ALBERT

Description: The deep structure of the North Ligurian margin and its contiguous Ligurian basin as well as the seismicity recorded in these zones are neither well understood nor precisely constrained. In order to better address these questions, there is a need for offshore instrumenting, which was realised for a duration of nearly 6 months during the GROSMarin (Grand Réseau d’Observation Sous-Marin) experiment. An array of 21 ocean bottom seismometers was deployed over the most active area of the margin and was complemented on land by mobile seismological stations that densified existing permanent networks. We also realised the acquisition of deep refraction seismic shots at sea in order to get a 3D distribution of velocities along the margin through travel time tomography. We present here a preliminary analysis of the seismicity recorded during this experiment and a tomographic model of the margin structures obtained using data from the offshore network only. Our results support the existence of a high velocity zone at the base of a domain interpreted as transitional between continental and oceanic ones, on the northern part of the deep basin. A very similar pattern is observed across the neighbouring margin of the Gulf of Lions and is most likely related to serpentinisation of the underlying mantle during late rifting and continental break-up. North of this transition zone, we observe the basinward crustal thinning of the continental crust beneath the margin that seemingly narrows eastward. To the south, our results hint at transition to the oceanic domain. In contrast, our velocity distribution does not reveal a transition along strike between transitional and oceanic domains, as previous works suggest. Some microseismic activity was recorded throughout the duration of the experiment, on land and at sea. The number of detected events and precision of location were both improved by our considering French and Italian permanent networks. The detection capabilities of our dense network still need to be fully exploited

Description: Published

Description: 305-321

Description: 3.3. Geodinamica e struttura dell'interno della Terra

Description: JCR Journal

Description: restricted

Description: The geological evolution of the western Mediterranean exhibits complicated interactions between orogenic processes and widespread extensional tectonics. The region is located in a convergent plate margin separating Africa and Europe, and consists of marine basins – the Alboran Sea, the Algerian- Provençal Basin, the Valencia trough, the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea- which formed as back-arc basins since the Oligocene. In most reconstructions, it has been stressed that back-arc extension led to drifting of continental blocks and to large-scale block rotations. The opening of the Ligurian Sea. is in fact the result of counterclockwise rotation of Corsica and Sardinia. From the point of view of seismicity, the south western Alps and northern part of the Ligurian basin are subject to frequent earthquakes of low to moderate magnitudes. However significantly destructive events are known to have occurred in the past (e.g. 1564 and 1887). Apart from these rare large events, regional studies agree in concluding that the important local microseismicity appears to be poorly focused (e.g., COURBOULEX et alii, 2007) and that, if some tectonic lines are documented onland (COURBOULEX et alii, 2001), the active structures at sea remain unknown. It is therefore an essential prerequisite to gain better insight into the deep seismogenic structures along the North Ligurian margin and even farther offshore, in the identified oceanic domain. The fact that some of these structures can undergo ruptures of Mw~6.5, such as the 1887 event (BAKUN & SCOTTI, 2006), suggests that, at least to some extent, instrumental insufficiencies in the detection and location of microseismicity is a limit to identify active faults that have not experienced large instrumented ruptures to date. The irregular coverage provided by regional seismic networks produces a bias in the recording of local seismicity. Permanent stations are naturally limited to land areas and fail to properly constrain seismicity offshore. Taking into consideration the peculiarities of regional dynamics (low strain rates, rare large events and a regular seismic activity limited to small events with M 〈 3-4), even onshore seismicity is insufficiently covered by permanent networks and requires dense temporary instrumenting by mobile stations. Considering the potential threat of strong offshore earthquakes, it is of first importance to characterize faults that are prone to rupture in order to quantify associated seismic and tsunami hazards. Assuming some weak seismicity exists along these faults and remains undetected by onland networks, some marine stations are necessary to address instrumental remoteness and help delineate active structures. Moreover, since the velocity models used for locations are obtained by inverting seismic data and the reliability of their locations depend, in turn, from the quality of the velocity model used for their hypocentral parameters, the constraints on the seismic path provided by a more dense seismic network may contribute to a more accurate reference model. In this study, we profited from the recent developments in sea bottom seismic instrumentation to deploy OBSs above the zones of the North Ligurian to perform seismic shots and obtain the distribution of seismic velocities with 3D active tomography. We also took the opportunity of the long term (6 months) OBSs reduced array to decrease both the detection threshold and recording distances so as to obtain more complete catalogs and better localisations.

Description: Published

Description: 789-791

Description: 1T. Struttura della Terra

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: We determine the deep structure of the eastern Algerian basin and its southern margin in the Annaba region (easternmost Algeria), to better constrain the plate kinematic reconstruction in this region. This study is based on new geophysical data collected during the SPIRAL cruise in 2009, which included a wide-angle, 240-km-long, onshore–offshore seismic profile, multichannel seismic reflection lines and gravity and magnetic data, complemented by the available geophysical data for the study area. The analysis and modelling of the wide-angle seismic data including refracted and reflected arrival travel times, and integrated with the multichannel seismic reflection lines, reveal the detailed structure of an ocean-to-continent transition. In the deep basin, there is an ~5.5-km-thick oceanic crust that is composed of two layers. The upper layer of the crust is defined by a high velocity gradient and P -wave velocities between 4.8 and 6.0 km s –1 , from the top to the bottom. The lower crust is defined by a lower velocity gradient and P -wave velocity between 6.0 and 7.1 km s –1 . The Poisson ratio in the lower crust deduced from S -wave modelling is 0.28, which indicates that the lower crust is composed mainly of gabbros. Below the continental edge, a typical continental crust with P -wave velocities between 5.2 and 7.0 km s –1 , from the top to the bottom, shows a gradual seaward thinning of ~15 km over an ~35-km distance. This thinning is regularly distributed between the upper and lower crusts, and it characterizes a rifted margin, which has resulted from backarc extension at the rear of the Kabylian block, here represented by the Edough Massif at the shoreline. Above the continental basement, an ~2-km-thick, pre-Messinian sediment layer with a complex internal structure is interpreted as allochthonous nappes of flysch backthrusted on the margin during the collision of Kabylia with the African margin. The crustal structure, moreover, provides evidence for Miocene emplacement of magmatic intrusions in both the deep basin and the continental margin. Based on the crustal structure, we propose that the eastern Algerian basin opened during the southeastward migration of the European forearc before the collision, along a NW–SE elongated spreading centre that ran perpendicular to the subduction trend. Such an atypical geometry is explained by the diverging directions of the subduction rollback during the backarc opening: eastward for the Corsica–Sardinia block, and southward for the Kabylian blocks. This geometry of the forearc can be interpreted as the surface expression of a slab tear at depth, which is responsible for atypical magmatism in the overlying backarc oceanic basin.

Description: The seaward extension of onshore formations and structures were previously almost unknown in Provence. The interpretation of 2D high-resolution marine seismic profiles together with the integration of sea-bottom rock samples provides new insights into the stratigraphic, structural and paleogeographic framework of pre-Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) deposits of the Provence continental shelf. Seven post-Jurassic seismic units have been identified on seismic profiles, mapped throughout the offshore Provence area and correlated with the onshore series. The studied marine surface and sub-surface database provided new insights into the mid and late Cretaceous paleogeography and structural framework as well as into the syn- and post-rift deformation in Provence. Thick (up to 2000 m) Aptian-Albian series whose deposition is controlled by E-W-trending faults are evidenced offshore. The occurrence and location of the Upper Cretaceous South-Provence basin is confirmed by the thick (up to 1500 m) basinal series downlaping the Aptian-Albian unit. This basin was fed in terrigenous sediments by a southern massif ("Massif Méridional") whose present-day relict is the Paleozoic basement and its sedimentary cover from the Sicié imbricate. In the bay of Marseille, thick syn-rift (Rupelian to Aquitanian) deposition occurred (〉1000 m). During the rifting phase, syn-sedimentary deformations consist of dominant N040 to N060 sub-vertical faults with a normal component and N050 drag-synclines and anticlines. The syn-rift and early post-rift units (Rupelian to early Burdigalian) are deformed and form a set of E-W-trending en echelon folds that may result from sinistral strike-slip reactivation of N040 to N060 normal faults during a N-S compressive phase of early-to-mid Burdigalian age (18–20 Ma). Finally, minor fault reactivation and local folding affect post-rift deposits within a N160-trending corridor localized south of La Couronne, and could result from a later, post-Burdigalian and pre-Pliocene compressive phase.

Description: This study presents the results of a deep seismic survey across the north Algerian margin, based on the combination of 2-D multichannel and wide-angle seismic data simultaneously recorded by 41 ocean bottom seismometers deployed along a north–south line extending 180 km off Jijel into the Algerian offshore basin, and 25 land stations deployed along a 100-km-long line, cutting through the Lesser Kabylia and the Tellian thrust-belt. The final model obtained using forward modelling of the wide-angle data and pre-stack depth migration of the seismic reflection data provides an unprecedented view of the sedimentary and crustal structure of the margin. The sedimentary layers in the Algerian basin are 3.75 km thick to the north and up to 4.5–5 km thick at the foot of the margin. They are characterized by seismic velocities from 1.9 to 3.8 km s –1 . Messinian salt formations are about 1 km thick in the study area, and are modelled and imaged using a velocity between 3.7 and 3.8 km s –1 . The crust in the deep sea basin is about 4.5 km thick and of oceanic origin, presenting two distinct layers with a high gradient upper crust (4.7–6.1 km s –1 ) and a low gradient lower crust (6.2–7.1 km s –1 ). The upper-mantle velocity is constrained to 7.9 km s –1 . The ocean–continent transition zone is very narrow between 15 and 20 km wide. The continental crust reaches 25 km thickness as imaged from the most landward station and thins to 5 km over a less than 70 km distance. The continental crust presents steep and asymmetric upper- and lower-crustal geometry, possibly due to either asymmetric rifting of the margin, an underplated body, or flow of lower crustal material towards the ocean basin. Present-time deformation, as imaged from three additional seismic profiles, is characterized by an interplay of gravity-driven mobile-salt creep and active thrusting at the foot of the tectonically inverted Algerian margin.