Uplift and denudation history at low-elevation passive margins: insights from morphostratigraphic analysis in the SE Armorican Massif along the French Atlantic margin
Résumé
Like other low-elevation passive margins, the French Atlantic margin is characterized by a gradual topographic transition from the coast to low-altitude interior plains or plateaus. Here we propose a morphostratigraphic analysis to constrain long-term landscape evolution and denudation rates, through the characterization of paleotopographies and related paleoweatherings in an area restricted to the southeast Armorican Massif. Two regional-scale paleosurfaces are recognized: (i) the Infraliassic paleosurface, the truncated weathering profiles of which are sealed by Liassic marine deposits; (ii) the Eocene paleosurface, underlain by thick kaolinite- and iron-rich paleosaprolites and by siliceous duricrusts (silcretes). Quantitative constraints on large-scale tectonic uplift and long-term denudation are obtained from these morphostratigraphic markers. Mean uplift and denudation rates calculated on post-Eocene times range between 0.5 and 2 m.Ma-1. These low values imply high landscape stability of the inland margin over most of the Cenozoic.