Quartz vein formation by local dehydration embrittlement along the deep, tremorgenic subduction thrust interface

Åke Fagereng,Johann F.A Diener,Chris Harris,Francesca Meneghini,Ada Kvadsheim

doi:10.1130/g39649.1

Åke Fagereng, Johann F.A Diener + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1130/g39649.1

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Abstract

Hydrothermal quartz veins are ubiquitous in exhumed accretionary complexes, including the Namibian Damara belt. Here, subduction-related deformation occurred at temperatures ≤550 °C, and vein geometry is consistent with plate interface shear, low effective normal stresses, and mixed-mode deformation. Quartz vein δ18O values relative to Standard Mean Ocean Water (SMOW) range from 9.4‰ to 17.9‰ (n = 30), consistent with precipitation from metamorphic fluids. A dominant subset of quartz veins away from long-lived high-strain zones and basaltic slivers have δ18O values in a smaller range of 14.9‰ ± 1‰, requiring precipitation from a fluid with δ18O of 12‰ ± 1‰ at 470–550 °C. This uniform fluid isotope value is consistent with progressive local breakdown of chlorite allowing extensive hydrofracture at temperatures typical of the plastic regime. In active subduction zones, brittle deformation within the plastic regime is inferred from observations of tectonic tremor, a noise-like seismic signal including overlapping low- and very low-frequency earthquakes, which occurs below the seismogenic zone. Both tremor and hydrothermal veins correlate with zones of inferred high fluid pressure, could represent a mixture of shear and dilatant failure, and may therefore be controlled by episodic hydrofracturing within a dominantly plastic and aseismic regime.

Highlights

Subducting sediments and oceanic crust experience increasing pressure (P) and temperature (T), triggering metamorphic dehydration reactions
A consequence would be a localized zone of fluid-assisted deformation and, depending on stress conditions, formation of a hydrothermal vein system (e.g., Yardley, 1983)
We test whether an intense regionally developed vein system is consistent with fracture and vein growth in a relatively small P-T range related to prograde metamorphism

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Subducting sediments and oceanic crust experience increasing pressure (P) and temperature (T), triggering metamorphic dehydration reactions. Shear displacement in low-frequency earthquakes cannot always explain the full tremor signal (Frank et al, 2014), which is comparable to acoustic emissions observed during laboratory dehydration experiments (Burlini et al, 2009). Both tectonic veins and tectonic tremor are hypothesized to result from fracture, healing by mineral precipitation, buildup of fluid pressure, and near-periodic repetition of this cycle (Yardley, 1983; Audet and Bürgmann, 2014).

D Okahandja Lineament

METHODS