Search

The New Caledonia Trough (NCT) is a 2000–3000 m deep bathymetric feature that extends 2500 km from Taranaki, New Zealand, to the western margin of New Caledonia (Northern Zealandia, SW Pacific). The underlying sedimentary basin originates from Cretaceous extension, but underwent a significant Eocene tectonic event that shaped its present physiography. We present an analysis of the basin based on multibeam data, seismic profiles and rock samples collected on the TAN1312 and TAN1409 Expeditions onboard R/V Tangaroa, combined with legacy data. We focus on the southern part of the basin, where new data reveal a link between compressive deformation of Paleocene strata and their potential reworking into the basin. On the western basin side, Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene strata were deformed by local reverse faults and folds that created a sub-circular bathymetric ridge and seabed exposure. This folded unit (seismic Unit 2) is sharply overlain by a restricted interval imaged as chaotic high-amplitude reflections that are interpreted as syntectonic mass-transport deposits due to slope oversteepening (seismic Unit 1b). This unit is stratigraphically below the main basin onlap surface and seismic mapping revealed that it rapidly thins away from the mouth of a present day submarine canyon imaged on the western slope of the basin, and that is diverted by exposures of Unit 2 deformed strata. Deformed and syntectonic intervals are in turn overlain by a flat-lying unit (seismic Unit 1a) we interpret as reflecting a passive basin fill. Our new data provide insight into an extensive deep-water basin that is remote from terrigenous sediment sources, and new constraints on its Cenozoic tectonic history. Stratigraphic ages are constrained by seismic ties to Taranaki basin petroleum wells and biostratigraphic dating of dredged samples. This specific site has particular significance for understanding tectonic events in the southwest Pacific. Indeed, our observations show that deformation

Volcanism of Late Cretaceous–Miocene age is more widespread across the Zealandia continent than previously recognized. New age and geochemical information from widely spaced northern Zealandia seafloor samples can be related to three volcanotectonic regimes: (1) age-progressive, hotspot-style, low-K, alkali-basalt-dominated volcanism in the Lord Howe Seamount Chain. The northern end of the chain (c. 28 Ma) is spatially and temporally linked to the 40–28 Ma South Rennell Trough spreading centre. (2) Subalkaline, intermediate to silicic, medium-K to shoshonitic lavas of >78–42 Ma age within and near to the New Caledonia Basin. These lavas indicate that the basin and the adjacent Fairway Ridge are underlain by continental rather than oceanic crust, and are a record of Late Cretaceous–Eocene intracontinental rifting or, in some cases, speculatively subduction. (3) Spatially scattered, non-hotspot, alkali basalts of 30–18 Ma age from Loyalty Ridge, Lord Howe Rise, Aotea Basin and Reinga Basin. These lavas are part of a more extensive suite of Zealandia-wide, 97–0 Ma intraplate volcanics. Ages of northern Zealandia alkali basalts confirm that a late Cenozoic pulse of intraplate volcanism erupted across both northern and southern Zealandia. Collectively, the three groups of volcanic rocks emphasize the important role of magmatism in the geology of northern Zealandia, both during and after Gondwana break-up. There is no compelling evidence in our dataset for Late Cretaceous–Paleocene subduction beneath northern Zealandia.

Basin-wide correlation of Messinian units and Plio-Quaternary chronostratigraphic markers (5.3 Ma, 2.6 Ma, 0.9 Ma and 0.45 Ma), the mapping of total sediment thickness and the determination of overall sedimentary volumes enabled us to provide a high-resolution quantitative history of sediment volumes for the last 6 Ma along the Gulf of Lions margin. The results point to (i) a dramatic increase in terrigenous sediment input during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. This increased sedimentation reflects enhanced regional fluvial erosion related to the dramatic fall of Mediterranean base-level. Stronger weathering due to a regional wetter climate probably also increased erosional fluxes. (ii) A sediment input three times higher during the Plio-Quaternary compared to the Miocene seems in agreement with published measurements from World's ocean. However, the timing of this increase being uncertain, it implies that the trigger(s) also remain(s) uncertain. (iii) A decrease in detrital volume around 2.6 Ma is attributed to a regional change in the drainage pattern of rivers in the northwestern Alps. (iv) This study also highlights the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution around 0.9 Ma, which resulted in an almost doubling of sediment input in the Provencal Basin.

The sedimentary architecture of basins and passive margins is determined by a complex interaction of parameters, including subsidence, eustasy, and sediment supply. A quantification of the post-rift (20 Ma-0 Ma) vertical movements of the Gulf of Lion (West Mediterranean) is proposed here based on the stratigraphic study of sedimentary paleomarkers using a large 3D grid of reflection seismic data, correlations with existing drillings, and refraction data. Post-rift subsidence was measured by the direct use of sedimentary geometries analysed in 3D and validated by numerical stratigraphic modelling. Three domains of subsidence were found: on the continental shelf and slope, subsidence corresponds to a seaward tilting with different amplitudes, whereas the deep basin subsides purely vertically. We show that these domains fit with the deeper crustal domains highlighted by previous geophysical data, and that post-break-up subsidence follows the initial hinge lines of the rifting phase. Subsidence rates are quantified on each domain for each stratigraphic interval. At a constant distance from the rotational hinge line, the Plio-Quaternary subsidence rate is constant on the shelf overall. Conversely, Miocene subsidence rates are very different on the eastern and western shelves. Stratigraphic simulations focused on the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) were also performed. Their results are discussed together with our post-rift subsidence estimates in order to provide ideas and hypotheses for future detailed quantifications of Miocene subsidence, including isostatic readjustments linked to the MSC., Définir et quantifier les rôles relatifs des paramètres agissant sur l’architecture finale des bassins sédimentaires et des marges passives (subsidence, eustatisme, apports sédimentaires) n’est pas une tâche facile. La quantification des mouvements verticaux de la marge du golfe du Lion (Méditerranée occidentale) est ici proposée. Elle est basée sur l’étude stratigraphique des paléo-marqueurs sédimentaires identifiés sur un large jeu de données de sismique réflexion corrélés aux puits et données de sismique réfraction existantes. La subsidence post-rift est mesurée directement via les géométries sédimentaires analysées en 3D et validée par des modélisations stratigraphiques. Trois domaines de subsidence sont mis en évidence: sur la plate-forme et la pente continentales, la subsidence prend la forme d’un basculement vers le large avec une amplitude de basculement qui varie, tandis que le bassin profond s’affaisse de façon purement vertical. Nous montrons que ces domaines se corrèlent avec les domaines profonds mis en évidence par les études géophysiques et que la subsidence post-break-up réutilise les lignes charnière initiales du rifting. Les taux de subsidences sont quantifiés sur chaque domaine pour chacun de nos intervalles stratigraphiques. Ils révèlent un taux de subsidence constant à équidistance de la ligne charnière sur l’ensemble de la plate-forme pendant le Plio-Quaternaire. Au contraire, les taux de subsidence sont complètement différents pendant le Miocène entre la plate-forme occidentale et la plate-forme orientale. Des simulations stratigraphiques focalisées sur la crise de salinité messinienne ont également été réalisées. Ces résultats sont discutés conjointement à nos quantifications de subsidence post-rift notamment dans le but de fournir des hypothèses ou éléments pour, à l’avenir, quantifier plus précisément les mouvements verticaux au sein du Miocène et notamment l’amplitude des réajustements isostatiques liés à la Crise de salinité messinienne.

The Messinian Salinity Crisis resulted from desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea after its isolation from the Atlantic Ocean at the end of the Miocene. Stratal geometry tied to borehole data in the Gulf of Lions show that the pre-crisis continental shelf has been eroded during a major sea-level fall and that sediments from this erosion have been deposited in the basin. This detrital package is onlapped by high amplitude seismic reflectors overlain by the “Messinian Salt” and the “Upper Evaporites”. Towards the shelf, the transition between regressive deposits and overlying onlapping sediments is characterised by a wave-ravinement surface, suggesting that a significant part of the onlapping reflectors and overlying Messinian Evaporites were deposited during a relatively slow landward migration of the shoreline. The clear boundary between the smooth wave-ravinement surface and the subaerial Messinian Erosional Surface observed on the Gulf of Lions shelf and onshore in the Rhône valley is interpreted to have resulted from a rapid acceleration of the Mediterranean sea level rise at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Numerical simulation of this cycle of sea level change during the Messinian Salinity Crisis and of precipitation of thick evaporites during the slow sea level rise shows that this scenario can be modelled assuming a value of evaporation minus precipitation of 1.75 m3/m2/yr in the deep Mediterranean basins.

The Messinian Salinity Crisis is well known to have resulted from a significant drop of the Mediterranean sea level. Considering both onshore and offshore observations, the subsequent reflooding is generally thought to have been very sudden. We present here offshore seismic evidence from the Gulf of Lions and re-visited onshore data from Italy and Turkey that lead to a new concept of a two-step reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The refilling was first moderate and relatively slow accompanied by transgressive ravinement, and later on very rapid, preserving the subaerial Messinian Erosional Surface. The amplitude of these two successive rises of sea level has been estimated at =500 similar to m for the first rise and 600900 similar to m for the second rise. Evaporites from the central Mediterranean basins appear to have been deposited principally at the beginning of the first step of reflooding. After the second step, which preceeded the Zanclean Global Stratotype Section and Point, successive connections with the Paratethyan Dacic Basin, then the Adriatic foredeep, and finally the Euxinian Basin occurred, as a consequence of the continued global rise in sea level. A complex morphology with sills and sub-basins led to diachronous events such as the so-called Lago Mare.This study helps to distinguish events that were synchronous over the entire Mediterranean realm, such as the two-step reflooding, from those that were more local and diachronous. In addition, the shoreline that marks the transition between these two steps of reflooding in the Provence Basin provides a remarkable palaeogeographical marker for subsidence studies.