Dislocation and Diffusion Creep of Synthetic Anorthite Aggregates
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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 105, NO. Bll, PAGES 26,017-26,036, NOVEMBER 10, 2000 Dislocation and diffusion creep of synthetic anorthite aggregates E. Rybacki and G. Dresen GeoForschungsZentrumPotsdam, Potsdam, Germany Abstract. Syntheticfine-grained anorthite aggregates were deformedat 300 MPa confining pressurein a Paterson-typegas deformation apparatus. Creep tests were performedat temperatures rangingfrom 1140 to 1480K, stressesfrom 30 to 600 MPa, and strain rates between 2x 10 '6 and lx10-3 s 'l. Weprepared samples with water total contents of 0.004 wt % (dry)and 0.07 wt % (wet), respectively.The wet (dry) materialcontained <0.7 (0.2) vol % glass,associated with fluid inclusionsor containedat triplejunctions. The arithmeticmean grain size of the specimensvaried between2.7 _+0.1 lamfor the dry materialand 3.4 _+0.2 lamfor wet samples.Two differentcreep regimeswere identified for dry andwet anorthiteaggregates. The datacould be fitted to a power law. At stresses> 120 MPa we founda stressexponent of n = 3 irrespectiveof the water content, indicatingdislocation creep. However, the activation energy of wetsamples is356 _+ 9 kJmol 'l, substantiallylower than for dry specimens with 648 + 20kJ mo1-1. The preexponential factor is log A = 2.6(12.7) MPa -n s -• forwet (dry) samples. Microstructural observations suggest that grain boundarymigration recrystallization is importantin accommodatingdislocation creep. In the low- stressregime we observeda stressexponent of n = 1, suggestingdiffusion creep. The activation energiesfor dry and wet samples are 467 + 16and 170 + 6 kJmol '•, respectively.Log A is 12.1 MPa-n pm m s -1 for the dry material and 1.7 MPa -" pm m s '1 for wet anorthite. The data show that the strengthsof anorthiteaggregates decrease with increasingwater content in both the dislocationand diffusioncreep regimes. A comparisonof the creepdata of syntheticplagioclase from this study with publisheddata for feldspar,olivine, andquartz indicates a linearrelationship between activationenergy and log A similarto the suggestedcompensation law for diffusionin silicates. 1. Introduction and inferred deformationmechanisms exist for experimentally and naturallydeformed feldspathic and quartzo-feldspathicrocks Geological field studiesand laboratoryinvestigations of the and are discussedin a seminalreview by Tullis [1990]. mechanicalproperties of rockssuggest a rheologicalstratification The high-temperatureplastic strength of rockscan be reduced of the continentallithosphere [e.g., Brace and Kohlstedt, 1980; considerablyby the presenceof water-relatedspecies [Kohlstedt Kohlstedt et al., 1995] with a weak lower crustal layer et al., 1995]. Tullis and Yund [1980, 1991] and Tullis et al. sandwichedbetween stronger middle crust and upper mantle [1996] showed in their experimentsthat the presenceof water [e.g., Ranalii, 1987]. Independently, Meissner and Strehlau reducesthe strengthof feldsparand may causea changeof the [1982] and Chen and Molnar [1983] suggestedthat reduced dominant deformation mechanism. Dimanov et al. [1999] seismic activity of the lower crust indicateslow ductile flow demonstratedthat the strengthand activationenergy for grain strengthrelative to the uppercrust. However, mechanical data and boundary diffusion-controlledcreep of pure fine-grained flow law parameterson the rheologyof rockstypical for the lower anorthiteaggregates is reducedat atmosphericpressure when crust, i.e., gabbros,metabasites, etc., are still scarce[Caristan, tracesof water (0.05-0.1 wt %) are present.Likewise, the stressat 1982; Sheltonand Tullis, 1981; Kirby, 1983; Carter and Tsenn, the transitionfrom diffusion to dislocationcreep of feldsparis 1987; Mackwell et al., 1998]. The amount of stresstransfer and lower with trace amountsof water present. partitioningof strain betweencrustal layers and the mantle has In this studywe investigatedislocation and diffusioncreep of given rise to much controversy[e.g., Kirby, 1985; Ord and anorthiteaggregates at elevatedconfining pressures. We present Hobbs, 1989]. constitutiveflow laws for syntheticanorthite aggregates that are Feldspars,pyroxenes, and amphibolesare the most abundant dry or containtrace amounts of water. minerals constituting the deep continental crust. For monomineralicrocks composedof feldspar or pyroxenesome recentstudies of syntheticaggregates exist that yield constitutive 2. Starting Material and Experimental Methods equationsfor diffusioncreep [Lavie, 1998; Dimanov et al., 1998, 2.1. SpecimenFabrication 1999]. Bystricky[1998], Mackwell et al. [1998], and Xiao [1999] investigatedmixtures of clinopyroxeneor quartzwith feldsparat Anorthiteaggregates were fabricated from crushed CaA12Si2Oa various volume fractions. Detailed studies of the microstructure glass(Schott Glaswerke). The chemicalcomposition of the glass from fluorescentX-ray analysisis An9a.9Or0.2Ab0.9(normalized to 8 O) with majorimpurities of TiO2 (0.1 wt %), MgO (0.07 wt %), Copyright2000 by the AmericanGeophysical Union. Fe203(0.01 wt %), and H20 (•0.05 wt %). Papernumber 2000JB900223. The particlesize of the glasspowder was <60 pm. The powder 0148-0227/00/2000JB900223509.00 waspredried at 1073 K in air for 60 hoursand kept at 393 K for 26,017 26,018 RYBACKI AND DRESEN: CREEP OF ANORTHITE AGGREGATES severaldays before cold pressinginto steeljackets with 0.5 mm • I i I i I I I I I i • wet undeformed ......... wall thickness.A vacuumdye was usedto reducepressure to 1.5 kPa. To cold pressthe samples,an axial stressof 300 MPa was wetdeformed .........../,•\ _ applied.The diameterof the jackets was 15 mm and the length .............wetundeformed (78K) ...........-'" // \\ was 30 mm. Using a gas pycnometer(Micromeritics Accy Pyc / 1330), the porosity of the green bodies was determinedto be •30%. To fabricate "dry" specimens,we heat treatedthe cold- pressedpellets at 1073 K to 1173 K for more than 120 hours prior to hot pressing."Wet" sampleswere hot isostaticallypressed without the initial heat treatment.A Paterson-typegas apparatus was used to hot pressand annealboth wet and dry samplesin three stepsat a pressureof 300 MPa. First, sampleswere further densiftedabove the glasstransition temperature at 1173 K for 1 hour. Furtherannealing was performedat 1323 K for 2 hours,i.e., o ' I ' I ' I ' I ' I ' slightlyabove the nucleation temperature of 1297 K for•northite 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400 3600 3800 [Dresen et al., 1996]. Finally, the annealingtemperature was -1 wavenumber, cm increasedto 1473 K for 2 hoursto promotegrain growth. Heating andcooling rates were 20 and10 K min-•, respectively.After Figure 1. RepresentativeFTIR absorbancespectra of dry andwet sampleswere retrieved from the vessel, the iron jacket was anorthite aggregatessamples in the mid-IR range (3 I.tm dissolved in acid (50/50 vol % HC1/HNO3). For mechanical wavelength).Using the maximum peak heights near 3600 cm ~•, testing,the sampleswere precisionground to obtain cylindrical the calculatedwater contentof the wet sample(An10) is 9800 specimensof 10 mm diameter and 20 mm length. In this ppm H/Si before deformation(corresponding to 635 ppm H20 procedurethe initial samplesurface possibly contaminated by the (wt)) and 8400 ppm H/Si (545 ppm H20 (wt)) afterdeformation. acid was removed, and the samplediameter was reducedby 4 The dry undeformedsample (An28) contains•500 ppm H/Si (33 mm. The porosityof the samplesis lessthan •1%, as determined ppm H20 (wt)). An additionalpeak at a wavenumberof •3200 by Archimedes'method in water. cm-• wasfound in undeformedwet sample(An15, 10,400 ppm H/Si) when measuredat cryogenictemperature. The smallsharp 2.2. Water Content peaksat 2850and 2930 cm -• resultfrom resin used in sample preparation. A Fourier-transformedinfrared spectrometer(FTIR, Bruker IFS-66v) equippedwith a microscopewas used to measurethe water content of samples before and after deformation.The spectra were recorded at 293 K from >128 scans between feldsparscan contain up to severalthousand parts per million wavenumbers2500 to 4000 crn-• (resolutionof 2 crn-•).We H/Si [Kronenberg et al., 1986; Behrens, 1994; Beran, 1987; performedat least five separatemeasurements per sample.Since Hofmeisterand Rossman,1985]. the spotsize of the microscopeis roughly20 timeslarger than the 2.3. Microstructures averageanorthite grain size, our measurementsrefer to the total water contentof the samples.To quantitativelyestimate the water Figure 2a is an optical micrographtaken from an ultrathin contentof the aggregatesfrom 150-Hm-thicksamples, we used (<10 Hm) sectionof the wet startingmaterial. Prismatic anorthite Beer-Lambert's law and a molar extinction coefficient of 32 grains are common with an averageaspect ratio of 2.7. Grain L(H2O)mol -• crn-• [Beran,1987]. This technique probably yields boundariesare facetted, and 120ø triple junctions are scarce. an upperlimit for the watercontent [Bell et al., 1995]. Twins with fine-spacedlamellae are abundant.A few larger Absorbancespectra for typicalwet and dry samplesare given grains show undulatory extinction. In wet samples some in Figure 1. The spectrashow a broadbandabsorbance with a spheruliteswere foundwith needle-shapedgrains up to 200 I.tm maximumnear 3600 cm-•, characteristicof molecularwater or long and arrangedin radial fashion.Spherulites were previously hydroxyl[Aines and Rossman,1984]. Specimensreferred to as observedto crystallizefrom undercooledplagioclase melt [Abeet wet contain about 11500 _+2900 ppm H/Si (0.07 _+0.02 wt % al., 1991; Kirkpatrick et al., 1979; Lofgren, 1974]. Farver and H20) on averageand