Dielectric anisotropy and fabric of rocks

Summary Measurements have been made of the dieletric anisotropies of a number of rocks for which magnetic anisotropy data have been obtained previously. The purpose was to examine the possible usefulness of dielectric anisotropy as a physical property indicative of rock fabrics. Its advantage over the magnetic method is that it measures an average alignment of crystals of the dominant minerals, whereas magnetic anisotropy is due only to the ferromagnetic grains. Disadvantages are an extreme sensitivity to specimen shape and difficulty in distinguishing the several types of alignment which can give rise to dielectric anisotropy. In a number of strongly foliated rocks the axes of dielectric anisotropy were found to coincide with the axes of magnetic anisotropy. Specimens from a magnesian-pyroxene rich layer in a Tasmanian dolerite sill and from the olivine rich layer of the Palisades dolerite sill, New York, were found to have no systematic anisotropy. The pyroxenes in the Tasmanian dolerite are elongated crystals (about 2: 1) so that the dielectric measurements show that they do not have a preferred horizontal alignment and therefore have probably not settled as individual crystals. Most of the olivines in the Palisades dolerite are more nearly equidimensional so that the absence of measurable anisotropy in this rock is less conclusive evidence against crystal settling.