Fluidized breccias: A record of brittle transitions during ductile deformation

Abstract

Unusual breccias, of Caledonian age, are described in relation to the tectonic and metamorphic history of their greywacke sandstone and siltstone parent rocks. The variety of field and textural relationships displayed by the breccias indicate a combination of dilational and non-dilational components in a fluidized system of breccia development. The velocity of the escaping fluid phase and the viscosity of the fluidized suspension are strongly influenced by competency controls. Due to their finer grained nature, the pelite-based breccias allow a greater mobility of the fluid phase and locally record a turbulent expanded bed stage of the fluidized system. However the sandstone-based breccias, lacking the intricate flow patterns, retain a replacive non-dilational fracture network. The breccias occur in a zone of intense D 2 deformation. The age relationships of the breccias indicate a repeated pattern of brecciation with syntectonic temporal and partly genetic affinities to the S 2 cleavage development. The syntectonic dilational elements, involving boudinage and hydraulic fracture, are coupled with intense pressure solution and conjugate cleavage development. Metamorphism to lower greenschist facies is synchronous with deformation and brecciation. A focussing of the metamorphic fluid phase within the breccia zones is indicated, contributing the non-dilational components of the brecciation process. A simple shear model of the D 2 deformation within this zone is proposed. The orientation of the breccia zones suggests that their localization is determined by tensional components within the overall D 2 stress field. The cyclical pattern of the brecciation during the D 2 deformation is considered to represent rapid brittle transitions during the ductile deformation. Stratigraphie controls on the generation of the increased fluid pressures are identified. The presence of an impermeable barrier facilitating the necessary conditions for the excess fluid pressures to accumulate is indicated. It is suggested that the brecciation process is fundamentally controlled by a seismic pumping phenomenon following periodic shear failure on a major basement fault at depth.