Development of quartz ribbons in quartzofeldspathic granulites

Abstract

In high-grade (granulite facies) quartzofeldspathic rocks the progressive development of a fabric records contrasting deformation behaviour of quartz and feldspar. Feldspar has undergone deformation mainly by recrystallization-accommodated dislocation creep and produced smaller recrystallized grains progressively in the course of deformation. Quartz has not deformed solely by dislocation creep but also by a diffusion-controlled mechanism. Dislocation climb is important in the dislocation creep of quartz. In contrast to feldspar, quartz grains have not recrystallized into smaller grains at any stage of deformation. Rather, they have transformed initially to short monocrystalline ribbons and ultimately to long polycrystalline ribbons. This textural change of quartz is a continuous process and has taken place in the course of bulk textural change of the rocks during the deformation.