Mechanics of low‐angle extensional shear zones at the brittle‐ductile transition

Abstract

Low‐angle midcrustal ductile shear zones and the related microseismic activity recorded below regions of active extension are seen here as two consequences of strain localization. The feldspar‐to‐mica reaction which occurs once feldspar grains are fractured is the destabilizing mechanism selected to explain the strain localization. The model problem considered to substantiate these claims is solved by numerical means and combines the simple shear due to the rigid gliding of the upper crust (at the velocity of Vs) and the stretch resulting from the extension of the whole crust (at the velocity Ve). The rheological model accounts for dislocation creep of quartz, feldspar, and mica, the feldspar‐to‐mica reaction, and its prerequisite, which is the feldspar fracturing detected by the Mohr‐Coulomb criterion. The one‐dimensional (1‐D) solution, which constrains shear bands to be horizontal, shows the depth partitioning in deformation mode between the simple shear of the low‐viscosity deep crust and the stretching of the highly viscous midcrust. Strain localization occurs during rapid increase of the shearing velocity Vs, corresponding to low values of the velocity ratio Ve/Vs. The 2‐D solution (for Ve/Vs = 10−3) reveals the development of a periodic system of extensional shear bands, dipping at 30° toward the shearing direction at a depth of 12 to 14 km. Shear bands are formed after less than half a million years at the base of the reaction zone defined by the region where feldspar‐to‐mica reaction is completed. Shear bands do not propagate to greater depths because the pressure prevents the feldspar from fracturing and thus the reaction to occur. The periodic system of shear bands defines a midcrustal flat weakened zone within which the equivalent shear stress is enhanced by at least a factor of three at the shear band tips. Brittle fracture could thus occur within the midcrustal flat weakened zone, explaining therefore the microseismicity monitored at these depths in regions of active extension.