Interactions between serpentinite devolatilization, metasomatism and strike‐slip strain localization during deep‐crustal shearing in the Eastern Alps

Abstract

AbstractThe Greiner shear zone in the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps, changes from a zone of distributed (dominantly sinistral) shear in supracrustal rocks to a series of narrow, gully forming dextral splays where it enters basement gneisses. Within these splays, granodiorite is transformed into quartz‐poor biotite and/or chlorite schists, reflecting hydration, removal of Si, Ca and Na, and concentration of Fe, Mg and Al. Stable isotope analyses show a prominent increase in δD and a decrease in δ18O from granodiorite into the shear zones. These changes indicate significant channelized flow of an externally derived, low‐δ18O, high‐δD fluid through the shear zones. The shear zone schists are chemically similar to blackwall zones developed around serpentinite bodies elsewhere in the Greiner zone and the stable isotope data support alteration via serpentinite‐derived fluid. Monazite in schist from one shear zone yields spot dates of 29–20 Ma, indicating that the fluid influx and switch from sinistral to dextral shear occurred at or shortly after the thermal peak of the Alpine orogeny (c. 30 Ma). We suggest that Alpine metamorphism of serpentinites released large amounts of high‐δD, low‐δ18O, Si‐undersaturated, Fe + Mg‐saturated fluids that became channelized along prior zones of weakness in the granodiorite. Infiltration of this fluid facilitated growth of chlorite and biotite, which in turn localized later dextral strain in the narrow splays via cleavage‐parallel slip. This dextral strain event can be linked to other structures that accommodated tectonic escape of major crustal blocks during dextral transpression in the Eastern Alps. This study shows that serpentinite devolatilization can play an important role in modifying both the chemistry and rheology of surrounding rocks during orogenesis.