Experimental deformation of coarse‐grained rock salt to high strain

Abstract

AbstractThe processes and deformation mechanisms (e.g., dislocation creep, pressure solution, grain boundary sliding, and recrystallization) of rock salt are still a matter of debate. In order to fill this gap, high strain constriction experiments at 345°C, atmospheric pressure and a strain rate of ~10−7 s−1 have been conducted on natural halite cuboids (60 × 60 × 45 mm) from the Morsleben mine of Northern Germany. Most samples were almost single crystals and contain a small amount of smaller grains (10–26%). The grain boundaries are decorated with fluid inclusions. The experiments were stopped at different final strains (εy = z of ~10, 20, 30, and 40%) corresponding to a maximum strain (εx) range of 20–170%. The halite is deformed by dislocation creep, and the size of developed subgrains corresponds to the applied stress. The combined Schmid factor and subgrain boundary analysis indicate that slip was largely accommodated by the {110} < 110 > slip systems, with possible minor contribution by slip on the {100} < 110 > slip systems. Some of the deformed samples show evidence of grain boundary migration. In addition, subgrains with small misorientations form that result in large cumulative misorientations within a single grain (>40°). However, no subgrain rotation recrystallization is observed (i.e., misorientation angles are <10°). All the experiments show strain hardening, suggesting that recrystallization by grain boundary migration was not extensive and did not reset the microstructure. The experiments show that high finite strain in coarse‐grained relatively dry rock salt can be accommodated by dislocation creep, without extensive dynamic recrystallization.