1. Response of a low-subsiding intracratonic basin to long wavelength deformations: the Palaeocene–early Eocene period in the Paris Basin
- Author
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Justine Briais, Cécile Robin, François Guillocheau, Jean-Jacques Châteauneuf, Eric Lasseur, Olivier Serrano, Géosciences Rennes (GR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), and Chercheur indépendant
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Outcrop ,Stratigraphy ,[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences ,Soil Science ,Context (language use) ,Structural basin ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,01 natural sciences ,Paleontology ,lcsh:Stratigraphy ,Geochemistry and Petrology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Earth-Surface Processes ,lcsh:QE640-699 ,geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,lcsh:QE1-996.5 ,Eurasian Plate ,Geology ,Massif ,Cretaceous ,Graben ,lcsh:Geology ,Geophysics ,13. Climate action ,[SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy ,Paleogene - Abstract
International audience; The uppermost Cretaceous to early Palaeogene is a period of major deformations of the western part of the Eurasian plate with prominent basin inversions starting from the Coniacian onwards. These deformations occur in a complex geodynamic setting within both the context of the Africa-Eurasia convergence and the North Atlantic opening. While Mesozoic graben inversions have been extensively studied, particularly in Eastern Europe and the North Sea, more gentle deformations that affect thicker crust areas (intracratonic basins and emerged lands) are not as well documented. The objective of this study is to constrain the exact timing, type and magnitude of the early Palaeogene deformations affecting the intracratonic Paris basin and to integrate them at the Western European scale. Relatively gentle deformations are attempted through a high-resolution reconstitution of its stratigraphic record based on outcrops and well-dated wells, and a high number of well-logs that are correlated using the "stacking pattern" sequence stratigraphic technique. Two orders of sequences are identified (third- and fourth-order) and correlated throughout the basin. Basin geometric and palaeogeographic reconstitutions are based on sediment thickness and facies analysis. Two-dimensional accommodation space measurements were taken in order to quantify the magnitude of the deformations. Three phases of deformation were recognized. 1. An intra-Maastrichtian-pre-Thanetian (59 Ma) deformation, with major uplift and erosion of the Cretaceous strata with two sub-periods of deformation: Maastrichtian-pre-middle-Danian and Upper Danian-pre-Thanetian long wavelength deformations. This period of major deformation is coeval with Upper Cretaceous-pre-Danian compressive deformations linked to the Africa-Eurasia convergence in southern France and with volcanic activity from the North Atlantic to Massif Central and the Rhenish Shield during the Palaeocene; 2. an early Ypresian (55.1-54.3 Ma) medium wavelength deformation (× 10 km), here reported to be a stress rearrangement related to the onset of the North Atlantic opening; 3. an uppermost Ypresian (49.8 Ma) long wavelength deformation (× 100 km), contemporaneous with flexural compressive deformations in the Aquitaine Basin (Pyrenean deformation), and related to the Iberia-Eurasia convergence.
- Published
- 2016
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