Complex fringes around magnetite porphyroclasts: Growth and deformation history

Abstract

Deformed strain fringes in iron formation rocks show complex quartz fiber patterns that grew alongside magnetite porphyroclasts embedded in a matrix of quartz and iron oxides during coaxial to non-coaxial deformation. These rocks have been deformed by a combination of processes involving microfracturing, pressure solution and dislocation glide at temperatures of approximately 300 °C. Detailed microstructural observation and crystallographic analysis show that quartz fiber growth is not controlled by the crystal faces. Quartz c-axis orientations of fibrous quartz indicate that these grains initially grew with their c-axes parallel to the fiber length. Late solid-state deformation of crystallized fibers comprised dislocation glide along basal plane and subsequent recrystallization. This produces aggregates of recrystallized grains consisting of equant to elongated quartz grains with straight and orthogonal grain boundaries.