Stress induced by the Mio-Pliocene Alpine collision in northern France

2005 ◽  
Vol 176 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Rocher ◽  
Marc Cushing ◽  
Francis Lemeille ◽  
Stéphane Baize
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Stress ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Mechanical Twinning ◽  
Paris Basin ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Calculated Stress ◽  
Appalachian Foreland

Abstract In most rocks, tectonic stress induces crystalline deformation, such as mechanical twinning. The inverse analysis of calcite twinning allows reconstruction of both directions and values of the paleostress field. The Etchecopar inverse method using calcite twinning has been improved in this paper, lowering the uncertainties on the calculated stress values. Calcite was sampled in the foreland of the western Alps, along a SE-NW section from the Jura Mountains to the Isle of Wight. The calcite twinning inversion has identified the successive Cenozoic tectonic events, named “Pyrenean” compression, “Oligocene” extension and “Alpine” compression. The distribution of the Mio-Pliocene Alpine orogenic stress was specified. This stress field varies in terms of stress regime, directions and values. The horizontal principal stress trends E-W in southern France, WNW in the centre, and NW in the North, which can be attributed to the Alpine indenter phenomenon. The tectonic stress regime roughly corresponds to a pure compression in the Jura and rapidly evolves to the NW to a strike-slip state of stress, then beyond the Paris basin’s centre to a perpendicular extension. Unlike the Pyrenean or Appalachian foreland stress, the Alpine differential stress does not significantly decrease from the Jura front to the far field (30 to 25 MPa). Moreover, stress values vary from one area to another, low in the Burgundy high, fractured and uprising during this tectonic event, and high in Paris basin centre, poorly fractured and subsiding during this event. Three possible explanations are proposed : variation in crust thickness, crustal buckling during the Mio-Pliocene, and pre-existing fractures.

Late Precambrian structural evolution of Pigeon Point, Minnesota and relations to the Lake Superior syncline

1976 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 877-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Mudrey Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Lake Superior ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Cook County ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Late Precambrian ◽  
North Shore ◽  
Volcanic Group ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic Events

A sequence of semi-brittle deformational tectonic events in gently dipping middle Precambrian argillite and graywacke, and late Precambrian sandstone and volcanic rocks on the northwest coast of Lake Superior is interpreted from detailed geologic mapping in the Pigeon Point, Cook County, Minnesota area. The earliest tectonic event was broad, open folding in the middle Precambrian Rove Formation along N 35 °E axes and the development of two sets of joints (North and N 70° E). The second event was eastward trending, high-angle faulting in the Rove Formation and the disconformably overlying late Precambrian Puckwunge sandstone and North Shore Volcanic Group; the south sides moved upward relative to the north sides. These faults and associated joints were the loci of emplacement of 'early mafic' dikes of ilmenite-bearing diabase, which probably correlate with the 'Logan intrusions'. Subsequently, east-northeastward trending olivine diabase sills and dikes were emplaced in the Rove Formation and the North Shore Volcanic Group, and they cross-cut the early mafic dikes and sills. The third event occurred after cessation of igneous activity; two sets of regional joints (N 14 °W and N 53 °E) were formed, apparently as a result of fracturing accompanying initial subsidence of the so-called 'Lake Superior syncline' to the southeast. The fourth event was the development of a zone of cataclastic rock trending N 65 °E from the Pigeon Point area northeastward at least 60 km. To the north of this fracture zone, bedding in the Rove Formation dips 15–25 °SE. Copper and silver mineralization was subsequently emplaced within this fracture zone.The first three tectonic events appear to represent reactivation of structures of early Precambrian age, and appear to control the general outcrop pattern. The fourth event is an entirely Keweenawan feature, and marks the beginning of subsidence of the 'Lake Superior syncline'. It may correlate in time with the deposition of the Copper Harbor Conglomerate, and other late middle Keweenawan events.

The sedimentary expression of regional tectonic events during the Miocene-Pliocene transition in the southern Cyprus basins

1989 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Orszag-Sperber ◽  
J. M. Rouchy ◽  
P. Elion
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Tectonic Stress ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
The South ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Southern Cyprus ◽  
Regional Tectonic ◽  
East Mediterranean Region ◽  
Main Change

AbstractA well-known tectonic event affecting the East Mediterranean region, generally referred to as ‘the’ Miocene–Pliocene phase, occurs at, or near the Miocene–Pliocene boundary. Recent sedimentological studies in Cyprus indicate that this ‘event’, in fact, is complex. The Tortonian–Lower Pliocene period is marked by a stress involving an N20 extension in the Polemi and Pissouri basins and by an N100 extension in the Psematismenos basin. Sedimentological studies have demonstrated three tectonic pulsations during Messinian time, prior to the Pliocene transgression. These are expressed by two episodes of seismic brecciation, and a palaeo-emersion is indicated by palaeosols and detrital discharges. These phenomena suggest brief tectonic instability during Messinian time. Microtectonic studies in the South Troodos basins of Cyprus reveal that the main change in tectonic stress does not coincide with the Miocene–Pliocene contact but occurs at the end of Lower Pliocene time. The authors conclude that the so-called Miocene–Pliocene ‘event’, in reality, is a series of subtle tectonic pulsations recorded clearly by sedimentary parameters.

scholarly journals Meso-Cenozoic Exhumation of the Linqing Sub-Basin, Bohai Bay Basin: Implications for Cratonic Destruction

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1176
Author(s):  
Wei Xu ◽  
Nansheng Qiu ◽  
Jian Chang
Keyword(s):  
Eastern China ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Philippine Sea Plate ◽  
Bohai Bay ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Age Profile ◽  
Tethys Ocean

The relationship between the tectonic event of the Linqing Sub-basin and the destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) is an important factor to consider when studying geodynamic mechanisms in eastern China. In the current study, we present a low-temperature apatite thermochronological analysis of 14 samples to study the tectonic event of the Linqing Sub-basin. Our data showed that the apatite fission track (AFT) ages were in the range of 53.5–124.4 Ma, and the average track lengths were 8.00–11.24 μm. The grain ages showed that 10 samples had mixed ages and were characterized by discordant distribution. The minimum ages decomposed from AFT ages mainly ranged from 105.3 to 40.8 Ma. We identified a break-in-slope from the depth-minimum age profile, which was related to the Meso-Cenozoic tectonic event. The AFT age data could be decomposed into three age groups, namely, P3 (394.8–215.7 Ma), P2 (124.6–83.4 Ma), and P1 (70.7–40.8 Ma), indicating three significant tectonic events in the NCC. P3 is related to the uplift of the NCC at 445.0–315.0 Ma and deformation and magmatism at 320.0–200.0 Ma. P2 corresponds to the Mesozoic tectonic activities, such as the closure of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean, the turning of the Izanagi plate and mantle convection. P1 mainly corresponds to the Izanagi–Pacific ridge, the closure of the Tethys Ocean, and the rotation of the Philippine Sea plate in the Cenozoic. Our study provides evidence for the destruction of the NCC, and has significance for the understanding of the deep mechanism.

TECTONIC STRESS REGIME RECORDED IN ZIRCON TH/U

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew P. McKay ◽  
◽  
William T. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Stress ◽  
Stress Regime

Present-day tectonic stress regime in Egypt and surrounding area based on inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms

2013 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.M. Hussein ◽  
K.M. Abou Elenean ◽  
I.A. Marzouk ◽  
I.M. Korrat ◽  
I.F. Abu El-Nader ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Stress ◽  
Focal Mechanisms ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
Earthquake Focal Mechanisms

scholarly journals Elevation-induced variations of pollen assemblages in the North-western Alps: An analysis of their value as temperature indicators

2010 ◽  
Vol 333 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 825-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Ortu ◽  
Stefan Klotz ◽  
Elisabetta Brugiapaglia ◽  
Rosanna Caramiello ◽  
Consolata Siniscalco
Keyword(s):  
Western Alps ◽  
The North ◽  
North Western

New insights into the Hercynian Orogeny, and their implications for the Paleozoic Hydrocarbon System in the Arabian Plate

GeoArabia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Faqira ◽  
Martin Rademakers ◽  
AbdulKader M. Afifi
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Seismic Imaging ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Angular Unconformity ◽  
The North ◽  
Hercynian Orogeny

ABSTRACT During the past decade, considerable improvements in the seismic imaging of the deeper Paleozoic section, along with data from new well penetrations, have significantly improved our understanding of the mid-Carboniferous deformational event. Because it occurred at the same time as the Hercynian Orogeny in Europe, North Africa and North America it has been commonly referred to by the same name in the Middle East. This was the main tectonic event during the late Paleozoic, which initiated or reactivated many of the N-trending block uplifts that underlie the major hydrocarbon accumulations in eastern Arabia. The nature of the Hercynian deformation away from these structural features was poorly understood due to inadequate seismic imaging and insufficient well control, along with the tectonic overprint of subsequent deformation events. Three Hercynian NE-trending arches are recognized in the Arabian Plate (1) the Levant Arch, which extended from Egypt to Turkey along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, (2) the Al-Batin Arch, which extended from the Arabian Shield through Kuwait to Iran, and (3) the Oman-Hadhramaut Arch, which extended along the southeast coast of Oman and Yemen. These arches were initiated during the mid-Carboniferous Hercynian Orogeny, and persisted until they were covered unconformably by the Khuff Formation during the Late Permian. Two Hercynian basins separate these arches: the Nafud-Ma’aniya Basin in the north and Faydah-Jafurah Basin in the south. The pre-Hercynian Paleozoic section was extensively eroded over the arches, resulting in a major angular unconformity, but generally preserved within the basins. Our interpretation suggests that most of the Arabian Shield, except the western highlands along the Red Sea, is the exhumed part of the Al-Batin Arch. The Hercynian structural fabric of regional arches and basins continue in northern Africa, and in general appear to be oriented orthogonal to the old margin of the Gondwana continent. The Hercynian structure of arches and basins was partly obliterated by subsequent Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic events. In eastern Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, regional extension during the Triassic formed N-trending horsts and graben that cut across the NE-trending Hercynian mega-structures, which locally inverted them. Subsequent reactivation during the Cretaceous and Neogene resulted in additional growth of the N-trending structures. The Hercynian Arches had major impact on the Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulations. The Silurian source rocks are generally preserved in the basins and eroded over the arches, which generally confined Silurian-sourced hydrocarbons either within the basins or along their flanks. Furthermore, the relict Hercynian paleo-topography generally confined the post-Hercynian continental clastics of the Unayzah Formation and equivalents to the Hercynian basins. These clastics contain the main Paleozoic oil and gas reservoirs, particularly along the basin margins where they overlie the sub-crop of the Silurian section with angular unconformity, thus juxtaposing reservoir and source rock.

scholarly journals Effect of Temperature on Stiffness of Sandstones from the Deep North Sea Basin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Orlander ◽  
Katrine Alling Andreassen ◽  
Ida Lykke Fabricius
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Temperature Effects ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Thermal Strain ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Testing Temperature ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
The North

Abstract Development of high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) petroleum reservoirs situated at depths exceeding 5 km and in situ temperature of 170 °C increases the demand for theories and supporting experimental data capable of describing temperature effects on rock stiffness. With the intention of experimentally investigating temperature effects on stiffness properties, we investigated three sandstones from the deep North Sea Basin. As the North Sea Basin is presently undergoing substantial subsidence, we assumed that studied reservoir sandstones have never experienced higher temperature than in situ. We measured ultrasonic velocities in a low- and high-stress regime, and used mass density and stress–strain curves to derive, respectively, dynamic and static elastic moduli. We found that in both regimes, the dry sandstones stiffens with increasing testing temperature and assign expansion of minerals as a controlling mechanism. In the low-stress regime with only partial microcrack closure, we propose closure of microcracks as the stiffening mechanism. In the high-stress regime, we propose that thermal expansion of constituting minerals increases stress in grain contacts when the applied stress is high enough for conversion of thermal strain to thermal stress, thus leading to higher stiffness at in situ temperature. We then applied an extension of Biot’s effective stress equation including a non-isothermal term from thermoelastic theory and explain test results by adding boundary conditions to the equations.

Block tilting of the North Provence early Cretaceous carbonate margin: stratigraphic, sedimentologic and tectonic data

2009 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Masse ◽  
Michel Villeneuve ◽  
Emmanuelle Leonforte ◽  
Jean Nizou
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
The North ◽  
Subaerial Exposure ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Structural Architecture

Abstract In the western part of the Castellane tectonic arc, the so-called “ Provence platform area “, corresponding to the foreland of the Alpine nappes (figs. 1–2), is marked by Tithonian-Berriasian shallow water carbonates capped by hemipelagic sediments deposited from the Valanginian up to the Aptian-Albian. A detailed biostratigraphic study of the Berriasian succession, based on calcareous algae and foraminifera, allows us to distinguish a Lower to Middle Berriasian, with Clypeina sulcata, Clypeina isabellae and Holosporella sarda, from an Upper Berriasian with Pfenderina neocomiensis, Danubiella cernavodensis, Falsolikanella campanensis and Macroporella praturloni (fig. 3). We performed a field survey of 30 sites located from Quinson to the west, and Escragnolles to the east (figs. 4–5) including the study of measured stratigraphic sections and the collection of samples for biostratigraphic interpretations. These stratigraphic investigations show that below the Valanginian beds, the Berriasian platfom carbonate succession, is locally incomplete, i.e. Upper Berriasian beds are frequently absent. During the Early and Middle Berriasian, depositional environments are marked by a strong bathymetric instability, with frequent subaerial exposure events, and a significant marine restriction; by contrast, during the Late Berriasian, the overall biological diversity increases and water agitation as well, which means a significant marine opening towards the basin. The Upper Berriasian hiatus is consequently regarded as the result of a Berriasian/Valanginian and/or a lowermost Valanginian erosion (fig. 6). The spatial distribution of complete or truncated Berriasian successions identifies east-west bands, in each band truncated series are located northward and complete series are located southward. Bands are limited by thrust or strip faults interpreted as palaeofaults reactivated during the Alpine orogeny (fig. 7). These fault-bounded blocks, 3 to 10 km in width, known as the Aiguine, La Palud-sur-Verdon, Carajuan-Audibergue and Peyroulles-La Foux blocks, are southerly rotated by 1 to 2o. We regard this structural architecture as the result of basinward tilting of blocks. Due to their rotation, the uplifted parts were eroded whereas the depressed parts were protected against erosion (fig. 8). Such a dynamic behavior reflects a distensive tectonic regime, which has been active at least during the Valanginian, that is after the drowning of the North-Provence carbonate platform. These structural events are considered as the regional expression of the Neocimmerian tectonic phase coupled with an enhancement of the Atlantic rifting. The orientation of the major Alpine structural elements (folds and faults) of the Castellane arc, is mostly inherited from these early Cretaceous tectonic events.

Miocene to Messinian deformation and hydrothermal activity in a pre-Alpine basement massif of the French western Alps: new U-Th-Pb and argon ages from the Lauzière massif

2010 ◽  
Vol 181 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Gasquet ◽  
Jean-Michel Bertrand ◽  
Jean-Louis Paquette ◽  
Jérémie Lehmann ◽  
Gueorgui Ratzov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Hydrothermal Activity ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
The North ◽  
Slip Regime ◽  
Tectonically Active ◽  
Dextral Strike Slip

Abstract U-Pb and Th-Pb dating of monazite from hydrothermal quartz veins (“Alpine veins”) from the Lauzière massif (North Belledonne) together with Ar/Ar ages of adularias from the same veins constrain the age of the last tectono-metamorphic events that affected the External Crystalline Massifs (ECM). Ages obtained are surprisingly young. The study of the structural context of the veins combined with our chronological data, allow us to propose a tectonic scenario of the northern ECM for the 15-5 Ma period, which was poorly documented so far. The quartz veins are of two types: (i) the oldest are poorly mineralized (chlorite and epidote), flat-lying veins. The quartz fibres (= extension direction) are near vertical and seem to be associated with a subvertical dissolution schistosity superimposed upon an early Alpine deformation underlined by “mini-biotite”. They bear a sub-horizontal stretching lineation; (ii) the youngest veins are very rich in various minerals (anatase, rutile, phénacite, meneghinite, beryl, synchysite, ….). They are almost vertical. Their “en echelon” geometry as well as the horizontal attitude of their quartz fibres show a dextral strike-slip regime. Two groups of Th-Pb ages have been obtained: 11 to 10 Ma and 7 to 5 Ma. They were obtained from the most recent veins (vertical veins) sampled in different areas of the massif. The ca. 10 Ma ages are related to veins in the Lauzière granite and its metamorphic country-rocks at about 2 km from the eastern contact of the massif, while the ages of ca. 5 Ma correspond to veins occurring in mylonites along this contact. Adularias provided Ar/Ar ages at ca. 7 Ma. By contrast, a monazite from a vein of the Pelvoux massif (Plan du Lac) yielded a Th-Pb age of 17.6 Ma but in a different structural setting. Except fission track ages, there are very little ages of this range published in the recent literature on the Alps. The latter concern always gold mineralized veins (NE Mont Blanc and SW Lepontine dome). The last compressive tectonic regime dated between 15 and 12 Ma is coeval with (i) the late “Roselend thrust” event, which is recorded in the Mont Blanc by shear-zones with vertical lineation, (ii) the last movements in the basal mylonites of the Swiss Nappes, (iii) the horizontal Alpine veins from the Mont Blanc and Belledonne massifs (with vertical quartz fibres), which are similar to the early veins of the Lauzière. On the contrary, the vertical veins of the Lauzière, dated between 11 and 5 Ma, correspond to a dextral strike slip regime. This suggests that most of the strike-slip tectonics along the ECM took place during two stages (ca. 10 Ma and ca. 7-5 Ma) and not only at 18 Ma as had been proposed previously. Our ages are consistent with the late Miocene-Pliocene overlap of the Digne thrust to the South and to part of the normal movement along the Simplon fault to the North. Thus, all the external crystalline massifs were tectonically active during the late Miocene. This suggests that tectonic events in the external alpine belt may have contributed to some extent to the geodynamical causes of the Messinian crisis.

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