Le but de cette thèse est de reconstruire l’évolution environnementale de la région nord de la mer de Chine du Sud au cours du Quaternaire récent. L'objectif est d'identifier des traceurs des interactions continent-océan, de la mousson est-asiatique et de la circulation océanique. Pour cela, des analyses des minéralogies argileuse et magnétique, de la composition en éléments majeurs, et la taille des grains ont été effectuées sur les sédiments de carotte MD12-3432 couvrant les derniers 400 ka avec un taux de sédimentation variant entre 4.5 et 24 cm/ka. Nous avons tout d'abord amélioré les calibrations de la composition en éléments majeurs obtenue par XRF core-scanning. En effet, celles-ci ne corrigeaient pas des variations de teneur en eau interstitielle observées la séquence sédimentaire étudiée. Nous avons donc proposé une correction polynomiale quadratique qui convertit maintenant correctement les données XRF core-scanning en concentrations précises d’éléments majeurs. La composition en élément majeurs, les minéralogies argileuse et magnétique, et la granulométrie indiquent que les changements climatiques à basse latitude influencent les diverses fractions terrigènes de différentes manières. Considérant d’abord les éléments majeurs et les argiles, nous observons que les rapports smectite/(illite+chlorite) et K₂O/Al₂O₃ présentent tous deux des cyclicités orbitales. Le rapport K₂O/Al₂O₃ qui reflète la contribution relative des apports de Taiwan par dénudation, augmente pendant les interglaciaires quand la mousson d’été asiatique est forte. Le rapport smectite/(illite+chlorite) présente des cyclicités également liées à l’excentricité et à la précession en phase avec les changements d’insolation de l’hémisphère nord en été. Connaissant les régions sources de ces argiles, nous suggérons que l’apport en smectite est étroitement lié à l'intensité de l’altération chimique et à la dénudation fluvial induite par les fortes précipitations de mousson, tandis que l’apport d’illite/chlorite depuis Taiwan répond principalement à la dénudation. Le rapport smectite/(illite+chlorite) reflète ainsi principalement l'intensité de l’altération chimique contemporaine (rapide) et donc l’intensité de la mousson d'été asiatique. Les résultats obtenus confirment que la mousson d'été asiatique est renforcée pendant les périodes interglaciaires et quand l'insolation d'été boréal est forte. Les propriétés magnétiques sédimentaires offrent des informations complémentaires sur les changements environnementaux passés dans cette région. La fraction magnétique de la carotte MD12-3432 est composée de magnétites, sulfures de fer et hématite. Des augmentations de teneur en hématite et des diminutions de la granulométrie sédimentaire sont observées aux minima de précession. Ces évènements qui ont lieu pendant les périodes arides pourraient illustrer des apports éoliens depuis le nord de la Chine, liés à des changements d'intensité et/ou de route des vents, probablement aussi liés à l’intensification de la mousson d'hiver. Outre les changements climatiques de basse latitude, le climat global et l'activité tectonique influencent aussi les apports terrigènes dans cette région. Les augmentations à long terme de la teneur en pyrrhotite par rapport à la magnétite et à l’hématite, de la teneur de illite/chlorite indiquent une contribution croissante de sédiment fine d'origine Taiwanaise au cours des derniers 400 ka. Ceci est très probablement lié à l’intensification de l'orogenèse taïwanais. A l'échelle glaciaire-interglaciaire, les variations synchrones des compositions argileuse et magnétique, de la taille des grains sédimentaires et magnétiques, et des taux de sédimentation sont attribuées aux changements de niveau marin. En effet, les bas niveaux marins pendant les périodes glaciaires exposent l’immense plateau continental et permettent à la Rivière des Perles de livrer au site du sédiment terrigène en plus grande quantité et plus grossier. / The aim of this study is to reconstruct late Quaternary environmental changes in the northern South China Sea by applying multi-disciplinary proxies of land-sea interaction, East Asian monsoon, and oceanic circulation. Investigations of clay and magnetic mineralogy, major element composition, and grain size were performed on marine sediment Core MD12-3432 retrieved from the continental slope of the northern South China Sea. The core covers the last 400 ka with a sedimentation rate varying between 4.5 and 24 cm/ka. We examined the accuracy of existing calibration methods on major element composition obtained by XRF core-scanning, because downcore variations in interstitial water content should strongly affect scanned element contents. We proposed a quadratic polynomial correction to account for this effect and implemented it in the calibration methods. Data from Core MD12-3432 show that the improved calibration process now correctly converts XRF core-scanning data into major element concentrations. Our results on high-resolution major element composition, clay and magnetic mineralogy, and grain size data indicate that low-latitude climate changes influence various terrigenous fractions in different ways. In bulk sediment, K₂O/Al₂O₃ ratio mainly reflects the relative contribution of detrital supply from Taiwan, and its variation exhibits eccentricity cycles. The ratio increases during interglacials, showing that strong precipitation and denudation are induced by enhanced East Asian summer monsoon. In clay fractions, smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratio presents both eccentricity and precession periodicities, in phase with the northern hemisphere summer insolation changes and therefore with the East Asian summer monsoon evolution. Based on the knowledge of sediment provenances, these results suggest that high smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratios illustrate contemporaneous chemical weathering intensity in Luzon. It supports the understanding that East Asian summer monsoon is enhanced during interglacial periods and when the boreal summer insolation is strong. Therefore, these two ratios are appropriate sedimentary tracers for East Asian summer monsoon evolution in the South China Sea. The magnetic fraction yields complementary information about environmental changes in the South China Sea. The magnetic mineral assemblage of Core MD12-3432 is mainly composed of magnetite, sulphide, and hematite, and the relative contributions of all these magnetic mineral contents change with time. Variations on precessional band related to the low latitude East Asian monsoon are observed in magnetic properties and grain size values. High magnetic inputs with high hematite proportion, which is part of fine-grain sediment, are observed during the precession minima. These events occurring during arid periods may illustrate enhanced eolian inputs caused by changes in intensity and/or winds pathway of winds, probably related to enhanced winter monsoon. Besides the low-latitude climate changes, global climate and tectonic activity also influence the terrigenous composition at the studied site at different timescales. A long-term increase in pyrrhotite content with respect to magnetite and hematite and in illite/chlorite contents indicates an increasing contribution of fine grained sediments from Taiwan. This is most likely related to the intensification of Taiwanese orogeny over the last 400 ka. On glacial-interglacial scale, coeval increases observed in sedimentation rate, magnetite/pyrrhotite content, kaolinite content, and grain size during glacial periods are attributed to sea-level changes. Low sea-level during glacial periods exposes the vast shelf and allows the Pearl River to deliver more and coarser terrigenous sediments to our site.

No description available.

Controls on denudation in the eastern Bolivian Andes are evaluated by synthesis of new and existing denudation estimates from basin-morphometry, stream - powered fluvial incision, landslide mapping, sediment flux, erosion surfaces, thermochronology, foreland basin sediment volumes, and structural restorations. Centered at 17.5 °S, the northeastern Bolivian Andes exhibit high relief, a wet climate, and a narrow fold- thrust belt. In contrast, the southeastern Bolivian Andes have low relief, a semi-arid climate, and a wide fold-thrust belt. Basin -morphometry indicates a northward increase in relief and relative denudation. Stream-power along river profiles shows greater average incision rates in the north by a factor of 2 to 4. In the south, profile knickpoints with high incision rates are controlled by fold-thrust belt structures such as the surface expressions of basement megathrusts, faults, folds, and lithologic boundaries. Landslide and sediment-flux data are controlled by climate, elevation, basin morphology, and size and show a similar trend; short -term denudation-rate averages are greater in the north (1- 9 mm/yr) than the south (0.3-0.4 mm/yr). Long-term denudation-rate estimates including fission track, basin fill, erosion surfaces, and structural restorations also exhibit greater values in the north (0.2-0.8 mm/yr) compared to the south (0.04-0.3 mm/yr). Controls on long-term denudation rates include relief, orographic and global atmospheric circulation patterns of precipitation, climate change, glaciation, and fold-thrust belt geometry and kinematics. The denudation synthesis supports two conclusions: 1) denudation rates have increased towards the present 2) an along-strike disparity in denudation (greater in the north) has existed since at least the Miocene and has increased towards the present. Denudation rates and controls suggest that Bolivian mountain morphology is controlled by both its orientation at mid-latitude, and the feedbacks between uplift, kinematics, orographic effects on precipitation, glaciation, and the increased erosion that accompanies orogenesis.

No description available.

Le sommet du Frasnien est une époque difficile pour la biodiversité sur la Terre, en particulier pour les organismes d’eaux chaudes et peu profondes. Cette étude vise à établir un lien entre l’activité tectonique et la crise biologique. Trois coupes d’Amérique du Nord, de la marge ouest du paléocontinent Laurentia, liées au front orogénique Antler ont été étudiées pour leurs rapports isotopiques 87Sr/86Sr dans les carbonates. La coupe de Devils Gate dans le centre Nevada (USA) présente au sommet du Frasnien des faciès de turbidites carbonatées de bassin. Trois pics successifs de 87Sr/86Sr s’observent au sommet du Frasnien, entre le deux niveaux anoxiques Kellwasser. Le dernier pic est le plus élevé, il est contemporain du début du second Kellwasser et présente un rapport isotopique de 0,7094. La coupe de North Antelope Range proche de celle de Devils Gate, présente des dépôts extrêmement homogènes et réguliers de “debris-flow” carbonatés dans un bassin d’avant-pays. Un pic du 87Sr/86Sr plus modéré y est enregistré. La coupe de Mount Cinquefoil est située dans l’Alberta (Canada), dans un contexte de rampe formant une transition entre un important complexe récifal et un bassin. A nouveau un pic de 87Sr/86Sr est enregistré au début de l’événement anoxique alors que le reste de la coupe est fort homogène. Un autre pic important du 87Sr/86Sr est présent dans la partie inférieure de la coupe à la base du premier niveau Kellwasser identifié par l’étude sédimentologique. Les différents pics du 87Sr/86Sr enregistrés dans la Zone à conodontes linguiformis sur les trois coupes présentent des points communs. D’une part ils occupent la même position par rapport à la courbe de susceptibilité magnétique enregistrée dans les trois coupes, ce qui tend à montrer qu’ils sont contemporains. D’autre part ils sont systématiquement liés à des teneurs plus fortes en éléments (Al, Ti, Si, ) de la phase détritique dans les roches, ce qui permet d’établir un lien direct entre l’activité tectonique régionale, l’érosion continentale accentuée et les rapports isotopiques élevés du Sr. De plus ces pics du 87Sr/86Sr semblent liés à la mise en place des périodes d’anoxie des horizons Kellwasser par eutrophisation des eaux. La chemostratigraphie permet de reconnaître des phases bien distinctes de la sédimentologie détritique, en lien avec le contexte tectonique de chaque coupe. Enfin, la comparaison avec d’autres données de la littérature pose la question de la simultanéité des événements à la surface de la Terre. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The Davle Volcanic Complex (DVC) situated in the Teplá-Barrandian unit (TBU) of the Bohemian Massif, is considered as a Neoproterozoic-Cambrian magmatic arc that developed on the northern active margin of Gondwana supercontinent during Cadomian accretionary orogeny. This study combines data obtained from fieldwork, petrography, rock-forming mineral microanalysis, major and trace element analysis, Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic systematics and U-Pb zircon geochronology in order to reveal the petrogenesis and evolution of the DVC. At least three-stage metamorphism including Cadomian seafloor alteration, Variscan regional metamorphism as well as contact metamorphism related to the emplacement of the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex affected the DVC. The studied rocks follow calc-alkaline trend whereas tholeiitic trend previously reported is rather related to younger magmatic events. The northern part of the DVC is dominated by felsic subvolcanic (plagiogranite), volcanic (dacite- rhyolite) and pyroclastic (dacitic-rhyolitic tuffs and breccias) rocks with a few outcrops of basaltic andesite-andesite pillow lavas documenting the subaqueous activity of the DVC. These rocks are Na-rich, but K-poor, the plagiogranite contains albite most likely primary in origin, and exhibit highly radiogenic εNd values (~ +6 to +11),...

Newly available industry well data and seismic attribute analysis reveal that late Ordovician-early Devonian Hunton Group strata are more widespread (i.e., not removed by mid-Devonian erosion) in the central and southern portions of the Arkoma Basin in eastern Oklahoma than previously thought. This study demonstrates the value of applying seismic attribute analysis to problems of quantifying and mapping stratigraphic features caused by erosions and/or karstification. Well and seismic isochron data in the Red Oak petroleum field for the Viola-Woodford interval (the units that lie stratigraphically beneath and above, respectively, the Huton Group) show isolated ~40-m thick lenses of Hunton rocks, on average measuring 3 km in diameter, with a surrounding halo of karsted rock. This distribution can be explained in two different ways: 1) Hunton occurrences could represent isolated erosional remnants reflecting incomplete removal of the Hunton Group during Middle Devonian time (pre-Woodford unconformity) or 2) due to karsting and collapse of stratigraphically lower units (Viola or Bromide carbonates), lenses of Hunton rocks would have sagged into sinkholes where they were preserved beneath regional base level. Using formation tops from a well data set correlated with attribute and structure maps from a proprietary 3-D seismic data set, we identify three seismic characteristics in the middle Paleozoic interval that correlate well with: 1) absent Hunton seismic markers, indicating that Hunton rocks were completely removed, 2) the Hunton contacts, indicating where a seismically visible section of Hunton rocks remains, 3) absent Hunton but with a thin horizon included within lower carbonate strata that is interpreted to be an incipient karst zone, which is consistently adjacent to areas containing Hunton rocks. The base of the Sylvan Shale and the top of the Woodford Shale, the respective lower and upper adjoining units, form significant chronostratigraphic surfaces. As such, anomalous thicknesses of these units are depositionally related; thick Woodford sections often correlate to thin or absent Hunton rocks, possibly indicating back-filled pre-Woodford channels eroded into or through the Hunton Group. Conversely, when there is little or no Woodford thickening over Hunton lenses and when adjacent areas show thinning and partially karsted Viola rocks, we propose that karstic collapse of Viola strata was responsible for the Hunton rocks preservation. A combination of these models may be necessary to account for areas where we see thinning both in the Woodford and Viola, suggesting that a Hunton lens is structurally lowered due to karsting, but due to its erosionally resistive nature, the lens forms a depositional high, causing the Woodford to thin over it. The 3-D approach is absolutely necessary to reveal the subtle waveform details that illustrate the karstic and erosional processes involved in the preservation of the Hunton wedges. These findings were interpolated, constrained by well data, over the entire Oklahoma portion of the Arkoma basin in order to produce a new Hunton isopach map and 20 separate cross-sections (two shown herein). These show a broad linear region of absent Hunton. Eustatic sea levels rose throughout the middle and late Devonian, so this large area of eroded Hunton is interpreted as a post-Hunton, pre-Woodford structural uplift. Other Hunton wedges, similar in size and extant to that seismically imaged in this study, were also found in the well data. The karstic collapse of the Viola and subsequent preservation of Hunton rocks occurred on both limbs of the arch.

Use of Re-Os systematics in sulfides from the Bagdad porphyry Cu-Mo deposit provide information on the timing of mineralization and the source of the ore -forming elements. Analyzed samples of pyrite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite mainly from the quartz monzonite and porphyritic quartz monzonite units are characterized by a moderate to strong potassic alteration (secondary biotite and K- feldspar). Rhenium concentrations in molybdenite are between 330 and 730 ppm. Two molybdenite samples from the quartz monzonite and porphyritic quartz monzonite provide a Re-Os isotope age of 71.7 ± 0.3 Ma. A third sample from a molybdenite vein in Precambrian rocks yields an age of 75.8 ± 0.4 Ma. These molybdenite ages support previous suggestions of two mineralization episodes in the Bagdad deposit. An early event at 76 Ma and a later episode at 72 Ma. Pyrite Os and Re concentrations range between 0.008-0.016 and 3.9-6.8 ppb, respectively. Chalcopyrite contains a wide range of Os (6 to 91 ppt) and Re (1.7 to 69 ppb) concentrations and variable ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios that range between 0.13 to 22.27. This variability in the chalcopyrite data may be attributed to different copper sources, one of them the Proterozoic volcanic massive sulfides in the district, or to alteration and remobilization of Re and Os. Analyses from two pyrite samples yield an eight point isochron with an age of 77 ± 15 Ma and an initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratio of 2.12. This pyrite Re-Os isochron age is in good agreement with the molybdenite ages. We interpret the highly radiogenic initial 1870s/188Os as an indication that the source of Os and, by inference, the ore-forming elements for the Bagdad deposit, was mainly the crust. This conclusion agrees with previous Pb and Nd isotope studies and supports the notion that a significant part of the metals and magmas have a crustal source.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / U/Pb and (U-Th)/He (ZHe) dating of detrital zircons from glacial till samples in the Ross Embayment, Antarctica records cooling after the Ross/Pan-African orogeny (450-625 Ma) followed by a mid-Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous heating event in the Beacon basin. Zircons were extracted from till samples from heads of major outlet glaciers in East Antarctica, one sample at the mouth of Scott Glacier, and from beneath three West Antarctic ice streams. The Ross/Pan-African U/Pb population is ubiquitous in these Antarctic tills and many Beacon Supergroup sandstones, thus 83 grains were analyzed for ZHe to subdivide this population. Two ZHe age populations are evident in East Antarctic tills, with 64% of grains 115-200 Ma and 35% between 200-650 Ma. The older population is interpreted to be associated with the Ross/Pan-African orogeny including cooling of the Granite Harbour Intrusives and/or exhumation of the older basement rocks to form the Kukri Peneplain. The lag time between zircon U/Pb, ZHe and 40Ar/39Ar ages from K-bearing minerals show cooling over 200 My. Grains in East Antarctic tills with a ZHe age of 115-200 Ma likely reflects regional heating following the breakup of Gondwana from the Ferrar dolerite intrusions, subsidence within the rift basin, and a higher geothermal gradient. Subsequent cooling and/or exhumation of the Transantarctic Mountains brought grains below the closure temperature over a span of 80 My. This population may also provide a Beacon Supergroup signature as most of the tills with this age are adjacent to nunataks mapped as Beacon Supergroup and contain an abundance of vi Beacon pebbles within the moraine. Nine zircons grains from three Beacon Supergroup sandstones collected from moraines across the Transantarctic Mountains yield ages from 125-180 Ma. West Antarctic tills contain a range of ZHe ages from 75-450 Ma reflecting the diverse provenance of basin fill from East Antarctica and Marie Byrd Land. ZHe and U/Pb ages <105 Ma appear to be distinctive of West Antarctic tills. The combination of U/Pb, ZHe and 40Ar/39Ar analyses demonstrates that these techniques can be used to better constrain the tectonic evolution and cooling of the inaccessible subglacial source terrains beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The Antler and Sonoma orogenies occurred along the southwest-trending passive Pacific margin of North America during the Paleozoic concluding with the accretion of the McCloud Arc. A southeast-trending sinistral transform fault truncated the continental margin in the Permian, becoming a locus for initiation of an east-dipping subduction zone creating the Sierran magmatic arc. Constrained in age between two early Triassic tuff layers, the volcanic clasts in the breccia of Frog Lakes represent one of the earliest records of mafic magmatism in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Tholeiitic rock clasts found in the breccia of Frog Lakes in the Saddlebag Lake pendant in the east central Sierra Nevada range in composition from 48% to 63% SiO2. Boninites produced by early volcanism of subduction initiation by spontaneous nucleation at the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc are more depleted in trace element concentrations than the clasts while andesites from the northern volcanic zone of the Andes produced on crust 50 km thick have similar levels of enrichment and provide a better geochemical modern analogue. Textural analysis of the breccia of Frog Lakes suggest a subaqueous environment of deposition from a mature magmatic arc built on continental crust > 50 km thick during the Triassic. The monzodiorites of Saddlebag and Odell Lakes are temporal intrusive equivalents of the breccia of Frog Lakes and zircon geochemistry indicates a magmatic arc petrogenesis.