Preferential embrittlement of graphitic schists during extensional unroofing in the Alps: the effect of fluid composition on rheology in low-permeability rocks

Interlayered graphitic and non‐graphitic schists from the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps, record contrasting mechanical behaviour during extensional exhumation. Graphitic schists contain mesoscale extension fractures, pervasive microcracks in garnet, and abundant secondary fluid inclusion planes; all three types of structures are oriented perpendicular to the stretching lineation. Crack spacings in garnet from graphitic samples are tightly clustered around a mean of 180 μm. Non‐graphitic schists have fewer and more randomly oriented microcracks and fluid inclusion planes and maintained strain compatibility via crystal plasticity. The presence or absence of graphite appears to have exerted a fundamental control on rheology during unroofing. Calculations for a model graphitic rock at 500 °C and f_O2 = 10^?24 MPa show that the equilibrium metamorphic fluid evolves from X_CO2 = 0.07 to 0.38 during decompression from 700 to 400 MPa, in agreement with microcrack fluid inclusion data that show a change from X_CO2 < 0.1 to 0.45 in graphitic samples over the same pressure interval. This compositional shift results in >60% expansion of the pore fluid during decompression. H₂O‐rich fluid in non‐graphitic rocks expands <15% over the same pressure interval. The greater pore fluid expansion in low‐permeability graphitic horizons likely promoted tensile failure during unroofing. These results suggest that microcracking should be an inevitable consequence of decompression in many graphitic schists, whereas rocks that lack graphite are less likely to undergo microcracking. Microseismicity is predicted to be more common in graphitic than non‐graphitic rocks during unroofing of mountain belts.     

形变数字化观测曲线畸变与处理——兼论资料预处理中遇到的一些问题

数字化形变台站日常下载、处理直至管理数据,都应用《数字化通讯控制软件》、《形变前兆台站(网)数据处理系统》及《形变前兆数据库服务软件(台站版)》等三个软件交互进行,在实际使用过程中会遇到一些棘手的问题。本文结合我台的观测工作的实践,总结经验,以供台站同行共享。     

浅析福建地倾斜潮汐因子γ及其组合动态特征

本文计算了福建自1992年至2004年以来的地倾斜EW和NS两分量的固体潮潮汐因子,并进行动态组合,绘制组合动态三种特征量:ΔγEW ΔγNS(表征扩容)、ΔγEW-ΔγNS(表征剪切应变)、ΔγEW/ΔγNS(表征介质各向异性)的时序曲线图,并进行固体潮特征分析,寻找中、强地震发生前远场块体和近场块体地倾斜突变性形变异常与之对应关系。结果表明:在福建沿海,海潮是决定倾斜固体潮特征的主要因素;福建发生5级上的中强地震、台湾发生7级以上强烈地震时,福建地倾斜固体潮潮汐因子及其动态组合特征存在明显的渐进式突变性形变异常现象,异常量和异常持续时间与震级和震中距有较好的对应关系。     

Prediction of creep characteristic of rock under varying environment

The strain developed due to creep is mainly proportional to the logarithm of the time under load, and is mostly proportional to the stress and temperature. At higher temperature the creep rate falls slowly with respect to time, and the creep strain is proportional to a fractional power of time, with the exponent increasing as the temperature increases and reaching a value approximately one-third at temperatures of about 0.5°C. At these temperatures, the creep increases with stress according to a power greater than unity and possibly exponentially. It increases with temperature as (−U/kT), where U is an activation energy and k is Boltzman’s constant. There are different methods to determine the creep strain and the energy of Jog (B) including experimental methods, multivariate regression analysis, and by numerical simulation. These methods are less cumbersome and time consuming. In the present investigation, artificial neural network technique has been used for prediction of the creep strain and energy of Jog (B). Two different networks have been tested and validated. Both the networks have four input neurons and one hidden layer with five neurons, and one output neuron. The data for different rocks at temperatures up to 750°C under conditions of compressive or tortional stress are taken from the literatures. The training and testing data sets used were 163 and 14, respectively. To deal with the problem of overfitting of data, Bayesian regulation has been used and network is trained with suitable training epochs. The coefficients of correlation among the predicted and observed values are found high and they improve the confidence of the users. The mean absolute percentage error obtained are also very low.     

Three-dimensional active earth pressure from cohesive backfills with tensile strength cutoff

Most of previous analyses on the active earth pressure were performed in two-dimensional cases using the Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) failure function to describe the soil strength. However, all failures of retained slopes indicate a somewhat three-dimensional (3D) feature, and the M-C function is found to overestimate the tensile strength of cohesive soil. In this work, a kinematic limit analysis–based approach is developed for computing the 3D active earth pressure resulting from cohesive backfills. The concept of tensile strength cutoff is adopted to implement the reduction or elimination of tensile strength from the strength envelope. An extended 3D horn failure mechanism that is associated with the modified strength envelope is developed to characterize the collapse of retained slopes. The resultant of active earth pressure is evaluated from the work rate balance equation and expressed as an unfactored coefficient. The obtained results indicate that less support provided by the wall is required when allowing the existence of soil cohesion and 3D effects and that eliminating the tensile strength can observably increase the active earth pressure, especially for the backfill with a great level of cohesion.     

Experimental determination of REE partition coefficients between zircon,garnet and melt: a key to understanding high‐T crustal processes

The partitioning of rare earth elements (REE) between zircon, garnet and silicate melt was determined using synthetic compositions designed to represent partial melts formed in the lower crust during anatexis. The experiments, performed using internally heated gas pressure vessels at 7 kbar and 900–1000 °C, represent equilibrium partitioning of the middle to heavy REE between zircon and garnet during high‐grade metamorphism in the mid to lower crust. The D_REE (zircon/garnet) values show a clear partitioning signature close to unity from Gd to Lu. Because the light REE have low concentrations in both minerals, values are calculated from strain modelling of the middle to heavy REE experimental data; these results show that zircon is favoured over garnet by up to two orders of magnitude. The resulting general concave‐up shape to the partitioning pattern across the REE reflects the preferential incorporation of middle REE into garnet, with D_Gd (zircon/garnet) ranging from 0.7 to 1.1, D_Ho (zircon/garnet) from 0.4 to 0.7 and D_Lu (zircon/garnet) from 0.6 to 1.3. There is no significant temperature dependence in the zircon–garnet REE partitioning at 7 kbar and 900–1000 °C, suggesting that these values can be applied to the interpretation of zircon–garnet equilibrium and timing relationships in the ultrahigh‐T metamorphism of low‐Ca pelitic and aluminous granulites.     

Dynamic analysis of strain localization in water‐saturated clay using a cyclic elasto‐viscoplastic model

A computational framework is presented for dynamic strain localization and deformation analyses of water‐saturated clay by using a cyclic elasto‐viscoplastic constitutive model. In the model, the nonlinear kinematic hardening rule and softening due to the structural degradation of soil particles are considered. In order to appropriately simulate the large deformation phenomenon in strain localization analysis, the dynamic finite element formulation for a two‐phase mixture is derived in the updated Lagrangian framework. The shear band development is shown through the distributions of viscoplastic shear strain, the axial strain, the mean effective stress, and the pore water pressure in a normally consolidated clay specimen. From the local stress–strain relations, more brittleness is found inside the shear bands than outside of them. The effects of partially drained conditions and mesh‐size dependency on the shear banding are also investigated. The effect of a partially drained boundary is found to be insignificant on the dynamic shear band propagation because of the rapid rate of applied loading and low permeability of the clay. Using the finer mesh results in slightly narrower shear bands; nonetheless, the results manifest convergency through the mesh refinement in terms of the overall shape of shear banding and stress–strain relations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling the 2D behavior of dry‐stone retaining walls by a fully discrete element method

The dry‐stone retaining walls (DSRW) have been tipped as a promising solution for sustainable development. However, before recently, their behavior is relatively obscure. In this study, discrete element method (DEM) approach was applied to simulate the plane strain failure of these walls. A commercial DEM package (PFC2D™) was used throughout this study. The authors used a fully discrete approach; thus, both the wall and the backfill were modeled as discrete elements. The methodology for obtaining the micromechanical parameters was discussed in detail; this includes the three mechanical sub‐systems of DSRWs: wall, backfill and interface. The models were loaded progressively until failure, and then the results were compared with the full‐scale experimental results where the walls were loaded, respectively, with hydrostatic load and backfill. Despite its complexity and its intensive calculation time, DEM model can then be used to validate a more simplified approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reaction softening by dissolution–precipitation creep in a retrograde greenschist facies ductile shear zone,New Hampshire,USA

We describe strain localization by a mixed process of reaction and microstructural softening in a lower greenschist facies ductile fault zone that transposes and replaces middle to upper amphibolite facies fabrics and mineral assemblages in the host schist of the Littleton Formation near Claremont, New Hampshire. Here, Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite progressively replace first staurolite, then garnet, and finally biotite porphyroblasts as the core of the fault zone is approached. Across the transect, higher grade fabric‐forming Na‐rich muscovite is also progressively replaced by fabric‐forming Na‐poor muscovite. The mineralogy of the new phyllonitic fault‐rock produced is dominated by Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite together with late albite porphyroblasts. The replacement of the amphibolite facies porphyroblasts by muscovite and chlorite is pseudomorphic in some samples and shows that the chemical metastability of the porphyroblasts is sufficient to drive replacement. In contrast, element mapping shows that fabric‐forming Na‐rich muscovite is selectively replaced at high‐strain microstructural sites, indicating that strain energy played an important role in activating the dissolution of the compositionally metastable muscovite. The replacement of strong, high‐grade porphyroblasts by weaker Na‐poor muscovite and chlorite constitutes reaction softening. The crystallization of parallel and contiguous mica in the retrograde foliation at the expense of the earlier and locally crenulated Na‐rich muscovite‐defined foliation destroys not only the metastable high‐grade mineralogy, but also its stronger geometry. This process constitutes both reaction and microstructural softening. The deformation mechanism here was thus one of dissolution–precipitation creep, activated at considerably lower stresses than might be predicted in quartzofeldspathic rocks at the same lower greenschist facies conditions.     

Contrast in stress–strain history during exhumation between high- and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic units in the Western Alps: Microboudinage analysis of piemontite in metacherts

Our analyses of microboudinage structures of piemontite grains embedded within six samples of metachert, one collected from an ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic unit at Lago di Cignana in Italy of the Western Alps, and the other five from surrounding high-pressure (HP) metamorphic units in Italy and France, have revealed that the structures are all symmetrical in type, and were presumably produced in coaxial strain fields. Stress–strain analyses of the microboudinaged grains revealed significant contrasts in the stress and strain histories of the UHP and HP metamorphic units, with the differential stress recorded by the UHP sample being unequivocally lower than that recorded by the five HP samples. In addition, our analyses showed that the UHP sample underwent stress-relaxation during microboudinage, whereas the five HP samples did not. On the basis of these observations and analyses we discuss the mechanical decoupling of the UHP and HP units that led to different histories in differential stress between the units during exhumation of the Western Alps.