are we studying deformed rocks in the right sections best practices in the kinematic analysis of 3d deformation zones abstract a standard procedure in kinematic analyses of deformed rocks is studying samples only on the foliation perpendicular lineation parallel section based on the assumption that the rotational component of deformation is restricted to that plane the theoretical background for this procedure is that deformation is plane strain which is often useful but fails to account for all relevant features observed in many natural cases more general 3d kinematic models reproduce several of these features and help to better understand 3d deformation likely predominant in nature so they are a more appropriate starting point for deformation zone analysis theoretical and natural 3d deformation examples suggest that the section with highest degree of asymmetry the vorticity normal section vns and the corresponding vorticity vector are independent from the finite strain fabric and thus may present varied orientations with respect to the tectonic foliation and lineation the vns orientation depends on the kinematics resulting from boundary conditions whereas the strain fabric orientation also depends on accumulated strain the orientation of the vns is itself an essential element of shear zone kinematics hence it cannot be pre assumed but must be determined independently

the limitations of three dimensional kinematic vorticity analysis abstract the kinematic vorticity number wk can be calculated for three dimensional as well as two dimensional geologic deformations for steady state deformations wk can be correlated to and analyzed in terms of finite strains the analysis shows that assumptions commonly made for two dimensional deformations are not applicable to three dimensional deformations a single wk describes an infinite number of three dimensional deformations further even knowledge of flow apophyses orientation instantaneous stretching axes orientation and or wk are not sufficient to describe deformation three dimensional deformations also require knowledge of the deformation type or boundary conditions of deformation e g transpression hence in addition to being difficult to estimate the value of knowing wk for three dimensional deformations is greatly reduced compared with plane strain the most useful methods of determining wk from naturally deformed rocks are presented

kinematic evolution of the ama drime detachment insights into orogen parallel extension and exhumation of the ama drime massif tibet nepal abstract the ama drime massif is a north south trending antiformal structure located on the southern margin of the tibetan plateau that is bound by the ama drime and nyonno ri detachments on the western and eastern sides respectively detailed kinematic and vorticity analyses were combined with deformation temperature estimates on rocks from the ama drime detachment to document spatial and temporal patterns of deformation deformation temperatures estimated from quartz and feldspar microstructures quartz c axis fabrics and two feldspar geothermometry of asymmetric strain induced myrmekite range between 400 and 650 c micro and macro kinematic indicators suggest west directed displacement dominated over this temperature range mean kinematic vorticity estimates record early pure shear dominated flow 49 66 pure shear overprinted by later simple shear 1 57 pure shear high strain 36 50 shortening and 57 99 down dip extension dominated flow during the later increments of ductile deformation exhumation of the massif was accommodated by at least 21 42 km of displacement on the ama drime detachment samples from the nyonno ri detachment were exhumed from similar depths we propose that exhumation on the nyonno ri detachment during initiation of orogen parallel extension 11 13 ma resulted in a west dipping structural weakness in the footwall that reactivated as the ama drime detachment

heterogeneous sub simple deformation in the gol e gohar shear zone zagros sw iran insights from microstructural and crystal fabric analyses petrofabrics and microstructural characteristics of the quartz rich mylonites were investigated in the nw se trending gol e gohar shear zone with length of ca 25 km within the zagros transpression zone sw iran the semi quantitative vorticity analysis using quartz c axis fabric rxz method and rigid porphyroclast geometry rigid grain net method reveals that mean kinematic vorticity number wm increases towards the baghat thrust fault displaying the occurrence of spatial and temporal variations of flow during progressive deformation the wm values show pure shear dominated flow progressively was changed to a simple shear dominated flow toward to the late stages of ductile deformation implying that the accelerating flow path was accompanied with progressive cooling and strain localization at the lower parts of the zone the measured vertical thinning dip parallel elongation suggests that thrust emplacement and metamorphic rock extrusion likely occurred by a combination of simple shear with a pure shear component of deformation i e general shear the estimated deformation temperatures based on the quartz c axis fabric patterns and their opening angles highlight greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions

the snake range decollement an exhumed mid tertiary ductile brittle transition the snake range decollement srd in east central nevada separates supracrustal rocks extended by normal faulting from ductilely deformed igneous and metamorphic rocks a well known stratigraphy unaffected by earlier faulting permits analysis of both upper and lower plate strain leading to a better understanding of how vastly different rock types and deformational styles are juxtaposed along low angle faults in metamorphic core complexes middle cambrian to permian upper plate rocks are cut by two generations of ne trending east directed normal faults both generations were initiated as high angle 60 planar faults that flattened abruptly into the srd and rotated domino style to low angles yielding a total rotation of bedding of about 80 90 faulting is tertiary in age as 35 m y old volcanic rocks are involved and resulted in about 450 500 extension in a n55w s55e direction the srd developed as a subhorizontal surface 6 7 km deep at the top of the cambrian pioche shale lower plate granitic rocks and their late precambrian cambrian metamorphic country rocks were involved in progressive ductile to brittle extension at low greenschist grade forming a penetrative subhorizontal foliation and n55 70w lineation that increases in intensity eastward and upward toward the srd stretching and thinning in the lower plate is coaxial and comparable in magnitude to upper plate extension and is interpreted as synchronous k ar ages ranging from 20 to 40 m y in the lower plate suggests the n snake range represents a tertiary thermal anomaly we conclude that the srd developed as a ductile brittle transition zone at 6 7 km depth gravity data suggests that the gently domed srd is cut by younger basin and range faults but the geology of adjacent ranges suggests that the srd does not continue more than 60 km in any given direction the lack of stratigraphic omission across the srd rules out large amounts of movement on a surface that originally cut downsection and we suggest that extensional detachment faults such as the srd can be developed locally as boundaries between brittlely extended rocks and underlying ductile extension and intrusion

finite strains in transpression zones with no boundary slip abstract a mathematical model describing finite strains has been developed for transpression zones where no slip is allowed in any direction at the zone boundaries this has been adapted to model transpression zones where the boundaries are inclined the model can also be used to describe finite strain patterns where material is incorporated into the deforming zone from one or both sides after the initiation of deformation so that the deforming zone remains at a constant width thus allowing large transpressional strains to be accommodated without the deforming zone closing to zero thickness this model of steady state transpression can be used to explain some of the features of the south mayo trough a late silurian transpression zone in the west of ireland

deformation partitioning during transpression in response to early devonian oblique convergence northern appalachian orogen usa abstract transpressive deformation was distributed heterogeneously within the central maine belt shear zone system which formed in response to early devonian oblique convergence during the acadian orogeny in the northern appalachians straight belts are characterized by tight folds s l fabrics and sub parallel form lines and asymmetric structures that together indicate dextral se side up kinematics in contrast intervening zones between straight belts are characterized by open folds and l s fabrics within both types of zone metasedimentary rocks have fabrics defined by the same minerals at the same metamorphic grade including a penetrative moderately to steeply ne plunging mineral lineation thus we interpret accumulation of plastic deformation and regional metamorphic re crystallization to have been synchronous across the central maine belt shear zone system discordance between inclusion trails in regionally developed porphyroblasts of garnet and staurolite and matrix fabrics in straight belt rocks records shortening by tightening of folds and greater reorientation of matrix fabrics with respect to porphyroblasts kinematic partitioning of flow was responsible for the contrasting states of finite deformation recorded in the central maine belt shear zone system perturbations in the flow were caused by serially developed thrust ramp anticlines in the stratigraphic succession immediately above the avalon like basement at which decollement of the shear zone system was initially rooted general shear deformation at the ramps involved strain softening with an enhanced component of noncoaxial flow in contrast deformation during extrusion in the intervening zones involved strain hardening with a greater component of coaxial flow part of the thickening stratigraphic succession exceeded tsolidus reflected by the occurrence of migmatites and granites the latter were partly sourced from the underlying avalon like basement that was involved in the deformation and melting

three dimensional reference deformations and strain facies abstract in an attempt to categorize three dimensional deformations the concepts of kinematic axes three dimensional reference deformations and strain facies are utilized we have chosen 12 reference deformations each being an idealized end member of deformation involving a simultaneous combination of a three dimensional coaxial component constriction flattening or pure shear and an orthogonal simple shear component velocity and displacement fields infinitesimal deformation parameters and finite deformation parameters can be calculated for each reference deformation assuming steady state deformation there are three possibilities for the orientation of foliation and three possibilities for the orientation of lineation depending on the relative contributions of the coaxial and non coaxial components the six emerging combinations of foliation and lineation orientations each give rise to a characteristic strain facies each of the strain facies is correlated to the reference deformations and thus deformation parameters which caused its formation however since the coaxial deformation component accumulates more effectively than the non coaxial component a change from one strain facies to another i e a change in the orientation of lineation or foliation is possible during steady state deformation the strain facies emphasize the boundary conditions of deformation and together with the reference deformations provide a framework for three dimensional deformations

kinematic vorticity flow analysis and 40ar 39ar geochronology related to inclined extrusion of the hp lt metamorphic rocks along the zagros accretionary prism iran abstract the zagros accretionary prism in southwestern iran is exposed along the nw se trending of the zagros thrust system and inclined zagros transpression zone this accretionary prism consists of two units the upper sedimentary melange unit on top and the high pressure metamorphic melange unit at the bottom both units show characteristics of a tectonic wedge the upper unit consists of type i ii and iii melanges which display s c and c type shear band cleavages quartz ribbons and rectangular or fish head boudins the lower unit fabrics display and type porphyroclasts and quartz ribbon mylonites these fabrics formed from a combination of 60 5 simple shear and 39 5 pure shear both components were involved in a lateral exhumation of the high pressure low temperature metamorphic rocks in an inclined transpression wedge shaped geometry the estimated kinematic vorticity number wk was calculated from quartz c axis patterns rotation of porphyroclasts and orientation of finite strain with respect to shear zone boundaries using the mean estimated wm value of 0 84 the inclination angle for the thrust wedge on top of the ne subducting neo tethyan oceanic lithosphere is 18 the 40ar 39ar plateau ages of early generations of biotite from the lower metamorphic melange are 119 95 0 88 ma and 112 58 0 66 ma this late aptian age is related to early thrusting and formation of hp lt metamorphic rocks the dating of two amphibole samples from the amphibolite yields a weighted mean age of 91 23 0 89 ma this turonian cenomanian age suggests a later metamorphic event associated with subduction and obduction of the neyriz ophiolite and later lateral extrusion of hp lt metamorphic rocks along the inclined zagros accretionary prism

simultaneous pure and simple shear the unifying deformation matrix abstract any simultaneous combination of finite simple shear and finite pure shear is a linear transformation which can be expressed as a single transformation matrix for two dimensions the matrix is upper triangular with an off diagonal term called the effective shear strain is a simple function of the pure and simple shear components for three dimensions a simultaneous combination of thrusting in the x direction thrusting in the y direction and a wrench in the x direction in addition to 3 orthogonal components of coaxial strain can also be represented by a 3 3 upper triangular matrix here three off diagonal terms xy x y and y z occur xy is a simple function of the horizontal coaxial strain values and thrusting in the x direction yz depends on the coaxial strain components in the y and z directions and the thrusting in the y direction while xz is related to all six strain components the matrix also allows for volume change either homogeneously or preferentially in a single direction a method of decomposing the deformation matrix into a series of incremental deformation matrices where each incremental deformation records the same kinematic vorticity number as the finite deformation is shown the orientation and magnitude of the finite strain ellipsoid ellipse is easily and accurately found at any increment during the deformation

middle crustal ductile deformation patterns in southern tibet insights from vorticity studies in mabja dome kinematic kinematic vorticity wm and deformation temperature analyses were performed to test the hypothesis that mid crustal rocks exposed in mabja dome southern tibet were penetratively deformed within a southward flowing mid crustal channel during the late eocene early oligocene to early miocene outcrop and thin section kinematic indicators show a downward transition from mixed top n and top s shear in chloritoid and garnet zone rocks through dominantly top s shear in garnet and kyanite zone rocks to solely top s shear in staurolite zone and deeper rocks along mineral elongation lineation parallel transects wm in schists and orthogneisses decreases with structural depth from w0 80 w40 pure shear to w0 55 w63 pure shear deformation temperature increases from w450 ci n

analysis of thrust shear zones in curve shaped belts deformation mode and timing of the olevano antrodoco sibillini thrust central northern apennines of italy abstract this work reports the results of our analysis of the brittle ductile shear zone associated with the olevano antrodoco sibillini oas curved shape thrust in the central northern apennines of italy its southern sector is characterized by nnw sse trending footwall anticlines which also affect the oas thrust surface s tectonites in the nne ssw trending sector are crenulated by conjugate extensional surfaces extensional crenulation cleavage the nw se trending segment of the oas thrust is characterized by sc tectonites developed along the thrust related shear zone both the sc and s tectonites are consistent with a top to the n60 70 e direction of tectonic transport the sc tectonites are associated with a simple shear dominated deformation wn 0 86 0 98 on the other hand the s tectonites and their related extensional shear planes document two stages of strain i sub simple shear wn 0 34 0 50 related to oas thrusting contemporaneous to growing incipient footwall anticlines and ii pure shear dominated deformation wn 0 17 0 00 subsequent to the oas thrusting and caused by the definitive growth of footwall anticlines within an in sequence deformation context the present study proposes the analysis of shear zones to i discriminate in sequence against out of sequence evolution and ii use as a tool to constrain the modes and timing of the curved belt s development

the eigenvalues of steady flow in mohr space abstract the eigenvalues of the velocity gradients tensor and of the position gradients tensor describing instantaneous flow or incremental deformations are easily determined in mohr space as the points of intersection between a mohr circle and the horizontal mohr axis intersections occur only if the tensor has real eigenvalues eigenvectors associated with the eigenvalues are directions of no rotation a line of material particles under an eigenvector does not rotate during steady flow although the line is instantaneously stretching at a rate equal to its corresponding eigenvalue for non spinning steady sub simple shearing there will always be two eigenvectors the angle between the eigenvectors is dependent on the ratio of pure to simple shearing rates this angle decreases as the pure shearing component decreases relative to the simple shearing component superimposed increments of pure shear and simple shear produce an equivalent set of non rotated material lines but the deformation histories of these lines are rotational the influence of eigendirections on geological structures is constrained by the rheology of a rock during deformation in homogenous steady flow no influence may be obvious spatially periodic material softening along eigenvectors during bulk hardening may result in a complex fabric of intersecting shear zones the geometry of the fabric elements provides important information on the bulk deformation of the rock particularly on the bulk shear sense

an observational study of easterly waves over the eastern pacific in the northern summer using fgge data abstract fgge revel iii b data provided by the european centre for medium range weather forecasts and the outgoing longwave radiation data measured by satellites are used to investigate observationally relationships between deep cloud activity and large scale meteorological fields during the northern hemisphere summer may september of 1979 over the eastern pacific aside from the summer monsoon area over southern and eastern asia the eastern pacific is the area where strong deep convection frequently develops in the northern summer this is also one of the tropical ocean areas that have been least explored meteorologically a power spectral analysis using the maximum entropy method is made for the meridional wind component at 850 mb at various grid points in the analysis domain for each mouth from may through september the waves with a period of 4 6 days are not only stronger in july and august than those of other months but active in the regions of 100 130 w in the eastern pacific and 130 160 e i

vorticity determination distribution partitioning and the heterogeneity and non steadiness of natural deformations abstract an investigation on vorticity in general heterogeneous and non steady flows is presented the bulk vorticity of a flow is solely determined by the imposed boundary conditions and it exerts no constraints on local flow the distribution of bulk vorticity in different rheological domains and the partitioning of the distributed vorticity into shear induced vorticity and spin are both time dependent this indicates that heterogeneous flows are inevitably non steady in a quantitative example it is demonstrated that even though the imposed boundary movement is a constant simple shear local flow can be non steady spinning and non coaxial super simple shear flow with internal kinematic vorticity number greater than i occurs but the finite strain does not necessarily pulsate the geological implications of this investigation are discussed the significance of heterogeneity and non steadiness in natural deformations are emphasized it is concluded that vorticity distribution and partitioning is the link between different scale structures the internal kinematic vorticity number is not a criterion of finite strain oscillation

magnetic anomalies in the shikoku basin a new interpretation kaiko surveys over the nankai trough made available new magnetic and structural data for the northern shikoku basin a survey of the oceanic lithosphere subducting below southwest japan along the central nankai trough revealed the existence of several north south basement troughs they are probably transform faults related to a north south spreading system we exanune the possibility of a late phase of north south spreading limited to the axial northernmost shikoku basin active between 14 and 12 ma if this system was already active before that time i e during the n55 opening of the southeastern basin then a triple junction should be found between both areas based on these data and previous studies we present a new interpretation of magnetic anomalies over the whole basin from early east west rifting to late north south spreading opening of the shikoku basin proceeded through multiple episodes of spreading the analysis of magnetic anomalies constrains the kinematic evolution of the basin through time and space two successive counter clockwise rotations of the spreading direction are postulated at anomaly 6 19 ma and at anomaly 5b 14 ma involving segmentation and rotation of the spreading ridge

kinematics of rock flow in a crustal scale shear zone implication for the orogenic evolution of the southwestern hellenides combined shear sense criteria finite strain data and vorticity analyses were used to study the deformation path in a curved crustal scale shear zone phyllite quartzite series of the southwestern hellenides the results are combined with data on the structural evolution of a cover nappe pindos thrust belt to provide new insights into the orogenic evolution of this region ductile deformation within the phyllite quartzite series was associated with a top to the west southwest shearing and was partitioned into two structural domains a root zone and a frontal domain the root zone is characterized by vertical coaxial stretching high strain and upward movement of the material while the frontal domain comprises simple shear deformation at the base and pure shear at the top this pattern suggests superposition of pure shear on simple shear deformation and implies tectonic extrusion of the material from the root zone the initiation of brittle deformation in the pindos thrust belt was associated with westward translation above the sub horizontal pindos thrust later as the mountain range elevated normal faulting at high altitudes and migration of thrusting to the west occurred while east directed folding and thrusting in the belt started to the east according to the proposed model crustal thickening was taking place throughout the oligocene and early miocene including the subduction of the apulian beneath the pelagonian microcontinent and the intracontinental subduction of the phyllite quartzite series during the lower miocene vertical buoyancy forces led to the successive steepening of the shear zone and the simultaneous duplexing of its basement facilitating tectonic extrusion of the material from its root zone finally an indentation process caused vertical expulsion of the orogenic wedge and gravity collapse in the brittle crust

forward modeling of non steady state deformations and the minimum strain path reply structural analyses of shear zones often rely on an assumption of steady state behavior i e that the ratio of pure shear strain rate s to simple shear strain rate s remains fixed throughout deformation however geological deformations are not necessarily steady state non steady state deformation paths can be theoretically modeled if certain deformation parameters such as strain or offset are specified we have analyzed a two dimensional case of specified offset and geometry termed the minimum strain path the minimum finite strain needed to produce a fixed offset across a shear zone is neither simple shear nor pure shear but a combination of the two the minimum strain path if this deformation accumulates with a steady state deformation the kinematic vorticity number w of the minimum strain path varies with the amount of finite offset although w approaches 0 7 at high offset values because of this relation between w and finite offset the minimum strain path is better modeled as a non steady state deformation in which case deformation history starts close to simple shear but rapidly changes to a more pure shear dominated deformation it is expected that the minimum strain path is applicable to geological deformation zones with relaxed boundary conditions such as basal parts of spreading nappes or extensional detachment systems 0 1997 elsevier science ltd

insights from low temperature thermochronometry into transpressional deformation and crustal exhumation along the san andreas fault in the western transverse ranges california 1 the san emigdio mountains are an example of an archetypical transpressional structural system bounded to the south by the san andreas strike slip fault and to the north by the active wheeler ridge thrust apatite u th he and apatite and zircon fission track ages were obtained along transects across the range and from wells in and to the north of the range apatite u th he ages are 4 6 ma adjacent to the san andreas fault and both u th he and fission track ages grow older with distance to the north from the san andreas the young ages north of the san andreas fault contrast with early miocene u th he ages from mount pinos on the south side of the fault restoration of sample paleodepths in the san emigdio mountains using a regional unconformity at the base of the eocene tejon formation indicates that the san emigdio mountains represent a crustal fragment that has been exhumed more than 5 km along the san andreas fault since late miocene time marked differences in the timing and rate of exhumation between the northern and southern sides of the san andreas fault are difficult to reconcile with existing structural models of the western transverse ranges as a thin skinned thrust system instead these results suggest that rheologic heterogeneities may play a role in localizing deformation along the big bend of the san andreas fault as the san emigdio mountains are compressed between the crystalline basement of mount pinos and oceanic crust that underlies the southern san joaquin valley

kinematic vorticity and strain rate patterns associated with ductile extrusion in the chelmos shear zone external hellenides greece abstract kinematic vorticity strain rate finite strain and structural data have been used to describe the heterogeneous nature of ductile deformation in an extruding crustal scale shear zone the chelmos shear zone csz of the external hellenides the csz has a curved shape which is marked by a frontal flat and a steep zone the spatial variation in the kinematic vorticity number is strongly correlated with the geometry and the structural depth of the shear zone the pure shear component of deformation decreases from back to front and from top to bottom the ductile thinning normal to the shear zone s boundaries is higher in the steep zone and decreases westwards quartz grain size and strain rate in the csz is distributed into two approximately homogeneous domains the higher strain rate is recorded in the steep zone and the base of the frontal flat zone with lower rates in the upper parts of the frontal flat zone based on mesoscopic structural data and the spatial distribution of the shear strain rate the existence of a west dipping back flow zone in the boarder zone between these two domains is inferred the overall pattern of deformation in the csz implies that tectonic extrusion from the steep zone occurred at the final stages of ductile deformation and was associated with the formation of the backflow zone in the front of the shear zone ductile deformation of rocks probably started close to simple shear on a planar low angle shear zone progressively became penetrative and more general shear occurred as the csz steepened up this progressive increase in pure shearing may have occurred in a heterogeneous manner and was higher close to both the eastern margin of the steep zone and the top of the frontal flat zone solid state extrusion in the csz was also associated with a heterogeneous and progressive increase in strain rate

structural analysis and deformation characteristics of the yingba metamorphic core complex northwestern margin of the north china craton ne asia abstract the presence of the yingba yinggete bagemaode metamorphic core complex mcc is confirmed near the sino mongolian border in china we report its structural evolution and the rheological features of ductile shear zones within this complex three deformations ds dm and db since the late jurassic are identified ds is characterized by ductile structures that resulted from early nw oriented low angle extensional ductile shearing dm is associated with partial melting and magmatic diapirism which accelerated the formation of the dome like geometry of the yingba mcc synchronously with or slightly subsequently to ds and dm the yingba mcc was subjected to brittle extensional faulting db which was accompanied by the exhumation of the lower crust and the formation of supracrustal basins the ductile shearing ds developed under greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions 400 650 c as indicated by microstructures in quartz and feldspar quartz c axis fabrics and two feldspar geothermometry the mean kinematic vorticity estimates of 48 62 show a pure shear preferred flow during ds the yingba mcc provides an excellent sample that recorded an intermediate to high temperature shearing which also implies the widely extensional regime in northeastern asia at that time

fabric stability in oblique convergence and divergence forward modeling of transpression transtension assuming homogeneous strain and a direct relationship between finite strain axes and foliation lineation in tectonites investigates fields of stability of foliation and lineation orientations in oblique convergence and divergence vertical foliation horizontal lineation vf hl develop for angles of convergence divergence between 0 and 20 with increasing finite strain this narrow window of stability is further reduced lineation switches to vertical in transpression and foliation switches to horizontal in transtension if a shear zone contains vf hl it either developed as a zone very close to pure wrenching or recorded low finite strain the stability of vf hl at high strain and higher angles of convergence is enhanced by lateral extrusion of material along transpression zones vf hl may be stabilized in magmatic bodies that progressively intrude transtension zones if the wrench component of deformation partitions within them alternatively if these bodies are dike like cool fast and do not record large deformation they take up the extension component of transtension through anisotropic volume addition leaving a larger component of wrench deformation in the country rocks this effect stabilizes vf hl effectively at low strain but only marginally so at high strain

transpression and juxtaposition of middle crust over upper crust forming a crustal scale flower structure insight from structural fabric and kinematic studies from the rengali province eastern india abstract deformational metamorphic monazite age and fabric data from rengali province eastern india converge towards a multi scale transpressional deformational episode at ca 498 521 ma which is linked with the latest phase of tectonic processes operative at proto india antarctica join detailed sector wise study on mutual overprinting relationships of macro to microstructural elements suggest that deformation was regionally partitioned into fold thrust dominated shortening zones alternating with zones of dominant transcurrent deformation bounded between the thrust sense barkot shear zone in the north and the dextral kerajang fault zone in the south the strain partitioned zones are further restricted between two regional transverse shear zones the sinistral riamol shear zone in the west and the dextral akul fault zone in the east which are interpreted as synthetic r and antithetic r riedel shear plane respectively the overall structural disposition has been interpreted as a positive flower structure bounded between the longitudinal and transverse faults with vertical extrusion and symmetric juxtaposition of mid crustal amphibolite grade basement gneisses over low grade upper crustal rocks emanating from the central axis of the transpressional belt

numerical simulation of spreading nappes sliding against basal friction abstract a numerical method is used to simulate the gravitational spreading of a nappe consisting of newtonian material with high viscosity coefficient the theory is based on maximizing the rate of decline of potential energy which also means maximizing the rate of dissipation due to strain and basal friction as well as maximizing the rate of production of entropy a polynomial stream function is used to describe the velocity field and the displacement field the nappe is permitted to slip against friction at the base a wide variation of friction coefficients being used in the numerical tests a result with great implication is that each nappe has a theoretical critical friction limit crit which chiefly depends upon the aspect ratio the larger the aspect ratio the smaller the friction limit if the true friction coefficient is greater than crit then the potential energy is incapable of making the nappe slip at the base in this case the spreading is solely due to motion within the bulk of the nappe generating a protruding lobe or recumbent fold in the front unless the friction coefficient for natural nappes is considerably less than measured experimentally it is not easy to understand that gravitational spreading is able to make nappes slip at the base if the aspect ratio is say 10 and more however by using stream functions with enough freedom i e of high enough degree and realistic nappe profiles it is found that the foremost sections of nappes may slip along the base pushed by the protruded lobe of the spreading hind portion which is coherent to the base

finite strain analysis of a natural ductile shear zone in limestones insights into 3 d coaxial vs non coaxial deformation partitioning abstract in order to obtain new insights into the process of strain localization a ca 50 m thick shear zone has been investigated the shear zone located in the footwall to a major thrust involves limestones and pelites calc mylonites are characterized by a stretching lineation orthogonal to the shear direction and a foliation at an angle of 45 10 to the thrust fault strain analysis and mean foliation analysis have been carried out on 42 samples strain gradients and ellipsoid shape across the shear zone indicate respectively an increase of strain intensity approaching the thrust surface and overall oblate strain apparent flattening increases significantly for intensely deformed rocks theoretical models are proposed to explain the recorded finite strain configuration with a main deformation characterized by simultaneous simple shear and localized pure shear involving lengthening normal to the shear direction a model of asymmetric lateral extrusion is adopted as is consistent with measured horizontal strain gradients this model also takes into account regional geological constraints such as the occurrence of accommodation space along the present day tyrrhenian extensional margin to the sw and of a massive body of platform carbonates forming a rigid buttress to the ne

deformation path in high strain zones with reference to slip partitioning in transpressional plate boundary regions abstract the current status of the kinematics and strain geometry of high strain zone studies is briefly summarized a general high strain zone has a triclinic deformation path and monoclinic shear zones are special end member cases fabrics observed in natural shear zones and theoretical considerations based on continuum mechanics are compatible with this conclusion non steady deformation paths remain difficult to deal with and may ultimately rely on a realistic mechanical treatment of high strain zones which may be possible when our knowledge of the mechanical behavior of rocks under natural deformation conditions is improved an examination of the phenomenon of slip partitioning in transpressional plate boundary regions shows that the bulk deformation path in the forearc area trench parallel high strain zone is generally triclinic the alpine fault in the south island of new zealand provides an example of a currently active triclinic shear zone the southern knee lake shear zone of manitoba canada provides an archean example of a triclinic shear zone

patterns of stretch trajectories and strain rates within spreading gliding nappes abstract stretch trajectories in vertical flow planes through superficial nappes are thought to be specific for some classical mechanical models so that their recognition in the field is of particular interest in order to find a pattern of stretch trajectories related to a gravitational process a strain factorization is attempted from experimental scale models of nappes where spreading and gliding are combined the strain within this type of nappes is schematically considered as the simultaneous combination of two components a simple shearing component and a pure shearing component spatial and time distribution of these two components is computed from both time and spatial evolution of the strain pattern within the scale models a better understanding of stretch trajectories in spreading gliding nappes is consequently provided strain rates are also computed from scale models and the sudden increase of strain rate from top to bottom is explained finally a mechanical model of spreading gliding nappe is briefly discussed

empirical paths of poles to planes eppps constrain the kinematics of geological shear zones ductile shear zones are tabular bodies of deformed rocks bound by less deformed wall rocks this work introduces a simple empirical approach to analysing the 3d kinematics of shear zones the orientations of pre shear planar markers distorted across natural shear zones by local strains are systematically measured and plotted as poles on lower hemisphere equal area projections that constrain smooth empirical paths of poles to planes eppps such eppps recording local strain gradients are used to fix a reference frame to the plane of greatest shear in any homogeneous bulk strain assuming that space can be taken as a proxy for time the curvatures of pre shear planar markers across shear zones are interpreted as the records of the 3d bulk strain histories of shear zones the sig or zig moidal symmetries of sheared markers record different amounts of the same general strain within the same overall movement pattern i e in a constant flow field whatever its geometry or history in effect eppps represent the strain memories of shear zones with successively inward readings recording successively younger shearing in planes other than the bulk xy great circle eppps indicate simple shear while hyperbolic eppps indicate pure shear eppps for suites of shear zones in proterozoic gneisses in sweden exhibit the parabolic shapes indicative of pure rather than simple shear

failure mechanisms in two layer undrained slopes this note presents results of stability analyses of two layer undrained slopes by the finite element method the study focuses on the circumstances under which either deep or shallow failure mechan

asymmetric quartz c axis fabrics and flow vorticity a study using rotated garnets abstract the development of a type i crossed girdle c axis fabric with an asymmetric density distribution and an internally asymmetrical skeletal outline is examined in a specimen of garnet bearing mylonitic quartzite from the betic movement zone in southern spain the garnets are pre mylonitic skeletal porphyroblasts that rotated during mylonitic deformation but preserved a strain free equilibrium microstructure and a random c axis fabric it follows that the asymmetry of the density distribution must result from the deformation history itself the sense of asymmetry of the c axis population and that of the skeletal outline are consistent with the sense of vorticity inferred from extensional crenulations and asymmetric microboudinage and also with the sense of rotation of the garnets analysis of the rotation angles with aspect ratio of the garnet porphyroblasts demonstrates that a pure shear component was involved in an essentially non coaxial flow this may explain the internal asymmetry of the fabric skeleton and confirms the idea that a spectrum exists of type i fabrics intermediate between the theoretically predicted fabrics for pure and simple shear a tentative reconstruction of the kinematic framework suggests that the central segment of the fabric skeleton is linked to the extensional apophysis of the flow

constraints on geological strain rates arguments from finite strain states of naturally deformed rocks a summary of known finite strain states is presented longitudinal strains 1 e as measured in many rocks often range from 1 to 40 and 1 to 0 025 the time span available to produce such measureable strains in young orogenic zones seems to be less than 10 m y possibly less than 1 m y which constrains conventional strain rates into the range of 10 sup 13 s sup 1 to 10 sup 15 s sup 1 for both pure and simple shear the most efficient way and much less efficient way to accumulate incremental strains respectively the ellipticity of the finite strain ellipse increases in a nonlinear manner finite strain variations in adjacent layers which give rise to features such as cleavage refraction arise with only slight differences in the strain rates within these layers

recumbent folds key structural elements in orogenic belts abstract this review has two main parts the first of them presents existing ideas and data related to recumbent folds reviewing aspects such as the physical conditions of the development of these folds the strain inside the folded layers the kinematic mechanisms of their formation the role of gravitational forces the tectonic context of their development and the structures associated with them in the second part the above ideas are discussed and possible mechanisms for the development of these folds are presented it is proposed that initial perturbations of the layers are essential to give rise to the asymmetry of recumbent folds these perturbations may be non planarities of the layering or may be linked to the existence of a core or basement of competent rock that hinders the normal propagation of the deformation this could explain why many large recumbent folds have a root zone deformation with an important component of simple shear is a general condition for the formation of recumbent folds in areas with very low grade metamorphism competent layers often play an active role during the deformation and undergo buckling with the development of an overturned fold limb which can be stretched and thinned to finally produce a pair of recumbent folds separated by a thrust in areas with low or medium metamorphism buckling under a simple shear regime is probably the most important mechanism for producing large folds with gentle or moderately dipping axial surfaces subsequent kinematic amplification by coaxial strain components with vertical maximum shortening is important for the formation of recumbent folds these components involve a sub horizontal stretching that can cause a problem of strain compatibility and give rise to a basal thrust in areas deformed under high p and t conditions recumbent folds can develop by flow perturbations and kinematic amplification of folds this is probably a common mechanism in ductile shear zones

a new numerical simulation method applied to spreading nappes abstract a numerical method for simulating the temporal evolution of geologic deformation structures is developed and described by using spreading nappes as examples the method is based on maximization of the rate of decline of potential energy which is equivalent to maximizing the rate of dissipation due to strain or maximizing the rate of production of entropy a polynomial stream function is used as the governing equation describing the velocity field of the system the potential energy rate and the strain energy rate are obtained by integration over the profile of the nappe and the maximization procedure determines the coefficients in the stream function which then produces the velocity field and the displacement field the latter displaces the boundary of the nappe and the subsequent integration of energy over the new profile leads to new stream function coefficients which change the velocity field and displace the boundary anew etc by this stepwise procedure the evolution of the nappe can be followed to any final stage velocities and displacements of a number of nappes with different cross section profiles and different aspect ratios are calculated improvement and evolution of the method are discussed in order to apply the method to structures also affected by boundary stresses not related to gravity

sense and non sense of shear in flanking structures abstract the deformation of marker horizons across slip surfaces can lead to the development of several types of flanking structures the development of such structures was investigated using a numerical model to simulate the flow around a slip surface in a viscous medium the modelled structures can be classified on the basis of three criteria 1 the extensional or contractional offset of markers 2 the co or counter shearing sense along the slip surfaces and 3 the normal or reverse drag of markers relative to the shear sense along the slip surfaces as a function of the kinematic vorticity of the flow and the initial orientation of the slip surface with respect to the shear zone boundaries three main types of structures can develop 1 shear bands developed along co shearing extensional slip surfaces 2 a type flanking folds developed along counter shearing slip surfaces and 3 s type flanking folds developed along co shearing contractional slip surfaces all these structures can occur with either normal or reverse drag effects shear bands and a type flanking folds recording opposite shear senses can be geometrically very similar and consequently lead to kinematic misinterpretations however correctly identified flanking structures can provide quantitative information about the kinematic vorticity of the flow

strain variation in thrust sheets across the sevier fold and thrust belt idaho utah wyoming implications for section restoration and wedge taper evolution abstract although strain in fold and thrust belts is typically inhomogeneous on the largest scale strain within thrust sheets shows regular patterns the strain which is a quantitative measure of the deformation of any thrust sheet is independent of the translation of the sheet the internal deformation can be represented by a deformation profile the change in shape during thrusting of a fault perpendicular line which can then be used to unstrain the sheet during restoration in cross section balancing deformation profiles in well studied thrust sheets show regular geometric patterns and compatibility constraints can be used to minimize the data needed to define the profiles in other sheets from the geometry of deformation profiles and direct field observations the most important component of internal deformation of thrust sheets in many fold and thrust belts is early layer parallel shortening lps this can be removed in a straightforward manner during restoration and significantly affects the geometry i e taper of the restored section original basin wedge taper may have important implications for the mechanical evolution of fold and thrust belts thus changes in original basin taper resulting from strain removal may affect significantly the way in which we interpret the evolution of a fold and thrust belt in an area

constraints on deformation path from finite strain gradients we present a methodology for analyzing finite strain gradients in high strain zones in order to place constraints on the zone s possible deformation path to accomplish this the high strain zone is divided into several sub zones within each of which finite strain is described by a single ellipsoid based on knowledge of the spatial and temporal evolution of deformation strain observed in less deformed sub zones is then mathematically removed from more deformed sub zones to calculate incremental finite strains the mean kinematic vorticity number of each of these increments must be constant if deformation was steady state we use the methodology to analyze two natural examples of high strain zones at different scales both natural examples have non steady state likely deformation paths which may be a common characteristic of high strain zones although results of the methodology are not unique identification of likely paths considerably narrows the range of possible deformation paths consequently useful kinematic information can be extracted from finite strain data even in instances where the detailed spatial and temporal evolution of a high strain zone cannot be determined conclusively

quantitative kinematic flow analysis from the main central thrust zone nw himalaya india implications for a decelerating strain path and the extrusion of orogenic wedges quantitative kinematic indicators from the main central thrust zone mctz in the nw himalaya have been used to characterize the type of flow during deformation different generations of tension gashes have been rotated by variable angles with respect to the mylonitic foliation forming associated fringe folds these record the late stage brittle ductile flow and reveal that a strong pure shear component of deformation occurred throughout the mctz to characterize earlier deformation increments fabrics from highly deformed quartz ribbons were analyzed well developed shape and lattice preferred orientation patterns show a systematic change of the glide systems and suggest inverted palaeotemperatures within the mctz investigations of the c axes patterns reveal a strong asymmetry at the top of the mctz whereas the samples from the base of the mctz show almost perfectly symmetrical type i crossed girdles deformation within the mctz probably started close to simple shear flow at higher temperatures which progressively became a more general shear during cooling and ended in a pure shear dominated flow during the final stages of brittle ductile deformation i e a decelerating strain path using the higher himalaya crystalline as an example a kinematic model for the extrusion of crustal wedges above major thrust zones is suggested

shear zones and rock history abstract shear zones that have widened with time can display margin to interior microstructural profiles unlike the real microstructural history of the interior rocks shear zones that have not widened with time can provide more reliable views of microstructural history and therefore of deformation processes even the latter zones can mislead however where there has been an annealing overprint during or following the shearing interval these sources of uncertainty need to be acknowledged more regularly and if possible eliminated by workers interpreting deformation processes from shear zone strain gradients

kinematics and vorticity of flow associated with post collisional oblique transpression in the variscan inner zone of northern sardinia italy abstract quartz c axis fabrics vorticity of flow and deformation temperatures were analyzed in samples collected in the central sector of the variscan inner zone in sardinia italy in order to constrain the kinematics of exhumation of medium and high grade metamorphic rocks during d2 post collisional deformation we investigated two shear belts with opposing shear senses these shear belts are developed parallel to the trend of the inner zone which marks the boundary between two metamorphic complexes our data suggest that the sinistral shear belt initiated during the early stage of d2 deformation in a simple shear dominated regime whereas the dextral shear belt initiated later in a pure shear dominated regime we document a general non coaxial flow regime with contemporaneous pure and simple shear components geometrical relationships reveal the operation of oblique extrusion during a compressive regime where the coaxial component acted sub horizontal and orthogonal to the trend of the axial zone changes in the kinematics vorticity of flow and strain geometry that occurred during d2 deformation may be related to post collisional orogen parallel displacement caught up in the variscan orogeny

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

reconstruction of deformation and flow parameters from deformed vein sets abstract in any homogeneously deformed material sets of material lines with a similar stretch history occupy sectors with a scale and orientation that depend on finite strain area change rate and vorticity of the parent flow if the size and shape of these material line sectors are known they can be used to determine the sense of shear and to calculate deformation and flow parameters even if actual stretches along material lines are unknown in rocks which have undergone near homogeneous deformation on a large scale the orientation of sets of boudinaged folded and folded boudinaged or boudinaged folded veins can be used for such calculations a general theoretical background to the problem is presented and a mohr circle construction to carry out the deformation and flow analysis is introduced among other statements the theory predicts that shortened or folded boudins must develop in non coaxial monophase deformation with considerable area change in the plane of observation or in polyphase deformation

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

models of strain variation in nappes and thrust sheets a review abstract strain within nappes and thrust sheets can be modelled using simple boundary conditions an original rectangular prism of material resting on a thrust plane is considered to be subject to various pure and simple shear components operating parallel to the thrust deformation gradient tensors are determined for the models and solutions found for the principal strains a two dimensional model considers heterogeneous simple shear combined with a stretch in the direction of shear simple shear zones arise as a special case where 1 recumbent fold nappes characteristic of gravitational collapse can be modelled with 1 and thrust sheets with layer parallel shortening and folding with differential transport of nappes gives rise to additional wrench type shears solutions for the principal strains in this type of model are found and used to interpret side wall ramps and steep zones parallel to nappe movements by including a stretch in the transport direction these differential transport models produce prolate strains 1 and oblate strains finally a brief consideration of bending strains produced in a sheet passing over a ramp indicates reversals in the shear direction during the strain history these predict possible crenulation of early thrust fabrics at ramps

strain models within spreading nappes abstract internal strain within nappes and thrust sheets is especially important in the understanding of emplacement mechanisms in this paper strain patterns within spreading nappes are investigated theoretically and experimentally three types of spreading nappe are distinguished using various boundary conditions spreading gliding spreading and extruding spreading nappes each type is placed in its proper natural environment strain components and strain gradients are summarized from the use of scale models performed with analogue materials mathematical computations from experimental modelling allow the calculation of 1 1 the schistosity trajectories in vertical flow planes 2 2 the relationship between stretch and transport direction and 3 3 the spatial distribution of different types of strain ellipsoid these provide some tests which make it possible to demonstrate in the field whether nappes are or are not gravity induced finally some field examples from the central alps and the pyrenees are briefly discussed they provide good support to the strain models presented in the present paper

the partitioning of deformation in flowing rock masses abstract most geological structures owe their development to heterogeneous and or non steady flow flow partitioning refers to the division of the instantaneous velocity field into components related to translation strain and rotation flow partitioning during the development of a geological structure usually changes with time and different histories of flow are involved at different points in the developing structure heterogeneity leads to the development of flow domains with different characteristics notably the degree of non coaxiality of deformation and different partitionings of the rotational component of flow into shear induced vorticity and spin during non steady flow there is often continual repartitioning of vorticity between the spin and shear induced components spin is an important aspect of flow leading to the development of structure this paper discusses the partitioning of deformation in a flowing rock mass coaxial flow tends to occur in isotropic materials in regions near weakly constrained boundaries non coaxial flow is favoured by suitably oriented material anisotropy and or the presence of well defined boundary constraints involving parallel relative displacements a developing anisotropy e g a crystallographic fabric in a shear zone can induce a change from coaxial to non coaxial flow other effects are related to the scale of approximation for example bulk shear induced vorticity can be locally converted to spin flow in the crust and mantle of the earth produces geological structures on all scales and involves many different types of rheological response the factors that affect flow partitioning e g spin versus non coaxial deformation are therefore of interest

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

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

geochronology of shear zones a review abstract shear zones play a major role in the deformation of the crust at a variety of scales as expressions of strain localization during orogeny and rifting and also as reactivated structures they influence the geometry and evolution of orogenic belts and rifts crustal rheology magma ascent and emplacement and fluid flow consequently assessing the timing of shear zone activity is crucial to reconstruct the tectonometamorphic evolution of the lithosphere the interpretation of thermochronologic data from shear zones is however not straightforward in the first place closure temperatures depend on a number of factors grain size cooling rate mineral composition and pressure among others on the other hand deformation related processes such as dynamic recrystallization neocrystallization and fluid circulation seem to be crucial for isotopic systems and thus the obtained ages cannot be solely interpreted as a function of temperature in sheared rocks for this reason geochronologic data from shear zones might not only record cooling below closure temperature conditions but may also be affected by neo or recrystallization fluid assisted deformation and inheritance of the protolith age s in order to robustly reconstruct p t e t paths of long term crustal scale shear zones structural microstructural and petrologic data from mylonites need to be integrated with ages from different thermochronometric systems in addition geochronologic data from associated intrusions and adjacent blocks can provide further irreplaceable constraints on the timing of deformation and its regional implications one of the most challenging aspects that future lines of investigation should analyze is the quantitative evaluation of so far poorly explored aspects of isotopic diffusion particularly the coupling with deformation processes based on natural theoretical and experimental data future works should also investigate the role of strain partitioning and localization processes in order to constrain the timing of deformation in different parts of a shear zone or in different branches of anastomosing shear zone networks

analysis of deformation paths in shear zones the geometry of ductile shear zones can be used to solve problems of regional tectonics if the deformation path of material in the zones is sufficiently understood flow in many shear zones may have deviated from simple shear and consequently data on the final deformation state such as finite strain and volume change are insufficient for reconstruction of the deformation path even if flow parameters were constant during progressive deformation additional information on the flow vorticity number is also needed and can be obtained from fabric elements such as sets of folded boudinaged veins rotated porphyroblasts and blocked rigid objects mohr circle constructions are presented as a tool to calculate deformation parameters from fabric data to represent the deformation path graphically and to reconstruct flow parameters from the shape of this path if the vorticity number or the volume change rate changed during progressive deformation the deformation path can be partly reconstructed using sets of fabric elements which register mean and final values of these parameters

is the earth lazy a review of work minimization in fault evolution abstract the principle of work minimization has been used in various forms to account for the development of active fault systems within a wide range of tectonic settings we review the successes challenges and implications learned from previous applications of work minimization examination of the energy budget provides insight into the competing influences of different processes within fault systems at a variety of scales we present each work budget component with considerations for numerical implementation additionally we demonstrate numerical implementation by solving for the energy budgets and finding the most efficient propagation paths of a joint and several faults consideration of the energy budget captures growth patterns that are consistent with both laboratory observations and theoretical predictions using the energy release rate g unlike using g work minimization is not limited to collinear growth in comparison with predictions using coulomb failure planes work minimization eliminates uncertainty in predicting fault propagation by 1 evaluating the trade off between tensile and shear failure ahead of the fault and 2 avoiding the ambiguity introduced by the two potential coulomb failure planes application of work minimization to faulting demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach in predicting both the orientation and timing of fault propagation

late mesozoic intracontinental deformation at the northern margin of the north china craton a case study from the kalaqin massif southeastern inner mongolia china abstract the east asian continent underwent intense crustal shortening thickening and following large scale lithospheric extension in the late mesozoic due to multiple plate convergence how to respond to the multiple plate convergence in the north china craton remains enigmatic here we undertaken structural measurements and fault kinematic analysis of the kalaqin massif in the northern part of the north china craton ncc together with new geochronological results delineate two stages of intracontinental deformation in the area 1 ne sw striking ductile sinistral shearing ds at 150 135 ma and subsequent 2 nw se ductile brittle extensional deformation de at 135 110 ma based on electron backscatter diffraction ebsd analysis of quartz c axis fabric and the characteristics of dynamically recrystallized quartz and feldspar we estimate that ductile deformation during ds and de occurred at temperatures of 400 700 c i e greenschist amphibolite facies conditions kinematic vorticity analysis shows that ds deformation was characterized by vorticity values wk of 0 72 0 87 average 0 793 corresponding to general shear with a dominant simple shear component somewhat lower vorticity values of 0 45 0 92 average 0 698 during de event indicate a dominant pure shear component we suggest that ds reflected the regional ne striking sinistral shearing represented by the tan lu fault zone combined with contemporaneous dextral transpression along the e w striking chifeng kaiyuan fault and fengning longhua fault these structures constituted a regional conjugate strike slip system in the northern edge of the ncc ds event was likely associated with the episode b of the yanshanian movement which might result from the subduction of the paleo pacific plate beneath east asia and the closure of the mongol okhosk ocean the subsequent de represents the destruction of the ncc during the early cretaceous which was likely influenced by the roll back of the paleo pacific plate and post orogenic extensional collapse of the mongol okhotsk belt

progression from south directed extrusion to orogen parallel extension in the southern margin of the tibetan plateau mount everest region tibet abstract in the south tibetan himalaya major detachment systems exhumed midcrustal rocks from different structural levels that are exposed in the ama drime and mount everest massifs the south tibetan detachment system stds accommodated exhumation of the greater himalayan series ghs until the middle miocene field and laboratory based structural data presented here indicate that early melt present deformation in the footwall of the stds accommodated large scale flow of a low viscosity middle crust decompression related anatexis and emplacement of leucogranites in the structurally highest positions of the ghs 16 18 ma mark the final stages of south directed extrusion within a relatively narrow solid state mylonite zone that progressed into a brittle detachment estimates of mean kinematic vorticity and deformation temperatures record a progression in deformation conditions from ultra mylonitic leucogranite 400 500 c 51 67 pure shear to mylonitic marble 300 c 41 55 pure shear to mode

a micromechanical approach for simulating multiscale fabrics in large scale high strain zones theory and application 1 deformation fabrics in earth s crust and mantle are commonly used to constrain the tectonic history deformation mechanisms and rheological properties of the lithosphere their formation involves heterogeneous and multiscale deformation processes that current single scale models cannot capture here we present a micromechanics based multiorder power law approach mopla for the simulation of multiscale fabrics in crustal scale high strain zones we consider the progressive deformation in a crustal high strain zone on three different scales on the macroscopic scale representing the average assemblage of rock units at a point we regard the rock mass as a continuum made of many first order elements the progressive deformation of first order elements in the macroscopic flow field simulates tectonic transposition on the scale of an individual first order element we regard it as an eshelby inhomogeneity embedded in a poly element continuum we apply eshelby s inhomogeneity formalism for power law materials to relate the flow field inside a first order element to the macroscopic flow field on the scale pertinent to structures observed on the outcrop or smaller scale the partitioned flow fields inside individual first order elements are used to examine the fabric development we implement mopla in mathcad apply the approach to a natural example of the cascade lake shear zone and discuss the implications of multiscale deformation our model predicts lineation patterns observed in natural high strain zones that have remained unexplained by single scale models

how do lineations reflect the strain history of transpressive shear zones the example of the active alpine fault zone new zealand abstract lineations within mylonites exhumed in the hanging wall of new zealand s active alpine fault zone have a complicated relationship to contemporary plate kinematics the shear zone is triclinic and macroscopic object lineations are not usually parallel to the simple shear direction despite high total simple shear strains 150 this is mostly because the lineations are inherited from pre mylonitic fabrics and have not been rotated into parallelism with the mylonitic stretching direction which pitches c 44 in the fault plane furthermore some lineations have been variably rotated depending on whether they are present in shear bands or microlithons which accommodated bulk strains with different vorticities total strains required to obtain parallelism between the finite maximum principal stretching direction calculated from transpression models and these mylonitic lineations are pure shear stretch s 1 3 5 simple shear 11 7