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Ultramylonites are among the most extreme fault rocks that commonly occur in the mid-crustal brittle–plastic transition and are mainly characterized by intensely sheared fine-grained microstructures and well-mixed mineral phases. Although the deformation mechanism of ultramylonites is key to understanding the rheological behavior of the mid-crustal shear zone, their microstructural development is still controversial owing to their intensely fine-grained textures. To investigate the possible crustal deformation mechanisms, we studied 13 mylonites obtained from the Kashio shear zone along the Median Tectonic Line that is the largest strike-slip fault in Japan. In particular, we investigated various mixed quartz–plagioclase layers developed within tonalitic mylonite, which are representative of the common mean grain size and crystal fabric of quartz among the studied samples. A high-quality phase-orientation map obtained by electron backscattered diffraction showed not only a wide range of quartz–plagioclase mixing (10%–80% in quartz modal composition) but also revealed a correlation between grain size reduction and crystal fabric weakening in quartz, indicating a change in the deformation mechanism from dislocation creep to grain-size-sensitive creep in the mixed quartz-plagioclase layers. In contrast, plagioclase showed an almost consistent fine grain size and weak to random crystal fabrics regardless of modal composition, indicating that grain size-sensitive creep is dominant. Combined with laboratory-determined flow laws, our results show that the Kashio shear zone could have developed under deformation mechanisms in which the viscosities of quartz and plagioclase are nearly comparable, effectively within 1017–1019 Pa·s, thereby possibly enabling extensive shearing along the Median Tectonic Line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Spinel peridotite xenoliths from the Ichinomegata Volcano (NE Japan) have distinct foliations defined by compositional layering between olivine-rich and pyroxene-rich layers as well as lineations defined by elongated spinel grains. Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of olivine are consistent with slip on (010)[100] and {0kl}[100]. The angles between the foliation and the olivine slip planes decrease with increasing values of the J-index (i.e. CPO strength). Such composite planar relationships within the peridotite xenoliths could result from shearing in the uppermost mantle, so that shear strains can be estimated by the angles between the foliation and the olivine slip plane in terms of simple shear strain (0.31–4.26). From these observations, we argue that a suite of the peridotite xenoliths recorded a rare snapshot of uppermost-mantle flow related to back-arc spreading during the opening of the Japan Sea. The peridotite xenoliths with higher J-indices (i.e. higher shear strain) tend to have slightly lower minimum temperatures, possibly defining a vertical strain gradient in the uppermost mantle section at the time of the volcano's eruption. The CPO data have been used to calculate the seismic properties of the xenoliths at PT conditions obtained from geothermobarometry, and are compared to field geophysical data from the literature. Our results are consistent with a roughly EW-oriented fastest P-wave propagation direction in the uppermost mantle beneath the northeast part of the Japan arc. Average samples are calculated based on three different structural reference frames; horizontal plane parallel to 1) foliation, 2) the plane containing the maximum concentration of olivine [100], and 3) P-wave maximum direction. S-wave anisotropy deduced from CPOs requires a reasonable thickness of the anisotropic layer (24.1–26.6km), and the structural reference frame does not have significant effect on the estimation of thickness. Consequently, Ichinomegata peridotites record a long and complicated tectonic history; they preserve deformation ‘frozen in’ during back-arc spreading and this deformation also has an effect on present-day mantle flow. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Garnet clinopyroxenites occur within foliated dunite in the Higashi-akaishi peridotite mass, located within the subduction-type high-pressure/low-temperature Sanbagawa metamorphic belt. The garnet clinopyroxenites contain 3–80% garnet, and garnet and clinopyroxene are homogeneously distributed. Garnet crystals contain extensive, regular dislocation arrays and dislocation networks, suggesting that dislocation creep was the dominant deformation mechanism. Analyses of crystallographic orientation maps indicate similar grain sizes and aspect ratios for garnet and clinopyroxene, regardless of modal composition, indicating that these minerals deformed with similar degree of plasticity. Moreover, indexes of crystallographic fabric intensity (i.e., J-index and M-index) for both garnet and clinopyroxene tend to increase with increasing modal composition of garnet. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed that water content in garnet is ∼60ppm, whereas that in clinopyroxene is ∼70ppm. Olivine crystal-preferred orientations in the Higashi-akaishi peridotite mass, characterized by [001] (010), are thought to have developed during deformation under wet conditions. Consequently, we argue that the presence of water could act to enhance garnet plasticity during deformation. The results reveal contrasting influences of water on the deformation of garnet and diopside: under wet conditions compared with dry, the strain rate increases by two orders of magnitude for garnet but by an order of magnitude for diopside. Given the influence of water on the creep strength of garnet, garnet within the Higashi-akaishi mass may have become significantly as weak as clinopyroxene during deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: B-type olivine fabrics are pervasive within highly depleted dunites of the small-sized Imono peridotite body located within the subduction-type Sanbagawa metamorphic belt of the southwest Japan arc. The dunites contain various microstructures, ranging from porphyroclastic to fine-grained intensely sheared textures. The Mg/(Mg+Fe) atomic ratios (Fo number) of olivine within these dunites are consistently around 0.9, as are the Cr/(Cr+Al) atomic ratios (Cr number) of chromian spinel, suggesting their evolution from a highly depleted magma (boninite). These data provide strong thermal constraints on the formation of the highly depleted dunites, as their formation requires hot, hydrous, shallow mantle (>1250 °C at <30 km depth) in the mantle wedge. Because the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt finally entrained these peridotites during progressive retrogression, B-type olivine fabrics probably developed in the fore-arc side of the subduction zone, above or along the subducting slab, possibly in association with dehydration fluids derived from the slab. The previously documented small magnitude of S-wave splitting can be explained by the seismic properties of B-type peridotites within an anisotropic layer of approximately several kilometers in thickness, oriented by flow parallel to the subducting slab, under maximum temperatures of 880–1030 °C depending on the flow stress. These findings indicate that such a B-type layer could constitute a dominant source of seismic S- and P-wave anisotropy in mantle wedge regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A shear zone developed in the Teshima granite in the Ryoke metamorphic belt of Japan contains isolated K-feldspar inclusions showing various shapes within deformed host quartz grains. We present a shape-change model for isolated K-feldspar inclusions, which is a mathematical equation that considers stress, inclusion size, temperature, and the duration of deformation. To calculate the shape-change pattern (i.e., the aspect ratio and size of inclusions) with respect to deformation duration using the model, we used values for deformation temperature (~500–600 °C) and paleo-stress (90 ± 10 MPa) estimated from deformed quartz microstructures within the shear zone. Shape-change patterns were obtained by calculating the model at the estimated range of temperatures with an interval of 25 °C and at the estimated paleo-stress. Shape-change patterns were subsequently corrected by compensating for the effect of post-deformation annealing during exhumation of the shear zone. Deformation duration was estimated by identifying the shape-change pattern calculated by the model that most closely corresponded to the observed shape-change pattern for the shear zone and considering the cooling rate of the Ryoke belt. The resultant deformation duration of the shear zone is estimated as 16,500–8400 yr under conditions of T = 550 °C and σ = 90 ± 10 MPa. Shear strain in the shear zone is calculated as 50–260 by multiplying the shear strain rate by the deformation duration. • Mathematical model explaining shape changes of isolated K-feldspar inclusion. • The model applied to a shear zone developed in the Teshima granite. • Comparison of shape change patterns between the model and the natural data. • Deformation conditions of the shear zone estimated from the comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We have investigated K-feldspar recrystallisation in granitoid mylonites within a ductile shear zone from the Ryoke metamorphic belt, SW Japan. Fine-grained K-feldspar (20μm on average) occurs in the matrix and in pull-apart areas within fractured K-feldspar porphyroclasts. These fine grains are elongated and oriented parallel to the main foliation in the matrix, and their grain surfaces, observed with the scanning electron microscope, are not smooth, but rough due to the development of very fine (<1μm) round grains of K-feldspar on the surface of each grain. In pull-apart areas, the crystallographic orientation of fine-grained K-feldspar, as measured by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), is strongly controlled by that of the host porphyroclast, and shows rotations with shear components parallel to fractures. In the matrix, the crystallographic orientation of fine-grained K-feldspar is not consistent with intracrystalline plasticity, but rather with a growth rate that is slightly controlled by nearby porphyroclasts. All this, together with the growth features on grains, suggests that solution–precipitation of K-feldspar from K-rich aqueous fluid occurred during progressive deformation. Infrared (IR) mapping was performed to evaluate the distribution of water in pull-apart areas and the matrix. Water is heterogeneously distributed within K-feldspar porphyroclasts, which contain 150–2200ppm H2O. In contrast, the water content is low (150–300ppm H2O) and homogeneously distributed in fine-grained K-feldspar in the matrix and pull-apart areas, even though included in these analyses are grain boundaries that can generally contain abundant aqueous fluid. The results of EBSD analysis and IR mapping indicate that water is released during solution–precipitation of K-feldspar under mid-crustal conditions. The solution–precipitation process under a water-rich environment in the middle crust results in the formation of fine grains, possibly deforming dominantly by grain-size-sensitive creep, and with the release of aqueous fluid involved in the process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Antigorite serpentinite undergoes fracturing at supralithostatic pore fluid pressure. • Antigorite precipitation in fractures allows further failure events. • Newly precipitated antigorites locally deform by dislocation creep after fracturing. • The cyclic brittle–viscous deformation may be linked to episodic tremor and slip. Episodic tremor and slip (ETS) events in the forearc mantle wedge of a warm subduction zone may reflect mixed brittle–ductile deformation of serpentinite in association with high pore fluid pressures. To understand deformation mechanisms and processes occurring in the hydrated mantle wedge, we examined in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, SW Japan, an antigorite serpentinite shear zone derived from mantle wedge that was formed under pressure and temperature conditions that correspond to the ETS regions. The serpentinite underwent multiple extensional (mode I) and extensional–shear (mode I–II) failure events at supralithostatic pore fluid pressures (P f). Such failure events led to drops in P f (several MPa) and formation of a distributed 'fault–fracture mesh'. Antigorite precipitation in the fracture openings contributed to an increase in P f until the failure condition was reached again, and thereby antigorite kinetics controlled the recurrence interval of seismic events. We also suggest that under the low- P f conditions that facilitate intracrystalline plasticity rather than cataclasis, the newly precipitated antigorite aggregates (localized along shear bands) deform by dislocation creep at a high strain rate and high shear stress, resulting in the transient, accelerated viscous creep that may characterize slow slip transients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]