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1 Institut Français du Pétrole, 1-4 av. de Bois-Préau, F-92506 Rueil-Malmaison cedex, France; eric.deville{at}ifp.fr
2 Institut Français du Pétrole, 1-4 av. de Bois-Préau, F-92506 Rueil-Malmaison cedex, France; william.sassi{at}ifp.fr
Éric Deville received a master's degree in geosciences from the University Pierre and Marie Curie of Paris VI in 1983 and a Ph.D. from the University of Chambéry, France, in 1987. He joined Institut Français du Pétrole in 1990, doing research on a wide range of sedimentary basins, notably in the Alps. His main research interests include deformation processes, thermicity and fluid dynamics in convergent orogens, and gravity-driven shale tectonics in deltaic systems. His current interests focus on mud volcanism and shale mobilization processes.
William Sassi is an exploration and production scientist in the Structural Geology Department at the Institut Français du Pétrole since 1990. From 1986 to the end 1989, he was working in the Shell Structural Team of Koninklijke/Shell Exploration and Production Laboratory, Rijswijk, Netherlands. He received, in 1980, a master's degree in geophysics from the University of Paris VII and a Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Orsay Paris XI. His research centers on structural interpretation and geomechanics. He designed the Thrustpack tool for structural validation of seismic sections in compressional belts. His current interests focus on constitutive models to better understand faulting and fracture patterns in sedimentary rocks.
In foreland fold and thrust belts, the study of the maturity of the organic matter and kinematic and thermal modeling techniques is useful in unraveling the thermal history and maturation of source rocks. The case study presented here is the classical example, the western Alps. This work evidences that contrasting thermal evolutions can develop in relatively closely adjacent areas of the same thrust belt. Analytical results show that the Mesozoic rocks have undergone a wide range of temperatures up to 250°C locally. The higher temperature values are associated with the tectonic emplacement of early, widespread allochthonous nappes that were emplaced obliquely in the northern part of the area, prior to the thrust tectonics of the Subalpine chains. Folding and offsets of the isomaturity surfaces are observed, which implies that in some parts of the thrust belt, the thermal peak was reached before fold and thrust deformation. Erosion rates vary greatly along the thrust front. Extensive erosion (probably more than 4 km [2.5 mi] of sediments from the Tertiary and the Prealpine nappes) occurred in the north of the area studied along the Bornes transect. Away from the area of influence of the Prealpine nappes, numerical modeling shows differences in the timing of maturation of the source rocks. According to the area considered, maturation was attained either early, before thrust tectonics (most of the Vercors area), or during the deposition of the syntectonic flexural series preceding thrust tectonics (Molasse Basin), or else, during thrust tectonics (most of the Chartreuse area).
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  W. Sassi, R. Graham, R. Gillcrist, M. Adams, and R. Gomez The impact of deformation timing on the prospectivity of the Middle Magdalena sub-thrust, Colombia Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2007; 272(1): 473 - 498. [Abstract] [PDF]
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