Fabric kinematics of the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks from the main borehole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project: Implications for continental subduction and exhumation

The 5158-m-deep main borehole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project (CCSD-MH) penetrated granitic gneisses, paragneisses, eclogites, retrograde eclogites, amphibolites and ultramafic rocks in the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane, eastern China. The CCSD-MH consists of four petro-structural units separated by three SE-dipping ductile shear zones DFa (835-1280 m), DFb (2010-2280 m) and DFc (2920-3225 m), which are correspondent with the regional shear zones in the northern Sulu UHP supracrustal zone. Using the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique, we investigated the lattice-preferred orientations (LPOs) of omphacite, diopside and quartz in core samples from the CCSD-MH. Omphacite from eclogites and diopside from garnet pyroxenites display very strong LPOs, which are characterized by the maximum concentration of [001]-axes parallel to the lineation and (010)-poles normal to the foliation. Quartz in para- and granitic mylonites/gneisses from the shear zones DFa, DFb and DFc developed multiple slip systems. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of biotite in para- and granitic gneisses from the CCSD-MH yields 223-202 Ma, which constrains the formation ages of the quartz high-temperature prism slip systems {m}<a> and {m}[c]. The asymmetric LPOs of omphacite, diopside, olivine and quartz with respect to the structural frame reveal three deformation phases in the Sulu terrane. In the Middle Triassic, the northward subduction of the Yangtze plate to depths > 100 km produced a top-to-the-south shear sense in LPOs of omphacite, diopside and olivine, and a nearly N-S-striking foliation and a subhorizontal N-S-trending lineation in eclogites and ultramafic rocks. In the Late Triassic, the UHP rocks were exhumed to the lower crust and quartz developed high-temperature slip systems with a top-to-the-NW shear sense, which is consistent with the regional SE-dipping foliation and SE-plunging lineation in the ductile shear zones. In the Cretaceous the UHP rocks were exhumed to the middle crust when the migmatization and granitic intrusion formed a NE-striking antiform structure. As a result, the activation of quartz low-temperature basal slip (0001)<a> is characterized by a top-to-the-SE shear sense in the south, but a top-to-the-NW shear sense in the north.     

雪球状石榴子石变斑晶的形成机制:以南迦巴瓦地区雅鲁藏布江缝合带西侧石英片岩为例

雅鲁藏布江缝合带米林地区的石英片岩糜棱岩化强烈,线理及面理构造发育。S-C组构、"σ"残斑以及不对称褶皱等指示了上盘相对下盘向NW下滑的剪切运动趋势。电子背散射衍射(EBSD)测试结果表明:雪球状石榴子石变斑晶边部面理(S2)中石英包裹体晶格优选方位模式图指示的运动指向与石英岩基质面理(或外部面理;S3)中石英包裹体晶格优选方位模式图指示的运动指向一致,都是上盘向NW正滑。然而,雪球状石榴子石的核部(S1)石英包裹体优选方位(LPO)模式图指示相反运动指向。能量色散显微分析(EDS)测试结果表明石榴子石的成分环带显示连续生长环带特征。连接石榴子石核部面理(S1)可以恢复得到石英岩早期不对称褶皱形状的面理轨迹。这些说明文章样品中雪球状石榴子石变斑晶是生长在不对称褶皱之上的。此过程主要是剪切方向发生了旋转,而不是石榴子石自身旋转。这种雪球状石榴子石变斑晶的存在说明南迦巴瓦地区雅鲁藏布江缝合带西侧岩石最初经历向SE的逆冲作用,后期经历由SE向NW的拆离滑脱事件。     

Sense of shear in high-temperature movement zones from the fabric asymmetry of plagioclase feldspars

A new method for determining the sense of shear in plagioclase-bearing tectonites from the (010) orientation of plagioclase feldspar is presented. The method is based on the asymmetry of the (010) plane with respect to the structural frame (foliation and lineation) and the dominant activity of the (010) slip plane in the high-temperature plasticity of plagioclase feldspar. Using examples from the Zabargad gneisses (Red Sea) the method is applied to plagioclases of An25–An45 and compared with other methods of shear-sense determination (quartz c-axis fabrics and microstructural criteria).     

韧性剪切带中片麻岩和超高压榴辉岩变形特征及其与地震波速各向异性的关系：来自中国大陆科学钻探（CCSD）680～1200米岩心的证据

中国大陆科学钻探(CCSD)680-1200米区段发育了多个韧性剪切带,带中主要岩石类型包括片麻岩和超高压榴辉岩。片麻岩中的变形石英、面理化榴辉岩中的拉长石榴石和绿辉石的应变轴比都表现为X>Y>Z,Flinn系数分别为0.11-0.27、0.22-0.23和0.23-0.24。随着糜棱岩化作用的增强,变形石英的C轴组构由Z轴极密逐渐向Y轴极密和叶理面上的大圆环带转变。在常温常压下测试了样品的波速,计算出片麻岩Vp和Vs的各向异性分别为30.17％-60.97％和11.52％-35.79％,榴辉岩Vp和Vs的各向异性分别为0.17％-11.19％和2.41％-6.70％。影响各向异性的主要因素有岩石的结构构造、矿物的晶格优选方位(LPO)、形态优选方位(SPO)和定向微裂隙。随着糜棱岩化作用的增强,岩石的P波各向异性逐 渐升高。变形岩石中的黑云母、石英、绿辉石的LPO和SPO是地震波各向异性的主要控制因素。饱水后的片麻岩样品的P波各向异性明显低于干燥片麻岩样品。在东海钻井中的强反射带主要是由于不同岩层之间的波阻抗差异而造成的,榴辉岩/强退变榴辉岩和黑云斜长片麻岩之间的接触界面会产生较强的地震深反射。此外,与LPO相关的地震波各向异性会增强地震波的反射,所以韧性剪切带中的糜棱岩化片麻岩可能是地震反射的良好载体。韧性剪切带中岩石弹性波速度的强各向     

桂北摩天岭花岗岩体中片麻状构造的成因

摩天岭花岗岩体为一大型韧性剪切带,岩体中广泛发育的片麻理实际上是糜棱面理,其总体走向为NNE向,倾向NWW-SWW,倾角30～70°,拉伸线理向SWW或NWW倾伏,根据S-C面理构造、长石和石英不对称眼球等剪切指向标志体判断,韧性剪切带运动学为正滑剪切。     

The use of asymmetric pressure shadows in mylonites to determine the sense of shear

Asymmetric pressure shadows (APS) on both sides of a rigid porphyroclast are commonly observed in mylonites along the Median Tectonic Line (MTL) in Japan. It is one of the most noticeable asymmetric microstructures, showing that the porphyroclasts have rotated during non-coaxial laminar flow in a ductile shear zone. The shadow domains are filled with recrystallized quartz and K-feldspar. Excepting APS, various asymmetric microstructures in the mylonites indicate a sinistral sense of displacement throughout the ductile shear zone along the MTL.Based on the shape analysis of APS in XZ section (parallel to the mylonitic lineation and normal to the mylonitic foliation), the following results were obtained: (1) the relative position of the APS with respect to a porphyroclast is not a reliable criterion for deducing the sense of shear; and (2) the drag angle (β) of the shadow boundaries with respect to the mylonitic foliation in each quartered domain is diagnostic of the sense of shear; when the shearing is sinistral, β in upper right- and lower left-hand side of a porphyroclast is larger than β in upper left- and lower right-hand side, and vice versa for dextral shearing. These results demonstrate that the drag patterns of APS around porphyroclasts in mylonites are highly reliable indicators for the determination of the sense of shear.     

Quartz fabrics in shear-zone mylonites: Evidence for a major imprint due to late strain increments

Geometrical relations between quartz C-axis fabrics, textures, microstructures and macroscopic structural elements (foliation, lineation, folds…) in mylonitic shear zones suggest that the C-axis fabric mostly reflects the late-stage deformation history. Three examples of mylonitic thrust zones are presented: the Eastern Alps, where the direction of shearing inferred from the quartz fabric results from a late deformation oblique to the overall thrusting; the Caledonides nappes and the Himalayan Main Central Thrust zone, where, through a similar reasoning, the fabrics would also reflect late strain increments though the direction of shearing deduced from quartz fabric remains parallel to the overall thrusting direction. Hence, the sense of shear and the shear strain component deduced from the orientation of C-axis girdles relative to the finite strain ellipsoid axes are not simply related nor representative of the entire deformation history.     

Fabric development during shear deformation in the Main Central Thrust Zone, NW-Himalaya, India

Quartz microfabrics and associated microstructures have been studied on a crustal shear zone—the Main Central Thrust (MCT) of the Himalaya. Sampling has been done along six traverses across the MCT zone in the Kumaun and Garhwal sectors of the Indian Himalaya. The MCT is a moderately north-dipping shear zone formed as a result of the southward emplacement of a part of the deeply rooted crust (that now constitutes the Central Crystalline Zone of the Higher Himalaya) over the less metamorphosed sedimentary belt of the Lesser Himalaya. On the basis of quartz c- and a-axis fabric patterns, supported by the relevant microstructures within the MCT zone, two major kinematic domains have been distinguished. A noncoaxial deformation domain is indicated by the intensely deformed rocks in the vicinity of the MCT plane. This domain includes ductilely deformed and fine-grained mylonitic rocks which contain a strong stretching lineation and are composed of low-grade mineral assemblages (muscovite, chlorite and quartz). These rocks are characterized by highly asymmetric structures/microstructures and quartz c- and a-axis fabrics that indicate a top-to-the-south sense that is compatible with south-directed thrusting for the MCT zone. An apparently coaxial deformation domain, on the other hand, is indicated by the rocks occurring in a rather narrow belt fringing, and structurally above, the noncoaxial deformation domain. The rocks are highly feldspathic and coarse-grained gneisses and do not possess any common lineation trend and the effects of simple shear deformation are weak. The quartz c-axis fabrics are symmetrical with respect to foliation and lineation. Moreover, these rocks contain conjugate and mutually interfering shear bands, feldspar/quartz porphyroclasts with long axes parallel to the macrosopic foliation and the related structures/microstructures, suggesting deformation under an approximate coaxial strain path.On moving towards the MCT, the quartz c- and a-axis fabrics become progressively stronger. The c-axis fabric gradually changes from random to orthorhombic and then to monoclinic. In addition, the coaxial strain path gradually changes to the noncoaxial strain path. All this progressive evolution of quartz fabrics suggests more activation of the basal, rhomb and a slip systems at all structural levels across the MCT.     

Thrust tectonics in crystalline domains: The origin of a gneiss dome

Structural geological field work, microscopic and magnetic fabric studies have been applied in order to assess the structural origin of a gneiss dome, based on a regional example from the Neoproterozoic Pan-African Belt of NE Africa, the Wadi Hafafit Culmination (WHC). The culmination is dominated by a number of major shear zones, which form both the boundaries between the gneissic core and surrounding low grade successions as well as those of minor structural units within the gneisses. These shear zones form a linked fault system, which, based on shear criteria, fault-bend fold and overall geometric interrelationships, can be classified as an antiformal stack. The relative age sequence of the shear zones/thrusts with the highest thrust oldest and the lowermost youngest points to a forward-propagating thrust system. This, together with the shear criteria, exclude an origin of the WHC as a metamorphic core complex, where the highest shear zone should be youngest. The geometry of the WHC antiformal stack is documented by maps and sections as well as section balancing and restoration. Microscopic work showed brittle deformation in feldspar and dynamic recrystallization in quartz ribbons. The asymmetry of the fabric confirmed the macroscopically determined shear sense. However, there is one example of an earlier, perhaps extensional shear movement. Mylonitic foliation and transport-parallel lineation have also been determined by magnetic fabric studies. The observations suggest that thrusts may cut across both previously folded crystalline rocks as well as homogeneous granitoid plutonic bodies. According to the regional tectonic picture the large-scale structure of the gneiss dome originated after a phase of (late-orogenic) extensional collapse. It is speculated that during late-orogenic cooling the upper part of the lithosphere was sufficiently strong to allow brittle thrusting whilst the lithosphere as a whole was still weak enough to allow large-scale compressional deformation, perhaps in a transitional stage from lateorogenic to intra-cratonic deformation.     

Deformation partitioning during folding and transposition of quartz layers

Banded iron formation (BIF) from the Quadrilátero Ferrı́fero (southeastern Brazil) shows a compositional layering with alternating iron-rich and quartz-rich layers. This layering was intensively folded and transposed at a centimeter/millimeter scale through a component of bedding-parallel shear related to flexural slip at middle to high greenschist facies conditions (400–450 °C). The microstructure and c-axis fabrics of normal limbs, inverted limb and hinge zones of a selected isoclinal fold were analyzed combining optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and digital image analysis. In the normal limbs, recrystallized quartz grains show undulose extinction, relatively dry grain boundaries, c-axes at high angle to foliation and a pervasive grain shape fabric (GSF) indicating operation of crystal-plastic processes. In the inverted limb, quartz grains show more serrated and porous (“wet”) grain boundaries; the GSF is similar to that of the normal limb, but c-axes are oriented at 90° to those of the normal limb. We interpreted these characteristics as reflecting operation of solution-precipitation deformation in inverted limbs, as a consequence of grains having been rotated to an orientation that was hard to basal 〈a〉 glide, but easy to dissolution-precipitation creep. This deformation partitioning between crystal-plasticity and solution-transfer during folding/transposition of quartz may explain the common occurrence of layered quartz rocks, where individual layers show alternating c-axis fabrics with opposite asymmetries but a consistent GSF orientation. Such characteristics may reflect an earlier event of pervasive folding/transposition of a preexisting layering.     

Shear criteria in granite and migmatite deformed in the magmatic and solid states

Microstructural criteria for the determination of the sense of shear in rocks homogeneously deformed in the partially melted state are similar to those which apply to solid-state deformation. Sense of shear determination is either direct, deduced from the sense of rotation of markers, or indirect, involving the obliquity between the shear and foliation planes, or between the successive foliations imprinted at different stages of progressive deformation.This study is a by-product of the detailed structural and microstructural investigation of a high-grade metamorphic rock pile (Variscan Vosges Massif, France) which underwent subhorizontal shearing during partial melting and further solidification. Depending on the rock chemistry, on the position in the pile and the relative timing of progressive deformation, layered migmatites and homogeneous granites were variously deformed in the partially melted and solid states. The sense of shear obtained from these rock types, using the criteria presented here, consistently gives a top to SW direction.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112000618

The Moyar Shear Zone(MSZ) of the South Indian granulite terrain hosts a prominent syenite pluton (～560 Ma) and associated NW-SE to NE-SW trending mafic dyke swarm(～65 Ma and 95 Ma). Preliminary magnetic fabric studies in the mafic dykes,using Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibly(AMS) studies at low-field,indicate successive emplacement and variable magma flow direction.Magnetic lineation and foliation in these dykes are identical to the mesoscopic fabrics in MSZ mylonites,indicating shear zone guided emplacement.Spatial distribution of magnetic lineation in the dykes suggests a common conduit from which the source magma has been migrated.The magnetic foliation trajectories have a sigmoidal shape to the north of the pluton and curve into the MSZ suggesting dextral sense of shear.Identical fabric conditions for magnetic fabrics in the syenite pluton and measured field fabrics in mylonite indicate syntectonic emplacement along the Proterozoic crustal scale dextral shear zone with repeated reactivation history.     

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.     

P–T conditions of decompression of the Limpopo high-grade terrane: record from shear zones

The Southern Marginal Zone of the late Archean Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is an example of a high‐grade gneiss terrane in which both upper and lower crustal deformational processes can be studied. This marginal zone consists of large thrust sheets of complexly folded low‐strain gneisses, bound by an imbricate system of kilometre‐wide deep crustal shear zones characterized by the presence of high‐strain gneisses (‘primary straight gneisses’). These shear zones developed during the decompression stage of this high‐grade terrane. Low‐ and high‐strain gneisses both contain similar reaction textures that formed under different kinematic conditions during decompression. Evidence for the early M1/D1 metamorphic phase (> 2690 Ma) is rarely preserved in low‐strain gneisses as a uniform orientation of relict Al‐rich orthopyroxene in the matrix and quartz and plagioclase inclusions in the cores of early (M1) Mg‐rich garnet porphyroblasts. This rare fabric formed at > 820 °C and > 7.5 kbar. The retrograde M2/D2 metamorphic fabric (2630–2670 Ma) is well developed in high‐strain gneisses from deep crustal shear zones and is microscopically recognized by the presence of reaction textures that formed synkinematically during shear deformation: M2 sigmoid‐shaped reaction textures with oriented cordierite–orthopyroxene symplectites formed after the early M1 Mg‐rich garnet porphyroblasts, and syn‐decompression M2 pencil‐shaped garnet with oriented inclusions of sillimanite and quartz formed after cordierite under conditions of near‐isobaric cooling at 750–630 °C and 6–5 kbar. The symplectites and pencil‐shaped garnet are oriented parallel to the shear fabric and in the stretching direction. Low‐strain gneisses from thrust sheets show similar M2 decompression cooling and near‐isobaric cooling reaction textures that formed within the same P–T range, but under low‐strain conditions, as shown by their pseudo‐idioblastic shapes that reflect the contours of completely replaced M1 garnet and randomly oriented cordierite–orthopyroxene symplectites. The presence of similar reaction textures reflecting low‐strain conditions in gneisses from thrust sheets and high‐strain conditions in primary straight gneisses suggests that most of the strain during decompression was partitioned into the bounding shear zones. A younger M3/D3 mylonitic fabric (< 2637 Ma) in unhydrated mylonites is characterized by brittle deformation of garnet porphyroclasts and ductile deformation of the quartz–plagioclase–biotite matrix developed at < 600 °C, as the result of post‐decompression shearing under epidote–amphibolite facies conditions.     

Quartz c-axis fabric development and large-scale post-nappe folding (Wandfluhhorn Fold,Penninic nappes)

Quartz c-axis fabrics have been investigated within a suite of quartz veins and monomineralic layers around a major post-nappe fold hinge (the Wandfluhhorn Fold) in the Bosco area (Swiss-Italian border) within the lower Penninic nappes.Two kinematic domains which are separated by the axial plane trace of the Wandfluhhorn Fold are recognized; on the lower limb the measured quartz c-axis fabric asymmetry indicates a sense of shear in which the overlying layers move to the southwest (i.e. top-to-SW) whereas on the upper limb the shear sense is reversed with the top moving to northeast. The shear direction (N60°E–N80°E), however, is constant in both areas and oblique to an older stretching lineation as well as to the D₃ fold hinge. Such a distribution of asymmetric quartz c-axis fabrics and the constant orientation of their interpreted shear direction, which is apparent only from the fabric data and not from field evidence, indicates fabric development pre- or early syn-Wandfluhhorn folding, with subsequent folding and modification of the existing textures and possibly rotation of the initial fold axis.An overall westward-directed shear has been suggested for the whole of the Lepontine Alps. However, this study demonstrates that this simple general pattern has been modified locally by later folding. It also demonstrates that the dominant lineation may be a finite stretching lineation due to more than one phase of deformation and is not necessarily related to any particular transport direction.     

江苏东海CCSD主孔超高压变形与折返变形的叠加关系

位于苏鲁超高压变质地体南部的中国大陆科学钻探工程（CCSD）主孔岩石经历了超高压变形及多期折返变形。第一期折返变形为伸展折返变形,榴辉岩发生角闪岩相退变质作用,没有新生面理或线理的发育,基本保留了超高压阶段的S-L组构,并有显示熔融体特征的强退变榴辉岩发育。第二期折返变形为SEE-NWW向挤压折返变形,超高压变形期形成的不同岩石类型在本期变形中表现出不同的叠加变形现象,榴辉岩类岩石早期形成的S倾面理主体部分转为SEE倾,但拉伸线理产状与超高压变形期的近SN走向基本一致,反映早期面理沿NNE轴向的重褶作用,局部又被向SEE缓倾的韧性剪切带切割;而片麻岩类岩石在超高压变形期形成的S-L组构的主体部分已被新生成的总体向SEE缓倾的S-L组构置换,反映早期面理不仅重褶,而且大部分再度发生韧性剪切变形,具SEE向NWW的逆冲剪切指向,矿物普遍重新定向。第三期折返变形发育具NWW向SEE正滑剪切指向的韧性剪切带,并伴随大量“Z”型褶皱构造的发育。第四期折返变形以NWW向SEE正滑的张性或张扭性脆性断裂活动为主。探讨了苏鲁超高压变质地体折返变形的力学机制及CCSD主孔岩石面理变化的形成机制。     

Strain path partitioning within thrust sheets: microstructural and petrofabric evidence from the Moine Thrust zone at Loch Eriboll,northwest Scotland

Quartz c axis fabrics and microstructures have been investigated within a suite of quartzites collected from the Loch Eriboll area of the Moine Thrust zone and are used to interpret the detailed processes involved in fabric evolution. The intensity of quartz c axis fabrics is directly proportional to the calculated strain magnitude. A correlation is also established between the pattern of c axis fabrics and the calculated strain symmetry.Two kinematic domains are recognized within one of the studied thrust sheets which outcrops immediately beneath the Moine Thrust. Within the upper and central levels of the thrust sheet coaxial deformation is indicated by conjugate, mutually interfering shear bands, globular low strain detrital quartz grains whose c axes are aligned sub-parallel to the principal finite shortening direction (Z) and quartz c axis fabrics which are symmetric (both in terms of skeletal outline and intensity distribution) with respect to mylonitic foliation and lineation. Non-coaxial deformation is indicated within the more intensely deformed and recrystallized quartzites located near the base of the thrust sheet by single sets of shear bands and c axis fabrics which are asymmetric with respect to foliation and lineation.Tectonic models offering possible explanations for the presence of kinematic (strain path) domains within thrust sheets are considered.     

Domainal and fabric heterogeneities in the Cap de Creus quartz mylonites

A characteristic domainal configuration is reported for both micro-structures and c-axis fabrics in the Cap de Creus pure quartz mylonites as displayed in 50 samples from the centres of different shear zones. Three types of domains are found a, b and c. Each domain has a distinct c-axis orientation pattern. These three fabric elements, also labelled a, b and c make up the total fabric. c-axis fabrics are symmetric or asymmetric with respect to the main mylonitic foliation depending on the presence or absence of the b domain and its fabric element. The boundaries of the domains are parallel to the main mylonitic foliation. Two domain types, a and b display an internal foliation defined by preferred grain boundary alignment parallel to the direction of optical orientation within the domain. The internal foliations are oblique to the main mylonitic foliation in two different senses giving the sample a herring-bone appearance. These internal foliations are shown to be related to extensional crenulations. Domains are not produced by host-controlled recrystallization. The fabric elements and corresponding domains are the expression of kinematic heterogeneities on the scale of the thin section.     

The Chinamora batholith, Zimbabwe: structure and emplacement-related magnetic rock fabric

The origin of dome-and-keel structural geometries in Archean granite–greenstone terrains appears to lack any modern analogues and is still poorly understood. The formation of these geometries is investigated using structural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data for the Chinamora batholith in Zimbabwe. The roughly circular-shaped batholith is surrounded by ca. 2.72–2.64 Ga greenstones. The batholith granitoid suites have been divided on the basis of their ages and fabric relationships into four distinct units: (i) banded basement gneisses; (ii) granodioritic gneisses; (iii) equigranular granites; and (iv) central porphyritic granites. In the gneissic granites a partial girdle (N–S) of poles to the magnetic foliation is developed that has been folded around a consistent, flat lying magnetic lineation plunging at shallow angles to the E or W. In the equigranular granites, the magnetic lineation generally plunges to the NW. The magnetic foliation has a variable strike, no clear trends can be distinguished. The AMS measurements of the porphyritic granite revealed a NW–SE striking foliation and showed subhorizontal magnetic lineations. The magnetic foliation is subparallel to the macroscopic foliation. Wall rocks are moderately inclined and show radial or concentric lineations, triaxial strain ellipsoids and kinematics that demonstrate off-the-dome sliding and coeval pluton expansion. The results of the observations do not point to a single emplacement process. Neither the observed structural data nor the magnetic fabric support a model envisaging spherically ‘ballooning’. It is argued that pluton diapirism played a major part in the formation of the fabrics in the gneisses, whereas the fabrics in the porphyritic granites reflect emplacement as laccolith-like sheets.     

Evidence for structural discordance in the inverted metamorphic sequence of Sikkim Himalaya: Towards resolving the Main Central Thrust controversy

Inverted metamorphism in the Himalayas is closely associated with the Main Central Thrust (MCT). In the western Himalayas, the Main Central Thrust conventionally separates high grade metamorphic rocks of the Higher Himalayan Crystalline Sequence (HHCS) from unmetamorphosed rocks of the Inner sedimentary Belt. In the eastern Himalayas, the Inner sedimentary Belt is absent, and the HHCS and meta-sedimentary Lesser Himalayan Sequence (LHS) apparently form a continuous Barrovian metamorphic sequence, leading to confusion about the precise location of the MCT. In this study, it is demonstrated that migmatitic gneisses of the sillimanite zone in the higher structural levels of the HHCS are multiply deformed, with two phases of penetrative fabric formation (S_1HHCS and S_2HHCS) followed by third folding event associated with a spaced, NW-SE trending, north-east dipping foliation (S_3HHCS). The underlying LHS schists (kyanite zone and lower) are also multiply deformed, with the bedding S₀ being isoclinally folded (F_1LHS), and subsequently refolded (F_2LHS and F_3LHS). The contact zone between the HHCS and LHS is characterized by ductile, top-to-the southwest shearing and stabilization of a pervasive foliation that is consistently oriented NW-SE and dips northeast. This foliation is parallel to the S_3HHCS foliation in the HHCS, and the S_2LHS in the LHS. Early lineations in the HHCS and LHS also show different dispersions across the contact shear zone, implying that pre-thrusting orientations of the two units were distinct. The contact shear zone is therefore interpreted to be a plane of structural discordance, shows a shear sense consistent with thrust movement and is associated with mineral growth during Barrovian metamorphism. It may well be considered to represent the MCT in this region.