chemical characteristics of migmatites accessory phase distribution and evidence for fast melt segregation rates equilibration between melt and solid is inhibited by rapid melt extraction and by restricted equilibration armouring slow dissolution when segregation occurs by channelised migration along high porosity pathways melt migration is more rapid than trace element diffusion rates in silicates and faster than accessory phase dissolution rates evidence for channelised flow and deformation enhanced melt segregation into boudin necks fractures and micro shears at low melt fractions is present in the moine kirtomy migmatitie suite kms in sutherland scotland melt migration distances are on a metre to tens of metres scale concordant leucosomes in stromatic migmatities in the kms have low zr contents low lree light rare earth element and h heavy ree contents and positive eu anomalies ree patterns of this type can be produced by removal of leucosome before complete equilibration with source due to the inhibited dissolution of lree and hree bearing accessory phases in water undersaturated melts melting in the kms however occurred at or near the wet granite solidus leaving biotite as a residual phase detailed back scattered electron imaging shows that ree bearing accessory phases remained as residual phases and were concentrated in the melanosome and at the melanosome leucosome boundary irregularly shaped patches of diatexite contain a small proportion of excess zr consistent with entrainment of melanosome schlieren enriched in zircon these data indicate that deformation enhanced melt extraction led to the rapid migration of small melt fractions from the melting site on a time scale less than that required to saturate the melt in zr leucosomes were thus prevented from equilibrating with accessory phases before extraction

syntectonic anatexis and magmatism in a mid crustal transpressional shear zone an example from the hercynian rocks of the eastern pyrenees abstract hercynian metamorphism and magmatism in the cap de creus peninsula eastern pyrenees occurred contemporaneously with non coaxial deformation in a transpressive regime an example of this has been taken from a migmatite complex in the northern coast the studied area is formed by partially melted sillimanite schists together with two different suites of igneous rocks a calc alkaline magmatic sequence consisting of small granitoid bodies and later peraluminous leucogranites and pegmatites all these rocks occur within a ne sw to e w trending sub vertical high strain zone where a first schistosity is tightly folded and transposed the relations between folds and crenulation cleavage in the metasediments and deformational fabrics in the granitoids and migmatites provide good evidence for the penecontemporaneity of deformational processes magmatism and migmatization furthermore the analysis of cross cutting relationships between different granitoids as well as the observation of their different degrees of deformation verifies that magmatism in this area took place as synkinematic consecutive intrusions from the more basic magmas to the peraluminous acid dykes

strike slip tectonics and granite petrogenesis transpression is a process that thickens the crust and therefore in obliquely convergent orogens as in normally convergent orogens there is the potential to generate granitic melts individual transcurrent shear zones may not only control the ascent paths siting and emplacement mechanisms of plutons but they may also cause the genesis of the granitoids themselves two contrasting situations are examined in the hercynian shear zones of iberia thickening together with hydrous fluxing along shear zones created intracrustal wet melting of fertile gondwanan sediments to produce syntectonic granites in the northern part of the british caledonides the association of compositionally expanded granitoids with a major mantle component and transcurrent shear zones may be explained by melting of continental crust at the lower limits of crustal transpressional faults detaching into the moho

the chemistry of quartz in granitic pegmatites of southern norway petrogenetic and economic implications trace element concentrations in quartz from 188 granitic pegmatites in the froland and evje iveland pegmatite fields southern norway have been determined to establish exploration targets for high purity quartz and to gain a better understanding of the genesis of pegmatites hosting these deposits both pegmatite fields were formed during the sveconorwegian grenvillian orogeny 1145 900 ma at the western margin of the fennoscandian shield in situ raster analyses within single quartz crystals were undertaken by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms spot size 75 m to assess levels of lattice bound impurities rather than mineral and fluid inclusions that are relatively easily removed during high purity quartz processing quartz in the froland pegmatites has relatively pure and homogeneous compositions containing 46 24 gg 1 al 8 3 gg 1 ti 1 4 0 8 gg 1 ge and 11 7 gg 1 li the ti in quartz geothermobarometer gives an average pegmatite crystallization temperature of 537 39 c temperature estimates are highest along the northwestern margin of the pegmatite field 550 c whereas the most differentiated pegmatites occur toward the northeast the area of greatest economic potential for high purity quartz lies just north of the central part of the field where individual pegmatites contain 1 million metric tons mt quartz with low average trace element contents of 67 11 gg 1 from mineral chemical criteria and a range of other geologic factors we propose that pegmatite melts in the froland field were generated by fluid present crustal melting at about 1060 ma in zones of localized high strain deformation during progressive thrusting along the porsgrunn kristiansand fault zone quartz in the evje iveland pegmatites has more variable compositions with 69 57 gg 1 al 19 11 gg 1 ti 2 3 1 8 gg 1 ge and 7 5 gg 1 li from its ti content it crystallized at temperatures of 613 70 c the regional spatial distribution of ti in quartz temperatures appears irregular mainly due to the scattered distributions of chemical evolved pegmatites with amazonite cleavelandite replacement zones which show crystallization temperatures down to 442 c quartz from the evje iveland pegmatites is unlikely to be of current economic interest due to its moderate to high trace element contents heterogeneous chemistry and low volume the evje iveland pegmatites show no apparent genetic link to a granite intrusion instead they probably formed as a result of partial melting at the depth of their amphibolite country rocks at around 910 ma this is related to a regional low pressure high temperature metamorphic event at about 930 to 920 ma

experimental deformation of partially molten westerly granite under fluid absent conditions with implications for the extraction of granitic magmas the mechanical behavior of partially molten westerly granite was investigated in the temperature range 800 1100 c 250 mpa confining pressure by means of constant strain rate creep and stress relaxation tests the only water in the samples came from the breakdown of hydrous phases biotite minor chlorite and muscovite and alteration products of feldspars thus the amount of melt was controlled by the test temperature and ranged from 3 at 800 c to 50 at 1100 c over that temperature range strength decreased from 500 mpa to less than 1 mpa and a preliminary constitutive flow law for the partially molten rock was obtained to allow extrapolation to low strain rates the comparative viscosity of the melt alone was estimated at 950 and 1000 c from the distance it could be made to penetrate into a porous sand under a known pressure gradient under all conditions deformation of the matrix of solid grains was by brittle fracture only samples containing up to 10 vol melt failed with the formation of a shear fault zone at higher melt fractions melt filled pores collapsed by shear enhanced compaction squeezing the melt into axial cracks above 40 vol melt unfractured solid grains were carried about passively in the flowing liquid there was no evidence of a rheologically critical melt percentage in this system by analogy with the uniaxial compaction of water saturated soils a simple model is erected to describe a two stage process for the extraction of granitic melts from their protoliths with the aid of nonhydrostatic stress shear enhanced compaction is inferred to drive melt into a network of melt filled veins whereupon porous flow through the high permeability vein network allows rapid drainage of melt to higher crustal levels

analysis of a complex high strain zone at cap de creus spain abstract the structural analysis of a high strain zone developed in medium to high grade metamorphic micaschists from the cap de creus area spain provides an example of the complex relationships between geometry strain and kinematics to be found in deep crustal shear zones this high strain zone is composed of e w trending structural domains characterized by different strain intensities and associated with syntectonic emplacement of pegmatite dykes the main phase of deformation discussed here d2 affects steeply dipping bedding boudinaged quartz veins and s1 developed parallel to bedding d2 deformation of these features and of syn d2 pegmatite dykes gives rise to fold boudin structures in map view a d2 high strain zone coincides with a km scale dextral flexure of s0 s1 and s2 although all small scale structures on outcrop surfaces close to horizontal indicate a prevalent sinistral shear sense in addition a subvertical stretching lineation is present approximately parallel to the axis of the foliation deflection and thus normal to the apparent displacement direction in the high strain zone it is proposed that this high strain zone did not form by horizontal dextral simple shear with a flow plane parallel to the boundaries of high and low strain zones but acted as a zone of highly vortical sinistral non coaxial flow with a strong vertical extension component the dextral flexure of s0 s1 and s2 can be explained by considering that sinistral non coaxial flow in the low strain zones was either slower or earlier that in the high strain core this example stresses the necessity of being careful when interpreting displacement directions from the deflection of older fabric elements in deep seated high strain zones

transpressional shearing and strike slip partitioning in the late cretaceous sierra nevada magmatic arc california the rosy finch shear zone rfsz represents an example of synmagmatic strike slip tectonics in the east central sierra nevada and provides information on transpressional tectonics within magmatic arcs the rfsz 1 4 km wide and 80 km long is contained in late cretaceous granitoids 92 83 ma of the mono pass intrusive suite dextral strike slip deformation is indicated by a continuous band of orthogneiss mylonitic and cataclastic deformation characterized by subvertical foliations with subhorizontal lineations the style of dextral shearing in the rosy finch shear varies along strike from wide zones of ductile deformation in the youngest plutons to narrow zones of cataclastic deformation in the older plutons deformation of the youngest granitoids is synmagmatic as constrained by both field observations and isotopic studies dextral shearing occurs concurrently in contemporaneous intrusive suites to the north and south tuolumne and mount whitney suggesting strike slip movement along the axis of active plutonism field studies also suggest that contraction across the arc acted concurrently with strike slip movement consistent with a transpressional setting for the late cretaceous sierra nevada magmatic arc comparison of the field data with strain models of oblique plate convergence suggests that the rfsz is a preserved ductile signature of transcurrent motion of strike slip partitioning within a transpressional orogenic system recent plate reconstructions indicate a switch from sinistral to dextral oblique convergence at 95 ma which is consistent with the timing constraints on the dextral movement on the rfsz

structure and u pb dating of the saint arnac pluton and the ansignan charnockite agly massif a cross section from the upper to the middle crust of the variscan eastern pyrenees in the agly massif pyrenees two variscan plutons the saint arnac pluton and the ansignan charnockite intrude different levels of a c 10 km thick crustal section the saint arnac pluton intrudes through upper crustal rocks and the ansignan charnockite cuts mid crustal country rocks a structural study of these plutons based on the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility technique combined with a kinematic study of the country rocks shows that the structures and emplacement modes of the plutons are compatible with those of the other plutons of the pyrenees emplaced during the d 2 transpressive phase u pb dating on zircons from the saint arnac pluton yields a 308 3 1 2 ma age for a diorite and a 303 6 4 7 ma age for a granodiorite the charnockite was previously dated at 315 ma the emplacement ages of these two intrusions are thus separated by at least 5 ma first numerous sills and laccoliths such as the ansignan laccolith were injected in the middle crust and this induced heating and thickening subsequently the large saint arnac pluton was injected in the upper crust at the beginning of formation of a gneissic dome

hercynian tectonics in the pyrenees a new view based on structural observations around the bassie s granite pluton abstract the structural study of the metasedimentary rocks surrounding the bassie s granite pluton allows definition of the succession and kinematics of the hercynian tectonic events in this part of the pyrenees and supports a model of syntectonic emplacement of the pluton the following sequence of events has been identified i an early phase of n s compression essentially resulting in southwards thrusting ii emplacement of the granite body along a ne sw sinistral strike slip shear zone which could be a late effect of the first phase iii a major dextral and transpressive phase responsible for themain fold structures trending on average n100 and following a sigmoidal pattern around the granite body this succession of events and their kinematics could be extended to the whole hercynian basement of the pyrenees

granitic magma transport by fracture propagation granitic magmas commonly ascend tens of kilometres from their source terranes to upper crustal emplacement levels or to the earth s surface apart from its obvious bearing on the interpretation of the geology and geochemistry of felsic igneous rocks the magma ascent mechanism critically affects any modelling of the metamorphic evolution of the upper lithosphere as well as its rheology we propose that in general granitic magmas ascend via propagating fractures as dykes in extremely short time periods long distance diapiric transport of granitoid magmas through crustal sections is not viable on thermal or mechanical grounds and there is an apparent total absence of field evidence for diapiric rise of such magmas even in supposed type localities neither the shapes nor internal or external characteristics of granitic plutons necessarily reveal anything about the transport of their precursor magmas these are purely arrival phenomena dictated by local structure kinematics and stress states based on existing numerical treatments of the problem we show that granitic magmas are apparently sufficiently inviscid to travel through fractures to high crustal levels without suffering thermal death by freezing for example a 2000 km3 granitic batholith can be inflated by a 1 km 3m 20 km deep dyke system in less than 900 years the model proposed has numerous far reaching petrological and rheological consequences some of which are outlined

melt segregation in the continental crust before melt will segregate from its restite and source there must be both a driving force and space into which the melt can move the continental crust is anisotropic and in most cases is subject to deviatoric stresses during melting under these conditions melt segregation begins when an interconnected network of melt forms and the source becomes permeable melt is driven by pressure gradients from its restite toward dilatant sites set up in the heterogeneously deforming source the source is continually drained of melt and so need never contain more melt than that required to maintain permeability 26 where the solid matrix breaks down and diapirism can occur

kinematic evolution of the mbakop pan african granitoids western cameroon domain an integrated ams and ebsd approach abstract this study integrates anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility microstructural and crystallographic preferred orientation cpo data from the mbakop granitic pluton mgp pan african age in order to decipher its kinematic evolution the mgp lies close to ne sw branch of central cameroon shear zone ccsz and is emplaced in gneissic basement high mean magnetic susceptibility and presence of multi domain magnetite are recorded quartz cpo measured using electron backscatter diffraction reveals dominance of rhomb prism and prism slip in different samples which is consistent with microstructures developed under upper greenschist amphibolite facies conditions quartz cpo along with other kinematic indicators feldspar porphyroclasts mineral fish indicate non coaxial deformation was important during tectonic evolution of the mgp contrasting sense of shear is recorded implying multi stage mylonitization in the western cameroon domain top towards south sense of shear is related to regional d 2 deformation 613 585 ma while top towards north is related to d 3 585 540 ma the magnetic fabric in mgp records d 3 the obliquity between mean orientation of magnetic foliation n12 e and the ne sw ccsz branch n48 e gives kinematic vorticity number of 0 95 this indicates dominantly simple shear with a minor pure shear component it is concluded that regional transpression was important during mgp emplacement

syn tectonic magmatism and the development of compositional layering ungava orogen northern quebec canada abstract layer and foliation parallel emplacement of granitic veins was an important process in the regional development of compositional layering in now exhumed middle crustal sections of both archean and paleoproterozoic age in the northern ungava peninsula quebec canada in the archean superior province diorite and tonalite plutons were penetratively deformed and metamorphosed at granulite facies conditions coeval with voluminous granitic magmatism the paleoproterozoic narsajuaq arc contains evidence for contemporaneous magmatism transpressional deformation and granulite facies metamorphism prior to its collision with the superior province basement in both plutonic domains regional compositional layering is defined by 1 metre to kilometre scale alternation of generally well foliated tonalite and quartz diorite bodies and 2 centimetre to kilometre scale variably deformed granitic veins and sheets that lie parallel to layering tectonic foliation in the host rocks syn tectonic intrusion of a substantial portion of the veins along extension fractures sub parallel to layering foliation i e at high angle to the regional shortening direction is interpreted to have occurred due to the combination of a strong anisotropy and high magma pressures compositional layering generated and or enhanced by this process may contribute to the overall seismic reflectivity of the middle and lower crust

mechanisms of continental growth in extensional arcs an example from the andean plate boundary zone during the late triassic jurassic and early cretaceous an extensional magmatic arc was formed in the andean margin of northern chile plutons emplaced at ramps within a hinterland propagating extensional duplex were fed by dikes that transferred magma through the lower crust from a reservoir in the mantle phases of volcanism separated phases of plutonism and our model demonstrates that plutonism was favored only when upper plate extensional fault systems were active when they were not dikes cut across inactive faults and magma rose directly to the surface during volcanic phases of arc growth

variscan dextral transpression in the french pyrenees new data from the pic des trois seigneurs granodiorite and its country rocks abstract new structural data from both the trois seigneurs granodiorite and its country rock lead to new conclusions about the variscan tectonic history of this part of the pyrenees sedimentary rocks of the massif that increase in metamorphic grade from north to south are imprinted by a single major deformation responsible for both the tight upright e w trending folds with vertical to steeply n dipping foliations and the gently w plunging stretching lineations syntectonic emplacement of the pic des trois seigneurs granodiorite is demonstrated by the parallelism between structures of the pluton as determined by magnetic fabric measurements and the foliations and lineations imprinted in the country rocks large deformation of the granodiorite magma during emplacement is indicated by strong anisotropy and ubiquitous magmatic microstructures the high thermal gradients of regional metamorphism which is also syntectonic are attributed to a large thermal aureole provided by deep seated magma reservoirs shear sense criteria in xz thin sections of the metasedimentary country rocks indicate a dextral sense of the non coaxial component of strain throughout the massif and regardless of metamorphic grade the overall structure of the massif is concluded to have derived from a major shearing event that is equated with the d 2 main phase observed in the entire variscan pyrenees as the e w oriented stretch and dextral shear cannot be separated from compressive structures generally considered to be characteristic of d 2 this phase is concluded as representing regional transpression

tectonic levels in the palaeozoic basement of the pyrenees a review and a new interpretation reply abstract two different structural domains developed during the main hercynian deformation events were recognized by de sitter zwart in the hercynian basement of the central pyrenees a deep seated level infrastructure made of medium to high grade metasediments and orthogneisses with dome shaped gently dipping foliations contrasts with a shallow level suprastructure of low to very low grade metasediments with rather steep foliations since the recognition of this structural zonation different interpretations have been proposed disagreements concern timing of deformation and tectonic regime considered to be prevalent of the structural development of each tectonic level the proposed interpretation regards the progressive development and differentiation of both structural domains and considers the following factors to be significant for the structural arrangement of the pyrenean segment of the hercynian belt an increase with depth of the horizontal shear component of deformation related to tangential and transcurrent tectonics a marked inhomogeneity of deformation and penetrability of related foliations and the gradual evolution from an earlier compressive crustal shortening event to a late transpressive event responsible for crustal shortening and trend parallel stretching

shear criteria in granite and migmatite deformed in the magmatic and solid states microstructural criteria for the determination of the sense of shear in rocks homogeneously deformed in the partially melted state are similar to those which apply to solid state deformation sense of shear determination is either direct deduced from the sense of rotation of markers or indirect involving the obliquity between the shear and foliation planes or between the successive foliations imprinted at different stages of progressive deformation this study is a by product of the detailed structural and microstructural investigation of a high grade metamorphic rock pile variscan vosges massif france which underwent subhorizontal shearing during partial melting and further solidification depending on the rock chemistry on the position in the pile and the relative timing of progressive deformation layered migmatites and homogeneous granites were variously deformed in the partially melted and solid states the sense of shear obtained from these rock types using the criteria presented here consistently gives a top to sw direction

structural zonation as a result of inhomogeneous non coaxial deformation and its control on syntectonic intrusions an example from the cap de creus area eastern pyrenees abstract the hercynian structure in the pyrenees is characterized by the overprinting of several deformational events each one associated with spatial changes in tectonic style the variations in tectonic style depend on the lithological setting and on the tectonic regime both changing in space and time however structural zonations also arise from inhomogeneity of deformation during one event the studied area in the cap de creus is an example of the transition from low strain domains where an earlier foliation is slightly folded to a high strain domain where tight or isoclinal folding caused the transposition of the earlier foliation this structural inhomogeneity was developed from progressive deformation involving the generation of minor s shaped folds and a major shear zone like structure consisting on an open z bend both structures display steeply plunging axes initial flexural flow folding followed by limb stretching and shearing of the major structure is invoked to explain apparently contradictory symmetries and shear senses this folding event and the associated strain distribution controlled the emplacement of a syntectonic pegmatite dike swarm dikes occur preferentially within the high strain domain and are either boudinaged or folded depending on their orientation a late system of narrow ductile shear zones overprint all earlier structures

magma assisted strain localization in an orogen parallel transcurrent shear zone of southern brazil in a lithospheric scale orogen parallel transcurrent shear zone of the pan african dom feliciano belt of southern brazil two successive generations of magmas an early calc alkaline and a late peraluminous have been emplaced during deformation microstructures show that these granitoids experienced a progressive deformation from magmatic to solid state under decreasing temperature conditions magmatic deformation is indicated by the coexistence of aligned k feldspar plagioclase micas and or tourmaline with undeformed quartz submagmatic deformation is characterized by strain features such as fractures lattice bending or replacement reactions affecting only the early crystallized phases high temperature solid state deformation is characterized by extensive grain boundary migration in quartz myrmekitic k feldspar replacement and dynamic recrystallization of both k feldspar and plagioclase decreasing temperature during solid state deformation is inferred from changes in quartz crystallographic fabrics decrease in grain size of recrystallized feldspars and lower ti amount in recrystallized biotites final low temperature deformation is characterized by feldspar replacement by micas the geochemical evolution of the synkinematic magmatism from calc alkaline metaluminous granodiorites with intermediate 87sr 86sr initial ratio to peraluminous granites with very high 87sr 86sr initial ratio suggests an early lower crustal source or a mixed mantle crustal source followed by a middle to upper crustal source for the melts shearing in lithospheric faults may induce partial melting in the lower crust by shear heating in the upper mantle but whatever the process initiating partial melting lithospheric transcurrent shear zones may collect melt at different depths because they enhance the vertical permeability of the crust these zones may then act as heat conductors by advection promoting an upward propagation of partial melting in the crust synkinematic granitoids localize most if not all deformation in the studied shear zone the regional continuity and the pervasive character of the magmatic fabric in the various synkinematic granitic bodies consistently displaying similar plane and direction of flow argue for accommodation of large amounts of orogen parallel movement by viscous deformation of these magmas moreover activation of high temperature deformation mechanisms probably allowed a much easier deformation of the hot synkinematic granites than of the colder country rock and consequently contributed significantly to the localization of deformation finally the small extent of the low temperature deformation suggests that the strike slip deformation ended approximately synchronously with the final cooling of the peraluminous granites the evolution of the deformation reflects the strong influence of synkinematic magma emplacement and subsequent cooling on the thermomechanical evolution of the shear zone magma intrusion in an orogen scale transcurrent shear zone deeply modifies the rheological behavior of the continental crust it triggers an efficient thermomechanical softening localized within the fault that may subsist long enough for large displacements to be accommodated therefore the close association of deformation and synkinematic magmatism probably represents an important factor controlling the mechanical response of continental plates in collisional environments

the influence of deformation on the formation of axial planar leucosomes and the segregation of small melt bodies within the migmatitic napperby gneiss central australia in the napperby gneiss central australia a distinctive group of elongate leucosomes occurs along the axial planes of mesoscopic crenulations that have harmonic two dimensional kink band like geometries the leucosomes truncate a fabric defined by biotite quartz k feldspar plagioclase sillimanite and are chiefly composed of k feldspar and quartz with or without plagioclase they are characterized by accessory garnet or aggregates of intergrown ilmenite and magnetite produced during the melting reactions bi plag q sill g ksp melt and bi plag q ru ilm mt ksp melt the absence of garnet and intergrown ilmenitemagnetite aggregates in the gneiss surrounding the crenulation zones indicates that these melting reactions preferentially occurred in the deformation zones in spite of a homogeneous distribution of reactant phases in the gneiss this means that strain partitioning and partial melting are coupled processes in which the garnet and ilmenite magnetite producing melt reactions initially occurred in high strain zones where the melting reaction activation energy was first overstepped this was a consequence of an additional strain induced matrix free energy component on top of the temperature effect once reaction product nucleation had occurred the deformation zones became the sites for continued melting which was energetically favoured over nucleating garnet and ilmenite magnetite elsewhere the melt reactions producing garnet and ilmenite magnetite resulted in the formation of grain supported leucosomes with a higher melt component than the surrounding gneiss and the leucosomes were therefore relatively incompetent in a differential stress field diffusional processes will cause elongation of the leucosome in a plane normal to 1 parallel to the axial planes of folds if sufficient melting has occurred an interconnected leucosome network will result creating a potentially important buoyancy driven melt drainage system in the napperby gneiss interconnected leucosome bearing crenulation zones are mostly vertical which is an ideal orientation for buoyancy driven diffusive melt migration however melt segregations remained small due to a melt impermeable lithological boundary overlying the gneiss

networking of shear zones at the brittle to viscous transition cap de creus ne spain a crustal scale shear zone network at the fossil brittle to viscous transition exposed at cap de creus ne spain evolved by coeval fracturing and viscous mylonitic overprinting of an existing foliation initial fracturing led to mylonitic shearing as rock softened in ductilely deformed zones surrounding the fractures mylonitic shear zones widened by lateral branching of fractures from these shear zones and by synthetic rotation of the existing foliation between the fractures and shear zones shear zones lengthened by a combination of fracturing and mylonitic shearing in front of the shear zone tips shear zones interconnected along and across their shearing planes separating rhomb shaped lozenges of less deformed rock lozenges were subsequently incorporated into the mylonitic shear zones by widening in the manner described above in this way deformation became homogeneous on the scale of initial fracturing metre to decametre scale in contrast the shear zone network represents localisation of strain on a decametre length scale the strength of the continental crust at the time of coeval fracturing and viscous shearing is inferred to have decreased with time and strain as fracturing evolved to mylonitic shearing and as the shear zones coalesced to form a through going network subparallel to the shearing plane crustal strength must therefore be considered as strain and scale dependent

crustal scale en echelon p shear tensional bridges a possible solution to the batholithic room problem the apparent paradox of voluminous granitoid emplacement in an overall compressional magmatic are has been somewhat alleviated by the idea of pluton emplacement in tension cracks and dilational jogs within arc parallel strike slip fault systems as an alternative hypothesis we propose that an en echelon p shear array provides a continuous batholith scale zone of dilation along the trend of active magmatism and that it is favored by transpressional tectonics in the sierra nevada california the late cretaceous granitoids of the cathedral range intrusive epoch are consistent with emplacement into bridges between p shears because 1 they are elongated oblique to the magmatic trend consistent with p shear orientation within a dextral system 2 they were all emplaced within 5 10 m y along a 300 km trend resulting in a displacement rate of 1 cm yr across the arc and 3 syn to late magmatic dextral shear zones bound and crosscut the plutons as in a p shear tensional bridge

on folding and shear zone development a mesoscale structural study on the transition between two different tectonic styles abstract an example of coeval development of ductile shear zones and folds in schistose terrains is documented by detailed mapping and structural analysis folds and shear zones were formed under retrogressive conditions after the peak of the regional hercynian metamorphism and both affect a previous regional schistosity a gradual change in structural style on a regional scale is evidenced by the disappearance in higher grade domains of late folds and the preponderance of shear zones geometrical analysis reveals that the bulk structural pattern is compatible with a non coaxial strain history structural variation reflects a gradual change in mechanical behaviour of schists which show a marked variation in crystallinity at the time of deformation

granite magma generation ascent and emplacement within a transpressional orogen crustal thickening during transpressive orogenesis may produce anatectic granites which may then localize deformation leading to transcurrent movement granites may be transported from sites of generation through the mid crust in dyke like channelways within relatively narrow strike slip shear zones which link to major fault zones in the upper crust extensional jogs within fault systems provide developing sites for the assembly of plutons from magma arriving from below the model is based upon observations from the cadomian belt of nw france which exposes sections through middle and upper levels of the late precambrian crust within different elements of the orogen the mechanism provides a favourable alternative to diapirism and explains the common collocation of granites and shear zone fault systems within orogenic belts

role of melt during deformation in the deep crust deformation in the deep crust is strongly influenced by the presence of melt injected melt or magma weakens the crust because strain will tend to localize where melt is present the amount of strain a pluton may accommodate is dependent on the length of time it takes for a pluton to crystallize and the strain rate for plutons that intrude into rocks which are near the solidus temperature of the melt crystallization times can be quite long 1myr partial melting of deep crustal rocks can lead to melt enhanced embrittlement this occurs because the volume change for most melting reactions is positive therefore when the rate of melt production outpaces the rate at which melt can leave the system the melt pressure increases eventually the melt pressure may become sufficiently high that the melting rocks behave in a brittle fashion and fracture conjugate sets of dilatant shear fractures filled with melt occur in migmatite from the central gneiss belt canada this suggests that melt enhanced embrittlement occurred in these rocks an expression which relates the magnitude of differential stress to the angle between conjugate dilatant shear fractures is derived assuming that migmatite has a small tensile strength differential stresses are 20 mpa in migmatitic rocks at the time melt enhanced embrittlement occurs the occurrence of melt enhanced embrittlement shows that a switch in deformation mechanism from plastic flow to cataclasis is possible in the deep crust during melting furthermore repeated episodes of melt enhanced embrittlement in migmatitic rocks may be an efficient mechanism for extracting melt from partially melted terrains

emplacement of the aya variscan granitic pluton basque pyrenees in a dextral transcurrent regime inferred from a combined magneto structural and gravimetric study magmatic structure three dimensional shape and emplacement mode of the aya pluton variscan pyrenees have been studied by combining magneto structural and gravimetric studies the aya pluton displays a fabric acquired using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility technique comparable to that of several other plutons in the pyrenees with shallow plunging lineations and steep foliations trending e w and ne sw forming an s pattern in map view gravity modelling was used to determine the probable root of the pluton directly below the most basic gabbro dioritic facies this has a funnel shape with an e w trending elliptical horizontal section and a maximum depth of 3 5 km these different data demonstrate that this pluton was synorogenically emplaced during the main d2 variscan tectonic phase in a dextral transcurrent regime

high resolution rock magnetic study of a late pleistocene core from the labrador sea a high resolution rock magnetic study of a late pleistocene core from the labrador sea north of the eirik ridge on the greenland rise reveals three main features in the downcore variation of the

melt enhanced deformation a major tectonic process convergent tectonics between continental crustal blocks result in deep burial and anatexis of supracrustal rocks anatectic and or mantle derived melts combine to form a melt weakened zone in the thickened lower crust the accumulation of melt eventually leads to crustal failure along melt lubricated shear zones rapid 1 mm yr vertical component movements of large crustal blocks result we refer to these crustal displacements as tectonic surges the melt lubricated shears are characterized by the close association of sheared country rocks with foliated or massive igneous sills and plutons rocks that formed at different crustal levels are juxtaposed across these shear zones one result of surges with large lateral component of movement is metamorphic inversion with high pressure and high temperature metamorphic rocks structurally over lower pressure and temperature assemblages large and rapid vertical surges may displace crust containing abundant melt and may result in high t p including granulite facies metamorphism and preservation of metamorphic textures caused by rapid decompression

introduction to special section mechanisms and consequences of melt segregation from crustal protoliths much of petrological effort has been concentrated on attempts to discern define and interpret regularly recurring patterns of igneous and metamorphic petrogenesis i do not wish to deny the existence of discernable order in petrological phenomena but every geological event is unique if we concentrate too heavily on discernment of order and pattern may we perhaps overlook or underrate the unique quality of each igneous or metamorphic episode possibly uniqueness may have as great significance as conformity to pattern when we attempt to fit the phenomena of petrology into the broad framework of geology francis j turner presidential address to the mineralogical society of america november 11 1969

the mortagne granite pluton france emplaced by pull apart along a shear zone structural and gravimetric arguments and regional implication the emplacement mechanism and kinematics and the 3 d geometry of the variscan granite pluton of mortagne are interpreted using systematic measurements of the granite structure allied with micro structural observations from a detailed gravimetric study it is proposed that magma infilled a pull apart structure which formed along a jog of a northwest southeast trending sinistral zone of shear a second episode of shearing under a dextral regime and independent of emplacement was responsible for perigranitic tectonites these successive transcurrent opposite movements already documented for variscan times in western france are discussed concerning the age of the mortagne pluton 313 15 m y

melt segregation in migmatites anatectic stromatic migmatites have a symmetrical layered structure with a low ratio of thickness to length and a periodicity features that have not been explained satisfactorily but which are related to physical processes of melt segregation we evaluate the compaction model for segregation as it applies to migmatites and develop models for melt segregation based upon convection driven by volume change and upon advection down pressure gradients that result from applied differential stress acting on an anisotropic multilayer protolith compaction by gravity driven two phase flow results in asymmetric separation yields calculated segregation times that are slow or geologically unreasonable and yields relative volumes that are not consistent with the abundance of leucosome seen in natural migmatites although calculated segregation times for very wet granite might allow segregation by compaction some driving force in addition to gravity is needed to cause widespread melt segregation in the crust for segregation at low volume fraction of melt we develop a two dimensional two phase matrix and fluid viscous flow cell model length much greater than thickness with phase changes which predicts either expansion or contraction convection depending on whether volume change vr is positive or negative convection leads to melt segregation to form a stromatic structure in a geologically reasonable timescale at moderate volume fraction of melt segregation may occur by filter pressing in compositionally layered rocks in response to applied differential stress melt migration is by porous medium flow driven by differences in mean normal stress between the layers as a consequence of differences in rheology and shear enhanced matrix collapse calculated segregation rates are fast and the model yields adequate volume of leucosome the positive vr for volatile phase absent melting reactions under crustal pressures promotes melt escape unless extensional deformation facilitates melt accumulation if the rate of melt production exceeds the rate of melt escape then the increase in melt pressure may lead to melt enhanced embrittlement and fracture and melt may migrate out of the system in contrast water rich volatile phase present melt producing reactions have a negative vr which promotes melt retention after segregation unless deformation generates melt escape pathways evolution of stromatic structure through anatectic erosion of mesosome by increasing the melt fraction in situ may lead to breakdown of the solid matrix and will lead to instability due to buoyancy and magma may become mobile and entrain residual material restite

the great tonalite sill emplacement into a contractional shear zone and implications for late cretaceous to early eocene tectonics in southeastern alaska and british columbia the late cretaceous to early tertiary great tonalite sill of southeast alaska and british columbia is a very long 1 000 km and thin 25 km orogen parallel composite batholith which lies between the insular superter rane including the alexander and wrangellia terranes and the intermontane superterrane including the stikine and cache creek terranes the batholith is delineated by many steep sheet like plutons which are dominated by northwest southeast striking concordant fabrics with steep lineations that formed during deformation in a country rock shear zone prior to the complete crystallization of the magmas deformation in this shear zone is dominated by northeast southwest directed contraction orthogonal to the orogenic strike associated with a component of northeast over southwest high angle shear the steep multiple dike like nature of the body and its emplacement during orogenic contraction imply that ascent and emplacement have been achieved by dike wedging mechanisms along the deep reaching shear zone the remarkable narrowness of the great tonalite sill is probably the result of melting at the base of a very localized zone of thickened crust produced by the associated narrow contractional shear zone extending along the orogen length such a shear zone of late cretaceous to early tertiary age lying along 800 km of the possible boundary between the insular and intermontane superterranes implies that it may represent the actual boundary between them if this hypothesis is correct it implies that the large scale tectonic regime during emplacement of the great tonalite sill was predominantly orthogonal and not obliquely dextral as has been indicated from paleomagnetic data

the kinematic history of the khlong marui and ranong faults southern thailand abstract the khlong marui fault kmf and ranong fault rf are major nne trending strike slip faults which dissect peninsular thailand they have been assumed to be conjugate to the nw trending three pagodas fault tpf and mae ping fault mpf in northern thailand which experienced a diachronous reversal in shear sense during india eurasia collision it follows that the kmf and rf are expected to show the opposite shear sense and a slip sense reversal at a similar time to the tpf and mpf new field data from the kmf and rf reveal two phases of ductile dextral shear separated by campanian magmatism paleocene to eocene post kinematic granites date the end of this phase while a brittle sinistral phase deforms the granites and has exhumed the ductile fault rocks the timing of these movements precludes formation of the faults in response to himalayan extrusion tectonics instead they formed near the southern margin of a late cretaceous paleocene orogen and may have been influenced by variations in the rate of subduction ahead of india and australia north south compression prior to reactivation of the subduction zone around southern sundaland in the eocene caused widespread deformation in the over riding plate including sinistral transpression on the kmf and rf

development of high thermal gradients by coeval transpression and magmatism during the variscan orogeny insights from the cap de creus eastern pyrenees abstract the cap de creus massif in the eastern pyrenees is a fragment of the variscan mid crust geological mapping and meso and micro scale analysis of the relationships between fold structures metamorphic mineral assemblages and fabrics affecting igneous bodies suggest the interaction of three processes deformation metamorphism and magmatism low pressure prograde metamorphism grades laterally from greenschist to amphibolite facies over a distance of 5 km zones of intense metamorphism coincide with transpressional deformation and with the intrusion of small sheets of diorite and granitoid sillimanite schists and small migmatite pods are distributed around the small intrusions of basic intermediate composition the inferred maximum thermal gradient is 80 c km this thermal pattern is similar to patterns observed in other variscan massifs in the pyrenees where high metamorphic gradients are interpreted in different ways in the ne cap de creus the type and distribution of prograde metamorphism was caused or at least enhanced by the intrusion of diorites and granitoids alternatively deformation developed at prograde conditions and synchronously with magmatism displays a highly heterogeneous distribution producing a sub vertical zone of high strain that coincides with domains of highest grade metamorphism and igneous activity this zone of high strain developed in a broad transpressive regime could have favoured the injection of magmatic sheets from deep to mid crustal levels progressive folding from prograde to retrograde metamorphic conditions might account for the narrowing of metamorphic zones

igneous emplacement in a transpressive shear zone ox mountains igneous complex the central and southwestern ox mountains inlier in western ireland comprises amphibolite facies metasediments and metavolcanic rocks which have been deformed by a major sinistral shear zone granitoid emplacement occurred in two distinct styles in the ox mountains shear zone the older pluton the ox mountains granodiorite was emplaced syn kinematically with respect to the main sinistral transpressional events in its wall rocks it was emplaced as a series of compositionally distinct sheets in the central part of the shear zone system thus suggesting the formation of transient dilational sites occurred in response to the transpressive deformation the younger lough talt and easky lough adamellites were emplaced as individual intrusions in dilational cavities produced by reactivated movements on a discrete zone within the ox mountains inlier the different intrusive styles are considered to be a product of the tectonic regimes operating during emplacement intrusion into transient dilational cavities may be one method by which granitoid magmas are emplaced into fault zones undergoing active contractional deformation

emplacement of polygeneration pegmatites in relation to sveco norwegian contractional tectonics examples from southern norway abstract recent studies have demonstrated that there is a strong link between sites of concentrated magmatism and crustal deformation zones magmatism is often described as being syn kinematic where one or more increments of intrusion punctuate deformation with successive generations of injections being progressively deformed pegmatite formation in the mesoproterozoic of south norway has been considered as post kinematic in nature relative to sveconorwegian grenvillian deformation 1 13 ga to 0 85 ga during accretion of the sw margin of baltica this paper presents structural observations from mapping of some pegmatites in the bamble terrane of south norway demonstrating that the pegmatites are structurally related to sveconorwegian fold geometries associated with peak metamorphism at approximately 1 14 ga and are kinematically related to overthrust geometries associated with the initial overthrusting phase of the porsgrunn kristiansand fault when the bamble terrane docked with the underlying telemark terrane local fold geometries suggest a strain regime where the maximum contractional axis is sub horizontal and oriented nw se consistent with the regional kinematics the pegmatites display a systematic deformation pattern consistent with deformation in the isoclinal fold limbs pegmatites are also deformed into asymmetric antiformal folds above reverse shear structures and are also cut by these structures thus showing a thrust geometry the undeformed pegmatites are emplaced in sub horizontal fractures and suggests sub horizontal contractional axis related to overthrusting which is identical to the strain regime of the folding the evidence suggests that the pegmatites are syn tectonic and were injected into reverse shear related fractures deformation was progressive and incremental with longer periods of ductile deformation at low strain rate punctuated by shorter periods of fracturing and pegmatite injection at high strain rate this work therefore implies an intimate spatial and temporal relationship between deformation and magmatism during crustal accretion on the western margin of fennoscandia

liquid segregation parameters from amphibolite dehydration melting experiments we have experimentally obtained some of the parameters necessary for understanding the segregation of silicate liquid from amphibolite undergoing dehydration melting at 1 gpa and 750 1000 c the solidus for this calcic amphibolite 68 mg hb 32 pl an 90 is 750 c amphibolites begin to melt at relatively high temperatures in the garnet absent field but the solidus appears to backbend at 1 gpa coincident with the garnet in boundary hornblende breakdown due to garnet formation releases h 2o and causes melting thus in the garnet present field 1 gpa the amphibolite dehydration melting solidus may be coincident with the h 2o saturated solidus liquid interconnectivity may be achieved at 900 c and 5 vol liquid based on both physical and chemical data from solid rock runs mass balance calculations from powdered rock runs suggest that small amounts 5 15 vol of hydrous 4 wt h 2o low viscosity 10 3 10 4 pa s heavy rare earth element depleted felsic liquid may be segregated during amphibolite dehydration melting at 875 c the rapid breakdown of coarse grained hb cores may lead to the formation of transient h 2o saturated liquids with even lower viscosities 10 2 pa s although comprising only a small portion of the melting cycle these h 2o rich conditions may enhance the segregation of liquid by reduction of liquid viscosities and by mechanical effects on the restite e g increased deformation and liquid fracturing during anatexis of coarse grained natural rocks transient conditions may control the initial stages of liquid segregation

the role of melt in the uplift and exhumation of orogenic belts abstract in some orogenic belts rapid pulses of uplift occur when melt is present detailed work on the relation of melt to structural and metamorphic features in several localities shows that hot metamorphic rocks and especially anatectic migmatite can be physically transported from the lower to middle crust on decollements the decollements form in the lower crust because even though the lower crust is structurally weak throughout due to thermally activated crystal plastic deformation mechanisms the crust is substantially weakened where melt forms or is intruded melt in the lower crust is present long enough to accomodate strain whereas in the upper crust it crystallizes too fast to be a factor in strain localization following crustal loading due to thrusting exhumation results in the formation of additional melt in the migmatites due to decompression melting support of this sequence of events includes 1 evidence for near isothermal decompression of high temperature metamorphic rocks with early high pressure minerals having formed pre or synchronous with penetrative deformation and with lower pressure minerals having formed after the deformation 2 the occurrence of magma sheets that occur along decollements between high temperature metamorphic rocks and lower temperature metamorphic rocks in either thrust or normal configurations 3 nearly concordant k ar cooling dates for biotite and hornblende suggesting rapid cooling rates and 4 post tectonic intrusions of leucogranite or leucotonalite that may represent the products of decompression melting the crystalline slabs of the high himalaya the compressional surges of the coast orogen of british columbia and alaska the cordillera of southern british columbia and the southern belt of the hercynian chain are examples where melt assisted rapid pulses of uplift appear to have occurred during the terminal phases of uplift and following uplift these orogenic belts were exhumed during extension while melt was still present

experimental deformation of partially melted granitic aggregates abstract the effects of varying amounts of partial melt on the deformation of granitic aggregates have been tested experimentally at conditions 900 c 1500 mpa 10 4 to 10 6 s where melt free samples deform by dislocation creep with microstructures approximately equivalent to those of upper greenschist facies experiments were performed on samples of various grain sizes including an aplite 150 m and sintered aggregates of quartz albitemicrocline 10 50 and 2 10 m water was added to the samples to obtain various amounts of melt 1 15 in the aplite 1 5 in the sintered aggregates optical and tem observations of the melt distribution in hydrostatically annealed samples show that the melt in the sintered aggregates is homogeneously distributed along an interconnected network of triple junction channels while the melt in the aplites is inhomogeneously distributed the effect of partial melt on deformation depends an melt amount and distribution grain size and strain rate for samples deformed with 1 melt all grain sizes exhibit microstructures indicative of dislocation creep for samples deformed with 3 5 melt the 150 m and 10 50 m grain size samples also exhibit dislocation creep microstructures but the 2 10 m grain size samples exhibit abundant tem scale evidence of dissolution precipitation and little evidence of dislocation activity suggesting a switch in deformation mechanism to predominantly melt enhanced diffusion creep at natural strain rates melt enhanced diffusion creep would predominate at larger grain sizes although probably not for most coarse grained granites the effects of melt percentage and strain rate have been studied for the 150 m aplites for samples with 5 and 10 melt deformation at 10 6 s squeezes excess melt out of the central compressed region allowing predominantly dislocation creep conversely deformation at 10 5 s produces considerable cataclasis presumably because the excess melt cannot flow laterally fast enough and a high pore fluid pressure results for samples with 15 melt deformation at both strain rates produces cataclasis presumably because the inhomogeneous melt distribution resulted in regions of decoupled grains which would produce high stress concentrations at point contacts at natural strain rates there should be little or no cataclasis if an equilibrium melt texture exists and if the melt can flow as fast as the imposed strain rate however if the melt is confined and cannot migrate a high pore fluid pressure should promote brittle deformation