The post-orogenic history of the Appalachian Mountains, particularly the persistence of rough topography and the degree of river incision throughout the region, has been a longstanding focus of geomorphology studies. Numerous models have been developed to explain the evolution of this landscape, variously invoking episodic or continuous processes of uplift and erosion to drive the generation or reduction of topographic relief. Recently, late Cenozoic uplift has found favor as a mechanism for rejuvenating the topography of the southern and central Appalachians. This hypothesis has drawn on longitudinal river profiles, seismic tomography, and offshore sediment records as evidence of Neogene uplift.<div><br></div><div>Radiometric dating of surficial deposits provides a means to directly test models of episodic and continuous landscape evolution, as well as the Neogene uplift hypothesis. The research described in this thesis dates surficial sediments (river terraces, alluvial fans, and a filled sinkhole) and supergene manganese oxides using 26Al/10Be burial dating and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, respectively. Our cosmogenic 26Al/10Be dating provides detailed histories of aggradation and incision along the Shenandoah and Tennessee Rivers since the early Pliocene. 40Ar/39Ar dating of manganese oxides permits estimates of surface preservation and denudation in the Shenandoah Valley and nearby watersheds throughout the Cenozoic.<br></div><div><br></div><div>The results of our work in the Shenandoah Valley, Tennessee River basin, and intervening areas indicate that the Appalachians experienced no significant pulse of uplift during the Cenozoic. Long-term preservation of supergene manganese oxides dates as far back as the Eocene, demonstrating minimal denudation and discontinuous formation that lend evidence to episodic landscape evolution models. Cosmogenic26Al/10Be burial ages along the Shenandoah and Tennessee Rivers reveal Pliocene aggradation, with enhanced deposition in the Shenandoah Valley during the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period. Both rivers likely experienced incision during the Pleistocene, likely due to climatic fluctuations. These results demonstrate that while the Appalachian landscape has remained largely unchanged for tens of millions of years, rapid Pleistocene changes in base level recently triggered significant incision of major drainages.<br></div>

This study contributes to the understanding of major river evolution in Southeast Asia during the Cenozoic. In order to trace the evolution of a hypothesized palaeo-Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy River, this work undertakes the first systematic provenance study of detrital minerals from Cenozoic synorogenic fluvial and deltaic sedimentary rocks of the Central Burma Basin, employing a combination of high precision geochronology, thermochronology, and geochemistry analytical techniques on single grain detrital zircon and white mica. The dataset is compared to published isotopic data from potential source terranes in order to determine source provenance and exhumation history from source to sink. A Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy connection existed as far back as ca. 42 Ma and disconnection occurred at 18–20 Ma, based on provenance changes detected using a combination of U-Pb ages and εHf(t) values on detrital zircons, and ⁴ºAr/³⁹Ar dating on detrital micas. During the Eocene and Oligocene, units are dominated by U-Pb age and high positive εHf(t) values, characteristic of a southern Lhasa Gangdese magmatic arc source. An antecedent Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy River system formed the major river draining the eastern Himalaya at this time. A significant change in provenance is seen in the early Miocene, where detritus is predominantly derived from bedrock of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, western Yunnan and Burma, a region drained by the modern Irrawaddy-Chindwin river system characterized by Cenozoic U-Pb ages and negative εHf(t) values. This is attributed to the disconnection of the Yarlung-Irrawaddy River and capture by the proto-Brahmaputra River, re-routing Tibetan Transhimalayan detritus to the eastern Himalayan foreland basin. Re-set zircon fission track ages of 14-8 Ma present in all units is used to infer post-depositional basin evolution related to changes in the stress regime accommodating the continued northward migration of India. The early Miocene initiation of the Jiali-Parlung-Gaoligong-Sagaing dextral shear zone and the continued northward movement of the coupled India-Burma plate aided in focusing deformation inside the syntaxis contributing to the disconnection of the Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy system, linking surface deformation and denudation with processes occurring at deeper crustal levels.

Mgr. Petr Schnabl - Dissertation Paleomagnetism and magnetomineralogy of rocks from the Bohemian Massif and Tethyan Realm Abstract The thesis deals with paleomagnetic and rock magnetic properties of Silurian/Devonian and Jurassic/Cretaceous limestones, Paleogene/Neogene basaltic rocks and altered Silurian basalts. The main goal is to determine the history of the Earths' magnetic field from the Silurian to the present. Two lithostratigraphic formations are defined in the Jičín volcanic field on the basis of volcanology, paleomagnetism and radiometric dating. The Trosky Formation (24.6?/18.3 - 15.7 Ma) is composed of several Strombolian-type volcanoes, while the Kozákov Formation (5.2 - 4.6 Ma) is represented by effusive products with a crater vent of a single giant volcano. One Pliocene (4.3-3.3 Ma) and two Pleistocene phases (2.6 -2.1 Ma and 1.8 - 1.1 Ma) of volcanic activity Magnetostratigraphy is a very important tool for the definition of the J/K boundary. The boundary between the Crassicolaria and Calpionella zones is present within geopolarity zone M19n. The boundary between the ammonite zones Jacobi and Durangites also lies close to this point. Paleomagnetic directions of Silurian and Devonian rocks in the Bohemian Massif are very difficult to interpret and have been studied as a challenging problem...

Deux questions scientifiques critiques sont adressées dans cette thèse présentées comme suit. ( 1 ) L’évolution mésozoïque du bassin d’avant-pays dans les piémonts nord et sud du Tian Shan. ( 2 ) L’évolution au Cénozoïque précoce du soulèvement du Tian Shan. Dans le chapitre 1, l'évolution du nord Tian Shan est étudiée par datation U/Pb (LA- ICP-MS) de zircons détritiques sur 14 échantillons de grès d'une série continue d’âge fin Paléozoïque à Quaternaire dans la marge sud du bassin de Junggar (région de Manasi). Dans le chapitre 2, l'évolution encore mal contrainte entre le Mésozoïque et le début du Cénozoïque de la marge sud-ouest du Tian Shan est étudiée en utilisant les datations U/Pb ( LA- ICP-MS ) sur zircons détritiques et les traces de fission sur apatites détritiques. Dans le chapitre 3, nous présentons une étude magnétostratigraphique détaillée de la zone Ulugqat au sud-ouest du Tian Shan, dans le but d'améliorer la compréhension de son soulèvement et de l'histoire de la déformation de la région au cours du Cénozoïque. Ce travail à permis de montrer que l'érosion du paléo-Tian Shan commencée au Trias moyen s’est traduite par le pénéplanation générale au Mésozoïque du Tian Shan qui était dominé par un système de drainage large pendant une longue période de quiescence tectonique. Le piémont nord du Tian Shan était caractérisé par un bassin en subsidence thermique post- extensive avec peu d'activité tectonique, et le piémont sud a également connu un aplanissement général de la topographie. Au cours du début du Jurassique, du Crétacé inférieur et du Crétacé supérieur, trois inversions tectoniques mineures sont identifiées avec des ajustements du bassin d’avant-pays du Tian Shan. Ces inversions peuvent correspondre respectivement à l’accrétion des terrains Cimmérien, de Lhassa, et du Kohistan-Dras à la limite sud de la plaque eurasienne. Les données U-Pb sur zircons détritiques et les données traces de fission sur apatite indiquent une première réorganisation du bassin à la fin du Crétacé – début du tertiaire, contemporaine d’une réactivation de l’érosion le long du piémont sud du Tian Shan. Nous avons interprété cette réactivation fin Crétacé – début Paléogène du Tian Shan sud à la réponse initiale des effets lointains de la collision Inde-Eurasie. Pendant le reste du Cénozoïque, la principale réactivation du Tian Shan est initiée fin Oligocène – début Miocène. Cela est attesté dans le piémont nord du Tian Shan par nos données U-Pb sur zircons détritiques et dans le piémont sud du Tian Shan par les données traces de fission sur apatite suggérant des chevauchements entre 18 et 16 Ma, par les résultats magnétostratigraphiques révélant une importante lacune de sédimentation oligocène ainsi que l’augmentation des taux d’accumulation à ~ 18.5 Ma. / Two critical scientific issues are adressed in the présent thesis as follows. (1) Mesozoic basin-range relationship in the northern and southern piedmonts of the Tian Shan. (2) Spatio-temporal differences in the Early Cenozoic uplift of the Tian Shan. In chapter 1, the évolution of the northern Tian Shan is investigated through U/Pb (LA-ICP-MS) dating of detrital zircons from 14 sandstone samples from a continuous series ranging in age from latest Palaeozoic to Quaternary in the southern margin of the Junggar Basin (Manasi area). In chapter 2, the still poorly constrained Mezosoic to early Cenozoic evolution of the southwestern Tian Shan piedmont is investigated using U/Pb (LA-ICP-MS) dating of detrital zircons and fission track analysis on detrital apatites. In chapter 3, we present a detailed magnetostratigraphic study from the Ulugqat area in piedmont of the Southwest Tian Shan, in order to improve understanding of the uplift and deformation history of the Southwest Tian Shan during the Cenozoic. This work enabled to show that erosion of the Paleo-Tian Shan initiated in the Middle Triassic results in the general peneplanation of the Mesozoic Tian Shan dominated by a wide drainage system and long-lasting tectonic quiescence. The northern piedmont of the Tian Shan was characterized by a post-extensional thermally subsiding basin without much tectonic activity, and the southern piedmont also experienced a general flattening of topography. During the Early Jurassic, Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous, three identified minor tectonic inversions and adjustments of basin-range pattern in the Tian Shan, may potentially correspond respectively to the accretions of Cimmerian, Lhasa, and Kohistan-Dras in the southern margin of the Eurasian plate. Detrital zircon U-Pb and apatite fission-track data indicate an initial late Cretaceous – Early Tertiary basin reorganization and coeval renewed erosion along the southern Tian Shan piedmont. We interpreted this late Cretacesou to Paleogene activity in STS as the initial response of the distant effects of India-Eurasia collision as previously argued. During the Late Cenozoic, the major reactivation of the Tian Shan initiated around the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene times. This is evidenced mainly from the detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology in the northern piedmont of the Tian Shan, the apatite fission-track data suggesting a possible activation of the Talas Fergana Fault between 18 and 16 Ma, the major Oligocene depositional hiatus and conspicuous increase in accumulation rates at ~ 18.5 Ma revealed by the magnetostratigraphic results in the southern piedmont of the Tian Shan.

La Zone Critique de la Terre désigne la fine pellicule recouvrant sa surface, à l’interface du cycle de l’eau, de lithosphère et de la biosphère. Cette couche est produite à sa base par altération chimique et détruite à son sommet par érosion mécanique. Parce que le lithium et ses isotopes ont la particularité de se partager entre la phase dissoute et la phase solide au cours des réactions d’interactions eaux-roches, nous explorons, dans cette thèse, le potentiel des isotopes du lithium dissous dans les rivières comme traceurs des processus d’altération chimique des continents. Nous nous sommes focalisés, dans un premier temps, sur le Bassin Congolais. Cette étude met en évidence le caractère équivoque de la réponse de la composition isotopique du Li (δ7Li) dissous des rivières aux topographies plates (et aux intensités d’altération élevées). Deux valeurs extrêmes de δ7Li dissous sont, en effet, produites dans le bassin du Congo, qui tracent deux styles d’altération continentale distincts, dans lesquels les processus d’altération chimique sont différents. D’autre part, nous proposons une nouvelle estimation du flux moyen de Li et de sa composition isotopique moyenne exportés à l’océan par les rivières aujourd’hui (5,5×1010 g.an−1 et 19±2‰, respectivement). Nous montrons que le δ7Li dissous dans les grands fleuves est contrôlé, au premier ordre, par la réincorporation du Li dans les minéraux secondaires (dans les sols et les plaines d’inondation) et, d’une manière équivoque, de l’intensité d’altération. En outre, l’étude des δ7Li dissous dans les rivières drainant les îles volcaniques (Islande, Java, Martinique, Sao Miguel et Réunion) montre que l’hydrothermalisme continental, générant des eaux très concentrées en Li avec une valeur basse de δ7Li (car très peu fractionnée par rapport à la roche mère basaltique), influence le δ7Li dissous des rivières des îles volcaniques et peut avoir un impact significatif sur le flux de Li (et son δ7Li) transféré(s) à l’océan à l’échelle globale. Enfin, nous proposons une interprétation de l’augmentation de l’ordre de 9‰ qu’a connue la signature isotopique du Li de l’eau de mer au cours du Cénozoïque à l’aide d’un modèle de boîtes simple de l’océan et au regard de nos résultats. Il émane de ce travail de thèse que les isotopes du Li dissous dans les rivières prouvent là encore leur capacité à être de bons traceurs des régimes d’altération des roches silicatées continentales (et ce, même en contexte anthropisé, comme le montre notre étude du bassin de l’Orgeval, en Seine-et-Marne). Le Li et ses isotopes constituent donc des traceurs prometteurs de la Zone Critique de la Terre et des paléo-processus d’altération chimique ainsi que de l’évolution géodynamique des continents voire des grands mouvements verticaux affectant la lithosphère continentale / The Critical Zone of the Earth is the layer covering its surface, at the interface between the water cycle, the lithosphere and the biosphere. This layer is produced at its base by chemical weathering and destroyed at its top by mechanical erosion. We explore the potential of lithium isotopes dissolved in rivers as tracers of continental chemical weathering processes as lithium and its isotopes are highly fractionated between the dissolved and solid phases during water-rock interaction processes. First, we are focused on the Congo Bassin. This study demonstrates the equivocal response of the isotopic composition of the riverine dissolved Li isotope compositions (δ7Li) to flat topography (and high weathering intensities). Two extreme values of dissolved δ7Li are produced in the Congo Basin, which trace two distinct continental weathering styles in which chemical weathering processes are different. On the other hand, we refined the mean flux of Li and its average isotopic signature exported to the ocean by rivers today (5.5×1010 g. an-1 et 19±2‰, respectively). We show that dissolved δ7Li in large rivers is controlled, at first-order, by the re-incorporation of Li into secondary weathering minerals (in soils and floodplains) and in, an equivocal way, of the weathering intensity. Moreover, the study of dissolved δ7Li in rivers draining volcanic islands (Iceland, Java, Martinique, Sao Miguel and Reunion) shows that continental hydrothermal activity, producing waters with high Li concentration with low value of δ7Li (as low fractionated towards the basaltic bedrock), influences the dissolved δ7Li in rivers of volcanic islands and can have an impact on the Li flux (and its δ7Li) transferred to the ocean on a global scale. Finally, by using a simple box model of the ocean and our results, we suggest an interpretation of the 9‰ increase of seawater δ7Li during the Cenozoic. This thesis highlights that riverine dissolved Li isotopes confirm once again their capacity to be powerful tracers of the weathering regimes of continental silicate rocks (even in anthropized context, as showed by our study of the Orgeval catchment, in Seine-et-Marne). Li and its isotopes are thus promising tracers of the Critical Zone of the Earth and the chemical weathering paleo-processes as well as the long-term geodynamic evolution of the continents or even the large vertical movements affecting the continental lithosphere

Almost all sandstone beds occurring in the Upper Miocene formations at the Los Angeles basin were deposited by turbidity currents. Primary textures and structures indicative of turbidites occur in fair abundance throughout all three Upper Miocene formations. All accessible outcrops of the Puente, Modelo, and Upper Miocene portion of the Monterey and Capistrano Formations were scrutinized for sandstone beds containing primary sedimentary structures. Through study of these structures, the direction of current movement was determined. The pattern of current movement displayed reveals that sediment was being transported into the Los Angeles basin from all sides. Current directions and mineralogic studies indicate that essentially three source areas were supplying sediment into the basin. These source areas are 1) the San Gabriel Mountains, 2) an area to the east of the Santa Ana Mountains, and 3) a ridge of metamorphic rock paralleling the present coast line. The majority of sediment was derived from an area in the San Gabriel Mountains located northeast or the basin. This is evidenced by the fact that the thickness, grain size, and total sand content of the Upper Miocene units decrease southwestward across the basin.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O relevo da Serra da Bocaina revela o forte controle das estruturas dúcteis e rúpteis relacionadas à Faixa Ribeira gerada na Orogênese Brasiliana (ca. 790-480 Ma) e às reativações mesozóica-cenozóicas. As rochas são agrupadas em 4 terrenos tectônicos colados nas etapas colisionais brasilianas, que formaram as estruturas mais penetrativas: foliação com mergulho para NW, zonas de cisalhamento dúcteis NESW e dobras. Zonas de cisalhamento rúptil-dúcteis NW marcam o colapso orogênico. A abertura do Atlântico Sul (ca. 135-120 Ma) é registrada pelos enxames de diques toleíticos NNE e ENE, em parte condicionados pelas estruturas brasilianas. No Planalto da Bocaina uma idade de traço de fissão em apatita (TFA) de ca. 145 Ma data o resfriamento ainda da fase pré-rifte do Gondwana. O soerguimento da margem continental na fase rifte pode ter alçado este nível para fora da zona de apagamento parcial do TFA. A reativação neocretácea é datada pelo TFA (ca. 85 Ma) na costa e na escarpa atlântica, indicando novo pulso de denudação e soerguimento da margem continental. Isto também concorda com o extenso aporte de sedimentação siliciclástica na Bacia de Santos. No Paleógeno, a formação dos Riftes Continentais do Sudeste Brasileiro (RCSB) gerou a reativação das estruturas dúcteis NE da Faixa Ribeira, falhas e fraturas NW, E-W, além de fraturas NE na Baía da Ilha Grande. O contato tectônico entre os Terrenos Paraíba do Sul e Embu é a principal zona reativada na Serra da Bocaina. Idades TFA (ca. 55 Ma) registram o estágio inicial do RCSB, que provocou o rebaixamento do nível de base e a formação de uma escarpa no interior. A Serra da Bocaina parece constituir uma região elevada desde a formação da Cordilheira Ribeira, incrementada pelos soerguimentos das fases rifte e pós-rifte do Atlântico e do RCSB. Estes eventos tectônicos que elevaram a Serra da Bocaina, também geraram as estruturas que conduzem sua denudação. Neste contexto, destaca-se o par de estruturas NE (foliação e zonas de cisalhamento reativadas ou não) e NW (fraturas e falhas), as mais freqüentes, que orienta a rede de drenagem, os níveis de base locais (knickpoints) e as formas côncavas das encostas (cabeceiras de canais). Diques toleíticos também conduzem a dissecação dos vales fluviais. Por outro lado, granitos e ortognaisses que sustentam as elevações e segmentos de escarpas mostram o papel da erosão diferencial em rochas mais resistentes. A denudação do Planalto da Bocaina e o recuo de suas escarpas (atlântica e interior) são regulados por diferentes níveis de base (p.ex. nível do mar, rio Paraíba do Sul no RCSB, diversos knickpoints), sensíveis aos eventos de reativações tectônicas (soerguimento), variações eustáticas e à erosão diferencial. Os pulsos erosivos vêm dissecando de modo diferencial os vales suspensos do planalto, através da incisão fluvial e reativação das cabeceiras de canais, que avançam sobre as encostas promovendo a quebra dos divisores e capturas de drenagens. Este processo rebaixamento de relevo parece levar à formação das superfícies colinosas que ocorrem em diferentes níveis topográficos. As idades TFA antigas indicam baixas taxas de denudação na porção mais elevada do Planalto da Bocaina, o que contrasta com as altas taxas da região costeira. Este caráter diferencial da denudação condicionada pelo substrato geológico e pelos eventos de soerguimento, vem preservando antigas paisagens no Planalto da Bocaina. No outro extremo, a denudação propagada pelo recuo das duas escarpas vem degradando as bordas e introduzindo a dissecação no interior do planalto. As duas escarpas geradas por eventos riftes distintos vêm se ajustando ao controle das rochas e estruturas da Faixa Ribeira. / The Bocaina Ridge landscape is strongly controlled by both ductile and brittle structures related to the Ribeira Belt (Brasiliano Orogeny ca. 790-480Ma) and also to the mesozoic-cenozoic reactivations. The rocks were subdivided in four tectonic terrains accreted in the brasiliano collisional stages. The most prominent structures related to these collisions are: NW dipping foliation, NE-SW ductile shear zones, and folds. NW ductile-brittle shear zones represent the orogenic collapse stage. The South Atlantic opening (ca.135-120 Ma) is registered in NNE and ENE tholeitic dike swarms, partly conditioned by brasiliano structures. In the Bocaina Plateau one apatite fission track age (AFT) of ca.145Ma represents pre-rift Gondwana cooling. The continental margin uplift associated to the rift phase might have raised this level out of the AFT partial annealing zone. Neocretaceous reactivation (ca. 85Ma) was AFT dated both in the coast and the atlantic scarp, pointing out to a newer continental margin denudation and uplift pulse. This reactivation is in accordance with the Santos basin significant siliciclastic sedimentation. In paleogene times, the Southeastern Brazil Continental Rift System (SBCR) development was responsible for: the reactivation of the Ribeira Belt NE ductile structures, NW and E-W faulting and fracturing, and NE fracturing in Ilha Grande Bay. The tectonic boundary between Paraíba do Sul and Embu Terrains is the main reactivation zone in the Bocaina Ridge. AFT ages of ca. 55 Ma register the initial stage of the SBCR, which produced base level lowering and the formation of an inland scarp. The Bocaina Ridge seems to constitute an elevated region since the development of the Ribeira Cordillera, increased by the South Atlantic rift and post-rift uplifts and also by the SBCR.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O relevo da Serra da Bocaina revela o forte controle das estruturas dúcteis e rúpteis relacionadas à Faixa Ribeira gerada na Orogênese Brasiliana (ca. 790-480 Ma) e às reativações mesozóica-cenozóicas. As rochas são agrupadas em 4 terrenos tectônicos colados nas etapas colisionais brasilianas, que formaram as estruturas mais penetrativas: foliação com mergulho para NW, zonas de cisalhamento dúcteis NESW e dobras. Zonas de cisalhamento rúptil-dúcteis NW marcam o colapso orogênico. A abertura do Atlântico Sul (ca. 135-120 Ma) é registrada pelos enxames de diques toleíticos NNE e ENE, em parte condicionados pelas estruturas brasilianas. No Planalto da Bocaina uma idade de traço de fissão em apatita (TFA) de ca. 145 Ma data o resfriamento ainda da fase pré-rifte do Gondwana. O soerguimento da margem continental na fase rifte pode ter alçado este nível para fora da zona de apagamento parcial do TFA. A reativação neocretácea é datada pelo TFA (ca. 85 Ma) na costa e na escarpa atlântica, indicando novo pulso de denudação e soerguimento da margem continental. Isto também concorda com o extenso aporte de sedimentação siliciclástica na Bacia de Santos. No Paleógeno, a formação dos Riftes Continentais do Sudeste Brasileiro (RCSB) gerou a reativação das estruturas dúcteis NE da Faixa Ribeira, falhas e fraturas NW, E-W, além de fraturas NE na Baía da Ilha Grande. O contato tectônico entre os Terrenos Paraíba do Sul e Embu é a principal zona reativada na Serra da Bocaina. Idades TFA (ca. 55 Ma) registram o estágio inicial do RCSB, que provocou o rebaixamento do nível de base e a formação de uma escarpa no interior. A Serra da Bocaina parece constituir uma região elevada desde a formação da Cordilheira Ribeira, incrementada pelos soerguimentos das fases rifte e pós-rifte do Atlântico e do RCSB. Estes eventos tectônicos que elevaram a Serra da Bocaina, também geraram as estruturas que conduzem sua denudação. Neste contexto, destaca-se o par de estruturas NE (foliação e zonas de cisalhamento reativadas ou não) e NW (fraturas e falhas), as mais freqüentes, que orienta a rede de drenagem, os níveis de base locais (knickpoints) e as formas côncavas das encostas (cabeceiras de canais). Diques toleíticos também conduzem a dissecação dos vales fluviais. Por outro lado, granitos e ortognaisses que sustentam as elevações e segmentos de escarpas mostram o papel da erosão diferencial em rochas mais resistentes. A denudação do Planalto da Bocaina e o recuo de suas escarpas (atlântica e interior) são regulados por diferentes níveis de base (p.ex. nível do mar, rio Paraíba do Sul no RCSB, diversos knickpoints), sensíveis aos eventos de reativações tectônicas (soerguimento), variações eustáticas e à erosão diferencial. Os pulsos erosivos vêm dissecando de modo diferencial os vales suspensos do planalto, através da incisão fluvial e reativação das cabeceiras de canais, que avançam sobre as encostas promovendo a quebra dos divisores e capturas de drenagens. Este processo rebaixamento de relevo parece levar à formação das superfícies colinosas que ocorrem em diferentes níveis topográficos. As idades TFA antigas indicam baixas taxas de denudação na porção mais elevada do Planalto da Bocaina, o que contrasta com as altas taxas da região costeira. Este caráter diferencial da denudação condicionada pelo substrato geológico e pelos eventos de soerguimento, vem preservando antigas paisagens no Planalto da Bocaina. No outro extremo, a denudação propagada pelo recuo das duas escarpas vem degradando as bordas e introduzindo a dissecação no interior do planalto. As duas escarpas geradas por eventos riftes distintos vêm se ajustando ao controle das rochas e estruturas da Faixa Ribeira. / The Bocaina Ridge landscape is strongly controlled by both ductile and brittle structures related to the Ribeira Belt (Brasiliano Orogeny ca. 790-480Ma) and also to the mesozoic-cenozoic reactivations. The rocks were subdivided in four tectonic terrains accreted in the brasiliano collisional stages. The most prominent structures related to these collisions are: NW dipping foliation, NE-SW ductile shear zones, and folds. NW ductile-brittle shear zones represent the orogenic collapse stage. The South Atlantic opening (ca.135-120 Ma) is registered in NNE and ENE tholeitic dike swarms, partly conditioned by brasiliano structures. In the Bocaina Plateau one apatite fission track age (AFT) of ca.145Ma represents pre-rift Gondwana cooling. The continental margin uplift associated to the rift phase might have raised this level out of the AFT partial annealing zone. Neocretaceous reactivation (ca. 85Ma) was AFT dated both in the coast and the atlantic scarp, pointing out to a newer continental margin denudation and uplift pulse. This reactivation is in accordance with the Santos basin significant siliciclastic sedimentation. In paleogene times, the Southeastern Brazil Continental Rift System (SBCR) development was responsible for: the reactivation of the Ribeira Belt NE ductile structures, NW and E-W faulting and fracturing, and NE fracturing in Ilha Grande Bay. The tectonic boundary between Paraíba do Sul and Embu Terrains is the main reactivation zone in the Bocaina Ridge. AFT ages of ca. 55 Ma register the initial stage of the SBCR, which produced base level lowering and the formation of an inland scarp. The Bocaina Ridge seems to constitute an elevated region since the development of the Ribeira Cordillera, increased by the South Atlantic rift and post-rift uplifts and also by the SBCR.

Ce travail retrace l’évolution de la suture panafricaine le long de l’axe Anti-Atlas, Hoggar occidental, Gourma, depuis l’activité tectono-magmatique néoprotérozoïque pré-panafricaine jusqu’à l’activité magmatique anorogénique cénozoïque via l’étude de quatre massifs basiques-ultrabasiques disposés à la périphérie du craton ouest-africain.<p><p>Le massif d’Amalaoulaou (Gourma, Mali) est interprété comme la racine d’un arc intra-océanique ayant enregistré la mise en place de magmas basiques (unité des métagabbros) à un stade immature de l’évolution de l’arc (subduction naissante) vers 800-790 Ma. Les gabbros quartziques (~720 Ma) et les gabbros à hornblende de l’unité supérieure ont des signatures de magmas d’arc plus franche, témoins d’une source mantellique plus enrichie par l’apport de la plaque océanique plongeante. Les métagabbros sont ensuite affectés par une recristallisation et localement par une anatexie en conditions du faciès granulitique. De nombreuses veines leucocrates se développent à ce stade, ce sont principalement des anorthosites et des tonalites (mises en place vers 660 Ma) provenant de la fusion partielle des métagabbros (850°C-1000°C, P>10 kbar). Cette fusion génère également des résidus denses à grenat-clinopyroxène-rutile, associations fréquemment présentes dans les racines d’arcs plus récents et reflétant la maturation de l’arc. L’arc d’Amalaoulaou est ensuite exhumé et charrié sur le craton ouest-africain dans des conditions de basse température et moyenne pression (550°C, 6-9 kbar), probablement au même moment que l’exhumation des éclogites du Gourma (~620 Ma).<p><p>L ‘épisode de subduction océanique est suivi par la subduction continentale dans le Gourma et le Hoggar occidental. Les éclogites/amphibolites de Tiléouine et Tin Zebbane (Hoggar occidental) sont des métabasaltes tholéiitiques enrichis et alcalins intracontinentaux ayant plongé à 60 km de profondeur (600°C, 17 kbar) lors de la subduction d’une partie du terrane du Tassendjanet. Même si la nature géochimique du protolithe est encore reconnaissable, ces métabasaltes ont subi une différenciation chimique lors de la recristallisation à haute pression par interaction avec les fluides issus de la déshydratation des métasédiments. L’exhumation (615-600 Ma) se fait relativement lentement, ce qui induit un rééquilibrage thermique (750°C, ~10 kbar) avant l’exhumation à basse température (660 °C, 7-8 kbar) précédant de peu voire synchrone à la phase collisionnelle.<p><p>L’intrusion basique-ultrabasique de Tiléouine marque la fin de la collision panafricaine dans le Hoggar occidental (600-590 Ma). C’est une ancienne chambre magmatique différenciée, mise en place entre 10 et 20 km de profondeur, et montrant une évolution magmatique depuis des cumulats ultramafiques riches en olivine, spinelle et pyroxène vers des gabbros riches en plagioclase. Le magma parental est d’affinité tholéiitique enrichie et tire probablement sa source de la lithosphère sous-continentale. La mise en place de cette intrusion est contemporaine d’un contexte tectonique transtensif induisant un amincissement lithosphérique au niveau du Tassendjanet.<p><p>Cette suture péri-cratonique est réactivée au Cénozoïque, lors de la convergence Afrique-Europe, ce qui se marque par la mise en place de laves alcalines, notamment dans l'Est de l’Anti-Atlas marocain (Saghro :10-3 Ma). Les néphélinites du Saghro sont issues de faibles taux de fusion partielle d’une source mantellique contenant un composant HIMU et localisée à la limite asthénosphère/lithosphère (70-100 km sous l’Anti-Atlas). La cristallisation fractionnée de ces magmas génère des phonolites, par fractionnement de feldspath, néphéline, apatite et sphène, principalement. L’étape finale de différenciation se marque par la formation de phases peu communes comme la hainite et la lorenzenite. Ces magmas se sont mis en place à la faveur de fentes de tension et de fractures ouvertes ayant la même orientation que la contrainte principale au Mio-Pliocène.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Lake Tanganyika is a complex, tropical ecosystem in East Africa, harboring an estimated 2,100 species. Extensive watershed deforestation threatens the biodiversity and ecological integrity of the lake. In this dissertation, ecological and paleoecological methods were employed to study the distribution of invertebrate biodiversity through space and time, with particular emphasis on linkages between biodiversity and land –use patterns. Ecological surveys of fish, mollusc, and ostracod crustacean diversity at sites in northern Lake Tanganyika representing different levels of watershed disturbance revealed a negative correlation between biodiversity and intensity of watershed disturbance. To elucidate the long -term relationship between disturbance and biodiversity, paleoecological records of invertebrates offshore from watersheds experiencing different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance were examined. Life, death, and fossil assemblages of ostracod valves were compared to assess the reliability and natural variability inherent to the paleoecological record. These comparisons indicated that paleoecological (i.e. death and fossil) assemblages reliably preserve information on species richness, abundance, and occurrence frequency at comparable -to- annual resolution. Unlike life assemblages, species composition of paleoecological assemblages reflects input of species from multiple habitat types. Ostracod paleoecological assemblages are characterized by spatiotemporal averaging that renders them representative of larger areas and longer time spans than life assemblages. Thus, paleoecological assemblages provide an efficient means of characterizing longer -term, site -average conditions. Natural variability in ostracod fossil assemblages from a sediment core representing the Late Glacial to the present indicates that abundance of individual ostracod species is highly variable. Ostracod assemblages were preserved in only the most recent 2,500 years of sediment. Species composition of ostracod assemblages reflects lake water depth. Core geochemical data indicate that the coring site may have been below the oxycline for ~2,000 years, inhibiting ostracod survival and preservation. Paleoecological, sedimentological, and stable isotope data revealed differences in biodiversity and watershed disturbance through time offshore from a pair of sites. The protected site is offshore from Gombe Stream National Park (Tanzania), the other offshore from a deforested watershed outside the park. Offshore from the deforested watershed, sedimentation rates increased, and turnover in ostracod species composition occurred during the past 50 years. Comparable changes were not observed offshore from the park.