Reaction-induced weakening of plagioclase–olivine composites

The localisation of strain into natural ductile shear zones is often associated with the occurrence of metamorphic reactions. In order to study the effects of solid–solid mineral reactions on plastic deformation of rocks, we have investigated the shear deformation of plagioclase–olivine composites during the reaction plagioclase + olivine → orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + spinel (± garnet). Microstructures of plagioclase–olivine composites were studied after shear deformation experiments in a Griggs apparatus. Experiments were performed on anorthite–forsterite (An–Fo) and labradorite–forsterite (Lab–Fo) composites at 900 °C, confining pressures between 1000–1600 MPa and with constant shear strain rates of 5 × 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹.In absence of reaction, Lab–Fo composites are stronger than pure olivine and labradorite end-members that deform with a high temperature plasticity mechanism. Lab–Fo composites strain–harden due to the inhibition of extensive recrystallisation by interphase boundaries.In An–Fo composites, the reaction induces strain weakening by a switch from dislocation creep to grain size sensitive deformation mechanisms through the development of fine-grained (size < 0.5 μm) polyphase reaction products. Interconnecting layers of reaction products accommodate most of the applied strain by grain size sensitive creep. Recovery processes are pronounced during syndeformational reaction: original anorthite and olivine dynamically recrystallise by subgrain rotation and bulging recrystallisation. Presumably, the dynamic recrystallisation is caused by reduced stress conditions and partitioning of strain and strain rates between the new reaction products and the relict An–Fo grains. The results of our experiments are in good agreement with natural observations of shear localisation in the lower crust and upper mantle, and imply that anhydrous mineral reactions can be important causes for localisation of deformation.     

Rheologic evolution of low-grade metasedimentary rocks and granite across a large strike-slip fault zone: A case study of the Kellyland fault zone,Maine, USA

We examine a large strike-slip fault zone that juxtaposes low-grade clastic metasedimentary rocks with coarse-grained granite near the brittle-ductile transition. The load-bearing matrixes in granite-derived ultramylonites and pelite and wacke metasedimentary intervals are texturally similar, and all deformed by diffusion-assisted granular flow. Granite underwent rapid strengthening as the pluton cooled followed by rapid weakening driven by brittle grain-size reduction and mixing that catalyzed ultramylonite formation. The textural and mineralogical similarity of pelitic intervals across the zone indicates they experienced little textural and reaction weakening. Wacke intervals record progressive textural and reaction weakening in an open system. Quartz recrystallized grain sizes in granite-derived ultramylonites record ∼2-times more differential stress than those in metasedimentary rocks in the interior of the zone. The relative weakness of metasedimentary rocks is correlated with fluid influx that likely enhanced diffusion and grain-boundary sliding in pelitic and wacke intervals and catalyzed textural and reaction weakening in wacke intervals. The lack of evidence for fluid and ionic communication with granitic rocks indicates that fluid movement was restricted to foliation-parallel pathways within single rock units. This localized fluid influx is the best explanation for the strength contrasts between texturally similar fault rocks deformed by similar mechanisms.     

Large-strain deformation and strain partitioning in polyphase rocks: Dislocation creep of olivine–magnesiowüstite aggregates

Aggregates composed of olivine and magnesiowüstite have been deformed to large strains at high pressure and temperature to investigate stress and strain partitioning, phase segregation and possible localization of deformation in a polyphase material. Samples with 20 vol.% of natural olivine and 80 vol.% of (Mg_0.7Fe_0.3)O were synthesized and deformed in a gas-medium torsion apparatus at temperatures of 1127 °C and 1250 °C, a confining pressure of 300 MPa and constant angular displacement rates equivalent to constant shear strain rates of 1–3.3 × 10^− 4 s^− 1. The samples deformed homogeneously to total shear strains of up to γ  15. During constant strain rate measurements the flow stress remained approximately stable at 1250 °C while it progressively decreased after the initial yield stress at the lower temperature. Mechanical data, microstructures and textures indicate that both phases were deforming in the dislocation creep regime. The weaker component, magnesiowüstite, controlled the rheological behavior of the bulk material and accommodated most of the strain. Deformation and dynamic recrystallization lead to grain refinement and to textures that were not previously observed in pure magnesiowüstite and may have developed due to the presence of the second phase. At 1127 °C, olivine grains behaved as semi-rigid inclusions rotating in a viscous matrix. At 1250 °C, some olivine grains remained largely undeformed while deformation and recrystallization of other grains oriented for a-slip on (010) resulted in a weak foliation and a texture typical for pure dry olivine aggregates. Both a-slip and c-slip on (010) were activated in olivine even though the nominal stresses were up to 2 orders of magnitude lower than those needed to activate these slip systems in pure olivine at the same conditions.     

Role of pressure and temperature in inclusion-induced shear localization: An analogue experimental approach

Using analogue model experiments this study investigates the effects of lithostatic pressure and temperature in controlling the pattern of shear localization around rigid inclusions. Compression experiments were conducted on polymethylmethaacrylate (PMMA) by varying confining pressure (P = 30–70 MPa), homologous temperature (T_o = 0.67–0.80 corresponding to room temperature – 80 °C) and axial strain (yield – 15%) in a triaxial setup. Mechanical data showed temperature has a greater influence on the bulk yield strength and steady-state flow of the analogue material than confining pressure. Increasing confining pressures multiply the shear bands in number, and their overall pattern becomes progressively more complex, leading to composite band structures. On the other hand, under ambient pressure increasing temperature results in a transition from incipient high-strain zones to shear bands with sharp boundaries. Further increase in temperature switches the mode of shear localization, sharp to diffuse type. We finally show the inclusion-induced shear localization as a two-stage process, and provide a micro-mechanical explanation for the P-T dependent shear band patterns, attributed to three mechanically distinct domains of the inclusion-matrix interface: compression, extensional and shear localization.     

冲击损伤砂岩动静组合加载力学特性研究

利用霍布金森压杆试验装置对灰砂岩试样进行预加静载的循环冲击,使试样产生初始损伤,并分析此过程中试样的损伤演化规律。使用能够施加轴压的霍布金森压杆进行预损伤试样动静组合加载试验,获得试样破坏模式、动态应力-应变关系等指标。基于应变等价原理分析预损伤试样动静组合加载条件下的总损伤变量,建立相应的损伤演化方程及损伤本构关系,并与完整试样进行对比。研究结果表明:循环冲击过程中试样损伤变量分为快速上升、低速发展、高速发展3个阶段,预加轴压越大低速发展阶段损伤变量平均值越小;相同动静组合加载条件下预损伤试样动态强度较小,完整试样应变率增强效应更加显著;循环冲击预损伤变量D01、预加静载损伤变量D02对于应力-应变关系的影响是较为复杂的,D01、D02值之和可能为负值;建立的本构关系与试验曲线具有较好的一致性,得到的总损伤变量曲线不仅能够解释试样宏观破坏与细观损伤过程的一致性,并且能够反映循环冲击和预加静载两种因素对岩石总损伤发展的非线性影响。     

An experimental and numerical investigation on the deformation of overlying coal seams above double-seam extraction for controlling coal mine methane emissions

This study investigates the deformation and the resultant pressure relief of highly gassy coal seams where a double seam mining operation takes place at lower depths at the Wulan Coal Mine, China. In order to predict the depressurization effect in the overlying coal seams, we simulate the extraction process by constructing a scaled model in the laboratory using similar rock materials. Analyses of experimental results concluded that due to the mining-induced stress redistribution, the pressure within target coal seams, which were 109 m above the mined seams, could be fully relieved to attain the statutory approval for gas drainage.In addition to scaled-model studies, computational modeling studies were conducted using UDEC (Universal Distinct Element Code), which showed that the features of deformation resulting from the double-seam extraction were different from that of in the case of single-seam extraction. The results of the numerical studies revealed that in addition to the panel margin on the air return side, areas near the intake entry could also be considered as borehole drilling positions. Besides, it was found that the gob of the extracted seams below the gassy one provided a “buffering effect” for the would-mined protective coal seam and that the depressurization effect was largely weakened.The laboratorial findings are instructive to the field practice of methane drainage. During the mining operation, a “displacement comparison method” was adopted to measure the dilated amount of protected coal seams, and as expected, the maximum dilation percentage was much more than 0.2% — the critical value upon which the target coal seam is appropriately depressurized to allow gas drainage to be safely and effectively implemented.     

褶皱冲断带物理模拟实验研究进展

褶皱冲断带油气资源丰富,统计表明全球探明油气储量约14%分布在褶皱冲断带。自从1815年地质学家第一次以模拟实验的方式验证了褶皱形成于岩层遭受水平挤压变形的二百多年来,针对褶皱冲断带的物理模拟实验研究无疑是最卓有成效的研究领域方向之一。本文从追溯早期模拟实验先驱,到近二十年来国内外相关研究进展综述,着重分析和评述物理模拟实验研究对于前陆褶皱冲断带构造理论发展的主要贡献。强调造山带临界楔体理论以及基底滑脱层强度、流体超压和变形岩层内聚强度等对构造变形过程的控制作用。主要介绍的实验性标志成果有：(1)褶皱冲断带构造变形的生长规律;(2)褶皱冲断带的构造变形机制;(3)褶皱冲断带中构造变形的主控因素。我们的目的是提供引人入胜的物理模拟实验研究成果,吸引更多现在和未来的研究人员理解和重视物理模拟工作,借助日益进步的实验装置和技术方法,促进盆地构造研究在学科发展道路上,一步步实现从定性走向定量、从二维走向三维、从几何学和运动学走向动力学的飞跃。     

Deformation-induced polymorphic transformation: experimental deformation of kyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite

Torsion experiments were performed on the Al₂SiO₅ polymorphs in the sillimanite stability field to determine basic rheological characteristics and the effect of deformation on polymorphic transformation. The experiments resulted in extensive transformation of andalusite and kyanite to sillimanite. No transformation occurred during the hot-press (no deformation) stage of sample preparation, which was carried out at similar P–T conditions and duration as the torsion experiments. Experiments were conducted on fine-grained (< 15 µm) aggregates of natural andalusite, kyanite and sillimanite at 1250 °C, 300 MPa, and a constant shear strain rate of 2 × 10^− 4/s to a maximum shear strain of 400%. Electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis of the experiments revealed development of lattice-preferred orientations, with alignment of sillimanite and andalusite [001] slightly oblique to the shear plane. The kyanite experiment could not be analyzed using EBSD because of near complete transformation to sillimanite. Very little strain ( 30%) is required to produce widespread transformation in kyanite and andalusite. Polymorphic transformation in andalusite and kyanite experiments occurred primarily along 500 µm wide shear bands oriented slightly oblique and antithetic to the shear plane and dominated by sub-µm (100–150 nm) fibrolitic sillimanite. Shear bands are observed across the entire strain field preserved in the torsion samples. Scanning transmission electron microscope imaging shows evidence for transformation away from shear bands; e.g. fibrolitic rims on relict andalusite or kyanite. Relict grains typically have an asymmetry that is consistent with shear direction. These experimental results show that sillimanite is by far the weakest of the polymorphs, but no distinction can yet be made on the relative strengths of kyanite and andalusite. These observations also suggest that attaining high bulk strain energy in strong materials such as the Al₂SiO₅ polymorphs is not necessary for triggering transformation. Strain energy is concentrated along grain boundaries, and transformation occurs by a dynamic recrystallization type process. These experiments also illustrate the importance of grain-size sensitive creep at high strains in a system with simultaneous reaction and deformation.     

The effect of pre‐tectonic reaction and annealing extent on behaviour during subsequent deformation: insights from paired shear zones in the lower crust of Fiordland,New Zealand

Granulite facies pargasite orthogneiss is partially to completely reacted to garnet granulite either side of narrow (<20 mm) felsic dykes, in Fiordland, New Zealand, forming ~10–80 mm wide garnet reaction zones. The metamorphic reaction changed the abundance of minerals, and their shape and grain size distribution. The extent of reaction and annealing (temperature‐related coarsening and nucleation) is greatest close to the dykes, whereas further away the reaction is incomplete. As a consequence, grain size and the abundance of garnet decreases away from the felsic dykes over a few centimetres. The aspect ratios of clusters of S1 pyroxene and pargasite in the orthogneiss, which are variably reacted to post‐S1 garnet, decrease from high in the host, to near equidimensional close to the dyke. Post‐reaction deformation localized in the fine‐grained partially reacted areas. This produced a pattern of ‘paired’ shear zones located at the outer parts of the garnet reaction zone. Our study shows that grain size sensitive deformation occurs where the grain size is sufficiently reduced by metamorphic reaction. The weakening of the rock due to the change in grain size distribution outweighs the addition of nominally stronger garnet to the assemblage.     

An experimental investigation of sand–mud suspension settling behaviour: implications for bimodal mud contents of submarine flow deposits

The settling behaviour of particulate suspensions and their deposits has been documented using a series of settling tube experiments. Suspensions comprised saline solution and noncohesive glass‐ballotini sand of particle size 35·5 μm < d < 250 μm and volume fractions, φ_s, up to 0·6 and cohesive kaolinite clay of particle size d < 35·5 μm and volume fractions, φ_m, up to 0·15. Five texturally distinct deposits were found, associated with different settling regimes: (I) clean, graded sand beds produced by incremental deposition under unhindered or hindered settling conditions; (II) partially graded, clean sand beds with an ungraded base and a graded top, produced by incremental deposition under hindered settling conditions; (III) graded muddy sands produced by compaction with significant particle sorting by elutriation; (IV) ungraded clean sand produced by compaction and (V) ungraded muddy sand produced by compaction. A transition from particle size segregation (regime I) to suppressed size segregation (regime II or III) to virtually no size segregation (IV or V) occurred as sediment concentration was increased. In noncohesive particulate suspensions, segregation was initially suppressed at φ_s ～ 0·2 and entirely inhibited at φ_s ≥ 0·6. In noncohesive and cohesive mixtures with low sand concentrations (φ_s < 0·2), particle segregation was initially suppressed at φ_m ～ 0·07 and entirely suppressed at φ_m ≥ 0·13. The experimental results have a number of implications for the depositional dynamics of submarine sediment gravity flows and other particulate flows that carry sand and mud; because the influence of moving flow is ignored in these experiments, the results will only be applicable to flows in which settling processes, in the depositional boundary, dominate over shear‐flow processes, as might be the case for rapidly decelerating currents with high suspended load fallout rates. The ‘abrupt’ change in settling regimes between regime I and V, over a relatively small change in mud concentration (<5% by volume), favours the development of either mud‐poor, graded sandy deposits or mud‐rich, ungraded sandy deposits. This may explain the bimodality in sediment texture (clean ‘turbidite’ or muddy ‘debrite’ sand or sandstone) found in some turbidite systems. Furthermore, it supports the notion that distal ‘linked’ debrites could form because of a relatively small increase in the mud concentration of turbidity currents, perhaps associated with erosion of a muddy sea floor. Ungraded, clean sand deposits were formed by noncohesive suspensions with concentrations 0·2 ≤ φ_s ≤ 0·4. Hydrodynamic sorting is interpreted as being suppressed in this case by relatively high bed aggradation rates which could also occur in association with sustained, stratified turbidity currents or noncohesive debris flows with relatively high near‐bed sediment concentrations.     

An experimental study of the grain-scale processes of peridotite melting: implications for major and trace element distribution during equilibrium and disequilibrium melting

The grain-scale processes of peridotite melting were examined at 1,340°C and 1.5 GPa using reaction couples formed by juxtaposing pre-synthesized clinopyroxenite against pre-synthesized orthopyroxenite or harzburgite in graphite and platinum-lined molybdenum capsules. Reaction between the clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene-rich aggregates produces a melt-enriched, orthopyroxene-free, olivine + clinopyroxene reactive boundary layer. Major and trace element abundance in clinopyroxene vary systematically across the reactive boundary layer with compositional trends similar to the published clinopyroxene core-to-rim compositional variations in the bulk lherzolite partial melting studies conducted at similar P–T conditions. The growth of the reactive boundary layer takes place at the expense of the orthopyroxenite or harzburgite and is consistent with grain-scale processes that involve dissolution, precipitation, reprecipitation, and diffusive exchange between the interstitial melt and surrounding crystals. An important consequence of dissolution–reprecipitation during crystal-melt interaction is the dramatic decrease in diffusive reequilibration time between coexisting minerals and melt. This effect is especially important for high charged, slow diffusing cations during peridotite melting and melt-rock reaction. Apparent clinopyroxene-melt partition coefficients for REE, Sr, Y, Ti, and Zr, measured from reprecipitated clinopyroxene and coexisting melt in the reactive boundary layer, approach their equilibrium values reported in the literature. Disequilibrium melting models based on volume diffusion in solid limited mechanism are likely to significantly underestimate the rates at which major and trace elements in residual minerals reequilibrate with their surrounding melt. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Particle size distribution analysis of sand-sized particles by laser diffraction: an experimental investigation of instrument sensitivity and the effects of particle shape

Laser diffraction is now widely used for particle size distribution analysis of sediments and soils. The technique can be very precise, and offers advantages of speed and cost over many other methods when used to analyse mixtures of sand, silt and clay. This study presents the results of an experimental investigation that examined the sensitivity of the Beckman-Coulter LS230 instrument to mixtures of different grain populations and differences in particle shape. The instrument was found to have high sensitivity to coarse particles in a finer matrix (detection threshold 1–2%), but much lower sensitivity to finer particles in a coarser mixture (detection threshold 12–17%). Experiments using near-spherical ballotini showed that laser analysis provides very similar values to dry sieving for the mean, median and mode, but for a range of natural sand samples values for the mean, median and mode were offset by 8–21%, with an average of ca 15%, compared with sieving. Analysis using a Beckman-Coulter RapidVUE instrument, which provides both size and shape information, provided support for the hypothesis that the differences between laser analysis and sieving are partly attributable to the effects of particle shape. However, an additional factor is the way in which the laser software interprets the optical diffraction data. The software predicts a high degree of log-normality in the size distribution, such that highly skewed, truncated or bimodal samples are poorly represented. Experiments using sieved fractions of ballotini indicated that, even with near-perfectly spherical particles, the particle size distribution predicted by the laser software includes a relatively large percentage of particles outside the sieve class limits.     

水化学作用对滑坡滑带土的物理力学特性影响试验研究

滑带是影响滑坡稳定的最关键内在因素之一。对原状土进行X射线衍射、压汞试验,获得了滑带土体的成分及其含量和孔隙结构参数,结果表明,滑带土成分以石英、拉长石、伊利石等为主,孔隙孔径以小孔和过渡孔居多;依据工程实例滑坡滑带土所处的水化学环境,模拟不同水化条件,通过剪切试验、渗透试验和扫描电镜试验,获得不同化学条件的强度和渗透性参数及微细观结构特征,分析了滑带土在不同水化学条件下力学特性和渗透性变化规律。试验结果表明：相同pH条件下,较之蒸馏水,土样经化学溶液浸泡后峰值强度和残余强度变大,且残余强度的变化更明显;不同pH条件下,酸碱性溶液使得土的强度参数显著降低。该研究结果为水化学条件下滑坡滑带土力学特性变化、多场耦合理论模型分析提供了重要的基础数据。     

The structure and timing of lateral escape during the Scandian Orogeny: A combined strain and geochronological investigation in Finnmark, Arctic Norwegian Caledonides

Determining the timing, duration and mechanism of tectonic events within an orogenic cycle, such as ocean subduction, continent–continent collision or gravitational collapse, is challenging, especially in ancient orogenic belts. Variations in the tectonic transport direction, however, can be used as a guide to these stages of orogeny. While thrust sheets within the Caledonian allochthon in north Norway were emplaced broadly eastwards perpendicular to the trend of the orogen, many features indicate material transport in other orientations. One dominant feature of the Magerøy Nappe, sitting above and infolded with the Kalak Nappe Complex, is the development of a strong N–S lineation orthogonal to the main transport direction. Strain measurements, in part determined by a new method, are used, in the context of the regional structural data to identify the critical stage in orogeny when compressional forces are balanced by orogen-parallel lateral escape. Quantitative 3-D strain estimation in the Magerøy Nappe indicates prolate deformation with c. 50% horizontal shortening parallel to the thrusting direction (E–W) and c. 200% extension along the orogenic strike (N–S) with c. 30% vertical shortening. Temporal constraint on this fabric is provided by Ar–Ar isotopic analysis of undeformed white mica in cross-cutting granitic pegmatites. These data show that prolate deformation occurred before the white mica cooling age of 416 ± 4 Ma, while the previously determined depositional age of the Hellefjord Schist indicates that it occurred after 438 ± 4 Ma. A granitic pegmatite that intruded the Hellefjord Schist after an initial deformation phase but during or prior to a later deformation, has been dated at 431 ± 2 Ma by U–Pb zircon. A previous lower age constraint on this deformation of 428 ± 5 Ma is given by metamorphic zircon overgrowths on fractured grains. These results constrain the continental collision between Baltica and Laurentia in Finnmark to the interval c. 431–428 Ma. Placed in a regional context, these results indicate that lateral escape was orthogonal to the thrusting direction and occurred during the continent–continent collision stage in the Scandian Orogeny before gravitationally driven collapse.     

醋酸提取沉积物非碳酸盐来源Mg的实验探究——以西宁盆地中中新世-上新世沉积地层为例

古环境研究中沉积物碳酸盐成分的提取常使用不同浓度的稀醋酸进行。已有的研究表明沉积物的非碳酸盐组分也会对稀醋酸提取组分产生一定影响。查明非碳酸盐组分对稀醋酸溶解Mg的贡献十分重要,可为碳酸盐化学组成定量研究提供必要的约束,也是进一步开展沉积物碳酸盐Mg同位素研究的基础。然而目前对稀醋酸提取非碳酸盐来源Mg的研究尚十分缺乏。本研究选取了5个来自西宁盆地莫家庄剖面中中新世-上新世沉积地层碳酸盐含量各异的沉积物样品开展醋酸溶解非碳酸盐来源Mg的实验研究。实验结果表明,全岩样品的稀醋酸提取组分含有非碳酸盐来源的Ca和Mg,特别是在低碳酸盐含量（< 1%）样品中,非碳酸盐组分的影响十分显著。进一步的多相态连续提取实验表明,交换态和硅酸盐是醋酸提取组分非碳酸盐Mg的主要来源。较高Mg/Ca比值的硅酸盐和交换态端元与低Mg/Ca比值的方解石端元混合,可以解释各样品醋酸提取组分的Mg/Ca比值与Ca、Mg含量成分特征。醋酸提取组分相对较高的Mg/Al比值及其变化表明硅酸盐Mg可能主要来自非晶格位置Mg的溶解（如粘土层间）。醋酸提取组分中的Mg/Al比值显著高于全岩沉积物本身的Mg/Al比值,所以不宜采用固定的全岩沉积物元素比值或者标准物质成分（如上部大陆地壳、标准页岩）来校正在醋酸提取组分中硅酸盐溶解对Mg的贡献。

     

The partitioning of copper between silicate melts and two-phase aqueous fluids: An experimental investigation at 1 kbar, 800° C and 0.5 kbar, 850° C

 Experiments were performed in the three phase system high-silica rhyolite melt+low-salinity aqueous vapor+hydrosaline brine, to investigate the partitioning equilibria for copper in magmatic-hydrothermal systems at 800° C and 1 kbar, and 850° C and 0.5 kbar. D^aqm/mlt _Cu and apparent equilibrium constants, K^aqm/mlt _Cu,Na, between the aqueous mixture (aqm=quenched vapor+brine) and the silicate melt (mlt) are calculated. D^aqm/mlt _Cu increases with increasing aqueous chloride concentration and is a function of pressure. K^aqm/mlt _Cu,Na=215(±73) at 1 kbar and 800° C and K^aqm/mlt _Cu,Na=11(±6) at 0.5 kbar and 850°C. Decreasing pressure from 1 to 0.5 kbar lowers K^aqm/mlt _Cu,Na by a factor of approximately 20. Data revealed no difference in K^aqm/mlt _Cu,Na or D^aqm/mlt _Cu as a function of the melt aluminium saturation index. Within the 2-phase field the K^aqm/mlt _Cu,Na show no variation with total aqueous chloride, indicating that copper-sodium exchange between the vapor, brine and silicate melt is independent of the mass proportion of vapor and brine. Model copper-sodium apparent equilibrium constants for the hydrosaline brine and the silicate melt revealed a negative dependence on pressure. Model apparent equilibrium constants for copper-sodium exchange between the brine and vapor were close to unity at 1 kbar and 800° C. Received: 27 June 1994/Accepted: 30 March 1995     

The initiation and linkage of surface fractures above a buried strike-slip fault: An experimental approach

Surface fractures in the overburdened sedimentary rocks, formed above a deep-seated basement fault, often provide important information about the kinematics of the underlying master fault. It has already been established that these surface fractures dynamically evolve and link one another with progressive displacement on the master fault below. In the present study, two different series of riedel-type experiments were carried out with clay analogue models under different boundary conditions viz., (i) heterogeneous simple shear of the cover rocks above a buried strike slip fault (wrench system) and (ii) heterogeneous simple shear with a component of shear-normal compression of the overburden package above a basement fault (transpressional system), to observe the initiation and linkage of surface fractures with varying T′ (where T′ = thickness of the overburden normalized with respect to the width of the master fault). In the wrench system, Riedel (R) shears were linked by principal displacement (Y) shears at early stages (shear strain of 0.8 to 1) in thin (2 < T′ < 18) models and finally (at a minimum shear strain of 1.4) gave rise to a through-going fault parallel to the basement fault without development of any other fracture. Conjugate Riedel (R′) shears develop only within the thicker (T′ > 18) clay models at a minimum shear strain of 0.7. With increasing deformation (at a minimum shear strain of 1.2) two R′ shears were joined by an R shear and finally opened up to make a sigmoidal vein with an asymmetry antithetic to the major fault-movement sense. Under transpression, the results were similar to that of heterogeneous simple shear for layers 2 < T′ < 15. In layers of intermediate thickness (15 < T′ < 25) early formed high angle R shears were cross cut by low angle R shears (at a minimum shear strain of 0.5 and shortening of 0.028) and “Riedel-within-Riedel” shears were formed within thick (T′ > 25) models (at minimum shear strain of 0.7 and shortening of 0.1), with marked angularity of secondary fault zone with the master fault at depth.     

The Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary in the Apulco area by means of calpionellids and calcareous dinoflagellates: An alternative to the classical Mazatepec section in eastern Mexico

A detailed bed-by-bed sampling within the Pimienta and the Lower Tamaulipas Formations from a section in the Apulco area (Puebla State, Eastern Mexico), allows the delimitation of the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary. The Late Tithonian was identified by the presence of calpionellids of the Crassicollaria Zone (Colomi Subzone) and calcareous dinocysts of the Proxima Zone. The Tithonian/Berriasian boundary was placed at the acme of Calpionella alpina (small forms) between samples MZT 45–46. The Berriasian was divided into two main units, namely the Calpionella Zone, further subdivided into the Alpina, Ferasini and Elliptica subzones, and the Calpionellopsis Zone, within which only the Oblonga subzone was identified. The vertical distribution of calpionellids and their assemblages in the biozones of this Mexican section fit those from other Tethyan areas.