Fluid-Assisted Strain Localization in Quartz at the Brittle/Ductile Transition

A mylonitic quartzite with conjugate and synthetic shear bands was investigated by Electron Backscatter Diffraction and optical microscopy to obtain insights on recrystallization mechanisms and strain localization in quartz at plastic to semibrittle conditions close to the brittle-ductile transition. The mylonitic quartzite deformed during late Miocene thrusting coeval with contact metamorphism in the high-strain domains of the Calamita Schists (Elba Island, Italy). Mylonitic deformation occurred from amphibolite to lower greenschist facies conditions during cooling of the aureole. Dynamic recrystallization, dominated by the activity of dislocation creep by prism slip, produced recrystallized quartz layers mantling relic large quartz porphyroclasts. Under decreasing temperature and fluid-rich conditions, quartz porphyroclasts acted as relatively rigid bodies and fractured along synthetic and conjugate C′ shear bands. Shear bands developed along kinematically favored orientations, just locally assisted by weak crystallographic planes in quartz. Fracturing along shear bands was assisted by cataclasis and fluid infiltration enhancing fracture propagation and healing by recrystallization and authigenesis of new quartz and phyllosilicate grains. The process enhanced the propagation of and strain localization in shear bands, with the development of bands of weak phyllosilicates. Furthermore, we observed the development of a c axis preferred orientation (CPO) related to dissolution and precipitation of new grains with their c axis oriented parallel to shear bands. This study highlights the importance of the interplay between brittle and crystal-plastic processes and fluid ingress in the semibrittle regime to understand deformation partitioning and strain localization.