Probing connections between deep earth and surface processes in a land-locked ocean basin transformed into a giant saline basin: the Mediterranean GOLD project

Type Article
Date 2015-09
Language English
Author(s) Rabineau MarinaORCID1, Cloetingh S.2, Kuroda J.3, Aslanian DanielORCID4, Droxler A.5, Gorini C.6, Garcia-Castellanos D.7, Moscariello A.8, Burov E.6, Sierro F.9, Lirer F.10, Roure F.11, Pezard P. A.12, Matenco L.2, Hello Y.13, Mart Y.14, Camerlenghi A.15, Tripati A.1, 4, 16, 17
Affiliation(s) 1 : IUEM, Domaines Ocean, UMR6538, CNRS, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
2 : Univ Utrecht, Dept Earth Sci, NL-3584CD Utrecht, Netherlands.
3 : Japan Agcy Marine Earth Sci & Technol, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 2370061, Japan.
4 : IFREMER, UR Geosci Marines, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
5 : Rice Univ MS 126, Dept Earth Sci, Houston, TX 77005 USA.
6 : Univ Paris 06, Univ Paris 04, Inst Sci Terre Paris iSTeP, UMR 7193, F-75005 Paris, France.
7 : Inst Ciencias Tierra Jaume Almera ICTJA CSIC, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
8 : Univ Geneva, Earth & Environm Sci, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
9 : Univ Salamanca, Fac Sci, E-37008 Salamanca, Spain.
10 : CNR Calata Porta Massa, IAMC, I-80133 Naples, Italy.
11 : IFP Energies Nouvelles, F-92852 Rueil Malmaison, France.
12 : Univ Montpellier 2, CC60, CNRS, Geosci Montpellier, F-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
13 : Geoazur, F-06560 Sophia Antipolis, France.
14 : Univ Haifa, IL-31905 Haifa, Israel.
15 : OGS Ist Nazl Oceanog & Geofis Sperimentale, I-34010 Trieste, Italy.
16 : Univ Calif Los Angeles, Inst Environm & Sustainabil, Dept Earth Planetary & Space Sci, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
17 : Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Inst Environm & Sustainabil, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
Source Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2015-09 , Vol. 66 , P. 6-17
DOI 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.03.018
WOS© Times Cited 2
Note The Messinian events and hydrocarbon exploration in the Mediterranean
Keyword(s) Deep drilling, Geodynamics, Passive margins, Paleoclimate, Messinian erosional and salinity crisis, Deep biosphere, Georesources
Abstract During the last decade, the interaction of deep processes in the lithosphere and mantle with surface processes (erosion, climate, sea-level, subsidence, glacio-isostatic readjustment) has been the subject of heated discussion. The use of a multidisciplinary approach linking geology, geophysics, geodesy, modelling, and geotechnology has led to the awareness of coupled deep and surface processes. Deep earth dynamics (topography, erosion, tectonics) are strongly connected to natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis; sedimentary mass transfers have important consequences on isostatic movements and on georesources, geothermal energy repartitions. The ability to read and understand the link between deep Earth dynamics and surface processes has therefore important societal impacts. Ground-truthing at carefully-selected sites of investigation are imperative to better understand these connections.

Due to its youth (<30 Ma) and its subsidence history, the almost land-locked Gulf of Lion-Sardinia continental margins system provides a unique record of sedimentary deposition from the Miocene to present. Due to its high subsidence rate, palaeoclimatic variations, tectonic events and vertical evolution are all recorded here at very high resolution. The late Miocene isolation and desiccation of the Mediterranean, the youngest and most catastrophic event, the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), induced drastic changes in marine environments: widespread deposition of evaporite (gypsum, anhydrite and halite) in the central basin, and intense subaerial erosion along its periphery. These extraordinary mass transfers from land to sea induced strong isostatic re-adjustments that are archived in the sedimentary record and represent a window to the lithospheric rheology and the deep processes.

The GOLD (Gulf of Lion Drilling) project, proposes to explore this unique sedimentary record as well as the nature of the deep crustal structure, providing valuable information about the mechanisms underlying vertical motions in basins and their margins.
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Rabineau Marina, Cloetingh S., Kuroda J., Aslanian Daniel, Droxler A., Gorini C., Garcia-Castellanos D., Moscariello A., Burov E., Sierro F., Lirer F., Roure F., Pezard P. A., Matenco L., Hello Y., Mart Y., Camerlenghi A., Tripati A. (2015). Probing connections between deep earth and surface processes in a land-locked ocean basin transformed into a giant saline basin: the Mediterranean GOLD project. Marine And Petroleum Geology, 66, 6-17. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.03.018 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00256/36741/