A method for quantitatively analysing dynamic recrystallization in deformed quartzitic rocks

Quantification of the microstructural changes brought about by dynamic recrystallization is essential for the interpretation of deformation mechanism histories and for the understanding of recrystallization as a syn-kinematic process. A method is presented for analysing the degree of dynamic recrystallization and for reconstructing the original grain-size distribution from that measured in the deformed specimen. This is based on size distribution measurements and comparative volume calculations between subsets of grains which contain rutile inclusions and subsets which do not. Application of the method to some quartzites from the Kilmory Bay Syncline, S. W. Highlands, Scotland, demonstrates that up to 25% of the apparent matrix grains are new grains produced by the dynamic recrystallization of porphyroclasts, and that the new grains alone compose more than 12% of the total rock volume. These figures are 2–3 times larger than estimates made by normal petrographic inspection. It is also shown that grain-size distributions alone convey little information about the microstructural changes and that grain-size vs volume fraction graphs are more meaningful.