Timing of brittle faulting and thermal events,Sydney region: association with the early stages of extension of East Gondwana

Structural studies in the Sydney region have revealed the presence of vertical to near-vertical, north-northeast-striking faults that are manifest as joint swarms and highly brecciated zones in which gouge of varying thickness is developed. Strike-slip movement accompanied by minor dip-slip, normal movement occurred on these faults. Timing of movement on these faults by K–Ar dating of illite and illite–smectite in fractions extracted from fault gouges, was attempted. These dates were compared with dates obtained from the host-rocks. K–Ar ages determined from the 2–10 μm to <0.1 μm fractions produced from the gouge and host-rocks, range from 159.5 ± 3.2 to 106.6 ± 2.1 Ma (n = 26). In <0.5 μm fractions extracted from the gouges that are less contaminated by detrital phases, K–Ar ages vary from 138 ± 4.4 to 106.5 ± 2.1 Ma (mean 121 Ma; n = 6) which are similar to ages obtained from host-rocks in the Sydney region. The similarity in age between the host rocks and gouge suggests that the K–Ar system has been reset. The resetting is attributed to a thermal event at ca 120 Ma related to the underplating of felsic intrusions associated with early stages of breakup of East Gondwana. Subsequent to this event, dykes of Early Eocene age (K–Ar whole-rock: 51.0 ± 1.1 Ma) exploited north-northeast-striking faults and subsequently developed brecciated margins. These observations and the fact that gouge formed before the thermal event suggests that movement took place on north-northeast-striking faults prior to 120 Ma and after 51 Ma.     

Patterns of mineral transformations in clay gouge,with examples from low-angle normal fault rocks in the western USA

Neoformed minerals in shallow fault rocks are increasingly recognized as key to the behavior of faults in the elasto-frictional regime, but neither the conditions nor the processes which wall-rock is transformed into clay minerals are well understood. Yet, understanding of these mineral transformations is required to predict the mechanical and seismogenic behavior of faults. We therefore present a systematic study of clay gouge mineralogy from 30 outcrops of 17 low-angle normal faults (LANF's) in the American Cordillera to demonstrate the range and type of clay transformations in natural fault gouges. The sampled faults juxtapose a wide and representative range of wall rock types, including sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks under shallow-crustal conditions. Clay mineral transformations were observed in all but one of 28 faults; one fault contains only mechanically derived clay-rich gouge, which formed entirely by cataclasis.Clay mineral transformations observed in gouges show four general patterns: 1) growth of authigenic 1M_d illite, either by transformation of fragmental 2M₁ illite or muscovite, or growth after the dissolution of K-feldspar. Illitization of fragmental illite–smectite is observed in LANF gouges, but is less common than reported from faults with sedimentary wall rocks; 2) ‘retrograde diagenesis’ of an early mechanically derived chlorite-rich gouge to authigenic chlorite–smectite and saponite (Mg-rich tri-octahedral smectite); 3) reaction of mechanically derived chlorite-rich gouges with Mg-rich fluids at low temperatures (50–150 °C) to produce localized lenses of one of two assemblages: sepiolite + saponite + talc + lizardite or palygorskite +/− chlorite +/− quartz; and 4) growth of authigenic di-octahedral smectite from alteration of acidic volcanic wall rocks. These transformation groups are consistent with patterns observed in fault rocks elsewhere. The main controls for the type of neoformed clay in gouge appear to be wall-rock chemistry and fluid chemistry, and temperatures in the range of 60–180 °C.     

Talc friction in the temperature range 25°–400 °C: Relevance for Fault-Zone Weakening

Talc is one of the weakest minerals that is associated with fault zones. Triaxial friction experiments conducted on water-saturated talc gouge at room temperature yield values of the coefficient of friction, μ (shear stress, τ/effective normal stress, σ′_N) in the range 0.16–0.23, and μ increases with increasing σ′_N. Talc gouge heated to temperatures of 100°–400 °C is consistently weaker than at room temperature, and μ < 0.1 at slow strain rates in some heated experiments. Talc also is characterized by inherently stable, velocity-strengthening behavior (strength increases with increasing shear rate) at all conditions tested. The low strength of talc is a consequence of its layered crystal structure and, in particular, its very weak interlayer bond. Its hydrophobic character may be responsible for the relatively small increase in μ with increasing σ′_N at room temperature compared to other sheet silicates.Talc has a temperature–pressure range of stability that extends from surficial to eclogite-facies conditions, making it of potential significance in a variety of faulting environments. Talc has been identified in exhumed subduction zone thrusts, in fault gouge collected from oceanic transform and detachment faults associated with rift systems, and recently in serpentinite from the central creeping section of the San Andreas fault. Typically, talc crystallized in the active fault zones as a result of the reaction of ultramafic rocks with silica-saturated hydrothermal fluids. This mode of formation of talc is a prime example of a fault-zone weakening process. Because of its velocity-strengthening behavior, talc may play a role in stabilizing slip at depth in subduction zones and in the creeping faults of central and northern California that are associated with ophiolitic rocks.     

Characteristics and implication of clay minerals in the northern and southern parts of the Chelung-pu fault, Taiwan

In this study, we report the characteristics of clay minerals present in the Chelung-pu fault in Taiwan. In the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, different slip motions were recorded along the Chelung-pu fault in the northern and southern parts of the fault. The characteristics of clay minerals present in the fault zones can be attributed to the differences in motion. We analyzed the shallow drill core samples obtained from the northern and southern sites penetrating the fault. The clay minerals identified in most of the samples from both the sites are smectite, illite, and chlorite. There are illite–smectite mixed layers with a high illite content and no chlorite–smectite mixed layer. In some samples, no smectite is detected. We also examined the iron content and symmetry of iron and magnesium in the silicate and hydroxide layers in chlorite. At the northern site, the total iron content in chlorite of gouge is larger than that of the host rocks. On the other hand, at the southern site, the total iron content varies widely. It is hypothesized that the smectite consumption and differences in the characteristics of chlorite may be controlled by the differences in the lithology, fluid chemistry, fluid temperature, or fault activities (heating or breakage) between the northern and southern sites.     

Neotectonics of Boconó fault, Western Venezuela

Neotectonic morphologic evidence along the Boconó fault (with a mapped length of 500 km) consists of the typical features found along strike-slip faults; offset alluvium and drainage, shutterridges, closed depressions, sag ponds and marshes, fault scarps and trenches, triangular facets, and zones of mylonite and fault gouge. Evidence on fault planes, such as slickensides, suggests a predominant strike-slip displacement, and morphologic evidence suggests that this offset is right-lateral, with a magnitude of 60–100 m during the Holocene, and of several kilometers during the Quaternary. Calculations based on different empirical relationships suggest maximum expected Richter magnitudes of 7.2–7.9 for earthquakes along the fault (using rupture length estimates) and probable intervals of less than 200 years for events of magnitude 8 (using observed total displacement during the Holocene).     

ESR detection of seismic frictional heating events in the Nojima fault drill core samples, Japan

We have analyzed the Nojima fault NIED 1800 m drill core samples by ESR (Electron Spin Resonance) to detect seismic frictional heating events, especially during the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. Dark gray fault gouge with foliation > 10 cm away from the fault plane at about 1140 m in depth, which was produced by ancient fault movements, has a FMR (ferrimagnetic resonance) signal. Heating experiments show that this FMR signal is derived from ferrimagnetic trivalent ion oxides (γ-Fe₂O₃: maghemite) with imperfect crystallinity, which is produced by thermal dehydration of γ-FeOOH (lepidocrocite) or Fe(OH)₃ (limonite). The existence of the FMR signal means that dry heating such as frictional heating once occurred, and that the frictional heat temperature along the dark gray fault gouge may have risen to over 350 °C during ancient seismic fault slip. In order to detect frictional heating events in fault zones, the increase of the FMR signal and the color change of fault gouge into dark gray or black are important indexes. On the other hand, no FMR signal is detected from the fault gouges just on two fault planes at about 1140 m and 1300 m in depth, which are considered to be possible main fault planes in the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. These two fault planes may not have played an important role of fault slip in the Earthquake.     

The role of bedding in the evolution of meso- and microstructural fabrics in fault zones

To investigate the role of bedding in the evolution of meso- and microstructural fabrics in fault zones, detailed microscopic, mineralogical, and geochemical analyses were conducted on bedding-oblique and bedding-parallel faults that cut a folded Neogene siliceous mudstone that contains opal-CT, smectite, and illite. An analysis of asymmetric structures in the fault gouges indicates that the secondary fractures associated with each fault exhibit contrasting characteristics: those of the bedding-oblique fault are R₁ shears, whereas those of the bedding-parallel fault are reactivated S foliation. The bedding-oblique fault shows the pervasive development of S foliation, lacks opal-CT, and has low SiO₂/TiO₂ ratios only in gouge, whereas the bedding-parallel fault exhibits these characteristics in both gouge and wall rocks. The development of S foliation and the lack of silica can result from local ductile deformation involving the sliding of phyllosilicates, coupled with pressure solution of opal-CT. Although such deformation can occur in gouge, the above results indicate that it may occur preferentially along bedding planes, preceding the formation of a gouge/slip surface. Thus, in sedimentary rocks that contain phyllosilicates and soluble minerals, bedding can influence the rheological evolution of meso- and microstructural fabrics in fault zones.     

Syntectonic crustal melting and high-grade metamorphism in a transpressional regime, Variscan Massif Central, France

Hot collisional orogens are characterized by abundant syn-kinematic granitic magmatism that profoundly affects their tectono-thermal evolutions. Voluminous granitic magmas, emplaced between 360 and 270 Ma, played a visibly important role in the evolution of the Variscan Orogen. In the Limousin region (western Massif Central, France), syntectonic granite plutons are spatially associated with major strike–slip shear zones that merge to the northwest with the South Armorican Shear Zone. This region allowed us to assess the role of magmatism in a hot transpressional orogen. Microstructural data and U/Pb zircon and monazite ages from a mylonitic leucogranite indicate synkinematic emplacement in a dextral transpressional shear zone at 313 ± 4 Ma. Leucogranites are coeval with cordierite-bearing migmatitic gneisses and vertical lenses of leucosome in strike–slip shear zones. We interpret U/Pb monazite ages of 315 ± 4 Ma for the gneisses and 316 ± 2 Ma for the leucosomes as the minimum age of high-grade metamorphism and migmatization respectively. These data suggest a spatial and temporal relationship between transpression, crustal melting, rapid exhumation and magma ascent, and cooling of high-grade metamorphic rocks.Some granites emplaced in the strike–slip shear zone are bounded at their roof by low dip normal faults that strike N–S, perpendicular to the E–W trend of the belt. The abundant crustal magmatism provided a low-viscosity zone that enhanced Variscan orogenic collapse during continued transpression, inducing the development of normal faults in the transpression zone and thrust faults at the front of the collapsed orogen.     

Textural evidence for recent co-seismic circulation of fluids in the Nojima fault zone, Awaji island, Japan

The Hirabayashi borehole (Awaji Island, Japan) was drilled by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ) 1 year after the Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake (1995, M_JMA=7.2). This has enabled scientists to study the complete sequence of deformation across the active Nojima fault, from undeformed granodiorite to the fault core. In the fault core, different types of gouge and fractures have been observed and can be interpreted in terms of a complex history of faulting and fluid circulation. Above the fault core and within the hanging wall, compacted cataclasites and gouge are cut by fractures which show high apparent porosity and are filled by 5–50 μm euhedral and zoned siderite and ankerite crystals. These carbonate-filled fractures have been observed within a 5.5-m-wide zone above the fault, but are especially abundant in the vicinity (1 m) of the fault. The log-normal crystal size distributions of the siderite and ankerite suggest that they originated by decaying-rate nucleation accompanied by surface-controlled growth in a fluid saturated with respect to these carbonates. These carbonate-filled fractures are interpreted as the result of co-seismic hydraulic fracturing and upward circulation of fluids in the hanging wall of the fault, with the fast nucleation of carbonates attributed to a sudden fluid or CO₂ partial pressure drop due to fracturing. The fractures cut almost all visible structures at a thin section scale, although in some places, the original idiomorphic shape of carbonates is modified by a pressure-solution mechanism or the carbonate-filled fractures are cut and brecciated by very thin gouge zones; these features are attributed to low and high strain-rate mechanisms, respectively. The composition of the present-day groundwater is at near equilibrium or slightly oversaturated with respect to the siderite, calcite, dolomite and rhodochrosite. Taken together, this suggests that these fractures formed very late in the evolution of the fault zone, and may be induced by co-seismic hydraulic fracturing and circulation of a fluid with a similar composition to the present-day groundwater. They are therefore potentially related to recent earthquake activity (<1.2 Ma) on the Nojima fault.     

Inclined K–Ar illite age spectra in brittle fault gouges: effects of fault reactivation and wall‐rock contamination

K–Ar clay fraction ages of brittle faults often vary with grain size, decreasing in the finer size fractions, producing an inclined age–grain‐size spectrum. K–Ar ages and mineralogical characterization of gouges from two normal faults in the Kongsberg silver mines, southern Norway, suggest that inclined spectra derived from brittle fault rocks reflect the mixing of inherited components with authigenic mineral phases. The ages of the coarsest and finest fractions constrain faulting at c. 260–270 Ma and reactivation around 200–210 Ma, respectively. This study demonstrates how wall‐rock contamination influences the K–Ar age of the coarsest size fractions and that authigenic illite and K‐feldspar can crystallize synkinematically under equivalent conditions and thus yield the same K–Ar ages.     

Principal fault zone width and permeability of the active Neodani fault, Nobi fault system, Southwest Japan

The internal structure and permeability of the Neodani fault, which was last activated at the time of the 1891 Nobi earthquake (M8.0), were examined through field survey and experiments. A new exposure of the fault at a road construction site reveals a highly localized feature of the past fault deformation within a narrow fault core zone. The fault of the area consists of three zone units towards the fault core: (a) protolith rocks; (b) 15 to 30 m of fault breccia, and (c) 200 mm green to black fault gouge. Within the fault breccia zone, cataclastic foliation oblique to the fault has developed in a fine-grained 2-m-wide zone adjacent to the fault. Foliation is defined by subparallel alignment of intact lozenge shaped clasts, or by elongated aggregates of fine-grained chert fragments. The mean angle of 20°, between the foliation and the fault plane suggests that the foliated breccia accommodated a shear strain of γ<5 assuming simple shear for the rotation of the cataclastic foliation. Previous trench surveys have revealed that the fault has undergone at least 70 m of fault displacement within the last 20,000 years in this locality. The observed fault geometry suggests that past fault displacements have been localized into the 200-mm-wide gouge zone. Gas permeability analysis of the gouges gives low values of the order of 10⁻²⁰ m². Water permeability as low as 10⁻²⁰ m² is therefore expected for the fault gouge zone, which is two orders of magnitude lower than the critical permeability suggested for a fault to cause thermal pressurization during a fault slip.     

Tectonic implications of damage zone-related fault-fracture networks revealed in drill core through the Nojima fault, Japan

1800 m of drill core through the Nojima fault zone, Japan, reveals subsidiary fault and fracture networks that developed in the fault zone that triggered the 1995 Ms 7.2 Kobe earthquake. The subsidiary fault zones contain a fault gouge of < 1 cm bounded by thin zones of foliated cataclasite or breccia. Fractures are filled with calcite veins, calcite-cemented breccias, clay, and iron-oxide and carbonate alternation of the granitic host rock. These features are typical of extensional fractures that form the conduit network for fluid flux close to a major fault zone. The zone of distributed deformation surrounding the main fault is 50 m in width, and the dip of the Nojima fault at > 1 km depth is 75°. The fault-fracture networks associated with the Nojima fault zone are coseismic and were filled with carbonate and fine-grained material during repeated seismic-related infiltration of the fault zone by carbonate-bearing subsurface water. This study shows that fault-related fracture networks plays an important role as fluid flow conduits within seismically active faults, and can change in character from zones of high permeability to low permeability due to cementation and/or pore collapse.     

Post-plutonic unroofing and morphogenesis of the Attic–Cycladic complex (Aegea, Greece)

The Attic–Cycladic complex of Greece comprises an Eocene high-P unit with blueschist occurrences. Unroofing of this unit took place in Oligocene–Miocene times and was accompanied by a regional low-P medium-T overprint and Miocene granitic plutonism.Apatite fission-track ages of 14 “crystalline” samples from the islands of Tinos, Mikonos and Serifos range between 13.1 and 5.3 Ma, corresponding to the middle and late Miocene. The frequency distributions of confined track lengths are characterised by high arithmetic means of 14.2–15.1 μm and by standard deviations from 0.9 to 1.6 μm. Thermochronological modelling of the data indicates rapid cooling between 10 and 6 Ma and subsequent deceleration of the cooling rates. For a short time, the Miocene plutons of Tinos, Mikonos and Serifos experienced maximum cooling rates above 50 °C/Ma.These exceptionally high cooling rates cannot be explained by strong vertical uplift and fast regional erosion. Such a process is disproved by preserved remnants of a former peneplain, including inselbergs and kaolinized tropical subsoil. On Mikonos, fast post-plutonic cooling of the lower plate was apparently accompanied by simultaneous sedimentation on the upper plate. We propose a post-plutonic cooling model which assumes strong periplutonic heat flow into much cooler host rocks and fast extensional unroofing.     

Fracture-zone conditions on a recently active fault: insights from mineralogical and geochemical analyses of the Hirabayashi NIED drill core on the Nojima fault, southwest Japan, which ruptured in the 1995 Kobe earthquake

An 1800-m-deep borehole into the Nojima fault zone was drilled at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan, after the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake. Three possible fracture zones were detected at depths of about 1140, 1300, and 1800 m. To assess these fracture zones in this recently active fault, we analyzed the distributions of fault rocks, minerals, and chemical elements in these zones. The central fault plane in the shallowest fracture zone was identified by foliated blue-gray gouge at a depth of 1140 m. The degree of fracturing was evidently greater in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Minerals detected in this zone were quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and biotite, as in the parent rock (granodiorite), and also kaolinite, smectite, laumontite, stilbite, calcite, ankerite, and siderite, which are related to hydrothermal alteration. Biotite was absent in both the hanging wall and footwall across the central fault plane, but it was absent over a greater distance from the central fault plane in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Major element compositions across this zone suggested that hydrothermal alteration minerals such as kaolinite and smectite occurred across the central fault plane for a greater distance in the hanging wall than in the footwall. Similarly, H₂O+ and CO₂ had higher concentrations in the hanging wall than in the footwall. This asymmetrical distribution pattern is probably due to the greater degree of wall–rock fracturing and associated alteration in the hanging wall. We attributed the characteristics of this zone to fault activity and fluid–rock interactions. We analyzed the other fracture zones along this fault in the same way. In the fracture zone at about 1300 m depth, we detected the same kinds of hydrothermal alteration minerals as in the shallower zone, but they were in fewer samples. We detected relatively little H₂O+ and CO₂, and little evidence for movement of the major chemical elements, indicating little past fluid–rock interaction. In the fracture zone at about 1800 m depth, H₂O+ and CO₂ were very enriched throughout the interval, as in the fracture zone at about 1140 m depth. However, smectite was absent and chlorite was present, indicating the occurrence of chloritization, which requires a temperature of more than 200 °C. Only smectite can form under the present conditions in these fracture zones. The chloritization probably occurred in the past when the fracture zone was deeper than it is now. These observations suggest that among the three fracture zones, that at about 1140 m depth was the most activated at the time of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake.     

Structural and stratigraphical constraints on the kinematics history of the Southern Tan–Lu Fault Zone during the Mesozoic Anhui Province, China

The Tan–Lu Fault Zone (TLFZ) extends in a NNE–SSW direction for more than 2000 km in Eastern China. It has been considered either as a major sinistral strike-slip fault, as a suture zone or as a normal fault. We have conducted a structural analysis of the southern segment of this fault zone (STLFZ) in the Anhui Province. The ages (Triassic to Palaeocene) of the formations affected by the faults have been re-appraised taking into account recent stratigraphical studies to better constraint the ages of the successive stages of the kinematics of the STLFZ. Subsequently, the kinematics of the faults is presented in terms of strain/stress fields by inversion of the striated fault set data. Finally, the data are discussed in the light of the results obtained by previous workers.We propose the following history of the STLFZ kinematics during the Mesozoic. At the time of collision, a  NNE orientated Tan–Lu margin probably connected two margins located north of the Dabie and Sulu collision belts. During the Middle–Late Triassic, the SCB has been obliquely subducted below the NCB along this margin which has acted as a compressional transfer zone between the Dabie and Sulu continental subduction zones. The STLFZ has been initiated during the Early Jurassic and has acted as a sinistral transform fault during the Jurassic, following which the NCB/SCB collision stopped. A  NW-trending extension related to metamorphic domes was active during the basal Early Cretaceous ( 135–130 Ma); it has been followed by a NW–SE compression and a NE–SW tension during the middle–late Early Cretaceous ( 127 to  105 Ma, possibly  95 Ma); at that time the TLFZ was a sinistral transcurrent fault within the eastern part of the Asian continent. During the Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene, the STLFZ was a normal fault zone under a WNW–ESE tension.     

Mineralogy of gouge in north-northeast-striking faults,Sydney region,New South Wales

Gouges formed in north-northeast-striking fault zones of the Sydney region and associated host-rocks were investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM and optical microscopy in order to determine their mineralogy. XRD studies reveal that illite, illite–smectite, kaolinite, quartz and dickite are present in varying proportions. Kübler Indices (0.54–0.71) and low smectite contents in illite–smectite (<10% smectite) in most gouges and host-rocks, indicate the assemblages formed at temperatures between 120 and 150°C. Those at the Heathcote Road, Lucas Heights location formed at lower temperatures (<100°C). SEM images of the clays in host sublitharenites and gouges show a variety of sizes and habits that reflect variations in fluid temperature and rate of crystallisation. SEM studies also reveal that detrital quartz grains exhibit overgrowths and etch pits of varying density, size and shape that are more strongly developed in the gouges than in the host-rocks. These features are thought to be related to higher fluid/rock ratios brought about by major ingress of fluids into the fault zones. The mineral assemblage present and the features exhibited are believed to have formed in response to a thermal event associated with the early stages of the breakup of Gondwana.     

ESR dating of the Wangsan fault,South Korea

The Wangsan fault is exposed at Kyeongju, Korea. The andesite is unconformably covered by Quaternary alternating conglomerate and sandstone deposits. The unconformity is cut by the thrust fault which displaces a hanging wall block of about 30 m. Exposed at the surface of this fault is a light gray and brown fault gouge, about 40–120 cm thick. In order to test the consistency of ESR ages from a single fault gouge zone, we collected six gouge samples systematically along and across the Wangsan fault. We found that six samples collected from the same gouge zone show consistent ESR date estimates (average 550 ka). Because fault rock is rare along faults in unconsolidated sediments due to low confining stress near the surface, we consider that this fault gouge has been moved up with the hanging wall block along the fault. The estimated average uplift rate of the hanging wall block is about 0.04 cm/year based on the age of the displaced Quaternary deposits (vertical separation; about 20 m) dated by OSL dating methods. The depth of the fault gouge at the time of reactivation, which was estimated from uplift rate and the ESR ages, is about 220 m. Therefore, we conclude that the results of ESR age estimates represent the time of reactivation of the fault gouge at a depth of 220 m in the past during fault movement, because later movements which occurred during uplift near the surface may not have zeroed ESR signals significantly for ESR dating of fault movements.     

Climate signals in sediment mineralogy of Lake Baikal and Lake Hovsgol during the LGM-Holocene transition and the 1-Ma carbonate record from the HDP-04 drill core

Modeling the bulk sediment XRD patterns allows insight into the environmental and depositional histories of two neighboring rift lake basins within the Baikal watershed. Parallel ¹⁴C-dated LGM-Holocene records in Lakes Baikal and Hovsgol are used to discuss the mineralogical signatures of regional climate change. In both basins, it is possible to distinguish ‘glacial’ and ‘interglacial’ mineral associations. Clay minerals comprise in excess of 50% of layered silicates in bulk sediment.The abundance of smectite (expandable) layers in mixed-layer illite–smectites and the total illite abundance are the main paleoclimatic indices in the clay mineral assemblage. Both indices exhibit coherent responses to the Bølling–Allerød and the Younger Dryas. The smectite layer index is not equivalent to the abundance of illite–smectite, because illite–smectite tends to transform into illite. Repeated wetting–drying cycles in soils and high abundance of expandable layers in illite–smectites (>42%) favor the process of illitization. This relationship is clearly shown in both Baikal and Hovsgol records for the first time. The opposite late Holocene trends in illite abundance in Lake Baikal and Lake Hovsgol records suggest that a sensitive optimal regime may exist for illite formation in the Baikal watershed with regard to warmth and effective moisture.The Lake Hovsgol sediments of the last glacial contain carbonates, suggesting a positive trend in the lake's water budget. A progressive change towards lower Mg content in carbonates indicates lowering mineralization of lake waters. This trend is consistent with the lithologic evidence for lake-level rise in the Hovsgol basin.The pattern of mineralogical changes during the past 20 ka is used to interpret bulk sediment and carbonate mineralogy of the long 81-m Lake Hovsgol drill core (HDP-04) with a basal age of 1 Ma. The interglacial-type silicate mineral associations are confined to several thin intervals; most of the sediment record is calcareous. Carbonates are represented by six main mineral phases: calcite, low-Mg calcite, intermediate/high-Mg calcite, dolomite, excess-Ca dolomite and metastable monohydrocalcite. These mineral phases tend to form stratigraphic successions indicative of progressive changes in lake water chemistry. Five sediment layers with abundant Mg-calcites in the HDP-04 section suggest deposition in a low standing lake with high mineralization (salinity) and high Mg/Ca ratios of lake waters. Lake Hovsgol sediments contain the oldest known monohydrocalcite, found tens of meters below lake bottom in sediments as old as 800 ka. This unusual find is likely due to the conditions favorable to preservation of this metastable carbonate.     

Brittle–ductile–brittle deformation during cooling of tonalite (Adamello, Southern Italian Alps)

Late- to post-magmatic deformation in slightly diachronous contiguous intrusions of the north-western Adamello batholith (Southern Alps, Italy) is recorded as, from oldest to youngest: (i) joints, (ii) solid-state ductile shear zones, (iii) faults associated with epidote-K-feldspar veins and (iv) zeolite veins and faults. Structures (ii) to (iv) are localized on the pervasive precursory network of joints (i), which developed during the earliest stages of pluton cooling. High temperature ( 500 °C), ductile overprinting of joints produced lineations, defined by aligned biotite and hornblende, on the joint surfaces and highly localized mylonites. The main phase of faulting, producing cataclasites and pseudotachylytes, occurred at  250 °C and was associated with extensive fluid infiltration. Cataclasites and pseudotachylytes are clustered along different E–W-striking dextral strike-slip fault zones correlated with the activity of the Tonale fault, a major tectonic structure that bounds the Adamello batholith to the north. Ductile deformation and cataclastic/veining episodes occurred at P = 0.25–0.3 GPa during rapid cooling of the batholith to the ambient temperatures ( 250 °C) that preceded the exhumation of the batholith. Timing of the sequence of deformation can be constrained by ³⁹Ar–⁴⁰Ar ages of  30 Ma on pseudotachylytes and various existing mineral ages. In the whole composite Adamello batholith, multiple magma pulses were intruded over the time span 42–30 Ma and each intrusive body shows the same ductile-to-brittle structural sequence localized on the early joint sets. This deformation sequence of the Adamello might be typical of intrusions undergoing cooling at depths close to the brittle–ductile transition.