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The strength of lithospheric plates is a central component of plate tectonics, governed by brittle processes in the shallow portion of the plate and ductile behavior in the deeper portion. We review experimental constraints on ductile deformation of olivine, the main mineral in the upper mantle and thus the lithosphere. Olivine deforms by four major mechanisms: low-temperature plasticity, dislocation creep, dislocation-accommodated grain-boundary sliding (GBS), and diffusion-accommodated grain-boundary sliding (diffusion creep). Deformation in most of the lithosphere is dominated by GBS, except in shear zones—in which diffusion creep dominates—and in the brittle-ductile transition—in which low-temperature plasticity may dominate. We find that observations from naturally deformed rocks are consistent with extrapolation of the experimentally constrained olivine flow laws to geological conditions but that geophysical observations predict a weaker lithosphere. The causes of this discrepancy are unresolved but likely reside in the uncertainty surrounding processes in the brittle-ductile transition, at which the lithosphere is strongest. ▪ Ductile deformation of the lithospheric mantle is constrained by experimental data for olivine. ▪ Olivine deforms by four major mechanisms: low-temperature plasticity, dislocation creep, dislocation-accommodated grain-boundary sliding, and diffusion creep. ▪ Observations of naturally deformed rocks are consistent with extrapolation of olivine flow laws from experimental conditions. ▪ Experiments predict stronger lithosphere than geophysical observations, likely due to gaps in constraints on deformation in the brittle-ductile transition.
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Evidence for a Deep Hydrologic Cycle on Oceanic Transform Faults
Abstract Oceanic transform faults represent abundant yet relatively unexplored components of the hydrologic cycle in the mantle lithosphere. Current models limit fluid circulation to 600 °C, the thermal limit of earthquakes recorded by teleseismic surveys. However, recent ocean‐bottom seismic surveys have located earthquakes at depths corresponding to >1000 °C in modeled thermal structure. To constrain the depth extent of brittle deformation and fluid infiltration, we analyzed peridotite mylonites dredged from the Shaka Transform Fault, Southwest Indian Ridge. Samples range from high strain mylonites that preserve ductile microstructures to lower strain mylonites that are fractured and overprinted by hydrothermal alteration. Microstructural analysis of the high strain samples reveals brittle deformation of pyroxene concomitant with ductile deformation of olivine and growth of amphibole. Porphyroclasts preserve healed fractures filled with fluid inclusions, implying repeated episodes of fracture, fluid infiltration, and healing. The association of hydration features with brittle structures points to seawater, rather than melt, as the fluid source. Textural analysis indicates that strain localization was initiated by grain boundary pinning and that olivine grain size was reduced to ~1 μm in the presence of amphibole. Comparing the amphibole stability field to thermometry estimates for the limit of recrystallization suggests that fluid flow extended to ~650–850 °C. Our results indicate that the hydrologic cycle extends past the brittle‐ductile transition and promotes strain localization via hydrolytic weakening and hydration reactions. We propose that seawater infiltration on oceanic transform faults is driven by the seismic cycle and represents a first order control on the rheology of the oceanic lithosphere.
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- PAR ID:
- 10456399
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Volume:
- 125
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2169-9313
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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