Isotopic compositions of fluid inclusions in the Earth crust : determination of fluid sources and palaeoclimatic reconstructions

One of the major challenges in Earth Sciences during the last decades has been to improve our knowledge of the interaction between the different components of the Earth System. Key aspects to improve the understanding of these processes are the acquisition of new data and the development of models to explain both mass and energy transfer between the deep and superficial components of the Earth system. The goal of this thesis is to study these transfers through the geochemical cycle of volatile elements trapped in fluid inclusions of various materials of the Earth crust. The first part of my work presents experimental study of halite. The study of oxygen isotope fractionation and equilibrium kinetics between H2O and CO2 during the evaporation of brines shows that corrections have to be made on the oxygen isotope measurements for high salinity solutions. The elaboration of an experimental protocol to form halite in controlled environment reveals the potential of fluid inclusions for palaeo climatic reconstructions. Combination of microthermometric data plus hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions of aqueous inclusions allows to estimate the sources and the temperature of the parental water of halite as well as the wind speed at the water-air interface during the crystal growth. This method was then applied to the Messinian halite deposits of Sicily. The second part of my work is dedicated to the identification of both the chemical compositions and the sources of fluids circulating in the crust and at the interface crustmantle through the analysis of isotopic compositions of fluid inclusions in granites and granulites.