scholarly journals The internal structure and composition of a plate boundary-scale serpentinite shear zone: The Livingstone Fault, New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Tarling ◽  
Steven A. F. Smith ◽  
James M. Scott ◽  
Jeremy S. Rooney ◽  
Cecilia Viti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
East Side ◽  
Local Dispersion ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Shear Sense ◽  
Tectonic Settings

Abstract. Deciphering the internal structural and composition of large serpentinite-dominated shear zones will lead to an improved understanding of the rheology of the lithosphere in a range of tectonic settings. The Livingstone Fault in New Zealand is a > 1000 km long terrane-bounding structure that separates the basal portions (peridotite; serpentinised peridotite; metagabbros) of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt from quartzofeldspathic schists of the Caples or Aspiring Terranes. Field and microstructural observations from eleven localities along a strike length of c. 140 km show that the Livingstone Fault is a steeply-dipping, serpentinite-dominated shear zone tens to several hundreds of metres wide. The bulk shear zone has a pervasive scaly fabric that wraps around fractured and faulted pods of massive serpentinite, rodingite and partially metasomatised quartzofeldspathic schist up to a few tens of metres long. S-C fabrics and lineations in the shear zone consistently indicate a steep Caples-side-up (i.e. east-side-up) shear sense, with significant local dispersion in kinematics where the shear zone fabrics wrap around pods. The scaly fabric is dominated (> 98 vol %) by fine-grained (≪ 10 μm) fibrous chrysotile and lizardite/polygonal serpentine, but infrequent (

scholarly journals The internal structure and composition of a plate-boundary-scale serpentinite shear zone: the Livingstone Fault, New Zealand

Solid Earth ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1025-1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Tarling ◽  
Steven A. F. Smith ◽  
James M. Scott ◽  
Jeremy S. Rooney ◽  
Cecilia Viti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Pressure Solution ◽  
Local Dispersion ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Shear Sense ◽  
Zone Deformation

Abstract. Deciphering the internal structure and composition of large serpentinite-dominated shear zones will lead to an improved understanding of the rheology of the lithosphere in a range of tectonic settings. The Livingstone Fault in New Zealand is a terrane-bounding structure that separates the basal portions (peridotite; serpentinised peridotite; metagabbros) of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt from the quartzofeldspathic schists of the Caples and Aspiring Terrane. Field and microstructural observations from 11 localities along a strike length of ca. 140 km show that the Livingstone Fault is a steeply dipping, serpentinite-dominated shear zone tens of metres to several hundred metres wide. The bulk shear zone has a pervasive scaly fabric that wraps around fractured and faulted pods of massive serpentinite, rodingite and partially metasomatised quartzofeldspathic schist up to a few tens of metres long. S–C fabrics and lineations in the shear zone consistently indicate a steep east-side-up shear sense, with significant local dispersion in kinematics where the shear zone fabrics wrap around pods. The scaly fabric is dominated (>98 % vol) by fine-grained (≪10 µm) fibrous chrysotile and lizardite–polygonal serpentine, but infrequent (<1 % vol) lenticular relicts of antigorite are also preserved. Dissolution seams and foliation surfaces enriched in magnetite, as well as the widespread growth of fibrous chrysotile in veins and around porphyroclasts, suggest that bulk shear zone deformation involved pressure–solution. Syn-kinematic metasomatic reactions occurred along all boundaries between serpentinite, schist and rodingite, forming multigenerational networks of nephritic tremolite veins that are interpreted to have caused reaction hardening within metasomatised portions of the shear zone. We propose a conceptual model for plate-boundary-scale serpentinite shear zones which involves bulk-distributed deformation by pressure–solution creep, accompanied by a range of physical (e.g. faulting in pods and wall rocks; smearing of magnetite along fault surfaces) or chemical (e.g. metasomatism) processes that result in localised brittle deformation within creeping shear zone segments.

scholarly journals Supplementary material to "The internal structure and composition of a plate boundary-scale serpentinite shear zone: The Livingstone Fault, New Zealand"

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Tarling ◽  
Steven A. F. Smith ◽  
James M. Scott ◽  
Jeremy S. Rooney ◽  
Cecilia Viti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Supplementary Material

Highly localized upper mantle deformation during plate boundary initiation near the Alpine fault, New Zealand

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Kidder ◽  
David J. Prior ◽  
James M. Scott ◽  
Hamid Soleymani ◽  
Yilun Shao
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Alpine Fault ◽  
Narrow Width ◽  
Plate Boundary Deformation ◽  
Boundary Deformation ◽  
Total Shear

Peridotite xenoliths entrained in magmas near the Alpine fault (New Zealand) provide the first direct evidence of deformation associated with the propagation of the Australian-Pacific plate boundary through the region at ca. 25–20 Ma. Two of 11 sampled xenolith localities contain fine-grained (40–150 mm) rocks, indicating that deformation in the upper mantle was focused in highly sheared zones. To constrain the nature and conditions of deformation, we combine a flow law with a model linking recrystallized fraction to strain. Temperatures calculated from this new approach (625–970 °C) indicate that the observed deformation occurred at depths of 25–50 km. Calculated shear strains were between 1 and 100, which, given known plate offset rates (10–20 mm/yr) and an estimated interval during which deformation likely occurred (&lt;1.8 m.y.), translate to a total shear zone width in the range 0.2–32 km. This narrow width and the position of mylonite-bearing localities amid mylonite-free sites suggest that early plate boundary deformation was distributed across at least ~60 km but localized in multiple fault strands. Such upper mantle deformation is best described by relatively rigid, plate-like domains separated by rapidly formed, narrow mylonite zones.

Regional setting and kinematic features of the Needle Falls Shear Zone, Trans-Hudson Orogen

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1338-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mel R. Stauffer ◽  
John F. Lewry
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Simple Shear ◽  
Country Rock ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Lake Zone ◽  
Shear Sense ◽  
Regional Tectonic ◽  
Ductile Shear ◽  
Shear Sense Indicators

Needle Falls Shear Zone is the southern part of a major northeast-trending ductile shear system within the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen in Saskatchewan. Throughout its exposed length of ~400 km, the shear zone separates reworked Archean continental crust and infolded Paleoproterozoic supracrustals of the Cree Lake Zone, to the northwest, from mainly juvenile Paleoproterozoic arc terrains and granitoid plutons of the Reindeer Zone, to the southeast. It also defines the northwest margin of the ca. 1855 Ma Wathaman Batholith, which forms the main protolith to shear zone mylonites. Although not precisely dated, available age constraints suggest that the shear zone formed between ca. 1855 and 1800 Ma, toward the end of peak thermotectonism in this part of the orogen.In the Needle Falls study area, shear zone mylonites exhibit varied, sequentially developed, ductile to brittle fabric features, including C–S fabrics, winged porphyroclasts (especially delta type), small-scale compressional and extensional microfaults ranging from thin ductile shear zones to late brittle faults, early isoclinal and sheath folds, later asymmetric folds related to compressional microfaults, and variably rotated and (or) folded quartz veins. All ductile shear-sense indicators suggest dextral displacement, as do most later ductile–brittle transition and brittle features. In conjunction with a gently north–northeast-plunging extension lineation, such data indicate oblique east-side-up dextral movement across the shear zone. However, preexisting structures in country rock protoliths rotate into the shear zone in a sense contrary to that predicted by ideal dextral simple shear, a feature thought to reflect significant flattening across the shear zone. Other ductile to brittle fabric elements in the mylonites are consistent with general noncoaxial strain, rather than ideal simple shear. Amount of displacement cannot be measured but indirect estimates suggest approximately 40 ± 20 km.The Needle Falls Shear Zone is too small and has developed too late in regional tectonic history to be considered a crustal suture. Rather, it is interpreted as either a late-tectonic oblique collisional structure or as the result of counterclockwise oroclinal rotation of the southern part of the orogen.

scholarly journals The emplacement mode of Upper Cretaceous plutons from the southwestern part of the Sredna Gora Zone (Bulgaria): structural and AMS study

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neven Georgiev ◽  
Bernard Henry ◽  
Neli Jordanova ◽  
Nikolaus Froitzheim ◽  
Diana Jordanova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Anisotropy Of Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
Southwestern Part ◽  
Structural Investigations ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Microgranular Enclaves

The emplacement mode of Upper Cretaceous plutons from the southwestern part of the Sredna Gora Zone (Bulgaria): structural and AMS study Several plutons located in the southwestern part of the Sredna Gora Zone — Bulgaria are examples of the Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Sredna Gora type of granites emplaced during Late Cretaceous (86-75 Ma) times. The studied intrusive bodies are spatially related to and deformed by the dextral Iskar-Yavoritsa shear zone. The deformation along the shear zone ceased at the time of emplacement of the undeformed Upper Cretaceous Gutsal pluton, which has intruded the Iskar-Yavoritsa mylonites. A clear transition from magmatic foliation to high-, moderate- and low-temperature superimposed foliation and lineation in the vicinity of the Iskar-Yavoritsa and related shear zones gives evidence for simultaneous tectonics and plutonism. Away from the shear zones, the granitoids appear macroscopically isotropic and were investigated using measurements of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility at 113 stations. The studied samples show magnetic lineation and foliation, in agreement with the magmatic structures observed at a few sites. Typical features of the internal structure of the plutons are several sheet-like mafic bodies accompanied by swarms of mafic microgranular enclaves. Field observations indicate spatial relationships between mafic bodies and shear zones as well as mingling processes in the magma chamber which suggest simultaneous shearing and magma emplacement. Structural investigations as well as anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data attest to the controlling role of the NWSE trending Iskar-Yavoritsa shear zone and to the syntectonic emplacement of the plutons with deformation in both igneous rocks and their hosts. The tectonic situation may be explained by partitioning of oblique plate convergence into plate-boundary-normal thrusting in the Rhodopes and plate-boundary-parallel transcurrent shearing in the hinterland (Sredna Gora).

scholarly journals Formation of Ultramylonites in an Upper Mantle Shear Zone, Erro-Tobbio, Italy

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1036
Author(s):  
Jolien Linckens ◽  
Sören Tholen
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Microstructural Analysis ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Geodynamic Setting ◽  
Mixing Processes ◽  
Phase Mixing ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Deformation in the upper mantle is localized in shear zones. In order to localize strain, weakening has to occur, which can be achieved by a reduction in grain size. In order for grains to remain small and preserve shear zones, phases have to mix. Phase mixing leads to dragging or pinning of grain boundaries which slows down or halts grain growth. Multiple phase mixing processes have been suggested to be important during shear zone evolution. The importance of a phase mixing process depends on the geodynamic setting. This study presents detailed microstructural analysis of spinel bearing shear zones from the Erro-Tobbio peridotite (Italy) that formed during pre-alpine rifting. The first stage of deformation occurred under melt-free conditions, during which clinopyroxene and olivine porphyroclasts dynamically recrystallized. With ongoing extension, silica-undersaturated melt percolated through the shear zones and reacted with the clinopyroxene neoblasts, forming olivine–clinopyroxene layers. Furthermore, the melt reacted with orthopyroxene porphyroclasts, forming fine-grained polymineralic layers (ultramylonites) adjacent to the porphyroclasts. Strain rates in these layers are estimated to be about an order of magnitude faster than within the olivine-rich matrix. This study demonstrates the importance of melt-rock reactions for grain size reduction, phase mixing and strain localization in these shear zones.

scholarly journals The Deep Structure and Rheology of a Plate Boundary-Scale Shear Zone: Constraints from an Exhumed Caledonian Shear Zone, NW Scotland

Lithosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander D. J. Lusk ◽  
John P. Platt
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Deep Structure ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Seismogenic Zone ◽  
Differential Stress ◽  
Peak Shear Stress ◽  
Thrust Zone ◽  
Crustal Strength

Abstract Below the seismogenic zone, faults are expressed as zones of distributed ductile strain in which minerals deform chiefly by crystal plastic and diffusional processes. We present a case study from the Caledonian frontal thrust system in northwest Scotland to better constrain the geometry, internal structure, and rheology of a major zone of reverse-sense shear below the brittle-to-ductile transition (BDT). Rocks now exposed at the surface preserve a range of shear zone conditions reflecting progressive exhumation of the shear zone during deformation. Field-based measurements of structural distance normal to the Moine Thrust Zone, which marks the approximate base of the shear zone, together with microstructural observations of active slip systems and the mechanisms of deformation and recrystallization in quartz, are paired with quantitative estimates of differential stress, deformation temperature, and pressure. These are used to reconstruct the internal structure and geometry of the Scandian shear zone from ~10 to 20 km depth. We document a shear zone that localizes upwards from a thickness of &gt;2.5 km to &lt;200 m with temperature ranging from ~450–350°C and differential stress from 15–225 MPa. We use estimates of deformation conditions in conjunction with independently calculated strain rates to compare between experimentally derived constitutive relationships and conditions observed in naturally-deformed rocks. Lastly, pressure and converted shear stress are used to construct a crustal strength profile through this contractional orogen. We calculate a peak shear stress of ~130 MPa in the shallowest rocks which were deformed at the BDT, decreasing to &lt;10 MPa at depths of ~20 km. Our results are broadly consistent with previous studies which find that the BDT is the strongest region of the crust.

Complex kinematics in a major ductile shear zone, NW Shetland: Evidence of ductile extrusion during Caledonian transpression

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Armitage ◽  
Robert Holdsworth ◽  
Robin Strachan ◽  
Thomas Zach ◽  
Diana Alvarez-Ruiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
White Mica ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Amphibolite Facies ◽  
Lateral Extrusion ◽  
Shear Sense ◽  
Ductile Shear

&lt;p&gt;Ductile shear zones are heterogeneous areas of strain localisation which often display variation in strain geometry and combinations of coaxial and non-coaxial deformation. One such heterogeneous shear zone is the c. 2 km thick Uyea Shear Zone (USZ) in northwest Mainland Shetland (UK), which separates variably deformed Neoarchaean orthogneisses in its footwall from Neoproterozoic metasediments in its hanging wall (Fig. a). The USZ is characterised by decimetre-scale layers of dip-slip thrusting and extension, strike-slip sinistral and dextral shear senses and interleaved ultramylonitic coaxially deformed horizons. Within the zones of transition between shear sense layers, mineral lineations swing from foliation down-dip to foliation-parallel in kinematically compatible, anticlockwise/clockwise-rotations on a local and regional scale (Fig. b). Rb-Sr dating of white mica grains via laser ablation indicates a c. 440-425 Ma Caledonian age for dip-slip and strike-slip layers and an 800 Ma Neoproterozoic age for coaxial layers. Quartz opening angles and microstructures suggest an upper-greenschist to lower-amphibolite facies temperature for deformation. We propose that a Neoproterozoic, coaxial event is overprinted by Caledonian sinistral transpression under upper greenschist/lower amphibolite facies conditions. Interleaved kinematics and mineral lineation swings are attributed to result from differential flow rates resulting in vertical and lateral extrusion and indicate regional-scale sinistral transpression during the Caledonian orogeny in NW Shetland. This study highlights the importance of linking geochronology to microstructures in a poly-deformed terrane and is a rare example of a highly heterogeneous shear zone in which both vertical and lateral extrusion occurred during transpression.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gepj.0cf6ef44e5ff57820599061/sdaolpUECMynit/12UGE&amp;app=m&amp;a=0&amp;c=d96bb6db75eed0739f2a6ee90c9ad8fd&amp;ct=x&amp;pn=gepj.elif&amp;d=1&quot; alt=&quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: Highly localized upper mantle deformation during plate boundary initiation near the Alpine fault, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Kidder ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Zone Width ◽  
Alpine Fault

Supplemental figures, data, and code related to shear zone width estimates.<br>

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