Grain-scale processes in actively deforming magma mushes: New insights from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis of biotite schlieren in the Jizera granite, Bohemian Massif

Abstract

In the porphyritic Jizera granite, Bohemian Massif, three distinct types of lattice-preferred orientations of biotite grains were revealed in schlieren-delineated magmatic structures using the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) method. (1) Biotite basal planes (001) reorient from schlieren-subparallel near the schlieren base to schlieren-perpendicular in the upper part of the schlieren. Both orientations share subhorizontal ∼N–S to ∼NNE–SSW-trending a axes. (2) In some domains, the a axes are steep and at a high angle to the schlieren plane while the c axes plunge shallowly and rotate around an ill-defined a axis. (3) In other domains, the EBSD coincides with background magnetic fabric of the host granite revealed using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) method: that is, the a axes plunge shallowly to the SE or NW while the c axes are subhorizontal and cluster around the ∼NE–SW trend. These multiple biotite orientations in the schlieren are interpreted to reflect (1) velocity-gradient in laminar magma flow along channel-like conduits, localized within the high-strength host phenocryst framework, (2) grain-scale gravity-driven constrictional deformation of the magma mush, and (3) overprinting background (tectonic?) deformation transmitted across large parts of the magma chamber prior to its final crystallization. The grain-scale mechanisms of biotite fabric acquisition in the schlieren presumably involved rotation of biotite crystals during flow, with the biotite alignment reflecting the flow geometry and kinematics, replaced after flow cessation by melt-aided grain-boundary sliding of those biotite crystals still enclosed in melt pockets within otherwise static, highly crystallized magma mush. The latter process was sufficient to reorient biotite grains but not to cause destruction of the schlieren. Using the Jizera granite as a case example, we argue that the lattice-preferred orientation of mineral grains in mafic schlieren is highly sensitive to reorient in response to processes both associated with the schlieren formation (e.g., localized magma flow) and those that occur later and are superimposed onto the effectively solid, high-strength magma mush.