The relationship between length and width of plutons within the crustal-scale Cobequid Shear Zone, northern Appalachians, Canada

The lengths and widths have been measured for 69 component bodies of composite plutons along the Cobequid Shear Zone. Plutons on major fault strands, those with mylonite zones >0.1 km wide, exhibit evidence of multiple intrusion of magma batches. Small plutons along short faults in stepover zones appear related to rapid emplacement of magma in bodies 1.5–4 km long by 0.1–2 km wide. Such small plutons show low enrichment in incompatible elements in older component bodies, but increasing amounts in younger bodies as a result of progressive magma expulsion from crystal mush during crystallization and shear-enhanced compaction in fault zones. Wider plutons generally occur along longer fault strands accommodating more strain and penetrating deeper into the crust and show enrichment in incompatible elements. The width of the mylonitic fault zone is about 15% of the width of these plutons. The length-to-width ratio of component bodies and composite plutons varies between 2 and 11. The best-fit line describing these data has a slope of 1.056, which implies scaling behavior between plutonism and tectonic processes. Scalar properties of plutonic bodies are similar to those of faults, but scalar relationships observed in component bodies do not apply to composite plutons.