Journal
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY
Volume 26, Issue 10, Pages 1845-1865Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2004.02.006
Keywords
brittle-ductile transition; foliation development; intrusion-related deformation; numerical experiment; recrystallization; shear initiation; strain rate
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The San Jose pluton in Baja California, Mexico, comprises at least two well-defined, texturally distinct units. The northern unit was intruded by the central unit after the former had extensively crystallized at its margins. During intrusion of the central unit, the margin of the northern unit underwent brittle and crystal-plastic deformation, at least part of which occurred in the presence of residual melt. We infer that biotite grains in this rock readily deformed by slip and frictional sliding along (001) planes, which caused strain-rate and differential-stress gradients across their grain boundaries into the surrounding plagioclase framework causing it to fracture. These microfractures grew and coalesced, and became sites of localized ductile flow. Continued development of these microshear zones led to coalescence of biotite grains, mainly by mechanical entrainment, and ultimately to a pervasive mylonitic foliation. Thus, in a single deformation, these rocks passed through a brittle-ductile transition. The development of an anastomosing network of ductile microshear zones allowed the progressive partitioning of strain rates, probably over several orders of magnitude, between the microshear zones and intervening polymineralic aggregates. Numerical experiments were conducted to evaluate the process of biotite-assisted fracturing of the stress-supporting framework, and the progressive evolution of differential stress and strain rate. The results are consistent with experimental evidence that biotite is extremely weak in shear, and that phyllosilicate-bearing rocks may accommodate strain rates several orders of magnitude higher than the bulk strain rate. This study also supports previous suggestions that strain rates associated with the growth of crustal magma chambers may be several, to many, orders of magnitude greater than those normally associated with regional tectonic deformation. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available