Structural field observations, combined with petrological, isotopic and geochemical analysis of metamorphic and igneous rocks associated with the Semail ophiolite of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, have been used in conjunction with geochronology and estimates of metamorphic conditions and PT paths to constrain the ophiolite emplacement history. The ophiolite metamorphic sole was formed at peak conditions of 840 ± 70°C and 11.6 ± 1.6 kbar (THERMOCALC) and 840-870°C and 11.8-13.9 kbar (conventional thermobarometry) and is characterised by an anticlockwise PTt path. Further analysis and structural constraints imply an apparent inverted sole gradient of ~2°C m-1 and ~3.7 MPa m-1. In conjunction with existing geochronology, a peak sole exhumation rate of ~12.5 mm yr-1 is indicated. Geochemical analysis and tectonic constraints suggest that the Semail ophiolite sole formed from neo Tethyan MORB crust similar in composition to the preserved Triassic-Jurassic Haybi tholeiites and Masirah ophiolite crust. The Bani Hamid granulite facies sole metamorphism peaked at ~96.5 Ma and exhibits a similar PTt path and peak conditions, but formed from oceanic island igneous, volcanoclastic and sedimentary protoliths. Anatectic granitoids in the ophiolite mantle sequence have geochemical and isotopic (Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd) characteristics compatible with derivation from the Bani Hamid sole granulites during prograde metamorphism and have ages of 98.8 ± 9.5 Ma, 93.0 ± 10.0 Ma (Sm- Nd) and 105 ± 4 Ma (U-Pb). The Saih Hatat high pressure metamorphic terrane beneath the ophiolite consists of two contrasting structural levels juxtaposed during exhumation following the subduction of the Arabian continental margin beneath the advancing ophiolite. PT analysis shows the HP event culminated at 450-550°C and 20.0 ± 1.5 kbar (THERMOCALC) and was characterised by a clockwise PTt path. In conjunction with ambiguous existing geochronology, a peak exhumation rate of ~4-12 mm yr-1 is indicated, followed by erosion at ~0.5 mm yr-1.

Topography growth and sediment fluxes in active subduction margin settings are poorly understood. Geological record is often scarce or hardly accessible as a result of intensive deformation. The Hawke Bay forearc basin of the Hikurangi margin in New Zealand is well suited for studying morphstructural evolution. It is well preserved, partly emerged and affected by active tectonic deformation during Pleistocene stage for which we have well dated series and well-known climate and eustasy. The multidisciplinary approach, integrating offshore and onshore seismic interpretations, well and core data, geological mapping and sedimentological sections, results in the establishment of a detailed stratigraphic scheme for the last 1.1 Ma forearc basin fill. The stratigraphy shows a complex stack of 11 eustasy-driven depositional sequences of 20, 40 and 100 ka periodicity. These sequences are preserved in sub-basins that are bounded by active thrust structures. Each sequence is characterized by important changes of the paleoenvironment that evolves between the two extremes of the glacial maximum and the interglacial optimum. Thus, the Hawke Bay forearc domain shows segmentation in sub-basins separated by tectonic ridges during sea level lows that become submerged during sea level highs. Over 100 ka timescale, deformation along active structures together with isostasy are responsible of a progressive migration of sequence depocenters towards the arc within the sub-basins. Calculation of sediment volumes preserved for each of the 11 sequences allows the estimation of the sediment fluxes that transit throughout the forearc domain during the last 1.1 Ma. Fluxes vary from c. 3 to c. 6 Mt.a⁻¹. These long-term variations with 100 ka to 1 Ma timescale ranges are attributed to changes in the forearc domain tectonic configuration (strain rates and active structure distribution). They reflect the ability of sub-basin to retain sediments. Short-term variations of fluxes (<100 ka) observed within the last 150 ka are correlated to drastic Pleistocene climate changes that modified erosion rates in the drainage area. This implies a high sensitiveness and reactivity of the upstream area to environmental changes in terms of erosion and sediment transport. Such behaviour of the drainage basin is also illustrated by the important increase of sediment fluxes since the European settlement during the 18th century and the following deforestation.

The development and activity of submarine canyons on continental margins is strongly influenced by temporal and spatial changes in sediment distribution associated with orbitally-forced sea-level cyclicity. On active margins, canyons are also strongly influenced by tectonic processes such as faulting, uplift and earthquakes. Within this framework the role of mass-wasting processes, including sediment failures, bedrock landslides and sediment gravity flows, are to: 1) transport material across the slope; 2) act as intra-slope sediment sources; and 3) shape seafloor morphology. In this project the seafloor-landscape signatures of tectonic and geomorphic processes are analysed to interpret the development of submarine canyon morphology on active margins. Datasets include high-resolution bathymetry data (Simrad EM300), multichannel seismic reflection data (MCS), high-resolution 3.5 kHz seismic reflection data, sediment cores, and dated seafloor samples. High-resolution bathymetric grids are analysed using techniques developed for terrain-roughness analysis in terrestrial landscapes to objectively map and interpret features related to seafloor mass-wasting processes. The Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand provides world-class examples of the control of tectonic and sedimentary processes on margin development, hosting multiple examples of deeply-incised canyon systems across a range of scales. Two main study sites, in Poverty Bay and Cook Strait, provide examples of canyon formation. From these examples conceptual and representative models are developed for the spatial and temporal relationships between active tectonic structures, geology, sediment supply, slope- and shelf-incised canyons, slope gully systems, and bedrock mass failures. The Poverty Bay site occurs on the subduction-dominated northern Hikurangi Margin, where the ~3000 km² Poverty re-entrant hosts the large Poverty Canyon system, the only shelf-break-to-subduction-trough canyon on the northern margin. The geomorphic development of the re-entrant is affected by gully development on the upper slope, and multi-cubic-kilometre-scale submarine landslides. From this site the study focuses on the initiation and development of upper-slope gullies and the role of deep-seated slope failure in upper-slope evolution. The Cook Strait site occurs on the southern Hikurangi Margin in the subduction-to-strike-slip transition zone. The 1800 km² Cook Strait Canyon incises almost 50 km into the continental shelf, with a multi-branching canyon head converging to a deeply slope-incised meandering main channel fed by multiple contributing slope canyons. Other medium-sized canyons are incised into the adjacent continental slope. Fluvial sediment supply to the coast is relatively low on the southern margin, but Cook Strait is subject to large diurnal tidal currents that mobilise sediment through the main strait area. Prior to the morphostructural analysis of the Cook Strait and Poverty study sites a revision of the tectonic structure was undertaken. In Cook Strait a revision of the available fault maps was undertaken as part of a wider, related tectonic study of the central New Zealand region. In Poverty Bay very limited prior information was available, and as part of this study the structure and stratigraphy of the entire shelf and upper slope has been interpreted. On active tectonic margins submarine canyons respond to tectonics at: 1) margin-setting scales relating to their ability to become shelf incised; 2) regional scales relating to canyon-incision response to base-level perturbations; and 3) local scales relating to propagating structures affecting canyon location and geometry. Interpretation of the spatial distribution of fluid vent sites, gully development and landslide scars leads to the conclusion that seepage-driven failure is not a primary control on the widespread instances of gully formation and landslide erosion affecting structurally-generated relief across the margin. Rather, the erosion of tectonic ridges is dominated by tectonics by: slope oversteepening; weakening of the rockmass in fault-damage zones; and triggering of slope failure by earthquake-generated cyclic loading. Deep-seated mass failures affect numerous aspects of submarine landscapes and play a major role in the enlargement of canyon systems. They enable the development of slope gully systems and represent a major intra-slope sediment source. Quantitative morphometric analysis together with MCS data indicate that landslides may evolve to be active complexes where landslide debris is remobilized repeatedly, analogous to terrestrial-earthflow processes. This process has not previously been documented on submarine slopes. A model is presented for the evolution of active margin canyons that contrasts highstand and lowstand canyon activity in terms of channel incision, sedimentary processes and slope-erosion processes. During sea-level highstand intervals, canyons become decoupled from their terrestrial/coastal sediment-supply source areas, while during sea-level lowstand intervals, canyons are coupled to fluvial and littoral sediment-supply sources, and top-down (i.e. shelf-to-lower-slope) sediment transport and channel incision is active. Canyon-head areas are incision dominated during the lowstand while mid to lower canyon reaches experience both a transient increase in sediment in storage and canyon-fill degradation and incision into bedrock. Tectonics influences the canyon landscape through both uplift-controlled perturbations to canyon base-levels and earthquake-triggering of mass movement. Following sea-level rise the sediment supply to canyon heads will be switched off at a certain threshold sea level. From this point canyon heads become aggradational. Mid to lower canyon reaches continue to incise due to continuing tectonic uplift and earthquake-triggered slope instability. Knickpoints are propagated up channel and excavate canyon and sub-canyon channels from the bottom up. Thus, while top-down infilling of non-coupled canyons occurs during sea-level highstands, the lower reaches of active margin canyons continue to incise due the influence of tectonic processes.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Geology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 19-23).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on June 28, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geophysics, Department of Physics, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin, 2005. / "April 2006"--P. [2] of cover. Vita. DVD in pocket contains supplementary data. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-127). Text is also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-192).

Previous studies on complex chemical systems, approximating enriched ultramafic compositions, have shown that the stability fields of certain phyllosilicate minerals may be shifted through solid solution. This project focuses on three hydrous phases predicted to play an important role in water transfer and storage during subduction. Talc, and at higher pressures the 10 A phase, are expected form in enriched abyssal peridotite within the cold interior of a lithospheric slab, whilst the sodic amphibole eckermannite is expected to be present in the overlying hydrated basalt. Multi-anvil and piston cylinder press experiments in the FeO-MgO-SiO2-H2O (FMSH), NaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O (NMASH), and MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O (MASH) systems have sought to determine the effect of solid solution on the stability on talc and the 10 A phase, with comparison to the end-member MgO-SiO2-H2O (MSH) system. The reaction talc + H2O = 10 A phase has been bracketed in the MSH system at 4.8 GPa/560 ˚C and 5 GPa/640 ˚C, confirming the estimated reaction position from Pawley et al. (2011). Previously unknown values for the entropy and enthalpy of formation of the 10 A phase have been calculated as DeltaHf = -6172.02 kJ and DeltaSf = 320.075 JK-1. At 2 GPa talc containing 0.48 apfu Fe2+ breaks down in the divariant field talc + anthophyllite + quartz + H2O from ~550 ˚C, initiating talc dehydration at temperatures ~270 ˚C lower than in the MSH system. At 4 GPa Fe-bearing talc breaks down in the divariant field talc + enstatite + coesite. A run at 5.2 GPa and 555 ˚C produced 10 A phase containing 0.48 apfu Fe2+. Between 575 ˚C and 600 ˚C at 6.5 GPa phase reversal experiments bracketed the initiation of Fe-bearing 10 A phase dehydration in the divariant field 10 A phase + enstatite + coesite + H2O, corresponding to a reduction in thermal stability of around ~100 ˚C compared to the end-member. The relative positions of the talc and 10 A phase dehydration reactions suggest the latter is able to accommodate greater Fe substitution, and is therefore more stable in the FMSH system. The assemblages 10 A phase + enstatite + coesite + jadeite and 10 A phase + enstatite + pyrope + coesite, were synthesised in the NMASH and MASH systems, respectively. Compositional analysis indicates that the 10 Å phase in these samples contains < 1 weight % Al2O3, with negligible Na. This suggests that Al3+ substitution in talc and the 10 Å phase is unlikely to exert the same stabilising effect observed in a number of other phyllosilicates. Eckermannite was produced in further NMASH experiments at 6.2 GPa. Compositional and structural analysis indicates near-full A-site occupancy and a composition close to that of the end-member, deviating through a minor binary exchange towards Mg-katophorite. This exchange is proposed to stabilise eckermannite to high pressures, beyond previously published limits for sodic amphibole stability. Updated stability fields for talc, the 10 Å phase, and eckermannite were applied to a thermal model for subduction. This predicts that 10 Å phase containing 0.48 apfu Fe2+ may be stable to depths of ~260 km, compared to ~280 km for the end-member. With increasing pressure and temperature Fe-bearing 10 Å phase will dehydrate across a depth range, resulting in either total de-volatilisation, or transfer to other stable high pressure hydrous phases enabling the transport of water to the deeper regions of the mantle.

This study incorporates high precision zoned garnet samarium-neodymium geochronology and thermodynamic analysis of garnet forming dehydration reactions to determine the amount of water release during both subduction and mountain building. Garnet grows during rock dehydration, providing both a temporal and geodynamic record of not only its growth, but of associated dehydration. Laboratory experiments and geodynamic models have been used to predict amounts of dehydration during metamorphism based on equilibrium assumptions. If equilibrium is not maintained, or if aspects of the geodynamic modeling are incorrect, these model-based predictions will prove inaccurate. Field-based evidence is necessary to test such model predictions and to elucidate both the timing and duration of dehydration and the role of kinetics during metamorphism. Localities that have undergone dehydration and associated fluid flow provide natural laboratories in which to study these geologic processes. This study focuses on two geologic settings: regional orogenesis (Townshend Dam, Vermont) and subduction zone metamorphism (Sifnos, Greece). Regional metamorphism of the pelitic schists of Townshend Dam occurred during the Acadian orogeny peaking at ~381 Ma. Garnet growth lasted for 4.2 ± 2.4 million years. Thermodynamic forward modeling from this study has shown that an early stage of burial of the rocks without significant heating first occurred, followed then by a period of intense heating at depth, during which, roughly 2 vol.% water was lost from the rock. In contrast, metamorphism, and thus dehydration, during subduction of a continental margin in Sifnos, Greece was found to have occurred in as brief a timespan as tens to hundreds of thousands of years, releasing 2-3 vol.% water during a period of intense heating at ~75 km depth between ~47-44 million years ago. This short time interval represents a discrete pulse of dehydration and heating within the context of the process of subduction, which probably occurred over timescales of 10 to 20 million years in this location. This is the first study to provide a field-based constraint on the magnitude, timing, and rate of dehydration during subduction, a process that causes intermediate-depth earthquakes, mantle melting and volcanism, and large scale changes to the global water cycle.

The largest earthquakes occur along the subduction thrust interface known as the seismogenic zone. Until recently, erosive margins like Tonga and Honshu have been thought to be unable to support earthquakes with magnitudes higher than 8.5. However, Mw 9, 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake in Honshu requires a reevaluation of this notion. The seismic potential of Tonga is likely affected by the vertical spatial extent of the up-dip and down-dip limits, which confines the seismogenic zone. The larger the area of the seismogenic zone, the higher the potential for larger earthquakes. Some models suggest that down-dip limit coincides with the fore-arc Moho while others suggest that they are coincident with thermally controlled mineralogical phase changes during slab descent. Tonga is an ideal place to discriminate between these possibilities, as the incoming Pacific plate is cold and thick with rapid convergence, extending cool isotherms deep into the system. In contrast, the fore-arc Moho is only ~16 km deep. This study tests the hypothesis that the down-dip limit of the Tonga seismogenic zone coincides with the fore-arc Moho and thus ceases the seismicity by initiating a stable sliding between the mantle and the subducting crust. We determine the depth of the down-dip limit in Tonga by mapping the distribution of earthquakes recorded for a six-month period from January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010 by a deployment of ocean bottom seismographs above the Tonga subduction zone. The earthquakes are located by a combination of grid-search method and least-square inversion of the observed arrival times. We identified a down-dip limit at a minimum depth of about 40 km below the sea level suggesting that the hypothesis is failed. Therefore, the commonly held idea that down-dip limit is coincides with the fore-arc Moho is not true in the Tonga case. It is likely controlled by the degree of serpentinization in the mantle wedge controlling the transition from stick-slip to stable sliding.