Shock induced planar deformation structures in quartz from the Ries crater,Germany

Crystalline rocks from breccias of the Ries basin, Germany, contain highly deformed quartz. Various planar deformation structures could be observed and classified into five different types: (1) Decorated planar elements, (2) Non-decorated planar elements, (3) Homogeneous lamellae, (4) Filled lamellae, (5) Planar fractures. All these structures are parallel to crystallographic planes: {10¯13}, {10¯12}, {10¯11}, {0001},{11¯21}, {11¯22}, {21¯31}, {51¯61}, {10¯10}. The most typical and most abundant planar structures are decorated and nondecorated planar elements parallel to {10¯13} and {10¯12}. Planar fractures are parallel to {0001} and {10¯11} and form at lower stress levels, probably earlier than the planar elements.Quartz containing planar elements, especially of the non-decorated type, has lower density, index of refraction and birefringence than normal quartz. This quartz is apparently a mixture of an amorphous phase and crystalline quartz, the amount of which can be calculated using average density or refractive index.Comparison of planar quartz structures found in tectonites and those produced artificially under static or dynamic high pressure conditions demonstrates that Ries quartz closely resembles deformed quartz recovered from shock wave experiments. The planar structures found in Ries quartz have been formed by shock wave actions with peak pressures in the 100–400 kbar range.Planar elements are explained to be traces of gliding processes during shock loading visible due to the fact that a high pressure phase (stishovite and/or a stishovite-like glass phase) has been produced along the glide planes. Upon pressure release most of the high pressure phase was transformed into an SiO₂-glass (diaplectic glass).In comparison with experimental data the amount of residual crystalline quartz as well as type and orientation of planar structures in the quartz grains are clues to estimate the peak pressures responsible for these deformations. Shock waves with peak pressures exceeding about 400 kbar completely transform quartz into diaplectic SiO₂-glass.