Abstract. While it is widely observed that mafic rocks are able to exeprience high strains by viscous flow, details on their rheology and deformation mechanisms are poorly constrained. Here, rock deformation experiments on four different, water-added plagioclase-pyroxene mixtures are presented: (i) plagioclase(An60-70) – clinopyroxene – orthopyroxene, (ii) plagioclase(An60) – diopside, (iii) plagioclase(An60) – enstatite and (iv) plagioclase(An01) – enstatite. Samples were deformed in general shear at strain rates of 3 × 10−5 to 3 × 10−6 s−1, 800 °C and confining pressure of 1.0 or 1.5 GPa. Results indicate that dissolution-precipitation creep (DPC) and grain boundary sliding (GBS) are the dominant deformation mechanisms. Coinciding with sample deformation, syn-kinematic mineral reactions yield abundant nucleation of new grains; the resulting intense grain size reduction is considered crucial for the activity of DPC and GBS. In high strain zones dominated by plagioclase, a weak, non-random and geometrically consistent crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) is observed. Usually, a CPO is considered a consequence of dislocation creep, but the experiments presented here demonstrate that a CPO can develop during DPC and GBS. This study provides new evidence for the importance of DPC and GBS in mid-crustal shear zones within mafic rocks, which has important implications on understanding and modelling of mid-crustal rheology and flow.
Syn-kinematic hydration reactions, dissolution-precipitation creep and grain boundary sliding in experimentally deformed plagioclase-pyroxene mixtures
