Rheological evidence for changes in the deformation mechanism of Solenhofen limestone towards low stresses

Abstract

New rheological data on Solenhofen limestone at temperatures of 600–900°C show a transition into power-law creep with n-values around 4.5 followed by a second transition into low n-values ( n ∼ 2). It is suggested that the mechanism associated with low n-values is probably the active one in many geological situations involving flow in fine-grained carbonates and corresponds to superplastic phenomena known to occur in fine-grained metals.