Brittle–viscous deformation of vein quartz under fluid-rich low greenschist facies conditions

A coarse grained, statically crystallized quartz vein, embedded in a phyllonitic matrix, was studied by EBSD and optical microscopy to gain insights into the processes of strain localization in quartz deformed under low-grade conditions, broadly coincident with the frictional–viscous transition. The vein is from a high strain zone at the front of the Porsa Imbricate Stack in the Paleoproterozoic Repparfjord Tectonic Window in northern Norway. The vein was deformed under lower greenschist facies conditions during deformation along a large out-of-sequence phyllonitic thrust of Caledonian age. The host phyllonite formed at the expense of metabasalt wherein feldspar broke down to form interconnected layers of fine, synkinematic phyllosilicates. In the mechanically weak framework of the phyllonite, the studied quartz vein acted as a relatively rigid body deforming mainly by coaxial strain. Viscous deformation was initially accommodated by basal ⟨a⟩ slip of quartz during the development of a mesoscopic pervasive extensional crenulation cleavage. Under the prevailing boundary conditions, however, dislocation glide-accommodated deformation of quartz resulted inefficient and led to dislocation tangling and strain hardening of the vein. In response to hardening, to the progressive increase of fluid pressure and the increasing competence contrast between the vein and the weak foliated host phyllonite, quartz crystals began to deform frictionally along specific, optimally oriented lattice planes, creating microgouges along microfractures. These were, however, rapidly sealed by nucleation of new grains as transiently over pressured fluids penetrated the deforming system. The new nucleated grains grew initially by solution-precipitation and later by grain boundary migration. Due to the random initial orientation of the vein crystals, strain was accommodated differently in the individual crystals, leading to the development of remarkably different microstructures. Crystals oriented optimally for basal slip accommodated strain mainly viscously and experienced only minor fracturing. Instead, the crystals misoriented for basal slip hardened and deformed by pervasive domainal fracturing. This study indicates the importance of considering shear zones as dynamic systems wherein the activated deformation mechanisms vary transiently in response to the complex temporal and spatial evolution of the shear zone, often in a cyclic fashion.