Scientific topics

The existence of coupling and feedbacks between tectonics, climate and erosion has been theorized on the basis of analytical, numerical and analogue models for over twenty years now, but demonstrating such realtionships from field data remains very difficult.

The objective of our team is to progress on this theme by acquiring more precise data on the chronology of various events, in order to establish cause-and-effect links, by a quantitative understanding of the evolution of relief, leading to a better understanding of the physical parameters responsible for relief evolution, and by studying sedimentary archives in the basins. Finally, we are developing a new generation of digital models capable of integrating and synthesizing physical processes in a more advanced way.

We combine structural and sedimentological field knowledge in emblematic mountain belts such as the Himalayas,the Andes,the Alps; an internationally recognized Geo-thermochronology laboratory for (OSL,Cosmogenic, and fission-track dating; and the modelling of thermochronological data. Finally, we work on conceptualization at the scale of the lithosphere, through thermo-mechanical and analogue modelling, and the use of geophysical data, in order to characterize the coupling between deep-Earth and surface processes.
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Publications:

Tectonics / neotectonics / lithospheric structure / internal forcing :

To study the formation of topography, we use field observations of geological features, including classical structural geology and high-resolution DEMs (using drones, Lidar), as well as trenching and geo-thermochronology to quantify the rate and timing of active faulting. A particular and growing speciality in the Team, initially mainly carried out by TRB Researchers at the Chambéry site, consists of studying seismic hazards using lacustrine records of seismicity. In collaboration with (...)

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Tectonics - erosion on an orogenic scale

To study the impact of both erosion and sedimentation on landscape evolution and the links with paleoenvironmental conditions, we have undertaken to quantify processes and pathways from mountains to basins at different spatial scales, from high-altitude alpine lake systems and glaciated catchments with watersheds of a few km², to systems such as the Himalayan range and the Bay of Bengal (>106 km2), to track sediments from source to sink. Understanding the relationships between tectonics, (...)

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Sedimentary basins

The aim is to extract information related to the effects and timing of both internal and external processes recorded in the sediments. To do so, a wide range of tools is used, including field sedimentology, integrated stratigraphy, detrital thermochronology, drill-core analysis, interpretation of seismic lines, analysis of microfauna and nannoflora, and stable isotopes and trace elements, which enables the establishment of both high-resolution chronological frameworks and long-distance (...)

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