@article{LescoutreTugendBruneetal.2019, author = {Lescoutre, Rodolphe and Tugend, Julie and Brune, Sascha and Masini, Emmanuel and Manatschal, Gianreto}, title = {Thermal Evolution of Asymmetric Hyperextended Magma-Poor Rift Systems: Results From Numerical Modeling and Pyrenean Field Observations}, series = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems}, volume = {20}, journal = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems}, number = {10}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1525-2027}, doi = {10.1029/2019GC008600}, pages = {4567 -- 4587}, year = {2019}, abstract = {We investigate the thermal and structural evolution of asymmetric rifted margin using numerical modeling and geological observations derived from the Western Pyrenees. Our numerical model provides a self-consistent physical evolution of the top basement heat flow during asymmetric rifting. The model shows a pronounced thermal asymmetry that is caused by migration of the rift center toward the upper plate. The same process creates a diachronism for the record of maximum heat flow and maximum temperatures (T-max) in basal rift sequences. The Mauleon-Arzacq basin (W-Pyrenees) corresponds to a former mid-Cretaceous asymmetric hyperextended rift basin. New vitrinite reflectance data in addition to existing data sets from this basin reveal an asymmetry in the distribution of peak heat (T-max) with respect to the rift shoulders, where highest values are located at the former upper- to lower-plate transition. This data set from the Arzacq-Mauleon field study confirms for the first time the thermal asymmetry predicted by numerical models. Numerical modeling results also suggest that complexities in synrift thermal architecture could arise when hanging-wall-derived extensional allochthons and related T-max become part of the lower plate and are transported away from the upper- to lower-plate transition. This study emphasizes the limitations of the common approach to integrate punctual thermal data from pre-rift to synrift sedimentary sequences in order to describe the rift-related thermal evolution and paleothermal gradients at the scale of a rift basin or a rifted margin.}, language = {en} } @article{DielforderFrascaBruneetal.2019, author = {Dielforder, Armin and Frasca, Gianluca and Brune, Sascha and Ford, Mary}, title = {Formation of the Iberian-European convergent plate boundary fault and its effect on intraplate deformation in Central Europe}, series = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems}, volume = {20}, journal = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems}, number = {5}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1525-2027}, doi = {10.1029/2018GC007840}, pages = {2395 -- 2417}, year = {2019}, abstract = {With the Late Cretaceous onset of Africa-Iberia-Europe convergence Central Europe experienced a pulse of intraplate shortening lasting some 15-20 Myr. This deformation event documents area-wide deviatoric compression of Europe and has been interpreted as a far-field response to Africa-Iberia-Europe convergence. However, the factors that governed the compression of Europe and conditioned the transient character of the deformation event have remained unclear. Based on mechanical considerations, numerical simulations, and geological reconstructions, we examine how the dynamics of intraplate deformation were governed by the formation of a convergent plate boundary fault between Iberia and Europe. During the Late Cretaceous, plate convergence was accommodated by the inversion of a young hyperextended rift system separating Iberia from Europe. Our analysis shows that the strength of the lithosphere beneath this rift was initially sufficient to transmit large compressive stresses far into Europe, though the lithosphere beneath the rift was thinned and thermally weakened. Continued convergence forced the formation of the plate boundary fault between Iberia and Europe. The fault evolved progressively and constituted a lithospheric-scale structure at the southern margin of Europe that weakened rheologically. This development caused a decrease in mechanical coupling between Iberia and Europe and a reduction of compressional far field stresses, which eventually terminated intraplate deformation in Central Europe. Taken together, our findings suggest that the Late Cretaceous intraplate deformation event records a high force transient that relates to the earliest strength evolution of a lithospheric-scale plate boundary fault.}, language = {en} }