Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-8r8nv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-07T01:48:19.126Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How sensitive are intraplate inherited structures? Insight from the Cévennes Fault System (Languedoc, SE France)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2022

Oriane Parizot Open the ORCID record for Oriane Parizot [Opens in a new window] ,
Yves Missenard Open the ORCID record for Yves Missenard [Opens in a new window] ,
Jocelyn Barbarand Open the ORCID record for Jocelyn Barbarand [Opens in a new window] ,
Thomas Blaise Open the ORCID record for Thomas Blaise [Opens in a new window] ,
Antonio Benedicto Open the ORCID record for Antonio Benedicto [Opens in a new window] ,
Frederic Haurine Open the ORCID record for Frederic Haurine [Opens in a new window]  and
Philippe Sarda Open the ORCID record for Philippe Sarda [Opens in a new window]
Oriane Parizot
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
Yves Missenard*
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
Jocelyn Barbarand
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
Thomas Blaise
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
Antonio Benedicto
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
Frederic Haurine
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
Philippe Sarda
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, GEOPS, 91405, Orsay, France
*
Author for correspondence: Yves Missenard, Email: yves.missenard@universite-paris-saclay.fr
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Deformation in intraplate domains is usually considered as a consequence of tectonic events at plate boundaries. Nevertheless, the occurrence of intraplate earthquakes such as the recent Le Teil event in the south of France along the Cévennes Fault System (CFS), on 11 November 2019, Mw = 4.9, questions whether this far-field deformation only occurs during tectonic pulses at plate boundaries, or if it corresponds to low-intensity but regional continuous deformation through time. To address this question, we have coupled U–Pb geochronology of fault-related calcites with structural analysis along a major fault system (the CFS) in the South-East Basin, France. We evidence (1) an Albian activity of the CFS and (2) a continuous compressional activity of the CFS and satellite structures during the whole Eocene and probably during the Late Cretaceous – Palaeocene, including periods (e.g. Lutetian) usually considered as phases of tectonic quiescence. We thus demonstrate that the tectonic reactivation of this intraplate fault system is not restricted to periods of high rates of deformation at plate boundaries.

Keywords

intraplate deformationPyreneesCévennes Fault SystemU–Pb geochronologyfault-related calciteLA-ICP-MS

Information

Type
ABSOLUTE DATING OF FAULTS AND FRACTURES
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 159 , Issue 11-12: THEMATIC ISSUE: Faults and fractures in rocks: mechanics, occurrence, dating, stress history and fluid flow , November 2022 , pp. 2082 - 2094
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

1. Introduction

Intraplate deformation is often ignored in geodynamic reconstructions because it is expressed in small-amplitude deformations that are often difficult to observe and quantify. This deformation, defined here as the deformation beyond the chain front, is often guided by the reactivation of deeply rooted faults (Lacombe & Mouthereau, Reference Lacombe and Mouthereau1999). The reactivation of these inherited structures induced by far-field stresses may accommodate the deformation, particularly when tectonic events such as continental collision occur at plate boundaries (Ziegler et al. Reference Ziegler, Cloetingh and van Wees1995, Reference Ziegler, van Wees and Cloetingh1998; Dèzes et al. Reference Dèzes, Schmid and Ziegler2004; Willingshofer & Sokoutis, Reference Willingshofer and Sokoutis2009; Willingshofer et al. Reference Willingshofer, Sokoutis, Luth, Beekman and Cloetingh2013; Dielforder et al. Reference Dielforder, Frasca, Brune and Ford2019). The tectonic heritage thus plays an important role, especially by localizing the deformation in these weakly deformed zones, as is the case, for example, in the central Indian Ocean (Chamot-Rooke et al. Reference Chamot-Rooke, Jestin and de Voogd1993; Beekman et al. Reference Beekman, Bull, Cloetingh and Scrutton1996), in the North Sea (Ziegler, Reference Ziegler1987; Nielsen et al. Reference Nielsen, Stephenson and Thomsen2007) or in the Paris Basin (Cazes et al. Reference Cazes, Torreilles, Bois, Damotte, Galdéano, Hirn, Mascle, Matte, Van Ngoc and Raoult1985). Intraplate deformation may be studied through the definition of the stress state from structural measurements (Constantin et al. Reference Constantin, Vergély and Cabrera2002) or from geophysical measurements such as velocity wave anisotropy (Fagereng et al. Reference Fagereng, Remitti and Sibson2010). More recent methods of quantifying the amplitude of movements from low-temperature thermochronology (Leprêtre et al. Reference Leprêtre, Barbarand, Missenard, Gautheron, Pinna Jamme and Saddiqi2017) or the age of movements (U–Pb dating of syn-faulting calcites (Beaudoin et al. Reference Beaudoin, Lacombe, Roberts and Koehn2018; Roberts et al. Reference Roberts, Drost, Horstwood, Condon, Chew, Drake, Milodowski, McLean, Smye, Walker, Haslam, Hodson, Imber and Beaudoin2020; Bilau et al. Reference Bilau, Rolland, Schwartz, Godeau, Guihou, Deschamps, Brigaud, Noret, Dumont and Gautheron2021) allow us to go further and to propose a precise timing of intraplate deformation, in order to determine how and why older faults are reactivated, and what the impact of those faults is.

So far, the degree of sensitivity of these inherited intraplate structures remains largely unknown. Do faults only react to major pulses at plate boundaries? Or do they constitute weak areas deforming through time long before and/or long after deformation peaks? Answering this question requires specifying the age of these deformations along inherited structures, which is often challenging due to a missing or limited syn-tectonic sedimentary record and very low rate of deformation.

Because it is known that the Pyrenean stresses were transmitted very far into the Pyrenean foreland (in the Paris Basin (Lacombe & Obert, Reference Lacombe and Obert2000); in eastern France (Bergerat, Reference Bergerat1987); and even in the UK (Parrish et al. Reference Parrish, Parrish and Lasalle2018)), in this study we investigate the effect of the Pyrenean compressive tectonics on the Cévennes Fault System (CFS) and related structures such as the Pic Saint-Loup thrust (Mattei, Reference Mattei1986) or the Dalle des Matelles (Petit & Mattauer, Reference Petit and Mattauer1995; Fig. 1b). The CFS constitutes the NW border of the South-East Basin, France (Fig. 1a). It is a major intraplate structure that has been reactivated several times during its history. Located NE of the Pyrenees and extending NE to the Alpine arc (Fig. 1a), this 400 km long fault system is known to be polyphased, its formation beginning during the Variscan cycle (Séguret & Proust, Reference Séguret and Proust1965; Arthaud & Matte, Reference Arthaud and Matte1975), continuing during the Tethys rifting, Pyrenean compression and Mediterranean rifting (Séguret & Proust, Reference Séguret and Proust1965; Arthaud & Mattauer, Reference Arthaud and Mattauer1969; Le Pichon et al. Reference Le Pichon, Pautot, Auzende and Olivet1971; Bodeur, Reference Bodeur1976; Roure et al. Reference Roure, Brun, Colletta and Van den Driessche1992; Séranne, Reference Séranne1999; Sanchis & Séranne, Reference Sanchis and Séranne2000; Séranne et al. Reference Séranne, Camus, Lucazeau, Barbarand and Quinif2002) and lasting until the Quaternary (although this recent history has sparked debate: see Ambert et al. Reference Ambert, Philip and Ritz1998; Lacassin et al. Reference Lacassin, Meyer and Benedetti1998; Mattauer, Reference Mattauer1998; Sébrier et al. Reference Sébrier, Bellier, Peulvast and Vergély1998). The CFS constitutes a good candidate to address the question of the sensitivity of intraplate inherited faults to the plate-edge deformation over long durations. Furthermore, this fault zone has been the subject of much recent discussion and preliminary work (Ritz et al. Reference Ritz, Baize, Ferry, Larroque, Audin, Delouis and Mathot2020) since 11 November 2019, when the Teil earthquake (Mw = 4.9, intensity VII to VIII EMS98) occurred along the La Rouvière Fault belonging to the CFS, although this fault had been considered inactive. This recent event also raises the question of the long-term evolution of such an intraplate fault system.

Fig. 1.

Location of the study area and sampling outcrops. (a) Structural map of southern France after 1:1 000 000 BRGM geological map; (b) structural scheme and sampling outcrops (with stars). Modified using 1:50 000 BRGM geological maps.

In this study, we dated compressive or strike-slip related syn-faulting calcites from the southern half of the CFS by U–Pb geochronology. Our results are discussed in the light of a wider geodynamical frame and compared to the relative chronology previously established.

2. Geodynamic context

This study focuses on the Cévennes Fault System and adjacent structures located in the Languedoc region (Fig. 1a–b). This domain is characterized by a polyphased tectonic history that begins with the Variscan orogen formation. The latter resulted from a compressive tectonic regime associated with various stress field orientations until Carboniferous times (Arthaud & Matte, Reference Arthaud and Matte1975; Blés et al. Reference Blés, Bonijoly, Castaing and Gros1989; Faure et al. Reference Faure, Lardeaux and Ledru2009). After that, during the Permian–Triassic, a long period of ∼N–S extension in the south of Massif Central is associated with the formation of basins with clastic deposits of several thousand metres and NE–SW-trending faults such as the CFS (Blés et al. Reference Blés, Bonijoly, Castaing and Gros1989).

During the Triassic to the Early/Middle Jurassic, an extensional episode (Dreyfus & Gottis, Reference Dreyfus and Gottis1948) due to the east–west opening of the Tethys Ocean in southern France (Lemoine, Reference Lemoine1982; Dumont et al. Reference Dumont, Lemoine and Tricart1984; Dercourt et al. Reference Dercourt, Zonenshain, Ricou, Kazmin, Le Pichon, Knipper, Grandjacquet, Sbortshikov, Geyssant, Lepvrier, Pechersky, Boulin, Sibuet, Savostin, Sorokhtin, Westphal, Bazhenov, Lauer and Biju-Duval1986; Lemoine & Graciansky, Reference Lemoine and Graciansky1988; Bonijoly et al. Reference Bonijoly, Perrin, Roure, Bergerat, Courel, Elmi and Mignot1996; Frizon de Lamotte et al. Reference Frizon de Lamotte, Raulin, Mouchot, Wrobel, Blanpied and Ringenbach2011) reactivated the CFS as a normal fault dipping SE (Séguret & Proust, Reference Séguret and Proust1965; Roure et al. Reference Roure, Brun, Colletta and Van den Driessche1992).

During the Early Cretaceous, a major reorganization of the Ligurian Tethys margin led to the formation of the Durancian Isthmus, separated by two marine troughs (the Vocontian and the Pyrenees–Provence basins) (Masse & Philip, Reference Masse and Philip1976). Extensive structures observed near and north of Montpellier have been associated to this event (Dreyfus & Gottis, Reference Dreyfus and Gottis1948; Arthaud & Séguret, Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981; Marchand et al. Reference Marchand, Séranne, Bruguier and Vinches2020). Further west, the opening of the Biscay Bay controlled by the rotation of the Iberian plate led to the formation of narrow Pyrenean basins filled up by turbidites (Choukroune & Mattauer, Reference Choukroune and Mattauer1978; Puigdefàbregas & Souquet, Reference Puigdefàbregas and Souquet1986; Debroas, Reference Debroas1987; Roest & Srivastava, Reference Roest and Srivastava1991; Rosenbaum et al. Reference Rosenbaum, Lister and Duboz2002; Sibuet et al. Reference Sibuet, Srivastava and Spakman2004; Jammes et al. Reference Jammes, Manatschal, Lavier and Masini2009; Tugend et al. Reference Tugend, Manatschal, Kusznir, Masini, Mohn and Thinon2014; Tavani et al. Reference Tavani, Bertok, Granado, Piana, Salas, Vigna and Muñoz2018).

Shortening in the Pyrenean belt began as early as the Coniacian according to Andrieu et al. (Reference Andrieu, Saspiturry, Lartigau, Issautier, Angrand and Lasseur2021). This early episode is known throughout the Pyrenean belt as the first phase of compressive deformation (Filleaudeau et al. Reference Filleaudeau, Mouthereau and Pik2012; Mouthereau et al. Reference Mouthereau, Filleaudeau, Vacherat, Pik, Lacombe, Fellin, Castelltort, Christophoul and Masini2014; Grool et al. Reference Grool, Ford, Vergés, Huismans, Christophoul and Dielforder2018; Ternois et al. Reference Ternois, Odlum, Ford, Pik, Stockli, Tibari, Vacherat and Bernard2019). It is also highlighted in many studies focusing on the geodynamic history of the South-East Basin – in Provence (Lacombe et al. Reference Lacombe, Angelier and Laurent1992; Leleu et al. Reference Leleu, Ghienne and Manatschal2005; Espurt et al. Reference Espurt, Hippolyte, Saillard and Bellier2012) as well as in Languedoc (Mattauer & Proust, Reference Mattauer and Proust1962; Freytet, Reference Freytet1971; Arthaud & Séguret, Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981; Combes et al. Reference Combes, Peybernès, Fondecave-Wallez, Séranne, Lesage and Camus2007; Schreiber et al. Reference Schreiber, Giannerini and Lardeaux2011; Hemelsdaël et al. Reference Hemelsdaël, Séranne, Husson and Ballas2021)-. In the latter, the record of the Pyrenean orogen early building begins in the Campanian–Maastrichtian period, according to many authors (Freytet, Reference Freytet1971; Combes et al. Reference Combes, Peybernès, Fondecave-Wallez, Séranne, Lesage and Camus2007; Schreiber et al. Reference Schreiber, Giannerini and Lardeaux2011), although Arthaud & Séguret (Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981) attribute this beginning to the Palaeocene – Early Eocene. Although this early event seems difficult to constrain in time, Mattauer & Proust (Reference Mattauer and Proust1962), Arthaud & Séguret (Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981), and Hemelsdaël et al. (Reference Hemelsdaël, Séranne, Husson and Ballas2021) mainly associate the Montpellier Fold formation with this phase of shortening.

The Lutetian period in the study area corresponds to the deposit of lacustrine limestones, in a quiescent tectonic context (Arthaud & Séguret, Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981). The so-called Pyrenean phase of Upper Eocene age is associated in Languedoc with (1) the formation of Bartonian breccias and Priabonian fluvial conglomerates with internal onlap illustrating syn-depositional deformation (Séranne et al. Reference Séranne, Couëffé, Husson, Baral and Villard2021), (2) the formation or reactivation of most major structures such as the Pic Saint-Loup thrust (Arthaud & Séguret, Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981) (Fig. 1b), and (3) a σ1 direction of the main stress of ∼N15°E as recorded for instance on the Dalle des Matelles (Fig. 1b) (Arthaud & Laurent, Reference Arthaud and Laurent1995; Petit & Mattauer, Reference Petit and Mattauer1995). Therefore, the Languedoc region records two tectonic episodes associated with the convergence of the Iberian and Eurasian plates at ages ∼ Late Cretaceous – early Eocene and late Eocene (Bartonian–Priabonian). Distinction between these two tectonic phases is, however, not recorded in the intraplate domain to the north, where recent work shows a weak but continuous record of deformation in the Grands Causses area (Fig. 1a) from the Late Cretaceous to the late Eocene (Parizot et al. Reference Parizot, Missenard, Vergely, Haurine, Noret, Delpech, Barbarand and Sarda2020). Regarding the CFS, as well as the Nimes and Durance faults, many authors show reverse-sinistral strike-slip motion during Palaeogene times at the origin of elevated horsts such as the Jurassic Thaurac plateau (between Ganges and Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois; Fig. 1b) (Séguret & Proust, Reference Séguret and Proust1965; Arthaud & Mattauer, Reference Arthaud and Mattauer1969; Lacombe & Jolivet, Reference Lacombe and Jolivet2005; Hemelsdaël et al. Reference Hemelsdaël, Séranne, Husson and Ballas2021; Séranne et al. Reference Séranne, Couëffé, Husson, Baral and Villard2021). This motion is coeval with E–W compressive structures growth, and Bodeur (Reference Bodeur1976) describes a strike-slip throw of almost 15 km along the CFS.

The Priabonian period for Languedoc corresponds to a switching from compression to extension (Séranne et al. Reference Séranne, Couëffé, Husson, Baral and Villard2021). Since this time, and until the Aquitanian (Oudet et al. Reference Oudet, Münch, Borgomano, Quillevere, Melinte-Dobrinescu, Demory, Viseur and Cornee2010), the geodynamic context of the Mediterranean domain (Fig. 1a) is associated with convergence of Eurasia and Africa plates and the retreat of the African slab to the SE that induced the opening of the Gulf of Lion and the rotation of the Corso-Sardinian Block. This extensional phase involves the whole Southern European margin (Le Pichon et al. Reference Le Pichon, Pautot, Auzende and Olivet1971; Séranne, Reference Séranne1999; Jolivet et al. Reference Jolivet, Romagny, Gorini, Maillard, Thinon, Couëffé, Ducoux and Séranne2020; Hemelsdaël et al. Reference Hemelsdaël, Séranne, Husson and Ballas2021; Séranne et al. Reference Séranne, Couëffé, Husson, Baral and Villard2021), and is characterized by (1) a NW–SE opening direction recorded in the whole Languedoc region (Séguret & Proust, Reference Séguret and Proust1965; Arthaud et al. Reference Arthaud, Ogier and Séguret1981), and (2) the reactivation of the CFS with normal kinematics, which is responsible for the development of NE–SW-trending Oligocene basins (e.g. the Montoulieu and Alès basins; Fig. 1a–b) (Le Pichon et al. Reference Le Pichon, Pautot, Auzende and Olivet1971; Roure et al. Reference Roure, Brun, Colletta and Van den Driessche1992; Séranne, Reference Séranne1999; Sanchis & Séranne, Reference Sanchis and Séranne2000).

Since the beginning of Neogene times, the region has been relatively quiet from a tectonic point of view, although Roy & Trémolières (Reference Roy and Trémolières1992) documented Miocene N–S-trending reverse faults in the Alès basin and Bergerat (Reference Bergerat1987) reported activity of the CFS in a dextral movement during the Aquitanian, associated with a tectonic episode recorded on the whole European platform and interpreted as a resumption of the Africa/Europe convergence. According to Séranne et al. (Reference Séranne, Camus, Lucazeau, Barbarand and Quinif2002), this major fault was subsequently reactivated during post-Langhian – pre-Messinian times. Currently, the Teil earthquake (11 November 2019) located at the NE extremity of the CFS reveals ongoing activity (Ritz et al. Reference Ritz, Baize, Ferry, Larroque, Audin, Delouis and Mathot2020).

3. Samples and methods

A total of 54 calcites were microstructurally studied and sampled in 22 outcrops on decimetric to metric faults. We only focused on syn-faulting calcites corresponding to calcites with stair-step morphology demonstrating their syntectonic origin (Vergely & Xu, Reference Vergely and Xu1988) (Fig. 2a–b). Moreover, we decided to sample only calcites with a single striation generation, in order to limit age mixing and the possible reopening of the isotopic system.

Fig. 2.

Syn-faulting calcite samples. (a) Schematic sketch of a portion of a fault mirror with fault-related calcites (modified from Vergely & Xu, Reference Vergely and Xu1988) and example of a syn-faulting calcite observed in the field. (b) Illustrations of two sinistral fault-related calcites observed near Les Matelles and Puéchabon (Fig. 1b). (c) Petrographic observations: reflected light and CL images of syn-faulting calcites. See text and the online Supplementary Material (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000152) for details of petrographic observations.

Petrographic and geochemical analyses were performed on polished samples mounted in epoxy. Petrographic observation was conducted using a binocular, as well as optical and cathodoluminescence (CL), microscopy. CL observations were carried out on an Olympus BX41 microscope coupled to a Cathodyne® cold-cathode cathodoluminescence device (NewTec, Nîmes, France) operating at 10–12 kV and 200–300 µA, and a Qicam Fast® 1394 digital camera (TELEDYNE QIMAGING®, Surrey, Canada).

Calcite samples were dated by U–Pb geochronology using a high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) Element XR® from Thermo Scientific® coupled to a Laser Ablation system (LA) ArF 193 nm from Teledyne Photon Machines® at the Paris-Saclay University – GEOPS laboratory. Details on syn-faulting calcite samples and methods can be found in the Supplementary Material (available online at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000152).

4. Results

Dating was successful for ∼25 % of the samples (13/54 samples). Dated samples correspond to syn-kinematic calcites with single generation (see for instance Fig. 2a–b) associated with reverse and strike-slip faults. Petrographic observations in reflected light and CL have been used to delimit zones for U–Pb geochronology: areas where calcite crystals were not milky white or clear white grey in reflected light were excluded. These excluded areas generally correspond to the edges of the samples, and often show a colour variation in CL in comparison with the determined ablation areas. In CL microscopy, calcite crystals show a relatively homogeneous luminescence without zoning (Fig. 2c) (see the online Supplementary Material at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000152 for more details and petrographic illustrations).

4.a. SB samples

‘SB’ calcites were sampled on an outcrop corresponding to a Malm limestone lens, at Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois (Figs 1b, 3a). This outcrop is 150 m long and a few metres wide over a height of 2 m, along the Demoiselles cave road. The lens, oriented 40° N, is included between Oligocene formations to the SE and Lower Cretaceous formations to the NW and is separated from them by two major faults of the CFS. The outcrop is strongly deformed with vertical sigmoidal planes, attesting to a reverse-sinistral activity of the CFS. Four fault-related calcites were sampled in the Jurassic formation on these vertical planes. SB-1 and SB-4 come from dextral strike-slip faults oriented N78°–84°N – p58°NE and N76°SV – p51°NE respectively (Fig. 3a). SB-2 and SB-3 are sinistral strike-slip fault-related calcites oriented N66°–74°S – p17°SO and N59°–84°N – p0° respectively (Fig. 3a). U–Pb ages are c. 40 Ma (Lutetian/Priabonian): 36.6 ± 1.8 Ma for sample SB-1, 39.6 ± 3.4 Ma for SB-2, 40.8 ± 3.3 Ma for SB-3 and 41.3 ± 2.1 Ma for SB-4 (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3a.

Outcrop illustrations and stereonet showing the dated fault plane and slickenside. (a) Malm limestone lens with vertical sigmoidal planes at Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois (Fig. 1b); ‘SB’ samples come from this outcrop. (b) Entrance to the ‘Demoiselles caves’ and Kimmeridgian–Tithonian limestone cliff in the background, from which the ‘GD’ calcites were sampled. The bedding is sub-horizontal. (c) Large fault mirror (CFS) with grooves in the Kimmeridgian Formation, SW of Pégairolles-de-Buèges (Fig. 1b). ‘PB’ calcites were sampled from small fault mirrors at the bottom of this outcrop. The bedding is sub-horizontal. (d) Metric-scale east–west axis fold near the Corconne fault, in the Berriasian sub-horizontal Formation (Fig. 1b) ‘SL-1’ sample comes from the fault-propagation fold affecting these limestones. (e) Bartonian Formation currently vertical with conglomerates and reverse faults (from which the ‘SL-2’ calcite has been sampled), south of Saint-Martin-de-Londres (Fig. 1b). (f) Strike-slip fault-related calcite on a Kimmeridgian–Tithonian outcrop (Puéchabon outcrop; Fig. 1b). ‘SL-3’ sample comes from this fault mirror. The formation is tilted to the NE. (g) Malm Dalles des Matelles, near the Matelles Fault (Petit & Mattauer, Reference Petit and Mattauer1995) (Fig. 1b), from which the DM-1 sample was collected. The bedding is sub-horizontal.

Fig. 3b.

Fig. 4.

Results of syn-faulting calcite U–Pb geochronology in comparison with the deformation chronology in Languedoc domain. The U–Pb ages are represented by the white circles for samples of the CFS and black squares for samples from related structures, all with their propagated uncertainties (2σ).

4.b. GD samples

‘GD’ calcites come from another outcrop located 600 m west of the entry of the Demoiselles cave (Figs 1b, 3b). It corresponds to a 30 m high Kimmeridgian–Tithonian limestone cliff, forming the southern end of the Thaurac plateau. This outcrop is further separated from the Lower Cretaceous outcropping a few metres to the south by a secondary fault of the CFS, 8 km long in a 60° N direction. Three calcite samples were dated and correspond to two dextral fault-related calcites (GD-1: N63°–29°NO – p56°N; GD-3: N73°–47°NO – p45°W) and one sinistral strike-slip fault-related calcite (GD-2: N52°–65°NO – p7°SO) (Fig. 3b). The U–Pb ages are respectively 48.3 ± 2.7 Ma (Early Eocene; GD-1), 52.9 ± 6.3 Ma (Early Eocene; GD-2) and 63.8 ± 11.9 Ma (Palaeocene; GD-3) (Fig. 4).

4.c. PB samples

At 3 km SW of Pégairolles-de-Buèges, a large fault mirror, 20 m wide and >15 m high, in a Kimmeridgian formation corresponds to the major fault of the CFS according to the 1:50 000 French Geological Survey (BRGM) geological map of Le Caylar (Alabouvette et al. Reference Alabouvette, Bodeur, Mattei, Lopez, Rançon and Paloc1987; Figs 1b, 3c). This mirror includes large grooves without calcite. Within 5 m of the main mirror, small metric fault planes are composed of fault-related calcites. Two dated calcite samples were collected on these strike-slip faults, corresponding to a sinistral fault (PB-1: N34°–52°SE – p2°SO) and a dextral fault (PB-2: N171°–86°NE – p9°NO) (Fig. 3c). The U–Pb ages indicate an activity of these faults during Albian times: 101.8 ± 8.9 Ma for PB-1 and 104.2 ± 6.2 Ma for PB-2 (Fig. 4).

4.d. Peripheral structures: SL and DM samples

Fault-related calcites collected south of the Saint-Martin-de-Londres basin (SL-1 to 3 and DM-1) and corresponding to peripheral metric-scale faults of the CFS (10 km to the SW) have been dated. SL-1 is located on a fault plane corresponding to the fault-propagation fold affecting Berriasian limestones, near the Corconne Fault, on the NE termination of the Pic Saint-Loup thrust (near D1 road) (Figs 1b, 3d). This sample is related to a reverse fault (N90°–85°S – p90°), and its U–Pb age is 34.6 ± 3.2 Ma (Priabonian; Fig. 4). SL-2 is a syn-faulting calcite sampled in the Bartonian Formation, SE of Saint-Martin-de-Londres (Figs 1b, 3e). The present-day orientation shows a reverse fault (N120°–30°NE – p47°NO). When corrected from strata-tilting, this fault is a normal fault (Fig. 3e). U–Pb age is 39.9 ± 6.8 Ma (Bartonian; Fig. 4). Considering that this age is similar to that of other dated strike-slip or reverse faults (SB-1, SB-2, SB-3, SB-4, SL-1), it is likely that this fault plane results from a compressive regime in a formerly folded formation. Calcite SL-3 comes from a Kimmeridgian–Tithonian outcrop, NW of Puéchabon, on the SW lateral termination of the Pic Saint-Loup thrust (Figs 1b, 3f). It corresponds to a sinistral strike-slip fault-related calcite (SL-3: N43°–47°SE – p13°NE; Fig. 3f) with an Ypresian U–Pb age of 50.4 ± 8.3 Ma (Fig. 4). Finally, a sinistral strike-slip fault-related calcite (DM-1: N176°–86°O – p0°) from the Malm Dalle des Matelles (near the Matelles Fault; Figs 1b, 3g; Petit & Mattauer, Reference Petit and Mattauer1995) has been dated at 45.0 ± 8.5 Ma (Fig. 4). Exact locations of dated samples are given in the online Supplementary Material at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000152.

5. Discussion

5.a. Activity of the CFS during Albian times

The ages obtained on syn-faulting calcites, associated with the CFS, coupled with the structural data, indicate a reactivation of the CFS during the Albian (Fig. 4). This deformation episode is also recorded in the Montoulieu Basin (north of Saint-Bauzille de Putois; Fig. 1b) by an unconformity between the Neocomian formations and the base of the Upper Cretaceous deposits (Alabouvette et al. Reference Alabouvette, Arthaud, Bodeur, Paloc, Séguret, Le Strat, Ellenberger, Macquar and Coumoul1988). At the scale of the South-East Basin, the major regional strike-slip structures were also active during the Albian, with a dextral movement for the Toulourenc Fault (corresponding to the Ventoux thrust since its tectonic inversion in the Cenozoic; Montenat et al. Reference Montenat, Janin and Barrier2004), and a sinistral movement for the Nîmes and Durance faults (Montenat et al. Reference Montenat, Janin and Barrier2004; Fig. 5a). This reactivation of the NE–SW inherited structures is coeval with (1) denudation recorded by thermochronological data in the Massif Central 100–130 Ma ago (Barbarand et al. Reference Barbarand, Lucazeau, Pagel and Seranne2001, Reference Barbarand, Préhaud, Baudin, Missenard, Matray, François, Blaise, Pinna-Jamme and Gautheron2020; Peyaud et al. Reference Peyaud, Barbarand, Carter and Pagel2005; Fig. 5a), (2) tectonics highlighted by Guyonnet-Benaize et al. (Reference Guyonnet-Benaize, Lamarche, Masse, Villeneuve and Viseur2010) and (3) formation of bauxites along the Durancian Isthmus (Combes, Reference Combes1990; Chanvry et al. Reference Chanvry, Marchand, Lopez, Séranne, Le Saout and Vinches2020; Marchand et al. Reference Marchand, Séranne, Bruguier and Vinches2020; Fig. 5a).

Fig. 5.

Updated compilation of structural and palaeogeographical maps of southern France. (a) Mid-Cretaceous times. Modified after Marchand et al. (Reference Marchand, Séranne, Bruguier and Vinches2020), and completed from Combes (Reference Combes1990), Barbarand et al. (Reference Barbarand, Lucazeau, Pagel and Seranne2001), Montenat et al. (Reference Montenat, Janin and Barrier2004), Peyaud et al. (Reference Peyaud, Barbarand, Carter and Pagel2005) and Olivetti et al. (Reference Olivetti, Balestrieri, Godard, Bellier, Gautheron, Valla, Zattin, Faccenna, Pinna-Jamme and Manchuel2020). The locations of basins and NE–SW faults on the sketch map come from Peybernès & Souquet (Reference Peybernès and Souquet1984), Mencos et al. (Reference Mencos, Carrera and Muñoz2015) and Tavani et al. (Reference Tavani, Bertok, Granado, Piana, Salas, Vigna and Muñoz2018). (b) Priabonian times after Arthaud & Mattauer (Reference Arthaud and Mattauer1969), Mattauer & Henry (Reference Mattauer and Henry1974), Arthaud & Séguret (Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981), Plaziat (Reference Plaziat1981), Lacombe & Jolivet (Reference Lacombe and Jolivet2005), Vacherat et al. (Reference Vacherat, Mouthereau, Pik, Huyghe, Paquette, Christophoul, Loget and Tibari2017) and Séranne et al. (Reference Séranne, Couëffé, Husson, Baral and Villard2021).

Our U–Pb dataset and geochronological data from previous authors testify to a major deformation event in the intraplate domain during the Albian, as recorded in the Causses domain area at that time by the formation of normal faults, according to Parizot et al. (Reference Parizot, Missenard, Vergely, Haurine, Noret, Delpech, Barbarand and Sarda2020). We propose that this event could be a consequence of the opening of the Pyrenean basins to the south in Lower Cretaceous times (Choukroune et al. Reference Choukroune, Le Pichon, Séguret and Sibuet1973). Indeed, some recent studies have shown a major implication of the inherited NE–SW structures in the opening of the Pyrenean basins along a NE–SW axis, from the Santander Fault to the west to the Limone–Viozene northern Fault to the east (Jammes et al. Reference Jammes, Manatschal, Lavier and Masini2009; Tugend et al. Reference Tugend, Manatschal, Kusznir, Masini, Mohn and Thinon2014; Tavani et al. Reference Tavani, Bertok, Granado, Piana, Salas, Vigna and Muñoz2018). In this way, the activity of the CFS may be directly related to the formation of the extensive Pyrenean basins although a precise kinematic model remains to be established.

5.b. The activity of the CFS during the Pyrenean phase

Ages obtained on the fault-related calcites of the Demoiselles cave Fault (samples GD-1, GD-2, GD-3), from ∼76 to 45 Ma (2σ included), and Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois Fault (samples SB-1, SB-2, SB-3, SB-4), from ∼ 43 to 35 Ma (2σ included), show continuous tectonic activity during the whole Eocene (from Ypresian (GD-2) to Priabonian (SB-1); Fig. 4) and perhaps since the Palaeocene (GD-3; Fig. 4). We therefore assimilate all of these fault-related calcites to the Pyrenean episode at the origin of the reactivation of the CFS in reverse-sinistral movement throughout the Eocene (Séguret & Proust, Reference Séguret and Proust1965; Arthaud & Mattauer, Reference Arthaud and Mattauer1969; Arthaud & Séguret, Reference Arthaud and Séguret1981) (Fig. 5b).

The U–Pb ages obtained on the peripheral structures of the CFS (such as the Dalle des Matelles and the faults around the Pic Saint-Loup thrust) also point to a deformation phase during the Eocene. Although debatable due to analytical uncertainties, the U–Pb ages may reflect a continuous growth of the Pic Saint-Loup structure from the Ypresian to the Priabonian.

As a whole, this study highlights brittle deformation in the Languedoc region contemporary with the formation of the orogen in Palaeocene and Eocene times (Grool et al. Reference Grool, Ford, Vergés, Huismans, Christophoul and Dielforder2018), as also observed during the emplacement of the SE Pyrenean thrust sheet sequence (see fig. 6 of Cruset et al. Reference Cruset, Vergés, Albert, Gerdes, Benedicto, Cantarero and Travé2020), a result that is in agreement with those obtained in the Grands Causses area, to the north, also showing a long and continuous deformation during the Eocene (Parizot et al. Reference Parizot, Missenard, Vergely, Haurine, Noret, Delpech, Barbarand and Sarda2020). On the other hand, this deformation chronology highlighted in the Languedoc region does not mimic the sequence of paroxysmic events in the orogen. Indeed, neither the Bartonian–Priabonian exhumation event (Morris et al. Reference Morris, Sinclair and Yell1998; Fitzgerald et al. Reference Fitzgerald, Muñoz, Coney and Baldwin1999; Sinclair, Reference Sinclair2005; Curry et al. Reference Curry, van der Beek, Huismans, Wolf and Muñoz2019) nor the Lutetian deformation phase (Parizot et al. Reference Parizot, Missenard, Haurine, Blaise, Barbarand, Benedicto and Sarda2021) and even less the Miocene event (Parizot et al. Reference Parizot, Missenard, Haurine, Blaise, Barbarand, Benedicto and Sarda2021) stand out on our dataset.

The absence of age clusters during Palaeogene times, like the ones outlined by Parizot et al. (Reference Parizot, Missenard, Haurine, Blaise, Barbarand, Benedicto and Sarda2021), demonstrates a continuum of deformation in the Languedoc domain through the Eocene. This Eocene continuum of the deformation of the sedimentary cover at the meso-structural scale contrasts with the jerky calendar deduced from sedimentary-based interpretations at the regional scale (Philip et al. Reference Philip, Mattauer, Bodeur, Séguret, Puech and Mattei1978). It implies that the occurrence of detrital series, such as the Bartonian breccias on top of the Lutetian lacustrine limestones in the Saint-Martin-de Londres-Basin, does not reflect a specific regional tectonic event as previously interpreted (Philip et al. Reference Philip, Mattauer, Bodeur, Séguret, Puech and Mattei1978). These detrital series may be the consequence of local exhumation along the Pic Saint-Loup thrust at that time, or of external processes, such as climate change or drainage network evolution.

Finally, the absence of deformation in the CFS associated with the early Miocene event highlighted by Parizot et al. (Reference Parizot, Missenard, Haurine, Blaise, Barbarand, Benedicto and Sarda2021) and Hoareau et al. (Reference Hoareau, Crognier, Lacroix, Aubourg, Roberts, Niemi, Branellec, Beaudoin and Suárez Ruiz2021), respectively on the northern and southern foreland of the Pyrenean belt, could reflect that it is restricted to the belt core, although we suggest here the potential sensitivity of the CFS to such an event. Further exhaustive sampling and dating along the strike of the CFS will probably allow this phase along this inherited structure to be seen, as proposed by Bergerat (Reference Bergerat1987).

6. Conclusion

The Cévennes Fault System is well known to have been reactivated several times from its formation to current days. Indeed, according to previous authors this Variscan fault system was first reactivated during the Jurassic rifting and the opening of the Tethyan Ocean. This study highlights an additional reactivation of the CFS during the Albian (c. 100 Ma) associated with the opening of the Pyrenean basins.

During the N–S convergence between the Iberia and Eurasia plates (Fig. 5b), our U–Pb dataset demonstrates continuous compressional deformation throughout the Eocene and probably during the Late Cretaceous to the Palaeocene. Thus, deformation in the Languedoc domain did not occur only during short events as previously interpreted from the sedimentary record, but lasted way longer.

Considering these new results and the fact that the CFS was also latter reactivated as a normal fault during the Oligocene, as a dextral strike-slip fault during the Aquitanian, and is currently still active to the north (Teil earthquake, 11 November 2019), it appears that the CFS constitutes a weak domain very sensitive to plate boundary evolution. These results suggest a discontinuous but long-lasting activity a few tens to hundreds of kilometres from the plate boundary. The extreme sensitivity of this fault system raises the question of stress transmission modalities from the plate boundaries to the intraplate domain. To address this question, future thermomechanical modelling integrating the rheology of the lithosphere coupled with additional U–Pb ages will be essential.

Supplementary material

To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000152

Acknowledgements

This work is part of O. Parizot’s PhD funded by a Paris-Saclay University research grant (ED SMEMAG). It was also supported by the TelluS Program of CNRS-INSU. We thank three anonymous reviewers and journal editor O. Lacombe for their valuable comments that helped to improve the quality of the manuscript.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare none.

References

Alabouvette, B, Arthaud, F, Bodeur, Y, Paloc, H, Séguret, M, Le Strat, P, Ellenberger, F, Macquar, JC and Coumoul, A (1988) Carte géologique de la France, feuille 997: Le Vigan. Orléans: Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières.Google Scholar
Alabouvette, B, Bodeur, Y, Mattei, J, Lopez, M, Rançon, JP and Paloc, H (1987) Carte géologique de la France, feuille 962: Le Caylar. Orléans: Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières.Google Scholar
Ambert, P, Philip, H and Ritz, J-F (1998) Commentaires à la note de Robin Lacassin, Bertrand Meyer, Lucilla Benedetti, Rolando Armijo et Paul Tapponnier. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences 327, 855–9.Google Scholar
Andrieu, S, Saspiturry, N, Lartigau, M, Issautier, B, Angrand, P and Lasseur, E (2021) Large-scale vertical movements in Cenomanian to Santonian carbonate platform in Iberia: indicators of a Coniacian pre-orogenic compressive stress (eds O Lacombe, S Tavani, A Teixell, D Pedreira, and S Calassou). BSGF – Earth Sciences Bulletin 192, 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthaud, F and Laurent, P (1995) Contraintes, déformation et déplacement dans l’avant-pays Nord-pyrénéen du Languedoc méditerranéen. Geodinamica Acta 8, 142–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthaud, F and Mattauer, M (1969) Sur les décrochements NE-SW sénestres contemporains des plis pyrénéens du Languedoc. Compte Rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Societé Géologique de France 8, 290–1.Google Scholar
Arthaud, F and Matte, P (1975) Les décrochements tardi-hercyniens du sud-ouest de l’Europe. Géometrie et essai de reconstitution des conditions de la déformation. Tectonophysics 25, 139–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthaud, F and Séguret, M (1981) Les structures Pyrénéennes du Languedoc et du Golfe du Lion (Sud de la France). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 7, 51–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthaud, F, Ogier, M and Séguret, M (1981) Géologie et géophysique du Golfe du Lion et de sa bordure nord. Bulletin BRGM 1, 175–93.Google Scholar
Barbarand, J, Lucazeau, F, Pagel, M and Seranne, M (2001) Burial and exhumation history of the south-eastern Massif Central (France) constrained by apatite fission-track thermochronology. Tectonophysics 335, 275–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbarand, J, Préhaud, P, Baudin, F, Missenard, Y, Matray, JM, François, T, Blaise, T, Pinna-Jamme, R and Gautheron, C (2020) Where are the limits of Mesozoic intracontinental sedimentary basins of southern France? Marine and Petroleum Geology 121, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaudoin, N, Lacombe, O, Roberts, NMW and Koehn, D (2018) U-Pb dating of calcite veins reveals complex stress evolution and thrust sequence in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA. Geology 46, 1015–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beekman, F, Bull, JM, Cloetingh, S and Scrutton, RA (1996) Crustal fault reactivation facilitating lithospheric folding/buckling in the central Indian Ocean In Modern Developments in Structural Interpretation, Validation and Modelling (eds PG Buchanan & DA Nieuland), pp. 251–63. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergerat, F (1987) Paléo-champs de contrainte tertiaire dans la plate-forme européenne au front de l’orogène alpin. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 8, 611–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilau, A, Rolland, Y, Schwartz, S, Godeau, N, Guihou, A, Deschamps, P, Brigaud, B, Noret, A, Dumont, T and Gautheron, C (2021) Extensional reactivation of the Penninic frontal thrust 3 Myr ago as evidenced by U–Pb dating on calcite in fault zone cataclasite. Solid Earth 12, 237–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blés, JL, Bonijoly, D, Castaing, C and Gros, Y (1989) Successive post-Variscan stress fields in the French Massif Central and its borders (Western European plate): comparison with geodynamic data. Tectonophysics 169, 79–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bodeur, Y (1976) Evaluation de l’amplitude du décrochement cévenol par le décalage des faciès récifaux des environs de Ganges. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences 282, 961–3.Google Scholar
Bonijoly, D, Perrin, J, Roure, F, Bergerat, F, Courel, L, Elmi, S and Mignot, A (1996) The Ardèche palaeomargin of the South-East Basin of France: Mesozoic evolution of a part of the Tethyan continental margin (Géologie Profonde de la France programme). Marine and Petroleum Geology 13, 607–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cazes, M, Torreilles, G, Bois, C, Damotte, B, Galdéano, A, Hirn, A, Mascle, A, Matte, P, Van Ngoc, P and Raoult, J-F (1985) Structure de la croûte hercynienne du Nord de la France: premiers résultats du profil ECORS. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 8, t. I, 925–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chamot-Rooke, N, Jestin, F and de Voogd, B (1993) Intraplate shortening in the central Indian Ocean determined from a 2100-km-long north-south deep seismic reflection profile. Geology 21, 1043–6.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chanvry, E, Marchand, E, Lopez, M, Séranne, M, Le Saout, G and Vinches, M (2020) Tectonic and climate control on allochthonous bauxite deposition: example from the mid-Cretaceous Villeveyrac basin, southern France. Sedimentary Geology 407, 105727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choukroune, P, Le Pichon, X, Séguret, M and Sibuet, J-C (1973) Bay of Biscay and Pyrenees. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 18, 109–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choukroune, P and Mattauer, M (1978) Tectonique des plaques et Pyrénées: Sur le fonctionnement de la faille transformante nord-pyrénéenne; comparaisons avec des modèles actuels. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 5, 689–700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Combes, P-J (1990) Typologie, cadre géodynamique et genèse des bauxites françaises. Geodinamica Acta 4, 91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Combes, P-J, Peybernès, B, Fondecave-Wallez, M-J, Séranne, M, Lesage, J-L and Camus, H (2007) Latest-Cretaceous/Paleocene karsts with marine infillings from Languedoc (South of France): paleogeographic, hydrogeologic and geodynamic implications. Geodinamica Acta 20, 301–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constantin, J, Vergély, P and Cabrera, J (2002) Tectonic evolution and related fracturing in the Causses Basin (Aveyron, France): the Tournemire area example. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 173, 229–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruset, D, Vergés, J, Albert, R, Gerdes, A, Benedicto, A, Cantarero, I and Travé, A (2020) Quantifying deformation processes in the SE Pyrenees using U–Pb dating of fracture-filling calcites. Journal of the Geological Society 177, 1186–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curry, ME, van der Beek, P, Huismans, RS, Wolf, SG and Muñoz, J-A (2019) Evolving paleotopography and lithospheric flexure of the Pyrenean Orogen from 3D flexural modeling and basin analysis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 515, 26–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Debroas, E-J (1987) Modèle de bassin triangulaire à l’intersection de décrochements divergents pour le fossé albo-cénomanien de la Ballongue (zone nord-pyrénéenne, France). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 8, t.III, 887–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dercourt, J, Zonenshain, LP, Ricou, L-E, Kazmin, VG, Le Pichon, X, Knipper, AL, Grandjacquet, C, Sbortshikov, IM, Geyssant, J, Lepvrier, C, Pechersky, DH, Boulin, J, Sibuet, J-C, Savostin, LA, Sorokhtin, O, Westphal, M, Bazhenov, ML, Lauer, JP and Biju-Duval, B (1986) Geological evolution of the Tethys Belt from the Atlantic to the Pamirs since the LIAS. Tectonophysics 123, 241–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dèzes, P, Schmid, SM and Ziegler, PA (2004) Evolution of the European Cenozoic Rift System: interaction of the Alpine and Pyrenean orogens with their foreland lithosphere. Tectonophysics 389, 1–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dielforder, A, Frasca, G, Brune, S and Ford, M (2019) Formation of the Iberian-European convergent plate boundary fault and its effect on intraplate deformation in Central Europe. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 20, 2395–2147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreyfus, M and Gottis, M (1948) Succession des phases de déformation en Bas-Languedoc. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences 227, 1388–90.Google Scholar
Dumont, T, Lemoine, M and Tricart, P (1984) Tectonique syn-sédimentaire triasico-jurassique et rifting téthysien dans l’unité pré-piémontaise de Rochebrune, au sud-est de Briançon. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 7, 911–22.Google Scholar
Espurt, N, Hippolyte, J-C, Saillard, M and Bellier, O (2012) Geometry and kinematic evolution of a long-living foreland structure inferred from field data and cross section balancing, the Sainte-Victoire System, Provence, France. Tectonics 31, TC4021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagereng, Å, Remitti, F and Sibson, RH (2010) Shear veins observed within anisotropic fabric at high angles to the maximum compressive stress. Nature Geoscience 3, 482–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faure, M, Lardeaux, J-M and Ledru, P (2009) A review of the pre-Permian geology of the Variscan French Massif Central. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 341, 202–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filleaudeau, P-Y, Mouthereau, F and Pik, R (2012) Thermo-tectonic evolution of the south-central Pyrenees from rifting to orogeny: insights from detrital zircon U/Pb and (U-Th)/He thermochronometry. Basin Research 24, 401–17.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, PG, Muñoz, JA, Coney, PJ and Baldwin, SL (1999) Asymmetric exhumation across the Pyrenean orogen: implications for the tectonic evolution of a collisional orogen. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 173, 157–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freytet, P (1971) Le Languedoc au Crétacé supérieur et à l’Eocène inférieur: évolution des principaux éléments structuraux (rides et sillons), migration des aires de sédimentation, rôle des phases précoces dans la tectogenèse. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 7, 464–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frizon de Lamotte, D, Raulin, C, Mouchot, N, Wrobel, C, Blanpied, C and Ringenbach, C (2011) The southernmost margin of the Tethys realm during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic: initial geometry and timing of the inversion processes. Tectonics 30, TC3002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grool, AR, Ford, M, Vergés, J, Huismans, RS, Christophoul, F and Dielforder, A (2018) Insights into the crustal-scale dynamics of a doubly vergent orogen from a quantitative analysis of its forelands: a case study of the Eastern Pyrenees. Tectonics 37, 450–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guyonnet-Benaize, C, Lamarche, J, Masse, J-P, Villeneuve, M and Viseur, S (2010) 3D structural modelling of small-deformations in poly-phase faults pattern: application to the Mid-Cretaceous Durance uplift, Provence (SE France). Journal of Geodynamics 50, 81–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemelsdaël, R, Séranne, M, Husson, E and Ballas, G (2021) Structural style of the Languedoc Pyrenean thrust belt in relation with the inherited Mesozoic structures and with the rifting of the Gulf of Lion margin, southern France (eds O Lacombe, S Tavani, A Teixell, D Pedreira and S Calassou). BSGF – Earth Sciences Bulletin 192, 46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoareau, G, Crognier, N, Lacroix, B, Aubourg, C, Roberts, NMW, Niemi, N, Branellec, M, Beaudoin, N and Suárez Ruiz, I (2021) Combination of Δ47 and U-Pb dating in tectonic calcite veins unravel the last pulses related to the Pyrenean Shortening (Spain). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 553, 116636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jammes, S, Manatschal, G, Lavier, L and Masini, E (2009) Tectonosedimentary evolution related to extreme crustal thinning ahead of a propagating ocean: example of the western Pyrenees: extreme crustal thinning in the Pyrenees. Tectonics 28, TC4012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jolivet, L, Romagny, A, Gorini, C, Maillard, A, Thinon, I, Couëffé, R, Ducoux, M and Séranne, M (2020) Fast dismantling of a mountain belt by mantle flow: late-orogenic evolution of Pyrenees and Liguro-Provençal rifting. Tectonophysics 776, 228312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lacassin, R, Meyer, B and Benedetti, L (1998) Signature morphologique de l’activité de la faille des Cévennes (Languedoc, France). Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 326, 807–15.Google Scholar
Lacombe, O and Jolivet, L (2005) Structural and kinematic relationships between Corsica and the Pyrenees-Provence domain at the time of the Pyrenean orogeny. Tectonics 24, TC1003.Google Scholar
Lacombe, O and Mouthereau, F (1999) Qu’est-ce que le front des orogènes? L’exemple de l’orogène pyrénéen. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences. Series IIA. Earth and Planetary Science 329, 889–96.Google Scholar
Lacombe, O and Obert, D (2000) Héritage structural et déformation de couverture: plissement et fracturation tertiaires dans l’Ouest du bassin de Paris. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences. Series IIA. Earth and Planetary Science 330, 793–8.Google Scholar
Lacombe, O, Angelier, J and Laurent, P (1992) Determining paleostress orientations from faults and calcite twins: a case study near the Sainte-Victoire Range (southern France). Tectonophysics 201, 141–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Pichon, X, Pautot, G, Auzende, J-M and Olivet, J-L (1971) La Mediterranée occidentale depuis l’Oligocene Schema d’évolution. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 13, 145–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leleu, S, Ghienne, J-F and Manatschal, G (2005) Upper Cretaceous-Palaeocene basin-margin alluvial fans documenting interaction between tectonic and environmental processes (Provence, SE France). In Alluvial Fans: Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Dynamics (ed. AM Harvey), pp. 217–39. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemoine, M (1982) Tectonique synsédimentaire mésozoïque dans les Alpes occidentales: naissance et évolution d’une marge continentale passive. In Livre jubilaire (ed. G Lucas), pp. 347–61. Orléans: Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières.Google Scholar
Lemoine, M and Graciansky, PC (1988) Marge continentale téthysienne dans les Alpes. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 8, 597–797.Google Scholar
Leprêtre, R, Barbarand, J, Missenard, Y, Gautheron, C, Pinna Jamme, R and Saddiqi, O (2017) Mesozoic evolution of NW Africa: implications for the Central Atlantic Ocean dynamics. Journal of the Geological Society 174, 817–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchand, E, Séranne, M, Bruguier, O and Vinches, M (2020) LA-ICP-MS dating of detrital zircon grains from the Cretaceous allochthonous bauxites of Languedoc (south of France): provenance and geodynamic consequences. Basin Research 33, 270–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masse, JP and Philip, J (1976) Paléogéographie et tectonique du crétacé moyen en Provence: révision du concept d’Isthme Durancien. Revue de Géographie Physique et de Géologie Dynamique 18, 49–66.Google Scholar
Mattauer, M (1998) Commentaires à la note de Robin Lacassin, Bertrand Meyer, Lucilla Benedetti, Rolando Armijo et Paul Tapponnier. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences t.327, 855–9.Google Scholar
Mattauer, M and Henry, J (1974) The Pyrénées. In Mesozoic-Cenozoic Orogenic Belts: Data for Orogenic Studies (ed. AM Spencer), pp. 3–21. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 4.Google Scholar
Mattauer, M and Proust, F (1962) Sur la tectonique de la fin du Crétacé et du début du Tertiaire en Languedoc. Revue de Géographie Physique et de Géologie Dynamique (2) 5, 5–11.Google Scholar
Mattei, J (1986) Le brachyanticlinal du Pic Saint-Loup (Hérault, Bas-Languedoc). Stratigraphie détailléedes terrains jurassiques et évolution tectonique pour servir de notice explicative à la cartegéologique à 1/25 000 de cette structure, Géol. France 4, 349–76.Google Scholar
Mencos, J, Carrera, N and Muñoz, JA (2015) Influence of rift basin geometry on the subsequent postrift sedimentation and basin inversion: the Organyà Basin and the Bóixols thrust sheet (south central Pyrenees). Tectonics 34, 1452–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montenat, C, Janin, M-C and Barrier, P (2004) L’accident du Toulourenc: une limite tectonique entre la plate-forme Provençale et le Bassin vocontien à l’Aptien–Albien (SE France). Comptes Rendus Geoscience 336, 1301–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, RG, Sinclair, HD and Yell, AJ (1998) Exhumation of the Pyrenean orogen: implications for sediment discharge. Basin Research 10, 69–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mouthereau, F, Filleaudeau, P-Y, Vacherat, A, Pik, R, Lacombe, O, Fellin, MG, Castelltort, S, Christophoul, F and Masini, E (2014) Placing limits to shortening evolution in the Pyrenees: role of margin architecture and implications for the Iberia/Europe convergence. Tectonics 33, 2283–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, SB, Stephenson, R and Thomsen, E (2007) Dynamics of Mid-Palaeocene North Atlantic rifting linked with European intra-plate deformations. Nature 450, 1071–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olivetti, V, Balestrieri, ML, Godard, V, Bellier, O, Gautheron, C, Valla, PG, Zattin, M, Faccenna, C, Pinna-Jamme, R and Manchuel, K (2020) Cretaceous and late Cenozoic uplift of a Variscan Massif: the case of the French Massif Central studied through low-temperature thermochronometry. Lithosphere 12, 133–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oudet, J, Münch, P, Borgomano, J, Quillevere, F, Melinte-Dobrinescu, MC, Demory, F, Viseur, S and Cornee, J-J (2010) Land and sea study of the northeastern golfe du Lion rifted margin: the Oligocene–Miocene of southern Provence (Nerthe area, SE France). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 181, 591–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parizot, O, Missenard, Y, Haurine, F, Blaise, T, Barbarand, J, Benedicto, A and Sarda, P (2021) When did the Pyrenean shortening end? Insight from U–Pb geochronology of syn-faulting calcite (Corbières area, France). Terra Nova 33, 551–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parizot, O, Missenard, Y, Vergely, P, Haurine, F, Noret, A, Delpech, G, Barbarand, J and Sarda, P (2020) Tectonic record of deformation in intraplate domains: case study of far-field deformation in the Grands Causses Area, France. Geofluids 2020, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parrish, RR, Parrish, CM and Lasalle, S (2018) Vein calcite dating reveals Pyrenean orogen as cause of Paleogene deformation in southern England. Journal of the Geological Society 175, 425–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petit, J-P and Mattauer, M (1995) Palaeostress superimposition deduced from mesoscale structures in limestone: the Matelles exposure, Languedoc, France. Journal of Structural Geology 17, 245–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peyaud, J-B, Barbarand, J, Carter, A and Pagel, M (2005) Mid-Cretaceous uplift and erosion on the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys deduced from thermal history reconstruction. International Journal of Earth Sciences 94, 462–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peybernès, B and Souquet, P (1984) Basement blocks and tecto-sedimentary evolution in the Pyrenees during Mesozoic times. Geological Magazine 121, 397–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philip, H, Mattauer, M, Bodeur, Y, Séguret, M, Puech, JP and Mattei, J (1978) Carte géologique de la France, feuille 963: Saint-Martin-de-Londres. Orléans: Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières.Google Scholar
Plaziat, J-C (1981) Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene palaeogeographic evolution of southwest Europe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 36, 263–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puigdefàbregas, C and Souquet, P (1986) Tecto-sedimentary cycles and depositional sequences of the Mesozoic and TTertiary from the Pyrenees. Tectonophysics 129, 173–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritz, J-F, Baize, S, Ferry, M, Larroque, C, Audin, L, Delouis, B and Mathot, E (2020) Surface rupture and shallow fault reactivation during the 2019 Mw 4.9 Le Teil earthquake, France. Communications Earth & Environment 1, 10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, NMW, Drost, K, Horstwood, MSA, Condon, DJ, Chew, D, Drake, H, Milodowski, AE, McLean, NM, Smye, AJ, Walker, RJ, Haslam, R, Hodson, K, Imber, J and Beaudoin, N (2020) LA-ICP-MS U-Pb carbonate geochronology: strategies, progress, and application to fracture-fill calcite. Geochronology 2, 33–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roest, WR and Srivastava, SP (1991) Kinematics of the plate boundaries between Eurasia, Iberia, and Africa in the North Atlantic from the Late Cretaceous to the present. Geology 19, 613–16.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenbaum, G, Lister, GS and Duboz, C (2002) Relative motions of Africa, Iberia and Europe during Alpine orogeny. Tectonophysics 359, 117–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roure, F, Brun, JP, Colletta, B and Van den Driessche, J (1992) Geometry and kinematics of extensional structures in the Alpine Foreland Basin of southeastern France. Journal of Structural Geology 14, 503–19.Google Scholar
Roy, J-P and Trémolières, P (1992) L’inversion du demi-graben oligocène d’Alès (France): Données de terrain et modélisation. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences 315, 1777–81.Google Scholar
Sanchis, E and Séranne, M (2000) Structural style and tectonic evolution of a polyphase extensional basin of the Gulf of Lion passive margin: the Tertiary Alès basin, southern France. Tectonophysics 322, 219–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schreiber, D, Giannerini, G and Lardeaux, J-M (2011) The Southeast France basin during Late Cretaceous times: the spatiotemporal link between Pyrenean collision and Alpine subduction. Geodinamica Acta 24, 21–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sébrier, M, Bellier, O, Peulvast, J-P and Vergély, P (1998) Commentaires à la note de Robin Lacassin, Bertrand Meyer, Lucilla Benedetti, Rolando Armijo et Paul Tapponnier. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences t. 327, 855–9.Google Scholar
Séguret, M and Proust, F (1965) L’évolution tectonique post-hercynienne de la bordure mésozoïque des Cévennes méridionales entre Ales et Ganges. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France S7-VII, 85–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Séranne, M (1999) The Gulf of Lion continental margin (NW Mediterranean) revisited by IBS: an overview, In The Mediterranean Basins: Tertiary Extension within the Alpine Orogen (eds B Durand, L Jolivet & M Séranne), pp. 15–36. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Séranne, M, Camus, H, Lucazeau, F, Barbarand, J and Quinif, Y (2002) Surrection et érosion polyphasées de la bordure cévenole. Un exemple de morphogenèse lente. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 173, 97–112.Google Scholar
Séranne, M, Couëffé, R, Husson, E, Baral, C and Villard, J (2021) The transition from Pyrenean shortening to Gulf of Lion rifting in Languedoc (South France):a tectonic-sedimentation analysis (eds O Lacombe, S Tavani, A Teixell, D Pedreira, and S Calassou). BSGF – Earth Sciences Bulletin 192, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibuet, J-C, Srivastava, SP and Spakman, W (2004) Pyrenean orogeny and plate kinematics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 109, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, HD (2005) Asymmetric growth of the Pyrenees revealed through measurement and modeling of orogenic fluxes. American Journal of Science 305, 369–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavani, S, Bertok, C, Granado, P, Piana, F, Salas, R, Vigna, B and Muñoz, JA (2018) The Iberia-Eurasia plate boundary east of the Pyrenees. Earth-Science Reviews 187, 314–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ternois, S, Odlum, M, Ford, M, Pik, R, Stockli, D, Tibari, B, Vacherat, A and Bernard, V (2019) Thermochronological evidence of early Orogenesis, Eastern Pyrenees, France. Tectonics 38, 1308–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tugend, J, Manatschal, G, Kusznir, NJ, Masini, E, Mohn, G and Thinon, I (2014) Formation and deformation of hyperextended rift systems: insights from rift domain mapping in the Bay of Biscay-Pyrenees. Tectonics 33, 1239–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vacherat, A, Mouthereau, F, Pik, R, Huyghe, D, Paquette, J-L, Christophoul, F, Loget, N and Tibari, B (2017) Rift-to-collision sediment routing in the Pyrenees: a synthesis from sedimentological, geochronological and kinematic constraints. Earth-Science Reviews 172, 43–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vergely, P and Xu, WL (1988) Les escaliers d’accrétion de calcite: Un exemple de déformation par fracturation-cristallisation accompagnant le glissement sur les failles. Geodinamica Acta 2, 207–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willingshofer, E and Sokoutis, D (2009) Decoupling along plate boundaries: key variable controlling the mode of deformation and the geometry of collisional mountain belts. Geology 37, 39–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willingshofer, E, Sokoutis, D, Luth, SW, Beekman, F and Cloetingh, S (2013) Subduction and deformation of the continental lithosphere in response to plate and crust-mantle coupling. Geology 41, 1239–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, PA (1987) Celtic Sea-Western Approaches area: an overview. Tectonophysics 137, 285–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, PA, Cloetingh, S and van Wees, J-D (1995) Dynamics of intra-plate compressional deformation: the Alpine foreland and other examples. Tectonophysics 252, 7–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, PA, van Wees, J-D and Cloetingh, S (1998) Mechanical controls on collision-related compressional intraplate deformation. Tectonophysics 300, 103–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Location of the study area and sampling outcrops. (a) Structural map of southern France after 1:1 000 000 BRGM geological map; (b) structural scheme and sampling outcrops (with stars). Modified using 1:50 000 BRGM geological maps.

Figure 1

Fig. 2. Syn-faulting calcite samples. (a) Schematic sketch of a portion of a fault mirror with fault-related calcites (modified from Vergely & Xu, 1988) and example of a syn-faulting calcite observed in the field. (b) Illustrations of two sinistral fault-related calcites observed near Les Matelles and Puéchabon (Fig. 1b). (c) Petrographic observations: reflected light and CL images of syn-faulting calcites. See text and the online Supplementary Material (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000152) for details of petrographic observations.

Figure 2

Fig. 3a. Outcrop illustrations and stereonet showing the dated fault plane and slickenside. (a) Malm limestone lens with vertical sigmoidal planes at Saint-Bauzille-de-Putois (Fig. 1b); ‘SB’ samples come from this outcrop. (b) Entrance to the ‘Demoiselles caves’ and Kimmeridgian–Tithonian limestone cliff in the background, from which the ‘GD’ calcites were sampled. The bedding is sub-horizontal. (c) Large fault mirror (CFS) with grooves in the Kimmeridgian Formation, SW of Pégairolles-de-Buèges (Fig. 1b). ‘PB’ calcites were sampled from small fault mirrors at the bottom of this outcrop. The bedding is sub-horizontal. (d) Metric-scale east–west axis fold near the Corconne fault, in the Berriasian sub-horizontal Formation (Fig. 1b) ‘SL-1’ sample comes from the fault-propagation fold affecting these limestones. (e) Bartonian Formation currently vertical with conglomerates and reverse faults (from which the ‘SL-2’ calcite has been sampled), south of Saint-Martin-de-Londres (Fig. 1b). (f) Strike-slip fault-related calcite on a Kimmeridgian–Tithonian outcrop (Puéchabon outcrop; Fig. 1b). ‘SL-3’ sample comes from this fault mirror. The formation is tilted to the NE. (g) Malm Dalles des Matelles, near the Matelles Fault (Petit & Mattauer, 1995) (Fig. 1b), from which the DM-1 sample was collected. The bedding is sub-horizontal.

Figure 3

Fig. 3b.

Figure 4

Fig. 4. Results of syn-faulting calcite U–Pb geochronology in comparison with the deformation chronology in Languedoc domain. The U–Pb ages are represented by the white circles for samples of the CFS and black squares for samples from related structures, all with their propagated uncertainties (2σ).

Figure 5

Fig. 5. Updated compilation of structural and palaeogeographical maps of southern France. (a) Mid-Cretaceous times. Modified after Marchand et al. (2020), and completed from Combes (1990), Barbarand et al. (2001), Montenat et al. (2004), Peyaud et al. (2005) and Olivetti et al. (2020). The locations of basins and NE–SW faults on the sketch map come from Peybernès & Souquet (1984), Mencos et al. (2015) and Tavani et al. (2018). (b) Priabonian times after Arthaud & Mattauer (1969), Mattauer & Henry (1974), Arthaud & Séguret (1981), Plaziat (1981), Lacombe & Jolivet (2005), Vacherat et al. (2017) and Séranne et al. (2021).

Supplementary material: File

Parizot et al. supplementary material

Parizot et al. supplementary material 1

Download Parizot et al. supplementary material(File)
File 5.6 MB
Supplementary material: File

Parizot et al. supplementary material

Parizot et al. supplementary material 2

Download Parizot et al. supplementary material(File)
File 281.1 KB