Small-scale ductile shear zones: Neither extending, nor thickening, nor narrowing

The length, thickness and strain gradients of small-scale (10−3–10−1 m thick) ductile shear zones are pre-determined by the presence of surface precursors (e.g. fractures or compositional layers) and associated fluid-rock interaction. Fractures, with their surrounding host-rock damage zone and concurrent tectonic under-pressure during dilation, provide efficient fluid pathways and networks with diffusive fluid-rock interaction at their margins. The fluid-induced, gradational to zoned compositional haloes that symmetrically surround a fracture control the strain gradients of developing shear zones and result in a diversity of geometric types, including single homogeneous-to-heterogeneous shear zones and paired shear zones. As a consequence, geochemical differences between shear zone and host rock may reflect fluid-rock interaction during the precursor brittle history rather than during slip, especially considering that shear zones with even a small component of stretch may be over-pressured and therefore unable to drain fluids from the surrounding rocks. Support from field observation for this interpretation is given by (1) the lack of correlation between shear zone thickness and accumulated displacement; and (2) the similar thickness of shear zones and locally unexploited alteration haloes surrounding fracture precursors. Most small-scale shear zones in massive rocks (granitoids) are initially neither thickening nor narrowing with increasing strain. This concept may also apply to more foliated rocks, but does not necessarily hold for larger-scale shear zones.