flora bajolet geodata
Long-wavelength deformation of cratonic lithospheres
Guyana shield paleogeography, source-to-sink & deformation
The goal of this project is to determine sediments sources that fed the equatorial Atlantic margin of South America during Meso-Cenozoic times in relationship with the vertical motions arising from rifting, Andean orogeny or mantle convection. This will be achieved by reconstructing paleogeographic maps for key periods highlighting areas [...]
Distortion of the African Plate
The aim of our project is to simulate the long-wavelength, flexural isostatic response of the African plate to sediment transfers due to Meso-Cenozoic erosion - deposition processes in order to extract the residual topography driven by mantle dynamics. Our work will be based on the reconstruction and subtraction of two continental-scale erosional-depositional surfaces [...]
Mantle-surface interactions
Dynamic topography in subduction zones
The understanding of the dynamic component of topgraphy arising from the mantle has been a major breakthrough in geology. The consequences of mantle flow on surface topography and deformation has been recognized in many geodynamic contexts, such as subduction zones. However, the amplitude and wavelength of dynamic topography seems to depends [...]
Emplacement of the Santa-Marta massif, Colombia
The northern coast of Colombia, at the boundary between the Caribbean plate and South American plate, is an area rich in various geological objects: granitic massifs, metamorphic rocks, major strike-slip faults, accretionary prism... The history of this boundary is complex and subject to numerous interpretations. I am particulary interested in the reconstruction of the geodynamic context [...]
Mantle flow/surface interactions during delamination
Delamination has often been invoked to explain regional uplift (usually associated with alkaline volcanism) either by "peeling" of the lithospheric mantle and in some case a part of the lower crust, or by viscous dripping (convective removal). Various geodynamic contexts such as high plateaus near a plate boundary (Tibet, Andes, Anatolia...) or [...]
Mantle exhumation: peridotites in the Pyrenees
In some mountain belts like the Pyrenees, we observe outcrops of lherzolites (peridotites) in carbonates and marbles sometimes brecciated, far from the classical ophiolites context where such outcrops are well explained. The peridotites are deep mantle rocks wheareas the carbonates mainly form on the continental shelf [...]
High plateaus' dynamic
Crustal flow at plateaus' margins
A very intriguing phenomenon highlighted in the 1980s' is the syn-convergence extension that may develop in mature mountain belts during gravitational collapse. One of the most studied examples are the Himalayas and adjacent Tibetan plateau. Mechanisms of deformation inside the plateau, lateral escape, and exhumation of high grade rocks (High Himalayan Cristallines) at [...]
Orocline and syntaxes formation
One striking feature of mountain belts worldwide is the diversity of shapes it can adopt. Most of the mountain ranges show a curvature concave toward the overriding plate (e.g. Andes, Alps, Bitlis) or straight (e.g. Pyrenees, Rockies Mountains). On the contrary, the Himalayas show a shape convex towards the overriding plate. The overall geometry of the range is [...]