大别山超高压变质岩的显微构造与有效黏度

超高压变质岩提供了研究大陆俯冲隧道中岩石的变形机制和流变差异性的窗口。文章使用电子背散射衍射技术分析了大别山超高压变质带的榴辉岩和长英质片麻岩的显微构造。榴辉岩中的石榴子石基本呈无序分布,绿辉石发育较强烈的晶格优选定向,[001]轴的极密平行或近平行于拉伸线理,(100)面的法线近垂直于面理,退变榴辉岩中角闪石的(100)[001]组构可能继承了绿辉石的晶格优选定向。退变榴辉岩和长英质片麻岩中的石英记录了(0001)低温底面滑移和{1010}中温 柱面滑移,反映了超高压变质岩折返到中地壳的韧性变形;而斜长石的(001)<110>和(010)[100]组构形成于折返到下地壳的角闪岩相变质条件（>600℃）。根据主要矿物的流变律计算了俯冲与折返过程中无水矿物的有效黏度变化。俯冲过程中,钠长石=硬玉+石英的分解反应以及石英-柯石英相变导致长英质片麻岩的有效黏度和密度都显著增高,有利于陆壳深俯冲。但是折返过程中由于温度较高,这两个反应带来的有效黏度变化较小。>80 km深度,石榴子石的流变强度>硬玉>绿辉 石>柯石英,俯冲上地壳的流变由柯石英和硬玉控制,下地壳的流变由绿辉石和石榴子石控制。超高压变质岩流变强度的差异有助于上—下地壳力学解耦,使相对低密度、低黏度的上地壳物质在俯冲隧道内快速折返。     

超高压变质岩中柯石英-石英相变动力学研究的评述

含柯石英超高压变质岩的发现是陆过 幔深部俯冲的岩石学语气也揭示了深部变质深种物折返地表的可能性。超高压变质岩的开 折返机制是当前地球科学中最有挑战性的前沿课题之一,具有深刻的大陆动力学意义。     

苏鲁榴辉岩在俯冲峰期-折返早期的递进塑性变形过程及对超高压变质岩石折返动力学的启示

榴辉岩的变形特征严重影响俯冲板片的流变学行为,而石榴石的变形机制又直接制约着榴辉岩的变形属性。本文在结合前人研究的基础上,通过对中国大陆科学钻探（CCSD）主孔榴辉岩中石榴子石的典型变形特征的详细对比和分析,进一步证明了榴辉岩在俯冲峰期条件下可以发生强烈的塑性变形。且俯冲峰期-折返早期经历了从以恢复作用主导的位错蠕变,到动态重结晶、扩散蠕变,再到静态重结晶和矿物生长的连续递进变形过程。其中,从动态重结晶到高温静态重结晶的转换,结合短时增温、局部熔融等证据,共同证明了在苏鲁超高压变质岩石折返过程中存在一个短暂的低应力“热”区间,在此前后,折返机制和驱动力发生了转变,由浮力作用下的快速折返转为以挤压透入性剪应力作用下的缓慢抬升阶段。     

中蒙边界早白垩世不对称花岗岩穹隆的伸展时限、剪切作用类型和区域构造意义

东北亚大陆于晚中生代时期发生了大规模地壳伸展,发育变质核杂岩和不对称花岗岩穹隆,其伸展剪切机制一直是构造研究的重要内容之一。中蒙边界东南段沿北东向展布了罕乌拉、纳兰和宝德尔等3个不对称花岗岩伸展穹隆,主体均为晚中生代花岗岩侵入体,岩体西北缘发育韧性剪切(糜棱岩)带,并被后期高角度正断层所围限,整体为穹隆状。根据罕乌拉穹隆韧性剪切带内强变形中粗粒钾长花岗岩(133±1 Ma)和弱变形细粒花岗岩(128±2 Ma)的构造关系及其锆石U-Pb年龄,推测该穹隆内岩体可能为同伸展岩体,韧性伸展时间在133 Ma之后并持续至128 Ma或更晚,与同区其他穹隆发育时限相同。笔者用R_f/ф方法测量了3个穹隆剪切带内糜棱岩中长石的有限应变轴率,利用Hsu图解获得其应变类型为平面压扁应变(k=0.5)。用长石极莫尔圆法、刚性颗粒网法和C轴石英组构法估算了韧性剪切的长期变形过程,得到糜棱岩的平均运动学涡度值为0.68～0.74,表明这些穹隆的韧性剪切作用主要是纯剪切和简单剪切分量几乎相等的一般剪切作用。石英斜向条带法测得的韧性变形后期的运动学涡度值为0.87～0.99,平均值为0.93...     

黑龙江杂岩构造折返的岩石学与年代学证据

黑龙江杂岩主要出露在佳木斯地块西缘,沿牡丹江断裂分布,为佳木斯地块与松嫩地块拼合过程中形成的构造混杂岩。杂岩以强烈变形的糜棱岩为主体,其中含有大量规模不等、变形程度不同的变橄榄岩、变辉长岩、蓝闪石片岩(变玄武岩)及变硅质岩和大理岩等岩块或岩片。蓝闪石片岩岩块多经强烈的构造置换呈宽度和延伸有限的条带或岩片与长英质糜棱岩相间分布,发育以青铝闪石、冻蓝闪石、黑硬绿泥石、多硅白云母和钠长石等为代表的新生变质矿物组合,变形叶理呈北东向展布。但在局部地区仍保存有规模较大,且未受变形作用改造的蓝闪石片岩岩块,以不定向生长的蓝闪石、钠长石和绿帘石变质矿物组合为特征。块状蓝闪石片岩边部变形特征明显,变形叶理与周围糜棱岩叶理产状一致。岩块与变形岩石的组构关系表明,黑龙江杂岩至少经历了两期重要的变质事件,即以蓝闪石片岩岩块为代表的早期高压变质事件和以糜棱岩为代表的晚期变质-变形事件。在桦南地区长英质糜棱岩中获得的白云母⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar年龄分别为176.5±1.9Ma和184.5±2.1Ma,该年龄在黑龙江杂岩的变形岩石中普遍存在。鉴于蓝闪石片岩岩块被这一变质-变形事件所改造,以及变质矿物组合由高压向低压的转变关系,表明黑龙江杂岩在早-中侏罗世经历了一次快速的构造抬升事件。这一事件不但使佳木斯地块西缘以蓝片岩为代表的俯冲杂岩发生构造折返,而且对该区晚中生代盆地的形成与演化起着重要的控制作用。     

Metastability of granulites and processes of eclogitisation in the UHP region of western Norway

The Flatraket Complex, a granulite facies low strain enclave within the Western Gneiss Region, provides an excellent example of metastability of plagioclase‐bearing assemblages under eclogite facies conditions. Coesite eclogites are found <200 m structurally above and <1 km below the Flatraket Complex, and are separated from it by amphibolite facies gneisses related to pervasive late‐orogenic deformation and overprinting. Granulites within the Flatraket Complex equilibrated at 9–11 kbar, 700–800°C. These predate eclogite facies metamorphism and were preserved metastably in dry undeformed zones under eclogite facies conditions. Approximately 5% of the complex was transformed to eclogite in zones of fluid infiltration and deformation, which were focused along lithological contacts in the margin of the complex. Eclogitisation proceeded by domainal re‐equilibration and disequilibrium breakdown of plagioclase by predominantly hydration reactions. Both hydration and anhydrous plagioclase breakdown reactions were kinetically linked to input of fluid. More pervasive hydration of the complex occurred during exhumation, with fluid infiltration linked to dehydration of external gneisses. Eclogite facies shear zones within the complex equilibrated at 20–23 kbar, 650–800°C, consistent with the lack of coesite and with the equilibration conditions of external HP eclogites. If the complex experienced pressures equivalent to those of nearby coesite eclogites (> 28 kbar), unprecedented metastability of plagioclase and quartz is implied. Alternatively, a tectonic break exists between the Flatraket Complex and UHP eclogites, supporting the concept of a tectonic boundary to the UHP zone of the Western Gneiss Region. The distribution of eclogite and amphibolite facies metamorphic overprints demonstrates that the reactivity of the crust during deep burial and exhumation is strongly controlled by fluid availability, and is a function of the protolith.     

北大别的高温超高压变质作用与多阶段折返

近期的变质岩石学、地球化学及同位素年代学研究表明,北大别整体经历了高温超高压变质作用和多阶段折返历史,因而表现为广泛发育的多期减压结构和极少保留早期的超高压变质记录。北大别榴辉岩以高温变质作用以及折返期间因麻粒岩相和角闪岩相退变质变质作用而形成的多期后成合晶为显著特征。石榴子石中伴有放射状胀裂纹的单晶和多晶石英包体指示早期柯石英的转变结果,这已被锆石中发现的柯石英残晶所证实。结合北大别北部榴辉岩和片麻岩中发现的金刚石等超高压证据以及三叠纪变质记录,由此证明北大别整体经历过深俯冲和印支期超高压变质作用。北大别榴辉岩的多阶段高温条件主要来自石榴子石-绿辉石矿物对温度计、单斜辉石中紫苏辉石+石英针状矿物出熔体以及金红石中较高的Zr含量和变质锆石中较高的Ti含量等得出的温度证据。此外,多期后成合晶以及石榴子石和单斜辉石等矿物中成分分带的存在,证明该区榴辉岩经历了一个多阶段、快速折返过程;而不同变质阶段的温度、压力和形成时代,却反映该区榴辉岩经历了长时间的高温变质演化与缓慢冷却过程。长时间的高温变质作用与缓慢冷却过程也许正是北大别长期难以发现柯石英和有关超高压记录的重要原因。因此,这些成果为大别山三个不同超高压岩片的差异折返模型的建立提供了新的证据。     

On the survival of intergranular coesite in UHP eclogite

Coesite is typically found as inclusions in rock‐forming or accessory minerals in ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks. Thus, the survival of intergranular coesite in UHP eclogite at Yangkou Bay (Sulu belt, eastern China) is surprising and implies locally “dry” conditions throughout exhumation. The dominant structures in the eclogites at Yangkou are a strong D₂ foliation associated with tight‐to‐isoclinal F₂ folds that are overprinted by close‐to‐tight F₃ folds. The coesite‐bearing eclogites occur as rootless intrafolial isoclinal F₁ fold noses wrapped by a composite S₁–S₂ foliation in interlayered phengite‐bearing quartz‐rich schists. To evaluate controls on the survival of intergranular coesite, we determined the number density of intergranular coesite grains per cm² in thin section in two samples of coesite eclogite (phengite absent) and three samples of phengite‐bearing coesite eclogite (2–3 vol.% phengite), and measured the amount of water in garnet and omphacite in these samples, and also in two samples of phengite‐bearing quartz eclogite (6–7 vol.% phengite, coesite absent). As coesite decreases in the mode, the amount of primary structural water stored in the whole rock, based on the nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs), increases from 107/197 ppm H₂O in the coesite eclogite to 157–253 ppm H₂O in the phengite‐bearing coesite eclogite to 391/444 ppm H₂O in the quartz eclogite. In addition, there is molecular water in the NAMs and modal water in phengite. If the primary concentrations reflect differences in water sequestered during the late prograde evolution, the amount of fluid stored in the NAMs at the metamorphic peak was higher outside of the F₁ fold noses. During exhumation from UHP conditions, where NAMs became H₂O saturated, dehydroxylation would have generated a free fluid phase. Interstitial fluid in a garnet–clinopyroxene matrix at UHP conditions has dihedral angles >60°, so at equilibrium fluid will be trapped in isolated pores. However, outside the F₁ fold noses strong D₂ deformation likely promoted interconnection of fluid and migration along the developing S₂ foliation, enabling conversion of some or all of the intergranular coesite into quartz. By contrast, the eclogite forming the F₁ fold noses behaved as independent rigid bodies within the composite S₁–S₂ foliation of the surrounding phengite‐bearing quartz‐rich schists. Primary structural water concentrations in the coesite eclogite are so low that H₂O saturation of the NAMs is unlikely to have occurred. This inherited drier environment in the F₁ fold noses was maintained during exhumation by deformation partitioning and strain localization in the schists, and the fold noses remained immune to grain‐scale fluid infiltration from outside allowing coesite to survive. The amount of inherited primary structural water and the effects of strain partitioning are important variables in the survival of coesite during exhumation of deeply subducted continental crust. Evidence of UHP metamorphism may be preserved in similar isolated structural settings in other collisional orogens.     

Deep subduction of felsic rocks hosting UHP lenses in the central Saxonian Erzgebirge: Implications for UHP terrane exhumation

Contrasting metamorphic conditions determined by chemical geothermobarometric investigations of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) lenses surrounded by high-pressure (HP) and medium-pressure (MP) felsic country rocks are an enigmatic feature of UHP terranes. One of the major questions arising is whether the UHP lenses and the country rocks are a product of different peak metamorphic conditions corresponding to different maximum depth or whether country rocks also experienced UHP conditions but equilibrated and/or re-equilibrated at a different metamorphic stage. Here we address this question to the central Saxonian Erzgebirge in the northwestern Bohemian Massif, Germany. In order to screen the variety of garnet from lithologies occurring in the study area, we analyzed the detrital garnet record from seven modern stream sands. In addition to 700 inclusion-bearing garnet grains previously studied from the 125–250 μm grain-size fraction, we analyzed the 63–125 and 250–500 μm fractions and extended the dataset to overall 2100 inclusion-bearing grains. The new findings of coesite and diamond inclusions in several garnet grains, which are in compositional contrast to garnet of the known UHP lenses but match with those of the felsic country rocks, show that considerable parts of the country rocks underwent UHP metamorphism. Melt inclusions containing cristobalite, kokchetavite, and kumdykolite in garnet derived from the country rocks point to partial melting and re-equilibration during exhumation at HP/HT conditions. Although an amalgamation of rocks which reached different maximum depth may be responsible for some of the contrasting peak metamorphic conditions, the mineralogical evidence for UHP conditions in the felsic country rocks surrounding the UHP lenses proves a largely coherent slab subducted to UHP conditions. Furthermore, the presence of coesite in the subducting voluminous felsic crust and its transformation to quartz during exhumation have great implications for buoyancy development during the metamorphic cycle, which may explain the high exhumation rates of UHP terranes.     

Fluid-assisted fracturing,cataclasis, and resulting plastic flow in mylonites from the Moresby Seamount detachment,Woodlark Basin

The Moresby Seamount detachment (MSD) in the Woodlark Basin (offshore Papua New Guinea) is a large active low-angle detachment excellently exposed at the seafloor, and cutting through mafic metamorphic rocks. Hydrothermal infiltration of quartz followed by that of calcite occurred during cataclastic deformation. Subsequent deformation of these a priori softer minerals leads to mylonite formation in the MSD. This study aims at a better understanding of the deformation mechanism switch from cataclastic to plastic flow. Deformation fabrics of the fault rocks were analyzed by light-optical microscopy. Rheologically critical phases were mapped to determine distributions and area proportions, and EBSD was used to measure crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO). Strong calcite CPOs indicate dominant dislocation creep. Quartz CPOs, however, are weak and more difficult to interpret, suggesting at least some strain accommodation by diffusion creep mechanisms. When quartz aggregates are intermixed with the polymineralic mylonite matrix diffusion creep grain boundary sliding may be dominant. The syntectonic conversion from mafic cataclasites to more siliceous and carbonaceous mylonites induced by hydrothermal processes is a critical weakening mechanism enabling the MSD to at least intermittently plastic flow at low shear stresses. This is probably a crucial process for the operation of low-angle detachments in hydrated and dominantly mafic crust.     

蓬莱9-1潜山岩性组成及其对储层发育的控制

PL9-1潜山油藏是渤海湾盆地储量最大的古潜山油气藏之一,探明储量过亿吨.该油藏发育于庙西北凸起鞍部的中生界花岗岩侵入体顶部.凸起端部变质岩中没有油气发现.油气的分布受岩性控制明显.综合岩心观察、薄片鉴定、X粉晶衍射以及常量元素分析等技术手段,通过对比不同岩石类型的矿物组成、储集空间类型及发育程度,探讨了岩性组成对储层发育的控制作用.研究表明,变质岩中裂缝和孔隙均不发育,不能形成有效储层.花岗岩主要储集空间类型为孔隙-裂缝型,总体具有从砂质风化带→砾质风化带→裂缝带→基岩带,储集空间组合类型从孔隙→孔隙+裂缝→裂缝→不太发育的微裂缝的变化特征.储层厚度大,成层性强,可形成有效的规模性储层.花岗岩与变质岩的矿物组成差异控制了研究区优质储层的发育.变质岩中长石含量极低,不能形成溶蚀孔隙,较高含量(30%~50%)的片状矿物使其在应力作用下易发生塑性变形,不易产生裂缝.花岗岩具有很高的长石含量和含量很低的片状矿物,不仅容易被风化并产生溶蚀孔隙,而且易于发生脆性变形形成裂缝.      

皖南前寒武纪花岗岩类中片麻状构造的成因

本文运用岩组分析等综合研究方法,确定了该区前寒武纪花岗岩类中的片麻状构造属动力变质成因,形成于地壳较深层次(10公里左右)的准韧性剪切带内,发生于距今7.5亿年左右的地质历史时期;其变形方式及变形产物具有从准塑性向脆性转化的特点;岩石的组构类型为S-构造岩和(B+R)-复合构造岩,显示出两次变形的显微组构特征。     

Fluid generation and evolution during exhumation of deeply subducted UHP continental crust: Petrogenesis of composite granite–quartz veins in the Sulu belt,China

Composite granite–quartz veins occur in retrogressed ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogite enclosed in gneiss at General's Hill in the central Sulu belt, eastern China. The granite in the veins has a high‐pressure (HP) mineral assemblage of dominantly quartz+phengite+allanite/epidote+garnet that yields pressures of 2.5–2.1 GPa (Si‐in‐phengite barometry) and temperatures of 850–780°C (Ti‐in‐zircon thermometry) at 2.5 GPa (~20°C lower at 2.1 GPa). Zircon overgrowths on inherited cores and new grains of zircon from both components of the composite veins crystallized at c. 221 Ma. This age overlaps the timing of HP retrograde recrystallization dated at 225–215 Ma from multiple localities in the Sulu belt, consistent with the HP conditions retrieved from the granite. The ε_Hf(t) values of new zircon from both components of the composite veins and the Sr–Nd isotope compositions of the granite consistently lie between values for gneiss and eclogite, whereas δ¹⁸O values of new zircon are similar in the veins and the crustal rocks. These data are consistent with zircon growth from a blended fluid generated internally within the gneiss and the eclogite, without any ingress of fluid from an external source. However, at the peak metamorphic pressure, which could have reached 7 GPa, the rocks were likely fluid absent. During initial exhumation under UHP conditions, exsolution of H₂O from nominally anhydrous minerals generated a grain boundary supercritical fluid in both gneiss and eclogite. As exhumation progressed, the volume of fluid increased allowing it to migrate by diffusing porous flow from grain boundaries into channels and drain from the dominant gneiss through the subordinate eclogite. This produced a blended fluid intermediate in its isotope composition between the two end‐members, as recorded by the composite veins. During exhumation from UHP (coesite) eclogite to HP (quartz) eclogite facies conditions, the supercritical fluid evolved by dissolution of the silicate mineral matrix, becoming increasingly solute‐rich, more ‘granitic’ and more viscous until it became trapped. As crystallization began by diffusive loss of H₂O to the host eclogite concomitant with ongoing exhumation of the crust, the trapped supercritical fluid intersected the solvus for the granite–H₂O system, allowing phase separation and formation of the composite granite–quartz veins. Subsequently, during the transition from HP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions, minor phengite breakdown melting is recorded in both the granite and the gneiss by K‐feldspar+plagioclase+biotite aggregates located around phengite and by K‐feldspar veinlets along grain boundaries. Phase equilibria modelling of the granite indicates that this late‐stage melting records P–T conditions towards the end of the exhumation, with the subsolidus assemblage yielding 0.7–1.1 GPa at <670°C. Thus, the composite granite–quartz veins represent a rare example of a natural system recording how the fluid phase evolved during exhumation of continental crust. The successive availability of different fluid phases attending retrograde metamorphism from UHP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions will affect the transport of trace elements through the continental crust and the role of these fluids as metasomatic agents interacting with the mantle wedge in the subduction channel.     

Evolution of Caledonian deformation fabrics under eclogite and amphibolite facies at Vårdalsneset, Western Gneiss Region, Norway

The Vårdalsneset eclogite situated in the Western Gneiss Region, SW Norway, is a well preserved tectonite giving information about the deformation regimes active in the lower crust during crustal thickening and subsequent exhumation. The eclogite constitutes layers and lenses variably retrograded to amphibolite and is composed of garnet and omphacite with varying amounts of barroisite, actinolite, clinozoisite, kyanite, quartz, paragonite, phengite and rutile. The rocks record a five‐stage evolution connected to Caledonian burial and subsequent exhumation. (1) A prograde evolution through amphibolite facies (T =490±63 °C) is inferred from garnet cores with amphibole inclusions and bell‐shaped Mn profile. (2) Formation of L>S‐tectonite eclogite (T =680±20 °C, P=16±2 kbar) related to the subduction of continental crust during the Caledonian orogeny. Lack of asymmetrical fabrics and orientation of eclogite facies extensional veins indicate that the deformation regime during formation of the L>S fabric was coaxial. (3) Formation of sub‐horizontal eclogite facies foliation in which the finite stretching direction had changed by approximately 90°. Disruption of eclogite lenses and layers between symmetric shear zones characterizes the dominantly coaxial deformation regime of stage 3. Locally occurring mylonitic eclogites (T =690±20 °C, P=15±1.5 kbar) with top‐W kinematics may indicate, however, that non‐coaxial deformation was also active at eclogite facies conditions. (4) Development of a widespread regional amphibolite facies foliation (T =564±44 °C, P<10.3–8.1 kbar), quartz veins and development of conjugate shear zones indicate that coaxial vertical shortening and sub‐horizontal stretching were active during exhumation from eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions. (5) Amphibolite facies mylonites mainly formed under non‐coaxial top‐W movement are related to large‐scale movement on the extensional detachments active during the late‐orogenic extension of the Caledonides. The structural and metamorphic evolution of the Vårdalsneset eclogite and related areas support the exhumation model, including an extensional detachment in the upper crust and overall coaxial deformation in the lower crust.     

定结地区韧性剪切带变形特征与糜棱岩研究

定结地区位于喜马拉雅造山带中段 ,发育有多方向、多尺度、多层次、多期次的韧性剪切带。在剪切带中 ,各种韧性变形组构极为丰富 ,表明剪切带岩石的变形主要为韧性变形机制所致。变形岩石类型为花岗质糜棱岩、长英质糜棱岩和硅质糜棱岩 ;由于岩石受糜棱岩化作用程度的不同 ,在韧性剪切带中发育糜棱岩化岩石、初糜棱岩、糜棱岩及超糜棱岩 ;剪切带岩石的变形温度为 2 0 8～ 5 5 9℃。     

Evidence for dominant grain-boundary sliding deformation in greenschist- and amphibolite-grade polymineralic ultramylonites from the Redbank Deformed Zone, Central Australia

Microstructural and textural investigations by scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques have been performed on samples taken across two quartzo-feldspathic mylonite zones from the Redbank Deformed Zone, Central Australia. One has been deformed at greenschist-facies (GS), the second at amphibolite-facies (Am), conditions. With increasing strain the rock type changes from protomylonite to mylonite to ultramylonite. The protomylonites and mylonites consist of alternating quartz and polymineralic quartz-feldspar bands. At the highest strains a homogeneous, fine-grained polymineralic ultramylonite occurs. Shear-zone geometry and microscale structures indicate that these ultramylonites experienced higher strains and were weaker than the encapsulating protomylonites and mylonites. TEM and SEM studies of the ultramylonites reveal a rectangular to square grain shape, a continuous alignment of grain and interphase boundaries across several grain diameters, a grain size (GS 0.5 μm; Am 5–11 μm) less than the equilibrium subgrain size, and open and void-containing grain and interphase boundaries. Analysis of local textures by electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) in the SEM showed a very weak crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) for the quartz. The grain misorientation relationships are not consistent, with dislocation creep being the dominant deformation mechanism. All structures are of the type expected if grain-boundary sliding processes had contributed significantly to the deformation. Consequently, the deformation of such quartzo-feldspathic rocks, and by implication the rheology of the Redbank Deformed Zone, must have been controlled by the mechanical properties of these fine-grained polymineralic ultramylonites, deforming by grain-boundary sliding processes. This is in contrast to the pure quartz bands which deformed by dislocation-creep mechanisms and were less important in the rheology of the Redbank Deformed Zone.     

Very high strains recorded in mylonites along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: implications for the deep structure of plate boundary faults

Oblique displacement on the Alpine Fault, which forms the principal structure along the Australian–Pacific plate boundary in South Island, New Zealand, has resulted in exhumation of a kilometre-wide mylonite zone in the hanging wall adjacent to the current brittle fault trace. The mylonites formed under amphibolite facies conditions at depths of ca. 25 km and have been uplifted during the past 5 Ma. A suite of 65–70 Ma pegmatite veins in the hanging wall Alpine schists has been progressively deformed within the mylonite zone and sheared out over a strike length of ca. 100 km. Measurements of the thickness distribution of the pegmatite veins within the non-mylonitised schists and at three localities within the progressively strained mylonites have been used to estimate strain values within the mylonites. The thicknesses approximate a log-normal distribution, with a mean value that is progressively reduced through the protomylonites, mylonites and ultramylonites. By assuming that the thickness distribution currently observed in the schists was the same for the pegmatites within the mylonites before strain, a model of deformation incorporating simple shear and simultaneous pure shear is used to strain the undeformed veins until a fit is obtained with the strained distributions. Shear strains calculated range from 12 to 22 for the protomylonites, 120 to 200 for the mylonites and 180 to 300 for the ultramylonites, corresponding to pure shear values of 1–3 in each case. These values are compatible with the strains predicted if most of the surface displacement on the fault over the past 5 Ma were accommodated within a 1–2-km-wide mylonite zone through the middle and lower crusts. The results suggest that processes such as erosional focussing of deformation and thermal weakening may cause intense strain localisation within the lower crust, with plate boundary deformation restricted to narrow zones rather than becoming increasingly distributed over a widening shear zone with depth.     

Dating granulite-facies structures and the exhumation of lower crust in the Moldanubian Zone of the Bohemian Massif

Deformation of granulite-facies rocks in the Moldanubian Zone of the southern Bohemian Massif is expressed in two intersecting planar fabrics - steeply disposed (S₁) and flat-laying (S₂) - which correspond to two deformation stages (D₁) and (D₂). The existing Sm-Nd garnet ages from banded granulite gneisses, new U-Pb zircon data from deformed granite intrusions within the granulite gneisses, and the P-T and field structural relations constrain the ages and P-T conditions of the two deformation phases. The early deformation (D₁) was associated with a HP-HT metamorphic stage with a minimum age of ca. 354 Ma which was followed by a near-isothermal decompression. A concordant U-Pb zircon age of 318ǃ Ma dates the emplacement of intrusions of deformed granite into the granulite gneisses and constrains deformation phase (D₂). This phase was associated with an LP-HT metamorphism dated in the region at ca. 340-330 Ma. The available structural and isotopic data indicate that granulites in the southern Bohemian Massif were exhumed from lower to middle crust during compression. The structural relations and P-T-t data for the studied granulites are consistent with their exhumation by near-vertical extrusion of the softened orogenic root.     

PETROLOGY AND AGE OF THE KINNAR KAILAS GRANITE:EVIDENCES FOR AN ORDOVICIAN POST-OROGENIC EXTENSION IN THE HIGHER HIMALAYAN CRYSTALLINE, SUTLEJ, INDIA.

PETROLOGY AND AGE OF THE KINNAR KAILAS GRANITE:EVIDENCES FOR AN ORDOVICIAN POST-OROGENIC EXTENSION IN THE HIGHER HIMALAYAN CRYSTALLINE, SUTLEJ, INDIA     

Bowing of dimensional granitic stones

Bowing is a well-known phenomenon seen in marbles used as building veneers. This form of rock weathering occurs as a result of external factors such as temperature, humidity, the system for anchoring the marble slabs or the panel dimensions. Under the same external conditions, many factors will determine the degree of deformation including petrography, thermal properties and residual locked stresses. The usual way to solve the problem of bowed marble slabs is to replace them with other materials, such as granites, in which the deformation still exists but is less common. In this study, eight ornamental granites with different mineralogy, grain size, grain shape, porosity and fabric were tested in a laboratory to assess their susceptibility to bowing. Three slabs of granite, each cut with a different orientation, were studied under different conditions of temperature (90 and 120°C) and water saturation (dry and wet) to investigate the influence of these factors together with that of anisotropy. At 90°C, only the granite with the coarsest grain size and low porosity exhibited deformation under wet conditions. At 120°C and wet conditions, three of the granites showed evident signs of bowing. Again, the granite with the coarsest grain size was the most deformed. It was concluded that the wide grain size distribution influences microcracking more than other expected factors, such as the quartz content of the rock. Also, mineral shape-preferred orientation and porosity play an important role in the bowing of the studied granites.