Abstract For the past two decades geodetic measurements have quantified surface displacement fields for the continents, illustrating a general complexity. However, the linkage of geodetically defined displacements in the continents to mantle flow and plate tectonics demands understanding of ductile deformations in the middle and lower continental crust. Advances in seismic anisotropy studies are beginning to allow such work, especially in the Himalaya and Tibet, using passive seismological experiments (e.g. teleseismic receiver functions and records from local earthquakes). Although there is general agreement that measured seismic anisotropy in the middle and lower crust reflects bulk mineral alignment (i.e. crystallographic preferred orientation, CPO), there is a need to calibrate the seismic response to deformation structures and their kinematics. Here, we take on this challenge by deducing the seismic properties of typical mid- and lower-crustal rocks that have experienced ductile deformation through quantitative measures of CPO in samples from appropriate outcrops. The effective database of CPO and hence seismic properties can be expanded by a modelling approach that utilizes ‘rock recipes’ derived from the as-measured individual mineral CPOs combined in varying modal proportions. In addition, different deformation fabrics may be diagnostic of specific deformation kinematics that can serve to constrain interpretations of seismic anisotropy data from the continental crust. Thus, the use of ‘fabric recipes’ based on subsets of individual rock fabric CPO allows the effect of different fabrics (e.g. foliations) to be investigated and interpreted from their seismic response. A key issue is the possible discrimination between continental crustal deformation models with strongly localized simple-shear (ductile fault) fabrics from more distributed (‘pure-shear’) crustal flow. The results of our combined rock and fabric-recipe modelling suggest that the seismic properties of the middle and lower crust depend on deformation state and orientation as well as composition, while reliable interpretation of seismic survey data should incorporate as many seismic properties as possible.

Abstract The Nanga Parbat Massif (NPM), Pakistan Himalaya, is an exhumed tract of Indian continental crust and represents an area of active crustal thickening and exhumation. While the most effective way to study the NPM at depth is through seismic imaging, interpretation depends upon knowledge of the seismic properties of the rocks. Gneissic, ‘mylonitic’ and cataclastic rocks emplaced at the surface were sampled as proxies for lithologies and fabrics currently accommodating deformation at depth. Mineral crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) were measured via scanning electron microscope (SEM)/electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), from which three-dimensional (3D) elastic constants, seismic velocities and anisotropies were predicted. Micas make the main contribution to sample anisotropy. Background gneisses have highest anisotropy (up to 10.4% shear-wave splitting, AVs) compared with samples exhibiting localized deformations (e.g. ‘mylonite’, 4.7% AVs; cataclasite, 1% AVs). Thus, mylonitic shear zones may be characterized by regions of low anisotropy compared to their wall rocks. CPO-derived sample elastic constants were used to construct seismic models of NPM tectonics, through which P-, S- and converted waves were ray-traced. Foliation orientation has dramatic effects on these waves. The seismic models suggest dominantly pure-shear tectonics for the NPM involving horizontal compression and vertical stretching, modified by localized ductile and brittle (‘simple’) shear deformations.

Abstract Since the early descriptions published by Callaway in 1884, the gently dipping mylonites exposed along the Moine Thrust at the Stack of Glencoul have drawn generations of geologists to the northern part of the Assynt district. These mylonites, derived from Cambrian quartzites (footwall) and Moine pelites and psammites (hanging wall), have figured prominently in: a) early research into the influence of crystal plastic deformation and recrystallization on microstructural and crystal fabric evolution; b) debates on the kinematic interpretation of macro- and micro-structures and crystal fabrics; and c) debates on the tectonic significance of such kinematic data. In this paper first we briefly review the historical aspects of this research and then, using both previously published and unpublished data, document the finite strain and quartz fabric development at this classic mylonite locality. A tectonic interpretation of these data, together with quantitative estimates of flow vorticities associated with mylonite formation at the Stack of Glencoul, are presented in a companion paper by Law (2010) .

Abstract Improving the accuracy of subsurface imaging is commonly the main incentive for including the effects of anisotropy in seismic processing. However, the anisotropy itself holds valuable information about rock properties and, as such, can be viewed as a seismic attribute. Here we summarize results from an integrated project that explored the potential to use observations of seismic anisotropy to interpret lithological and fluid properties (the SAIL project). Our approach links detailed petrofabric analyses of reservoir rocks, laboratory based measurements of ultrasonic velocities in core samples, and reservoir-scale seismic observations. We present results for the Clair field, a Carboniferous–Devonian reservoir offshore Scotland, west of the Shetland Islands. The reservoir rocks are sandstones that are variable in composition and exhibit anisotropy on three length-scales: the crystal, grain and fracture scale. We have developed a methodology for assessing crystal-preferred-orientation (CPO) using a combination of electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), X-ray texture goniometry (XRTG) and image analysis. Modal proportions of individual minerals are measured using quantitative X-ray diffraction (QXRD). These measurements are used to calculate the intrinsic anisotropy due to CPO via Voigt-Reuss-Hill averaging of individual crystal elasticities and their orientations. The intrinsic anisotropy of the rock is controlled by the phyllosilicate content and to a lesser degree the orientation of quartz and feldspar; the latter can serve as a palaeoflow indicator. Our results show remarkable consistency in CPO throughout the reservoir and allow us to construct a mathematical model of reservoir anisotropy. A comparison of CPO-predicted velocities and those derived from laboratory measurements of ultrasonic signals allows the estimation of additional elastic compliance terms due to grain-boundary interactions. The results show that the CPO estimates are good proxies for the intrinsic anisotropy of the clean sandstones. The more micaceous rocks exhibit enhanced anisotropy due to interactions between the phyllosilicate grains. We then compare the lab-scale predictions with reservoir-scale measurements of seismic anisotropy, based on amplitude variation with offset and azimuth (AVOA) analysis and non-hyperbolic moveout. Our mathematical model provides a foundation for interpreting the reservoir-scale seismic data and improving the geological modelling of complex reservoirs. The observed increases in AVOA signal with depth can only be explained with an increase in fracturing beneath the major unit boundaries, rather than a change in intrinsic CPO properties. In general, the style and magnitude of anisotropy in the Clair field appears to be indicative of reservoir quality.

Abstract To investigate the interaction between the rheology of arenaceous sedimentary rocks (sand and sandstone) and stress conditions during burial we have coupled published results from deformation experiments with a simple quartz cementation model. The model provides valuable insights into controls on sandstone deformation consistent with observations from nature. A transitional zone exists in subsiding sedimentary basins, here referred to as the ductile-to-brittle transition (DBT), above which faults in normally pressured arenites will tend to form fluid flow barriers, and below which they will tend to form conduits. The DBT depth in sandstone is dependent upon geothermal gradient, burial rate and grain size. Low geothermal gradients, rapid sedimentation rates and coarse grain sizes favour a deep DBT and vice versa. Fine-grained arenites may only deform in a brittle manner for most natural burial rates and geothermal gradients, explaining why they do not usually contain thick deformation band zones. Coarser-grained arenites may deform in a brittle–ductile or ductile manner, which is why they often contain thick deformation band zones and occasionally experience pervasive porosity collapse. Sandstones within high geothermal gradient areas may deform to produce fluid flow conduits at shallow depths when porosities in the sequence as a whole are high; this possibly favours fault-related mineralization.

Abstract Active deformation within the northern part of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) occurs within approximately 60 km-long, 20 km-wide ‘magmatic segments’ that lie within the 80 km-wide rift valley. Geophysical data reveal that the crust beneath the <1.9 Ma magmatic segments has been heavily intruded; magmatic segments accommodate strain via both magma intrusion and faulting. We undertake field and remote sensing analyses of faults and eruptive centres in the magmatic segments to estimate the relative proportion of strain accommodated by faulting and magma intrusion and the kinematics of Quaternary faults. Up to half the ≤10 km-long normal faults within the Boset—Kone and Fantale—Dofen magmatic segments have eruptive centres or extrusive lavas along their length. Comparison of the deformation field of the largest Quaternary fault and an elastic half-space dislocation model indicates a down-dip length of 10 km, coincident with the seismogenic layer thickness and the top of the seismically imaged mafic intrusions. These relations suggest that Quaternary faults are primarily driven by magma intrusion into the mid- to upper crust, which triggers faulting and dyke intrusion into the brittle upper crust. The active volcanoes of Boset, Fantale and Dofen all have elliptical shapes with their long axes in the direction N105, consistent with extension direction derived from earthquake focal mechanisms. Calderas show natural strains ranging from around 0.30 for Boset, 0.55 for Fantale, and 0.94 for Dofen. These values give extension strain rates of the order of 0.3 microstrain per year, comparable to geodetic models. Structural analyses reveal no evidence for transcurrent faults linking right-stepping magmatic segments. Instead, the tips of magmatic segments overlap, thereby accommodating strain transfer. The intimate relationship between faulting and magmatism in the northern MER is strikingly similar to that of slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges, but without the hard linkage zones of transform faults.

One of the most outstanding apparent examples in N America of a forcibly emplaced pluton is the Papoose Flat Pluton of eastern California. Sideways expansion of this granitic pluton, during emplacement into a series of Cambrian shelf strata, has been regarded by early workers as resulting in the observed intense crystal plastic deformation of the pluton’s mylonitic border facies and surrounding country rocks. This deformation is evidenced by up to 90% thinning of individual stratigraphic layers within the pluton’s metamorphic aureole, although such intense penetrative deformation of the country rocks is not observed outside the aureole. Previously published quartz c -axis fabrics associated with this deformation (and presented on projection planes oriented perpendicular to lineation) were interpreted as being symmetrical with respect to foliation and lineation, implying almost coaxial deformation histories. Such fabrics could be interpreted as indicating that the pluton evolved by “ballooning” as a result of new magma being intruded into its core during emplacement. However, a major problem with applying the strict ballooning model to the Papoose Flat Pluton is that while oblate strains would be expected to develop in association with a ballooning mechanism, the mylonitic rocks of this elongate WNW–ESE-trending pluton and its aureole are characterised by both a strongly developed foliation, which is concordant with the pluton’s margin, and an intense, NW–SE trending, shallow plunging stretching lineation. Previously published fabrics from the Papoose Flat Pluton and its metamorphic aureole have been rotated on to a projection plane oriented parallel to lineation and perpendicular to foliation. Examination of the fabrics in this projection plane has revealed that they are in fact dominantly asymmetric, and that a constant sense of asymmetry is detected across the pluton, suggesting a consistent (top-to-the-SE) shear-sense. This new interpretation is strongly supported by microstructural and petrofabric analysis of additional L-S tectonites collected, during recent fieldwork, from both the aureole and quartz veins within the pluton’s gneissic border facies. Thus mylonite formation around the Papoose Flat Pluton could have involved large-scale consistently oriented translation and associated shearing, rather than passive “blister-like” coaxial deformation associated with pluton ballooning. It should be noted that mylonitic deformation is restricted to the western half of the pluton, features indicative of a more “permitted” emplacement mechanism being found in the eastern portion of the pluton. The detected top-to-the-SE shear-sense could be interpreted as indicating that the granitic material forming the western part of the pluton was forcibly intruded in a northwestward direction from the pluton source as a nearly solidified wedge beneath a static cover of sedimentary rocks. Alternatively, the detected shear sense could also be interpreted as indicating SE-directed thrusting of the cover rocks over the underlying pluton, the western margin of the pluton suffering intense mylonitic deformation, while the eastern margin was located in a “stress-shadow” region. If this alternative interpretation is correct, then the deformation temperatures indicated by the pattern of quartz c -axis fabrics dictate that thrusting must either be synchronous with pluton emplacement, or at least have commenced during the early stages of pluton cooling.

Abstract Subduction complexes preserving extensive coherent strata beneath lower slope sediments can be more useful than those dominated by melange for studying the sequence of deformation caused by accretion. In the southern Uplands, a 70 to 80-km-wide coherent accretionary complex comprising imbricated thin ocean-floor (basalt, metalliferous sediment, radiolarian chert, black graptolitic shale) and thick trench (volcaniclastic greywacke) deposits records 50 to 60 million years of accretion during northward subduction of Iapetus oceanic crust under Ordovician and Silurian southern Scotland, then part of the southern margin of ancient North America (Laurentia). Like many more recent coherent accretionary terranes, the Southern Uplands complex appears to have developed about a slow convergence-high sediment input subduction zone. Competency contrasts in the subducting sequence controlled the mesoscopic and macroscopic structural style and determined the type of strata accreted. Detailed mapping of three new map areas shows a generalized tectonic history in which compressive stress is taken up by: 1) initial decollement (offscraping) commonly at or above a black shale unit (the Moffat Shale Group) underlying the greywackes; 2) local fold development, during and after isolation of discrete linear packets of offscraped strata; 3) variable cleavage development, commonly transecting folds; 4) strain-hardening, tightening, and eventual locking of each packet so that deformation switches to a new packet at the base of the inner trench slope; 5) subsequent more-or-less bedding-parallel (commonly intense) imbrication within packets as they are uplifted and rotated.