a physical basis for the frictional melting of some rock forming minerals abstract under conditions of coseismic slip 0 1 2 0 m s 1 within the upper crust differences in the shear yield strengths fracture toughnesses melting points and to a lesser extent thermal conductivities of rock forming minerals result in a hierarchy of friction melting susceptibilities in many so called pseudotachylytes it is observed that phyllosilicates and amphiboles are preferentially consumed to form the melt phase whilst quartz and feldspar tend to survive as clasts this can be explained in terms of the disequilibrium flash melting of those mineral phases possessing the lower shear yield strengths fracture toughnesses and thermal conductivities rather than by eutectic melting that would otherwise generate equilibrium minimum melts indicative of igneous processes at high strain rates typical of coseismic faulting the mechanical behaviour of minerals is primarily controlled by their fracture toughnesses with progressive comminution during slip leading to fusion the friction melting dependence on the mechanical properties of minerals indicates that there may be an important relationship between wall rock lithology and earthquake magnitude if frictional melting results in fault lubrication

effect of partial melting on rock deformation experimental and natural evidences on rocks of granitic compositions abstract deformation tests at constant strain rate 10 5 s 1 at 210 250 mpa confining pressure and at 560 900 c are performed on an aplite with varying water contents the mechanical behaviour is correlated with the microstructure after a stage of plastification depending on the temperature and on the water content the rock strength falls dramatically under such confining pressures before melting and before straining the pores of the wet rocks burst as the thermal expansion of water develops a local high pore pressure which causes cracking and fracturing in our opinion this pore bursting will increase the effects of thermal cracking due to the differential expansion of the minerals the rocks exhibit a uniform crack network with increasing temperature melting occurs in the cataclased rock the crack development and melting depend on the initial water content the loss of cohesion obtained either by cracking or by cracking and melting provokes a dramatic weakening axial shortening induces cracking parallel to 1 and melt transfer into extensional regions deformation is concentrated in dilatant shear bands at the highest temperature 900 c a melt film network is rapidly established and induces a very low flow stress melt effects in naturally deformed gneisses suggest that biotite breakdown furnishes a silicate fluid which induces hydraulic fracture and melt dispersion

seismic slip in the lower crust inferred from granulite related pseudotachylyte in the woodroffe thrust central australia pseudotachylytes generated in granulite facies rocks are found in the woodroffe thrust central australia petrologic evidence and structural and textural features show that these pseudotachylytes contain typical melting origin features including injection occurrence rounded and embayed clasts and microlites within the fine grained matrix which formed contemporaneously with the wall granulite facies rocks under conditions of 8 kbar and 650 700 c these granulite related pseudotachylyte g pt veins are overprinted in subsequent deformation stages by three other types of pseudotachylytes including mylonite related m pt and ultramylonite related um pt pseudotachylytes that are then transcut by cataclasite related pseudotachylytes c pt the overprinting occurred following uplift of the lower crust where the g pt veins formed through the brittle plastic transition zone where the m pt and um pt veins occurred within the brittle dominated regime of the c pt generation zone in the upper crust the coexistence of multiple generations of large voluminous c pt m pt um pt and g pt veins indicates that numerous large earthquakes accompanying distinct seismic slip which produced the pseudotachylytes occurred over an extended period of seismicity and various depths of the crust within the woodroffe thrust zone the spatial distribution and structural features of the multiple stage pseudotachylytes suggest that coseismic slipping caused by large earthquakes which nucleated in the brittle dominated seismogenic zone propagated downward through the brittle plastic transition zone into the plastic dominated granulite facies depth from the upper to lower crust

first record of the devonian lycophyte leclercqia from south america a single leafy stem from the middle or lowermost upper devonian campo chico formation sierra de perija western venezuela is the first record of the important devonian herbaceous lycophyte leclercqia from south america usually considered as part of western gondwana the seemingly cosmopolitan distribution of this genus is discussed in relation to coeval assemblages and palaeocontinental reconstructions

incorporating full attenuation mechanisms of poroelastic media for realistic subsurface sensing porous materials are ubiquitous in the subsurface formations of the earth where acoustic and seismic waves are used for remote sensing however it is not well understood how the dissipation and the dispersion of poroelastic waves are caused by the viscoelastic and viscous properties of the constituents such as solid grains and pore fluid and by the viscoelastic dissipation of the solid frame as well as the viscodynamic coupling of the pore fluid to the solid frame due to its global and local flows relative to the solid grains such attenuation mechanisms have seldom been incorporated in subsurface sensing simulations although they can be very important to applications in this paper we propose a complete attenuation model including both full stiffness and viscodynamic dissipation for poroelastic media in seismic wave simulations completely based on a generalized zener model the effects associated with physical dissipation and frequency dependent dispersion are accurately simulated by a finite difference time domain algorithm verifications with analytical solutions show the accuracy efficiency and flexibility of our method numerical results demonstrate that the attenuation of biot s model in the sediment of the seafloor has significant effects on acoustic wave scattering from complex geologic structures

microstructural and chemical changes associated with cataclasis and frictional melting at shallow crustal levels the cataclasite pseudotachylyte connection in pelitic schists of the nason terrane of washington state pseudotachylyte can be demonstrated to have developed subsequent to the formation of foliation parallel cataclasite zones numerous microstructural lines of evidence point to a genetic link between pseudotachylyte and cataclasite and chemical evidence indicates that cataclasis played an important role in controlling pseudotachylyte chemistry besides optical and textural differences between the cataclasite and pseudotachylyte which may occur together there is unambiguous evidence of a melt origin for the pseudotachylyte while such evidence within the cataclasite is absent tem evidence indicates that glass is present in at least some of the veins as demonstrated by a lack of electron diffraction microlites present in the glass lack dislocations high temperature microlites of a mineralogy and composition not present in the host schist occur in various habits which depend on the distance from the vein margin also present are assimilation textures apparently quenched sulfide droplets and vesicles and amygdules in a pseudotachylyte vein studied in detail five microstructural domains occur these include vein margin cataclasite a transitional dark pseudotachylyte vein interior glass opaque and sulfide rich blebs and translucent haloes surrounding some of the blebs the cryptocrystalline cataclasite matrix grades into the dark pseudotachylyte which optically grades into the glass after adjustment for silica the host schist and cataclasite matrix are chemically very similar the dark pseudotachylyte and glass with the exception of na2o and cao are chemically quite similar to the cataclasite matrix the main difference may be the result of the segregation of the opaque plagioclase blebs thus the pseudotachylyte chemistry is strongly dependent upon the chemistry of the material comprising the cataclasite matrix which in turn is dependent on mineral susceptibility to incorporation into the cataclasite matrix fluids infiltrated along the cataclasite zones prior to pseudotachylyte generation as recorded by hydration reactions sulfide veining na2o loss and fluid inclusions this demonstrates that pseudotachylytes can form under fluid rich conditions as opposed to the commonly assumed dry conditions

the brittle plastic transition and the depth of seismic faulting a simple rheological model of shearing of the lithosphere that has gained wide acceptance is a two layer model with an upper brittle zone in which deformation takes place by frictional sliding on discrete fault surfaces and a lower plastic zone in which deformation takes place by bulk plastic flow the two are separated by an abrupt brittle plastic transition which is assumed to be indicated by the lower limit of seismicity experimental studies however as well as the deformation structures of mylonites indicate that a broad transitional field of semi brittle behavior lies between these extremes this is a field of mixed mode deformation with a strength that can be expected to be considerably higher than that predicted from the extrapolation of high temperature flow laws for quartzofeldspathic rocks the semi brittle field lies between t1 the onset of quartz plasticity at about 300 c and t2 feldspar plasticity at about 450 c a model is presented in which the transition t1 does not correspond to a transition to bulk flow but to a change from unstable velocity weakening friction to stable velocity strengthening friction t1 thus marks the depth limit of earthquake nucleation but large earthquakes can propagate to a greater depth t3 t3 t2 which corresponds to the lower limit of dynamic frictional behavior in the semi brittle field and approximately to the peak in strength the zone between t1 and t3 is one of alternating behavior with flow occurring m the interseismic period and with co seismic dynamic slip occurring during large earthquakes this zone is characterized by mylonites interlaced by pseudotachylytes and other signs of dynamic faulting the transition t1 is also marked by a change in the generation mechanism of fault rocks from abrasive wear above which produces cataclastites to adhesive wear below which is proposed as an important generation mechanism of mylonites in the upper part of the semi brittle field

vesicles amygdales and similar structures in fault generated pseudotachylytes amygdales in fault generated pseudotachylytes from the outer hebrides thrust scotland and the ikertoq shear belt west greenland contain mineral assemblages dominated by k spar sphene epidote quartz and carbonates respectively these contrasting assemblages indicate that vesicle infilling took place under differing environmental conditions other filled cavities resembling amygdales in form and mineralogy are recognized as replacement pseudomorphs after porphyroclasts using published data relating vesicle abundance and solubility functions for h2o and co2 to pressure a palaeoseismic depth estimate equivalent to the depth of vesiculation of about 1 6 km is inferred for the greenland pseudotachylytes described in this paper

crystal fractionation in the friction melts of seismic faults alpine fault new zealand compositional variations are documented in friction melts along the hari hari section of the alpine fault new zealand with multiple stages of melt injection into quartzo feldspathic schists intermediate to felsic melts were heterogeneous in composition but all fractions show a common trend with a tendency for the younger melt layers and glasses to be more alkali na k and si enriched while being depleted in mafic fe mg mn components these changes are attributed primarily to crystal fractionation of the melt during transport farther traveled molten layers were on the whole less viscous mostly due to a higher melt to clast ratio however compositional change together with a decrease in volatile content produced a progressively more viscous liquid melt with time the glass phase is interpreted as a remnant of this high viscosity felsic residual melt that was preserved during final quenching following initial failure the formation of largely phyllosilicatederived volatile rich lower viscosity melt corresponds with a phase of fault weakening subsequent rapid crystal fractionation during melt transport the loss of volatiles and freezing of residual melt contributed to the strengthening of the fault during seismic slip d 2005 published by elsevier b v

injection veins of crushing originated pseudotachylyte and fault gouge formed during seismic faulting this paper describes the injection veins of crushing originated pseudotachylyte and fault gouge formed along the iida matsukawa fault in granitic cataclasite southern nagano prefecture central japan the pseudotachylyte which shows a dense and aphanitic appearances and fault gouge occur as simple veins fault vein along the main fault plane and as complex network veins injection vein in the neighboring cataclasite locally the injection veins of pseudotachylyte and fault gouge can be traced back to the fault veins powder x ray diffraction patterns and petrological analysis indicate that both of the pseudotachylyte and fault gouge consist entirely of fine grained angular clasts and that the pseudotachylytes and fault gouges have a similar x ray diffraction patterns with that of the host granite the similarity of chemical compositions and distribution patterns of grain size also show that the injection veins of pseudotachylyte and fault gouge have the same source material as that of fault veins field occurrences and petrological characteristics strongly suggest that the injection veins of pseudotachylyte and fault gouge formed during seismic faulting by a rapid intrusion and fluidization of crushed fine grained materials generated in the shear zone in a gas solid fluid system

evaluation of asperity scale temperature effects during seismic slip abstract for the common rock forming minerals the joule thompson effect produces cooling on compression and heating on decompression experimental rock friction studies and seismological evidence suggest that the strength of faults is controlled by high stress asperities that represent a small fraction of the total fault area during seismic rupture the area immediately beneath asperities is inferred to undergo adiabatic compressions and decompressions on the order of 1 2 8 gpa joule thompson coefficients are in the range 261 372 c gpa resulting in temperature changes of 336 880 c quartz asperities with a compressive strength of 2 8 gpa can produce a heating or cooling of 880 c immediately beneath an asperity by comparison frictional heating flash temperatures are less than 1000 c for asperity contact areas 2 the joule thompson effect is independent of asperity size and may augment or counteract frictional heating the paucity of pseudotachylytes in the geologic record and the absence of localized heat flow anomalies on active faults might be explained by the joule thompson cooling effect

evidence of dmisteinbergite hexagonal form of caal2si2o8 in pseudotachylyte a tool to constrain the thermal history of a seismic event the determination of the maximum temperature achieved by friction melt tmelt in pseudotachylytebearing faults is crucial to estimate earthquake source parameters e g earthquake energy budgets coseismic fault strength on a geological basis here we investigated the mineralogy of a pseudotachylyte from the gole larghe fault italian alps by using x ray powder diffraction micro raman spectroscopy and eds equipped field emission scanning electron microscopy in particular we report the presence of the hexagonal polymorph of caal2si2o8 dmisteinbergite in a pseudotachylyte published experimental work shows dmisteinbergite can crystallize at 1200 1400 c by rapid quenching therefore the presence of dmisteinbergite in pseudotachylyte could be a reliable geothermometer for friction melts for which tmelt has only as yet been estimated

electron microscopy study of hyalomylonites evidence for frictional melting in landslides abstract hyalomylonites from langtang nepal and kofels otz valley austria were investigated by transmission electron microscopy tem the matrix is glassy at both localities rarely it is crystallized and devitrified to dendrites and skeletal microlites of plagioclase alkali feldspar and biotite the matrix is chemically heterogeneous with schlieren and formed by partial to almost complete melting of host rocks of granitic to granodioritic composition locally glasses with pure quartz plagioclase and alkalifeldspar composition were found from sio 2 glass minimum temperatures of 1520 c are estimated at both hyalomylonite localities melting appears to be the result of frictional heating on the gliding plane of a large landslide the host rocks were deformed in a brittle mode microstructures typical of plastic deformation at high temperatures are displayed by inclusions and were probably inherited from previous tectonic events

chemical and oxygen isotope composition of natural and artificial pseudotachylyte role of water during frictional fusion abstract pseudotachylyte samples from the long ridge fault north carolina the homestake shear zone colorado the fort foster fault maine and experimentally produced frictional melt were analyzed for major elements and o isotopes using an electron microprobe and laser microprobe respectively the pseudotachylytes display a 18o range of 5 9 10 7 standard mean ocean water smow and are both isotopically lighter and heavier than their respective host rocks in general the isotopic composition of bulk pseudotachylyte pt in the absence of water rock interaction can be modeled as 18 o bulk pt x frag 18 o frag x min 18 o min where xfrag refers to the volume fraction of unmelted mineral fragments and xmin refers to the volume fraction of minerals that undergo melting mineral melt isotopic fractionation is considered to be small and less than 1 the majority of pseudotachylyte isotopic compositions can be explained as a disequilibrium partial melt of the protolith rock comprising melted feldspar and micas plus a small proportion 10 of unmelted quartz clasts in contrast the long ridge fault samples are substantially depleted in 18o by up to 4 relative to their host rock which is best explained by closed system water rock interaction of a pore fluid at 100 c with a melt at 1000 c and a water rock weight ratio of 0 2 this fluid is also inferred to have caused oxidation of the pseudotachylyte melts producing the hematite characteristic of this location

pseudotachylite from the main zone of the hidaka metamorphic belt hokkaido northern japan pseudotachylite veins have been found in the mylonite zone of the hidaka metamorphic belt hokkaido northern japan they are associated with faults with wnw ese to ene wsw or ne sw trends which make a conjugate set cutting foliations of the host mylonitic rocks with high obliquity the mylonitic rocks comprise greenschist facies to prehnite pumpellyite facies mineral assemblages the mode of occurrence of the pseudotachylite veins indicates that they were generated on surfaces of the faults and were intruded as injection veins along microfractures in the host rocks during brittle deformation in near surface environments an analysis of the deformational and metamorphic history of the hidaka main zone suggests that the ambient rock temperature was 200 300 c immediately before the formation of the hidaka pseudotachylite three textural types of veins are distinguished cryptocrystalline microcrystalline and glassy the cryptocrystalline or glassy type often occupies the marginal zones of the microcrystalline type veins the microcrystalline type is largely made up of quench microlites of orthopyroxene clinopyroxene biotite plagioclase and opaque minerals with small amounts of amphibole microlites the interstices of these microlites are occupied by glassy and or cryptocrystalline materials the presence of microlites and glasses in the pseudotachylite veins suggests that the pseudotachylites are the products of rapid cooling of silicate melts at depths of less than 5 km the bulk chemical composition of the pseudotachylite veins is characterized by low sio2 and a high water content and is very close to that of the host mylonitic rocks this indicates that the pseudotachylite was formed by virtual total melting of the host rocks with sufficient hydrous mineral phases local chemical variation in the glassy parts of the pseudotachylite veins may be due to either crystallization of quench microlites or the disequilibrium nature of melting of mineral fragments and incomplete mixing of the melts pyroxene microlites show a crystallization trend from hypersthene through pigeonite to subcalcic augite with unusually high al contents the presence of pigeonite and high al pyroxene microlites of hornblende and biotite microlites and rare plagioclase microlites may indicate the high temperature and high water content of the melt which formed the pseudotachylite veins the melt temperatures were estimated to be up to 1100 c using a two pyroxene geothermometer using published data relating water solubilities in high temperature andesitic magmas to pressure a depth estimate of about 4 km is inferred for the hidaka pseudotachylites evidence derived from pseudotachylites in the hidaka metamorphic belt supports the conclusion that pseudotachylite is formed by frictional melting along fault surfaces at shallow depths from rocks containing hydrous minerals

generation of pseudotachylite under granulite facies conditions and its preservation during cooling discontinuous ultramylonite zones cut proterozoic granulite facies gneisses in macrobertson land east antarctica and preserve evidence of ductile non coaxial flow and reverse sense of shear cross cutting relationships indicate that ultramylonite deformation involved overthrusting to the east but progressively rotated to involve overthrusting to the north rotation of the principal compressive stress axes is inferred extensive pseudotachylite developed during ultramylonitization the history of individual ultramylonite zones having involved a single episode of pseudotachylite generation neoblastic sillimanite indicates ultramylonitization occurred at 520 c on the basis of inferred recrystallized granulite facies mineral assemblages ultramylonitization occurred at 700 c and 7 3 0 5 kbar at ah2o 0 3 and low aco2 comparison of these values with those suggested by metamorphic assemblages in rocks unaffected by mylonitization indicates that the rayner complex experienced a late increase in pressure of 1 2 kbar during ultramylonitization the p t ah2o conditions of the ultramylonite zones are inferred to have been close to the solidus for minimum melting pseudotachylite generation having involved a limited pressure drop during brittle fracturing at high strain rates most of the pseudotachylite veins are undeformed the mechanism s of fracturing and melting must have caused strain hardening in rocks surrounding the ultramylonite further strain having been mostly accommodated by a new or subsidiary shear zone renewed stress at reduced strain rates or renewed stress in zones in which the proportion of pseudotachylite was significantly higher could have led to the rare occurrences of deformed pseudotachylite the preservation of fine grained pseudotachylite is dependent on it remaining dry

artificial generation of pseudotachylyte using friction welding apparatus simulation of melting on a fault plane a 150 m thick fused layer of rock has been produced by rotating two metadolerite core faces against each other at 3000 r p m under an axial load of 330 kg for 11 s using friction welding apparatus scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis reveal that the melt layer comprises sub angular to rounded porphyroclasts of clinopyroxene feldspar and ilmenite 20 m diameter derived from the host metadolerite set within a silicate glass matrix thermal calculations confirm that melting occurred at the rock interface and that mean surface temperatures in excess of 1400 c were attained the fused layer shows many textural similarities with pseudotachylyte described from fault zones morphologically the fused layer consists of a series of stacks of porphyroclasts welded together by melt to form build ups oriented at right angles to the friction surface there is also evidence of gouging ploughing and plucking as well as transfer and adhesion of material having occurred between the rock faces the mean surface velocity attained by the metadolerite 0 24 m s 1 and duration of the experiment are comparable with velocities and rise times of typical single jerk earthquakes occurring during stick slip seismic faulting within brittle crust i e slip rates of 0 1 0 5 m s 1 for say 1 10s in these respects the experiment successfully simulated frictional fusion on a fault plane in the absence of an intergranular fluid power dissipation during the experiment was about mw m 2 comparable only to very low values for earthquakes e g 1 100 mw m 2 for displacement rates of 0 1 0 5 m s 1 at shear stresses of 100 1000 bars this indicates that melting on fault planes during earthquakes should be commonplace field evidence however does not support this contention either pseudotachylyte is not being recognized in exhumed ancient seismic fault zones or melting only occurs under very special circumstances

fracture geometry of pseudotachylyte generation zones a study of shear fractures formed during seismic events abstract the orientation and movement sense of shear fractures in pseudotachylyte generation zones developed in the ikertoq shear belt west greenland are described and the fracturing sequence is inferred the generation zones occur in strongly foliated gneisses and consist of concordant usually paired principal displacement shear fractures paired shears on which most melt was generated and a system of minor shear fractures minor shear fracturing was most intense between principal displacement shear fractures and most melt intruded from these paired shears inwards with respect to the zone intrusion of injection veins of pseudotachylyte off the principal displacement shear fractures is believed to be contemporaneous with minor shear fracturing in the generation zones generation zones affect intact rocks and individual principal displacement shear fractures have a maximum displacement of 4 6 m paired principal displacement shear fractures are up to 3 m apart and have a maximum observed length of 1 km in all the zones described the fracturing appears to be the result of a single episode of slip both dextral and sinistral generation zones occur within the study area and have different geometries in each case the displacement is strike slip

chemical heterogeneity in an enderbite hosted pseudotachylite eastern india evidence for syn deformation multi reaction melting in pseudotachylite the origin of chemical and mineralogical heterogeneity in tens of microns wide layers and domains in enderbite hosted couple of centimeters wide pseudotachylite vein is examined based on the results of bse and x ray element imaging and electron probe microanalyses of major elements of host rock minerals clasts microphenocrysts and pseudotachylite matrix the pseudotachylite layers and domains containing variable proportions of orthopyroxene and magnetite microphenocrysts continue as mantles around quartz k feldspar plagioclase and garnet clasts the clasts are chemically modified along margins and intra clast pseudotachylite injections the chemical modifications are extensive in smaller clasts 5 m diameter at least three chemically distinct layers and domains in the pseudotachylite and their fine grained matrices plot in sharply defined well segregated and non overlapping fields in feo mgo al2o3 sio2 feo cao mgo and cao na2o k2o and feo vs feo feo mgo diagrams the compositions of the layers and domains smeared between a feldspar quartz component and a ferromagnesian component of garnet fe ti oxides orthopyroxene possibly correspond to fractionated quenched melts or admixtures of microphenocrysts that cannot be resolved by the microbeam techniques employed the compositional variations are incompatible with deformation driven crystal fractionation in melt instead the layers and domains possibly are crystal melt mushes produced by syn deformation ultra high temperature 1 250 1 375 c melting reactions involving variable proportions of host rock minerals determined by time transient local phase aggregates experiencing strain the similar element variation trends in pseudotachylite examined here and those reported from anorthosite metapelite and charnockite elsewhere suggests local phase aggregate controlled multi reaction melting is a phenomenon commoner than hitherto realized in pseudotachylites

glassy pseudotachylyte veins from the fuyun fault zone northwest china glassy pseudotachylytes occur in granitic mylonites from the fuyun fault zone northwest china powder x ray diffraction data indicate that the fine grained matrices of the fuyun pseudotachylytes vary from almost crystalline to complete glass a few to 90 wt glass powder x ray diffraction patterns also indicate that clasts in the glass type pseudotachylyte veins mostly consist of quartz grains microlites displaying quenched or rapid cooling textures vesicles and amygdules flow structures and rounded fragments are also common in the fuyun pseudotachylytes the average bulk chemical compositions of these pseudotachylytes are similar to those of the host rocks but the glass matrix has a low sio2 component which is 5 15 wt lower than that of the host rocks the pseudotachylytes contain 2 3 wt water h2o using experimental data which relate the solubility of water to pressure approximately 400 bars lithostatic pressure corresponding to approximately 1 5 km depth of pseudotachylyte formation is estimated a minimum temperature estimate of 1450 c can be estimated due to the presence of the pure sio2 glass the x ray diffraction and chemical data indicate that the fuyun pseudotachylytes formed during seismic faulting at shallow depths by selective melting under water saturated conditions rather than by total melting or by crushing of the host rocks along fault surfaces

the origin of s c mylonites and a new fault zone model abstract this paper presents a synthesis of experimental data on mechanical behaviour and deformation textures of simulated halite shear zones with special regard to the internal structures of s c mylonites and their mechanical implications halite is the only mineral so far for which a complete transition between brittle shearing deformation to fully ductile shearing flow in the dislocation glide regime has been studied experimentally under large shear strains that may be encountered along faults or plate boundaries moreover deformation textures in the shear zones are similar to those of mylonites and cataclasites thus the experimental results provide an insight into the petrogenesis of fault rocks mylonites in particular and the establishment of a realistic fault model between the brittle regime and the fully ductile regime i e pressure insensitive inelastic regime there exists a wide and distinct regime called semiductile in which deformation textures are nearly identical to those developed in the ductile regime yet the shear resistance is pressure dependent and potentially unstable fault motion can occur in the low pressure part in cooking salt shear zone experiments the characteristic texture in the semiductile and ductile regimes is foliation resembling mylonitic foliation which formed in the direction of maximum elongation in the semiductile regime nearly homogeneous shearing deformation characterized by the formation of uniform and pervasive foliation changes into heterogeneous deformation after a critical shear strain and this strain localization induces potentially unstable fault motion the primary mode of internal slip after the strain localization is slip along y riedel shears parallel to the shear zone boundary interconnected with r 1 and some p riedel shears these shear surfaces of concentrated deformation are very similar to the internal structures of so called s c mylonites hence the semiductile regime is the primary candidate for the formation of s c mylonites and at least some s c mylonites must have formed at seismogenic depths this interpretation is consistent with recently reported interlaced pseudotachylytes and mylonites it is also shown that the size of recrystallized halite grains presumably mostly postdeformational decreases with increasing shear strains but not with the shear stress and this is consistent with the grain size reduction with strain concentration which has been confirmed for many mylonites in the world thus estimation of flow stress from recrystallized grains needs to be done with great care and might often be erroneous existing fault models are critically examined from the viewpoint of the halite experiments and a new fault model is proposed whereby fault zones are divided into brittle semibrittle semiductile and ductile regimes with increasing depth the shear resistance of faults is highest in the semiductile regime and the seismogenic depth is likely to extend down to the upper part of this regime the semiductile regime thus emerges as an area of primary interest with regard to the petrogenesis of many s c mylonites modelling of large and great shallow earthquakes along pre existing faults and plate boundaries and quantitative evaluation of the mechanical interactions of plates across their boundaries

pseudotachylyte bearing strike slip duplex structures in the fort foster brittle zone s maine abstract detailed 1 60 scale mapping of the fort foster brittle zone in the mylonitic rye formation of southernmost maine has revealed the intricate internal duplex structure of a system of probable paleozoic age dextral strike slip faults that have produced abundant pseudotachylyte and minor breccia the internal configuration of this brittle zone consists of a mosaic of individual pseudotachylyte generation zones as slab duplex structures individual duplex zones are up to 100 m in length and 1 m or less in width and are defined by pairs of layer parallel slip surfaces along which frictional melts were produced these slab duplex structures are interpreted as zones of displacement transfer between long overlapping layer parallel en echelon strike slip fault surfaces contractional duplexes develop layer parallel compressional structures that tend to shorten and thicken the fault bounded slabs by the formation of lateral ramps and conjugate faults kinks and asymmetric folds extensional duplexes develop layer parallel stretching and thinning by the formation of oblique dextral shears high angle conjugate pairs and localized fault breccias the production of pseudotachylyte by friction melting along layer parallel fault surfaces in these exposures is attributed to rapid slip during paleoseismic events the rupture structures developed during these events may be characteristic of fault structure and mechanics at near focal depths in a strike slip seismogenic zone

an argument against the crush origin of pseudotachylytes based on the analysis of clast size distribution abstract the origin of pseudotachylytes has been controversial since wenk cast doubt on the melt origin of the matrix of pseudotachylytes in 1978 the matrix of this rock is so fine grained that the crush origin of pseudotachylytes revived by wenk cannot easily be denied this paper presents a new line of argument based on the size analysis of clasts contained in pseudotachylytes in felsic granulite from the musgrave range central australia these clasts are definitely crush products produced during the pseudotachylyte generation their sizes as measured on photomicrographs of thin sections obey the size distribution n n r d where n is the cumulative number of clasts with sizes greater than r d is the fractal dimension and n is a constant that depends on the number of measurements d was found to be 1 5 0 05 for the size ranges of 10 2000 m if the matrix of the pseudotachylytes consists mostly of ultrafine crush products they must have formed simultaneously with those coarse crush products the proportion of fine products relative to the coarse clasts can be estimated assuming that a similar size distribution also holds for the fine products the estimated area occupied by fine products in a thin section is of the order of only several percent whereas the measured area of the matix is about 60 thus the major part of the matrix of the pseudotachylytes cannot be regarded as crush products it is also shown that the number of clasts smaller than about 5 m becomes very small perhaps as a result of nearly complete dissolution of fine clasts in a melt however if the ultrafine grained matrix of the pseudotachylytes had formed by crushing during seismogenic fault motion the grain size refinement during the crushing should have occurred jumping the size range of at least 1 5 m this is quite unreasonable and disproves the crush origin for the matrix of pseudotachylytes

fault structure wear mechanisms and rupture processes in pseudotachylyte generation abstract fault generated pseudotachylyte is found within both cataclastic and mylonitic host rocks suggesting that rapid catastrophic displacements have occurred at a variety of depths within paleoseismogenic zones pseudotachylyte bearing fault zones represent a composite of structural features associated with the process of earthquake rupture propagation and coseismic slip the development of multiple pseudotachylyte veins in fault linkages duplexes sidewall ripouts en echelon arrays and brittle zones suggests repeated rupturing during a series of characteristic earthquakes each earthquake as a coseismic slip event can be subdivided into initial rupture acceleration stable sliding and final deceleration stages these evolve through distinctive sequences of wear and deformation mechanisms that vary with sliding velocity duration of slip total displacement and the hydrodynamics of the developing fault zone slip is thought to proceed toward surface refinement and possible frictional melting following the propagation of leading shear fracture process zones the passage of the initial process zone of oblique fracturing would be followed by linkage to a throughgoing structure with asperity reduction through brecciation comminution and refined cataclastic flow for frictional melting in an abrasive wear dominant model at greater depths in the presence of mylonitic anisotropy slip would proceed through initial layer parallel surfaces and duplex linkages with rapid surface refinement through plastic smearing and laminar flow for frictional melting in an adhesive wear dominant model

fault rocks within the blueschist metabasalts of the diamante terranova unit southern italy potential fossil record of intermediate depth subduction earthquakess vitale et al fault rocks within blueschist metabasalts

melt origin of fault generated pseudotachylytes demonstrated by textures a petrographic and electron microprobe study of fault generated pseudotachylytes from the outer hebrides thrust zone scotland demonstrates that the textures have resulted from the primary crystallization of a clast laden melt rather than the devitrification of a glass or by crushing and cataclasis the observations are consistent with these pseudotachylytes having formed by frictional fusion followed by rapid quenching implying faulting at shallow crustal depths

superheated friction induced melts in zoned pseudotachylytes within the adamello tonalites italian southern alps pseudotachylytes and cataclasites are present along a strike slip fault zone in the tonalites of the adamello intrusion italian southern alps ambient conditions during faulting were 0 25 0 3 gpa and 250 300 c pseudotachylyte veins thicker than 6 mm are zoned and consist of two symmetric microlitic domains towards the vein walls and a central spherulitic domain the thickness of the microlitic domains x increases linearly with the half total thickness a of the pseudotachylyte vein commonly 2 cm according to the relation x 0 29 0 12 a the spherulitic and microlitic domains have similar chemical composition but the microlitic domain has a lower amount of plagioclase clasts a numerical model explains zoning as the result of the different cooling rates and clast melt interactions at the center and periphery of thick veins zoning is compatible with the injection of a single pulse of superheated friction induced melt tmelt 1450 c melt temperatures estimated by the clast matrix ratio o hara 2001 are considerably lower 316 577 c it is suggested that the difference in the temperature estimates reflects a more complex slip history than a single seismic slip event along the fault during production of cataclasites pseudotachylytes

generation and crystallization of an amphibolite shear melt an investigation using radial friction welding apparatus a cylinder of amphibolite comprising the assemblage amphibole clinozoisite albite has been frictionally melted using radial friction welding apparatus this was achieved by rotating a steel ring at 750 rpm and a force of 98 kn for 10 s against a stationary steel casing which housed the rock sample the ring penetrated the casing then proceeded to rotate and compress the sample to 95 of its original volume until it cracked at right angles to its length this generated a whole rock silicate melt which injected the crack and on cooling produced glass crystallites and vesicles melting occurred in two stages an initial low pressure melting event with crystallization to augite fe rich anorthite followed by a high pressure melting event with crystallization to fassaitic clinopyroxene it is estimated that pressures of 0 5 gpa rising to 1 gpa were realized at the ring rock interface under these conditions fassaite superseded augite anorthite crystallization due to the increased solubility of ca tschermak s component in clinopyroxene the high pressure event provides a crude analogue for the frictional melting of basic rock at depths of 15 30 km in a seismogenic fault a situation realized along the slip zone between cold descending lithosphere and overlying mantle during subduction

viscosity determinations of some frictionally generated silicate melts implications for fault zone rheology at high strain rates analytical scanning electron microscopy has been used to determine the major element compositions of some natural and artificial silicate glasses and their microcrystalline equivalents derived by the frictional melting of intermediate to acid protoliths the data show that the matrices of the friction melts which cool to form pseudotachylytes are relatively basic and hydrous even when their protoliths are intermediate to acid this is because frictional fusion involves the selective comminution and nonequilibrium melting of minerals based on their individual mechanical properties and melting points not the formation of minimum melts through equilibrium mineral interaction this means that hydrous ferromagnesian minerals e g micas and amphiboles melt preferentially to form the liquid matrix while feldspars and especially quartz more readily survive as clasts pseudotachylytes generated by frictional melting are therefore not bulk melts and as clast melt suspensions they cannot be considered as simple newtonian fluids the calculated viscosities of the friction melts are low for example at 1200 c most friction melts possess zero shear suspension viscosities of 102 104 dpa s 1 dpa s 1 p this is equivalent to the viscosities of tholeiitic and alkaline basaltic magmas at the same temperature these viscosities are maximum determinations because as clast melt suspensions friction melts may undergo shear thinning and exhibit pseudoplasticity at high shear rates i e during slip on a fault surface contrary to earlier suggestions where the bulk melting of intermediate to acid protoliths was believed to result in the generation of viscous friction melts that could act to inhibit continued sliding this work shows that most pseudotachylytes are partial melts possessing low viscosities the formation of highly fluid suspensions during slip may have profound effects on the dissipation of stored strain energy in the rocks surrounding a fault interface lubrication could facilitate an increase in the slip rate and the rate of energy dissipation this would be manifest as an increase in high frequency seismic wave radiation and vibrational

subduction interface processes recorded by eclogite facies shear zones monviso w alps abstract the monviso ophiolite lago superiore unit constitutes a well preserved almost continuous upper fragment of oceanic lithosphere subducted at c 80 km depth thereby providing a unique opportunity to study mechanical coupling processes and meter scale fluid rock interactions occurring at such depths in present day subduction zones it is made of i a variably thick 50 500 m section of eclogitized basaltic crust associated with minor calcschist lenses overlying a 100 400 m thick metagabbroic body and of ii a c 1 km thick serpentinite sole we herein focus on the three major eclogite facies shear zones found at the top of the unit at the boundary between basalts and gabbros and between gabbros and serpentinites respectively strain localization occurred at lithological interfaces irrespective of material strength while ductile deformation dominates along the shear zones local brittle behavior is demonstrated by the existence of numerous eclogite breccias of fe ti metagabbros and widespread garnet fractures possibly linked with intermediate depth eclogite facies micro seismicity these m to hm sized fragments of fe ti metagabbros were later sheared and disseminated within serpentinite schists along the gabbro serpentinite boundary lower shear zone lsz pervasive and focused fluid flow is attested in the lsz by significant alteration of bulk rock compositions weakening of the rocks and widespread crystallization of hydrous parageneses by contrast the intermediate shear zone isz shows evidence for more restricted short range fluid flow the activity of both the isz and lsz ceased during early lawsonite eclogite facies exhumation when deformation localized deeper within the serpentinite sole allowing for the detachment and preservation of this large ophiolitic fragment