Grain-size-sensitive creep of plagioclase accompanied by solution–precipitation and mass transfer under mid-crustal conditions

We report here on a study of three deformed granitoids: two mylonites and an ultramylonite from the inner ductile shear zone of the Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan. Monophase layers composed of quartz, plagioclase or K-feldspar are present in all samples. The plagioclase-rich layers consist of grains 6–10 μm in size, and sometimes include patchy K-feldspar and quartz, indicating solution-precipitation. In the mylonite, the fine-grained plagioclase is mainly An_23–25 and, the composition of plagioclase porphyroclast is An_21–39 without any significant maximum. The An compositions together with textural observations indicate that fine-grained plagioclase nucleated from solution with mass transfer during deformation. In the ultramylonite, fine-grained plagioclase is widely changed to be An_15–37, indicating that the grain-size-reduction process includes fracturing of original plagioclase porphyroclasts in addition to the solution–precipitation process, which results in the composition concentrated around An₃₀. In all samples, the crystallographic orientations of fine-grained plagioclases are almost random and do not correlate with neighbouring porphyroclasts. Grain-size-sensitive creep occurred during rock deformation subsequent to the process of solution–precipitation that involved mass transfer via fluids.     

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.     

Grain-size reduction of feldspars by fracturing and neocrystallization in a low-grade granitic mylonite and its rheological effect

Feldspar grain-size reduction occurred due to the fracturing of plagioclase and K-feldspar, myrmekite formation and neocrystallization of albitic plagioclase along shear fractures of K-feldspar porphyroclasts in the leucocratic granitic rocks from the Yecheon shear zone of South Korea that was deformed under a middle greenschist-facies condition. The neocrystallization of albitic plagioclase was induced by strain energy adjacent to the shear fractures and by chemical free energy due to the compositional disequilibrium between infiltrating Na-rich fluid and host K-feldspar. With increasing deformation from protomylonite to mylonite, alternating layers of feldspar, quartz and muscovite developed. The fine-grained feldspar-rich layers were deformed dominantly by granular flow, while quartz ribbons were deformed by dislocation creep. With layer development and a more distributed strain in the mylonite, lower stresses in the quartz-rich layers resulted in a larger size of dynamically recrystallized quartz grains than that of the protomylonite.     

Hydrothermal alteration studies of gabbros from Northern Central Indian Ridge and their geodynamic implications

Mylonitic gabbro and altered gabbro were recovered from off-axis high and corner high locations at ridge-transform intersection, adjacent to Vityaz transform fault of the slow spreading (32–35 mm/yr, full spreading) Northern Central Indian Ridge. Both the varieties show signatures of extensive alteration caused due to interaction with sea water. Mylonitic gabbro represents high temperature metamorphism (∼700–800°C) and comprised of hornblende mineral which exhibits well defined foliation/gneissic appearance along with dynamically recrystallised plagioclase grains frequently intercalated with magnetite-ilmenite. Altered gabbro from corner high generally includes low temperature greenschist grade (∼300°C) mineralogical assemblages: chlorite, albite, quartz and locally magnesio hornblende. Crystal plastic deformation resulted in mylonite formation and often porphyroclasts of plagioclase and clinopyroxene grains, while altered gabbro locally exhibits cataclastic texture. Presence of Vityaz transform fault and adjacent megamullion at the weakly magmatic ridge-transform intersection and off-axis high locations prompted the present scenario very much conducive for hydrothermal circulation and further facilitate the exhumation of present suite of gabbro.     

Fabric controls on strain accommodation in naturally deformed mylonites: The influence of interconnected micaceous layers

We present microstructural analyses demonstrating how the geometrical distribution and interconnectivity of mica influences quartz crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) development in naturally deformed rocks. We use a polymineralic (Qtz + Pl + Kfs + Bt + Ms ± Grt ± Tur) mylonite from the Zanskar Shear Zone, a section of the South Tibetan Detachment (NW Himalaya), to demonstrate how quartz CPO intensity decreases from quartz-dominated domains to micaceous domains, independently of whether or not quartz grains are pinned by mica grains. We then use a bimineralic (Qtz + Ms) mylonite from the Main Central Thrust (NW Himalaya) to show how increasing mica grain connectivity is concomitant with a systematic weakening of quartz CPO. Our results draw distinctions between CPO weakening due to: (i) second phase drag, leading to ineffective recovery in quartz; and (ii) increased transmission and localisation of strain between interconnected mica grains. In the latter case, well-connected micaceous layers take up most of the strain, weakening the rock and preventing straining of the stronger quartz matrix. Our findings suggest that rock weakening in quartz-rich crustal rocks is influenced not only by the presence of mica-rich layers but also the degree of mica grain connectivity, which allows for more effective strain localization through the entire rock mass.     

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 comment on diffusion and the displacement of atoms in metamorphic transformations

Experimental data on diffusion in olivine , are used to define certain terms – diffusion coefficient, jump frequency, characteristic distance, random walk – that are useful in a discussion of atom displacements under natural conditions. Examples of atom displacements in two metamorphic terranes of the Canadian Precambrian Shield are then examined, as follows. (i) In a high‐grade metamorphic terrane in the Mid‐Proterozoic Grenville Province (Otter Lake Area), Mg concentration gradients about dolomite microcrystals in calcite and Na gradients about albite microcrystals in K‐feldspar are viewed as stranded Mg–Ca and Na–K interdiffusion gradients, formed by exsolution during slow cooling from ~700 to ~400 °C. (ii) In the Archean Slave Province (Yellowknife area), the crystallization of sillimanite, near andalusite but within crystals of quartz, possibly occurred by coupled Al–Si and oxygen–vacancy interdiffusion in quartz at ~550 °C. And the crystallization of garnet from chlorite occurred by the two‐way crystal‐boundary diffusion of several kinds of atoms across distances ranging to 3 mm. (iii) In the Otter Lake area, the crystallization of orthopyroxene–hornblende–spinel reaction zones at boundaries between crystals of olivine and plagioclase in metagabbro, evidently occurred by the mechanism of interstitial diffusion, that transported Mg, Fe, Mn and O atoms across the reaction zone from olivine to the plagioclase–(hornblende+spinel) boundary, and Si, Al, Ca and Na atoms from plagioclase to the olivine–orthopyroxene boundary, accompanied by NaSi–CaAl interdiffusion in plagioclase, and the addition of hydrogen and minor Ti, Zn, F, Cl and K from beyond the reaction zone. Also, centimetric reaction zones, with abundant biotite and plagioclase, at boundaries between K‐feldspar gneiss and deformed amphibolite dykes, evidently formed by the reaction, strained hornblende (in amphibolite) + K‐feldspar (in gneiss)→biotite (in amphibolite) + plagioclase (in gneiss), with crystal‐boundary diffusion of (Na + Ca) atoms and of K atoms across the reaction zone.     

Coexisting ultramylonite and pseudotachylyte from the eastern segment of the Mahanadi shear zone, Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt

Pseudotachylytes occur associated with mylonite and ultramylonite in the Mahanadi shear zone (MSZ) in the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB). The MSZ is about 200 km long curvilinear high strain zone trending WNW-ESE in its eastern part that splays out in the west. In Kantilo-Ganian segment of MSZ in northern EGMB, an interbanded sequence of granulite facies lithoassemblage has undergone ductile shearing. Kinematic studies of mylonite and ultramylonite indicate MSZ to be a NE-dipping, extensional type ductile shear zone. Non-coaxial metamorphic growth of garnet and presence of truncated sillimanite-fish in ultramylonite suggest high temperature regime during shearing. Pseudotachylytes in MSZ occur as millimetre thick layers to decimetre thick zones containing fragments of mylonite, ultramylonite and lithic clasts. Pseudotachylyte generation veins are mostly sub-parallel to C-planes and the injection veins cross-cut at high angle to these. The presence of an isotropic glassy matrix, injection features, corroded grains and dendritic microlites can be evidences for the existence of a melt phase. The composition of pseudotachylyte matrix (by EPMA) indicates silica deficiency with higher normative hypersthene, plagioclase and lower quartz compared with average whole rock composition for host. Absence of overprinting of mylonitic fabric on pseudotachylytes indicates their formation by brittle failure without passing through a plastic deformation and thus a two stage development for mylonite-ultramylonite and pseudotachylyte generation is suggested.     

Deformation microstructures in experimentally deformed Maryland diabase

Experimentally deformed Maryland diabase has been examined using the transmission electron microscope in order to determine the mechanisms of deformation operative over a range of temperatures and pressures and thereby aid in the interpretation of polyphase flow data. Deformation mechanisms within the plagioclase and clinopyroxene of the diabase have been compared to those within monomineralic aggregates of these phases deformed at the same conditions. Both phases deform by microfracturing, mechanical twinning, and intracrystalline slip.Data for the monomineralic aggregates show that plagioclase is stronger than clinopyroxene at <800°C, but weaker at ≥ 800°C, for a pressure of 15 kbar and strain rate of 10^?6/sec. Observations of the diabase are consistent with this result: at < 800°C, the plagioclase and pyroxene grains are about equally strained, whereas at ≥ 800°C, almost all of the sample strain is accommodated by the plagioclase, the more continuous phase.     

Dissolution and precipitation processes in deformed amphibolites: an example from the ductile shear zone of the Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan

The granitic mylonite zone in the Cretaceous Ryoke metamorphic belt contains deformed amphibolites as thin layers. The amphibolite layers do not exhibit pinch‐and‐swell or boudinage structures, even when contained in a high‐strain granitic mylonite. This mode of occurrence suggests that they were deformed as much as the surrounding granite mylonite. In the highly deformed zone, strongly foliated amphibolites contain Ti‐rich brown amphibole porphyroclasts rimmed by Ti‐poor green amphibole, titanite and chlorite. These porphyroclasts are elongated, forming shear surfaces defined by preferential distribution of the chlorite and titanite. Porphyroclastic plagioclase in the strongly foliated amphibolites consists of two components: an anorthite‐rich core and an anorthite‐poor rim. Based on these observations, the mass‐balanced reaction occurring during deformation is defined as As the reaction products form a weak interconnected matrix, the strain rate of the amphibolites may be controlled by the rate of dissolution–precipitation through fluids. Weakly foliated amphibolites in the low‐strain zone exhibit cataclastic microstructures, whereas the strongly foliated amphibolites do not exhibit such features. These microstructural and chemical changes suggest that high‐strain amphibolites were initially deformed by cataclasis, followed by deformation through metamorphic reactions. During the metamorphism/deformation, old plagioclase grains with high X_an were not stable and dissolved, and new plagioclase grains with low X_an crystallized at the old plagioclase rim. Dissolution of old plagioclase and precipitation of new plagioclase occurred normal to and parallel to the foliation, respectively, reflecting incongruent pressure solution due to differential stress and changes in P–T–H₂O conditions. The development of incongruent pressure solution is attributed to increased fluid flux in the strongly foliated amphibolites, as evidenced by the greater abundance of hydration‐reaction products in the strongly foliated amphibolites than in the weakly foliated ones.     

Characterisation of deformation and flow mechanics around porphyroclasts in a calcite marble ultramylonite by means of EBSD analysis

This paper studies the flow heterogeneity around porphyroclasts associated with greenschist facies deformation of a calcite marble shear zone. Microstructural data from electron backscatter diffraction analyses (EBSD) are used to constrain the flow mechanics of this dominantly non-coaxial type of deformation. The microstructure of the undisturbed ultramylonite (grain-size range 5–100 μm, mean 40 μm) is interpreted to represent steady-state (time-independent) flow conditions with flow planes parallel to the shear zone boundary. Single calcite porphyroclasts (grain-size 1–3 mm) caused flow perturbation in the fine-grained marble ultramylonite. It is the shape, in particular, of these rigid porphyroclasts that controls their rotational behaviour during deformation and, therefore, the development of specific flow fabrics. The flow planes around elongated-rhomboidal, stable porphyroclasts change the orientation to become roughly parallel to the porphyroclast margin, whereas the geometry of flow planes around nearly equant, rotating porphyroclasts describes a δ-type flow pattern. We infer that to some extent decoupling at the clast–matrix interface has occurred to guarantee a stable orientation of elongated porphyroclasts, but was not sufficient to reduce the rotation rate of equant clasts to zero. According to the flow deflection, the general crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) with its single c-axis maximum perpendicular to the flow plane is rotated about an axis which is (sub)parallel to the kinematic rotation axis of the shear zone. Ultramylonite microstructures, CPOs and misorientation data are best explained by the dual operation of grain-size-insensitive (dislocation creep with recovery and recrystallization) and grain-size-sensitive (diffusion creep) mechanisms. The limited grain-size reduction around porphyroclasts suggests that the grain-size-insensitive mechanisms controlled rheology.     

The role of deformation partitioning in the deformation and recrystallization of plagioclase and K-feldspar in the Woodroffe Thrust mylonite zone, central Australia

ABSTRACT In the Woodroffe Thrust mylonite zone, central Australia, recrystallization in plagioclase and K-feldspar involved subgrain rotation, assisted by grain-boundary or kink band boundary bulging, without contribution from a change in the chemical composition from host grains to new grains. The size of subgrains and new grains changes across the mylonite zone, apparently as a function of the strain rate and the H2O content of the rock. The partitioning of deformation into zones of progressive shearing and progressive shortening controls the sites of recovery and recrystallization in feldspar during mylonitization. The size of feldspar porphyroclasts in well developed mylonites is governed by the scale of deformation partitioning reached in the earlier stages of mylonitization, before the formation of a large proportion of fine-grained matrix that can accommodate the progressive shearing component of the deformation. Recrystallization occurs in microcline, apparently without involving a translation to a monoclinic structure, as microcline-twinned new grains are common adjacent to microcline-twinned host grains. K-feldspar triclinicity values calculated from XRD traces increase from the margins to the interior of the mylonite zone, in conjunction with deformation intensity. K-feldspar host grains locally have cores of orthoclase or untwinned microcline, surrounded by mantles of twinned microcline, suggesting a relationship between the presence of microcline twinning and the degree of K-feldspar triclinicity.     

Propagation of seismic slip from brittle to ductile crust: Evidence from pseudotachylyte of the Woodroffe thrust, central Australia

The Woodroffe thrust, central Australia, is a > 1.5-km-wide mylonitized shear zone marked by large volumes of mm- to cm-scale pseudotachylyte veins. The pseudotachylytes display typical melt-origin features, including rounded and embayed clasts, spherulitic and dentritic microlites, and flow structures within a fine-grained matrix. Three types of pseudotachylyte are identified on the basis of deformation texture, vein morphology, and host-rock lithology: cataclasite-related (C-Pt), mylonite-related (M-Pt), and ultramylonite-related (Um-Pt). The M-Pt and Um-Pt veins intrude into mylonite and ultramylonite and are themselves overprinted by subsequent mylonitization. These pseudotachylytes contain an internal foliation defined by flattened porphyroclasts and layering of the fine-grained vein matrix, and the foliation is generally oriented parallel to foliation in the surrounding mylonite and ultramylonite. These observations constrain the timing and environment of M-Pt and Um-Pt pseudotachylyte formation to a protracted period of deformation and mylonitization within the ductile regime of the crust. The M-Pt and Um-Pt veins, as well as the host mylonite, are overprinted by cataclasis and multiple generations of late-stage C-Pt veins that were generated in the brittle-dominated regime of the upper crust during uplift and exhumation of the shear zone.The coexistence of multiple generations of voluminous C-Pt, M-Pt, and Um-Pt veins indicates that the pseudotachylyte veins represent a large number of large earthquakes and accompanying seismic slip over an extended period of seismicity on the Woodroffe thrust. The timing and distribution of pseudotachylyte indicate that the earthquakes nucleated at the base of the brittle-dominated seismogenic zone and propagated down through the brittle–ductile transition into the ductile-dominated regime of the crust.     

The petrogenesis of an I-type volcanic-plutonic suite: The St. Marys Porphyrite,Tasmania

The Devonian I-type St. Marys Porphyrite (388±1Ma) comprises two petrographically similar units, an 800 m thick pyroclastic sheet (compositionally dacite and rhyolite) and a subvolcanic feeder dyke. The pyroclastics are crystal-rich and contain (in order of decreasing abundance) plagioclase, quartz, biotite, augite, hypersthene and sanidine phenocrysts in an aphanitic groundmass.The early phenocryst assemblage clinopyroxene+orthopyroxene+plagioclase was followed by crystallisation of less magnesian pyroxene, more sodic plagioclase and biotite, quartz and K-feldspar. The phenocrysts crystallised at high temperature, between 1,000°-850° C, and at a pressure of 2.5±1 kb from a water undersaturated (<2.5 wt.%) magma in a chamber underlying the intrusive centre.At least two eruptive phases are present in the pyroclastic pile, each commencing with rhyolite. Bulk chemical variation probably reflects a zonation in the magma chamber prior to eruption. The low pressure phenocryst crystallisation conditions and the pyroxene Fe-enrichment trend with falling temperature support a fractional crystallisation model. The chemical variation can be explained by 20% fractional crystallisation involving plagioclase, quartz, biotite and pyroxene in proportions similar to modal phenocryst abundances.Volcanics like the St. Marys Porphyrite preserve evidence of their early magmatic history by quenching of mineral phases. Textural relationships and physico-chemical parameters deduced from the St. Marys Porphyrite are applicable to the interpretation of I-type granitoids in eastern Australia and elsewhere and constrain petrogenetic models for their genesis. Pyroxene cores of hornblende grains, pyroxene inclusions in plagioclase and corroded cores of plagioclase crystals may be formed through magmatic crystallisation and need not represent restite.     

Textural evolution in the transition from subsolidus annealing to melting process, Velay Dome, French Massif Central

Petrographic analysis is a useful, but underused tool to aid in distinguishing between subsolidus and anatetic-related textures in migmatites. This study focuses on assessing the relative contributions of these two processes in the development of migmatitic orthogneiss textures in the Velay Massif, French Massif Central. The results of this study show that subsolidus processes are more important in the development of migmatitic textures in the orthogneiss than anatectic leucosome development. Four textural stages are identified from the mylonitic non-anatectic orthogneiss, annealed, migmatitic orthogneiss to diatexite. The monomineralic K-feldspar and plagioclase–muscovite banding was transformed with increasing temperature to polymineralic plagioclase–quartz–muscovite and K-feldspar–quartz–muscovite layers by the wetting of feldspar boundaries during heterogeneous nucleation of quartz from a fluid phase at high surface energy triple points. A further increase of temperature led to the growth of K-feldspar probably related to production of small amounts of melt in plagioclase rich aggregates, controlled by muscovite abundance. Solid state annealing processes in conjunction with incipient anatexis resulted in the formation of apparent granitic-like textures in plagioclase dominated aggregates. By contrast, in K-feldspar dominated aggregates exclusively subsolidus processes prevail, leading to the development of coarse grained leucosome. With the onset of biotite dehydration melting the plagioclase-dominated aggregates are destroyed by the melt whereas the K-feldspar aggregates may be preserved.     

Prograde and retrograde history of eclogites from the Eastern Blue Ridge, North Carolina, USA

Abstract The prograde metamorphism of eclogites is typically obscured by chemical equilibration at peak conditions and by partial requilibration during retrograde metamorphism. Eclogites from the Eastern Blue Ridge of North Carolina retain evidence of their prograde path in the form of inclusions preserved in garnet. These eclogites, from the vicinity of Bakersville, North Carolina, USA are primarily comprised of garnet–clinopyroxene–rutile–hornblende–plagioclase–quartz. Quartz, clinopyroxene, hornblende, rutile, epidote, titanite and biotite are found as inclusions in garnet cores. Included hornblende and clinopyroxene are chemically distinct from their matrix counterparts. Thermobarometry of inclusion sets from different garnets record different conditions. Inclusions of clinozoisite, titanite, rutile and quartz (clinozoisite + titanite = grossular + rutile + quartz + H₂O) yield pressures (6–10 kbar, 400–600 °C and 8–12 kbar 450–680 °C) at or below the minimum peak conditions from matrix phases (10–13 kbar at 600–800 °C). Inclusions of hornblende, biotite and quartz give higher pressures (13–16 kbar and 630–660 °C). Early matrix pyroxene is partially or fully broken down to a diopside–plagioclase symplectite, and both garnet and pyroxene are rimmed with plagioclase and hornblende. Hypersthene is found as a minor phase in some diopside + plagioclase symplectites, which suggests retrogression through the granulite facies. Two‐pyroxene thermometry of this assemblage gives a temperature of c. 750 °C. Pairing the most Mg‐rich garnet composition with the assemblage plagioclase–diopside–hypersthene–quartz gives pressures of 14–16 kbar at this temperature. The hornblende–plagioclase–garnet rim–quartz assemblage yields 9–12 kbar and 500–550 °C. The combined P–T data show a clockwise loop from the amphibolite to eclogite to granulite facies, all of which are overprinted by a texturally late amphibolite facies assemblage. This loop provides an unusually complete P–T history of an eclogite, recording events during and following subduction and continental collision in the early Palaeozoic.     

Microstructures of deformed grains in the augen gneisses of southern Menderes Massif (western Turkey) and their tectonic significance

A detailed fabric and microstructural analysis of the granitic mylonites was carried out on the southern side of Bes,parmak Mountain north of Selimiye (Milas). The mylonitic augen gneisses have?a blastomylonitic texture characterized by large retort-shape porphyroclasts or augen of feldspars, around which a more ductile, medium to fine-grained matrix of muscovite, biotite, quartz and feldspar is deflected. Feldspars behave in both plastic and brittle fashion, because size reduction occurs through grain boundary migration and/or subgrain rotation, and also through fracturing. Typical “core-and-mantle” structure, characterized by a large feldspar core surrounded by a mantle of fine recrystallized grains, is very characteristic. The majority of plagioclase twins obey the albite-twin law; however, the association with pericline-law twinning suggests that many of the twins are mechanical. Evidence of strain, such as deformation twins, bent or curved twins, undulatory extinction, deformation bands and kink bands occur characteristically in plagioclase. Myrmekite is ubiquitous at K-feldspar grain boundaries, most notably on the long sides of inequant grains parallel to the S-foliation direction, which invariably face the maximum finite shortening direction. Deformation of quartz in mylonitic augen gneisses commonly results in the development of core-and-mantle structure and “type-4” quartz ribbons of elongated, preferably oriented, newly recrystallized quartz aggregates suggesting a primary dynamic recrystallization. Undulatory extinction, deformation bands and lamellae are the strain-related features associated with quartz porphyroclasts. Micas, especially biotite, undergo internal deformation by bend gliding and kinking. Most of the micas are completely attenuated and aligned such that their (001) planes are subparallel or parallel to the margins of quartz ribbons and define the foliation in the rock. These microstructures of feldspars, quartz and mica in the mylonitic augen gneisses in this part of the southern Menderes Massif are broadly consistent with fabric development under upper-greenschist- to lower-amphibolite-facies conditions, rather than almandine–amphibolite facies, as was previously believed. This supports the previous contention of the authors that the protoliths of augen gneisses are younger granitoids and do not represent an exposed Precambrian Pan-African basement in the Menderes Massif.     

Volume strain, strain type and flow path in a narrow shear zone

This study explores the state of finite strain and changes in the mean kinematic vorticity number, grain size, whole-rock chemistry and mineralogy across an upper amphibolite-facies shear zone in a metadiorite, northern Malawi, east-central Africa. P–T conditions during shear-zone formation and deformation were approximately 700–750^?°C and 5–7?kbar and are slightly less than P–T conditions for the regional peak of metamorphism. The major rock-forming minerals, plagioclase, hornblende, biotite, and quartz, were deformed by crystal-plastic processes accompanied by, except for hornblende, dynamic recrystallization. The modal abundance of all four major rock-forming minerals shows no systematic change from the country rock into and across the shear zone, indicating that shear-zone development was not associated with retrograde mineral reactions. The grain size of the major rock-forming minerals decreases within the shear zone. Plagioclase and hornblende, which occur as porphyroblasts outside the shear zone, exhibit a bimodal grain-size distribution within the shear zone. Quartz has a unimodal grain-size distribution in the shear zone. Major and trace element chemistry does not change systematically across the shear zone, implying no volume change in the mylonite. Matrix strain data for plagioclase and hornblende by the Fry method and fabric strain as deduced from R_f/φ analysis of plagioclase and quartz grains demonstrate a slightly constrictional strain type (K≈1.5) across the shear zone. The quantitative finite-strain data for the different residual minerals as obtained by unlike methods show no systematic variation, but recrystallized plagioclase grains record higher strain than the residual grains. The mean kinematic vorticity number changes from approximately 0.3 outside to approximately 0.8 within the shear zone, indicating that the bulk deformation path deviated from progressive simple shear. The estimates for finite strain and the degree of noncoaxiality account for approximately 50% of thinning normal to the shear zone.     

Transition from fracturing to viscous flow in granulite facies perthitic feldspar (Lofoten,Norway)

Recrystallization of perthites in granulite facies (T = 700–730 °C, P = 0.65–0.8 GPa) shear zones in mangerite-charnockite rocks from Lofoten (Norway) is localized along intracrystalline bands parallel to fractures. Fracturing preferentially occurred along the cleavage planes (010) and (001). EBSD analysis of perthite porphyroclasts indicates a very low degree of internal misorientation (within 5°) and the lack of recovery features. Recrystallized grains show coarsening with increasing width of the bands, and chemical changes with respect to the host grains. Crystallographic orientation of the new grains does not show a host-control relation to the parent perthite grains. In summary, the microstructure and CPO data consistently indicate intragranular recrystallization by nucleation and growth from fractured grains. Perthite porphyroclasts are surrounded by a matrix of recrystallized plagioclase + K-feldspar ± amphibole ± biotite. There is extensive evidence of syndeformational nucleation of new phases and of phase boundary migration in the matrix, with plagioclase grains forming bulges and protrusions towards K-feldspar. The spatial distribution of K-feldspar and plagioclase in the recrystallized matrix is characterized by the predominance of phase boundaries over grain boundaries. All these observations are consistent with diffusion creep as the dominant deformation mechanism in the matrix, associated with grain boundary sliding. Accordingly, recrystallized plagioclase and K-feldspar show a very weak crystallographic preferred orientation, which is interpreted in terms of oriented growth during diffusion creep. Fracturing of perthites promoted extensive grain size reduction, recrystallization, fluid infiltration, and operation of grain-size sensitive creep, resulting in strain localization.     

Reaction localization and softening of texturally hardened mylonites in a reactivated fault zone, central Argentina

The Tres Arboles ductile fault zone in the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, central Argentina, experienced multiple ductile deformation and faulting events that involved a variety of textural and reaction hardening and softening processes. Much of the fault zone is characterized by a (D2) ultramylonite, composed of fine‐grained biotite + plagioclase, that lacks a well‐defined preferred orientation. The D2 fabric consists of a strong network of intergrown and interlocking grains that show little textural evidence for dislocation or dissolution creep. These ultramylonites contain gneissic rock fragments and porphyroclasts of plagioclase, sillimanite and garnet inherited from the gneissic and migmatitic protolith (D1) of the hangingwall. The assemblage of garnet + sillimanite + biotite suggests that D1‐related fabrics developed under upper amphibolite facies conditions, and the persistence of biotite + garnet + sillimanite + plagioclase suggests that the ultramylonite of D2 developed under middle amphibolite facies conditions. Greenschist facies, mylonitic shear bands (D3) locally overprint D2 ultramylonites. Fine‐grained folia of muscovite + chlorite ± biotite truncate earlier biotite + plagioclase textures, and coarser‐grained muscovite partially replaces relic sillimanite grains. Anorthite content of shear band (D3) plagioclase is c. An30, distinct from D1 and D2 plagioclase (c. An35). The anorthite content of D3 plagioclase is consistent with a pervasive grain boundary fluid that facilitated partial replacement of plagioclase by muscovite. Biotite is partially replaced by muscovite and/or chlorite, particularly in areas of inferred high strain. Quartz precipitated in porphyroclast pressure shadows and ribbons that help define the mylonitic fabric. All D3 reactions require the introduction of H⁺ and/or H₂O, indicating an open system, and typically result in a volume decrease. Syntectonic D3 muscovite + quartz + chlorite preferentially grew in an orientation favourable for strain localization, which produced a strong textural softening. Strain localization occurred only where reactions progressed with the infiltration of aqueous fluids, on a scale of hundreds of micrometre. Local fracturing and microseismicity may have induced reactivation of the fault zone and the initial introduction of fluids. However, the predominant greenschist facies deformation (D3) along discrete shear bands was primarily a consequence of the localization of replacement reactions in a partially open system.