Melt network reorientation and crystallographic preferred orientation
development in sheared partially molten rocks
Abstract
As partially molten rocks deform, they develop melt preferred
orientations, shape preferred orientations, and crystallographic
preferred orientations (MPOs, SPOs and CPOs). We investigated the
co-evolution of these preferred orientations in experimentally deformed
partially molten rocks, then calculated the influence of MPO and CPO on
seismic anisotropy. Olivine-basalt aggregates containing 2 to 4 wt%
melt were deformed in general shear at a temperature of 1250°C under a
confining pressure of 300 MPa at shear stresses of τ = 0 to 175 MPa to
shear strains of γ = 0 to 2.3. Grain-scale melt pockets developed a MPO
parallel to the maximum principal stress, s1, at γ < 0.4. At
higher strains, the grain-scale MPO remained parallel to s1, but
incipient, sample-scale melt bands formed at ~20° to s1.
An initial SPO and CPO were induced during sample preparation, with
[100] and [001] axes girdled perpendicular to the long axis of
the sample. At the highest explored strain, a strong SPO was
established, and the [100] axes of the CPO clustered nearly parallel
to the shear plane. Our results demonstrate that grain-scale and
sample-scale alignments of melt pockets are distinct. Furthermore, the
melt and the solid microstructures evolve on different timescales: in
planetary bodies, changes in the stress field will first drive a
relatively rapid reorientation of the melt network, followed by a
relatively slow realignment of the crystallographic axes. Rapid changes
to seismic anisotropy in a deforming partially molten aggregate are thus
caused by MPO rather than CPO.