The effect of high temperature and high confining pressure on compressional wave velocities in quartz-bearing and quartz-free igneous and metamorphic rocks

Abstract

Compressional wave velocities have been measured in granite, granulite, amphibolite and peridotite specimens under conditions of high temperature up to 700°C and confining pressures up to 6 kbar. In general, velocity increases with pressure and decreases with temperature. Quartz-bearing rocks show an anomalous behavior of their compressional wave velocities. The velocity—temperature relations exhibit a velocity-“deep” due to the high—low inversion of the constituent quartz crystals. The intrinsic effect of temperature on velocities is hard to determine due to thermal expansion and consequent loosening of the structure. The opening of new cracks and the widening of old cracks causes a large decrease in compressional wave velocities. The minimum pressure to prevent damage at a given temperature should, therefore, be about 1 kbar/100°C. The values obtained at these conditions are considered to be most nearly correct as intrinsic properties of the compact aggregates. Velocity anisotropies at high confining pressures and high temperatures correlate with preferred lattice orientation of the constituent minerals. The effect of dimensional orientation and microcracks on seismic anisotropy seems to be of minor importance in dry rocks. It is the more eliminated the higher the confining pressure. The data do not support the concept of a velocity maximum in depth of 10–20 km.