quartz recrystallization regimes c axis texture transitions and fluid inclusion reequilibration in a prograde greenschist to amphibolite facies mylonite zone ribeira shear zone se brazil abstract the crystal plastic behavior of quartz mylonites from the ribeira shear zone se brazil a major strike slip structure that was active during a prograde metamorphic phase related to the neoproterozoic brasiliano pan african orogeny was investigated using a multi method approach geothermobarometry results indicate deformational conditions ranging from 300 to 630 c and 500 700 mpa a strong correlation between mapped metamorphic zones and a dominance of different dynamic recrystallization mechanisms of quartz occurs within the mylonite zone bulging recrystallization blg dominates within the chlorite zone between 300 and 410 c subgrain rotation recrystallization sgr operates within the biotite zone from 410 to 520 c and grain boundary migration recrystallization gbm dominates in the garnet zone above 520 c the development of quartz c axis textures is mainly governed by temperature and dynamic recrystallization mechanisms textures from blg zone mylonites are characterized by maxima around z sgr zone mylonites display single girdles or asymmetric type i crossed girdles and gbm zone mylonites comprise maxima around y and intermediate between x and z the scarcity or absence of water bearing fluid inclusions in quartz mylonites from the sgr and gbm zones which are dominated by carbonic inclusions suggests water deficient conditions whereas blg zone mylonites are dominated by water bearing inclusions this evidence indicates that water was available in the protoliths but has been eliminated with increasing deformation and deformation temperature no effect of the water content variation on the quartz microstructural and recrystallized grain size evolution was detected and little influence on c axis texture development was observed most of the fluid inclusion densities were reequilibrated during the shear zone exhumation history recording a decompression in the range of 300 500 mpa while microstructural reequilibration effects related to the prograde metamorphism are largely preserved fluid inclusion microstructures and densities from two sgr zone samples preserved evidence for a near isothermal compression within the interior of the ribeira shear zone during the prograde metamorphism

short lived polyphase deformation during crustal thickening and exhumation of a collisional orogen ribeira belt brazil abstract the ribeira belt brazil is a neoproterozoic collisional related feature that was located in a south central position in west gondwana we present quantitative data on finite strain flow vorticity and deformation temperatures for the curitiba terrane a major segment of the southern ribeira belt six deformation phases d 1 d 6 related with crustal thickening and exhumation were recognized d 1 and d 2 related microstructures are preserved exclusively within porphyroblasts in part grown during stages of high pressure 9 12 kbar isobaric heating after crustal thickening d 3 phase was active from peak metamorphism attained in contrasting crustal levels 810 400 c to the early stage of exhumation 500 400 c as indicated by petrological microstructural and quartz c axis fabric evidence kinematic vorticity results indicate that the sl 3 mylonitic fabric resulted from a simple shear dominated deformation related with westward thrusting north verging overturned d 4 folds with e w trending subhorizontal axes derived from a pure shear dominated deformation regional d 5 open folds with subvertical axes and nne ssw trending traces were produced by indentation tectonics d 6 phase comprises retrograde orogen parallel transcurrent shear zones related with scape tectonics geochronological data indicate that d 3 d 6 phases occurred between 584 and 580 ma suggesting a fast exhumation rate of 8 mm year for the deepest rocks from the southern ribeira belt

effect of finite strain on clast based vorticity gauges abstract clast based vorticity gauges utilize orientations of grains assumed to have behaved as isolated rigid particles suspended in a flowing viscous matrix a fundamental assumption behind use of the method is that sufficient strain has accumulated for high aspect ratio grains to rotate into positions approaching their stable sink orientation and that clasts below a critical aspect ratio may be observed in any orientation relative to the flow plane we constructed a numerical model to explore the effect of variable finite strain on development of the orientation distribution of a large population of rigid clasts embedded in a viscous medium for end member pure and simple shear and for several distinct general shear flows our model predicts the technique will tend to produce vorticity overestimates for lower vorticity flows for a wide range of finite strain the model also indicates that clast populations in moderate to high vortical flows tend to develop shape preferred orientations that closely resemble those expected for flows of lower vorticity we conclude that clast based methods are not effective for extracting detailed kinematic information from a mylonite deformed in a flow with arbitrary boundary conditions in fact it appears that most general shear flows continued long enough to develop moderate high finite strains will tend to produce a clast orientation distribution that will yield a visual estimate of the critical aspect ratio that suggests approximately equal contributions of pure and simple shear components

pan african tectonics in northwestern cameroon implication for the history of western gondwana abstract three main tectonic events related to pan african collision and post collision evolution have been identified in cameroon i crustal thickening ii left lateral wrench movements and iii right lateral wrench movements successively correlation of these events throughout the pan african belt and an integrated synthesis that includes the domains of central africa trans sahara and ne brazil enable us to define an indent type structure in northwestern cameroon this one suggests the existence of a rigid prong in this area which collided with the sao francisco congo craton sfcc active margin at ca 640 ma prior to subsequent widespread remobilization and granitization that partly affected both landmasses between 640 and 580 ma major indent related shear zones were further reactivated during regional clockwise rotation of the newly stabilized domain of northwestern cameroon suggesting that collision with the west african craton wac was still active after 580 ma geodynamic implications of this model are discussed in the context of the pan african global evolution in western gondwana

dislocation creep regimes in quartz aggregates abstract using optical and tem microscopy we have determined that three regimes of dislocation creep occur in experimentally deformed quartz aggregates depending on the relative rates of grain boundary migration dislocation climb and dislocation production within each regime a distinctive microstructure is produced due primarily to the operation of different mechanisms of dynamic recrystallization at lower temperatures and faster strain rates the rate of dislocation production is too great for diffusion controlled dislocation climb to be an effective recovery mechanism in this regime recovery is accommodated by strain induced grain boundary migration recrystallization with an increase in temperature or decrease in strain rate the rate of dislocation climb becomes sufficiently rapid to accommodate recovery in this regime dynamic recrystallization occurs by progressive subgrain rotation with a further increase in temperature or decrease in strain rate dislocation climb remains sufficiently rapid to accommodate recovery however in this regime grain boundary migration is rapid thus recrystallization occurs by both grain boundary migration and progressive subgrain rotation the identification of the three regimes of dislocation creep may have important implications for the determination of flow law parameters and the calibration of recrystallized grain size piezometers in addition the identification of a particular dislocation creep regime could be useful in helping to constrain the conditions at which a given natural deformation has occurred

dissolution precipitation creep of k feldspar in mid crustal granite mylonites abstract the deformation of k feldspar within lower amphibolite facies granite mylonites from the gran paradiso nappe north western alps italy is primarily accomplished by dissolution replacement and precipitation processes with little or no evidence for dislocation glide or creep new elongate grains of k feldspar precipitate in dilational domains within and around k feldspar porphyroclasts as a part of the process of myrmekite formation that progressively consumes the porphyroclasts the new grains grow in epitaxial continuity with the parent porphyroclasts which hinders the development of a bulk crystallographic preferred orientation cpo in the aggregates of new grains when large amounts of relict k feldspar are still present in mylonites the magmatic k feldspar is eventually transformed into 100 300 m thick nearly monomineralic fine grained 20 50 m in size aggregates of new grains showing an oblique shape fabric and a cpo the observed cpo is not consistent with the activity of any slip system in k feldspar instead it is interpreted to result from dissolution precipitation creep with a slow reaction rate parallel to 010 and 001 crystallographic axes and a fast reaction rate parallel the 100 axis consistent with such a dissolution precipitation mechanism boundaries of new k feldspar grains are highly corroded when oriented approximately parallel to the extensional instantaneous stretching axis whereas boundaries approximately orthogonal to the same stretching axis show well developed crystal facets the cpo developed is weak which suggests that the anisotropy in the dissolution growth rate of k feldspar is also weak

thermochronology of central ribeira fold belt se brazil petrological and geochronological evidence for long term high temperature maintenance during western gondwana amalgamation abstract the studied sector of the central ribeira fold belt se brazil comprises metatexites diatexites charnockites and blastomylonites this study integrates petrological and thermochronological data in order to constrain the thermotectonic and geodynamic evolution of this neoproterozoic ordovician mobile belt during western gondwana amalgamation new data indicate that after an earlier collision stage at 610 ma zircon u pb age peak metamorphism and lower crust partial melting coeval with the main regional high grade d1 thrust deformation occurred at 572 562 ma zircon u pb ages the overall average cooling rate was low 650 c during sub horizontal d2 shearing until 510 470 ma garnet wr sm nd ages 1 2 c ma being then rapidly exhumed cooled 8 30 c ma during post orogenic d3 deformation with late granite emplacement at 490 ma zircon u pb age cooling rates based on garnet biotite fe mg diffusion are broadly consistent with the geochronological cooling rates a metatexites were cooled faster at high temperatures 6 c ma and slowly at low temperatures 0 1 c ma decreasing cooling rates with time b charnockites show low cooling rates 2 c ma near metamorphic peak conditions and high cooling rates 120 c ma at lower temperatures increasing cooling rates during retrogression the charnockite thermal evolution and the extensive production of granitoid melts in the area imply that high geothermal gradients were sustained for a long period of time 50 90 ma this thermal anomaly most likely reflects upwelling of asthenospheric mantle and magma underplating coupled with long term generation of high hpe heat producing elements granitoids these factors must have sustained elevated crustal geotherms for 100 ma promoting widespread charnockite generation at middle to lower crustal levels

diachronic collision slab break off and long term high thermal flux in the brasiliano pan african orogeny implications for the geodynamic evolution of the mantiqueira province abstract the mantiqueira province in se brazil and uruguay is a complex brasiliano pan african orogenic province that has recently been the topic of conflicting geodynamic models focusing the possibility of multiple collision events during the ediacaran ordovician assembly of the western gondwana supercontinent a thorough compilation of recently obtained high resolution u pb geochronology and geochemistry in the mantiqueira province provided the following results a considering the entire orogenic system the pre syn and post orogenic periods range from 670 595 ma 620 550 ma and 560 490 ma respectively and are coeval with the intrusion of 3 distinct magmatic sequences within each geographic segment of this large orogenic province evolving from i calc alkaline arc related magmatism to ii syn orogenic anatectic magmatism coeval with the metamorphic climax to iii calc alkaline alkaline including shoshonitic and a type affinity magmatism that reveal significant lower crust and mantle contribution b progressively younger ages are present from south to north irrespective of the orogenic period considered implying that the different geographic sectors were from south to north diachronically amalgamated into the mantiqueira province results provide important evidence for the existence of a single diachronic collision event at 630 590 ma followed by the thermal climax at 615 560 ma slab break off asthenospheric upwelling and mantle underplating that sustained long term high heat flux conditions until 540 490 ma when post tectonic calc alkaline alkaline granitoids probably admixed with small amounts of slab melts formed at depth intruded the middle low crust magmatic and metamorphic sequences during the final stages of thermal and orogenic collapse of the mantiqueira province belts

40ar 39ar thermochronology of the pan african damara orogen namibia with implications for tectonothermal and geodynamic evolution abstract forty three 40ar 39ar step heating experiments on white mica biotite hornblende and whole rocks from the damara orogen namibia revise and refine the regional perspective on cooling exhumation and tectonic reactivation across the orogen these data also document post orogenic motion on major shear zones and the thermal effects of late syn to post tectonic granite intrusions these data show regional cooling through temperatures of 300 350 c from 545 to 520 ma in the central kaoko zone 530 510 ma in the eastern kaoko zone and 495 480 ma in the southern zone of the damara belt discordant 40ar 39ar age spectra relate to 1 partial resetting of k ar isotopic system in micas by late stage activity in the major kaoko belt shear zones such as the purros and three palms mylonite zones giving apparent ages of 467 6 481 3 and 492 ma and 2 thermal effects from granitic plutions particularly in the ugab domain of the southern kaoko belt 500 475 ma and in the granite dominated central zone of the damara belt 490 460 ma phyllites of the lower grade flank regions of the orogen record apparent 40ar 39ar mica crystallization ages of 517 ma eastern kaoko zone 526 ma northern zone damara belt and 568 553 ma southern foreland zone damara belt the southern foreland samples however are maximum ages due to variable influence of detrital mica rates of cooling vary between zones within the kaoko belt in the central kaoko belt hornblende biotite and white mica apparent 40ar 39ar ages are similar suggestive of rapid cooling through the 300 550 c temperature range whereas in the orogen core or western kaoko belt hornblende and biotite apparent ages are older than the white mica ages because the white micas record the reactivation of the main structures these data support models of diachronous deformation and metamorphism of the component parts of the orogen and suggest that pan african orogenesis in the damara is broadly bracketed between 580 and 500 ma with final movements through 480 ma and spans through the terminal amalgamation of gondwana in the kuunga orogeny through the initiation of subduction under the gondwana continental margin

rheology of two phase systems a microphysical and observational approach abstract ductile shear zones commonly contain distinctive bands of high strain rock characterized by intimately mixed fine grained two phase or polyphase material these ultramylonite bands are weaker than the surrounding material and may play a critical role in strain localization how such zones develop how the phases become evenly dispersed the bulk rheology and the controls on grain size are all unclear the following generic scenario may resolve some of these questions 1 dislocation creep and dynamic recrystallization cause grain size reduction commonly the recrystallized grain sizes of the two phases differ 2 grain size reduction causes a switch to grain boundary diffusion creep which requires grain boundary sliding diffusion allows one phase to fill spaces that open between grains of the other this will happen most rapidly in the finer grained phase the grain size of the resulting mixture is therefore controlled by that of the finer grained phase this leads to mixing and dispersion of the two phases producing a fine grained evenly dispersed two phase aggregate 3 the bulk rheology will be controlled by grain boundary diffusion creep of the two phases with the grain size controlled by the finer grained phase bulk flow laws can be developed for quartz feldspar and olivine orthopyroxene ultramylonites based on these concepts using appropriate mixing laws

deformation regime variations in an arcuate transpressional orogen ribeira belt se brazil imaged by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility in granulites the ribeira belt of southeastern brazil displays an arcuate shape with a structural trend that varies from wns in the northern domain to ene wsw in the southern domain this curvature is accompanied by a transition from contraction dominated to transcurrent dominated tectonics the transition in deformation regime is accommodated in the central domain of the belt where granulitic rocks dominate and mineral stretching lineations are commonly concealed by metamorphic recrystallization we present anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams data from 664 samples from 62 sites in high temperature gneisses granulites and migmatites of the transitional central domain of the belt with the aim of investigating 1 how well ams allows one to map the mineral stretching lineation and foliations in domains displaying a complex kinematic framework and 2 to investigate the kinematic pattern at the transition between the thrusting dominated and a wrenchfaulting dominated orogenic segments the mean magnetic susceptibility is 7 54 10 k3 si the degree of anisotropy varies from 1 32 up to 4 31 with an average value of 1 53 the shape parameter t is generally o0 meaning that the ams ellipsoid is dominantly oblate magnetic lineations and foliations form a consistent pattern correlated with the modification of the structural characteristics observed along the ribeira belt in the southern wrenchfault dominated domain the magnetic lineation is subhorizontal parallel to the trend of the steeply dipping magnetic foliation this correlation with the fabric observed in mylonites suggests that the magnetic fabric is a valid proxy of the tectonic fabric in granulites results from the northern domain show that it comprises two sub domains both displaying a wns trending magnetic foliation eastward over a broad area the magnetic foliation is consistently steeply dipping and bears a shallowly to moderately plunging magnetic lineation westward the dip of the foliation decreases progressively and the lineation rotates from nearly parallel to nearly orthogonal to the trend of the foliation suggesting a progressive transition from transcurrent to contractional tectonics at the junction between the northern and southern domains the magnetic fabric is composite the magnetic foliation displays a constant nne ssw orientation but the magnetic lineation spreads within the foliation plane from parallel to normal to the foliation direction the ams pattern mapped in the central ribeira belt supports a scenario in which the transcurrent and contractional deformation regimes are coeval with a transition between the two regimes accommodated progressively over a large transpressional area where both strain regimes were active q 2005 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

time specific facies and biological crises the kellwasser event interval near the frasnian famennian boundary late devonian abstract features which may be called time specific facies tsf can be linked to global bioevents or better biological crises the late devonian kellwasser kw event is a classic example of such a crisis this geologically short lived event shows recurring patterns within the critical time interval including patterns that are often minute not only do the well known lower and upper kw horizons yield specific features but also the adjacent sedimentary rocks show characteristic markers such observations were first made in facies settings of submarine rises with preferably carbonate rocks mainly cephalopod limestones but these features can now also be traced into basinal sections characterized by fine grained pelitic rocks these beds and markers are crossing traditional facies borders at exactly the same time making them perfect examples of tsf

a recrystallized grain size piezometer for experimentally deformed feldspar aggregates a recrystallized grain size piezometer for low temperature migration recrystallization in feldspar has been experimentally calibrated hot pressed samples of fine grained albitic feldspar grain size 1 10 m and a natural albitic feldspar aggregate 150 m were deformed in simple shear and axial compression at a temperature of 900 c and a confining pressure of 1500 mpa transmission electron microscopy tem verified that deformation occurred by recrystallization accommodated dislocation creep grain size distributions were measured from scanning electron microscopy sem photographs of polished and etched samples the results yield a recrystallized grain size piezometer relationship of d 55 5 0 66 0 07 where d is the geometric mean grain size m and the differential stress mpa the exponent is higher than that determined in previous studies of other materials for rotation recrystallization and high temperature migration recrystallization indicating that different recrystallization mechanisms have distinct recrystallized grain size piezometer relationships

tectonics of the southern portion of the ribeira belt apiai domain abstract the name ribeira belt was originally used in a reference to a broad belt of deformed crust which strikes subparallel to the southeastern brazilian coastline it was originally believed to be neoproterozoic brasiliano panafrican but present investigations indicate that this age seems to be mainly related to the extensive arc related plutonism and tectono metamorphism that affected its most representative formations whereas the time of deposition of the supracrustals would be significantly older in this study the main tectono stratigraphic features of the apiai domain of the ribeira belt are described the lithostratigraphy is reviewed as well the paleogeographic structural geochemical and radiometric data and their implications for the tectonic evolution models for the region the marine sediments of the apiai domain were laid down on the borders of the parana and luis alves cratons and on an intervening mesoproterozoic 1 8 1 1 ga ocean crust they were intensively deformed by ocean closure and collision of the cratonic fragments and they constitute the majority of the local supracrustals designated as the acungui supergroup symmetrical continental passive margin deposits are represented to the northwest by a more proximal facies itaiacoca group probably related to the parana paleocontinent and by the capiru formation to the southeast between them lies the central domain formed by the votuverava group characterized by the remains of gradually deepening carbonatic platform sediments of the lajeado subgroup which grade eastward into distal turbiditic sequences of the ribeira subgroup where ocean floor and immature island arc magmatic rocks are present during the neoproterozoic the apiai domain behaved as a single continental mass into which basic rocks were intruded between 1 1 and 0 85 ga between 0 7 and 0 6 ga the apiai domain evolved into a cordilleran type magmatic arc related to the evolution of a subduction zone possibly situated to the southeast of the luis alves cratonic fragment this subduction caused metamorphism and migmatization of the supra and infra crustal rocks of the region and produced the extensive calc alkaline granitoid plutonism between 0 6 and 0 45 ga the majority of the southeastern continental blocks amalgamated during closure of the adamastor ocean followed by development of a system of regional dextral transcurrent shear zones related to oblique collision and or escape tectonics pull apart basins opened up and were filled with molasse sequences the region was intruded by post tectonic granitoids and then underwent regional cooling

the strength of the continental crust detachment zones and the development of plastic instabilities abstract the maximum strength of the continental crust is constrained by the geothermal gradient the lithological make up of the crust and whether or not the byerlee relation holds to the base of the continental crust if this linear byerlee relation holds then maximum shear stress levels sustained at low geothermal gradients 10 20 c km 1 could be as high as 300 mpa in the upper part of the mantle for strike slip regimes and up to 700 mpa in thrust regimes towards the base of the crust however if byerlee s relation breaks down at moderate temperatures and pressures and if such breakdown is associated with the transition from unstable to stable sliding on pre existing faults then the maximum stress levels in the crust being set by the shear stress at the breakdown depth are much lower ca 300 mpa for low geothermal gradients and thrust regimes the lithosphere is quite weak below the crust for geothermal gradients greater than 20 c km 1 so attempts to treat the lithosphere as an elastic slab for time scales for which plastic flow contributes significantly to the deformation should be questioned for a geothermal gradient of 10 c km 1 the entire continental crust and part of the upper mantle behave as an elastic brittle slab at higher geothermal gradients the distribution of strength is variable vertically according to the magnitude of the geothermal gradient and the lithological make up large contrasts in strength occur across rheologically defined boundaries as well as across lithological boundaries at these higher geothermal gradients such contrasts in strength could act as nuclei for detachment zones within the continental crust and upper mantle detachment at or near the moho is to be expected only for low geothermal gradients lateral variations in the geothermal gradient produce shallowly dipping zones of highly contrasting strength throughout the continental crust and uppermost mantle possibly resulting in flat lying thrusts and normal faults which may ramp upwards through the crust instabilities leading to seismic events which occur solely during plastic shearing should be common in thrust terranes where the stresses are relatively high ca 100 200 mpa for geothermal gradients ranging from 10 to 50 c km 1 and for quartz rich felsic mafic and peridotitic rock types thrust terranes are therefore predicted to be characterized by coseismic plastic instabilities on all detachment zones throughout the crust and into the uppermost mantle but embryonic rift zones should be aseismic at depth ca 10 km

determination of fabric and strain ellipsoids from measured sectional ellipses implementation and applications abstract geologists examine fabrics to constrain models of formation or of deformation of rocks and it is often convenient to summarise the results by a fabric ellipsoid as fabric data are commonly collected on planar sections through the rock estimating a fabric ellipsoid from sectional ellipses often with arbitrary orientations is an important task an algebraic method to calculate such an ellipsoid presented in an earlier paper has been implemented with the program ellipsoid it is used here on examples that illustrate questions and issues that arise when collecting selecting and processing sectional fabric data and when assessing the results the quality of fit of the ellipsoid to the data is assessed in all cases examples include a case in which the average sizes of markers on individual sections can be used in the determination of the ellipsoid and other cases in which such sizes are not useful a case in which sectional ellipses are not obtained from closed markers and a case in which data scatter and insufficient coverage of section orientations lead to a hyperboloid instead of an ellipsoid

a review of the western part of the altaids a key to understanding the architecture of accretionary orogens abstract the altaids is one of the largest accretionary collages in the world and the tectonic styles of the accretionary processes have been interpreted in several ways including as an amalgamation of multiple terranes as a result of oroclinal bending of a long single arc or as a caledonian continental collision based on recent tectonostratigraphic analyses together with paleomagnetic data the tectonic styles of the neoproterozoic to paleozoic accretionary processes of the altaids are discussed the western altaids is the main focus of the study which was mainly composed of several independent linear components such as arcs and microcontinents with proterozoic basement and cover rocks various kinds of arcs existed in the paleo asian ocean including a complicated type of arc alaskan type which is a combination of the japan and mariana type intra oceanic arcs and the cordillera type continental arcs these linear components rotated and collided with each other with multiple subduction polarities which could have been an important result of multiple linear element amalgamation and which has contributed greatly to the architecture of the eurasian continent the basic tectonic styles of the altaids can be summarized as arc arc collision oroclinal bending and large scale rotation and multiple subductions with a complicated archipelago paleogeography these basic features of accretionary orogens in general can be attributed to the amalgamation of complicated multiple linear elements some mesozoic to cenozoic accretionary orogens in the world are also characterized by processes of multiple linear element amalgamation more attention should be paid to the multiple linear element amalgamation of ancient accretionary orogens which will shed light on lateral and vertical continental growth

a new empirical calibration of the quartz c axis fabric opening angle deformation thermometer abstract the opening angle of quartz c axis fabrics oa is strongly temperature dependent and has proven to be a powerful deformation thermometer for natural metamorphic rocks previous considerations of empirical data have identified a linear correlation between oa and temperature between 250 and 650 c and no correlation above 650 c however possible effects of pressure have not been investigated we expanded the data set of oa versus temperature including data from rocks deformed over 300 1050 c and 2 5 15 kbar disregarding possible effects of pressure the oa temperature relationship can be described by two linear correlations for the intervals 250 650 c and 650 1050 c t c 6 9 o a degrees 48 250 c t 650 c and o a 87 t c 4 6 o a degrees 258 650 c t 1050 c and o a 87 the change on the curve slope of the oa temperature relationship correlates approximately to the low to high quartz transition and to changes in the dynamic recrystallization mechanism from subgrain rotation to grain boundary migration the available data suggest that pressure has a secondary effect accompanying the major temperature dependence of oa which is particularly important for temperatures above 650 c where the correlation between oa and temperature is less pronounced for fixed pressures the oa has logarithmic relationships with temperature over the range 250 1050 c the following thermometer equation is formulated from a multiple regression t c 410 44 ln oa degrees 14 22 p kbar 1272 an uncertainty of 50 c is inherited from the petrological temperature estimates of the natural samples the data suggest the gradual increasing importance of prism c slip relative to slip in quartz with rising temperature under conditions of average geological strain rate and water weakening prism c slip dominates for deformation above 700 c

microscopic anatomy of a hot on cold shear zone insights from quartzites of the main central thrust in the alaknanda region garhwal himalaya

magmatic fabric acquisition mechanisms in a syenite results of a combined anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and image analysis study the structural significance of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams and acquisition mechanisms of silicate and ferrimagnetic mineral fabrics are investigated in the archean lebel syenite intrusion ontario canada bulk mineral subfabrics are determined by intercept counting of mineral phases in classified digital images of thin sections cut parallel to the principal planes of the magnetic fabric ellipsoids of the samples intensities shapes and principal direction orientations of the resulting intercept ellipsoids are generally similar to the corresponding ams ellipsoids differences are due mainly to bimodal distribution of mineral fabrics observed on foliation planes of some samples showing pre full crystallization textures and structural overprinting in samples deformed after crystallization subfabrics of clinopyroxene and magnetite in samples showing pre full crystallization microstructure are investigated by measuring inertia tensors of individual grain shapes the resulting inertia tensor ellipsoids indicate that magnetic fabrics in these rocks are strongly correlated to the shape preferred orientation of magnetite which is similar to the overall petrofabric of the samples crystal size distributions of clinopyroxene and magnetite indicate that they formed during in situ crystallization and that magnetite probably appeared late in the crystallization and flow history of the magma analysis of preferred orientations of these grains suggests that the petrofabrics of the samples were acquired during flow with strongly interacting grains analogous to a logjam in a river the final characteristics of the ams and silicate petrofabric are the end points of a continuous crystallization and flow history in the magma rather than transient late features

neocrystallization or cooling 40ar 39ar ages of white micas from low grade mylonites abstract 40 ar 39 ar data for white micas from quartzite mylonites from a thrust system are evaluated with respect to whether the minerals record cooling ages or alternatively ages of deformation induced neocrystallization to address these interpretations three types of information are needed 1 the effective diffusion length scale controlling volume diffusion of argon in white micas 2 an estimate of the diffusion parameters for volume diffusion of argon and 3 the thermal history completely recrystallized quartzites exhibit smooth grain size distributions for white micas with good exponential or power law fits suggesting that the grains grew under similar conditions the microstructures indicate that the grains grew over a narrow range in time near the end of the deformation history measured grain size distributions provide a maximum limit for the diffusion length scale thermal histories are estimated by 40 ar 39 ar diffusion experiments on k feldspars using the multi diffusion domain method of lovera lovera o m richter f m harrison t m 1989 the 40 ar 39 ar thermochronometry for slowly cooled samples having a distribution of diffusion domain sizes j geophys res 94 17917 17935 these results are consistent with the expected temperature time path for the thrusting environment and predict maximum temperatures of 250 350 c during the time span recorded by the white micas experimentally and empirically calibrated diffusion parameters for white micas are applied to a cylindrical diffusion geometry to explore the question of cooling ages versus neocrystallization ages forward modeling of the passage of the white micas through the closure window for argon diffusion using the thermal histories derived from the k feldspars indicates that the white micas record neocrystallization rather than cooling and supports the idea that the white micas record the timing of when ductile deformation ceased

characterization of the magnetic fabric of rocks abstract an inextensive system of magnetic susceptibility anisotropy factors is suggested which is sufficient in the majority of practical applications for characterizing the magnetic fabric of rocks the system involves three newly devised factors the corrected anisotropy degree the shape factor and the difference shape factor the first of these characterizes the quantity of anisotropy somewhat better than the commonly used anisotropy degree the shape factor characterizes the quality of anisotropy i e the shape of the susceptibility ellipsoid in a convenient way its definition is based on a certain analogy between the anisotropy ellipsoid and the strain ellipsoid the difference shape factor can replace the shape factor when only the differences between the principal susceptibilities are given while the mean susceptibility is unknown

stretching lineations in transpressional shear zones an example from the sierra nevada batholith california abstract ductile shear zones and associated stretching lineations are generally considered to be the result of two dimensional simple shear deformations with stretching lineations interpreted to rotate into parallelism with the direction of tectonic transport with increasing deformation however stretching lineations perpendicular to the inferred tectonic transport direction are displayed by some shear zones field studies in the sierra nevada batholith have revealed a single shear zone the rosy finch gem lake shear zone that contains both steeply plunging stretching lineations in older metamorphosed sedimentary and granitic rocks and shallowly plunging stretching lineations in syntectonic granitoids dextral sense of shear indicators are found in all these units and deformation occurred simultaneously along the length of the shear zone theoretical strain modeling indicates that stretching lineations can be either horizontal or vertical within transpressional shear zones to investigate the kinematics of three dimensional deformation we examine the role of stretching lineations which form as a result of finite strain including the possibility of partitioning a component of the strike slip movement onto shear bands comparing the field data with the strain modeling we interpret the along strike variation in lineation behavior within the rosy finch gem lake shear zone to be a result of the differences in finite strain recorded by different units the older units showing steeply plunging lineation have recorded more finite strain across a narrower shear zone than the syntectonic granites which record shallowly plunging lineations we conclude that the orientation of the lineation within transpressional shear zones does not necessarily correlate with the transport direction but may reflect along strike variations in finite strain and or strain partitioning

calculation of partial melting equilibria in the system na2o cao k2o feo mgo al2o3 sio2 h2o nckfmash a thermodynamic model for haplogranitic melts in the system na2o cao k2o al2o3 sio2 h2o nckash is extended by the addition of feo and mgo with the data for the additional end members of the liquid incorporated in the holland powell 1998 internally consistent thermodynamic dataset the resulting dataset with the software thermocalc is then used to calculate melting relationships for metapelitic rock compositions the main forms for this are p t and t x pseudosections calculated for particular rock compositions and composition ranges the relationships in these full system pseudosections are controlled by the low variance equilibria in subsystems of nckfmash in particular the solidus relationships are controlled by the solidus relationships in nkash and the ferromagnesian mineral relationships are controlled by those in kfmash however calculations in nckfmash allow the relationships between the common metapelitic minerals and silicate melt to be determined in particular the production of silicate melt and melt loss from such rocks allow observations to be made about the processes involved in producing granulite facies rocks particularly relating to open system behaviour of rocks under high grade conditions

kinematics nature of deformation and tectonic setting of the taxaquara shear zone a major transpressional zone of the ribeira belt se brazil abstract in this paper we have investigated the taxaquara shear zone tsz a major strike slip structure within the ribeira belt rb se brazil in order to assess its kinematics the nature of deformation of rocks affected by the tsz and its tectonic setting the tsz presents a vertical ne trending mylonitic foliation and ene to wsw stretching lineation with variable plunge granitic rocks are intensely deformed giving rise to mylonites with newformed matrix assemblage quartz oligoclase k feldspar biotite muscovite rutile magnetite this assemblage within a pseudosection couple with muscovite biotite thermometer helps to constrain a metamorphic condition during deformation which spans 513 525 c and 3 9 4 4 kbar with mean peak at 520 c and 4 0 kbar quartz accommodates deformation through dislocation creep achieving subgrain rotation with minor contribution of grain boundary migration at a mean strain rate of 10 13 10 12 s 1 feldspar porphyroclasts record brittle deformation microfaults and evidences of dislocation creep e g kink twinning the cpos for monomineralic quartz ribbons display monoclinic pattern and activation of basal rhomb slip systems during deformation however the cpos for quartz and feldspar from fine grained polyphase matrix show a switch in deformation mechanism from dislocation creep to diffusion creep the vorticity and three dimensional finite strain data results suggest that the tsz was developed under a moderate to high strain conditions and a transpressional sub simple shear environment with predominance of simple over pure shear regional correlation with other structures from the ribeira belt and african belts based on finite strain quantification support that a major transpressional system was mainly responsible for the shear zones development during late stages of braziliano pan african orogeny

the recrystallized grain size piezometer for quartz an ebsd based calibration we have re analyzed samples previously used for a quartz recrystallized grain size paleopiezometer using electron backscatter diffraction ebsd recrystallized and relict grains are separated using their grain orientation spread gos which acts as a measure of intragranular lattice distortion and a proxy for dislocation density for ebsd maps made with a 1 m step size the piezometer relationship is d 103 91 0 41 1 41 0 21 for rms mean diameter values we also present a sliding resolution piezometer relationship d 104 22 0 51 1 59 0 26 that combines 1 m step size data at coarser grain sizes with 200 nm step size data at finer grain sizes the sliding resolution piezometer more accurately estimates stress in fine grained 10 m samples the two calibrations give results within 10 of each other for recrystallized grain sizes between 10 m and 100 m both piezometers match the original light optical microscopy quartz piezometer within error

structure and strain variation at mid crustal levels in a transpressional orogen a review of kaoko belt structure and the character of west gondwana amalgamation and dispersal abstract the neoproterozoic cambrian kaoko belt is an orogen scale 800 180 km transpressional system important in the amalgamation of west gondwana mid crustal transpression at amphibolite to granulite facies conditions is dominated by two major 400 km exposed strike slip shear zones bounding a 20 40 km wide high grade orogen core to the east a deeply buried nappe dominated escape zone has inverted metamorphic sequence and verges outwards onto a platformal foreland to the west an arc like neoproterozoic coastal terrane was amalgamated and variably reworked during transpression the major purros and three palms mylonite zones have calculated shear displacements on the order of 120 180 km these shear zones are moderately to steeply dipping mylonite zones of 1 5 km width are arcuate and curvilinear in map view and show along strike variation in slip kinematics also highly curved in vertical section the shear zones define a flower to half flower geometry for the orogen core an oblique network of mylonitic shear zones akin to riedel shears links the major shear zones and defines regional scale shear lozenges internally deformed by tight upright folding and shear fabrics these shear zones create domains in the orogen core with varying dominance of pure shear in shear lozenges and simple shear in shear zones however absence of dip slip domains and the smoothly continuous traces of sub horizontal to shallow and acute oblique stretching lineations across all parts of the belt preclude marked kinematic partitioning and the internal part of the belt resembles large scale triclinic shear clast aspect ratios boudin train extension sheath fold aspect geometry degree of rotation of planes producing flanking folds composite s c foliations pressure fringes on pyrite and garnet porphyroclasts provide a semi quantitative measure of strain intensity average strain ratios are x z 40 1 for the major shear zones x z 12 1 for the orogen core x z 8 1 for the escape zone and x z 3 1 for the coastal terrane a more continuous pattern of strain intensity across the whole belt is mapped using a qualitative foliation intensity index foliation traces have a sigmoidal pattern in the orogen core swinging from sub parallel to the boundary shear zones to higher acute angles in the internal parts deformation character also varies from upright open folding in amphibolite facies domains in the north upright tight chevron folding in a low grade central domain to a high grade domain of tight to isoclinal inter folded basement and cover with inclination decreasing towards the south the kaoko belt is a well exposed sector of an extensive 3000 km long broad 400 km arcuate orogenic system adamastor orogen that amalgamated west gondwana bringing the south american sao francisco and rio de la plata cratons and african kalahari and congo cratons components together though a complex system most sectors involved oblique collision and accretion of magmatic arcs of 660 610 ma age followed by peak metamorphism and main phase transpressional orogenesis between 585 and 560 ma with shear zones remaining active until 530 ma this e w amalgamation immediately pre dates the final n s amalgamation of gondwana along the kuunga orogen between 535 and 510 ma the large scale adamastor orogen consisting of kaoko dom feliciano ribeira aracuai and west congo mobile belts also shows broadly similar and symmetric structural architecture throughout the high grade thermally softened core partitioned intense wrench dominated strains and networks of transcurrent shear zones that dip inwards with listric form either side of the internal zone containing amalgamated arcs and high grade core are nappe fold and thrust belts that rework attenuated passive margin basement and adamastor ocean sediments and structures verge outward at moderate to high angles onto both foreland margins the kaoko belt well illustrates the highly partitioned nature of transpressional systems in general and patterns in common throughout the greater adamastor orogen such as metamorphic zonation and heterogeneous distribution of deformation style flow regime and highly variable degrees of reworking strain and recrystallization this highly partitioned and steep structural grain localized lithospheric extension and rifting 415 ma later during breakup and dispersal of gondwana

quartz grain size reduction in a granitoid rock and the transition from dislocation to diffusion creep abstract in the gran paradiso metagranodiorite western alps small scale lower amphibolite facies shear zones record the transition from a mylonite composed of polycrystalline mineral aggregates to a homogeneous ultramylonite with a grain scale phase mixture polycrystalline quartz aggregates in the mylonite deform by dislocation creep developing a crystallographic preferred orientation cpo and a monoclinic surface orientation distribution function odf the polymineralic matrix of the mylonite and the ultramylonite deform by diffusion creep in the ultramylonite the quartz cpo is randomized and the surface odf becomes orthorhombic the transition from mylonite to ultramylonite is accompanied by a grain size decrease and a disintegration of quartz aggregates concomitant with the precipitation of k feldspar biotite between quartz grains in quartz reduction from the dynamically recrystallized grain size in the aggregates 110 m to the size of the dispersed grains in the ultramylonite 25 m occurs through the following processes k feldspar precipitates at opening sites along grain boundaries strain incompatibility pinning the grain size in quartz aggregates coalescence of k feldspar leads to enhanced grain boundary sliding and disintegration of the quartz aggregates solution precipitation reduces the size of the dispersed grains to less than subgrain size 45 m

deformation thermometry based on quartz c axis fabrics and recrystallization microstructures a review abstract for quartz rich tectonites two types of deformation thermometer are currently commonly employed 1 the quartz c axis fabric opening angle thermometer that provides an estimate of deformation temperatures when fabrics were locked in during dislocation creep and dynamic recrystallization 2 the quartz recrystallization thermometer that indicates a range of likely deformation temperatures based on observed microstructures and inferred mechanisms of dynamic recrystallization a critically important caveat in applying both thermometers is the assumption that deformation temperature is the primary controlling factor in recrystallization mechanisms and fabric development however fabric opening angles and recrystallization mechanisms are also sensitive to other variables such as strain rate and water weakening in this paper the development of these thermometers is reviewed and their potential sensitivities to competing factors such as temperature strain rate water weakening and in the case of opening angles 3d strain type are discussed examples of the application of these potential thermometers to naturally deformed quartz rich rocks are given and case studies of correlations between deformation temperatures estimated by these thermometers and temperatures of synkinematic metamorphism determined by petrology based thermobarometers are highlighted in the review attention is focused on problems associated with applying these thermometers to natural deformation and examples of such problems are discussed

silicon diffusion in a natural quartz aggregate constraints on solution transfer diffusion creep abstract silicon bulk diffusion rates were determined in a fine grained 1 2 m diameter natural quartz aggregate novaculite from hot springs ar the diffusion experiments were done at 600 800 c and 150 mpa confining pressure hydrothermal and at 800 1100 c and 1 atm in a stream of dry n2 the technique employed an isotopic tracer 30si and standard step scan analysis using an ion microprobe sims the temperature dependence of silicon bulk diffusion in the novaculite is described by the arrhenius parameters d0 bulk 3 7 10 10 m2 s and q 137 18 kj mol and d0 bulk 6 2 10 9 m2 s and q 178 38 kj mol for the hydrothermal and dry experiments respectively at 800 c the silicon bulk diffusion rate at 150 mpa hydrothermal is about a factor of 10 greater than at 1 atm dry for an assumed effective grain boundary width of 2 nm the silicon grain boundary diffusion rates in novaculite are a factor of two to three less than oxygen diffusion rates for similar hydrothermal conditions and more than 12 orders of magnitude greater than anhydrous silicon volume diffusion rates extrapolated to the temperature of these experiments the results of this study provide valuable constraints on the role of diffusion accommodated deformation in quartz rich rocks

pure shear dominated transpression and vertical extrusion in a strike slip fault splay from the itapirapua shear zone ribeira belt brazil abstract the itapirapua shear zone is a major ne trending dextral transcurrent zone from the southern ribeira belt brazil which was active during the neoproterozoic brasiliano pan african orogeny related with west gondwana assembly macroscopic sigmoid shaped blocks in its northernmost splay termination present a ne trending subvertical tectonic foliation and subvertical stretching lineation suggesting a transpressional tectonics this paper investigates this splay termination using integration of data from geological mapping thermodynamic modeling microtectonics quartz c axis fabrics kinematic vorticity and finite strain analysis distinct rock assemblages are placed in tectonic contacts along the splay termination including statherian sillimanite biotite paragneiss and granitic orthogneiss apiai mirim complex statherian phyllites bairro dos prestes formation calymmian chlorite epidote actinolite metabasites fazenda velha suite ediacaran phyllites metalimestone and quartzite itaiacoca group and ediacaran granite tres corregos suite isochemical phase diagrams constrain synkinematic metamorphic conditions of 490 510 c and 11 12 5 kbar chlorite biotite phengite phyllite 520 560 c and 9 10 kbar biotite phengite phyllite and 680 690 c and 5 6 kbar sillimanite biotite paragneiss with isothermal decompression paths microstructural evidence suggests that increase in metamorphic temperatures were accompanied by changes in the dominant deformation mechanism in quartz aggregates from subgrain rotation to grain boundary migration recrystallization significant contribution of dissolution precipitation creep indicates water abundant deformational conditions strain ellipsoids are oblate shaped and present ne trending subvertical xy planes and subvertical x axes in agreement with field tectonic fabric quartz c axis fabrics in xz sections of the strain ellipsoid are dominated by symmetrical crossed girdles while the fabrics present dextral asymmetry in horizontal yz sections consistent with macroscopic structural deflection indicating a subvertical vorticity axis vorticity results indicate 48 59 of pure shear contribution the data indicate that strain in the itapirapua shear zone northern termination was accommodated by a pure shear dominated transpression with vertical extrusion at mid crustal conditions which contrasts with a transtensional deformation in the southeastern block

fabric development in experimentally sheared quartzites abstract a fine grained quartzite was deformed under a combination of simple shear and axial compression to varying amounts of shear strain 1 3 to 2 9 the experiments were conducted at 800 c 1500 mpa and an axial strain rate of 10 6 s in the dislocation creep regime shear zone boundaries were oriented at 45 or 30 to the compressior axis the progressive development of deformation microstructures including planar fabrics and c axis preferred orientations was studied as a function of increasing shear strain elongate original grains define a foliation s which rotates from 45 to 0 to the shear zone boundary with increasing strain producing a sigmoidal foliation in a single shear zone a second foliation invariant in orientation is defined by elongate recrystallized grains which lie at about 30 40 to the shear zone boundaries no c surfaces parallel to the shear zone boundaries were observed however extensional crenulation cleavages c defined by parallel zones of recrystallized grains as well as impurity and melt segregations were observed even at low strain lying at approximately 30 to the shear zone boundaries and these could easily be mistaken for c surfaces c axis preferred orientations of original grains define symmetric type i crossed circle girdles at low strain 2 with the greater concentration of c axes in the direction of shear these features are very similar to those observed in natural ductile shear zones

microstructures in feldspars from a major crustal thrust zone the grenville front ontario canada abstract samples collected across the nw grenville front in ontario canada have been used to document the change in feldspar microstructures produced during shearing under metamorphic conditions that range from upper amphibolite to lower greenschist grade the differential displacement across this 5 km thick section of the grenville front tectonic zone is at least 10 km at upper to mid amphibolite conditions both plagioclase and potassium feldspars behave plastically grainsize reduction occurs through grain boundary migration and or subgrain rotation and produces a core and mantle structure at middle to lower amphibolite grade grain size reduction is accomplished through grain boundary migration at lower amphibolite to upper greenschist grade grain size reduction occurs by the nucleation and growth of new grains with a different composition the abundance of intracrystalline deformation at this grade is inversely proportional to the amount of fine grained matrix in ultramylonite with a high matrix to porphyroclast ratio few intracrystalline strain features occur other than ubiquitous undulatory extinction myrmekite is well developed on the high stress boundaries in k feldspar at upper to mid greenshist conditions feldspars deform mainly by slip on synthetic shear fractures deformation twins undulatory extinction deformation bands and kink bands occur in plagioclase and perthite flames and myrmekite occur principally on high stress boundaries in k feldspar grain size reduction in feldspar is accomplished through cataclasis at middle to lower greenschist facies deformation in feldspars is dominated by antithetic fractures the transition from the dominance of synthetic to antithetic fractures is gradational below lower greenschist grade rocks deform by pervasive cataclasis of all minerals

temperature constraints on microfabric patterns in quartzofeldsphatic mylonites ribeira belt se brazil abstract based on samples from the major high temperature tres rios alem paraiba padua transpressive shear zone in the ribeira orogenic belt brazil we discuss the applicability of titaniq geothermometry to constrain peak temperature conditions during high temperature mylonitization of quartzofeldspatic rocks and explore the microfabrics formed at these conditions we discuss various aspects of the titaniq method and conclude that deformation occurred at temperatures ranging from 612 to 740 20 c in the studied segment of the shear zone this high temperature deformation resulted in relatively large grain size quartz ribbons and abundant intracrystalline deformation however the cpo fabrics are weak and microstructures suggest that quartz deformation was accommodated by dynamic recrystallization involving grain boundary migration with subsequent grain growth and later some subgrain rotation during exhumation we relate the weak fabrics to diffusion processes during or immediately after dynamic recrystallization and dislocation creep and to the effect of competing slip systems during deformation in terms of rheology evidence for dauphine twinning in our samples suggest strain softening during mylonitization and we suggest that such twinning may add to the rheologically weak nature of quartzo feldspatic portions of hot middle to lower crust

late paleozoic paleomagnetic results from the junggar block northwestern china we have obtained middle carboniferous to permian paleomagnetic results from the junggar block in order to test its tectonic coherence and to reconstruct its late paleozoic position from hoboksar on the northwestern margin of junggar a paleomagnetic pole from basic silicic flows yields p 299 e p 70 n n 15 sites k a95 36 6 4 in the same general area a pole from lava flows plutons and as well as from remagnetized limestones sandstones is at p 350 e p 69 n n 26 site k a95 15 7 5 farther to the southwest in keramayi a pole from late paleozoic dike swarms lies at p 230 e p 80 n n 23 sites k a 95 16 7 8 in the southern margin near urumqi from sedimentary rocks and volcaniclastics of the middle to upper carboniferous qijiagou and aoertu formations a pole is produced at p 7 e p 72 n n 15 sites k a95 28 7 4 from the middle carboniferous liushugou formation and dike swarms intruding into the formation two poles are located at p 231 e p 69 n n 4 sites k a95 46 13 7 and p 172 e p 55 n n 7 sites k a95 17 15 1 respectively though reliabilities of these two poles are in question magnetic polarities of all the poles in our study are exclusively reversed based on positive fold tests and a baked contact test we believe that these magnetizations were acquired during the kiaman reversed interval 250 320 ma more accurate ages of the magnetizations cannot be resolved at present despite widely separate locations the pole positions are roughly located on a small circle segment around the junggar block similar inclinations suggest a coherent junggar block since permian time based on the results of this study and other published paleomagnetic data a mean middle carboniferous to permian paleomagnetic pole is calculated at p 329 e p 82 n n 6 poles k a95 26 13 4 recognition of late paleozoic apparent polar wander for junggar is obscured by a lack of detailed geochronologic data and possible relative horizontal rotations around vertical axis the paleolatitude for the southern junggar predicted by this pole is only 4 south of the present latitude difference exists between the mean pole from junggar and permian poles from other tectonic units in asia tarim siberia kazakhstan and north and south china indicating post permian relative motions at the boundary between tarim and junggar this motion is likely to have a left lateral sense

the palaeogeographical significance of specimens attributed to protolepidodendron scharyanum krejci lycopsida from the middle devonian of north xinjiang china morphology of the leaves of stem compressions originally attributed to protolepidodendron scharyanum from the middle devonian of north xinjiang china is reinvestigated the leaf is three dimensional consisting of one central abaxial segment and four lateral adaxial segments and does not conform to the once bifurcate leaf of protolepidodendron specimens are therefore transferred to leclercqia cf l complexa this is the first unequivocal report of the genus leclercqia in china based on complete leaf morphology the distribution of leclercqia is discussed demonstrating a more or less cosmopolitan genus in the middle devonian the middle devonian flora of north xinjiang shows great similarity to that of venezuela and north america and almost no relationship with that of yunnan south china

late devonian sedimentary record of the paleotethys ocean the mae sariang section northwestern thailand abstract an 11 m thick condensed sequence of late devonian limestones in northwestern thailand exhibits faunal associations and sedimentological microfacies data which are indicative of a pelagic facies setting the entire long ranging section is completely free from clastic input similar successions are known worldwide in a few sections only the mae sariang section is characterised by low sedimentation rates as recognised by a number of hardgrounds neptunian dikes and fe mn crusts the succession comprises a number of pelagic faunal elements e g conodonts cephalopods and pelagic ostracodes the fauna records rare macrofossils and the faunal diversity is low the very condensed section ranges from the late rhenana to praesulcata conodont biozones but contains some global events as undoubtedly shown by biostratigraphical and carbon isotope results including major kellwasser and hangenberg biotic crises in terms of plate tectonics this important succession most probably belongs to the inthanon zone comprising remnants of the paleotethys ocean

self indentation of a heterogeneous continental lithosphere the neoproterozoic ribeira aracuai belt stretches along the southeastern edge of the sao francisco craton of southeastern brazil and extends south of the cratonic domain for 1000 km the termination of the craton is spatially correlated with a significant modification of the deformation pattern in the belt 1 the structural trend bends from due north to northeast 2 the dominant tectonic flow shifts from orogen transverse to orogen normal and 3 the metamorphic conditions of deformation decrease southwestward from high to medium grade finite element modeling suggests that the presence of a craton within a continent favors strain localization initiation of continental scale shear zones and differential vertical deformations the southward termination of the sao francisco craton may have triggered the development of the complex deformation pattern that characterizes the ribeira aracuai belt

stable positions of rigid objects in non coaxial flow a study in vorticity analysis abstract distortions of a homogeneous fabric which occur around rigid objects in rocks deformed by non coaxial ductile flow are useful to determine the sense of shear but also contain information on other aspects of the flow rigid objects in a non coaxial flow fall into two categories those which are permanently rotating and those which can reach stable positions at high finite strain the orientation of such immobilized objects with respect to eigenvectors of instantaneous flow is a function of the vorticity number of the flow the ratio of instantaneous stretches and the axial ratio of the object in naturally deformed rocks immobilized rigid objects may be recognized from the geometry of the surrounding fabric tails of recrystallized material around porphyroclasts in a mylonite rotate towards parallellism with the extensional eigenvector of the flow and the shape of tails reflects the rotational behaviour of the porphyroclast the axial ratio of immobilized porphyroclasts and their orientation with respect to the tails can theoretically be used to determine the vorticity number of the flow and deviations from isochoric plane strain in practice such an analysis is as yet difficult but a tentative example is given of the way in which the vorticity number can be calculated from a population of feldspar porphyroclasts in a quartzite mylonite from the french pyrenees

effect of microcracking on pressure solution strain rate the gratz grain boundary model different but reasonable and well accepted assumptions made about grain boundary structure during pressure solution ps creep may easily have an effect of more than 10 orders of magnitude on the calculated ps deformation rate understanding of grain boundary structure during ps creep is therefore extremely important experimental evidence is presented in support of a grain boundary model previously proposed by a j gratz on the basis of observations on naturally deformed rocks in this model boundaries are assumed to have a static island channel network structure channels are located where microcracks intersect the boundary the rate of material transport is governed by thin film diffusion at the islands the model predicts that ps deformation rates are sensitive to the microcracking process ps rate is therefore essentially dependent on whether microcracking can occur and how intense the microcracking is these factors in turn depend on among others stress temperature effective pressure and crystallographic orientation the model qualitatively explains the observation made in experimentally and naturally deformed quartz rocks that the ps rate in single grains depends on crystallographic orientation the model predicts that sudden increases in stress or fluid pressure may lead to microcracking and subsequently many orders of magnitude increase in ps deformation rate

p t fluid deformation regime of the ediacaran serra do cavalo magro orogenic gold deposit ribeira belt brazil abstract the serra do cavalo magro orogenic gold deposit is located in the southern ribeira belt brazil gold quartz veins are hosted in calymmian 1500 1450 ma metasedimentary and metabasic rocks and ediacaran 610 600 ma granitic rocks geochronological data available in previous literature and structural petrological relationships with host rocks and shear zones indicate that the gold mineralization was formed within 580 540 ma during the late stage evolution of the brasiliano pan african orogeny related with gondwana supercontinent assembly petrological modeling indicates peak metamorphic conditions from 560 c and 7 kbar chlorite biotite phyllite to 625 c and 6 8 kbar garnet biotite phyllite recorded in immediate host rocks gold mineralization occurs in quartz shear and extensional veins structurally controlled by ne trending second and third order sinistral transcurrent shear zones the nnw trending subvertical and subhorizontal extensional veins are oriented 55 85 in relation to the fault planes indicating the shear zones were severely misoriented to frictional reactivation deformation within the shear zones was accommodated by bulging recrystallization of quartz aggregates while feldspar aggregates from the granitic protolith underwent cataclastic flow or were replaced by sericite epidote producing phyllonites gold precipitated during stages of vein deformation within microfractures in shear and extensional veins with quartz previously subjected to bulging recrystallization metamorphic ore bearing fluids are recorded in distinct assemblages of low to moderate salinities 1 18 wt nacleq h2o nacl cacl2 and h2o co2 n2 nacl cacl2 fluid inclusions and co2 n2 inclusions microthermometric data indicate entrapment conditions of 250 350 c and 0 3 2 3 kbar recording hydrostatic to supralithostatic fluid pressures in post peak metamorphic stages sharp fluid pressure fluctuations 0 4 1 6 kbar resulted from earthquake rupture events and the fault valve behavior induced circulation of fluids from distinct sources with limited partial fluid mixing favoring the gold transportation and precipitation

strain memory of 2d and 3d rigid inclusion populations in viscous flows what is clast spo telling us abstract we model the development of shape preferred orientation spo of a large population of two and three dimensional 2d and 3d rigid clasts suspended in a linear viscous matrix deformed by superposed steady and continuously non steady plane strain flows to investigate the sensitivity of clasts to changing boundary conditions during a single or superposed deformation events resultant clast spos are compared to one developed by an identical initial population that experienced a steady flow history of constant kinematic vorticity and reached an identical finite strain state allowing examination of spo sensitivity to deformation path rotation paths of individual triaxial inclusions are complex even for steady plane strain flow histories it has been suggested that the 3d nature of the system renders predictions based on 2d models inadequate for applied clast based kinematic vorticity gauges we demonstrate that for a large population of clasts simplification to a 2d model does provide a good approximation to the spo predicted by full 3d analysis for steady and non steady plane strain deformation paths predictions of shape fabric development from 2d models are not only qualitatively similar to the more complex 3d analysis but they display the same limitations of techniques based on clast spo commonly used as a quantitative kinematic vorticity gauge our model results from steady superposed and non steady flow histories with a significant pure shearing component at a wide range of finite strain resemble predictions for an identical initial population that experienced a single steady simple shearing deformation we conclude that individual 2d and 3d clasts respond instantaneously to changes in boundary conditions however in aggregate the spo of a population of rigid inclusions does not reflect the late stage kinematics of deformation nor is it an indicator of the unique mean kinematic vorticity experienced by a deformed rock volume

the deformation matrix for simultaneous simple shearing pure shearing and volume change and its application to transpression transtension tectonics simultaneous simple shearing and pure shearing with or without additional volume change can be combined into a single upper triangular deformation matrix the off diagonal term is named the effective shear strain and is a simple function of the pure shearing and simple shearing components a three dimensional deformation matrix for the simultaneous combination of coaxial deformation with or without additional volume change and up to three simple shearing systems with mutually orthogonal shear planes is also presented by using this matrix one can easily extract the various properties of incremental as well as finite strain and the progressive as well as finite rotation of passive markers during deformation the case of transpression transtension is revised using the unified deformation matrix the orientation of the major axis of the strain ellipsoid 1 is always horizontal if the deformation is transtensional switches from horizontal to vertical during transpressional wrenching 1 wk 0 81 for constant vorticity deformations and is always vertical for highly transpressional deformations wk 0 81 for transpression material lines initially rotate towards the horizontal shearing direction but generally turn to rotate towards the vertical axis after a certain strain for transtension all material lines rotate towards a direction in the horizontal plane which is oblique to the shearing direction

the petrological significance of misorientations between grains misorientation analysis quantifies microstructural features in tectonites metamorphic and igneous rocks and allows hypotheses on their formation to be tested the misorientation between two lattices can be expressed by a rotation axis and rotation angle for lattices with symmetry it is conventional to take the minimum angle that enables one lattice to be rotated into the other for a group of lattice measurements two types of misorientation distribution can be calculated selecting random pairs of grains gives the random pair misorientation distribution selecting neighbouring pairs gives the neighbour pair misorientation distribution the forms of both distributions are visualised using histograms or cumulative frequency diagrams they are strongly influenced by any overall crystallographic preferred orientation and by intrinsic crystal symmetry in many rocks the random pair misorientation distribution and neighbour pair misorientation distribution are statistically significantly different quantified using the kolmogorov smirnov test differences between the random pair misorientation distribution and neighbour pair misorientation distribution imply that adjacent grains have physically interacted or are inherited from a precursor microstructure interactions include 1 reduction in surface energy by lattice alignment we show this may have occurred in garnet clusters in schist and olivine in a cumulate it is well known in metals and may be a common geological process 2 nucleation where those nuclei have influenced the orientation of adjacent nuclei 3 mechanical rotations of facetted grains in compacting crystal mushes so that faces become parallel 4 growth twinning inheritance includes 1 subgrain rotation recrystallisation in tectonites deforming by crystal plastic processes 2 mechanical and transformation related twinning 3 domainal microstructures e g where grains have formed from a few large original grains may give rise to spurious correlations when the orientation data cover more than one domain with this proviso misorientation analysis can be used to investigate many important microstructural processes

mid crustal shear zone formation in granitic rocks constraints from quantitative textural and crystallographic preferred orientations analyses abstract this paper presents quantitative microstructural and crystallographic preferred orientation cpo analyses of an alpine amphibolite facies shear zone developed in the fibbia metagranite gotthard massif central alps the weakly deformed metagranite and orthogneiss at the margins of the shear zone are characterized by a bulk strain partitioning between harder coarse grained monomineralic aggregates derived from quartz and k feldspar porphyroclasts and softer fine grained plagioclase bearing shear bands a characteristic feature is a dilatant fracturing of strong quartz and feldspar aggregates cpos and microtextures suggest that quartz and k feldspar aggregates are dynamically recrystallized via dislocation creep while plagioclases show evidences of fluid assisted diffusive mass transfer and grain boundary sliding in the mylonite and ultramylonite shear zone core the porphyroclasts derived quartz and k feldspar layers are broken down to produce a polyphased matrix that is characterized by a homogeneous micron scale grain size and regular random distribution here the deformation of the whole aggregate occurs via a fluid assisted dissolution precipitation creep and grain boundary sliding referred as a fluid assisted granular flow we propose a model of shear zone formation associated with the nucleation of shear zone followed by lateral widening of the sheared domain the lateral broadening of the shear zone is driven by 1 the increase in fluid pressure in permeable albite oligoclase shear bands that results in expulsion of fluids to the shear zone margins and hydraulic fracturing of strong aggregates and 2 the thermodynamic re equilibration via metasomatic reactions of the shear zone walls

a new perspective on paleopiezometry dynamically recrystallized grain size distributions indicate mechanism changes the dynamically recrystallized grain size is a material parameter associated with dislocation creep of crystalline solids that is especially important as a flow stress indicator via piezometer calibrations grain sizes have been measured in many studies of deformed rocks as well as metals and ceramics but global analyses of the frequency distribution of dynamically recrystallized grain sizes are lacking here we present the first systematic investigation of the recrystallized grain size distribution for quartz the grain diameters compiled from 555 samples of 31 studies of quartz mylonites deformed over a wide range of conditions extend from 3 m to 3 mm with distinct maxima at 10 20 m and 70 80 m and minima at 35 40 m and 120 m the frequency maxima correlate with distinct microstructures and the minima with the transitions between these microstructures which we interpret to result from the dominance of the recrystallization mechanisms of bulging subgrain rotation and grain boundary migration recrystallization these results demonstrate the necessity of distinct piezometer calibrations for different recrystallization mechanisms and highlight the importance of the recrystallized grain size for theoretical models of dynamic recrystallization

u pb geochronology of the granite magmatism in the embu terrane implications for the evolution of the central ribeira belt se brazil abstract the embu domain represents the central part of the ribeira fold belt in sao paulo brazil it hosts several granitic occurrences of varied composition ranging from small granitic bodies that outcrop in a domain bounded by the intersection of two major sutures taxaquara and guararema faults and batholitic masses outcropping to the east understanding the evolution of such granites is of vital importance to better constrain evolutionary models for the ribeira belt in the present study a set of samples from eleven main granite occurrences from the east of sao paulo state was selected for geochronological investigation using laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled plasma spectrometry la mc icp ms and thermal ionization mass spectrometry tims u pb dating of zircon and monazite crystals respectively the results indicate a remarkable cluster of ages around 590 ma with older events of granite magmatism between 660 and 600 ma registered for four plutons indicating a long history of crustal reworking and magma generation the ages of reworked sources were evaluated from inherited zircon cores although highly discordant these point to the predominance of paleoproterozoic 2 4 2 1 ga sources with minor contributions from mesoproterozoic 1 1 0 9 ga and archean sources 3 1 ga the new data bring important insights into the role played by the embu domain on the paleogeography and evolution of the ribeira belt

vorticity analysis in a metachert from the sanbagawa belt sw japan abstract common tectonic features of deformed metachert include both sets of extended and shortened veins and quartz c axis preferred orientation patterns in such rocks information is also commonly available on the orientation and magnitude of the finite strain these features can be used to derive two independent estimates of the degree of non coaxiality during deformation in an example from the sanbagawa belt sw japan the two methods give consistent results and show that deformation was intermediate between simple and pure shear such types of progressive deformation distributed over a broad region could cause substantial subvertical thinning and be a significant factor in the exhumation of high p t rocks in the region

composition of deep sea polychaetes from the sokhobio expedition with a description of a new species of labioleanira annelida sigalionidae from the sea of okhotsk abstract during the sokhobio expedition in 2015 deep sea benthic invertebrate fauna of the kuril basin of the sea of okhotsk and the pacific ocean between the bussol strait and the kuril kamchatka trench was sampled on board of the r v akademik m a lavrentyev over 18 400 polychaetes belonging to 48 families 139 genera and 189 species were found in the studied area the abyssal zone of the sea of okhotsk and the pacific slope of the kuril kamchatka trench are the areas of high polychaete diversity and species richness the diversity of the kuril basin is higher than that in the deep sea basin of the sea of japan and is comparable to that in the abyssal plain adjacent to kuril kamchatka trench a total of 160 polychaete species belonging to 124 genera and 47 families were identified from depths of 1676 3366 m in the kuril basin over half of these 93 species 58 occur on the pacific slope of the kuril kamchatka trench the records of widespread and eurybathic species common to both the kuril basin and the pacific slope confirm the relationship between the abyssal fauna of the kuril basin and deep sea north west pacific nine genera and 18 species have been reported for the north west pacific for the first time one family 36 genera and 49 species were first records for the sea of okhotsk more than 40 of the collected polychaete species were new to science among these a sigalionid labioleanira okhotica sp nov described herein is the deepest 3211 4803 m record for the genus labioleanira this species is easily recognized by the lack of eyes the presence of nodular auricles instead of ear shaped ones and the presence of small dorsal tubercles on chaetiger 3 the genus labioleanira pettibone 1992 is newly recorded in the north west pacific an updated key to the species of the genus labioleanira is provided

high temperature deformation in the neoproterozoic transpressional ribeira belt southeast brazil abstract the neoproterozoic ribeira belt is subdivided in two domains with contrasting tectonic characteristics the northern domain is dominated by shallowly dipping foliations and orogen normal thrust tectonics the southern domain is characterized by a 1000 km long network of anastomosing transcurrent shear zones parallel to the belt this contrast is interpreted as reflecting continent continent convergence that is almost orthogonal to the margins in the northern domain and significantly oblique in the southern domain the central transitional domain of the ribeira belt displays the northern termination of the transcurrent shear zone network the alem paraiba padua shear zone system appss the 250 km long alem paraiba padua system involves granulites facies mylonites deformed through transpression a detailed study of the microstructure and lattice preferred orientation lpo of the rock forming minerals in these granulite mylonites allow a better understanding of deformation mechanisms active at high temperature in the crust plagioclase crystals are plastically deformed they display curved twins and cleavages mechanical twins and evidence of dynamic recrystallization lpo of plagioclase is consistent with activation of the 010 100 and 010 001 slip systems lpo of orthopyroxene and amphibole indicates that these minerals have been deformed through dislocation creep with the activation of the 100 001 slip system quartz in granulite mylonite displays evidence of extensive growth through grain boundary migration the lpo of quartz is therefore the result of a static transformation of an initial syn kinematic lpo and cannot be straightforwardly interpreted in terms of deformation mechanisms active during mylonitization

dynamic recrystallization of feldspar a mechanism for ductile shear zone formation feldspar aggregates experimentally deformed in the dislocation creep regime undergo dynamic recrystallization because recovery is difficult due to the limited climb of dislocations recrystallizing aggregates have a lower strength because of the cyclic production of small strain free grains and they develop a strong preferred orientation consistent with that observed in mylonites thus recrystallization accommodated dislocation creep may be responsible for the grain size reduction and strain softening that lead to the formation of many mylonites and ductile shear zones

prism and basal plane parallel subgrain boundaries in quartz a microstructural geothermobarometer empirical data on quartz subgrain patterns from various metamorphic rocks show that at least up to 10 kbar in the stability field of low quartz prismatic subgrain boundaries are dominant whereas basal subgrain boundaries are not developed in the high quartz stability field both prismatic and basal subgrain boundaries occur and form typical rectangular chessboard patterns the likely reason behind the different occurrence of these subgrain patterns is that in high quartz prismatic glide becomes as easy as or probably even easier than basal glide the two types of subgrain patterns can be clearly distinguished by optical microscopy consequently the occurrence of chessboard subgrain patterns in quartz represents a practicable geothermobarometer the possibilities of its application are far reaching and include the specification of deformation conditions at high grade metamorphism the recognition of syntectonic intrusions and the distinction between pluton emplacement at lower and at higher crustal levels

the recrystallized grain size piezometer for quartz d 1 0 3 56 0 27 s 1 26 0 13 with no change in slope at the regime 2 3 transition and no effect of temperature or a b stability field another experimental piezometer relation for regime 1 of hirth and tullis 1992 differs in slope suggesting that different recrystallization mechanisms require different piezometer calibrations index terms 3902 mineral physics creep and deformation 5120 physical properties of rocks plasticity diffusion and creep 8030 structural geology microstructures 8159 tectonophysics rheology crust and lithosphere 8164 tectonophysics stresses crust and lithosphere citation stipp m and j tullis the recrystallized grain size piezometer for quartz geophys res lett 30 21 2088 doi 10 1029 2003gl018444 2003

a new technique for quantifying symmetry and opening angles in quartz c axis pole figures implications for interpreting the kinematic and thermal properties of rocks abstract variations in flow kinematics influence the type of crystallographic preferred orientations cpos in plastically deformed quartz yet we currently lack a robust means of quantifying the diagnostic symmetries that develop in the c axis 0001 pole figure in this contribution we demonstrate how the symmetry of common c axis topologies may be quantified by analysing the intensity distribution across a line transect of the pole figure margin a symmetry value s measures the relative difference in intensities between marginal girdle maxima in the pole figure and thus the degree to which the pole figure defines orthorhombic or monoclinic end member symmetries this provides a semi quantitative depiction of whether the rocks underwent coaxial or non coaxial flow respectively and may subsequently be used to quantify other topological properties such as the opening angle of girdle maxima the open source matlab toolbox mtex is used to quantify pole figure symmetries in quartzite samples from the main central thrust nw himalaya and the moine thrust nw scotland

texture development of recrystallised quartz polycrystals unravelled by orientation and misorientation characteristics abstract the development of microstructures and textures i e crystallographic preferred orientations during recrystallisation of naturally deformed quartz polycrystals has been studied via electron diffraction techniques in the scanning electron microscope in the investigated sample series of quartz rich rocks originating from different deformation regimes the microstructural and textural changes in quartz have been significantly influenced by dynamic recrystallisation based on microstructural observations paired with orientation and misorientation analyses down to the scale of grains and subgrains criteria could be established which characterise the dominant recrystallisation process and its influence on texture development it is shown that the texture development during dynamic recrystallisation is controlled by a differential activation of slip systems in grains of soft and hard orientations the analyses provide further evidence that specific grain orientations are preferred during crystal plastic deformation recrystallisation and grain growth the influence of twinning after the dauphine law was also investigated observations of a progressive reduction in the population of dauphine twin boundaries during recrystallisation and a penetrative deformation in both hosts and twins indicate a generation prior to deformation and recrystallisation a mechanical origin for twinning and possible influence on texture development was therefore discarded

strain and kinematic analysis in general shear zones we present a unifying theory for the development and distribution of strain markers and kinematic indicators in zones of general shear and thus provide a framework in which data previously considered contradictory may be understood rigid and deformable porphyroclast systems including and complex grains are potential indicators of both strain and flow the shapes and distribution of such porphyroclast systems may be used to distinguish among different tectonic regimes general shear is divided into two fields sub simple shear in which the rotational component of the strain is less than that for simple shear and super simple shear in which the rotational component is greater than for simple shear sub simple shear may involve narrowing or broadening of shear zones super simple shear regimes are possible in local regions such as the vicinities of deformable porphyroclasts but must be enclosed by regimes of sub simple shear the polar mohr constructions for finite deformation and flow are useful to analyze general shear in theory the hyperbolic net is employed for practical plotting of real data and derivation of the kinematic vorticity number wn this number represents the relative contributions of pure and simple shear in steady flow in nature deformation is thought to build up and decay by processes that may invalidate the assumption of constant flow regime we therefore introduce the concept of accelerating deformation and analyze the implications of non steady flow for the shearing histories of deformed objects

feldspar fabrics in a greenschist facies albite rich mylonite from electron backscatter diffraction abstract the current database of plagioclase cpos in naturally deformed rocks is small and is not supported by cpos from experimentally deformed rocks or by numerical modelling so that the current understanding of plagioclase cpos is limited electron backscatter diffraction ebsd has the potential of measuring the full crystallographic orientation of small domains of any crystalline material including plagioclase we generate and test a file of the relative electron diffraction intensities for lattice planes in the albite structure this enables rapid and accurate individual orientation measurements of albite using ebsd ebsd is used to collect 360 data points from 7 areas across a 2 cm by 1 mm pure albite band in a greenschist facies albite mylonite from a gabbro protolith the cpos are unlike any published the a b and c axes of albite are not symmetrically distributed with respect to the kinematic axes of deformation and do not possess an internal monoclinic or orthorhombic symmetry there is some microstructural evidence for the operation of dislocation creep although this interpretation conflicts with the generally held view that crystal plastic deformation does not occur in plagioclase below about 500 c an alternative mechanism is one of granular flow accommodated by solution transfer however this mechanism would be expected to give a random cpo for either mechanism we need to explain the triclinic nature of the cpo it is possible that the cpo represents the modification by deformation of a pre existing cpo probably defined by a small number of original plagioclase grains

strain deformation temperatures and vorticity of flow at the top of the greater himalayan slab everest massif tibet this paper presents quantitative data on strain deformation temperatures and vorticity of flow at the top of the greater himalayan slab the data were collected from the tibetan side of the everest massif where two low angle normal faults bound the upper surface of the greater himalayan slab the earlier and structurally lower lhotse detachment and the later and structurally higher qomolangma detachment greenschist to sillimanite grade quartz rich metasedimentary rocks exposed in the rongbuk to north col region of the everest massif are characterized by cross girdle quartz c axis fabrics indicating approximate plane strain conditions fabric opening angles progressively increase with depth beneath the overlying lhotse detachment and indicate progressively rising deformation temperatures of 525 625 50 c at depths of 300 600 m beneath the detachment deformation temperatures of c 450 c are indicated by fabric opening angles in epidote amphibolite facies mylonites located closer to the overlying detachment a top down to the north normal shear sense is indicated by the asymmetry of microstructures and c axis fabrics but the degree of asymmetry is low at distances greater than 400 m beneath the detachment and sillimanite grains are drawn into adjacent conjugate shear bands but still appear pristine indicating that deformation occurred at close to peak metamorphic temperatures these quenched fabrics and microstructures indicate rapid exhumation in agreement with previous isotopic dating studies mean kinematic vorticity numbers w m were independently calculated by three analytical methods calculated w m values range between 0 67 and 0 98 and indicate that although a simple shear component is generally dominant particularly in greenschist facies mylonites located between the lhotse and overlying qomolangma detachments there is also a major component of pure shear in samples located at 400 600 m beneath the lhotse detachment pure and simple shear make equal contributions at w k 0 71 our integrated strain and vorticity data indicate a shortening of 10 30 perpendicular to the upper surface of the greater himalayan slab and confirm that the upper surface of the slab is a stretching fault with estimated down dip stretches of 10 40 assuming plane strain deformation measured parallel to the flow plane transport direction

unusual transition in quartzite dislocation creep regimes and crystal slip systems in the aureole of the eureka valley joshua flat beer creek pluton california a case for anhydrous conditions created by decarbonation reactions abstract microstructures and quartz c axis fabrics were analyzed in five quartzite samples collected across the eastern aureole of the eureka valley joshua flat beer creek composite pluton temperatures of deformation are estimated to be 740 50 c based on a modified c axis opening angle thermometer of kruhl j metamorph geol 16 1998 142 in quartzite layers located closest 140 m to the pluton wall rock contact flattened detrital grains are plastically deformed and partially recrystallized the dominant recrystallization process is subgrain rotation dislocation creep regime 2 of hirth and tullis j struct geol 14 1992 145 although grain boundary migration dislocation creep regime 3 is also evident complete recrystallization occurs in quartzite layers located at a distance of 240 m from the contact and coincides with recrystallization taking place dominantly through grain boundary migration regime 3 within the quartzites strain is calculated to be lowest in the layers closest to the pluton margin based on the aspect ratios of flattened detrital grains the c axis fabrics indicate that a slip operated within the quartzites closest to the pluton wall rock contact and that with distance from the contact the operative slip systems gradually switch to prism c slip the spatial inversion in microstructures and slip systems apparent high temperature deformation and recrystallization further from the pluton contact and apparent low temperature deformation and recrystallization closer to the pluton contact coincides with a change in minor phase mineral content of quartzite samples and also in composition of the surrounding rock units marble and calc silicate assemblages dominate close to the pluton wall rock contact whereas mixed quartzite and pelite assemblages are dominant further from the contact we suggest that a thick marble unit located between the pluton and the quartzite layers acted as a barrier to fluids emanating from the pluton decarbonation reactions in marble layers interbedded with the inner aureole quartzites and calc silicate assemblages in the inner aureole quartzites may have produced high x co 2 water absent fluids during deformation the presence of high x co 2 fluid is inferred from the prograde assemblage of quartz calcite and not wollastonite diopside k feldspar in the inner aureole quartzites we suggest that it was these dry conditions that suppressed prism c slip and regime 3 recrystallization in the inner aureole and resulted in a slip and regime 2 recrystallization which would normally be associated with lower deformation temperatures in contrast the prograde assemblage in the pelite dominated outer part of the aureole is biotite k feldspar these wet pelitic assemblages indicate fluids dominated by water in the outer part of the aureole and promoted prism c slip and regime 3 recrystallization because other variables could also have caused the spatial inversion of c axis fabrics and recrystallization mechanisms we briefly review those variables known to cause a transition in slip systems and dislocation creep regimes in quartz our conclusions are based on a small number of samples and therefore the unusual development of crystal fabrics and microstructures in the aureole to the ejb pluton suggests that further study is needed on the effect of fluid composition on crystal slip system activity and recrystallization mechanisms in naturally deformed rocks

the development of discrete shear zones in a granite stress strain and changes in deformation mechanisms abstract the development of millimetre scale continuous shear zones in the sidi ali bou nab algeria granite and their progressive transformation into discrete shear zones are presented increases in strain stress and strain rate magnitudes as well as changes of deformation mechanisms are suggested by an evolution of the microstructure across these narrow shear zones temperatures are assumed to be constant from boundaries to core the most striking aspects of this evolution are 1 1 a decrease in the angle between the foliation and the shear zone 2 2 a decrease in the recrystallized grain size of quartz together with the development of a crystallographic orientation characterized by a strong concentration of c axes around the y axis of the finite strain ellipsoid 3 3 the development of very fine grained feldspathic aggregates or layers probably through dynamic recrystallization of original large crystals and 4 4 the replacement of original biotite by muscovite and a new generation of biotite in the continuous shear zones the deformation is controlled by the behaviour of quartz this mineral undergoes extensive dynamic recrystallization which probably favours a higher strain rate and a change in the active slip system from a dominant basal one in the outermost part of the structures to a dominant prismatic one in its core paleopiezometry and strain computations show a shear strain up to 10 and an inferred steady state differential stress to 100 130 mpa respectively the high stress level is suspect because the estimates are derived from recrystallized grain size which may be sensitive to strain and variations of chemical environment discrete shear zones develop in relation with dynamic recrystallization of feldspars in the core of continuous shear zones dynamic recrystallization of feldspars produces very fine grained aggregates grain size of 6 7 m which coalesce and form a continuous layer at the central part of the shear zones this fabric may result from 1 1 a change in the driving flow mechanism from dislocation creep of quartz to dislocation creep or and grain boundary sliding of feldspar neoblasts and 2 2 a large strain softening that would favour strain concentration in the fine grained matrix and the development of sharp shear zone boundaries

fabric controls on strain accommodation in naturally deformed mylonites the influence of interconnected micaceous layers abstract we present microstructural analyses demonstrating how the geometrical distribution and interconnectivity of mica influences quartz crystallographic preferred orientation cpo development in naturally deformed rocks we use a polymineralic qtz pl kfs bt ms grt tur mylonite from the zanskar shear zone a section of the south tibetan detachment nw himalaya to demonstrate how quartz cpo intensity decreases from quartz dominated domains to micaceous domains independently of whether or not quartz grains are pinned by mica grains we then use a bimineralic qtz ms mylonite from the main central thrust nw himalaya to show how increasing mica grain connectivity is concomitant with a systematic weakening of quartz cpo our results draw distinctions between cpo weakening due to i second phase drag leading to ineffective recovery in quartz and ii increased transmission and localisation of strain between interconnected mica grains in the latter case well connected micaceous layers take up most of the strain weakening the rock and preventing straining of the stronger quartz matrix our findings suggest that rock weakening in quartz rich crustal rocks is influenced not only by the presence of mica rich layers but also the degree of mica grain connectivity which allows for more effective strain localization through the entire rock mass

deformation conditions and quartz c axis fabric development along nappe boundaries the andrelândia nappe system southern brasilia orogen brazil abstract the liberdade and andrel ndia nappes se brazil record the western gondwana amalgamation in the southern brasilia orogen during the ediacaran the liberdade shear zone acted as the boundary between these two overlapping nappes quartz c axis fabrics and strain data from quartzite samples and petrological data from hosting metapelite rocks were analyzed to investigate the tectonic processes involved in nappe development further constraints were achieved by conducting petrological modeling and geothermobarometry using p t isochemical phase diagram approaches quartz axis plots show consistency with different kinematic criteria verified in the field in meso and macroscale the fabrics are associated to both coaxial deformation and non coaxial deformation quartz microstructures metamorphic assemblages and c axis concentrations primarily around y and x structural directions suggest that deformation was accommodated by grain boundary migration recrystallization under temperature above 500 c disregarding pressure effects the opening angles of quartz c axis fabrics suggest temperatures between 480 and 640 c muscovite quartzite and 650 720 c sillimanite quartzite considering pressure data the opening angles indicate conditions of 550 650 c and 7 10 kbar muscovite quartzite and 600 730 c and 4 7 kbar sillimanite quartzite reflecting primarily distinct baric regimes sillimanite bearing samples estimatives are supported by ubiquitous presence of chessboard subgrain patterns in quartz and by modeled isochemical phase diagrams that constrain conditions of 660 730 c and 6 7 kbar for garnet sillimanite biotite schist samples altogether these results indicate progressive tectonic evolution linked to oblique convergence between tectonic units represented by the andrel ndia and liberdade nappes and the paleoproterozoic basement besides recording distinct thermal and baric regimes the nappes also present different structural styles suggesting that pressure and temperature are important boundary conditions for the nappe structural style

grain boundary migration microstructures in a naturally deformed quartzite abstract in this study several grain scale microstructures are presented that are thought to demonstrate the migration direction of once mobile grain boundaries in a naturally deformed quartzite an analysis is presented of the sense of migration of the boundaries and the characteristics of the patterns of relative grain growth and shrinkage grain boundary migration seems to be correlated with the relative crystallographic orientations of neighbouring grains for the quartz quartz grain boundaries and the pattern of preferred grain growth is roughly symmetrical about the mica foliation plane

dynamic recrystallization of quartz correlation between natural and experimental conditions quartz veins in the eastern tonale mylonite zone italian alps were deformed in strike slip shear due to the synkinematic emplacement of the adamello pluton a temperature gradient between 280 c and 700 c was effected across this fault zone the resulting dynamic recrystallization microstructures are characteristic of bulging recrystallization subgrain rotation recrystallization and grain boundary migration recrystallization the transitions in recrystallization mechanisms are marked by discrete changes of grain size dependence on temperature differential stresses are calculated from the recrystallized grain size data using paleopiezometric relationships deformation temperatures are obtained from metamorphic reactions in the deformed host rock flow stresses and deformation temperatures are used to determine the strain rate of the tonale mylonites through integration with several published flow laws yielding an average rate of approximately 10 14s 1 to 10 12s 1 the deformation conditions of the natural fault rocks are compared and correlated with three experimental dislocation creep regimes of quartz of hirth tullis linking the microstructures of the naturally and experimentally deformed quartz rocks a recrystallization mechanism map is presented this map permits the derivation of temperature and strain rate for mylonitic fault rocks once the recrystallization mechanism is known

the use of mohr circles to describe non coaxial progressive deformation abstract mohr circles are useful in strain analysis but are also potentially powerful tools to translate geological fabric data into tensors describing the deformation and to reconstruct flow parameters this paper shows how mohr circles can be used to visualize the effects of variable flow parameters such as stretching rate volume change rate and vorticity number on parameters of cumulative deformation as described by the position gradient tensor a mean vorticity number is introduced as a deformation parameter besides finite cumulative strain and volume change

deformation related recrystallization processes abstract recrystallization is a common microstructural transformation that occurs during deformation metamorphism and diagenesis of rocks studies on minerals and rock analogues have demonstrated that a wide range of recrystallization mechanisms can occur the range of mechanisms is related to the various ways in which two basic processes grain boundary migration and new grain boundary formation combine to transform the microstructure two recent papers drury et al 1985 urai et al 1986 have proposed different schemes for the description of recrystallization mechanisms the purpose of this paper is to provide a unified framework for the description of mechanisms recrystallization mechanisms are divided into three main types rotation mechanisms which principally involve the formation of new grain boundaries migration mechanisms which principally involve grain boundary migration and general mechanisms which involve both basic processes a further distinction is made on the basis of the continuity of the microstructural transformation with respect to time each of the three main types of mechanism can be divided into a number of sub types depending on whether the processes of grain boundary migration new grain boundary formation and new grain formation occur in a discontinuous or continuous manner with respect to time as the terms continuous and discontinuous have been used in the metallurgical literature to signify the spatial continuity of the microstructural transformation the terms discontinuai and continual are used to refer to the temporal continuity of the transformation it is recommended that the following aspects should be specified if possible in a general description of recrystallization mechanisms 1 1 how do the basic processes combine to transform the microstructure 2 2 if new grain development occurs what is the development mechanism and does new grain formation occur in a continual or discontinuai manner 3 3 if grain boundary migration is involved in the transformation what is the migration mechanism i e fast solute escape migration slow solute loaded migration fluid assisted migration etc and is migration a continual or discontinuai process the application of the unified scheme is illustrated by reviewing studies that have provided detailed information on the recrystallization mechanisms involved the complicating effects of solid solution impurities dispersed second phase particles and grain boundary fluid films are also considered and it is demonstrated that variations in content of these types of impurity can significantly effect the types of recrystallization that occur in a given material

deformation of granitoids at low metamorphic grade ii granular flow in albite rich mylonites abstract the high strain deformation at low metamorphic grades of three investigated granitoids is dominated by the granular flow of albite rich polyphase aggregates these aggregates formed by retrograde breakdown reactions from intermediate plagioclase and k feldspar the predominant deformation mechanism changes in granitoids as the grain size is reduced coarse grained low strain examples are deformed by a combination of intracrystalline plasticity quartz and fracturing feldspar in the mylonites intracrystalline plasticity of quartz plays only a minor role and the dominant deformation mechanism is a non cataclastic granular flow of polyphase aggregates consisting largely of albite and quartz deformation appears to be stable probably because grain growth in albite quartz mixtures is inhibited these fine grained aggregates are mechanically weaker than pure quartz aggregates thus the change in deformation mechanism mainly due to feldspar breakdown reactions appears to be important for the localization of high shear strain deformation at low metamorphic grades in granitoids and other lithologies modally dominated by feldspar the rheological behaviour of albite dominated mineral aggregates may have two consequences for middle to upper crustal deformation of modally feldspar dominated lithologies 1 feldspar in the presence of aqueous fluids can be an important mineral controlling the rheology at low metamorphic grades that is below amphibolite facies p t conditions 2 the occurrence of granular flow of fine grained polyphase aggregates in low grade granitoids is probably common and calls for great care in the modelling of middle to upper crustal rheology based on flow laws for intracrystalline plasticity of single minerals such as quartz

tectonic setting and u pb zircon dating of the plutonic socorro complex in the transpressive rio paraiba do sul shear belt se brazil the precambrian rio paraiba do sul shear belt comprises a 200 km wide anastomosing network of ne sw trending ductile shear zones extending over 1000 km of the southeastern coast of brazil granulitic gneissic migmatitic and granitoid terrains as well as low to medium grade metavolcano sedimentary sequences are included within it these rocks were affected by strong contractional tangential tectonics due to west northwestward oblique convergence of continental blocks subsequent transpressional tectonics accomodated large dextral orogen parallel movements and shortening the plutonic socorro complex is one of many deformed granites with a foliation subparallel to that of the shear belt and exposes crosscutting relationships between its tectonic magmatic and metamorphic structures these relationships point to a continuous magmatic evolution related to regional thrusts and strike slip ductile shear zones the tectonic and magmatic structural features of the serra do lopo granite provide a model of emplacement by sheeting along shear zones during coeval strike slip and cross shortening of country rocks geochronological data indicate that the main igneous activity of socorro complex spanned at least 55 million years from the late stage of the northwestward ductile thrusting 650 ma through right lateral strike slip 595 ma deformation the country rocks yield discordant age data which reflect a strong imprint of the transamazonian tectono metamorphic event 1 9 to 2 0 ma we propose a model for the origin of calc alkaline granites of the ribeira belt by partial melting of the lower crust with small contributions of the lithospheric mantle during transpressional thickening of plate margins which were bounded by deep shear zones the transpressional regime also seems to have focused granite migration from deeper into higher crustal levels along these shear zones

stratigraphy and facies development of the marine late devonian near the boulongour reservoir northwest xinjiang china late devonian to early carboniferous stratigraphic units within the zhulumute formation honggulelengformation stratotype hebukehe formation and the heishantou formation near the boulongourreservoir in northwestern xinjiang are fossil rich the hongguleleng and hebukehe formations are biostratigraphicallywell constrained by microfossils from the latest frasnian linguiformis to mid famenniantrachytera conodont biozones the hongguleleng formation 96 8 m is characterized by bioclastic argillaceouslimestones and marls the dominant facies intercalated with green spiculitic calcareous shales ityields abundant and highly diverse faunas of bryozoans brachiopods and crinoids with subordinatesolitary rugose corals ostracods trilobites conodonts and other fish teeth the succeeding hebukehe formation 95 7 m consists of siltstones mudstones arenites and intervals of bioclastic limestone e g blastoid hill and cherts with radiolarians a diverse ichnofauna phacopid trilobites echinoderms crinoids and blastoids together with brachiopods ostracods bryozoans and rare cephalopods have beencollected from this interval analysis of geochemical data microfacies and especially the distribution ofmarine organisms which are not described in detail here but used for facies analysis indicate a deepeningof the depositional environment at the boulongour reservoir section results presented here concernmainly the sedimentological and stratigraphical context of the investigated section additionally onelate devonian palaeo oceanic and biotic event the upper kellwasser event is recognized near the sectionbase