Mechanisms of fluid flow and fluid-rock interaction in fossil metamorphic hydrothermal systems inferred from vein-wallrock patterns, geometry and microstructure

Comparison of mass transfer patterns, geometry and microstructures developed within and around veins allows the interpretation of processes of fluid flow during deformation, metamorphism and mineralization. A classification of vein types based on the degree of interaction with wallrock (using petrological, geochemical or isotopic indicators) can be used to identify a range of processes, from closed system behaviour in which the vein mass is derived from local wallrock, through to open system behaviour in which the vein mass is derived externally. Microstructural characteristics, such as wallrock selvages, multiple growth events recorded by vein seams and vein crystal morphology, also help t…

Development of antitaxial fringes during non-coaxial deformation: an experimental study

Strain fringes were modelled experimentally around wooden objects in a simple-shear box containing Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The fringes were made of paraffin wax that was periodically poured into dilated sites next to the core-object and left to crystallise. In the experiments fringes and core-object rotated at similar decreasing rotation rates relative to extensional incremental stretching axes (ISA) of flow and rotated relative to each other by small amounts. Fringes did not necessarily open parallel to ISA due to interactions between fringes and core-object. Therefore, neither displacement-controlled fibres nor object-centre paths can be expected to record the exact orientation of th…

Hillslope evolution by nonlinear creep and landsliding: An experimental study: Comment and Reply

[Roering et al. (2001)][1] describe very careful and interesting experiments that beautifully illustrate the transition from steady downhill creep at low gradients to highly dynamic transport on steep slopes. They interpret this behavior in terms of a single nonlinear diffusion coefficient,

The influence of matrix rheology and vorticity on fabric development of populations of rigid objects during plane strain deformation

Abstract The influence of vorticity and rheology of matrix material on the development of shape-preferred orientation (SPO) of populations of rigid objects was experimentally studied. Experiments in plane strain monoclinic flow were performed to model the fabric development of two populations of rectangular rigid objects with object aspect ratios (Rob) 2 and 3. The density of the rigid object populations was 14% of the total area. Objects were dispersed in a Newtonian and a non-Newtonian, power law matrix material with a power law exponent n of 1.2. The kinematic vorticity number (Wn) of the plane strain monoclinic flow was 1, 0.8 and 0.6 with finite simple shear strain of 4.6, 3.0 and 0.9,…

Disequilibrium melt distribution during static recrystallisation

Melt migration and segregation, and the rheology of partially molten rocks in the upper mantle and lower crust, strongly depend on the grain-scale distribution of the melt. Current theory for monomineralic aggregates predicts a perfectly regular melt framework, but high-temperature experiments with rock-forming minerals + melt show considerable deviations from this predicted geometry. Disequilibrium features, such as fully wetted grain boundaries and large melt patches, have been described; these were mainly attributed to surface-energy anisotropy of the minerals. We present static analogue experiments with norcamphor + ethanol that allow continuous in situ observation of the evolving liqui…

Are polymers suitable rock analogs?

To evaluate if a polymer is suitable for analog modeling, it is essential to know the rheological properties of the material. Polymers used in analog modeling exhibit a complex rheological behavior; only part of which has been taken into account in most modeling studies. The mechanical behavior is strongly dependent on strain rate and temperature, and is characterized by specific dependencies of the storage and loss moduli, related to the elasticity and viscosity, on the deformation rate (frequency). We have measured the storage and loss moduli at a broad range of strain rates and strains, using an oscillatory parallel-disk rheometer. Investigated materials are polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), …

Numerical simulation of fibre growth in antitaxial strain fringes

A two-dimensional computer model (‘Fringe Growth’) is used to simulate the incremental growth of crystal fibres in undeformed antitaxial strain fringes. The user can define the shape of a core-object (e.g. a pyrite crystal), the growth velocity and anisotropy of growing crystals, the rotation of fringes and core-object with respect to a horizontal datum and with respect to each other, and the opening velocity of fringes. Growth is simulated by movement of nodes connecting line segments that define the grain boundaries. Modelling results predict that face-controlled strain fringes will grow around smooth core-objects and strain fringes with displacement-controlled and face-controlled fibres …

δ objects as a gauge for stress sensitivity of strain rate in mylonites

Abstract Our understanding of the flow properties of deforming rocks in the Earth's lithosphere is mainly based on theoretical work and on the extrapolation of high-strain-rate experimental data to the low strain rates of rock deformation in nature. The geometry of structures in naturally deformed rocks can be an additional source of information on the rheology of the lithosphere. Flow experiments show that the geometry of a mantle of recrystallised material around a rigid object can be used to distinguish between a linear or power-law relation of differential stress and strain rate in strongly deformed rocks such as mylonites. This means that it is possible to use geometrical patterns in d…

Melt extraction and accumulation from partially molten rocks

Current models for melt segregation and ascent are not adequate to accurately describe transport and accumulation in combination. We propose that transport is discontinuous and in batches, and that accumulation occurs by stepwise merging of batches. A simple numerical model of jostling spheres that merge when they touch was used to represent stepwise accumulation and transport of batches by propagation of hydrofractures. Results of the numerical model indicate that such a system may quickly develop into a self-organised critical (SOC) state. In this state, the distribution of melt batch volumes can be described by a power law, with an exponent m that lies between 2/3 and 1. Once a self-orga…

Age and metasomatic alteration of the Mt Neill Granite at Nooldoonooldoona Waterhole, Mt Painter Inlier, South Australia

Quartz feldspar augen gneisses, quartz augen schists and trondhjemites outcrop at Nooldoonooldoona Waterhole in the southwestern corner of the Proterozoic Mt Painter Inlier, northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. These rocks were previously interpreted as having different origins and ages. However, we argue that all rock types were the result of deformation and strong metasomatic alteration of one common precursor: the Mt Neill Granite. Our conclusion is based on field observations that show that the different lithologies grade into each other and that intrusive contacts are lacking. Whole rock major and trace element analyses also point to a common protolith. Finally, Pb/Pb dating of m…

Development of crystal morphology during unitaxial growth in a progressively widening vein: II. Numerical simulations of the evolution of antitaxial fibrous veins

The development of fibrous morphology and capability of fibres for tracking the opening trajectory were investigated using numerical simulations of a natural antitaxial fibrous vein. Starting from a non-unique best case, variation of fracture opening velocity, grain size, wall roughness, growth anisotropy and crystal growth velocity shows that these parameters differ in importance for crystal morphology and tracking capability. Fibrous veins can be simulated using crack–seal opening of the fracture. Grain boundaries track the opening trajectory if the wall roughness is high, opening increments are small and crystals touch the wall before the next crack increment starts.

The influence of strain localisation on the rotation behaviour of rigid objects in experimental shear zones

Abstract Mica fish and tourmaline fish from natural mylonites were analysed in thin section to determine their orientation distribution. They are oriented with their long axes tilted with respect to the mylonitic foliation, and fish with a small aspect ratio exhibit a slightly larger angle than fish with a large aspect ratio. This orientation seems to be a stable orientation for the mica and tourmaline fish. Analogue experiments with two rheologically different matrix materials were performed to explain the data. One material was PDMS, a linear viscous polymer. The other was tapioca pearls, a granular material with low cohesion and Mohr–Coulomb type behaviour. In contrast to a fairly homoge…

Animations of dynamic recrystallization with the numerical modelling system Elle

Deformation of melt-bearing systems—insight from in situ grain-scale analogue experiments

Abstract The deformation behaviour of partially molten rocks was investigated using in situ analogue experiments with norcamphor+ethanol, as well as partially molten KNO 3 +LiNO 3 . Three general deformation regimes could be distinguished during bulk pure shear deformation. In regime I, above ca. 8–10 vol.% liquid (melt) fraction ( ϕ bulk ), deformation is by compaction, distributed granular flow, and grain boundary sliding (GBS). At ϕ bulk ϕ bulk (regime III), grains form a coherent framework that deforms by grain boundary migration accommodated dislocation creep, associated with efficient segregation of remaining liquid. The transition liquid fraction between regimes I and II ( ϕ LT ) dep…

Dominance of microstructural processes and their effect on microstructural development: insights from numerical modelling of dynamic recrystallization

The influence of the dominance of different processes on the microstructural development of a quarzite has been numerically modelled using the modelling system Elle. In the model dynamic recrystallization of a polycrystalline aggregate has been simulated by a combination of viscous deformation, lattice rotation, subgrain formation, rotation recrystallization, nucleation of new grains and recovery. Different combinations of the dominance of processes are considered by variations in values of the grain boundary mobility and the energy threshold value for recrystallization by nucleation of new grains. In addition, two different starting microstructures (fine and coarse grained) are used. Resul…

Anisotropic scaling of tectonic stylolites: A fossilized signature of the stress field?

International audience; [1] Vertical stylolites are pressure solution features, which are considered to be caused by horizontal tectonic loading, with the largest principal compressive stress being (sub-) parallel to the Earth's surface. In the present study we analyze the roughness of such tectonic stylolites from two tectonic settings in southern Germany and northeastern Spain, aiming to investigate their scaling properties with respect to the stress during formation. High-resolution laser profilometry was carried out on opened stylolite surfaces of nine samples. These data sets were then analyzed using one-and two-dimensional Fourier power spectral approaches. We found that tectonic styl…

Case studies and coupling of processes

This chapter with eight authored sections presents a selection of possible application of microdynamic simulation to address geological questions. The various processes that have been introduced in the previous chapter were used, sometimes with minor additions or modifications. Because processes in rocks never operate in isolation, the reader will see that the various authors in this chapter have combined two or more processes to simulate the microstructural development under investigation. As such the authors have fully taken advantage of the possibility of the Elle software to couple processes.

The formation of large quartz veins by rapid ascent of fluids in mobile hydrofractures

Abstract This paper aims to resolve two main problems related to the formation of quartz veins: (1) the predominance of quartz veins at shallow crustal levels and not deeper in the crust, close to the source of metamorphic fluids where the temperature sensitivity of quartz solubility is much higher than at lower, upper-crustal temperatures and (2) the formation of very large 100–1000 m scale quartz veins that would require huge amounts of fluid flow in current models of vein formation. It is proposed here that these problems are resolved by the recognition of very fast (m/s) mobile hydrofracture ascent of batches of fluid. Mobile hydrofractures are fluid-filled fractures that propagate at t…

Domain boundary migration at multiple scales in experiment and nature

Accumulation and self-organization in hydrofracturetransport of fluids

Abstract Propagation of “mobile hydrofractures” is one of several mechanisms to transport fluids. Analogue experiments show howthis transport mechanism is intimately linked with accumulation, by stepwise mergers of fluid batches. Analogue experiments and numerical modelling indicate that such stepwise transport and accumulation may lead to the establishment of a self-organised critical state.

The numerical simulation of microstructure

VIEPS/Mainz Microstructure Course

Crystallographic preferred orientation development by dissolution–precipitation creep

Abstract Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) in deformed rocks are commonly interpreted as resulting from crystal plastic deformation mechanisms, where deformation is achieved by the movement of dislocations. In this paper we investigate the possibility of CPO-development by dissolution–precipitation creep or pressure solution. A numerical model is presented, which simulates the development of a grain aggregate that deforms by reaction-controlled dissolution–precipitation creep. Grains are simulated as rectangular boxes that change their shape by growth, or dissolution of their surfaces, depending on the normal stresses acting on the individual surfaces. Grains can also rotate du…

New experiment to model self-organized critical transport and accumulation of melt and hydrocarbons from their source rocks

A new, simple, and easily reproducible experiment was designed to simulate the production, accumulation, and transport of melt within rock. The transport was found to be of the self-organized critical type. The emergence of self-organized criticality is explained by the availability of hydrofracture propagation as a rapid or ballistic transport mechanism. This mechanism also serves as a mechanism for stepwise accumulation. These findings are confirmed by a numerical model, which shows the emergence of self-organized critical behavior when Darcian transport cannot accommodate transport and the dormant transport mechanism of hydrofracture propagation is activated. Ballistic and self-organized…

Apparent boudinage in dykes

Intrusive rocks may be arranged in the form of strings of lenses or beads, as found on the Cap de Creus Peninsula, NE Spain, and in the South Finland Migmatite-Granite Belt. These structures first appear to be the result of stretching and boudinage of intrusive sheets or dykes. However, closer examination reveals that they are not boudins, but are instead primary intrusive structures. A detailed study was performed on a swarm of pegmatite intrusions at Cap de Creus. Layering is often continuous between beads, and, in some cases, individual beads exhibit a very irregular shape. These observations are shown to be incompatible with an origin by boudinage. Analogue experiments were used to test…

The origin of fibrous veins: constraints from geochemistry

Modeling of anisotropic grain growth in minerals

The role of surface energy anisotropy during grain growth is investigated using both physical experiments on octachloropropane and numerical experiments using the Elle microstructural modelling system. In particular the effects of anisotropy on growth rates, grain shapes and lattice preferred orientations are analysed. Anisotropic growth in thin polycrystalline sheets of octachloropropane is found to systematically remove certain c-axis orientations from the sample, without obviously modifying the grain shapes. By comparison with equivalent numerical experiments, we can explain these observations with a simple boundary layer model that treats each side of each grain boundary as an independe…