. The end of the period of activity of the detachment is coeval with the emplacement of huge barite veins. The barite vein system which is deposited in the area of Panormos Bay is hosted in the monzogranite and consists of a set of ten major NW- to NNW- crustified tension gashes filled with barite and other minerals. Sample material that was collected from Panormos Bay was used for the study of fluid inclusions that were trapped in coarse-grained transparent minerals such as barite and quartz. Fluid inclusions can provide very useful information about the conditions existing during the formation of barite as well as the origin of the mineralization on the Mykonos pluton.

A revised lithostratigraphy and glacial history of north Hertfordshire and south Bedfordshire is based upon detailed textural data in the clay to fine gravel fraction, carbonate content, small clast lithological data and macrofabrics, derived from laboratory and field analyses of tills from 30 sites. These include four deep boreholes sunk within the Hitchin Gap. A range of statistical procedures was used, including multivariate analysis of the petrographic properties, enabling the identification of tills from two separate incursions into the Gap. A further till-type was identified in south Bedfordshire indicating an ice advance from the northwest/NNW extending at least as far east as Milton Bryan. Statistical comparison with tills in the neighbouring Vale of St. Albans suggested the presence of the Ware Member till within the Gap. Two hypotheses are suggested to explain variations in lithological content of tills north of the Chalk scarp. The first envisages ice entering the study area along the different trajectories suggested by Fish and Whiteman (2001). During the early part of the glaciation, ice reaching the west of the study area would approach from the north, crossing a shorter distance over Chalk bedrock and collecting less chalk and flint than ice moving into the eastern part of the study area. The second hypothesis invokes an incursion of ice from a northwest - NNW direction into the west of the study area, depositing a chalk-free till. This is subsequently assimilated by ice from the northeast, resulting in the final deposition of a homogeneous mixture of debris from the two advances, with a lower chalk content than tills found to the east. The outcome of either of these scenarios is a till with a low acid-soluble content and low flint/quartz ratio in the west of the study area, as found during this work. Within the Hitchin Gap, a lobe of ice, probably an early part of the northeasterly advance, deposited a lower till. This is considered to be earlier than the Ware Member till and has more variable lithological characteristics and a finer matrix that the higher tills. The latter are mainly melt-out, flow or slumped tills with occasional instances of lodgement and deformation. They represent in situ wasting of dead ice within the Gap. Surface tills in the Gap form a continuum with tills to the north and comprise mainly deformation tills, deposited by the final northeasterly re-advance of ice responsible for widespread coverage of the region, with the exception of the Chiltern Hills southwest of Hitchin. No evidence is found of more than one lithostratigraphic unit of till outside the Hitchin Gap.

The stratigraphy of the late Precarnbrian upper Brachina Subgroup has been studied in detail throughout the southern and central Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Ten stratigraphically significant facies associations are readily recognisable within which 18 separate and distinct lithotypes have been defined and described. The complex regional strati - graphic arrangement has been simplified by using a Markov Chain technique of analysis. The resultant lithotype stratigraphy is used as the base upon which the palaeogeographic history of the upper Brachina Subgroup is reconstructed. A detailed sedimentologic analysis of each lithotype was undertaken in order to ascertain their individual palaeoenvironments of deposition. This involved a petrologic analysis of the arenaceous component of each lithotype, the analysis of the suite of sedimentary structures contained within each lithotype, and the analysis of all directional structures for palaeocurrent directions. For this latter analysis a new computer technique was developed whereby up to 3 individual populations can be separately analysed from any one distribution. Deposition of the upper Brachina Subgroup succession was due to a phase of uplift tectonism and minor accompanying basic volcanism. Within this succession two distinct depositional episodes are readily discernable. During the first episode a massive sand influx flowed from a westerly source region ( the Gawler Craton ) into a shallow submerged, though possibly tidally influenced mudflat as a prograding deltaic succession ( the " Alligator River Delta " ). This initial delta developed in the western region of the Adelaide ' Geosyncline ' as a fluvial and tide modified, wave dominated system which was fed by stable outlet channels, protected by barrier - bars and surrounded by a low intertidal aerobic mudflat. Preserved wi - bhin this mudflat deposit are the probable body fossils of primitive cup - shaped coelenterates ( ? ), which were possibly the ancestral organisms of the Ediacara assemblage. With, continued sediment influx and basin shallowing, this initial delta system evolved to an unbarred fluvial modified, tide - dominated delta which was fed by migrating channels and surrounded by an intertidal mudflat. This mudflat was anaerobic, possibly due to the activity of abundant microscopic organisms. The second depositional episode of the upper Brachina Subgroup developed when tectonic instability affected a portion of the basin's western margin ( Uplift I ). As a result, part of the previously deposited deltaic succession was eroded and reworked into a vast, thin intertidal sandflat which extended through the central region, and into the northern region of the Adelaide ' Geosyncline '. A second phase of tectonic instability ( Uplift II ) caused renewed activity along the basin ' s western margin, and also induced the emergence of at least two islands within the basin. Around these islands a thin, dominantly fluvial deposit was generated. The final phase of tectonic instability ( Uplift III ) affected only the western margin of the basin, and produced a narrow sand deposit of probable beach origin. Meanwhile, within the basin gradual subsidence induced the development of a shallow, possibly tidal aerobic mudflat and marked the end of the upper Brachina Subgroup phase of sedimentation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Geology and Mineralogy, 1978.

Devonian miospore assemblages from 16 sections in Saudi Arabia and North Africa are studied in order to characterize the palynostratigraphy of the northern margin of western Gondwana which remains poorly known in Saudi Arabia. The preliminary taxonomic work identifies more than 200 miospore species, including a lot of new species endemic to western Gondwana. Numerous species have still to be more precisely circumscribed because of their large morphological variability. Others show continuous intergrading morphological variation. The morphological variability of each taxon is one of the main problems in any palynological study. It is due to phylogenetic evolution, ontogeny (maturation of sporangia) and taphonomic factors. Although the standard Devonian miospore zonations established in Euramerica (Richardson & McGregor, 1986; Streel et al., 1987) are commonly used in most of the palynological studies, they are not always easily recognizable in western Gondwanan localities because of the endemic nature of the assemblages. Therefore, a new local/regional biozonation based on the characteristics of the miospore assemblages described here was needed for a more accurate correlation. The new established biozonation consists of 9 assemblage zones, 8 interval zones and 2 acme zones, extending from the late Pragian to the late Givetian and possibly the early Frasnian. The new defined biozones are compared to other coeval biozones defined in the literature. Thanks to this new local/regional biozonation, reliable correlations are established between sections. Numerous oilfields occur in the Devonian from western Gondwana. A biozonation based on the first down-hole occurrence of species is developed for oil exploration. Thanks to this type of biozonation, only the top of a biozone has to be reached in order to be identified. The use of this biozonation is facilitated by the choice of easily recognizable and common index species. This provisional downward biozonation consists of 8 interval zones. Although it seems relatively reliable by comparison with the previously defined upward biozonation, it needs to be further tested on other drilled sections. The review of the Emsian-Givetian miospore assemblages from the literature allows to evaluate the provincialism of assemblages on a worldwide scale during this interval. Coefficient of similarity is calculated between palynofloras from northern Euramerica, southern Euramerica, eastern Gondwana, southwestern Gondwana and northwestern Gondwana. The resulting low values correspond to low to moderate similarity of miospore assemblages between the considered regions in the Emsian-Givetian interval. The provincialism may be explained by a latitudinal climatic gradient as no palaeogeographic barrier is known during this time interval. Indeed, both Euramerican and Gondwanan land masses were very close as soon as the earliest Devonian. Despite a certain degree of provincialism, floristic interchanges existed. Northwestern Gondwana constituted an intermediate warm temperate region with shared taxa mainly from more arid Euramerican localities in the North, and cooler southwestern Gondwanan localities in higher latitudes. However, it seems that a progressive homogenization of the vegetation took place in Middle Devonian as the standard Euramerican biozones are more easily recognized in Givetian than in Eifelian and Emsian. This transition from provincialism to cosmopolitanism during the Devonian is not only shown by palynofloras but also by the palaeogeographic distribution of many other fossil groups. It is likely due to a decrease of the latitudinal climatic gradient in Middle Devonian.

The stratigraphy of the late Precarnbrian upper Brachina Subgroup has been studied in detail throughout the southern and central Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Ten stratigraphically significant facies associations are readily recognisable within which 18 separate and distinct lithotypes have been defined and described. The complex regional strati - graphic arrangement has been simplified by using a Markov Chain technique of analysis. The resultant lithotype stratigraphy is used as the base upon which the palaeogeographic history of the upper Brachina Subgroup is reconstructed. A detailed sedimentologic analysis of each lithotype was undertaken in order to ascertain their individual palaeoenvironments of deposition. This involved a petrologic analysis of the arenaceous component of each lithotype, the analysis of the suite of sedimentary structures contained within each lithotype, and the analysis of all directional structures for palaeocurrent directions. For this latter analysis a new computer technique was developed whereby up to 3 individual populations can be separately analysed from any one distribution. Deposition of the upper Brachina Subgroup succession was due to a phase of uplift tectonism and minor accompanying basic volcanism. Within this succession two distinct depositional episodes are readily discernable. During the first episode a massive sand influx flowed from a westerly source region ( the Gawler Craton ) into a shallow submerged, though possibly tidally influenced mudflat as a prograding deltaic succession ( the " Alligator River Delta " ). This initial delta developed in the western region of the Adelaide ' Geosyncline ' as a fluvial and tide modified, wave dominated system which was fed by stable outlet channels, protected by barrier - bars and surrounded by a low intertidal aerobic mudflat. Preserved wi - bhin this mudflat deposit are the probable body fossils of primitive cup - shaped coelenterates ( ? ), which were possibly the ancestral organisms of the Ediacara assemblage. With, continued sediment influx and basin shallowing, this initial delta system evolved to an unbarred fluvial modified, tide - dominated delta which was fed by migrating channels and surrounded by an intertidal mudflat. This mudflat was anaerobic, possibly due to the activity of abundant microscopic organisms. The second depositional episode of the upper Brachina Subgroup developed when tectonic instability affected a portion of the basin's western margin ( Uplift I ). As a result, part of the previously deposited deltaic succession was eroded and reworked into a vast, thin intertidal sandflat which extended through the central region, and into the northern region of the Adelaide ' Geosyncline '. A second phase of tectonic instability ( Uplift II ) caused renewed activity along the basin ' s western margin, and also induced the emergence of at least two islands within the basin. Around these islands a thin, dominantly fluvial deposit was generated. The final phase of tectonic instability ( Uplift III ) affected only the western margin of the basin, and produced a narrow sand deposit of probable beach origin. Meanwhile, within the basin gradual subsidence induced the development of a shallow, possibly tidal aerobic mudflat and marked the end of the upper Brachina Subgroup phase of sedimentation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Geology and Mineralogy, 1978.