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15 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2022.105652, The Porcupine basin is a failed rift that formed during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. Here, we provide additional insights into the crustal structure of the northern Porcupine Basin and assess the degree of crustal extension from long streamer seismic data and free-air gravity modelling. Recent re-processing of the 2013/2014 streamer data involved de-multiple and de-noise processing with pre-stack-depth migration using velocity models derived from reflection travel time tomography and full waveform inversion. Forward modelling of satellite gravity data was used to constrain the velocity and mass density of the basement and lower crust, where the seismic constraints are limited. Prior knowledge, from previous geophysical and geological studies, was included to guide the modelling and reconcile the gravity data with the seismic sections. It also served to minimize the non-uniqueness inherent in the forward problem. Crustal thinning occurs across the basin axis and increases southwards. We infer maximum stretching factor (β) at the basin axis, increasing from ∼4 to 6 in the North Porcupine at 52.5°N to >10 at ∼51°N in the Central Porcupine. The gravity modelling supports the presence of mantle serpentinisation, and the high β implies that crustal break up and mantle exhumation may have locally occurred in the Central Porcupine Basin, in agreement with previous seismic tomographic studies. Basaltic melt generation in the centre of the basin where the maximum bulk stretching factor exceeds10 in the hyper-extended crust may have led to localized sea-floor-spreading, This project was funded by the Irish centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Irish Shelf and Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PiP) and DIAS. This publication uses data reprocessed during a project undertaken on behalf of the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme Group 4. The ISPSG comprises: AzEire Petroleum Ltd, Cairn Energy Plc, BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd, CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited, ENI Ireland BV, Equinor Energy Ireland Limited, Europa Oil & Gas Plc, ExxonMobil E&P Ireland (Offshore) Ltd, Husky Energy, Petroleum Affairs Division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Providence Resources plc, Repsol Exploración SA, Sosina Exploration Ltd, Total EP, Tullow Oil Plc and Woodside Energy (Ireland) Pty Ltd”. Manel Prada has received funding support of the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” accreditation (CEX 2019-000928-S) of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

This is ISMAR contribution number 2014.-- 5 pages, 3 figures, The Tyrrhenian Basin is a region created by Neogene extensional tectonics related to slab rollback of the east-southeast–migrating Apennine subduction system, commonly believed to be actively underthrusting the Calabrian arc. A compilation of >12,000 km of multichannel seismic profiles, much of them recently collected or reprocessed, provided closer scrutiny and the mapping of previously undetected large compressive structures along the Tyrrhenian margin. This new finding suggests that Tyrrhenian Basin extension recently ceased. The ongoing compressional reorganization of the basin indicates a change of the regional stress field in the area, confirming that slab rollback is no longer a driving mechanism for regional kinematics, now dominated by the Africa-Eurasia lithospheric collision, We acknowledge the project FRAME (ref. CTM2015-71766-R) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities for supporting the work in the Tyrrhenian Sea, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

International audience; The preshortening Cretaceous Pyrenean Rift is an outstanding geological laboratory to investigate the effects of a pre‐rift salt layer at the sedimentary base on lithospheric rifting. The occurrence of a pre‐rift km‐scale layer of evaporites and shales promoted the activation of syn‐rift salt tectonics from the onset of rifting. The pre‐ and syn‐rift sediments are locally affected by high‐temperature metamorphism related to mantle ascent up to shallow depths during rifting. The thermo‐mechanical interaction between décollement along the pre‐existing salt layer and mantle ascent makes the Cretaceous Pyrenean Rifting drastically different from the type of rifting that shaped most Atlantic‐type passive margins where salt deposition is syn‐rift and gravity‐driven salt tectonics has been postrift. To unravel the dynamic evolution of the Cretaceous Pyrenean Rift, we carried out a set of numerical models of lithosphere‐scale extension, calibrated using the available geological constraints. Models are used to investigate the effects of a km‐scale pre‐rift salt layer, located at the sedimentary cover base, on the dynamics of rifting. Our results highlight the key role of the décollement layer at cover base that can alone explain both salt tectonics deformation style and high‐temperature metamorphism of the pre‐rift and syn‐rift sedimentary cover. On the other hand, in the absence of décollement, our model predicts symmetric necking of the lithosphere devoid of any structure and related thermal regime geologically relevant to the Pyrenean case.

We present a regional synthesis of the structural architecture and tectonic evolution of the Western Alpine Ophiolites (WAO), exposed in NW Italy. The WAO represent the remnants of Alpine Tethys (Ligurian–Piedmont Ocean) that opened between Europe and Adria, and developed in four stages from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Emplacement of gabbroic intrusions into the extending lithospheric mantle of Europe–Adria marked the main magmatic event (Stage 1). Coalescent shear zones in the fossil upper mantle form lithospheric-scale detachment faults, which led to the exhumation of upper mantle peridotites and gabbros on the seafloor, and extensive serpentinization (Stage 2). Detachment faults, and serpentinized peridotites–gabbros in their footwalls, represent preserved fossil oceanic core complexes within the WAO. Emplacement of ophiolitic breccias and basaltic lava flows marked the syn-extensional phase (Stage 3). Radiolarian chert and limestone were deposited unconformably on this syn-extensional volcanic–sedimentary sequence, marking the post-extensional phase (Stage 4). Magmatic ages of gabbroic intrusions and mafic–felsic dykes, and depositional ages of post-extensional sequences in the WAO constrain the timing of the opening of the Ligurian–Piedmont Ocean to the Middle Jurassic (c. 170–168 Ma), followed by a tectonic quiescence stage in the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous. Thematic collection: This article is part of the ‘Tethyan ophiolites and Tethyan seaways collection9 available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/tethyan-ophiolites-and-tethyan-seaways

International audience; Triassic evaporites have a very particular location in the Pyrenees, close to detachment areas between the basement and the sedimentary cover, and constitute enormous chlorine and potentially brine reservoir. During the two successive deformation cycles related successively to the Cretaceous rifting and the convergence during early Cenozoic, brines were expulsed and implied in fault activity, breccia formation and fluid-rock interactions. Fluid inclusions from fault infillings and alpine-style fissures sampled all along the Pyrenean chain have a maximal chlorinity close to that of halite-water equilibrium at temperatures between 250 and 350°C. Mixing of brines with low chlorinity waters formed a series of fluids covering an extensive range of salinities. During syn-rift events, the hotter dilute endmember is likely derived from seawater infiltrated and heated near the exhumed mantle as no emerged areas were present at that time. During convergence and thrusting, brines again predominate and mixing occurred with a colder end-member, probably of meteoric origin, consistent with a significant period of relief formation. Brines played, therefore, an essential role in mass and heat transfer during the whole orogenic cycle in the Pyrenees.

11 pages, 7 figures, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116480, The formation of Cenozoic mountain belts in the Mediterranean realm was preceded by tens of millions of years of subduction, forming volcanic arcs, and frontal contractional systems. In addition, subduction usually involves slab rollback and formation of oceanic backarcs. Although such structure must have influenced the orogeny of Mediterranean mountain belts, no active analog has been mapped with modern crustal-scale seismic methods. Here, we study the entire Calabrian subduction system to map the structure resulting from Tethys lithosphere subduction and slab rollback, in a process that must be akin to that operating during a phase of the formation of the Mediterranean orogenic belts. We present a crustal-scale cross section of the entire Calabrian subduction system obtained from on- and off-shore wide-angle seismic data. The 2D P-wave velocity section shows spatially abrupt (, The CHIANTI survey was part of the HADES project funded by the Spanish MINECO (Ref # CTM2011-30400-C01 and CTM2011-30400-C02). [...] M. Prada is funded by the Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral programme of the Government of Catalonia's Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge (Ref # 2017BP00170), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

In this field study we reinterpret the narrow eastern North Pyrenean Zone, France, as an inverted salt-rich transtensional rift system based on identification of halokinetic depositional sequences across rift platform to distal rift margin domains with a cumulative throw of >2.8 km on steep Cretaceous faults. The rift platform records extension on detached rotational faults above Triassic evaporites from Jurassic to Aptian with uplift and erosion during the Albian. Transtensional Aptian–Albian minibasins align along the salt-rich rift margin fault zone. In the Aptian–Albian main rift large en echelon synclinal minibasins developed between salt walls, although Jurassic diapiric evolution is likely. Upper Cretaceous units locally record continuing diapirism. The Boucheville and Bas Agly depocentres, altered by synrift HT metamorphism, form the distal rift domain terminating south against the North Pyrenean Fault. The narrowness of the Pyrenean rift, shape of minibasins, en echelon oblique synclinal depocentres and folds coupled with a discontinuous distribution and intensity of HT metamorphism support a transtensional regime along the Iberia–Europe plate margin during late Early and early Late Cretaceous. In this model, the distal European margin comprises deep faults limiting laterally discontinuous crustal domains and ‘hot’ pull-apart basins with mantle rocks directly beneath sedimentary cover., This work was funded by the French ANR project PYRAMID; the OROGEN project financed by Total, BRGM and the CNRS; the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Grant/Award Number SUBTETIS (PIE-CSIC-201830E039); and Generalitat de Catalunya, Grant/Award Number AGAUR 2017 SGR 847.

The Pre-Caledonian margin of Baltica has been outlined as a tapering wedge with increas- ing magmatism towards the ocean–continent transition. It is, however, well known that margins are complex, with different and diachronous evolution along and across strike. Baltica’s vestiges in the Scandes have complexities akin to modern margins. It included a microcontinent and magma-poor hyperextended and magma-rich segments. It was probably up to 1500 km wide before distal parts were affected by plate convergence. Characteristic features are exhumed mantle peridotites and their detrital equivalents, some exposed to the seafloor by the pre-orogenic hyperextension. A major change in the architecture of the mountain belt occurred across the NW–SE trending Sveconorwe- gian front in the Baltican basement. This coincided with the NE termination of the Jotun-Lindås- Dalsfjord basement nappes, the remains of the Jotun Microcontinent (JMC) formed by hyperexten- sion prior to the orogeny. Mantle with ophicalcite breccias exhumed by hyperextension are covered by deep-marine sediments and local conglomerates. Baltican basement slivers are common in the transitional crust basins. Outboard the JMC, the margin was magma-rich. The main break-up mag- matism at 605 ± 10 Ma was part of the vast Central Iapetus Magmatic Province. The along-strike heterogeneity of the margin controlled diachronous and contrasting tectonic evolution during the later Caledonian plate convergence and collision. Keywords: Scandinavian Caledonides; Baltica; passive margin; hyperextension; mantle exhuma- tion; microcontinent; magma-rich; magma-poor

The Calzadilla Ophiolite is an ensemble of mafic and ultramafic rocks that represents the transition between lower crust and upper mantle of a Cadomian (peri-Gondwanan) fore arc. Mapping and structural analysis of the ophiolite demonstrates that it was obducted in latest Ediacaran times, because the Ediacaran-Early Cambrian sedimentary series (Malcocinado Formation) discordantly covers it. The ophiolite and emplacement-related structures are affected by Variscan deformation (Devonian-Carboniferous), which includes SW verging overturned folds (D1) and thrusts (D2), upright folds (D3), extensional faults (D4), and later faults (D5). These phases of deformation are explained in the context of Variscan tectonics as the result of the progressive collision between Gondwana and Laurussia. Qualitative unstraining of Variscan deformation reveals the primary geometry of Ediacaran-Cambrian structures and uncovers the generation of east verging thrusts as responsible for the primary obduction of the Calzadilla Ophiolite. Restoration of planar and linear structures associated with this event indicates an Ediacaran, east directed obduction of the ophiolite, that is, emplacement of the Cadomian fore arc onto inner sections of the northern margin of Gondwana. According to regional data, the obduction separates two extension-dominated stages in the tectonic evolution of the African margin of northern Gondwana preserved in southern Europe. Preobduction extension brought about the onset and widening of fore-arc and back-arc basins in the external part of the continent, while postobduction extension facilitated the formation of extensional migmatitic domes, an oceanward migration of back-arc spreading centers across peri-Gondwana, and the eventual opening of a major basin such as the Rheic Ocean. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved., Financial support has been provided by the Spanish project CGL2016‐76438‐P (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad). This work is a contribution to IGCP project 648 (Supercontinent Cycle and Global Geodynamics).

International audience; The timing and process of exhumation of the subcontinental peridotites of the Gibraltar Arc (Ronda, Beni Bousera) have been discussed extensively over the last decades. In this work, we contribute to this debate through the first mapping, structural and petrological analyses, and SHRIMP U-Th-Pb dating of high-grade marbles that crop out around the Beni Bousera antiform of the Alpujarrides-Sebtides units of northern Rif (Morocco). These marbles, here termed the Beni Bousera marbles (BBMs), instead of being intercalations in the granulitic envelope (kinzigites) of the Beni Bousera peridotites, as previously described, form minor, dismembered units within a ∼30 to 300 m thick mylonitic contact between the kinzigites and the overlying gneisses of the Filali Unit (Filali–Beni Bousera Shear Zone, FBBSZ). They display silicate-rich dolomitic marbles, sandy-conglomeratic calcareous marbles and thinly bedded marble with interleaved biotite-rich schists. An unconformable contact, either of stratigraphic or tectonic origin, with the underlying kinzigites, is observed locally. Pebbles or detrital grains include K-feldspar, quartz, almandine garnet and zircon. Peak mineral assemblages consist of forsterite, Mg-Al-spinel, geikielite (MgTiO 3 ), phlogopite and accessory zirconolite, baddeleyite and srilankite in dolomite marble, as well as K-feldspar, scapolite, diopside, titanite and accessory graphite and zircon in calcite marble. These assemblages characterize peak HT-LP metamorphic conditions close to 700–750 °C, ≤4.5 kbar. The FBBSZ includes minor ductile thrusts that determine kinzigite horses or slivers carried NW-ward over the marbles. Within the latter, NNE-trending folds are conspicuous. Brittle, northward-dipping normal faults crosscut the FBBSZ ductile structures. Detrital cores of zircon from the BBMs yield two U-Th-Pb age clusters of ∼270 Ma and ∼340 Ma, whereas their rims yield ∼21 Ma ages. Correlations with comparable settings in other West Mediterranean Alpine belts are discussed. The BBMs compare with the Triassic carbonates deposited over the crustal units of the Alpujarrides-Sebtides. The assumed Triassic protoliths may have been deposited onto the kinzigites or carried as extensional allochthons over a detachment in the Early Jurassic during the incipient formation of the Alboran Domain continental margin. Thus, it is concluded that the Beni Bousera mantle rocks were exhumed to a shallow depth during early rifting events responsible for the birth of the Maghrebian Tethys.; La chronologie et les processus d’exhumation des péridotites sous-continentales de l’Arc de Gibraltar (Ronda, Beni Bousera) ont fait l’objet de discussions nombreuses ces dernières décennies. Dans ce travail, nous contribuons à ce débat par la cartographie, l’analyse structurale, la pétrologie et la géochronologie U-Th-Pb SHRIMP des marbres de haut degré qui affleurent autour de la moitié sud-est de l’antiforme des Beni Bousera (Rif septentrional). Ces marbres des Beni Bousera (BBMs), loin d’être des intercalations dans l’enveloppe granulitique (kinzigites) des péridotites, comme admis jusqu’ici, forment de petites unités démembrées dans une zone de cisaillement ductile, épaisse de ∼30 à 300 m, entre les kinzigites et les gneiss de l’unité Filali superposée (FBBSZ). Ils comportent des bancs de carbonates dolomitiques silicatés, des bancs détritiques et conglomératiques, des lits carbonatés fins à interlits phylliteux, composant une sédimentation de plateforme. Une discordance, de nature stratigraphique ou tectonique, s’observe localement sur les kinzigites. Les galets et grains clastiques comportent feldspath potassique, quartz, grenat et zircon. Les minéraux du pic métamorphique incluent forstérite, Mg-Al-spinelle, phlogopite, geikielite (MgTiO 3 ) et accessoirement zirconolite, baddeleyite et srilankite dans les marbres dolomitiques ; diopside, phlogopite, scapolite, sphène et accessoirement zircon et graphite dans les marbres calciques. Ceci définit un pic métamorphique de haute température, basse pression proche de 700–750 °C, ≤ 4.5 kbar. Dans le chevauchement FBBSZ, des structures de second ordre sont des zones de cisaillement ductiles à vergence NW amenant des écailles de kinzigites sur les marbres. À l’intérieur de ces derniers, les plis mineurs d’axe NNE sont dominants. Ces structures mylonitiques sont recoupées par des failles normales tardives à pendage nord. Les analyses SHRIMP U-Th-Pb dans le cœur des grains de zircon extraits des marbres indiquent des pics d’âge à ∼270 Ma et ∼340 Ma, tandis que les bordures fournissent des âges Miocène inférieur (∼21 Ma). Les corrélations avec les contextes comparables dans les autres chaînes alpines de Méditerranée occidentale sont examinées. Nous proposons de corréler les marbres des Beni Bousera avec les séries triasiques déposées sur les unités crustales des Alpujarrides-Sebtides. Les protolithes des marbres se sont déposés en transgression sur les kinzigites ou bien y ont été amenés comme allochtones extensionnels durant le Lias au-dessus d’un détachement lié à la formation de la marge continentale du Domaine d’Alboran. Ainsi, les roches mantelliques auraient été exhumées à faible profondeur dès le Trias durant la formation initiale d’une marge hyper-étirée au bord septentrional de la Téthys maghrébine.

International audience; Although they are famous among Earth scientists, the Lherz peridotites are exposed within geological formations of the North Pyrenean Zone (NPZ) still lacking detailed investigations. Our study focuses on the metasediments of the Aulus basin hosting the Lherz peridotite body and associated ultramafic fragments of smaller size. The new data set comprises of structural analysis and detailed geological mapping of the massive Mesozoic marbles that form the prerift sequence typical of the NPZ and of the ultramafic-rich clastic breccia formations surrounding the peridotite bodies. The massive marbles display an evolution from hot and ductile to cold and brittle deformation, indicative of an exhumation process ending with the sedimentary reworking of both the deformed Mesozoic metasediments and the exhumed ultramafic rocks. Crystal Preferred Orientations (CPO) measured in the marbles support a deformation mechanism by dislocation creep of calcite, which is dominant between 400 8C and 600 8C; these deformation temperatures are within the range determined earlier by Clerc et al. (2015), using RSCM (Raman Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Material) geothermometry. As a consequence, we better describe the transition from ductile to brittle deformation in the prerift marbles and clarify the origin of the syn-rift breccias. Due to continuous exhumation along detachments' faults, the brecciated metamorphic carbonates of the prerift NPZ sedimentary cover were passively uplifted towards shallower levels and progressively unroofed, while transported passively on the back of the exhumed ultramafic footwall. These results are consistent with the recent interpretations of the North Pyrenean peridotites as remnants of subcontinental mantle rocks exhumed within the pre-Pyrenean rift system. We emphasize the importance of tectonic decoupling between the Mesozoic sedimentary cover and the Palaeozoic basement, which leads to the juxtaposition of metamorphosed and deformed Mesozoic Please cite this article in press as: Lagabrielle Y, et al. Very high geothermal gradient during mantle exhumation recorded in mylonitic marbles and carbonate breccias from a Mesozoic Pyrenean palaeomargin (Lherz area, North Pyrenean Zone, France). C. R. Geoscience (2016), http://dx.

Congresso congiunto Società Geologica Italiana (SGI) - Società Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia (SIMP), Geosciences for the environment, natural hazards and cultural heritage, 12-14 September 2018, Catania.-- 1 page, The main object of the Proposal 927-pre: “ TyrrhenIan Magmatism & Mantle Exhumation” (TIME) is the understanding of the relationship between the exhumed mantle rocks and the overlying basalts sampled in the Tyrrhenian Basin during the previous ODP Leg 107 (Kastens et al 1988).The scientific objectives of the proposal include studying the kinematics of the opening, the nature and timing of associated magmatism and the geochemistry and deformation of the exhumed mantle section.The proposal resulted from the outcome of the MagellanPlus Workshop “TyrrhenIan Magmatism & Mantle Exhumation” (TIME) sponsored by IODP and ECORD. The workshop was held in the Institute of Marine Science (ISMAR) of the National Council of the Italian Research (CNR) in Bologna on June 5-7, 2017. The proposal 927-pre was submitted on October. 2017 and received the recommendation for the development into a full proposal by the IODP STEP Panel on February 2018.The database used to conceive the drilling project is possibly one of the best available from a rifted basin. The basement of the Tyrrhenian basin has been dredged at highs and drilled in several campaigns, and the stratigraphy is reasonably well known from three previous drilling expeditions, DSDP leg 13, DSPD leg 42 and the ODP leg 107 It is available a full-coverage, high-resolution, multibeam bathymetry of the basin as well as a large data set of vintage and modern 2D MCS reflection profiles and seven regional wide-angle seismic profiles crossing the main geological domains (Moeller et al 2014; Prada et al 2016, 2018)

This article is reply to comment on Pedrera et al. (2017) https://doi.org/10.1029/2018TC005129, We thank Pedreira et al. for their interest in our tectonic model. We face this reply as an opportunity to further clarify and update our approach, as well as to discuss the differences with other lithospheric scale models proposed for the North Iberian Margin. Pedreira et al. (2018) raise four major concerns about our paper: (i) gravity modeling procedure, (ii) interpretation of the high-density body inferred from the positive gravity anomalies, (iii) cross-section restoration, and (iv) geodynamic model. We do not concede that any of these main issues disprove our interpretation. Accordingly, we defend our model by addressing, in the same order as their comments, the questions raised by Pedreira et al. (2018)., This work benefited from the funding of project “Tectonic map of the Iberian Peninsula and the surrounding cordilleras” included in the Spanish National Cartographic Plan, as well as projects CGL2015-71692-P and CGL2016-80687-R of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI).

Tethyan ophiolites show an apparent poorly organized association of ultramafic and mafic rocks. By contrast to the complete mantle-crustal sections of Semail-type ophiolite sheets, Tethyan ophiolites are characterized by a smaller amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by the frequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associated gabbroic intrusions. Therefore, they are considered as typical remnants of oceanic lithosphere formed in slow- spreading environment or in ocean–continent transition at distal passive margins. In the very first models of formation of the Tethyan ophiolites, in the years 1980, the geodynamical processes leading to mantle unroofing were poorly understood due to the paucity of data and concepts available at that time from the present-day oceans. In particular, at that time, little work had focused on the distribution, origin and significance of mafic rocks with respect to the dominant surrounding ultramafics. Here, we reconsider the geology of some typical metaophiolites from the Western Alps and Corsica, and we show how results from the past decade obtained in the current oceans ask for reassessing the significance of the Tethyan ophiolites in general. Revisited examples include a set of representative metaophiolites from the blueschists units of the Western Alps (Queyras region) and from Alpine Corsica (Golo Valley). Field relationships between the ophiolitic basement and the metasedimentary/metavolcanic oceanic cover are described, outlining a typical character of the Tethyan ophiolite lithological associations. Jurassic marbles and polymictic ophiolite metabreccias are unconformably overlying the mantle-gabbo basement, in a way strictly similar to what is observed in the non-metamorphic Appennine ophiolites or Chenaillet massif. This confirms that very early tectonic juxtaposition of ultramafic and mafic rocks occurred in the oceanic domain before subduction. This juxtaposition resulted from tectonic activity that is now assigned to the development of detachment faults and to the formation of Oceanic Core Complexes (OCCs) at the axis of slow spreading ridges. This fundamental Plate Tectonics process is responsible for the exhu- mation and for the axial denudation of mantle rocks and gabbros at diverging plate boundaries. In addition, field relationships between the discontinuous basaltic formations and the ultramafic–mafic basement indicate that this tectonic stage is followed or not by a volcanic stage. We discuss this issue in the light of available field constraints.

The crystallization of plagioclase-bearing assemblages in mantle rocks is witness of mantle exhumation at shallow depth. Previous experimental works on peridotites have found systematic compositional variations in coexisting minerals at decreasing pressure within the plagioclase stability field. In this experimental study we present new constraints on the stability of plagioclase as a function of different Na2O/CaO bulk ratios, and we present a new geobarometer for mantle rocks. Experiments have been performed in a single-stage piston cylinder at 5–10 kbar, 1050–1150 °C at nominally anhydrous conditions using seeded gels of peridotite compositions (Na2O/CaO = 0.08–0.13; X Cr = Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.07–0.10) as starting materials. As expected, the increase of the bulk Na2O/CaO ratio extends the plagioclase stability to higher pressure; in the studied high-Na fertile lherzolite (HNa-FLZ), the plagioclase-spinel transition occurs at 1100 °C between 9 and 10 kbar; in a fertile lherzolite (FLZ) with Na2O/CaO = 0.08, it occurs between 8 and 9 kbar at 1100 °C. This study provides, together with previous experimental results, a consistent database, covering a wide range of P–T conditions (3–9 kbar, 1000–1150 °C) and variable bulk compositions to be used to define and calibrate a geobarometer for plagioclase-bearing mantle rocks. The pressure sensitive equilibrium: $$\mathop {{\text{M}}{{\text{g}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{Si}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{4}}}^{{\text{Ol}}}}\limits_{{\text{Forsterite}}} +\mathop {{\text{CaA}}{{\text{l}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{S}}{{\text{i}}_{\text{2}}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{8}}}^{{\text{Pl}}}}\limits_{{\text{Anorthite}}~} =\mathop {{\text{CaA}}{{\text{l}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{Si}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{6}}}^{{\text{Cpx}}}}\limits_{{\text{Ca-Tschermak}}} +{\text{ }}\mathop {{\text{M}}{{\text{g}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{S}}{{\text{i}}_{\text{2}}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{6}}}^{{\text{Opx}}}}\limits_{{\text{Enstatite}}} ,$$ has been empirically calibrated by least squares regression analysis of experimental data combined with Monte Carlo simulation. The result of the fit gives the following equation: $$P=7.2( \pm 2.9)+0.0078( \pm 0.0021)T{\text{ }}+0.0022( \pm 0.0001)T{\text{ }}\ln K,$$ $${R^2}=0.93,$$ where P is expressed in kbar and T in kelvin. K is the equilibrium constant K = a CaTs × a en/a an × a fo, where a CaTs, a en, a an and a fo are the activities of Ca-Tschermak in clinopyroxene, enstatite in orthopyroxene, anorthite in plagioclase and forsterite in olivine. The proposed geobarometer for plagioclase peridotites, coupled to detailed microstructural and mineral chemistry investigations, represents a valuable tool to track the exhumation of the lithospheric mantle at extensional environments.

International audience; Brecciated and fractured peridotites with a carbonate matrix, referred to as ophicalcites, are common features of mantle rocks exhumed in passive margins and mid-oceanic ridges. Ophicalcites have been found in close association with massive peridotites, which form the numerous ultramafic bodies scattered along the North Pyrenean Zone (NPZ), on the northern flank of the Pyrenean belt. We present the first field, textural and stable isotopic characterization of these rocks. Our observations show that Pyrenean ophicalcites belong to three main types: (1) a wide variety of breccias composed of sorted or unsorted millimeter- to meter-sized clasts of fresh or oxidized ultramafic material, in a fine-grained calcitic matrix; (2) calcitic veins penetrating into fractured serpentine and fresh peridotite; and (3) pervasive substitution of serpentine minerals by calcite. Stable isotopic analyses (O, C) have been conducted on the carbonate matrix, veins and clasts of samples from 12 Pyrenean ultramafic bodies. We show that the Pyrenean ophicalcites are the product of three distinct genetic processes: (1) pervasive ophicalcite resulting from relatively deep and hot hydrothermal activity; (2) ophicalcites in veins resulting from tectonic fracturing and cooler hydrothermal activity; and (3) polymictic breccias resulting from sedimentary processes occurring after the exposure of subcontinental mantle as portions of the floor of basins which opened during the mid-Cretaceous. We highlight a major difference between the eastern and western Pyrenean ophicalcites belonging, respectively, to the sedimentary and to the hydrothermal types. Our data set points to a possible origin of the sedimentary ophicalcites in continental endorheic basins, but a post-depositional evolution by circulation of metamorphic fluids or an origin from relatively warm marine waters cannot be ruled out. Finally, we discuss the significance of such discrepancy in the characteristics of the NPZ ophicalcites in the frame of the variable exhumation history of the peridotites all along the Pyrenean realm.

12 pages, 8 figures, supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the online version at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.01.021, The Gorringe Bank is a gigantic seamount that separates the Horseshoe and Tagus abyssal plains offshore SW Iberia, in a zone that hosts the convergent boundary between the Africa and Eurasia plates. Although the region has been the focus of numerous investigations since the early 1970s, the lack of appropriate geophysical data makes the nature of the basement, and thus the origin of the structures, still debated. In this work, we present combined P-wave seismic velocity and gravity models along a transect that crosses the Gorringe Bank from the Tagus to the Horseshoe abyssal plains. The P-wave velocity structure of the basement is similar in the Tagus and Horseshoe plains. It shows a 2.5-3.0. km-thick top layer with a velocity gradient twice stronger than oceanic Layer 2 and an abrupt change to an underlying layer with a five-fold weaker gradient. Velocity and density is lower beneath the Gorringe Bank probably due to enhanced fracturing, that have led to rock disaggregation in the sediment-starved northern flank. In contrast to previous velocity models of this region, there is no evidence of a sharp crust-mantle boundary in any of the record sections. The modelling results indicate that the sediment overlays directly serpentinite rock, exhumed from the mantle with a degree of serpentinization decreasing from a maximum of 70-80% under the top of Gorringe Bank to less than 5% at a depth of ~20. km. We propose that the three domains were originally part of a single serpentine rock band, of nature and possibly origin similar to the Iberia Abyssal Plain ocean-continent transition, which was probably generated during the earliest phase of the North Atlantic opening that followed continental crust breakup (Early Cretaceous). During the Miocene, the NW-SE trending Eurasia-Africa convergence resulted in thrusting of the southeastern segment of the exhumed serpentinite band over the northwestern one, forming the Gorringe Bank. The local deformation associated to plate convergence and uplift could have promoted pervasive rock fracturing of the overriding plate, leading eventually to rock disaggregation in the northern flank of the GB, which could be now a potential source of rock avalanches and tsunamis. © 2013 Elsevier B.V, The NEAREST project has been funded by the EU Programme "Integrating and Strengthening the European Research Area" of FP6,Sub-Priority 1.1.6.3, "Global Change and Ecosystems", contract no. 037110, andt he NEAREST –SEIS survey was funded by the Complementary Action no. CGL2006-27098-E/BTE of the Spanish MICINN. Additional support came from the MICINN projects MEDOC (CTM2007-66179-C02- 02/MAR), POSEIDON (CTM2010-21569) and SHAKE (CGL2011-30005-C02-02). We also acknowledge funding from MICINN through the Ramon y Cajal programme (R. Bartolome) and CSIC that funded the JAE-Pre fellowship of S.Martínez-Loriente

This paper presents gravimetric and morphologic analyses based on the satellite-derived data set of EGM2008 and TOPEX for the area of the oceanic mantle massif of the Saint Peter and Saint Paul peridotite ridge, Equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The free-air anomaly indicates that the present plate boundary is not situated along the longitudinal graben which cuts peridotite ridge, but about 20 km to the north of it. The high Bouguer anomaly of the peridotite ridge suggests that it is constituted mainly by unserpentinised ultramafic rocks. The absence of isostatic compensation and low-degree serpentinisation of the ultramafic rocks indicate that the peridotite ridge is sustained mainly by active tectonic uplift. The unparallel relation between the transform fault and the relative plate motion generates near north-south compression and the consequent tectonic uplift. In this sense, the peridotite massif is a pressure ridge due to the strike-slip displacement of the Saint Paul Transform Fault. Este trabalho apresenta análises gravimétricas e morfológicas com base nos dados de satélites de EGM2008 e TOPEX para a área do maciço do manto oceânico da cadeia peridotítica de São Pedro e São Paulo, Oceano Atlântico Equatorial. A anomalia ar-livre indica que o contato atual das placas não se situa ao longo da graben longitudinal que se cruza com a cadeia peridotítica, mas em cerca de 20 km ao norte dessa. A alta anomalia Bouguer da cadeia peridotítica sugere que o maciço é constituído principalmente por rochas ultramáficas não serpentinizadas. A ausência de compensação isostática e o baixo grau de serpentinização das rochas ultramáficas indicam que a cadeia peridotítica é sustentada principalmente pelo soerguimento tectônico ativo. A relação não paralela entre a falha transformante e o movimento relativo das placas gera a compressão quase norte-sul e o consequente soerguimento tectônico. Neste sentido, o maciço peridotítico é uma cadeia de pressão devido ao deslocamento lateral da Falha Transformante de São Paulo.