Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in marginal ridge alignment occurring through normal growth and development from early childhood to late adulthood and to examine if any statistical variation exists between males and females. Methods: Dental casts of 38 subjects (15 females and 23 males) from the Iowa Growth Study were selected. The marginal ridge discrepancy was measured as the absolute value difference between adjacent marginal ridges of 20 interproximal contacts with both the ABO tool (data not shown) and a vertically mounted digital caliper. Upper and lower casts were tripoded to a level plane defined by the most posterior tooth and central point of the most erupted central incisor. A 15 subject calibration was used to measure inter-examiner reliability using the Cronbach’s Alpha and Kappa tests. The independent samples t test was used to examine the correlation of marginal ridge discrepancies between males and females. Results: Cronbach alpha (p ≤ .001) and Kappa test (p ≤ .01) show excellent inter-rater reliability. The independent sample t test showed no statistical significance, with minimal exception, in marginal ridge discrepancies between males and females matched for age (p > .05). Group 1 showed significantly higher number of marginal ridge discrepancies within ABO range of 0 – 0.5 mm of males and females compared to Group 2. Conclusion: Based on this study, no statistically significant differences were found in marginal ridge discrepancies between males and females. Also, the magnitude of marginal ridge discrepancies of erupting permanent teeth shows a decrease as an individual proceeds through growth and development and they remain relatively “level” during primary dentition.

Les marges transformantes, formées par le coulissage des plaques lors des premières étapes de l’ouverture océanique, ont été peu étudiées relativement aux marges divergentes. La marge de Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana fait figure d’exemple-type, et l’absence d’inventaire exhaustif ainsi que le peu d’étude de marges transformantes conjuguées entraîne une méconnaissance de la véritable diversité de ce type de marge. Deux approches ont été abordées dans ce mémoire. La première a consisté à les inventorier dans le monde à partir d’une méthodologie simple. Elles ont ensuite été comparées (physiographie et structure). La deuxième s’est concentrée sur l’étude tectono-sédimentaire des marges transformantes conjuguées des plateaux de Demerara et de Guinée. L’inventaire des marges transformantes a montré que les marges transformantes représentent 30% des marges passives. Leur distribution au sein de domaines océaniques ouverts de façon très oblique ou à l’intersection entre grands domaines reflète des conditions d’initiation spécifiques. 30% des marges transformantes se trouvent notamment en bordure d’un plateau marginal ; un type de bassin à l’histoire double nouvellement défini, qui semble associé à un fort amincissement crustal. Par ailleurs, on montre que les marges transformantes présentent des architectures diverses et sont souvent segmentées. L’étude des plateaux marginaux de Demerara et Guinée a permis de montrer qu’elles se mettent en place au niveau d’un domaine pré-aminci, sans doute guidées par des structures préexistantes. La nature du soubassement des plateaux est discutée : éventails sédimentaires ou volcaniques type SDR. La formation et l’évolution des marges transformantes en bordure des deux plateaux a été accompagnée de déformations intenses à l’approche des frontière océan-continents ainsi que de plusieurs épisodes de soulèvement et subsidence successifs de la bordure transformante, dont les origines et mécanismes sont discutés. / Transform margins form by transform motion between plates during early stages of oceanic spreading. They have been poorly studied in comparison with divergent margins, at least for the last 15 years. The Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana margin represents the best known example of a transform margin and is often considered as a model. However, the lack of a global complete inventory of such margins may lead to underestimate their diversity. Two approaches have been developed in this work. The first one consisted in a compiling world transform margins using a systematic and simple methodology. Those margins have then been compared (physiography, structure). In a second approach we analysed the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Demerara and Guinea conjugated transform-derived plateaus. The worldwide review of transform margins shows that those represent 30% of the existing passive margins. Their distribution inside very oblique oceanic domains, and at the intersection between oceanic domains of contrasted ages, reflects specific initiation conditions. 30% of those transform margins locate on the edge of marginal plateaus —newly defined type of basins— that seem to be associated with important crustal thinning. Furthermore, this inventory shows that transform margins display a great variety of architectures. The Demerara and Guinea marginal plateaus are bounded by transform margins that occur on an already thinned crust, probably along a preexisting structure. The nature of these plateaus basement is discussed: sedimentary or volcanic SDRs fan-shaped units? During the Equatorial Atlantic opening, the formation and evolution of Demerara and Guinea transform margins were accompanied by intense deformations close to the continent-ocean boundary and by several successive uplift and subsidence phases along the plateaus borders. Their origin and mechanisms are discussed.