Effects of linking up of discontinuities on fracture growth and groundwater transport

It is proposed that the growth of fractures is the basic process for generating and maintaining permeability in solid rock (bedrock). Many extension fractures grow as hydrofractures, whereas many shear (and extension) fractures grow through the formation of transverse fractures that connect the adjacent tips of existing fractures. In a boundary-element analysis, the hydrofractures are modeled as being driven open by a fluid overpressure that varies linearly from 10 MPa at the fracture centre to 0 MPa at the fracture tip. The host rock has a uniform Young's modulus of 10 GPa, a Poisson's ratio of 0.25, and is dissected by vertical joints and horizontal contacts, each of which is modeled as an internal spring of stiffness 6 MPa m⁻¹. The number of joints and contacts, and their location with respect to the hydrofracture tip are varied in different model runs. The results of the analyses indicate that the tensile stresses generated by overpressured hydrofractures open up joints and contacts out to considerable distances from the fracture tip, so that they tend to link up to form a hydraulic pathway. Using the same Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and internal spring constant for joints as in the hydrofracture models, boundary-element models were made to study the interaction stresses that cause neighbouring joints to become interconnected through the growth of linking transverse fractures that, ultimately, may evolve into shear fractures. The models were subjected to tensile stress of 6 MPa acting normal to the joint planes as the only loading. The offset (horizontal distance) and underlap (vertical distance) between the adjacent tips of the joints were varied between model runs. The results show a concentration of tensile and shear stresses in the regions between the neighbouring tips of the joints, but these regions become smaller when the underlap of the joints decreases and changes to overlap. These stress-concentration regions favour the development of transverse (mostly shear) fractures that link up the nearby tips of the joints, so as to form a segmented shear or extension fracture. Analytical results on aperture variation of a hydrofracture in a homogeneous, isotropic rock are compared with boundary-element results for a hydrofracture dissecting layered rocks. The aperture is larger where the hydrofracture dissects soft (low Young's modulus) layers than where it dissects stiff layers. Aperture variation may encourage subsequent groundwater-flow channeling along a pathway generated by a hydrofracture in layered rocks. Electronic Publication     

The effects of layering and local stresses in composite volcanoes on dyke emplacement and volcanic hazards

Since most volcanic eruptions are fed by dykes, any assessment of volcanic hazards in an area must include an evaluation of the probability of injected dykes either reaching the surface or becoming arrested. Composite volcanoes are normally composed of alternating stiff (high Young's modulus) and soft (low Young's modulus) layers. Numerical models indicate that during unrest periods with magma-chamber inflation, the local stresses in composite volcanoes commonly prevent dyke-fed eruptions: while the stresses in the stiff layers may favour dyke propagation and seismogenic faulting, the local stresses in the soft layer remain seismically quiet and favour dyke arrest. Geodetic and field studies also indicate that most dykes never reach the surface, and that only a small fraction of the magma volume injected from a chamber erupts at the surface. I propose that for a dyke-fed eruption to occur, all the layers along the potential pathway of the dyke must have local stresses that favour magma-driven extension-fracture propagation. Thus, the stress field along the pathway must be homogenised. To cite this article: A. Gudmundsson, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

A theory of concentric, kink and sinusoidal folding and of monoclinal flexuring of compressible, elastic multilayers: IV. Development of sinusoidal and kink folds in multilayers confined by rigid boundaries

This part concerns folding of elastic multilayers subjected to principal initial stresses parallel or normal to layering and to confinement by stiff or rigid boundaries. Both sinusoidal and reverse-kink folds can be produced in multilayers subjected to these conditions, depending primarily upon the conditions of contacts between layers. The initial fold pattern is always sinusoidal under these ideal conditions, but subsequent growth of the initial folds can change the pattern. For example, if contacts between layers cannot resist shear stress or if soft elastic interbeds provide uniform resistance to shear between stiff layers, sinusoidal folds of the Biot wavelength grow most rapidly with increased shortening. Further, the Biot waves become unstable as the folds grow and are transformed into concentric-like folds and finally into chevron folds. Comparison of results of the elementary and the linearized theories of elastic folding indicates that the elementary theory can accurately predict the Biot wavelength if the multilayers contain at least ten layers and if either the soft interbeds are at most about one-fifth as stiff as the stiff layers, or there is zero contact shear strength between layers.Multilayers subjected to the same conditions of loading and confinement as discussed above, can develop kink folds also. The kink fold can be explained in terms of a theory based on three assumptions: each stiff layer folds into the same form; kinking is a buckling phenomenon, and shear stress is required to overcome contact shear strength between layers and to produce slippage locally. The theory indicates that kink forms will tend to develop in multilayers with low but finite contact shear strength relative to the average shear modulus of the multilayer. Also, the larger the initial slopes and number of layers with contact shear strength, the more is the tendency for kink folds rather than sinusoidal folds to develop. The theoretical displacement form of a layer in a kink band is the superposition of a full sine wave, with a wavelength equal to the width of the kink band, and of a linear displacement profile. The resultant form resembles a one-half sine curve but it is significantly different from this curve. The width of the kink band may be greater or less than the Biot wavelength of sinusoidal folding in the multilayer, depending upon the magnitude of the contact shear strength relative to the average shear modulus. For example, in multilayers of homogeneous layers with contact strength, the Biot wavelength is zero so that the width of the kink band in such materials is always greater than the Biot wavelength. In general, the higher the contact strength, the narrower the kink band; for simple frictional contacts, the widths of kink bands decrease with increasing confinement normal to layers. Widths of kink bands theoretically depend upon a host of parameters — initial amplitude of Biot waves, number of layers, shear strength of contacts between layers, and thickness and modulus ratios of stiff-to-soft layers — therefore, widths of kink bands probably cannot be used readily to estimate properties of rocks containing kink bands. All these theoretical predictions are consistent with observations of natural and experimental kink folds of the reverse variety.Chevron folding and kink folding can be distinctly different phenomena according to the theory. Chevron folds typically form at cores of concentric-like folds; they rarely form at intersections of kink bands. In either case, they are similar folds that develop at a late stage in the folding process. Kink folds are more nearly akin to concentric-like folds than to chevron folds because kink folds form early, commonly before the sinusoidal folds are visible. Whereas concentric-like folds develop in response to higher-order effects near boundaries of a multilayer, kink folds typically initiate in response to higher-order shear, as at inflection points near mid-depth in low-amplitude, sinusoidal fold patterns. Chevron folding and kink folding are similar in elastic multilayers in that elastic “yielding” at hinges can produce rather sharp, angular forms.     

A Preliminary Study on Skarn-Related Calc-silicate Rocks Associated with the Batu Hijau Porphyry Copper-Gold Deposit, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia

Batu Hijau is a world-class gold-rich porphyry copper deposit, situated in Sumbawa Island, Indonesia. Deep drilling indicates that several intervals of calc-silicate rock were intersected, where they are apparently interbedded with volcaniclastic rocks. The calc-silicate rocks occur at the contact with copper-gold-bearing tonalite porphyries. The rocks are fine-grained and granular with green, reddish-brown and white layers. The green layers consist mostly of fine-grained clinopyroxene (diopside and hedenbergite) and the reddish-brown layers consist mostly of garnet (andradite), whereas the white layers are commonly composed of calcite and zeolite (chabazite). The calc-silicate rocks were formed by contact metasomatism of andesitic volcaniclastic rocks, as it is calcic in composition. Paragenesis study reveals at least two stages of calc-silicate mineralization. Stage 1 (prograde) is characterized by the presence of garnet (andradite), clinopyroxene (diopside and hedenbergite), anorthite and quartz at 340–360 C (high salinity 35–45 NaCl wt percentage eqn.). Stage 2 (retrograde) is characterized by chlorite and rare epidote at 280–300 C (low salinity 1–10 NaCl wt% eqn.). Late calcite ± quartz veinlets and calcite + chabazite veins/veinlets may also be related to this stage and cross cut the oldest mineral assemblages. Mineralization (magnetite, chalcopyrite and pyrite) may occur during the retrograde stage. Clinopyroxene and garnet were modified by Fe-rich hydrothermal fluid (oxidizing condition) indicated by increase of Fe from core to rim of both the cogenetic minerals. The presence of the calc-silicate rocks associated with massive magnetite-chalcopyrite-pyrite assemblage indicates the occurrence of calcic-exoskarn surrounding the Batu Hijau porphyry copper-gold deposit.     

The mechanical behaviour of synthetic, poorly consolidated granular rock under uniaxial compression

In order to isolate the effect of grain size and cementation on the mechanical behaviour of poorly consolidated granular rock, we prepared synthetic rock samples in which these two parameters were varied independently. Various proportions of sand, Portland cement and water were mixed and cast in a mold. The mixture was left pressure-free during curing, thus ensuring that the final material was poorly consolidated. We used two natural well-sorted sands with grain sizes of 0.22 and 0.8 mm. The samples were mechanically tested in a uniaxial press. Static Young's modulus was measured during the tests by performing small stress excursions at discrete intervals along the stress–strain curves. All the samples exhibited nonlinear elasticity, i.e., Young's modulus increased with stress. As expected, we found that the uniaxial compressive strength increased with increasing cement content. Furthermore, we observed a transition from grain size sensitivity of strength at cement content less than 20–30% to grain size independence above this value. The measured values of Young's modulus are well explained by models based on rigid inclusions embedded in a soft matrix, at high cement content, and on cemented grain-to-grain contacts, at low cement content. Both models predict grain size independence in well-sorted cemented sands. The observed grain size sensitivity at low cement content is probably due to microstructural differences between fine- and coarse-grained materials caused by small differences in grain sorting quality.     

Effects of mechanical layering on hydraulic fracturing in shale gas reservoirs based on numerical models

Generally, induced hydraulic fractures are generated by fluid overpressure and are used to increase reservoir permeability through forming interconnected fracture systems. However, in heterogeneous and anisotropic rocks, many hydraulic fractures may become arrested or offset at layer contacts under certain conditions and do not form vertically connected fracture networks. Mechanical layering is an important factor causing anisotropy in sedimentary layers. Hence, in this study, with a shale gas reservoir case study in the Longmaxi Formation in the southeastern Chongqing region, Sichuan Basin, we present results from several numerical models to gain quantitative insights into the effects of mechanical layering on hydraulic fracturing. Results showed that the fractured area caused by hydraulic fracturing indicated a linear relationship with the neighboring layer’s Young’s modulus. An increase of the neighboring layer’s Young’s modulus resulted in better hydraulic fracturing effects. In addition, the contact between two neighboring layers is regarded as a zone with thickness and mechanical properties, which also influences the effects of hydraulic fracturing in reservoirs. The initial hydraulic fracture was unable to propagate into neighboring layers under a relatively low contact’s Young’s modulus. When associated local tensile stresses exceeded the rock strength, hydraulic fractures propagated into neighboring layers. Moreover, with the contact’s Young’s modulus becoming higher, the fractured area increased rapidly first, then slowly and finally became stable.     

Neptunian dykes and associated breccias (Southern Alps, Italy and Switzerland): role of gravity sliding in open and closed systems

Neptunian dykes and sills of Middle Jurassic pelagic limestone within Lower Jurassic shallow-water carbonate host rocks occur at many localities in the Southern Alps of Italy and Switzerland, especially on what were the upper slopes of tilted half-grabens created during the Early Jurassic rifting stage of a passive margin that faced the Middle and Late Jurassic Tethyan Ocean. The host rocks were dilated by cracking, folding, and brecciation during movements of shallow-based gravity-driven slides and slumps of semibrittle platform strata, commonly along décollement contacts between layers of different competence. In most places, the network of cavities in the dilated strata connected to the sea floor, and pelagic sediments trickled from above into the open spaces. In other places, the brittle strata were overlain by somewhat impermeable sediments that formed a partial seal. Sudden dilation of the brittle beds resulted in forceful injection of the overlying weakly consolidated or plastic sediments into open spaces. The filling in both open and closed systems was commonly episodic, resulting in complex internal-sediment stratigraphy and cross-cutting dykes. Stable isotopic data on internal sediments and early-formed cement lie within the field of normal sea water, and none of the sedimentological or stable isotopic data supports a subaerial, dissolution (karst) origin for the Jurassic neptunian dykes of this region.     

Metamorphism and deformation at different structural levels in a strike-slip fault zone, Ross Lake fault, North Cascades, USA

Continental crust is displaced in strike-slip fault zones through lateral and vertical movement that together drive burial and exhumation. Pressure – temperature–deformation ( P–T–d ) histories of orogenic crust exhumed in transcurrent zones record the mechanisms and conditions of these processes. The Skagit Gneiss Complex, a migmatitic unit of the North Cascades, Washington (USA), was metamorphosed at depths of ∼25–30 km in a continental arc under contraction, and is bounded on its eastern side by the long-lived transcurrent Ross Lake fault zone (RLFZ). The P–T–d conditions recorded by rocks on either side of the RLFZ vary along the length of the fault zone, but most typically the fault separates high-grade gneiss and plutons from lower-grade rocks. The Ruby Mt–Elijah Ridge area at the eastern margin of the Skagit Gneiss exposes tectonic contacts between gneiss and overlying rocks; the latter rocks, including slivers of Methow basin deposits, are metamorphosed and record higher-grade metamorphism than in correlative rocks along strike along the RLFZ. In this area, the Skagit Gneiss and overlying units all yield maximum P–T conditions of 8–10 kbar at >650 °C, indicating that slices of basin rocks were buried to similar mid-crustal depths as the gneiss. After exhumation of fault zone rocks to <15 km depth, intrusion of granitoid plutons drove contact metamorphism, resulting in texturally late andalusite–cordierite in garnet schist. In the Elijah Ridge area of the RLFZ, an overlapping step-over or series of step-overs that evolved through time may have facilitated burial and exhumation of a deep slice of the Methow basin, indicating that strike-slip faults can have major vertical displacement (tens of kilometres) that is significant during the crustal thickening and exhumation stages of orogeny.     

Can tensile stress develop in fractured multilayers under compressive strain conditions?

To contribute to the understanding of how opening-mode fractures (joints) form and open or close at depth in layered rocks, we present a 2D numerical study aiming to determine whether tensile stress can develop in pre-fractured elastic multilayers submitted to biaxial compressive strain conditions.First, we investigate the role of the elastic and geometrical properties of the layers on the development of tensile stress in models with five bonded layers and containing one open fracture in the central layer. Our results indicate that, in absence of elastic contrast (in Young's modulus) between the layers, no tensile stress develops in the models. However, when the fractured layer is stiffer than the two adjacent layers directly above and below, a lobe of horizontal tensile stress develops centered on the pre-existing fracture. The creation of this tensile stress is contingent upon the partial closing of the fracture. The levels of tensile stress and the thickness of the lobe of tensile stress increase logarithmically with an increase in the elastic contrast and are systematically larger for a larger Soft/Stiff ratio (ratio of the total thickness of the soft layers with the total thickness of the stiff layers).Second, we investigate the role of fracture interaction in the development of tensile stress in models containing a pair of open fractures. We observe that the levels of tensile stress in the region between the fractures are systematically higher than those observed in identical models containing a single fracture. This increase in tensile stress is very large for small elastic contrasts between the layers but diminishes when the elastic contrast increases. Furthermore, the spacing between the pre-existing fractures plays an important role in the stress distribution in the region between them. When the fracture spacing is equal to or lower than 1.15 times the height of the fractured layer for the experimental conditions chosen, the lobes of tensile stress centered on the fractures coalesce. This results in the formation of vast areas of tensile stress in models under remote compressive loading conditions. Such tensile areas are likely to allow the initiation and propagation of subsequent opening-mode fractures.The results obtained provide new insights into the formation of joints in layered rocks in compressive environments, with important consequences on fluid flow.     

Crack Initiation and Crack Propagation in Heterogeneous Sulfate-Rich Clay Rocks

Brittle fracture processes were hypothesized by several researches to cause a damage zone around an underground excavation in sulfate-rich clay rock when the stress exceeds the crack initiation threshold, and may promote swelling by crystal growth in newly formed fractures. In this study, laboratory experiments such as unconfined and confined compression tests with acoustic emission monitoring, and microstructural and mineralogical analyses are used to explain brittle fracture processes in sulfate-rich clay rock from the Gipskeuper formation in Switzerland. This rock type typically shows a heterogeneous rock fabric consisting of distinct clayey layers and stiff heterogeneities such as anhydrite layers, veins or nodules. The study showed that at low deviatoric stress, the failure behavior is dominated by the strength of the clayey matrix where microcracks are initiated. With increasing deviatoric stress or strain, growing microcracks eventually are arrested at anhydrite veins, and cracks develop either aligned with the interface between clayey layers and anhydrite veins, or penetrate anhydrite veins. These cracks often link micro-fractured regions in the specimen. This study also suggest that fracture localization in sulfate-rich clay rocks, which typically show a heterogeneous rock fabric, does not take place in the pre-peak range and renders unstable crack propagation less likely. Sulfate-rich clay rocks typically contain anhydrite veins at various scales. At the scale of a tunnel, anhydrite layers or veins may arrest growing fractures and prevent the disintegration of the rock mass. The rock mass may be damaged when the threshold stress for microcrack initiation is exceeded, thus promoting swelling by crystal growth in extension fractures, but the self-supporting capacity of the rock mass may be maintained rendering the possibility for rapidly propagating instability less likely.     

Parallel, similar and constrained folds

Theoretical analysis of folding of viscous multilayers with free slip or bonding at layer contacts indicates that folds in such multilayers can be described in terms of three end-members:parallel, in which orthogonal thicknesses of layers are largely constant;similar, in which vertical thicknesses of layers and shapes of successive interfaces are essentially constant; andconstrained, in which amplitudes of anticlines and synclines decrease to zero at upper and lower boundaries. Constrained,internal folds form if the multilayer is confined by rigid media; parallel,concentric-like folds form if the multilayer is confined by soft media, provided soft interbeds are sufficiently thin for the stiff layers to fold as an ensemble. Similar,sinusoidal orchevron folds form throughout much of the thickness of a multilayer, for any stiffness of confining media, provided wavelengths of folds are short relative to the thickness of the multilayer or soft interbeds are sufficiently soft and thick for the stiff layers to act independently. The analysis shows that multilayer folds may have the same form regardless of whether the layer contacts are freely slipping or bonded.

The forms of folds in multilayers confined by media with different viscosities above and below depend on the viscosity contrast of the media. For no medium above and a rigid medium below, the forms are concentric-like in the upper part and internal in the lower part of the multilayer. For no medium above and a soft medium below, the folds are concentric-like throughout the multilayer.

The theory indicates that a useful way to analyze forms of folds in rocks or in experiments is in terms of component waveforms, as defined, for example, by Fourier series. The distributions of amplitudes of component waveforms throughout the multilayer appears to be diagnostic, reflecting contrasts in properties of the multilayer and its confining media. Analysis of a large fold in the central Appalachians, Pennsylvania, and of a smaller fold in the Huasna syncline, California, indicates that at least three component waveforms are required to produce the gross forms of those folds.

The theory closely predicts wavelengths and shapes of folds produced in analogous elastic multilayers, indicating that nonlinearities in material behavior, which are inherent in the elastic material but are absent in the viscous material, are less significant than nonlinearities in the boundary conditions, which are the same in elastic and viscous materials.     

Reconciliation of conflicting tectonic models for Proterozoic rocks of northern New Mexico

Two major Proterozoic tectonic events are documented in the Taos Range of northern New Mexico. Regional structures involving the tectonic interleaving of c.   1.65  Ga granitoids with supracrustal rocks are interpreted to have formed before 1.42  Ga and probably during collisional assembly of island arc crust into new (1.7–1.6  Ga) continental lithosphere. Supracrustal rocks record 650–750  °C, 6–8  kbar metamorphism (M₂); these high temperatures may have been reached during sandwiching between c.   1.65  Ga granitoids. However, the early history has been obscured by renewed tectonism at c.   1.4  Ga that resulted in partial melting, fabric reactivation and new mineral growth at 4  kbar (M₃). Metamorphic temperature variations from uppermost-amphibolite to amphibolite facies rocks may be associated with c.   1.65 and/or 1.4  Ga plutonism, but not to a 1.4  Ga extensional shear zone as previously proposed. Syn- and post-1.4  Ga contraction is suggested by high- and low-temperature microstructures showing top-to-the-south-east thrusting. This work reconciles conflicting models by suggesting that the geometry of the structures was mainly established by c.   1.65  Ga, but that the present fabric also records 1.4  Ga tectonism involving high- T  metamorphism and fabric reactivation.     

Remarkable variability in dyke features at the Vicuña Pampa Volcanic Complex,Southern Central Andes

Dykes at the Vicuña Pampa Volcanic Complex, which are mostly basaltic (trachy)‐andesite and (trachy)‐andesite, are exposed at the base and along the walls of a large depression resulting from intense degradation. Dykes intruding stiff layers (lavas, plugs and necks) are thin, mostly dip >60° and have coherent textures, whereas dykes intruding more compliant materials (breccias and conglomerates) tend to be thicker, have lower dips and have coherent, brecciated or mixed textures (coherent and brecciated textural domains in a single or compound dyke). Single dykes with brecciated and mixed textures are only found intruding near‐surface units. Dykes with mixed textures always have sharp contacts between domains. Dykes with sinuous domain contacts and enclaves of one domain inside the other are interpreted as resulting from dyke arrest, partial cooling and reinjection of new magma. Dykes with straight domain contacts are considered to be compound dykes, with a new dyke intruding along the margins of an older, solidified one.     

Hot contacts of garnet peridotites in middle/upper crustal levels: new constraints on the nature of the late Variscan high-T/low-P event in the Moldanubian (Central Vosges/NE France)

P–T  paths based on parageneses in the immediate vicinity of former high-temperature contact zones between mantle peridotites and granulitic country rocks of the Central Vosges (NE France) were derived by applying several conventional thermometers and thermobarometric calculations with an internally consistent dataset. The results indicate that former garnet peridotites and garnet–spinel peridotites were welded together with crustal rocks at depths corresponding to 1–1.2 GPa. The temperature of the crustal rocks was about 650–700 °C at this stage, whereas values of 1100 °C (garnet peridotites) and 800–900 °C (garnet–spinel peridotites) were calculated for the ultramafic rocks. After emplacement of the mantle rocks, exhumation of the lower crust took place to a depth corresponding to 0.2–0.3 GPa. The temperatures of the incorporated peridotite slices were still high (900–1000 °C) at this stage. This is indicated by the presence of high- T  /low- P parageneses ( c . 800 °C, 0.2–0.3 GPa) in a small (1–10 m) contact aureole around a former garnet peridotite. Crustal rocks distant to the peridotites equilibrated in the same pressure range at lower temperature (650–700 °C). High cooling rates (10²–10³ °C Ma⁻¹) were calculated for a garnet–biotite rock inclusion in the peridotites and for the crustal rocks at the contact by applying garnet–biotite diffusion modelling. Minimum rates of 0.75–7.5 cm a⁻¹ are required for vertical ascent of rock units (30 km vertical distance) derived from the crust–mantle boundary, resulting in a late Variscan (340 Ma) high- T  /low- P event.     

Granulite facies metamorphism in the Mallee Bore area, northern Harts Range: implications for the thermal evolution of the eastern Arunta Inlier, central Australia

The Mallee Bore area in the northern Harts Range of central Australia underwent high-temperature, medium- to high-pressure granulite facies metamorphism. Individual geothermometers and geobarometers and average P–T  calculations using the program Thermocalc suggest that peak metamorphic conditions were 705–810 °C and 8–12 kbar. Partial melting of both metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks, forming garnet-bearing restites, occurred under peak metamorphic conditions. Comparison with partial melting experiments suggests that vapour-absent melting in metabasic and metapelitic rocks with compositions close to those of rocks in the Mallee Bore area occurs at 800–875 °C and >9–10 kbar. The lower temperatures obtained from geothermometry imply that mineral compositions were reset during cooling. Following the metamorphic peak, the rocks underwent local mylonitization at 680–730 °C and 5.8–7.7 kbar. After mylonitization ceased, garnet retrogressed locally to biotite, which was probably caused by fluids exsolving from crystallizing melts. These three events are interpreted as different stages of a single, continuous, clockwise P–T  path. The metamorphism at Mallee Bore probably occurred during the 1745–1730 Ma Late Strangways Orogeny, and the area escaped significant crustal reworking during the Anmatjira and Alice Springs events that locally reached amphibolite facies conditions elsewhere in the Harts Ranges.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112000849

New methods are presented for processing and interpretation of shallow marine differential magnetic data,including constructing maps of offshore total magnetic anomalies with an extremely high resolution of up to 1-2 nT,mapping weak anomalies of 5-10 nT caused by mineralization effects at the contacts of hydrocarbons with host rocks,estimating depths to upper and lower boundaries of anomalous magnetic sources,and estimating thickness of magnetic layers and boundaries of tectonic blocks. Horizontal dimensions of tectonic blocks in the so-called "seismic gap" region in the central Kuril Arc vary from 10 to 100 km,with typical dimensions of 25-30 km.The area of the "seismic gap" is a zone of intense tectonic activity and recent volcanism.Deep sources causing magnetic anomalies in the area are similar to the "magnetic belt" near Hokkaido. In the southern and central parts of Barents Sea,tectonic blocks with widths of 30-100 km,and upper and lower boundaries of magnetic layers ranging from depths of 10 to 5 km and 18 to 30 km are calculated.Models of the magnetic layer underlying the Mezen Basin in an inland part of the White Sea-Barents Sea paleorift indicate depths to the lower boundary of the layer of 12-30 km.Weak local magnetic anomalies of 2-5 nT in the northern and central Caspian Sea were identified using the new methods,and drilling confirms that the anomalies are related to concentrations of hydrocarbon.Two layers causing magnetic anomalies are identified in the northern Caspian Sea from magnetic anomaly spectra.The upper layer lies immediately beneath the sea bottom and the lower layer occurs at depths between 30-40 m and 150-200 m.     

Cr-rich magnesiochloritoid eclogites from the Monviso ophiolites (Western Alps, Italy)

Cr-rich magnesiochloritoid in the eclogitized ophiolites of the Monviso massif occurs in the least differentiated rocks of the gabbroic sequence (troctolites to melatroctolites). Chloritoid ( X _Mg=0.63–0.85; Cr≤0.55, atoms) co-exists with omphacite, talc and garnet. Minor, syn-eclogitic minerals are chromite, rutile and sometimes magnesite and Cr–Ti oxides.
Coronitic textures, indicative of a static recrystallization, characterize the analysed samples. Layers of variable mineral composition develop among igneous plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and spinel. The minerals in the coronitic layers display sharp compositional zonings. The igneous minerals are commonly not preserved; their presence in the original assemblage is inferred from the mineralogical composition of the pseudomorphs.
Syn-eclogitic volatile components are indicated by the development of OH-bearing minerals (e.g. chloritoid & talc) and carbonates (e.g. magnesite), and supported by the presence of coarse-grained and fibrous mineral growths. The complex pseudomorphic replacements of igneous minerals suggest that these rocks changed their mineralogical composition prior to the eclogite facies recrystallization, most likely during ocean-floor metamorphism. It is suggested that syn-eclogitic fluids formed by breakdown reactions of pre-eclogitic volatile-bearing minerals.
Geothermobarometry indicates that the investigated rocks recrystallized at a depth corresponding to 2.4  GPa and temperatures of 620±50  °C. The attainment of high-pressure conditions is supported by the presence of magnesiochloritoid, magnesite and garnet with high pyrope content (up to 58  mol%). P–T  estimates point to a very low thermal gradient (about 9  °C km⁻¹), comparable to that deduced in the adjacent Dora-Maira ultra-high pressure unit.     

Garnet exsolution in pyroxene from clinopyroxenites in the Moldanubian zone: constraining the early pre-convergence history of ultramafic rocks in the Variscan orogen

Exsolution lamellae of garnet in clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene porphyroclasts from garnet pyroxenites in the Moldanubian zone were studied to elucidate the pressure–temperature conditions of the exsolution process and to reconstruct the burial and exhumation path of ultramafic rocks in the Variscan orogen. The porphyroclasts occur in a fine-grained matrix with metamorphic fabrics, which consists of clinopyroxene and small amounts of garnet, orthopyroxene and amphibole. The clinopyroxene porphyroclasts contain garnet + orthopyroxene lamellae as well as ilmenite rods that have orientation parallel to (100) planes of the porphyroclasts. Orthopyroxene porphyroclasts host garnet and clinopyroxene lamellae, which show the same lattice preferred orientation. In both cases, lamellar orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and garnet were partially replaced by secondary amphibole. Composition of exsolution phases and that of host pyroxene were reintegrated according to measured modal proportions and demonstrate that the primary pyroxene was enriched in Al and contained 8–11 mol.% Tschermak components. Conventional thermobarometry and thermodynamic modelling on the reintegrated pyroxene indicate that primary clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene megacrysts crystallized at 1300–1400 °C and 2.2–2.5 GPa. Unmixing and exsolution of garnet and a second pyroxene phase occurred in response to cooling and pressure increase before the peak pressure of 4.5–5.0 GPa was reached at ∼1100 °C. This scenario is consistent with a burial of hot upper-mantle ultramafics into a cold subcratonic environment and subsequent exhumation through 900 °C and 2.2–3.3 GPa, when the pyroxenites would have partially recrystallized during tectonic incorporation into eclogites and felsic granulites.     

Contact metamorphism in the Malashan dome, North Himalayan gneiss domes, southern Tibet: an example of shallow extensional tectonics in the Tethys Himalaya

Combined petrographic, structural and geochronological study of the Malashan dome, one of the North Himalayan gneiss domes, reveals that it is cored by a Miocene granite, the Malashan granite, that intruded into the Jurassic sedimentary rocks of Tethys Himalaya. Two other granites in the area are referred to as the Paiku and Cuobu granites. New zircon SHRIMP U-Pb and muscovite and biotite ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar dating show that the Paiku granite was emplaced during 22.2–16.2 Ma (average 19.3 ± 3.9 Ma) and cooled rapidly to 350–400 °C at around 15.9 Ma. Whole-rock granite chemistry suggests the original granitic magma may have formed by muscovite dehydration melting of a protolith chemically similar to the High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence. Abundant calcareous metasedimentary rocks and minor garnet-staurolite-biotite-muscovite ± andalusite schists record contact metamorphism by three granites that intruded intermittently into the Jurassic sediments between 18.5 and 15.3 Ma. Two stages of widespread penetrative ductile deformation, D1 and D2, can be defined. Microstructural studies of metapelites combined with geothermobarometry and pseudosection analyses yield P – T conditions of 4.8 ± 0.8 kbar at 550 ± 50 °C during a non-deformational stage between D1 and D2, and 3.1–4.1 kbar at 530–575 °C during syn- to post-D2. The pressure estimates for the syn- to post-D2 growth of andalusite suggest relatively shallow (depth of ∼15.2 km) extensional ductile deformation that took place within a shear zone of the South Tibetan Detachment System. Close temporal association between intrusion of the Malashan granite and onset of D2 suggests extension may have been triggered by the intrusion of the Malashan granite.     

Fluid variability in 2 GPa eclogites as an indicator of fluid behavior during subduction

Fluid activity ratios calculated between millimeter- to centimeter-scale layers in banded mafic eclogites from the Tauern Window, Austria, indicate that variations in a _{H 2 O} existed between layers during equilibration at P approximately equal to 2GPa and T approximately equal to 625°C, whereas a _{CO 2} was nearly constant between the same layers. Model calculations in the system H₂O–CO₂–NaCl show that these results are consistent with the existence of different saturated saline brines, carbonic fluids, or immiscible pairs of both in different layers. The data cannot be explained by the exisience of water-rich fluids in all layers. The model fluid compositions agree with fluid inclusion compositions from eclogite-stage veins and segregations that contain (1) saline brines (up to 39 equivalent wt. % NaCl) with up to six silicate, oxide, and carbonate daughter phases, and (2) carbonic fluids. The formation of crystalline segregations from fluid-filled pockets or hydrofractures indicates high fluid pressures at 2 GPa; the record of fluid variability in the banded eclogite host rocks, however, implies that fluid transport was limited to local flow along individual layers and that there was no large-scale mixing of fluids during devolatilization at depths of 60–70 km. The lack of evidence for fluid mixing may, in part, reflect variations in wetting behavior of fluids of different composition; nonwetting fluids (water-rich or carbonic) would be confined to intergranular pore spaces and would be essentially immobile, whereas wetting fluids (saline brines) could migrate more easily along an interconnected fluid network. The heterogeneous distribution of chemically distinct fluids may influence chemical transport processes during subduction by affecting mineral-fluid element partitioning and by altering the migration properties of the fluid phase(s) in the downgoing slab.