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Undergraduate opportunities
(1) Web design: "Structural geology of southwest U.S. and northwest Mexico" preceptorship vs. paid? Contact: Stuart GlogoffManager, Distributed Learning Projects
[email protected] (520) 626-5347
(2) -Assist in paleomagnetic laboratory, Geosciences- Paid position, start ASAP- Contact Dr. Bob Butler ([email protected] ); 621-2324- second-year student preferred
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Announcements
Bad news: It's not Thanksgiving yet
Good news: NO CLASS ON WED.
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TODAY
Deformation, Metamorphism, and Time
A major goal of structural geologists: to decipher magnitude and timing of deformation- history!
How much and when were rocks buried to depth?When were rocks deformed?
When were rocks metamorphosed?When were rocks brought up from depth (exhumed)?
How fast?How did this all happen?
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To get at displacement on BIG structures- need to know depths/temperatures from which rocks
were brought up- thermobarometry
To get at timing- need geochronology and thermochronology
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Geothermal gradient: T increase with depth
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Geothermal gradients in different tectonic regimes
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Some rocks get subducted deep into the mantle- ultra-high pressure metamorphism and diamonds
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An introduction to metamorphic facies
mineral assemblages in rocks vary as a function of pressure, temperature, composition, and fluid comp.
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greenschist "low grade": chlorite, epidote, actinolite
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amphibolite: hornblende, maybe
garnet
mod. to high T
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granulite: two types of pyroxenes--- very high T
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blueschist: glaucophane, jadeite,
kyanite, lawsonite
High-P, Low-T
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eclogite: garnet + pyroxene
High T and P
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Folds in eclogite:
green (pyroxene) and red (garnet)
layers
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Mineral assemblages can give range of P-T
conditions. But we want to do better!! HOW?
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Thermobarometry: Quantitative determination of temperature (T) and pressure (P) using
equilibrium reactions
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Example: kyanite, andalusite, and sillimanite have same composition but different crystal
structure- function of T and P
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One reaction yields one line. To determine a T and P point, at least one other reaction is needed
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Fortunately, there are tons of
reactions that are useful for
constraining T and P
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A real example- with real
uncertainties
The concept of a P-T path and
zoned minerals
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P-T paths for deeply buried, then exhumed
rocks
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Linking Deformation with Metamorphism
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So far, we known how to determine P and T and timing of metamorphism relative to deformation
What about precise timing??
Exactly when? How fast or slow?
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Isotopes: Elements with different numbers of neutrons
Radioactive isotopes: are unstable- they decay with time to another isotope. This decay rate has been
constant throughout the history of the Universe.
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isotopes can be removed from mineral grain(s) by many methods: dissolved out using acids, burned out in a
furnace, blasted out using a laser, or tickled out using an ion beam
Isotopic abundances (more often, ratios) are measured with a mass spectrometer
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In a mass spectrometer isotopes of different massesare separated using a magnet and collected & counted
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With modern technology, it is possible to determine agesfor little spots in a single grain. Way cool!!
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Also cool, is that different minerals loose daughterproducts due to diffusion at different temperatures.
Some minerals like to keep the daughter products, even at high T.
Other minerals loose daughter products, even at lowT.
Closure temperature: Temperature below which a mineral will not loose daughter products. At higher T,daughter products will "run-away".
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THERMOCHRONOLOGY: determining the time when a rock was at a certain temperature
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Calculated cooling history for a granite in New Zealand
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An attempt at putting it all together (structure, metamorphism, and time)- an example from Tibet
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Geographic Setting
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Regional Geologic Setting
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Fault places low-grade limestones on top of a ledge of cataclasite (fault rock)
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Kinematics
Structural studies suggest that the fault is a normal fault, where the hanging wall moved to
the east relative to the footwall
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Footwall rocks include blueschists + greenschists and amphibolites.
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But more precisely what P and T are the blueschists?
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Yikes! Thermobarometry suggests ~500 C
at 14 kbar (50 km!!)
Did the normal fault exhume the blueschists from this great depth?
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Mylonites in the footwall of the normal fault are amphibolite facies.
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Here's what they look like under the microscope
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The shear zone was active at ~11
kbar (~40 km)- probably cuts
the entire crust!
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The fault cuts granites and the shear zone is
intruded by undeformed granite
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Timing
When was the fault active?
before 204 Ma and after 220 Ma
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Thermochronology suggests rocks were
exhumed from >35 km depth in <10 Ma!!!!!!!!!
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Tectonic significance