Olivine intergranular plasticity at mantle pressures and temperatures

The ductile behavior of olivine-rich rocks is critical to constrain thermal convection in the Earth's upper mantle. Classical olivine flow laws for dislocation or diffusion creep fail to explain the fast post-seismic surface displacements observed by GPS, which requires a much weaker lithosphere than predicted by classical laws. Here we compare the plasticity of olivine aggregates deformed experimentally at mantle pressures and temperatures to that of single crystals and demonstrate that, depending on conditions of stress and temperature, strain accommodated through grain-to-grain interactions – here called intergranular strain – can be orders of magnitude larger than intracrystalline strain, which significantly weakens olivine strength. This result, extrapolated along mantle geotherms, suggests that intergranular plasticity could be dominant in most of the upper mantle. Consequently, the strength of olivine-rich aggregates in the upper mantle may be significantly lower than predicted by flow laws based on intracrystalline plasticity models.     

Microstructural and experimental constraints on the rheology of partially molten gabbro beneath oceanic spreading centers

Flow laws for high-temperature creep of olivine, plagioclase, and diabase are used to place constraints on the rheology of partially molten lower oceanic crust. This analysis is motivated by the observation of olivine lattice preferred orientations and subgrain microstructures in oceanic gabbros that lack evidence for dislocation creep in coexisting plagioclase and pyroxene. Extrapolation of experimental flow laws indicates that at temperatures above 1100°C and stresses less than 10 MPa, olivine may be the weakest phase in rocks with gabbroic composition. By accounting for variations in the melt fraction (0–10%) and grain size of partially molten plagioclase aggregates we can constrain the rheological conditions where olivine deforms by dislocation creep while plagioclase deforms by diffusion creep. Calculated effective viscosities range from 10¹⁵ to 10¹⁹ Pa s; based on observations of the geometry of the partially molten zone beneath the East Pacific Rise and the microstructural and experimental constraints we favor a value of ∼10¹⁸ Pa s. This value approaches estimates for the viscosity of the upper mantle beneath ridge axes, but is significantly higher than previously suggested for the partially molten lower crust. Such high viscosities are inconsistent with ridge evolution models that require large amounts of lower crustal flow to accommodate melt redistribution. However, the results are compatible with recent models that favor local magma replenishment from the mantle at closely spaced intervals along the spreading center axis in a 2D, ‘sheet-like’ fashion.     

Deformation mechanism maps for feldspar rocks

Deformation mechanism maps for feldspar rocks were constructed based on recently published constitutive laws for dislocation and grain boundary diffusion creep of wet and dry plagioclase aggregates. The maps display constant temperature contours in stress-grain size space for strain rates ranging from 10⁻¹⁶ to 10⁻¹² s⁻¹.Two fields of dominance of grain boundary diffusion-controlled creep and dislocation creep are separated by a strongly grain size-sensitive transition zone. For wet rocks, diffusion-controlled creep dominates below a grain size of about 0.1–1 mm, depending on temperature, stress, strain rate and feldspar composition. Plagioclase aggregates containing up to 0.3 wt.% water as often found in natural feldspars are more than 2 orders of magnitude weaker than dry rocks. The strength of water-bearing feldspar rocks is moderately dependent on composition and water fugacity.For a grain size range of about 10–50 μm commonly observed in natural ultramylonites, the deformation maps predict that diffusion-controlled creep is dominant at greenschist to granulite facies conditions. Low viscosity estimates of 10¹⁸–10¹⁹ Pa·s from modeling postseismic stress relaxation and channel flow of the continental lower crust can only be reconciled with laboratory experiments assuming dislocation creep at high temperatures >900 °C or, at lower temperatures, diffusion creep of fine-grained rocks possibly localized in abundant high strain shear zones. For similar thermodynamic conditions and grain size, lower crustal rocks are predicted to be less than order of magnitude weaker than upper mantle rocks.     

The transition between deformation regimes dominated by intercrystalline diffusion and intracrystalline creep evaluated by oxygen isotope thermometry

The dominant flow mechanism in tectonic processes depends on the rheological properties of geological materials and the physical conditions prevailing during deformation. We have evaluated the relative importance of intercrystalline diffusion and intracrystalline creep in crustal deformation in terms of temperature and grain size.Oxygen isotope thermometry has been used to elucidate the thermal environment obtaining during deformation and contemporaneous metamorphism of Dalradian rocks from Southwest Scotland. The temperature and grain size data, applied in conjunction with microstructural criteria for evaluating independent mechanisms of steady-state flow, allow recognition of a low-temperature deformation regime dominated by intercrystalline diffusion, and a high-temperature regime dominated by dislocation processes.The transition between the fields of intercrystalline diffusion and dislocation creep for quartz and calcite of 100 Mm grain size occurs at about 450° C and about 300° C, respectively. These empirically derived results are consistent with the temperature intervals over which intercrystalline diffusion and dislocation creep, respectively, are predicted to be dominant at geologically reasonable strain rates, as derived from theoretically formulated deformation mechanism maps for quartz and calcite.Grain growth may play an important role in delimiting the higher-temperature boundary of the intercrystalline diffusion field. Intercrystalline diffusion is the only deformation mechanism that involves mass transfer over distances that are large in relation to the grain size. This result has important consequences for geochemical transport phenomena.     

岩石圈的流变性与大陆动力学的科学基础

地球是一动态系统,其各层圈的构造运动归根究底就是多矿物复合岩石及其中各主要造岩矿物在变化的物理条件(例如,温度、围压、差应力、应变速率、应变方式等)下和化学环境(例如,氧逸度和水含量)中的形变。岩石流变学是一门研究岩石力学性质和变形行为的科学,现已成为定量大陆动力学和构造地质学发展的一个瓶颈,超越这个瓶颈,学科才能大踏步前进。本文对过去四十年来岩石流变学的实验和韧性变形域内古应力研究成果做了简明扼要的总结,特别关注尚存的问题与急需克服的困难。强调运用现代材料学、地球物理学和地球化学的新理论和新方法,改进与完善高温高压实验设备,提高其力学测量的灵敏度和准确度。而且必须采用大应变的实验途径解决稳态蠕变与稳态显微构造的问题,保证实验所获流动律外延至自然界的合理性与稳定性。鼓励那些有坚实积累、开阔视野和科学思维的青年学者,开拓进取,在岩石圈流变学与大陆动力学领域做出经得起时间淘洗、实践检验的原创性成果来。     

Microstructural evolution during strain localization in dolomite aggregates

Dolomite aggregates deformed by dislocation creep over a wide range of conditions (T = 700–1000 °C, effective pressure of 900 MPa, strain rates of 10⁻⁷ – 10⁻⁴/s) strain weaken by up to 75% of the peak differential stress. Microstructural study of samples shortened to different finite strains beyond the peak differential stress shows that strain becomes highly localized within shear zones by high-temperature creep processes, with no contribution of brittle cracking. At low strains (8%), dolomite deforms homogeneously by recrystallization-accommodated dislocation creep. At progressively higher sample strains, deformation is localized into narrow shear zones made up of very fine (∼3 μm) recrystallized grains and relict porphyroclasts (20–100 μm). Finely-recrystallized dolomite grains in the shear zones are largely dislocation free and localized shear is facilitated by diffusion creep. In contrast, original dolomite grains and porphyroclasts in shear zones have high dislocation densities and do not deform after shear zone formation. Calculated strain rates in the shear zones are two to three orders of magnitude faster than the imposed bulk strain rate of the samples and these strain rates are consistent with predictions of the diffusion creep flow law for fine-grained dolomite.     

High-temperature deformation of forsterite single crystals doped with vanadium

Creep experiments have been performed on samples from a single crystal of vanadium-doped forsterite under controlled \(p_{{\text{O}}_2 } \) conditions to investigate the effects of the addition of substitutional defects in the tetrahedral lattice sites. The addition of vanadium causes marked changes in the flow behavior of the forsterite, with a net increase in the creep rate at high \(p_{{\text{O}}_2 } \) and a new \(p_{{\text{O}}_2 } \) -dependent flow regime at low \(p_{{\text{O}}_2 } \) conditions. These observations can be interpreted as resulting from changes in the majority defect species that maintain the charge neutrality within the crystal. A climb-controlled dislocation creep model for the high-temperature deformation of vanadium-doped forsterite is proposed in which either (i) movement of uncharged jogs is rate-limited by the diffusion of silicon via a vacancy mechanism or (ii) movement of positively charged jogs is rate-limited by diffusion of oxygen via a vacancy mechanism.     

Microstructures, petrofabrics and seismic properties of ultra high-pressure eclogites from Sulu region, China: implications for rheology of subducted continental crust and origin of mantle reflections

Ultra high-pressure (UHP) eclogites from Sulu region (China) represent mafic components of the continental crust, which were first subducted to mantle depths greater than 100 km and then exhumed to the earth's surface. Detailed investigation of microstructures, chemical compositions, petrofabrics and seismic properties of the UHP eclogites can provide important information on the operating deformation mechanisms and rheology of subducted continental crust and on the origin of seismic reflections within the upper mantle. We present here results from field, optical and TEM observations, electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) measurements and numerical computations of the seismic properties of UHP eclogites collected from fresh surface outcrops at the drill site (Maobei, Donghai County, Jiangsu Province) of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Program (CCSD). Two types of eclogites have been distinguished: Type-1 (coarse-grained) eclogites deformed by recovery-accommodated dislocation creep at the peak metamorphic conditions, and Type-2 (fine-grained) eclogites which are composed of reworked Type-1 materials during recrystallization-accommodated dislocation creep in shear zones which were active during the exhumation of the UHP metamorphic rocks. Both garnet and omphacite in these eclogites deformed plastically and the flow strength contrast between these two constituent minerals is apparently much less than an order of magnitude under the UHP metamorphic conditions. Plasticity of eclogites under UHP conditions can effectively facilitate channeled flow along the interplate shear zone. The preservation of the relict crustal materials within the continental lithosphere may produce regionally extensive, strong, seismic reflections in the upper mantle. This may explain the origin of mantle reflections observed in many areas of the world.     

Dislocation microstructure and phase distribution in a lower crustal shear zone – an example from the Ivrea-Zone, Italy

The analysis of fabric and microstructure across an amphibolite facies shear zone of mafic composition reveals that the strain-dependent change from grain size insensitive to grain size sensitive creep is associated with a fundamental reorganization of the mylonitic fabric. At moderate strain a banded mylonite evolves from a metagabbro, which displays a mechanically-induced compositional layering. Strain is concentrated in monomineralic layers of dynamically recrystallized plagioclase. At higher strain and decreasing grain size (10-30 µm) the phase segregation is progressively destroyed and replaced by a phase mixture of amphibole and plagioclase. Phase mixing in these ultramylonites is developed and stabilized by heterogeneous nucleation processes of amphibole and plagioclase within unlike phases and at dilatant sites. Nucleation appears to be controlled by grain-scale gradients in stress. A dispersed phase distribution in fine-grained ultramylonites indicates (water-assisted) diffusion processes that accommodate grain boundary sliding. Although diffusion-controlled creep plays a dominant role in these ultramylonites, the dislocation densities remain high (2.0-4.0᎒⁹ cm^-2) and indicate that two competing mechanisms (dislocation and diffusion creep) accommodate grain boundary sliding. Commonly accepted criteria for superplastic or granular flow derived from monomineralic aggregates must be applied with caution to polymineralic rocks of mafic composition.     

A constitutive model for crushed salt

A constitutive model for crushed salt is presented in this paper. A creep constitutive model is developed first and compared with test results. The constitutive model presented here concentrates on creep deformation because saline media behave basically in a ductile and time‐dependent way. An idealized geometry is used as a common framework to obtain stress–strain macroscopic laws based on two deformation mechanisms: fluid‐assisted diffusional transfer creep and dislocation creep. The model is able to predict strain rates that compare well with results from laboratory tests under isotropic and oedometric conditions. Macroscopic laws are written using a non‐linear viscous approach, which incorporates also a viscoplastic component, based on critical state theory. The viscoplastic term is intended for non‐creep deformation mechanisms such as grain reorganization and crushing. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-temperature creep in a Ni2GeO4: a contribution to creep systematics in spinel

 High-temperature creep behavior in Ni₂GeO₄ spinel was investigated using synthetic polycrystalline aggregates with average grain sizes ranging from submicron to 7.4 microns. Cylindrical samples were deformed at constant load in a gas-medium apparatus at temperatures ranging from 1223 to 1523 K and stresses ranging from 40 to 320 MPa. Two deformation mechanisms were identified, characterized by the following flow laws: where σ is in MPa, d is in μm and T is in Kelvin. These flow laws suggest that deformation was accommodated by dislocation creep and grain-boundary diffusion (Coble) creep, respectively. A comparison with other spinels shows that an isomechanical group can be defined for spinels although some differences between normal and inverse spinels can be identified. When creep data for olivine and spinel are normalized and extrapolated to Earth-like conditions, spinel (ringwoodite) has a strength similar to olivine in the dislocation creep regime and is considerably stronger than olivine in the diffusion creep regime at coarse grain size. However, when grain-size reduction occurs, spinel can become weaker than olivine due to its high grain-size sensitivity (Coble creep behavior). Analysis of normalized diffusion creep data for olivine and spinel indicate that spinel is weaker than olivine at grain sizes less than 2 μm. Received: 18 June 2000 / Accepted: 3 April 2001     

On the possibility of Newtonian flow in the upper mantle

The possibility of a linear-creep (Newtonian-viscosity) upper mantle is reexamined on the basis of present knowledge on flow mechanisms in olivine, including differences between activation parameters for creep and for diffusion, and revised estimates of grain boundary width. Results of the comparison between linear superplastic creep and power-law creep are presented as crossover temperature between lattice and grain-boundary diffusion, and crossover stress between non-linear and linear creep, as a function of temperature (depth), grain size, grain-boundary width, grain-boundary diffusion activation energy, and rate-controlling species (silicon or oxygen). For the most realistic values of the parameters, linear creep is well within the range of possibilities. There is no major objection from rheology to the idea of a Newtonian-viscosity upper mantle.Viscosities for the two kinds of creep are compared for laboratory, upper mantle, and—tentatively—lower mantle conditions. This results in a prediction of the grain size at which Coble creep could be observed in olivine polycrystals in the laboratory (~ 10 μm or less). The upper mantle viscosity is in the 10²⁰–10²¹ Pa s range. Minimum estimates for the viscosity of the lower mantle are of the same order.The pictures of the rheology of the mantle derived from microphysical models of flow and from geophysical observation can therefore be made compatible.     

白云石有序度与流变特征的研究进展

白云石CaMg(CO3)2常见于白云岩、灰岩及大理岩中,其稳定的温压范围很广,是研究俯冲隧道变形、全球碳循环和地幔交代作用的重要矿物。白云石的有序度可能与重结晶过程相关,温度是影响白云石有序度的关键因素,压力对白云石有序度的影响较弱。在1~3 GPa 下白云石完全无序的转变温度为1150~1200℃,Fe、Mn、Cd 离子含量的增高可显著降低白云石结构无序化的转变温度。天然变形的白云石常发育由底面c 滑移控制的晶格优选定向。根据白云石的流变律,在天然 应变速率下（10-15~10-12 s-1）,>400℃细粒白云石以扩散蠕变为主;而粗粒白云石以位错蠕变为主,只有在高温下（>600~700℃） 扩散蠕变才成为主控变形机制。分解反应或者动态重结晶可导致白云石流变强度的显著下降,应变集中。白云石c滑移的临界剪应力随温度升高而增大的现象可能与白云石有序度的变化有关,而围压、水逸度和成分对白云石流变的影响尚不清楚,定量研究白云石的有序度与流变学性质的相关性将为追踪碳酸盐岩和大理岩的成岩和变形历史提供新的信息。     

多晶冰蠕变机制的研究进展

与绝大多数材料遵循基于位错攀移的指数蠕变机制不同,多晶冰遵循基于位错滑移的指数蠕变机制,这种机制引起了冰川学家极大的兴趣.以前人的研究为基础,综述了冰中质子无序及质子点缺陷的形成过程,质子点缺陷对位错滑移影响的微观机理,以及多晶冰蠕变的微观机制.研究表明:冰晶体中的氢原子(质子)无序使得位错在滑移过程中形成质子点缺陷(D、L、H₃O⁺和OH^-缺陷),从而降低了位错的滑移速率.质子点缺陷的形成需要氢原子(质子)跃迁,其激活能大于水分子自扩散所需的激活能.同时,多晶冰的蠕变激活能与质子跃迁的激活能相当,而大于水分子自扩散所需的激活能,因此多晶冰的蠕变控制机制是位错滑移,而不是位错攀移.     

Quartz microstructures developed during non-steady state plastic flow at rapidly decaying stress and strain rate

Synseismic loading to very high stresses (>0.5 GPa) and subsequent creep during stress relaxation in the uppermost plastosphere at temperatures of ca. 300–350 °C, near the lower tip of an inferred once seismically active crustal scale fault, was proposed based on peculiar microstructures identified in rocks exposed over >100 km² in the Sesia Zone, European Western Alps. Here we discuss the conspicuous and highly heterogeneous microstructural record of quartz in disseminated small-scale shear zones. Sub-basal deformation lamellae and arrays of elongate subgrains on the TEM-scale indicate an early stage of glide-controlled deformation at high stresses. Distributed brittle failure is indicated by healed microcracks. Very fine-grained recrystallised aggregates with a pronounced crystallographic preferred orientation reflect intense plastic flow by dislocation creep. Locally, a fine-grained foam microstructure indicates a final stage of static grain growth at low differential stress. For the previously inferred peak stresses of about 0.5 GPa and given temperatures, initial strain rates on the order of 10⁻¹⁰ s⁻¹ are predicted by available flow laws for dislocation creep of quartz. We emphasise the importance of short-term non-steady state deformation in the uppermost plastosphere underlying seismically active upper crust. The related heterogeneous record of quartz is governed by the local stress history at constant temperature.     

Flow laws in polymineralic aggregates deformed by a combination of diffusion creep and dislocation creep

Microstructures in naturally deformed rocks in the upper crust demonstrate that creep strain in nature may be accommodated by a combination of dislocation creep, diffusion/dissolution processes and microcracking. A theoretical approach towards deriving an aggregate flow law is presented, where the strain in the constituent phases is assumed to occur by simultaneous operation of diffusive mass transfer and crystal plastic mechanisms (dislocation creep). Both uniform stress and uniform strain rate situations are considered.     

Impact of solid second phases on deformation mechanisms of naturally deformed salt rocks (Kuh-e-Namak,Dashti, Iran) and rheological stratification of the Hormuz Salt Formation

Viscosity contrasts displayed in flow structures of a mountain namakier (Kuh-e-Namak - Dashti), between ‘weak’ second phase bearing rock salt and ‘strong’ pure rock salt types are studied for deformation mechanisms using detailed quantitative microstructural study. While the solid inclusions rich (“dirty”) rock salts contain disaggregated siltstone and dolomite interlayers, “clean” salts reveal microscopic hematite and remnants of abundant fluid inclusions in non-recrystallized cores of porphyroclasts. Although the flow in both, the recrystallized “dirty” and “clean” salt types is accommodated by combined mechanisms of pressure-solution creep (PS), grain boundary sliding (GBS), transgranular microcracking and dislocation creep accommodated grain boundary migration (GBM), their viscosity contrasts observed in the field outcrops are explained by: 1) enhanced ductility of “dirty” salts due to increased diffusion rates along the solid inclusion-halite contacts than along halite–halite contacts, and 2) slow rates of intergranular diffusion due to dissolved iron and inhibited dislocation creep due to hematite inclusions for “clean” salt types Rheological contrasts inferred by microstructural analysis between both salt rock classes apply in general for the “dirty” salt forming Lower Hormuz and the “clean” salt forming the Upper Hormuz of the Hormuz Formation and imply strain rate gradients or decoupling along horizons of mobilized salt types of different composition and microstructure.     

中、下地壳中长石的塑性变形机制及其证据——长石的显微构造研究综述

综述了有关长石的碎裂流动、位错蠕变、扩散蠕变、颗粒边界滑动及超塑性流动的特点及有关现象,并指出了长石塑性变形机制研究的重要意义。     

Flow in upper-mantle rocks: Some geophysical and geodynamic consequences

Flow mechanisms effective in the upper mantle and some of the parameters of the creep equation are determined from the study of peridotites from basalt and kimberlite xenoliths and alpine-type massifs. Creep controlled by dislocation climb, as inferred by Weertman, is the dominant mechanism. Evidence for superplastic flow is found in the deepest kimberlite xenoliths. Flow in the alpine-type massifs is ascribed either to intrusion in the crust when continental plates collide (lherzolite massifs) or to sea-floor spreading (harzburgite massifs included in ophiolites). The consideration of textures, crystal substructures and preferred orientations connected with P,T equilibrium conditions derived from pyroxenes, helps in deciphering the large-scale structure and flow of peridotites in the crust and in the mantle down to 200 km. For the first 150 km, the representative structures are those of the basalt xenoliths and the kimberlite xenoliths with a coarsegrained texture. They have many features in common and probably represent a static lithosphere with, in basalt xenoliths, possible evidence for the transition to the shear flowing asthenosphere. The porphyroclastic and mosaic-textured xenoliths, in kimberlites equilibrated at depth between 150 and 200 km and a few more superficial basalt xenoliths, reflect a much larger strain rate and applied stress and might be connected to vertical instabilities also responsible for magma genesis.     

Strain localisation in the subcontinental mantle — a ductile alternative to the brittle mantle

It is now admitted that the high strength of the subcontinental uppermost mantle controls the first order strength of the lithosphere. An incipient narrow continental rift therefore requires an important weakening in the subcontinental mantle to promote lithosphere-scale strain localisation and subsequent continental break-up. Based on the classical rheological layering of the continental lithosphere, the origin of a lithospheric mantle shear/fault zone has been attributed to the existence of a brittle uppermost mantle. However, the lack of mantle earthquakes and the absence of field occurrences in the mantle fault zone led to the idea of a ductile-related weakening mechanism, instead of brittle-related, for the incipient mantle strain localisation. In order to provide evidence for this mechanism, we investigated the microstructures and lattice preferred orientations of mantle rocks in a kilometre-scale ductile strain gradient in the Ronda Peridotites (Betics cordillera, Spain). Two main features were shown: 1) grain size reduction by dynamic recrystallisation is found to be the only relevant weakening mechanism responsible for strain localisation and 2), with increasing strain, grain size reduction is coeval with both the scattering of orthopyroxene neoblasts and the decrease of the olivine fabric strength (LPO). These features allow us to propose that grain boundary sliding (GBS) partly accommodates dynamic recrystallisation and subsequent grain size reduction.A new GBS-related experimental deformation mechanism, called dry-GBS creep, has been shown to accommodate grain size reduction during dynamic recrystallisation and to induce significant weakening at low temperatures (T < 800 °C). The present microstructural study demonstrates the occurrence of the grain size sensitive dry-GBS creep in natural continental peridotites and allows us to propose a new rheological model for the subcontinental mantle. During dynamic recrystallisation, the accommodation of grain size reduction by three competing deformation mechanisms, i.e., dislocation, diffusion and dry-GBS creeps, involves a grain size reduction controlled by the sole dislocation creep at high temperatures (> 800 °C), whereas dislocation creep and dry-GBS creep, are the accommodating mechanisms at low temperatures (< 800 °C). Consequently, weakening is very limited if the grain size reduction occurs at temperatures higher than 800 °C, whereas a large weakening is expected in lower temperatures. This large weakening related to GBS creep would occur at depths lower than 60 km and therefore provides an explanation for ductile strain localisation in the uppermost continental mantle, thus providing an alternative to the brittle mantle.