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Diagram showing the major different types of shear zones. Displacement, shear strain, and depth distribution are also indicated. Strength profile and change in rock type with depth in idealised fault/shear zone Margin of a dextral sense ductile shear zone (about 20 m thick), showing transition from schists outside the zone to mylonites inside, Cap de Creus,
A shear zone is a tabular to sheetlike, planar or curviplanar zone composed of rocks that are more highly strained than rocks adjacent to the zone. Typically this is a type of fault, but it may be difficult to place a distinct fault plane into the shear zone. Shear zones may form zones of much more intense foliation, deformation, and folding.
The pebbles thus record important information on the orientation of the shear zone (subvertical) and the direction of movement of the shear zone, and the overall change in pebble shape from originally sub-spherical to presently elongate cigar-shaped, allows one to quantify the strain experienced by the rock mass in the geologic past.
The microstructures of ductile shear zones are S-planes, C-planes and C' planes. S-planes or schistosity planes are parallel with the shear direction and are generally defined by micas or platy minerals. Define the flattened long-axis of the strain ellipse. C-planes or cissalement planes form oblique to the shear plane. The angle between the C ...
Orogenic gold deposits show a spatial relationship to structural discontinuities, including faults, fractures, dilatation zones and shear zones. [2] The ore- hosting structures are subsidiary faults or shear zones (mostly D3–D4 in a D1 to D4 structural sequence), [ clarification needed ] } which are always related to a major regional-scale ...
Fault and shear zone contacts can be represented by either discrete breaks and discontinuities, or ductile deformation without a physical break in stratigraphy. [9] Fault surface contacts show discrete breaks and have an attitude and position which describes the contact between two formations. [ 3 ]
It is common practice to assume that the deformation is plane strain simple shear deformation. This type of strain field assumes that deformation occurs in a tabular zone where displacement is parallel to the shear zone boundary. Furthermore, during deformation the incremental strain axis maintains a 45-degree angle to the shear zone boundary.
Shear zones that approximate to simple shear typically contain minor asymmetric folds, with the direction of overturning consistent with the overall shear sense. Some of these folds have highly curved hinge-lines and are referred to as sheath folds. Folds in shear zones can be inherited, formed due to the orientation of pre-shearing layering or ...