Lack of porphyroblast rotation in the Otago schists, New Zealand: implications for crenulation cleavage development, folding and deformation partitioning

Porphyroblasts of garnet and plagioclase in the Otago schists have not rotated relative to geographic coordinates during non-coaxial deformation that post-dates their growth. Inclusion trails in most of the porphyroblasts are oriented near-vertical and near-horizontal, and the strike of near-vertical inclusion trails is consistent over 3000 km². Microstructural relationships indicate that the porphyroblasts grew in zones of progressive shortening strain, and that the sense of shear affecting the geometry of porphyroblast inclusion trails on the long limbs of folds is the same as the bulk sense of displacement of fold closures. This is contrary to the sense of shear inferred when porphyroblasts are interpreted as having rotated during folding.
Several crenulation cleavage/fold models have previously been developed to accommodate the apparent sense of rotation of porphyroblasts that grew during folding. In the light of accumulating evidence that porphyroblasts do not generally rotate, the applicability of these models to deformed rocks is questionable.
Whether or not porphyroblasts rotate depends on how deformation is partitioned. Lack of rotation requires that progressive shearing strain (rotational deformation) be partitioned around rigid heterogeneities, such as porphyroblasts, which occupy zones of progressive shortening or no strain (non-rotational deformation). Therefore, processes operating at the porphyroblast/matrix boundary are important considerations. Five qualitative models are presented that accommodate stress and strain energy at the boundary without rotating the porphyroblast: (a) a thin layer of fluid at the porphyroblast boundary; (2) grain-boundary sliding; (3) a locked porphyroblast/matrix boundary; (4) dissolution at the porphyroblast/matrix boundary, and (5) an ellipsoidal porphyroblast/shadow unit.