Evidence for fluid flow in ductile shear zones, Granite Wash Mountains, Maria fold and thrust belt
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
Synkinematic fluids that accompanied Mesozoic (D2) deformation in the Granite Wash Mountains, eastern Maria fold and thrust belt, had profound effects on the metamorphic mineralogy and deformation mechanisms of Paleozoic metsedimentary rocks. The D2 thrusts are discrete brittle faults that commonly bound highly sheared, ductilely deformed rocks. These low-angle faults cross cut a vertical section of Paleozoic and Mesozoic supracrustal rocks that were multiply repeated and upturned by earlier Mesozoic deformation, D1. Kinematic analysis of a series of these ductile shear zones has confirmed that the dominant sense of motion during thrusting was to the SW, however, some isolated kinematic indicators and indicators along the lowest zone suggest NE-thrusting. Microstructures in samples collected both within D2 ductile shear zones and outside D2 zones show fluids played an important role in D2 deformation. The abundant evidence for fluids along D2 ductile shear zones includes: quartz veins in the Kaibab Fm (a dolomitic marble), zones of metasomatic alteration ( bleached'' zones) within D2 zones, an increase in the abundance of metamorphic minerals within D2 zones, and the presence of synkinematic wollastonite in silicones limestones of the Redwall Fm. The most dramatic and significant effect of synkinematic fluids in on the style of deformation mechanisms operating during thrusting. Evidence for intracrystalline plastic deformation and rotational recrystallization is not well-developed: instead, microstructures are dominated by migrational recrystallization fabrics. In some samples, quartz grain boundaries have migrated over a preexisting foliation defined by aligned micas, indicating that grain boundaries were highly mobile. Fluid-enhanced grain boundary mobility has allowed internally deformed grains or parts of grains to be consumed rapidly with no or little record of the deformation left behind.
- OSTI ID:
- 5023626
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ARIZONA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
DEFORMATION
MINERALOGY
PETROLOGY
GEOLOGY
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
FLUID FLOW
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOTHERMAL FLUIDS
MESOZOIC ERA
MICROSTRUCTURE
TECTONICS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
FLUIDS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
NORTH AMERICA
ROCKS
USA
580000* - Geosciences