Microstructural and deformational studies on mylonite in the detachment faults of Yalashangbo dome, North Himalayan domes zone*

Abstract

The Yalashangbo dome, located at the eastern end of North Himalayan domes zone, has a geometry and structure similar to those of a metamorphic core complex. Ductile shear zones formed the detachment system around the dome and these zones are composed of garnet-bearing phyllonite, mylonitic schist, mylonitic gneiss and mylonitic granite. Ductile shear fabrics developed well in my-lonitic rocks, and penetrative lineation and foliation were formed by stretched quartz and feldspar and preferred orientation of mica. Polar Mohr diagram method is used to calculate the kinematic vorticity numbers of the shear zones in the detachment system. Results indicate that the shear zone is a thinned shear zone (thinning of 23 % ) in an extensional setting which underwent a general shear dominated by simple shear. Comparison of the vorticity numbers between the northern and southern flanks of the Yalashangbo dome shows that the dome is an asymmetric system formed by a north-northwest-directed detaching unanimously. Statistical fractal analysis shows that the shapes of dynamically recrystallized quartz grains in the mylonites have characteristics of self-similarity, with fractal numbers ranging from 1.05 to 1.18. From these fractal numbers, the strain rate of the rock was deduced from 10-9.2S-1 to 10-7.3S-1, the differential paleao-stress was 13.7-25.6 MPa during the deformation happened at a temperature over 500 ℃. The ductile shear zones in the detachment system around Yalashangbo dome were formed under a high green-schist grade condition or happened simultaneously with the intrusion of granite.