0000000000122024
AUTHOR
Sara Coelho
Riedel-shear control on the development of pennant veins: Field example and analogue modelling
Abstract The wall rocks of a crustal scale sinistral ductile shear zone in Namibia, the Purros Mylonite Zone, contain two types of asymmetric quartz veins. Bedding surfaces contain sigmoidal quartz veins with limited thickness along their symmetry axes that can be classified as tension gashes. A second type of veins consists of a striated central fault vein separating pennant-type quartz filled terminations. The tips of these “pennant veins” have a different orientation to those of the tension gashes. Analogue experiments were carried out using a sheet of silicone powder suspended on a slab of poly-dimethyl-siloxane (PDMS), both deformed in simple shear. These experiments produced open frac…
Geometric description of flanking structures
Present nomenclature of faults and flanking structures is ambiguous. This paper presents a system for description of flanking structures, based on geometric parameters and independent of kinematic frame. The description can be made using two levels of accuracy. A qualitative method is described using four geometric features: tilt, slip, lift and roll. This method is suggested for practical use in the field, since it does not involve measurements or complicated procedures. In parallel, a quantitative approach is also presented, based on analytical modelling of Bezier curves. This method requires measurement of geometric features and involves mathematical treatment, but allows comparison betw…
Mohr-cyclides, a 3D representation of geological tensors: The examples of stress and flow
Mohr-circles are commonly used to represent second-rank tensors in two dimensions. In geology, this mainly applies to stress, flow, strain and deformation. Three-dimensional second rank tensors have been represented by sets of three Mohr-circles, mainly in the application of stress. This paper demonstrates that three-dimensional second rank tensors can in fact be represented in a three-dimensional reference frame by Mohr surfaces, which are members of the cyclide family. Such Mohr-cyclides can be used to represent any second rank tensor and are exemplified with the stress and flow tensors.
Key-ring structure gradients and sheath folds in the Goantagab Domain of NW Namibia
Abstract The concept of deformation phases is one of the corner stones of structural geology but, despite its simplicity, there are situations where the concept breaks down. In the Goantagab Domain of NW Namibia, structures in an area of complex deformation can be subdivided into at least four sets, attributed to four deformation phases on the basis of overprinting relations. Three of these sets of structures, however, formed during the same tectonic event under similar metamorphic circumstances but slightly different flow conditions. These sets of structures show gradational transitions in space that can be understood by a concept of “key-ring structure gradients”, where older D A structur…
An outline of shear-sense analysis in high-grade rocks
Ductile shear zones are important in tectonic reconstructions as a source of information on the relative motion of large crustal blocks or plates in the geological past. Methods to interpret fabric in ductile shear zones were mostly developed for low grade rocks where overprinting relations are usually well preserved. However, high grade shear zones are common and dominate in many Precambrian terrains. High grade shear zones should be analysed in a different way from low grade zones. The plane on which shear sense markers should be observed, the vorticity profile plane, is more difficult to find than in low grade shear zones. The most reliable shear sense markers in high grade shear zones a…