Christian Gorini

Sorbonne Université | UPMC · Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris (iSTeP)

Fluid venting as a submarine geomorphic process 2A- Geomorphic processes and sedimentary record - Session 24

Numerous studies of the offshore Niger Delta have documented substrate-related collapse systems based on widely spaced 2D seismic data that generally lack detailed age calibration, but shale evolution through time remains poorly understood. This is investigated in this study through a detailed interpretation of an industry 3D seismic survey and cal...

The Amazon fan contains a gas hydrate province known from a bottom-simulating reflection (BSR) that lies within an upper slope compressional belt. In this study, the extent and character of the BSR and its relation to thrust-fold structures is examined using a grid of 2D and 3D seismic data. We show the BSR to comprise a series of elongate patches...

The offshore Niger Delta provides a spectacular example of gravity collapse tectonics, but the timing of shale mobilisation remains poorly understood. Here we present new information from the western Niger Delta, based on a detailed interpretation of a 3D seismic volume, calibrated with biostratigraphic data from exploration wells. The study area i...

Historical earthquake records suggest that the Alboran Sea seismicity is mostly triggered by strike-slip faults with little or no vertical throw preventing significant tsunami formation. Although in the North Alboran Sea the Averroes fault may have a tsunamigenic potential, the main active fault system responsible of the last three major earthquake...

The Upper Messinian Abu Madi Formation of the Nile Delta constitutes sediments deposited during the final stage of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC). Several levels of soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) were observed in the transgressive heterolithic fluvial facies deposited adjacent to the deep-seated faults. The most common deformation...

Earthquakes are the most commonly cited cause of offshore slope failure, followed by high sedimentation rates and ensuing pore pressure build-up. In the South Alboran Sea, the moderate seismicity (Mw = 6.4) of the strike-slip Al Idrissi Fault Zone does not appear to control directly the landslides distribution. To provide a preliminary geohazard as...

Depositional and erosional bedforms that shape prodelta deposits in the Gulf of Patti (southern Tyrrhenian Sea) and in the Al-Hoceima Bay (northern Morocco) were investigated using multibeam bathymetry as a basis for morphometric analysis. The two study areas have comparable structural settings and oceanographic regimes and share the occurrence of...

The numerous processes (superficial and deep) occurring on margins, their origins, consequences, interactions and quantifications are only very partially described and understood. The identification of the relative role of factors is sometimes completely contradictory between authors. Here, we showed the results of a long-term multidecadal and mult...

The interaction between sedimentary wedge dynamics and paleo-fracture zones is investigated offshore western Niger Delta lobe (WNDL) to reconstruct the evolution of the delta from the Cretaceous to present. This was achieved through detailed regional seismic interpretation, calibrated with well data. Our results suggest that high sedimentation rate...

Salt tectonics at salt-bearing margins is often interpreted as the combination of gravity spreading and gravity gliding, mainly driven by differential sedimentary loading and margin tilting, respectively. Nevertheless, in the Western Mediterranean Sea, the classical salt-tectonic models are incoherent with its morpho-structural setting: Messinian s...

The interaction between sedimentary wedge dynamics and paleo-fracture zones is investigated offshore Western Niger Delta lobe (WNDL) to reconstruct the evolution of the delta from the Cretaceous to present. This was achieved through detailed regional seismic interpretation, calibrated with well data. Our results suggest that high sedimentation rate...

Lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of Middle to Upper Jurassic carbonate platforms of the Eastern Kopet Dagh (EKD), northeastern Iran were assessed. Up to 3000 m of sedimentological logs located along ten stratigraphic sections were investigated. At least five types of carbonate production systems were identified in the study area: (1) a mud-dom...

The Alboran Basin is a Neogene-Quaternary extensional basin located within the Betic-Rif alpine cordillera. The region where the current basin is located holds great oceanographic relevance, as it lies in the area of connection between the western (Atlantic Ocean basin) and eastern seas (ocean basins of the Ligurian Tethys and then Western Mediterr...

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea reflects its complex tectonic, sedimentary, and oceanography dynamics as a consequence of the geological context, involving interaction between the Eurasian and African plates, and oceanographic context, as it is where the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters meet. Their physiography has a semi-enclosed configuration ch...

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea reflects its complex tectonic, sedimentary, and oceanography dynamics as a consequence of the geological context, involving interaction between the Eurasian and African plates, and oceanographic context, as it is where the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters meet. Their physiography has a semi-enclosed configuration ch...

The Western Mediterranean Sea is a natural laboratory to address questions about the formation and evolution of continental margins and the relationship between surface and deep processes. The evaporites deposited during the late Miocene’s Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) strongly impact its sedimentological and geomorphological evolution. Hereafter...

Slab tearing induces localized deformations in the overriding plates of subduction zones and transfer zones accommodating differential retreat. Because the space available for retreating slabs is limited in the Mediterranean realm, slab tearing during retreat has been a major ingredient of the evolution of this region since the end of the Eocene. T...

The northern Oman margin is a key area for understanding the emplacement of the Semail Ophiolite and obduction processes in general. This study uses a grid of 2D‐multichannel seismic lines tied to well data to characterize the offshore domain of the Semail Ophiolite and reappraises the obduction and post‐obduction history of the Oman margin. West o...

The concept of a geologically istantaneous earliest Zanclean reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin after the Messinian drawdown has dominated geological thinking and is ingrained in the scientific literature. The base of the Trubi Formation in southern Italy -formally defined as the Zanclean Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) at 5....

Slab retreat, slab tearing and interactions of slabs are first-order drivers of the deformation of the overriding lithosphere. An independent description of the tectonic evolution of the back-arc and peripheral regions is a pre-requisite to test the proposed conceptual, analogue and numerical models of these complex dynamics in 3-D. We propose here...

Although climate proxy (δ18O) across the world ocean basins reveals that orbital forcing significantly controlled the Pliocene and the Pleistocene sediment deposition, and has been demonstrated in seismic and outcrop studies on the continental shelves of many margins, few or no seismic stratigraphic studies have investigated orbital forcing on deep...

Detailed analysis of seismic geometries and stratal thicknesses within time-constrained horizons combined with 3-D geomorphological maps provide useful insights into the timing of deformation within the Neogene sediments in the western Niger Delta's slope. Two seismic geometries (SG 'A' and SG 'B') characterize the syn-shale kinematic and post-shal...

This study presents the stratigraphic architecture of the Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary record of the western Niger Delta over the last ∼5.5 Myr based on detailed interpretation of high-resolution 3D seismic data calibrated with 5 boreholes located on the slope. The sedimentary record is subdivided into 'Upper and Lower seismic Units' based on s...

Despite the plethora of publication on the Pliocene and Pleistocene sedimentary records of the Niger Delta, no study has investigated sequence cyclicity, which may be related to obliquity and eccentricity forcing. This aim is achieved in this study by integrating detailed seismic stratigraphy and 3D geomorphological analysis of a high-resolution 3D...

The Amazon Fan provides a natural laboratory to study the generation of overpressure, due to rapid late Cenozoic burial that has resulted in gravitational collapse above shale detachments. Here we examine collapse systems for the first time using the techniques of petroleum systems analysis. We propose an integrated methodology based on numerical m...

A new basin-scale comprehensive view of contourite features, turbidite systems, and mass-wasting deposits comprising the Spanish and Moroccan margins and basins of the Alboran Sea has been achieved after a new detailed seismic stratigraphic analysis and the construction of sedimentary maps for the Pliocene and Quaternary sedimentary units. Multiple...

Progress in the understanding and dating of the sedimentary record of the Alboran Basin allows us to propose a model of its tectonic evolution since the Pliocene. After a period of extension, the Alboran Basin underwent a progressive tectonic inversion starting around 9–7.5 Ma. The Alboran Ridge is a NE–SW transpressive structure accommodating the...

Because of their relatively reduced tectonic influence, post-rift sedimentary successions have a propensity to preserve climatically-driven cyclicity over long durations. Here we present an integrated cyclostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic study of the post-rift Limoeiro sedimentary Formation (Fm) of the Foz do Amazonas Basin (offshore Brazi...

Since the Miocene, the thinned continental crust below the Alboran Sea and its overlying sedimentary cover have been undergoing deformation caused by both convergence of Eurasia and Africa and by deep processes related to the Tethyan slab retreat. Part of this deformation is recorded at the Xauen and Tofiño banks in the southern Alboran Sea. Using...

A baía de Sepetiba, localizada na costa oeste fluminense, consiste de um embaiamento onde predominam condições estuarinas com contato limitado ao oceano aberto, devido à presença da restinga da Marambaia - uma ilha-barreira de ~40 km de comprimento. O presente estudo visa o detalhamento da evolução estratigráfica do preenchimento sedimentar da baía...

Abstract. Progresses in understanding the sedimentary dynamic of the Western Alboran Basin lead us to propose a model of evolution of its tectonic inversion since the Pliocene to present-time. Extensive and strike-slip structures accommodate the Miocene back-arc extension of the Alboran Basin, but undergo progressive tectonic inversion since the To...

The Arabian Sea in the NW Indian Ocean is a place where two major transform boundaries are currently active : the Owen Fracture Zone between India and Arabia and the Owen Transform between India and Somalia. These transform systems result from the fragmentation of the India-Africa Transform boundary, which initiated about 90 Myrs ago, when the Indi...

The Pyrenean Belt ends against the Gulf of Lion passive margin. The mechanism responsible for dismantling the mountain belt during Oligocene rifting has not yet found a proper explanation. The Late Eocene and Oligocene period is characterized by a first order change in subduction dynamics in the Mediterranean and the subduction zones started to ret...

Evaporite giants can precipitate out of high salinity waters in semi-enclosed ocean basins when the rate of evaporation outstrips the inflow of new saline and fresh waters. The thick saline series deposited in the deep Mediterranean during the Miocene Epoch's late Messinian age (between 5.97 and 5.3 Ma) is among the youngest of such salt giants in...

Formed along the Paleotethys suture zone during the Jurassic, South Caspian and Kopet Dagh Basins (north of Iran) have been known as large-scale back-arc basins developed due to the long-term NE-directed Neotethys Subduction. The Kopet Dagh Basin has also been known as the eastern scissor-like crustal extension of the South Caspian Basin. On the ou...

The Djibouti Ville Drift is part of a contourite depositional system located on the southern side of the Djibouti Ville Seamount in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean). The sedimentary record of a core located in the drift deposits has been characterized to achieve the possible sediment sources for the Saharan dust supply and the paleocurrent v...

Progresses in understanding the sedimentary dynamic of the Western Alboran Basin lead us to propose a model of evolution of its tectonic inversion since the Pliocene to present-time. Extensive and strike-slip structures accommodate the Miocene back-arc extension of the Alboran Basin, but undergo progressive tectonic inversion since the Tortonian. A...

The Cenozoic Niger Delta is a classic shale tectonic province affected by gravity spreading, mud volcanoes and pockmarks due to overpressured marine shales detaching from decollement levels. Previous studies utilizing shallow seismic profiles have described the depositional architecture in the western upper slope of the Niger Delta. However, lack o...

Morphological sills condition sedimentary, water and fauna exchanges between different domains. In particular, sills are crucial factors to consider during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) palaeogeographic evolution (5.97–5.33 Ma) of the NW Mediterranean area. Here we focus on the Ebro River and its up to now unexplained short Messinian onshore...

Located on a divergent margin dominated by gravity tectonics above overpressured marine shales, the Niger Delta slope has been described as having a stepped profile characterized by ‘filled ponded basins’ that are prone to erosion and sediment bypass. Previous studies based on 3D seismic data have described the depositional architecture of the west...

The Amazon continental shelf hosted one of the world's largest mixed carbonate-siliciclastic platforms from the late Paleocene onwards - the Amapá carbonates. The platform architecture, however, remains poorly understood and causes and timing of the cessation of carbonate deposition are still controversial. Here we present a stratigraphic analysis...

The North Anatolian Fault in the northern Aegean Sea triggers frequent earthquakes of magnitudes up to Mw∼7. This seismicity can be a source of modest tsunamis for the surrounding coastlines with less than 50 cm height according to numerical modelling and analysis of tsunami deposits. However, other tsunami sources may be involved, like submarine l...

The partial sequestration of the Mediterranean Sea from adjacent oceans at the end of the Miocene caused an evaporation surfeit that increased the evaporite concentration on the seafloor and peripheral basins. As a result, an up to 2-3 km thick sequence of evaporites were deposited in the center of the deep basins. This coincided with the concomita...

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) is a huge outstanding succession of events that has deeply modified the Mediterranean area within a short time span at the geological scale and led to the emplacement of one of the youngest and most debated salt giant on Earth. In 2011, the Seismic atlas of the Messinian salinity crisis markers in the Mediterran...

The easternmost part of the Mediterranean corresponds to a tectonically complex region which is linked with the convergence between Africa and Eurasia. The tectonostratigraphic evolution of this region is poorly constrained because of the absence of exploration wells. Cyprus is a crucial area to assess the link between the tectonic deformation and...

This is an interdisciplinary study that combines morphoseismics, sedimentology and numerical modelling to elucidate at different scales of resolution the influence of alongslope processes on the turbidite systems (TSs) and canyons in the Alboran Sea (southwestern Mediterranean). Nine TSs are mapped in the Spanish margin (La Linea, Guadiaro, Baños,...

The Levant basin is a frontier basin bounded by the Eratosthenes seamount to the West, the Nile cone delta to the south, Cyprus to the north and Lebanon to the east. The Levant Basin formed in the Early Mesozoic in the context of the fragmentation of the Pangea supercontinent and the separation of Laurasia from Gondwana. This Basin was initially a...

We present here a number of geological observations in extensional contexts, either continental rifts or back-arcs, that show different situations of potential coupling between asthenospheric flow and crustal deformation. Several of these examples show a deformation distributed over hectometre to kilometre thick shear zones, accommodated by shallow...

Abstract In active basins, tectonics can segment the continental shelf and control its stratigraphic architecture and physiography. Segmentation can explain the local evolution and morphology of the continental shelf because of sea-level variations, local tectonic segmentation and hydrodynamic processes. Here we investigate the tectonically active...

The Eurasian-African NW-SE oblique plate convergence produces shortening and orthogonal extension in the Alboran Sea Basin (Westernmost Mediterranean), located between the Betic and Rif cordilleras. A NNE-SSW broad band of deformation and seismicity affects the Alboran central part. After the 1993-94 and 2004 seismic series, an earthquake sequence...

In active basins, tectonics can segment the continental shelf and control its stratigraphic architecture and physiography. Segmentation can explain the local evolution and morphology of the continental shelf because of sea-level variations, local tectonic segmentation and hydrodynamic processes. Here we investigate the tectonically active Morocco c...

Oral presentation in session "Seismic Interpretation I - Automation through AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning " of EAGE 2018

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea shows morphological evidence of the activity of several tectonic structures that basically correspond to two large families of conjugated strike-slip faults, the first of WNW-ESE to NW-SE trend and right-lateral movement, and the second of NNE-SSW to NE-SW trend and left-lateral movement, likewise it has been recogni...

The Alboran Sea, since the end of the Miocene, has been under a deformation regime resulting from the collision between the Eurasian and African plates. Consequently, a system of conjugate faults NNE-SSW and WNW-ESE with an angle of 75º was formed. These faults develop around the northern end of a rigid block spur of the African plate and are the o...

The central transect of the Alboran Sea is affected by an NNE-SSW seismic activity band and deformation zone. After the seismic series of 1993-94 and 2004, a new series has occurred in its southern sector during 2016-17 (main event Mw = 6.3, 01/25/2016), with epicenters grouped in two alignments. The northern one, WSW-ENE, is associated with focal...

Poster presented at the SIAM-IS conference, 2018 https://www.siam-is18.dm.unibo.it/presentations/834 (last accessed 2018-10-17)