Description: Many blueschists and eclogites are inferred to have formed from oceanic basalts in subducted slabs. Knowledge of their elastic behaviour is essential for reconstructing the internal structure of subduction zones. The Cycladic Blueschist Unit, exposed on Syros Island (Greece), contains rocks belonging to an exhumed Tertiary subduction complex. They were possibly part of a subduction channel, a shear zone above the subducting slab in which exhumation is possible during subduction. Intense plastic deformation, forming crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO), accompanied blueschist and eclogite metamorphism. CPO of the constituent minerals in the collected samples was determined by time-of-flight neutron diffraction. Two samples are foliated fine-grained blueschists with strong CPO, rich in glaucophane, zoisite and phengite. Two coarser-grained eclogite samples rich in omphacite and clinozoisite, or glaucophane, have weaker CPO. Vp and Vs anisotropies were computed from the orientation distribution function and single-crystal elastic constants. All samples show velocity maxima parallel to the mineral lineation, and minima normal to the foliation, providing important constraints on orientations of seismic anisotropy in subduction channels. Vp anisotropies are up to three times higher (6.5-12%) in the blueschists than in the eclogites (3-4%), pointing to a potentially important lithological control of elastic anisotropy in subducted oceanic crust.

Description: Low-angle normal faults play a prominent role in discussions about fault strength, as they require significant weakening to remain active at low angles. The submerged Moresby Seamount detachment (MSD) is arguably the best exposed active low-angle detachment worldwide. We analyzed dredged MSD protoliths, cataclasites and mylonites to investigate deformation mechanisms and fault-weakening processes. Deformation is accompanied by important syntectonic, fluid-induced mass transfer, controlling the rheological behavior of the MSD. While the mafic protolith behaves brittlely at the onset of deformation, the metasomatic mineralogical and chemical changes cause a transition to plastic flow as the rock is progressively exhumed. Immobile elements provide a reference frame for total material gains and losses. Si, Ca and K are syntectonically enriched, while Fe, Ti, Mg, and Al are depleted. Mass increase is about 10% in the cataclasites and about 48% in the mylonites. Main mechanism is syntectonic veining, causing enrichment in calcite and quartz, thus making the mylonites capable to flow plastically. Minimum time-integrated fluid flux is calculated as 3 × 105 m3 m−2, indicating that the MSD is an important fluid conduit. The fluids have a deep crustal source, a bottom water temperature and turbidity anomaly suggests that the hydrothermal system is still active. Syntectonic veining in fault rocks and recent seismic activity both suggest that the MSD is intermittently brittle, implying a brittle-plastic transition at unusually high temperature and low differential stress. We conclude that fault zone metasomatism is crucial in forming weak detachments at passive margins, and may be a prerequisite for successful crustal breakup.

Description: Nineteen whole-round core samples from the Nankai accretionary prism (IODP Expeditions 315, 316, and 333) from a depth range of 28–128 m below sea floor were experimentally deformed in a triaxial cell under consolidated and undrained conditions at confining pressures of 400–1000 kPa, room temperature, axial displacement rates of 0.01–9.0 mm/min, and up to axially compressive strains of ∼64%. Despite great similarities in composition and grain size distribution of the silty clay samples, two distinct “rheological groups” are distinguished: The first group shows deviatoric peak stress after only a few percent of compressional strain (〈10%) and a continuous stress decrease after peak conditions. Simultaneous to this decrease is a pore pressure increase indicating contractant behavior characteristic of structurally weak material. The second sample group weakens only moderately at a much higher strength level after significantly higher strain (〉10%), or does not weaken at all. This is characteristic of structurally strong material. The strong samples tend to be overconsolidated and are all from the drillsites at the accretionary prism toe, while the weak and normally consolidated samples come from the immediate hanging wall of a megasplay fault further upslope. Sediments from the incoming plate are also structurally weak. The observed differences in mechanical behavior may hold a key for understanding strain localization and brittle faulting within the uniform silty and clayey sedimentary sequence of the Nankai accretionary prism.

Description: We developed thermal models for the Chile subduction zone along two profiles at 38.2°S and 42°S within the rupture area of the 1960 M = 9.5 Valdivia earthquake and south of the 2010 M = 8.8 Maule earthquake. The age difference of the subducting Nazca Plate has a major impact on the thermal regime, being much younger and hotter in the south. Seafloor heat flow observations confirm this difference but also indicate that in the southern area, heat advection at the outer rise cools the incoming plate. Heat flow values derived from the depth of gas hydrate bottom-simulating reflectors are in general agreement with probe and borehole measurements. The positions where the plate interface reaches temperatures of 100–150°C and 350–450°C differ between the two profiles. If these temperatures control the updip and downdip limits of the interplate seismogenic zone, the seismogenic zone widens and shifts landward to greater depths from south to north. Observed microseismicity, however, seems to fade at temperatures much lower than 350–450°C. This discrepancy can be explained in three alternative ways: (1) deformation in a thick subduction channel controls the seismic/aseismic transition; (2) microseismicity recorded over a limited time period does not represent the rupture depth of large interface earthquakes; or (3) the serpentinized mantle wedge controls the downdip limit.

Description: Acoustic velocities were measured during triaxial deformation tests of silty clay and clayey silt core samples from the Nankai subduction zone (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expeditions 315, 316, and 333). We provide a new data set, continuously measured during pressure increase and subsequent axial deformation. A new data processing method was developed using seismic time series analysis. Compressional wave velocities (V-p) range between about 1450 and 2200 m/s, and shear wave velocities (V-s) range between about 150 and 800 m/s. V-p slightly increases with rising effective confining pressure and effective axial stress. Samples from the accretionary prism toe show the highest Vp, while fore-arc slope sediments show lower Vp. Samples from the incoming plate, slightly richer in clay minerals, have the lowest values for V-p. V-s increases with higher effective confining pressures and effective axial stress, irrespective of composition and tectonic setting. Shear and bulk moduli are between 0.2 and 1.3 GPa, and 3.85 and 8.41 GPa, respectively. Elastic moduli of samples from the accretionary prism toe and the footwall of the megasplay fault (1.50 and 3.98 GPa) are higher than those from the hanging wall and incoming plate (0.59 and 0.88 GPa). This allows differentiation between normal and overconsolidated sediments. The data show that in a tectonosedimentary environment of only subtle compositional differences, acoustic properties can be used to differentiate between stronger (accretionary prism toe) and weaker (fore-arc slope, incoming plate) sediments. Especially V-p/V-s ratios may be instrumental in detecting zones of low effective stress and thus high pore fluid pressure

Description: Deformation experiments on Black Hills quartzite with three different initial water contents (as-is, water-added, and vacuum-dried) were carried out in the dislocation creep regime in order to evaluate the effect of water on the recrystallized grain size/flow stress piezometer. Samples were deformed in axial compression at temperatures of 750°–1100°C, strain rates between 2 × 10−7 s−1 and 2 × 10−4 s−1 and strains up to 46% using a molten salt assembly in a Griggs apparatus. An increase of the initial water content at otherwise constant deformation conditions caused a decrease in flow stress, an effect known as hydrolytic weakening. The total water content of the starting material was analyzed by Karl Fischer titration (KFT) and Fourier transform infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and quenched samples were analyzed microstructurally and by IR. Changes in the dynamic recrystallization microstructure correlate with changes in flow stress, but there is no independent effect of temperature, strain rate or water content. IR absorption spectra of the deformed spectra indicate that different water contents were maintained in the three sample sets throughout the experiments. However, the amounts of water measured within the vacuum-dried (∼260 ± 40 ppm H2O), the as-is (∼340 ± 50 ppm H2O), and the water-added (∼430 ± 110 ppm H2O) samples are significantly smaller than the initial content of the quartzite (∼640 ± 50 ppm H2O). Water from the inclusions in the starting material adds to the free fluid phase along the grain boundaries, which probably controls the water fugacity and the flow strength, but this water is largely lost during IR sample preparation. Vacuum-dried as well as water-added samples have the same recrystallized grain size/flow stress relationship as the piezometer determined for as-is samples. No independent effect of water on the piezometric relationship has been detected.

Description: EGU2012-13016 The dynamically recrystallized grain size is the most reliable paleo-piezometer to determine the differential stress in the Earth’s crust and mantle. Knowledge on the stress magnitude is enigmatic to quantify tectonic processes in orogens and plate tectonic forces in general. Owing to this significance, a considerable number of research groups has proposed different theoretical concepts of piezometers in the last couple of years. The recrystallized grain size has been suggested to be not only a function of stress, but also of temperature, strain rate, strain and other parameters. In the meantime, data of experimental studies and from natural shear zones have been collected. Hence, empirical piezometer models and theoretical concepts can be confronted with these data sets. A recrystallized grain size compilation of quartz mylonites from shear zones worldwide indicates that specific grain sizes are less frequent corresponding to transitions in the recrystallization mechanisms. This indicates that the recrystallized grain size development is significantly controlled by the different recrystallization mechanisms in natural mylonites. This relationship should be constrained by any valid piezometer or dynamic recrystallization model which is, however, not the case. Most of the piezometer models assume a temperature dependence via an activation energy term. While the majority of these models predicts a decrease in recrystallized grain size with increasing temperature one implies an increase with increasing temperature. However, neither a decrease nor an increase has reliably been shown by deformation experiments on different minerals. In fact, experimental data on dislocation creep of quartz do not show any temperature-dependence within the error of the given stress-recrystallized grain size measurements. A strain rate dependence is – if at all – less important and also not constrained by experimental data. Also a water-dependence of the piezometer does not exist for quartz and there is contradicting experimental evidence for olivine. Experimentally deformed quartz samples display 2d- recrystallized grain size distributions close to a normal distribution with a slight tendency to a positive skewness. The dispersion of the distribution does not change over the experimental range of strain (7 – 46 %) and also not with the volume proportion of recrystallized grains (2 – 60 %). Hence, increasing strain does not change the recrystallized grain size distribution. In summary, no dependence on temperature, strain rate, strain, grain size distribution and water content can be observed for the quartz piezometer. There is only evidence for the dependence on the recrystallization mechanism. Therefore, it is recommended to refer to the original empirical piezometer relationship in which the recrystallized grain size is only a function of the differential stress when measuring stress in the Earth’s crust.

Description: Quartz mylonites from the Tonale Fault Zone in the Alps (northern Italy) have been investigated by the Ti-in-quartz geothermometer (TitaniQ) in order to test its applicability to measure deformation temperatures. The eastern part of the Tonale Fault Zone was contact metamorphosed by the synkinematic intrusion of the Adamello pluton, forming an ∼800 m wide mylonitic shear zone, with a synkinematic temperature gradient from ∼280°C at the frictional-viscous transition to ∼700°C at the pluton contact as derived from metamorphic mineral assemblages. Deformation microstructures from quartz mylonite samples, systematically collected across the mylonitic shear zone, display the entire range of dynamic recrystallization in quartz, which comprise bulging recrystallization (BLG), subgrain rotation recrystallization (SGR), and grain boundary migration recrystallization (GBM). TitaniQ geothermometry yields the near-peak deformation temperature for quartz mylonites deformed at metamorphic temperatures above ∼540°C in the zone of GBM. However, for mylonites formed under lower temperatures in the zones of SGR and BLG, the preexisting Ti concentrations were not reset. It is suggested that this is due to the sluggish Ti volume diffusion rates below 500°C and the short duration of contact metamorphism and deformation. Even in the higher temperature samples the reequilibration of Ti-in-quartz content was achieved by grain boundary migration rather than by volume diffusion. Hence, our results show that GBM is crucial for the reequilibration of Ti-in-quartz, while quartz mylonites deformed by either BLG or SGR, which predominate in natural shear zones at greenschist facies metamorphic conditions, most likely yield inherited temperatures.

Description: The age of the subducting Nazca Plate off Chile increases northward from 0 Ma at the Chile Triple Junction (46°S) to 37 Ma at the latitude of Valparaíso (32°S). Age-related variations in the thermal state of the subducting plate impact on (a) the water influx to the subduction zone, as well as on (b) the volumes of water that are released under the continental fore arc or, alternatively, carried beyond the arc. Southern Central Chile is an ideal setting to study this effect, because other factors for the subduction zone water budget appear constant. We determine the water influx by calculating the crustal water uptake and by modeling the upper mantle serpentinization at the outer rise of the Chile Trench. The water release under fore arc and arc is determined by coupling FEM thermal models of the subducting plate with stability fields of water-releasing mineral reactions for upper and lower crust and hydrated mantle. Results show that both the influx of water stored in, and the outflux of water released from upper crust, lower crust, and mantle vary drastically over segment boundaries. In particular, the oldest and coldest segments carry roughly twice as much water into the subduction zone as the youngest and hottest segments, but their release flux to the fore arc is only about one fourth of the latter. This high variability over a subduction zone of 〈1500 km length shows that it is insufficient to consider subduction zones as uniform entities in global estimates of subduction zone fluxes.

Description: EGU2012-13521 In Geoscience quantitative texture analysis here defined as the quantitative analysis of the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO), is a common tool for the investigation of fabric development in mono- and polyphase rocks, their deformation histories and kinematics. Bulk texture measurements also allow the quantitative characterisation of the anisotropic physical properties of rock materials. A routine tool to measure bulk sample volumes is neutron texture diffraction, as neutrons have large penetration capabilities of several cm in geological sample materials. The new POWTEX (POWder and TEXture) Diffractometer at the neutron research reactor FRM II in Garching, Germany is designed as a high-intensity diffractometer by groups from the RWTH Aachen, Forschungszentrum Jülich and the University of Göttingen. Complementary to existing neutron diffractometers (SKAT at Dubna, Russia; GEM at ISIS, UK; HIPPO at Los Alamos, USA; D20 at ILL, France; and the local STRESS-SPEC and SPODI at FRM II) the layout of POWTEX is focused on fast time-resolved experiments and the measurement of larger sample series as necessary for the study of large scale geological structures. POWTEX is a dedicated beam line for geoscientific research. Effective texture measurements without sample tilting and rotation are possible firstly by utilizing a range of neutron wavelengths simultaneously (Time-of-Flight technique) and secondly by the high detector coverage (9.8 sr) and a high flux (�~1x10 7 n/cm2s) at the sample. Furthermore the instrument and the angular detector resolution is designed also for strong recrystallisation textures as well as for weak textures of polyphase rocks. These instrument characteristics allow in-situ time-resolved texture measurements during deformation experiments on rocksalt, ice and other materials as large sample environments will be implemented at POWTEX. The in-situ deformation apparatus is operated by a uniaxial spindle drive with a maximum axial load of 250 kN, which will be redesigned to minimize shadowing effects inside the cylindrical detector. The HT deformatione experiments will be carried out in uniaxial compression or extension and an upgrade to triaxial deformation conditions is envisaged. The load frame can alternatively be used for ice deformation by inserting a cryostat cell for temperatures down to 77 K with a triaxial apparatus allowing also simple shear experiments on ice. Strain rates range between 10-8 and 10-3 s-1 reaching to at least 50% axial strain. The deformation apparatus is designed for continuous long-term deformation experiments and can be exchanged between in-situ and ex-situ placements during continuous operation inside and outside the neutron detector.