Petrological evolution of amphibolite shear zones, Cheyenne Belt, south-eastern Wyoming, USA

Abstract Metre-scale amphibolite boudins in the Cheyenne Belt of south-eastern Wyoming are cut and deformed by shear zones which preserve a full strain transition across 7 cm, from relatively undeformed amphibolite with a relict igneous texture to mylonitic amphibolite with an L-S tectonic fabric. The strain transition is marked by the progressive rotation of amphibole + plagioclase aggregates into parallelism with the shear-zone boundary. An increase in strain magnitude is indicated by development of the tectonic fabric and progressive reduction of amphibole and plagioclase grain size as a result of cataclasis. Bulk chemistry of five samples across a single strain transition shows no significant or systematic variation in major element chemistry except for a minor loss of SiO₂, which indicates that the shear zone was a system essentially closed to non-volatile components during metamorphism and deformation. Amphibolites throughout the shear zone consist of amphibole and plagioclase with only minor amounts of quartz, chlorite, epidote, titanite and ilmenite. Within the relatively undeformed amphibolite, amphibole and plagioclase have wide compositional ranges in single thin sections. Amphibole compositions vary from actinolitic hornblende to magnesio-hornblende with increases in Al, Fe, Na and K contents and decreases in Si and Mg that can be modelled as progress along tschermakite, edenite and FeMg_-1 exchange vectors from tremolite. Plagioclase ranges from An₆₀ in cores to An₃₀ within grain-boundary domains. With increasing strain magnitude, local variation of amphibole composition decreases as amphibole becomes predominantly magnesio-hornblende. Plagioclase composition range also decreases, although grain-boundary domains still have higher albite content. These petrological data indicate that shear-zone metamorphism was controlled by the magnitude of strain during synmetamorphic deformation. SEM and microprobe imaging indicate that chemical reactions occurred by a dissolution and reprecipitation process during or after cataclastic deformation. This suggests that grain-boundary formation was an important process in the petrological evolution of the shear zone, possibly by providing zones for fluid ingress to facilitate metamorphic reactions. These results highlight the necessity for conducting detailed microstructural evaluation of rocks in order to interpret petrological, isotopic and geochronological data.     

Strain distribution within a km-scale,mid-crustal shear zone: The Kuckaus Mylonite Zone,Namibia

The subvertical Kuckaus Mylonite Zone (KMZ) is a km-wide, crustal-scale, Proterozoic, dextral strike-slip shear zone in the Aus granulite terrain, SW Namibia. The KMZ was active under retrograde, amphibolite to greenschist facies conditions, and deformed felsic (and minor mafic) gneisses which had previously experienced granulite facies metamorphism during the Namaqua Orogeny. Lenses of pre- to syn-tectonic leucogranite bodies are also deformed in the shear zone. Pre-KMZ deformation (D₁) is preserved as moderately dipping gneissic foliations and tightly folded migmatitic layering. Shear strain within the KMZ is heterogeneous, and the shear zone comprises anastomosing high strain ultramylonite zones wrapping around less deformed to nearly undeformed lozenges. Strain is localized along the edge of leucogranites and between gneissic lozenges preserving D₁ migmatitic foliations. Strain localization appears controlled by pre-existing foliations, grain size, and compositional anisotropy between leucogranite and granulite. The local presence of retrograde minerals indicate that fluid infiltration occurred in places, but most ultramylonite in the KMZ is free of retrograde minerals. In particular, rock composition and D₁ fabric heterogeneity are highlighted as major contributors to the strain distribution in time and space, with deformation localization along planes of rheological contrast and along pre-existing foliations. Therefore, the spatial distribution of strain in crustal-scale ductile shear zones may be highly dependent on lithology and the orientation of pre-existing fabric elements. In addition, foliation development and grain size reduction in high strain zones further localizes strain during progressive shear, maintaining the anastomosing shear zone network established by the pre-existing heterogeneity.     

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.     

Strain geometry,microstructure and mineral chemistry in metagabbro shear zones: a study of softening mechanisms during progressive mylonitization

The strain geometry, microstructure and metamorphism is described from two minor shear zones from the Chatelaudren metagabbro, N. Brittany. A serially slabbed shear zone reveals a strain geometry consistent with simple shear deformation. Strain calculations based on X trajectory angles coincide with those obtained from elliptical mineral clusters at high values of strain only. Strain profiles typically show a broad low-strain region with a narrow high-strain peak at the centre of the zones. Microstructures typically show distinct grain size reduction in both amphibole and feldspar towards the high strain region of shear zones, and this is discussed in terms of deformation mechanisms related to strain softening. A palaeostress estimate based on recrystallized feldspar grain sizes gives a differential stress of 32 MPa for the low strain region and 119 MPa in the shear zone centre. Electron probe analyses reveal chemical and mineralogical changes accompanying metamorphism within the shear zones. This suggests local conditions favourable for ionic diffusion and the activity of fluids is implied.     

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.     

Comment on “Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the Fiskenaesset anorthosite complex,southern West Greenland: Nature of the parent magma” by B. L. Weaver,J. Tarney and B. Windley

Evidence that REE have been metamorphically redistributed between plagioclase feldspar and mafic minerals, as suggested by Weaveret al. (1981) is not forthcoming from the six Fiskenaesset rocks used in the study. REE patterns of the separated feldspars and of two rocks containing small modal amounts of mafic minerals are consistent with a light REE-enriched magma during the formation of the Fiskenaesset Complex.     

In situ differentiation and evolution of potassic syenites from Svidnya, Bulgaria

Potassic syenites from Svidnya, Bulgaria crop out as small isolated bodies as the primary for this intrusion liquid has basic to intermediate composition. The evolution in a closed magma chamber created plutonic rocks ranging from basic (melasyenite) to acid (granite) and from metaluminous to peralkaline. The most mafic varieties show cumulative textures typical for orthocumulates with cumulus phases clinopyroxene, biotite, apatite and potassium feldspar as gravitational settling is a viable process for separation of particles in the bottom parts of magma chamber. In the middle stratigraphic level of biggest body modal igneous layering with development of dark (clinopyroxene?+?amphibole) and light (potassium feldspar) laminas was observed. Oscillatory crystallization around eutectic point resulted in cyclic separation of mafic and felsic phases in repetitive layers. Fractionation of Ca- and Al-rich phases—clinopyroxene, biotie and potassium feldspar created peralkaline residual liquid strongly enriched in HFS elements.     

Transposed high-pressure granulite fabrics (Cabo Ortegal, NW Spain): Implications on the scales of deformation localization

High-pressure granulite facies rocks of the Bacariza Formation (Cabo Ortegal, NW Spain) were syn-metamorphically deformed at the contacts with the bounding units (peridotite and eclogite massifs). This enabled the formation of meter-thick, spectacular shear zones with reworked and transposed foliations and lineations. The texturally stable mineral assemblage of the new fabrics records an intense, ductile deformation of the mineral aggregate at temperatures of 700–800 °C associated with amalgamation of eclogite, high-pressure granulitic rocks and ultramafic sheets in deep portions of a subduction channel. The lattice preferred orientation of the main constituent minerals (garnet, augite, amphibole, plagioclase, quartz and biotite) discloses the active deformation mechanisms at the scale of the mineral grains and the relationships with the deformation at larger scales. Overprinting relationships of the metamorphic assemblages demonstrates that partitioning and deformation localization occurred at different scales under similar high-grade conditions. Complete macroscopic transposition in the shear zones was complementary to meso and microscopic partitioning of deformation intensity and mechanisms between different lithological layers and mineral species.     

The low temperature brittle-ductile transition in a quartzite and the occurrence of cataclastic flow in nature

The paper describes the mechanical and microstructural characteristics associated with the brittle to cataclastic flow transition in an orthoquarzite (Oughtibridge Ganister), and compares its microstructural development with features of cataclastic deformation of rocks in nature. The brittle to ductile transition in dry ganister occurs at about 600 MPa at room temperature. At lower pressures shear oriented grain boundary cracks form both pre and post peak strength, loosening the microstructure to the point at which axial transgranular cracks develop. Fault zone localization then occurs. At high pressures fault localization is suppressed by friction, and cataclastic flow occurs by the formation of ultracataclasite shear zones around each grain boundary, Rhomb shaped, relatively intact grain cores survive to high (greater than 20%) strains. Hardening mechanisms responsible for the ductility are discussed. It is shown that natural zones of intense cataclasis (fault zones) often develop microstructures comparable with those seen in these experiments, but the less intense cataclastic flow often associated with folding of rocks at high crustal levels in the external zones of orogenic belts is not comparable inasmuch as grain-scale catalaclasis does not normally occur. It is emphasised that finite strain microstructural similarity does not necessarily point to comparable deformation paths and stress history.     

The Serra da Graciosa A-type Granites and Syenites, southern Brazil: Part 2: Petrographic and mineralogical evolution of the alkaline and aluminous associations

The Serra da Graciosa Granites and Syenites comprise five distinct plutons in the Brasiliano/Pan-African Graciosa A-type Province, southern Brazil. Six petrographic series can be identified in these plutons: (1) Alkaline series 1, composed of amphibole-bearing alkali feldspar syenites with varied mafic mineralogy and quartz contents, from alkali feldspar syenites with calcic amphibole, clinopyroxene, olivine and allanite to alkali feldspar quartz syenites with sodic–calcic amphibole and chevkinite–perrierite and to alkali feldspar granites with sodic amphibole; (2) Alkaline series 2, characterized by amphibole-bearing alkali feldspar granites, with limited modal variations but amphibole compositions also varying from calcic to sodic; (3) Alkaline series 3, of limited occurrence, which includes alkali feldspar syenites with olivine and clinopyroxene and no amphibole; (4) Aluminous series 1, of widespread occurrence, with various petrographic facies of biotite granites with amphibole; (5) Aluminous series 2, characterized by alkali feldspar granites with biotite and only minor amphibole; (6) Monzodiorites, typically with biotite, calcic amphibole and augitic clinopyroxene, partially mingled with granitic magmas. The mafic minerals present are, in general, Fe-rich with correspondingly low Mg and Al contents. In Alkaline series 1, amphiboles crystallized in progressively more oxidizing and alkaline conditions, while in Alkaline series 2, the initial conditions were somewhat more oxidizing and shifted to reducing in the final stages. In Aluminous series 1 and Aluminous series 2, amphiboles are calcic and comparatively homogeneous. The amphiboles in the monzodioritic rocks, while also homogeneous, are more Mg-rich and show compositions quite distinct from the calcic varieties in the other associations, and this is also the case for clinopyroxene. Mg# in biotite decreases from the monzodioritic rocks to Aluminous series 1 and further to Aluminous series 2. Contrasting evolution of the various associations suggests that several coeval magmatic series are present in the Serra da Graciosa granites.     

Local disequilibrium of plagioclase in high-temperature shear zones of the Ivrea Zone, Italy

Abstract Microstructural and chemical analysis of plagioclase in 20 superficially similar amphibolite facies ductile shear zones in metagabbors and amphibolites of the Ivrea Zone in Italy reveals significant differences in An and Ba contents. Plagioclase, which was deformed at P-T conditions lower than those of the wall rocks, occurs in the following four different microstructural situations with different chemical compositions: (i) relatively undeformed porphyroclasts, (ii) dynamically recrystallized grains and subgrains rimming the porphyroclasts, (iii) infill of microcracks cross-cutting the porphyroclasts and (iv) fine-grained recrystallized grains in the matrix of the shear zones. The differences in the An and Ba contents are caused by partial chemical equilibration of plagioclase in the shear zones during and partly after deformation. Changes in An and Ba contents were caused by fluid-assisted grain-boundary migration recrystallization, as well as by solid-state diffusion, while fluid activity was high. The relation between the composition and microstructures of the plagioclase in the shear zones indicates that in the different shear zones, fluids ceased to be active during different stages in the late shear zone deformation history.
The interpretation of the variations in composition and microstructures reveals that only grains that developed by grain-boundary migration recrystallization and that are not adjacent to porphyroclasts reflect P-T conditions during the dominant shear-zone deformation.     

Crystal fractionation in the petrogenesis of an alkali monzodiorite–syenite series: the Oshurkovo plutonic sheeted complex, Transbaikalia, Russia

The Oshurkovo Complex is a plutonic sheeted complex which represents numerous successive magmatic injections into an expanding system of subparallel and subvertical fractures. It comprises a wide range of rock types including alkali monzodiorite, monzonite, plagioclase-bearing and alkali-feldspar syenites, in the proportion of about 70% mafic rocks to 30% syenite. We suggest that the variation within the complex originated mainly by fractional crystallization of a tephrite magma.

The mafic rocks are considered as plutonic equivalents of lamprophyres. They exhibit a high abundance of ternary feldspar and apatite, the latter may attain 7–8 vol.% in monzodiorite. Ternary feldspar is also abundant in the syenites. The entire rock series is characterized by high Ba and Sr concentrations in the bulk rock samples (3000–7000 ppm) and in feldspars (up to 1 wt.%). The mafic magma had amphibole at the liquidus at 1010–1030 °C based on amphibole geothermometer. Temperatures as low as this were due to high H₂O and P₂O₅ contents in the melt (up to 4–6 and 2 wt.%, respectively). Crystallization of the syenitic magmas began at about 850 °C (based on ternary feldspar thermometry). The series was formed at an oxygen fugacity from the NNO to HM buffer, or even higher.

The evolution of the alkali monzodiorite–syenite series by fractional crystallization of a tephritic magma is established on the basis of geological, mineralogical, geochemical and Sm–Nd and Rb–Sr isotope data. The geochemical modeling suggests that fractionation of amphibole with subordinate apatite from the tephrite magma leaves about 73 wt.% of the residual monzonite melt. Further extraction of amphibole and plagioclase with minor apatite and Fe–Ti oxides could bring to formation of a syenite residuum. Rb–Sr isotopic analyses of biotite, apatite and whole-rock samples constrain the minimum age of basic intrusions at ca. 130 Ma and that of cross-cutting granite pegmatites at ca. 120 Ma. Hence the entire evolution took place in an interval of ≤10 My. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios for the mafic rocks range from 0.70511 to 0.70514, and for syenites from 0.70525 to 0.70542. Initial _Nd (130 Ma) values for mafic rocks vary from −1.9 to −2.4, and for syenites from −2.9 to −3.5. In a _Nd(T) vs. (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i diagram, all rock types of the complex fall in the enriched portion of the Mantle Array, suggesting their derivation from a metasomatized mantle source. However, the small but distinguishable difference in Sr and Nd isotopic compositions between mafic rocks and syenites probably resulted from mild (10–20%) crustal contamination during differentiation. Large negative Nb anomalies are interpreted as a characteristic feature of the source region produced by Precambrian fluid metasomatism above a subduction zone rather than by crustal contamination.     

岩石扩散蠕变及其地质意义

总结了近十年来岩石扩散蠕变显微构造鉴别特征，研究方法的最新进展，矿物颗粒大小和流体（包括熔体和水）等是影响扩散蠕变的重要因素。扩散蠕变与位错蠕变和超塑性变形有密切关系，它的研究对大陆裂谷化过程，大陆碰撞带中岩石圈地幔强度弱化，中下地壳韧性剪切应变局限化以及与相变有关的矿物粒度细小化作用的分布有重要应用意义。     

Fluid flow,metasomatism and amphibole deformation in an imbricated ophiolite,North Cascades,Washington

Metasomatic tremolite-rich mylonites are widespread in imbricate thrust slices of ultramafic rocks of the ophiolitic Ingalls Complex in Washington State. Protoliths for these amphibolite-facies mylonites were peridotite and serpentinite. Abundant syntectonic tremolite veins in the ultramafites record narrowly channelized flow of infiltrating fluids, whereas metasomatic mylonite zones record more pervasive flow. Fluids were probably released mainly by prograde devolatization reactions within serpentinite and mafic ophiolitic rocks that experienced earlier hydrothermal metamorphism.Olivine apparently deformed by dislocation creep in the mylonites. In the tremolite-rich rocks, locally preserved amphibole porphyroclasts deformed mainly by microfracturing. Acicular tremolites, which dominate the mylonites, form syntectonic overgrowths on porphyroclasts and probably record diffusive mass transfer which may have accompanied cataclasis. Acicular tremolites subsequently were folded and define both post-crystalline crenulations and polygonal arcs.Fluid flow, deformation and metamorphism were apparently complexly interrelated in the imbricate zone. Thrusts juxtaposed contrasting rock types that were sources and sinks for fluids, and shear zones focused fluid flow. Metamorphism probably facilitated deformation through the release of fluids during dehydration reactions. High fluid pressure may have led to hydraulic fracturing and may have controlled strain softening in the tremolitic mylonite zones as it favored microcracking and diffusive mass transfer over dislocation creep. Infiltrating metasomatic fluids probably play an important role in the evolution of shear zones in many ultramafic bodies during medium-grade metamorphism.     

Microstructure and geochemistry of plagioclase and microcline in naturally deformed granite

Naturally deformed feldspars from foliated granites in a shear zone in Newfoundland exhibit transitional brittle-ductile behaviour. Brittle failure is subordinate to dynamic recrystallization, microcracking, strain enhanced diffusion and reaction enhanced ductility during the deformation. Both plagioclase (An₂₈) and K-feldspar are transformed to albite with increasing strain. Interaction of metamorphic and structural processes at the grain scale is emphasised. This is illustrated with examples of quartz-filled veins (segregation bands) in plagioclase and recrystallized polycrystalline aggregates in plagioclase and K-feldspar. The role of microcracking in plagioclase and of pre-existing internal growth structures in the formation of initially coarse grained recrystallized aggregates from large single crystals is suggested.     

Metamorphism and deformation of mafic and felsic rocks in a magma transfer zone,Stewart Island,New Zealand

In the mingled mafic/felsic Halfmoon Pluton at The Neck, Stewart Island (part of the Median Batholith of New Zealand) some hornblende gabbros and diorites retain magmatic structures, whereas others show evidence of major changes in grain and inclusion shapes, and still others are amphibolite‐facies granofelses with few or no igneous relicts. These mafic to intermediate magmas crystallized in felsic magma relatively quickly, with the result that most deformation occurred at subsolidus conditions. It is suggested that mafic‐intermediate rocks with predominantly igneous microstructures spent less time in the magmatic system. The metamorphism of the mafic rocks appears to be ‘autometamorphic’, in the sense that elevated temperatures were maintained by magmatic heat during subsolidus cooling. Elevated temperatures were maintained because of repeated sheet injection and subconcordant dyke injection of hot basaltic and composite mafic‐felsic magmas, into a dominantly transtensional, km‐scale, outboard‐migrating, magmatic shear zone that operated semi‐continuously for between c. 140 and c. 130 Ma. Complete cooling occurred only when the system evolved to transpressional and the locus of magmatism migrated inboard (southward) between c. 130 and c. 120 Ma, associated with solid‐state mylonitic deformation. Intermingled granitic rocks escaped metamorphism, because they remained magmatic to lower temperatures, and experienced shorter and lower‐temperature subsolidus cooling intervals. However, the felsic rocks underwent relatively high‐temperature solid‐state deformation, as indicated by myrmekite replacing K‐feldspar and chess‐board subgrain patterns in quartz; locally they developed felsic mylonites. The felsic rocks were deformed in the solid state because of their high proportion of relatively weak minerals (quartz and biotite), whereas the mafic rocks mostly escaped subsolidus deformation, except in local high‐strain zones of hornblende‐plagioclase schist, because of their high proportion of relatively strong minerals (hornblende and plagioclase). We suggest that such contrasting microstructural features are diagnostic of long‐lived syntectonic magma transfer zones, and contrast with the more typical complex, batholith‐scale magma chambers of magmatic arcs.     

Study of the brittle fracture process under uniaxial compression

Static friction along inclined cracks in photoelastic models increases with both the loading and frictional displacement before the larger crack-wall asperities are broken or completely over-ridden. Elastic shocks resulting from successive stick-slip during this stage can be repeated more or less indefinitely with repeated loading and unloading. Locked-in residual stresses, especially around crack tips, result when the model is unloaded, because of frictional coupling between crack walls. Favorable crack arrays for initial growth in the model include particular sets of en-echelon cracks inclined 45° to the stress axis, but the critical orientation may be smaller in brittle rock if crack-wall friction in rock is greater than in the model. Axial growth of en-echelon cleavage cracks, inclined at angles smaller than 45°, was observed in feldspar during deformation of a pegmatite having a mineralogy and texture similar to granite. Their growth follows predictions derived from photoelastic model studies.Crack growth in the pegmatite begins between half and two-thirds of the ultimate strength. The first flaws to grow, however, also include pre-existing axially oriented cleavage cracks in the feldspar. Crack growth occurs randomly throughout the specimen as stress is increased, without much evidence that grain boundaries are activated for crack growth. But when the applied stress approaches the ultimate strength, two new features are observed. There is an abrupt development of finite frictional slip along favorably inclined flaws and grain boundaries, beginning with displacements of the order of the dimensions of grain-boundary asperities. Crack growth still occurs at various locations throughout the specimen at this stage, but there is also a detectable concentration of growth along potential shear zones. Flaw-wall friction appears to be one of the critical factors that determine the pegmatite's ultimate strength and the instability of through-going fracture.     

Geometric consequences of ductile fabric development from brittle shear faults in mafic melt sheets: Evidence from the Sudbury Igneous Complex,Canada

Compared to felsic igneous rocks the genetic relationship between brittle and ductile fabric development and its influence on the geometry of deformed mafic melt sheets has received little attention in structural analyses. We explore these relationships using the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) as an example. The SIC is the relic of a layered impact melt sheet that was transformed into a fold basin, the Sudbury Basin, during Paleoproterozoic deformation at the southern margin of the Archean Superior Province. We studied brittle and ductile strain fabrics on the outcrop and map scales in the southern Sudbury Basin, notably in the Norite and Quartz Gabbro layers of the SIC. Here, deformation is heterogeneous and occurred under variable rheological conditions, evident by the development of brittle shear fractures, brittle-ductile shear zones and pervasive ductile strain. The mineral fabrics formed under low- to middle greenschist-facies metamorphism, whereby brittle deformation caused hydrolytic weakening and ductile fabric development. Principal strain axes inferred from all structural elements are collinear and point to a single deformation regime that led to thinning of SIC layers during progressive deformation. Ductile fabric development profoundly influenced the orientation of SIC material planes, such as lithological contacts and magmatic mineral fabrics. More specifically, these planar structural elements are steep where the SIC underwent large magnitudes of thinning, i.e., in the south limb of the Sudbury Basin. Here, the actual tilt component of material planes is likely smaller than its maximum total rotation (60°) inferred from inclined igneous layering in the Norite. Our field-based study shows that ductile fabric development from brittle faults can have a profound influence on the rotational components of primary material planes in deformed igneous melt sheets.     

Grain-scale melt distribution in two contact aureole rocks: implications for controls on melt localization and deformation

The grain‐scale spatial arrangement of melt in layer‐parallel leucosomes in two anatectic rocks from two different contact aureoles located in central Maine, USA, is documented and used to constrain the controls on grain‐scale melt localization. The spatial distribution of grain‐scale melt is inferred from microstructural criteria for recognition of mineral pseudomorphs after melt and mineral grains of the solid matrix that hosted the melt. In both rocks, feldspar mimics the grain‐scale distribution of melt, and quartz is the major constituent of the solid matrix. The feldspar pockets consist of individual feldspar grains or aggregates of feldspar grains that show cuspate outlines. They have low average width/length ratios (0.54 and 0.55, respectively), and are interstitial between more rounded and equant (width/length ratios 0.65 for both samples) quartz grains. In two dimensions, the feldspar pockets extend over distances equivalent to multiple quartz grain diameters, possibly forming a connected three‐dimensional intergranular network. Both samples show similar mesoscopic structural elements and in both samples the feldspar pockets have a shape‐preferred orientation. In one sample, feldspar inferred to replace melt is aligned subparallel to the shape‐preferred orientation of quartz, indicating that pre‐ or syn‐anatectic strain controlled the grain‐scale distribution of melt. In the other sample, the preferred orientation of feldspar inferred to replace melt is different from the orientations of all other mesoscopic or microscopic structures in the rock, indicating that differential stress controlled grain‐scale melt localization. This is probably facilitated by conditions of higher differential stress, which may have promoted microfracturing. Grain‐scale melt distribution and inferred melt localization controls give insight into possible grain‐scale deformation mechanisms in melt‐bearing rocks. Application of these results to the interpretation of deep crustal anatectic rocks suggests that grain‐scale melt distribution should be controlled primarily by pre‐ or syn‐anatectic deformation. Feedback relations between melt localization and deformation are to be expected, with important implications for deformation and tectonic evolution of melt‐bearing rocks.     

Fabric evolution at basement–cover interfaces in a fold-and-thrust belt and implications for décollement tectonics (Autochthon, Lower Allochthon, central Scandinavian Caledonides)

Microstructural and magnetic investigations (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, AMS) on sections across basement–cover interfaces (BCI) revealed a complex evolution in the crystalline basement rocks beneath and in the basal units of the Caledonian fold-and-thrust belt: (1) Pre-Caledonian mylonitic fabrics in basement granite relate to steep shear zones. (2) Palaeoweathering formed smectite and illite at the expense of feldspar and mica. Secondary Fe-bearing clay minerals and the intensity of the chemical weathering control the bulk susceptibility. Changing susceptibility and AMS relate to a (time) sequence from primary magnetite to secondary paramagnetic clay to pyrite and ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite. (3) Burial compaction with BCI-parallel fabrics. (4) Caledonian cleavage, overprinted by décollement zones with S–C–C′ fabrics. Décollement cataclasis overprinted pre-existing magnetic fabrics and produced horizontal magnetic lineations and subhorizontal foliations defined by the S–C–C′ fabrics. Clay mineral enrichment, together with subsequent, BCI-parallel compaction fabrics, decreased the shear strength in the basement rocks beneath the BCI. Detachments initiated at such low-strength zones and produced allochthonous units with their footwall within crystalline basement rocks, an observation of general importance for orogenic fold-and-thrust belts.