B-type Fabric Research Articles

The Geochemical and Textural Transition between the Reef Package and its Hanging Wall, Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA

Abstract The highest grade Pd-Pt deposit on Earth, the J-M Reef, is hosted in coarse-grained to pegmatoidal cumulates called the Reef Package. Decades of mine development of the J-M Reef have revealed that a distinct discontinuity in rock fabric marks the top of the rock unit that hosts economic-grade sulfide mineralization. Mine geologists refer to this discontinuity as the hanging wall contact. This contact is the top of the Reef Package and is always locatable—either by the change in rock fabric or by distinctive hanging wall textures of silicate minerals—even when the reef sulfide mineralization is absent. This rather subtle textural feature is used reliably by mine geologists to follow the Reef during exploration and mine development. Although some high tenor sulfides (>1000 ppm Pd in 100% sulfide) are found sporadically in the hanging wall cumulates, these accumulations are too small to be economically viable. We present quantitative rock fabric data for four Reef Package and hanging wall intersections collected by electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). Plagioclase fabrics in the hanging wall are characterized by low variance in grain sizes and a strong point maximum concentration of (010) and a perpendicular girdle distribution of [100] consistent with an axial B-type fabric. These fabrics are indicative of either compaction of the crystal mush or crystal settling of nucleated crystals, the bulk magma in a chamber. Conversely, the fabrics of the Reef Package show higher variance grain in size distributions and weak to undeveloped preferred orientation of plagioclase crystals that did not undergo significant alignment or textural equilibration of plagioclase grains. The absence of foliation in the Reef Package stands in contrast both to hanging wall fabrics and to other reported EBSD datasets of plagioclase crystals orientations from the Bushveld Complex, the Skaergaard Intrusion, and the Rum Intrusion. Furthermore, plagioclase crystal size distributions for the Reef Package show flatter slopes and convex profiles with fewer crystals at small size fractions indicating the dissolution of small crystals during partial melting and textural coarsening (i.e. Ostwald ripening) and crystal growth. Crystal growth was favored over the nucleation of new crystals during prolonged interaction with a hot infiltrating melt into the resident mush resulting in the coarse-grained textures of the Reef Package cumulates. The hanging wall contact represents a boundary between partially remelted crystal mush of the Reef Package, where sulfide mineralization formed and accumulated, and an overlying essentially barren cumulate pile. The hanging wall cumulates formed following the cessation of footwall erosion and the resumption of crystal accumulation by normal magma chamber processes.

B-type olivine fabric induced by low temperature dissolution creep during serpentinization and deformation in mantle wedge

The B-type olivine fabric (i.e., the [010] axes subnormal to foliation and the [001] axes subparallel to the lineation) has been regarded as an important olivine fabric for interpreting global trench-parallel S-wave polarization in fore-arc regions. However, strong serpentinization and cold temperature environment in the mantle wedge should inhibit development of the B-type olivine fabric that requires high temperature to activate solid-state plastic deformation. Here we report fabrics of olivine and antigorite generated at low temperatures (300–370°C) during serpentinization in a fossil mantle wedge of the Val Malenco area, Central Alps. Olivine in the serpentine matrix develops a pronounced B-type fabric, while antigorite in the same matrix displays a strong crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) with the (001) planes and the [010] axes subparallel to foliation and lineation, respectively. The following evidence leads to the conclusion that the B-type olivine fabric results from dissolution creep assisted by grain boundary sliding (GBS) and grain rotation, rather than solid-state plastic deformation: (1) serpentinization took place at low temperatures and a fluid-enriched environment, ideal for dissolution-precipitation creep; (2) the voids and zigzag boundaries along the interface between antigorite and olivine suggest a fluid dissolution reaction; (3) the primary coarse olivine develops a nearly random fabric, indicating the B-type fabrics in the fine-grained olivine may not be inherited fabrics. These results document for the first time the B-type olivine CPO formed by dissolution creep at low temperatures during serpentinization and provide a mechanism to reconcile petrofabric observations with geophysical observations of trench parallel fast S-wave seismic anisotropy in fore-arc mantle wedge regions.

Petrofabric and seismic properties of lithospheric mantle xenoliths from the Calatrava volcanic field (Central Spain)

The microstructural and petrofabric study of peridotite xenoliths from the El Aprisco (Neogene Calatrava Volcanic Field) has provided new information on deformation mechanisms, ambient conditions and seismic properties of the central Iberian subcontinental mantle. Olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole and spinel constitute the mineral assemblage in equilibrium. Their microstructure indicates that they accommodated crystal-plastic deformation under high water fugacity conditions. Crystallographic preferred orientation patterns of key minerals were determined with the EBSD technique. The xenoliths exhibit B, C and A olivine fabrics. B-type fabrics, involving the (010)[001] slip system, may develop in domains where deformation occurs under comparatively lower temperature, higher water-content and faster strain rates. They are interpreted here as the result of deformation in a suprasubduction mantle setting triggered by changing conditions imposed by a cooler subducting slab that incorporated fluids into the system. Xenoliths with olivine C-type fabrics involve activation of the dominant (100)[001] slip system, denote intracrystalline slip at higher temperatures and water-contents. They are here interpreted to sample lithospheric mantle domains where the impact of those new conditions was not so strong. Finally, the A-type fabrics, characteristic of the (010)[100] slip system, are frequent in the mantle under moderate to high temperature. These fabrics are considered here as characteristic of the mantle prior to subduction. The olivine fabrics constrain heterogeneous seismic properties. Propagation orientation of P waves (8.27–8.51km/s) coincides with olivine [100] axis concentrations, whereas the fastest S1 waves (5.13–5.22km/s) propagate parallel to [010] axis minima. The maximum shear wave birefringence (VS1–VS2=0.17–0.37km/s) is close to the direction of the macroscopic lineation. Heterogeneity of calculated seismic properties would concur with preservation of fossil flow perturbations, reworking and metasomatism in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle of central Spain, likely related to changes in the ambient conditions close to paleosubductions.

Homologous temperature of olivine: Implications for creep of the upper mantle and fabric transitions in olivine

Abstract The homologues temperature of a crystalline material is defined as T / T m, where T is temperature and T m is the melting (solidus) temperature in Kelvin. It has been widely used to compare the creep strength of crystalline materials. The melting temperature of olivine system, (Mg,Fe)2SiO4, decreases with increasing iron content and water content, and increases with confining pressure. At high pressure, phase transition will lead to a sharp change in the melting curve of olivine. After calibrating previous melting experiments on fayalite (Fe2SiO4), the triple point of fayalite-Fe2SiO4 spinel-liquid is determined to be at 6.4 GPa and 1793 K. Using the generalized means, the solidus and liquidus of dry olivine are described as a function of iron content and pressure up to 6.4 GPa. The change of T / T m of olivine with depth allows us to compare the strength of the upper mantle with different thermal states and olivine composition. The transition from semi-brittle to ductile deformation in the upper mantle occurs at a depth where T / T m of olivine equals 0.5. The lithospheric mantle beneath cratons shows much smaller T / T m of olivine than orogens and extensional basins until the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary where T / T m > 0.66, suggesting a stronger lithosphere beneath cratons. In addition, T / T m is used to analyze deformation experiments on olivine. The results indicate that the effect of water on fabric transitions in olivine is closely related with pressure. The hydrogen-weakening effect and its relationship with T / T m of olivine need further investigation. Below 6.4 GPa ( T / T m of olivine controls the transition of dislocation glide from [100] slip to [001] slip. Under the strain rate of 10 - 12–10 - 15 s - 1 and low stress in the upper mantle, the [100](010) slip system (A-type fabric) becomes dominant when T / T m > 0.55–0.60. When T / T m T / T m favors the operation of [001](100) slip system (C-type fabric). This is consistent with the widely observed A-type olivine fabric in naturally deformed peridotites, and the C-type olivine fabric in peridotites that experienced deep subduction in ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic terranes. However, the B-type fabric will develop under high stress and relatively low T / T m. Therefore, the homologues temperature of olivine established a bridge to extrapolate deformation experiments to rheology of the upper mantle. Seismic anisotropy of the upper mantle beneath cratons should be simulated using a four-layer model with the relic A-type fabric in the upper lithospheric mantle, the B-type fabric in the middle layer, the newly formed A- or B-type fabric near the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, and the asthenosphere dominated by diffusion creep below the Lehmann discontinuity. Knowledge about transition mechanisms of olivine fabrics is critical for tracing the water distribution and mantle flow from seismic anisotropy.

Earth's oldest mantle fabrics indicate Eoarchaean subduction.

The extension of subduction processes into the Eoarchaean era (4.0–3.6 Ga) is controversial. The oldest reported terrestrial olivine, from two dunite lenses within the ∼3,720 Ma Isua supracrustal belt in Greenland, record a shape-preferred orientation of olivine crystals defining a weak foliation and a well-defined lattice-preferred orientation (LPO). [001] parallel to the maximum finite elongation direction and (010) perpendicular to the foliation plane define a B-type LPO. In the modern Earth such fabrics are associated with deformation of mantle rocks in the hanging wall of subduction systems; an interpretation supported by experiments. Here we show that the presence of B-type fabrics in the studied Isua dunites is consistent with a mantle origin and a supra-subduction mantle wedge setting, the latter supported by compositional data from nearby mafic rocks. Our results provide independent microstructural data consistent with the operation of Eoarchaean subduction and indicate that microstructural analyses of ancient ultramafic rocks provide a valuable record of Archaean geodynamics.

Change of olivine a-axis alignment induced by water: Origin of seismic anisotropy in subduction zones

The effects of water on the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of olivine aggregates were investigated through simple-shear deformation experiments under asthenospheric upper mantle conditions (pressure=2.1–5.2GPa, temperature=1490–1830K) using a deformation-DIA apparatus. Formation of the A-type olivine fabric (developed by the (010)[100] slip system) was observed under water-depleted conditions (COH<650ppm H/Si in olivine), while B-type fabric (by the (010)[001] slip system) or a B-type-like fabric (by the (010)[h0l] slip system) were predominantly formed under water-rich conditions (>1000ppm H/Si). In comparison with fabrics of anhydrous olivine (≤111ppm H/Si), those of olivine having higher water contents (≥625ppm H/Si in olivine) showed stronger anisotropic properties (e.g., P-wave anisotropy, S-wave polarization anisotropy, and the ratio of horizontally and vertically polarized shear waves). The water-induced olivine CPO transition from A-type to B-type(-like) fabric accompanies a change in the alignment of the seismic fast a-axes, resulting in flow-parallel and flow-perpendicular shear wave splitting under water-depleted and water-rich conditions, respectively. The rotation of the fast direction of shear-wave splitting across an arc, which is observed in many subduction zones, is well explained by the likely bimodal water distribution along the mantle wedge (i.e., water-rich in fore-arc and water-depleted in back-arc regions) and the developments of two different types of olivine fabrics (i.e., B-type(-like) fabric in fore-arc and A-type fabric in back-arc regions).

Olivine fabric transitions and shear wave anisotropy in the Ryukyu subduction system

Recent shear wave splitting measurements from the fore-arc region of the Ryukyu subduction system show large magnitude (0.3–1.6 s) trench-parallel splitting in both local and teleseismic phases. The similarity of splitting parameters associated with shallow local-S and teleseismic phases suggests that the source of anisotropy is located in the fore-arc mantle. One explanation for this pattern of shear wave splitting involves a transition from commonly observed high-temperature olivine fabrics with flow-parallel seismically fast directions to a flow-normal B-type olivine fabric in the cold fore-arc mantle of the Ryukyu wedge. We test the B-type fabric hypothesis by comparing observed splitting parameters to those predicted from geodynamic models that incorporate olivine fabric development. The distribution of olivine fabric is calculated with high-resolution thermomechanical models of the Ryukyu subduction zone that include realistic slab geometry and an experimentally based wet olivine rheology. We conclude that B-type fabric can explain the magnitude and trench-parallel orientation of deep local-S phases that sample the core of the fore-arc mantle. However, our calculations show that B-type fabric alone cannot account for large magnitude trench-parallel splitting associated with teleseismic phases that sample the shallow tip of the fore-arc mantle. Alternative models for trench-parallel teleseismic splitting in the shallow tip of the fore-arc mantle involve the addition of crustal or slab anisotropy and highly anisotropic foliated antigorite serpentinite.

B-type olivine fabric in the mantle wedge: Insights from high-resolution non-Newtonian subduction zone models

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain trench-parallel shear wave splitting in the mantle wedge of subduction zones. These include 3-D flow effects, parallel melt filled cracks, and B-type olivine fabric. We predict the distribution of B-type and other fabrics with high-resolution thermal and stress models of subduction zones. A composite viscous rheology is used that incorporates wet diffusion creep, wet dislocation creep, and a stress-limiting approximated Peierls creep law. Rheological parameters for dislocation and diffusion creep are based on deformation experiments. The effects of variable viscous coupling between the slab and mantle are explored using kinematic boundary conditions that change along the top of the slab. Two end-member models are observed, which depend on the depth of partial viscous coupling between the slab and mantle: (1) deep partial coupling which gives rise to cold, high-stress conditions in the forearc mantle and high-temperature, low-stress conditions in the arc and back-arc mantle (2) full viscous coupling at the base of a 40 km conducting lid which is characterized by high temperature and low stress. The case with deep partial coupling, which produces a better match with attenuation tomography and heat flow, shows a large region with suitable conditions for B-type fabric in the forearc mantle and a rapid transition toward the back-arc to conditions that are more suitable for A-, C-, or E-type fabrics. Full viscous coupling gives rise to high-temperature, low-stress conditions unsuitable for B-type fabric. Our modeling predicts that the best candidates for regions with B-type fabric are the forearc mantle and a cold 10–15 km layer above the slab.