Development of crystal morphology during unitaxial growth in a progressively widening vein: II. Numerical simulations of the evolution of antitaxial fibrous veins

The development of fibrous morphology and capability of fibres for tracking the opening trajectory were investigated using numerical simulations of a natural antitaxial fibrous vein. Starting from a non-unique best case, variation of fracture opening velocity, grain size, wall roughness, growth anisotropy and crystal growth velocity shows that these parameters differ in importance for crystal morphology and tracking capability. Fibrous veins can be simulated using crack–seal opening of the fracture. Grain boundaries track the opening trajectory if the wall roughness is high, opening increments are small and crystals touch the wall before the next crack increment starts.     

Textures of syntaxial quartz veins synthesized by hydrothermal experiments

Syntaxial quartz veins were synthesized by hydrothermal flow-through experiments using rock blocks (metachert, sandstone, and granite) containing slits. Based on analyses of vein textures using birefringence imaging microscopy, we identified two stages of crystal growth. During stage 1, quartz grain growth occurs without an increase in grain width. During stage 2, quartz grains develop facets and grow preferentially parallel to the c-axis orientation, and the aspect ratio of quartz grains shifts toward ～2.9. Competitive growth occurs significantly at stage 2, and the transition from stage 1–2 occurs at a critical distance from the vein wall, being approximately equal to the host-rock grain size. Crystal growth in the slits produce various textures controlled by the ratio of slit aperture (H) to host-rock grain size (d). In high H/d cracks, elongate–blocky texture develops by grain impingement during stage 2, whereas in low H/d cracks, crystals that bridge the crack form without competitive growth by grain impingement at stage 1. Heterogeneous structures of fracture porosity are produced during syntaxial vein formation, due to the anisotropy in the growth rate of quartz. Such “incompletely sealed” cracks may act as important fluid pathways and as weak planes in the upper crust.     

An integrated law of the wall for hydrodynamically transitional flow over plane beds

The velocity profile for unidirectional currents is usually determined by two forms of the law of the wall, which are valid for smooth and rough boundaries, respectively. The law of the wall for smooth boundaries outside the viscous sublayer and buffer layer applies where the boundary Reynolds number (Re_*) is less than 5. The velocity in this case depends only on the dimensionless distance (y_d) from the bottom. For rough boundaries where Re_* is more than 65, the law of the wall is independent of the boundary Reynolds number, but the bottom roughness (k) has to be taken into account. The mean or median particle grain size (D) is commonly substituted for bottom roughness. At present, there is no generally accepted law of the wall for the transitional flow regime between hydrodynamically smooth and rough conditions. In this paper, an integrated law of the wall is proposed for the transitional regime, yielding velocity profiles that correspond well to observed velocity profiles under these conditions. The result is applied to a set of flume data, using an improved procedure to determine the bedload transport rate.     

The effect of metamorphic fluid flow on the nucleation and growth of garnets from Troms, North Norway

A spatial association is observed between the size distribution of garnet porphyroblasts and the size distribution of quartz veins in greenschist facies metapelites from Troms, North Norway. The size distribution of quartz veins reflects the flow regime of metamorphic fluids. The hypothesis that the flow regime of metamorphic fluids is also responsible for the size distribution of garnet crystals was tested by ascribing empirical acceleration parameters to the nucleation and growth rates of garnet crystals.
In regions where fluid flow was interpreted as pervasive', acceleration parameters for nucleation were high, whereas in regions where fluid flow was interpreted as channelled', acceleration parameters for growth were high. Accelerated crystal growth is further implied from the chemical zoning and crystal morphologies of garnets collected near discrete veins.
This spatial association may imply that fluid flow can be instrumental in controlling garnet crystallization. Fluid flow could affect garnet crystallization kinetics by facilitating thermal advection and/or mass transfer. In the study area, rhodochrosite (MnCO₃) veins provide evidence for mass transfer of Mn by fluid flow. An influx of Mn would expand the stability field of garnet to lower temperatures. The resulting thermal overstep could accelerate nucleation and/or growth of garnets.
The corollary of this study is that size distributions and chemical zoning of garnets, or other porphyroblast phases, can be used to study metamorphic fluid flow.     

A lattice Boltzmann model for noble gas diffusion in solids: The importance of domain shape and diffusive anisotropy and implications for thermochronometry

Thermochronometry based on radiogenic noble gases is critically dependent upon accurate knowledge of the kinetics of diffusion. With few exceptions, complex natural crystals are represented by ideal geometries such as infinite sheets, infinite cylinders, or spheres, and diffusivity is assumed to be isotropic. However, the physical boundaries of crystals generally do not conform to ideal geometries and diffusion within some crystals is known to be anisotropic. Our failure to incorporate such complexities into diffusive models leads to inaccuracies in both thermal histories and diffusion parameters calculated from fractional release data. To address these shortcomings we developed a code based on the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method to model diffusion from complex 3D geometries having isotropic, temperature-independent anisotropic, and temperature-dependent anisotropic diffusivity. In this paper we outline the theoretical basis for the LB code and highlight several advantages of this model relative to more traditional finite difference approaches. The LB code, along with existing analytical solutions for diffusion from simple geometries, is used to investigate the affect of intrinsic crystallographic features (e.g., crystal topology and diffusion anisotropy) on calculated diffusion parameters and a novel method for approximating thermal histories from crystals with complex topologies and diffusive anisotropy is presented.     

超临界流体的快速泄出:来自霓辉石英脉的证据

河南外方山地区熊耳群火山岩中新发现了一种霓辉石英脉群,脉表现出独特的矿物组合及晶体特征,如霓辉石英脉具有复杂的矿物组成,表现出强烈的不平衡特点;霓辉石英脉具明显的对称分带特征,各分带中矿物组成及特征显著不同;存在具熔蚀边结构的钾长石-霓辉石集合体团块;霓辉石具在明显核幔结构,内核化学成分与幔边部存在较大差异;钾长石晶体元素分布存在似"文象"结构,表现出Fe元素的熔体分离特征;脉中矿物普遍发育环带结构;霓辉石英脉交代致密火山岩围岩形成蚀变带,新生大量榍石、霓辉石等矿物且含量随着与脉壁距离的增加急剧减少,显示出强烈的流体/气体扩散交代作用.霓辉石英脉独特的矿物组合及晶体特征反映了其成因的复杂性以及生长环境的变化.根据霓辉石英脉矿物的特点,推测其源于流体、熔体和晶体的混合物,并经历了快速侵位、快速冷却的过程,因而能够保存流体演化各阶段的结晶信息,保留不同成因的晶体群.外方山霓辉石英脉矿物可划分为捕虏晶亚群、熔体晶体群、超临界流体亚群、热液晶体亚群和凝聚晶体亚群等.外方山霓辉石英脉矿物晶体群的深入研究可能有助于揭示岩浆熔体向流体转换的机制及侵位机制,进而可揭示岩浆-流体成矿作用.     

Heterogeneous deformation and texture development in halite polycrystals: comparison of different modeling approaches and experimental data

Modeling the plastic deformation and texture evolution in halite is challenging due to its high plastic anisotropy at the single crystal level and to the influence this exerts on the heterogeneity of deformation over halite polycrystals. Three different assumptions for averaging the single crystal responses over the polycrystal were used: a Taylor hypothesis, a self-consistent viscoplastic model, and a finite element methodology. The three modeling approaches employ the same single crystal relations, but construct the polycrystal response differently. The results are compared with experimental data for extension at two temperatures: 20 and 100 °C. These comparisons provide new insights of how the interplay of compatibility and local equilibrium affects the overall plastic behavior and the texture development in highly anisotropic polycrystalline materials. Neither formulation is able to completely simulate the texture development of halite polycrystals while, at the same time, giving sound predictions of microstructural evolution. Results obtained using the finite element methodology are promising, although they point to the need for greater resolution of the individual crystals to capture the full impact of deformation heterogeneities.     

Development of crystal morphology during unitaxial growth in a progressively widening vein: I. The numerical model

A two-dimensional numerical model for the simulation of the formation of microstructures in crack-seal veins is presented here. The grain aggregate in the vein is described by grain boundary nodes that link short, straight boundary segments. Growth of crystals into a crack takes place by many small incremental movements of nodes. The rate of growth depends on the chosen growth morphology of the vein-forming material. Different growth morphologies can be defined. For every user-defined number of steps, the wall rock is moved a user-defined distance and direction, which simulates the opening of a crack, after which sealing can proceed again. The shape of the crack-surface (e.g. smooth or with ridges) can be set by the user and can be made to match fracture surfaces found in real rocks. The model is capable of reproducing realistic crack-seal textures and can be used to systematically investigate the role of different parameters on the microstructures of veins. First applications of the model are presented in Part II of this paper (this volume).     

Modelling the evolution of vein microstructure with phase-field techniques – a first look

Vein microstructures in the Earth's crust contain a wealth of information on the physical conditions of crystal growth, but correct interpretation requires an improved understanding of the processes involved. In this paper the processes involved in the formation of veins are briefly reviewed, and the possibilities of modelling these processes using the phase-field method are discussed. This technique, which is established in the computational materials science community to investigate crystallization processes, is shown to be a powerful tool to describe processes during vein formation and other geological processes involving crystal growth.     

A finite element formulation for brine transport in rock salt

A set of coupled field equations is developed for transport of liquid brine in natural rock salt. The natural rock salt consists of individual crystals brought together so that only a portion of the crystal faces or grain boundaries contribute to the hydraulically connected pore space. Transport of brine inclusions within individual crystals is considered to be thermally driven; whereas transport along crystal interfaces or grain boundaries is considered to be pressure driven. The field equations for both transport mechanisms are developed and incorporated in a finite element program. An analytical solution to a one-dimensional boundary value problem is derived and compared to the finite element solution. An application of the finite element code to radioactive waste emplacement is briefly discussed.     

Progress on Formation Mechanism of the Fibrous Veins in Mudstone and Its Implications to Hydrocarbon Migration

The fibrous mineral veins are widespread in mudstones. According to the different microscopic morphology of the minerals, the fibres can be divided into stretched crystals, elongate-blocky crystals and the very fibrous crystals. Veins can also be classified according to the growth direction of these crystals into stretched veins, syntaxial veins and antitaxial veins. The resulting texture in the vein depends on the morphology of the fracture surface, the width of the fracture and the growth habit of the vein forming mineral. The crack-seal mechanism can only interpret the formation of the stretched crystal veins and the elongate-blocky crystal veins, and the antitaxial well-developped fibrous veins form without fracturing and the growth competition is inhibited during the rock deformation, which implies that the nutrient transport is by diffusional flow transport. Horizontal crack is the primary condition of the formation of the antitaxial bedding-parallel fibrous calcite veins in muddy hydrocarbon source rocks. The formation of the horizontal crack which caused by the abnormal high pressure can enhance the hydrocarbon generation efficiency and has a great effect on the rate and direction of hydrocarbon migration in the local. The presence of the veins indicates the hydrocarbon fluid can migrate laterally along the layers. The antitaxial bedding-parallel fibrous calcite veins in muddy hydrocarbon source rocks can be the sign of the generation and migration of hydrocarbon under the abnormal high pressure condition in petroleum-bearing basins.     

Crystallographic control on the development of foam textures in quartz, plagioclase and analogue material

The shape, pattern and crystallographic orientation of grain boundaries represent important characteristics of crystalline material and contain information about its deformation and annealing history. The present study includes measurements of grain boundaries from experimentally annealed analogue material as well as natural foam texture of quartz and plagioclase. The main subject is the relation between the development of a foam texture and the crystallographic orientation of its grain boundaries and their geometry. (1) During annealing, grain sizes stabilize at certain values. On a statistical basis, these values can be applied as a geothermometer. (2) On the light-microscope scale, the grain boundaries in foam textures commonly consist of two or several planar facets. They are preferentially oriented along specific crystallographic planes, namely in relation to both neighbouring crystals; for quartz they tend to be rhombohedral. (3) Even highly misoriented facets and dihedral angles largely deviating from the 'equilibrium angle' of 120° may be stable over long periods of annealing. (4) Parts of single boundaries may migrate, whereas other parts are stationary during annealing. The results of the present study suggest that the anisotropy of surface energy has a considerable influence on the development of foam textures and that modelling of texture development should include the influence of the crystallographic orientation of grain boundaries.     

An anisotropically elastoplastic solution to excavation responses of a circular opening considering three-dimensional strength

Circular opening is commonly encountered in wellbore drilling of petroleum engineering, boring for cast-in situ pile installation, and tunneling excavation. This paper presents a rigorous solution for the elastoplastic responses of the anisotropic soft soil mass around a circular opening excavated under undrained and drained conditions. Both the anisotropic elastoplastic behavior and the 3D strength of the soft clay are incorporated in the present solutions. The well-established anisotropic critical state elastoplastic model S-CLAY1, which can represent the initial fabric anisotropy and stress-induced anisotropy of soft soil, is further modified by the Spatially Mobilized Plane criterion to consider the 3D strength of geomaterials. Then, the investigated problems, excavation of a circular opening under both short-term (undrained) and long-term (drained) conditions, are formulated as a system of first-order differential equations and are solved as initial value problems. The distributions of stress components and anisotropy parameters around the opening, the stress trajectory of a soil particle at the opening wall, as well as the stress–displacement curve at the opening wall are presented to investigate the elastoplastic responses of the opening. Extensive parameters show that the overconsolidated ratio and coefficient of earth pressure at rest (K₀) have remarkable effects on the elastoplastic responses around a circular opening.

     

Quartz vein fabrics coupled to elevated fluid pressures in the Stawell gold deposit,south-eastern Australia

Shear and extensional veins formed during the reactivation of the Magdala shear system at Stawell in western Victoria, Australia, contribute to the formation of the auriferous Central and Basalt Contact lodes. Within this shear system is a range of fault rocks accompanied by steep-dipping (>65°) quartz-rich laminated shear veins and relatively flat-lying extensional veins. Both vein sets appear to have been a primary source for the host rock permeability during fluid flow in a regime of significant deviatoric stresses. The macro- and microstructures suggest that the dilatancy, that produced mineralized veins, formed under conditions of overpressure generated by fluid infiltration late in a tectonic regime. A new microfabric analysis technique is used to investigate the quartz-rich veins, which allows rapid integration of the microstructure with the crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs). Both the shear and extensional quartz veins have a random CPO with ∼120° dihedral angles between the quartz–quartz grains, which is typical of a metamorphic equilibrium microfabric. The microstructures indicate that the quartz has undergone extensive grain adjustment in the solid-state, with grain shape and size affected by interfacial solution (pressure solution) effects. These features are consistent with inferences from experimental rock deformation studies, where grain boundary migration is enhanced in a water-rich environment. The onset of solution-transfer processes (pressure solution) developed as the quartz microfabric stabilized and continued to modify the CPO and microstructure significantly. It is concluded that grain growth and pressure solution are coupled diffusive mass transfer processes, related to fluctuations in pore fluid pressures in a region undergoing deformation at near lithostatic pressures.     

Diffusion control of garnet growth,Harpswell Neck,Maine, USA

A detailed analysis of chemical zoning in two garnet crystals from Harpswell Neck, Maine, forms the basis of an interpretation of garnet nucleation and growth mechanisms. Garnet apparently nucleates initially on crenulations of mica and chlorite and quickly overgrows the entire crenulation, giving rise to complex two‐dimensional zoning patterns depending on the orientation of the thin section cut. Contours of Ca zoning cross those of Mn, Fe and Mg, indicating a lack of equilibrium among these major garnet constituents. Zoning of Fe, Mg and Mn is interpreted to reflect equilibrium with the rock matrix, whereas Ca zoning is interpreted to be controlled by diffusive transport between the matrix and the growing crystal. Image analysis reveals that the growth of garnet is more rapid along triple‐grain intersections than along double‐grain boundaries. Moreover, different minerals are replaced by garnet at different rates. The relative rate of replacement by garnet along double‐grain boundaries is ordered as muscovite > chlorite > plagioclase > quartz. Flux calculations reveal that replacement is limited by diffusion of Si along double‐grain boundaries to or from the local reaction site. It is concluded that multiple diffusive pathways control the bulk replacement of the rock matrix by garnet, with Si and Al transport being rate limiting in these samples.     

The microstructure of polar ice. Part II: State of the art

An important feature of natural ice, in addition to the obvious relevance of glaciers and ice sheets for climate-related issues, is its ability to creep on geological time scales and low deviatoric stresses at temperatures very close to its melting point, without losing its polycrystalline character. This fact, together with its strong mechanical anisotropy and other notable properties, makes natural ice an interesting model material for studying the high-temperature creep and recrystallization of rocks in Earth's interior. After having reviewed the major contributions of deep ice coring to the research on natural ice microstructures in Part I of this work (Faria et al., 2014), here in Part II we present an up-to-date view of the modern understanding of natural ice microstructures and the deformation processes that may produce them. In particular, we analyze a large body of evidence that reveals fundamental flaws in the widely accepted tripartite paradigm of polar ice microstructure (also known as the “three-stage model,” cf. Part I). These results prove that grain growth in ice sheets is dynamic, in the sense that it occurs during deformation and is markedly affected by the stored strain energy, as well as by air inclusions and other impurities. The strong plastic anisotropy of the ice lattice gives rise to high internal stresses and concentrated strain heterogeneities in the polycrystal, which demand large amounts of strain accommodation. From the microstructural analyses of ice cores, we conclude that the formation of many and diverse subgrain boundaries and the splitting of grains by rotation recrystallization are the most fundamental mechanisms of dynamic recovery and strain accommodation in polar ice. Additionally, in fine-grained, high-impurity ice layers (e.g. cloudy bands), strain may sometimes be accommodated by diffusional flow (at low temperatures and stresses) or microscopic grain boundary sliding via microshear (in anisotropic ice sheared at high temperatures). Grain boundaries bulged by migration recrystallization and subgrain boundaries are endemic and very frequent at almost all depths in ice sheets. Evidence of nucleation of new grains is also observed at various depths, provided that the local concentration of strain energy is high enough (which is not seldom the case). As a substitute for the tripartite paradigm, we propose a novel dynamic recrystallization diagram in the three-dimensional state space of strain rate, temperature, and mean grain size, which summarizes the various competing recrystallization processes that contribute to the evolution of the polar ice microstructure.     

A laboratory simulation of fibrous veins: some first observations

Following work by Stephen Taber 80 years ago, we describe vein-like arrays of parallel, fibrous crystals that grow evaporatively between pairs of brine-soaked, porous ceramic substrates. Crystals of solute grow antitaxially from fixed sites on the substrate, forcing older parts of the crystals away from the growth site, without benefit of any long-range cracking parallel to the substrate. The nutrients for growth are fed to the growth site advectively or diffusively through the substrate blocks themselves, not along the plane of the vein. We call such crystallization Taber growth and suggest, as Taber did, that it might be an important mechanism for non-evaporative fibrous vein development in nature. The Taber growth model provides a ready explanation for the ability of fibers to track vein opening directions, and tracking is indeed the rule in our samples, though exceptions are also seen. Our results lend support to ideas already in the literature that fibrous veins are not necessarily products of a crack-seal process and that fibrous veins are not necessarily syntectonic. Our observations also raise questions about criteria for recognition of syntaxial fibrous veins and underscore the importance of finding new criteria for recognition of the younging direction along fibers.     

Growth and characterization of synthetic iron-bearing olivine

Single crystals of olivine were grown at 0.1 MPa total pressure in a floating-zone image furnace. Composition of crystals grown ranged from 67 mol% forsterite to 90 mol% forsterite. Improvements in the crystal growth technique allowed growth of large crystals (0.005 m diameter, 0.070 m length) with very low dislocation density, no visible bubbles, and no cracks. The most significant improvement was the addition of a platinum-wound resistance heater internal to the image furnace. This heater provided the dual improvements of better control over oxygen fugacity from a CO/CO₂ gas mix and alteration of the crystal growth interface resulting in a significant reduction in crystal defects. No subgrain boundaries have been observed in crystals growth here and dislocation densities on the order of 10⁸-10⁹ m^-2 have been achieved. Iron concentration is nearly uniform across the diameter (0.005 m) of crystals and varies approximately 5 mol% along the crystal length (0.040 to 0.050 m).     

Sticking together: Mechanisms of quartz synneusis in high-silica magma

The formation of crystal clusters by synneusis (magmatic sintering) affects a wide range of magmatic systems from olivine clusters in komatiite to quartz clusters in high-silica granite. A common feature of synneusis in any mineral phase is the alignment of neighbouring crystals in certain lower-energy orientation relationships. However, the underlying mechanisms involved with both the alignment of crystals in lower-energy orientations and the binding of crystal clusters are not well understood. In the absence of mechanisms that bind crystals together upon contact, the same hydrodynamic forces that may bring crystals together can in theory also serve to disaggregate clusters. Here I use cathodoluminescence imaging and crystal orientation data from quartz clusters in high-silica granite to show that i) rapid crystalline neck growth along attachment surfaces and ii) grain rotation are two mechanisms that reduce the grain boundary energy of crystal clusters while increasing clusters’ shear strength. The continued crystallization of sintered phases as the magmatic body cools further cements crystal pairs and resists cluster disaggregation. Together these mechanisms underpin both the formation and preservation of large crystal clusters in dynamic magmatic environments.     

CCSD HP-UHP变质岩中石英脉微量元素和稀土元素地球化学

利用等离子质谱(ICP-MS)测定了CCSD HP-UHP变质岩中石英脉及东海水晶的微量元素和稀土元素组成,结果显示其中微量元素总体含量很低,Bb/Sr、Nb/Ta和Zr/Hf变化很大,说明Rb和Sr、Nb和Ta、Zr和Hf之间发生了不同程度的分异,但变质岩未曾发生过广泛强烈的水岩反应.部分样品中Rb和Cs含量特别低,显示CCSD中部分石英脉可能曾经历过超高压变质过程.CCSD石英脉和东海水晶均具有LREE富集而HREE明显亏损的特征,显示其来源主要为壳源.CCSD石英脉中正负Ce异常同时出现,显示板块俯冲前,超高压变质岩的原岩曾在地表较氧化的环境下经历过强烈的风化作用.对比研究显示,CCSD不同围岩中石英脉、地表石英脉和东海水晶的微量元素N-MORB标准化模式和BEE球粒陨石标准化配分曲线,与其各自围岩具有一定的对应相似关系,表明大多数石英脉(水晶)来自于围岩,同时显示板块俯冲和折返所释放的流体活动范围较小,没有发生大规模的迁移.