Dominique Gasquet

We consider a mixture made of dispersed metallic particles immersed into a background material saturated by an electrolyte. Below the freezing temperature (typically 0°C to −4°C), a fraction of the liquid water in the pore space is transformed into ice, whereas the salt remains segregated into the liquid-pore water solution. Our goal is to understand how freezing affects the complex conductivity (induced polarization) of such mixtures. Complex conductivity measurements (96 spectra) are performed in a temperature-controlled bath equipped with a high-precision impedance meter. We cover the temperature range from +20°C to −15°C to −18°C and the frequency range from 10−2 Hz to 45 kHz. The spectra are fitted with a double Cole-Cole complex conductivity model. A finite-element model is used to further analyze the mechanisms of polarization by considering an intragrain polarization mechanism for the metallic particles and a change of the conductivity of the background material modeled with an exponential freezing curve. This curve is used to relate the liquid water content to the temperature. In the context of freezing, we test all the aspects of the intragrain polarization model developed in the previous papers of this series, at least for a weakly polarizable background material. The Cole-Cole exponent and the chargeability are observed to be essentially independent of temperature including in freezing conditions. This means that all the relaxation times of the system follow the same temperature dependence and that the chargeability is controlled by the volume fraction of metal. The instantaneous conductivity (high-frequency conductivity) and the relaxation times depend on the temperature in a predictable way, and their product can be considered to be essentially temperature independent. The analytical and numerical models can reproduce the inverse relationship between the relaxation time and the instantaneous conductivity.

We investigate the influence of temperature and salinity upon the spectral induced polarization of 10 samples including rocks with their mineralization (galena, chalcopyrite) plus sand mixed with semi-conductors such as magnetite grains, graphite, and pyrite cubes of two different sizes. Measurements are made in a temperature-controlled bath with a high-precision impedance meter and using NaCl solutions. We cover the temperature range 5-50°C and the frequency range 10^-2 Hz to 45 kHz. For one large pyrite cube, we also investigated 6 salinities from 0.1 to 10 S m^-1 (at 25°C, NaCl) and three salinities for graphite. The spectra are fitted with a Cole Cole complex parametric conductivity model for which we provide a physical meaning to the four Cole Cole parameters. As expected, the Cole Cole exponent and the chargeability are both independent of the temperature and salinity. The instantaneous and steady state (DC, Direct Current) conductivities depend on both salinity and temperature. This temperature dependence can be fitted with an Arrhenius’ law (combining the Stokes-Einstein and Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equations) with an activation energy in the range 15±1 kJ Mol^-1. This activation energy is the same than for the bulk pore water conductivity demonstrating the control by the background electrolyte of these quantities, as expected. The instantaneous and DC conductivities depend on the salinity in a predictable way. The Cole Cole relaxation time decreases with the temperature and decreases with the salinity. This behavior can be modeled with an Arrhenius law with an apparent activation energy of 7±3 kJ mol^-1. A finite element model is used to analyze further the mechanisms of polarization and can reproduce the temperature and salinity dependencies observed in the laboratory.

U-Pb and Th-Pb dating of monazite from hydrothermal quartz veins (“Alpine veins”) from the Lauzière massif (North Belledonne) together with Ar/Ar ages of adularias from the same veins constrain the age of the last tectono-metamorphic events that affected the External Crystalline Massifs (ECM). Ages obtained are surprisingly young. The study of the structural context of the veins combined with our chronological data, allow us to propose a tectonic scenario of the northern ECM for the 15-5 Ma period, which was poorly documented so far. The quartz veins are of two types: (i) the oldest are poorly mineralized (chlorite and epidote), flat-lying veins. The quartz fibres (= extension direction) are near vertical and seem to be associated with a subvertical dissolution schistosity superimposed upon an early Alpine deformation underlined by “mini-biotite”. They bear a sub-horizontal stretching lineation; (ii) the youngest veins are very rich in various minerals (anatase, rutile, phénacite, meneghinite, beryl, synchysite, ….). They are almost vertical. Their “en echelon” geometry as well as the horizontal attitude of their quartz fibres show a dextral strike-slip regime. Two groups of Th-Pb ages have been obtained: 11 to 10 Ma and 7 to 5 Ma. They were obtained from the most recent veins (vertical veins) sampled in different areas of the massif. The ca. 10 Ma ages are related to veins in the Lauzière granite and its metamorphic country-rocks at about 2 km from the eastern contact of the massif, while the ages of ca. 5 Ma correspond to veins occurring in mylonites along this contact. Adularias provided Ar/Ar ages at ca. 7 Ma. By contrast, a monazite from a vein of the Pelvoux massif (Plan du Lac) yielded a Th-Pb age of 17.6 Ma but in a different structural setting. Except fission track ages, there are very little ages of this range published in the recent literature on the Alps. The latter concern always gold mineralized veins (NE Mont Blanc and SW Lepontine dome). The last compressive tectonic regime dated between 15 and 12 Ma is coeval with (i) the late “Roselend thrust” event, which is recorded in the Mont Blanc by shear-zones with vertical lineation, (ii) the last movements in the basal mylonites of the Swiss Nappes, (iii) the horizontal Alpine veins from the Mont Blanc and Belledonne massifs (with vertical quartz fibres), which are similar to the early veins of the Lauzière. On the contrary, the vertical veins of the Lauzière, dated between 11 and 5 Ma, correspond to a dextral strike slip regime. This suggests that most of the strike-slip tectonics along the ECM took place during two stages (ca. 10 Ma and ca. 7-5 Ma) and not only at 18 Ma as had been proposed previously. Our ages are consistent with the late Miocene-Pliocene overlap of the Digne thrust to the South and to part of the normal movement along the Simplon fault to the North. Thus, all the external crystalline massifs were tectonically active during the late Miocene. This suggests that tectonic events in the external alpine belt may have contributed to some extent to the geodynamical causes of the Messinian crisis.