Chapter 9

Rheology, Stress in the Crust, and Shear Zones

Introduction
Why is it that some rocks break whereas other rocks appear to flow seamless-
ly? Sometimes, one can observe these contrasting types of behavior in different
minerals in the same rock? Rheology is the study of flow of rocks and to delve into
this topic, and understand the question raised in the first sentence, requires us to
understand understand the relations between stress and strain (or strain rate), the

effects of environmental factors on deformation, and how materials actually de-

form at the scale of the crystal lattice.

Relationship Between Stress and Strain

At its simplest, deformation can be either non-permanent or permanent.
In the former case, the deformation exists only while the stress is applied and the
material returns to its undeformed state upon removal of the stress. Permanent de-
formation, on the other hand, is forever.
CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

Elasticity
Elastic deformation is, by definition, non-permanent and instantaneous. The
material suffers distortion only while stress is applied and quickly returns to normal
when he stress is removed. Many processes in geophysics and geology are mostly or
completely elastic: the propagation of seismic waves, the earthquake cycle, or flex-
ure of the lithosphere beneath a load such as a mountain belt or a sedimentary
basin. The GPS data that you analyzed in Chapter 7 is largely non-permanent de-
formation that occurs when the earth on one side of a fault “snaps back” during an
earthquake, something known as the elastic rebound theory. What distinguishes all
of these deformations is that they are very small even though the stresses are larger.
From your physics courses and experiments with springs, you probably re-
member Hooke’s Law, in which there is a linear relationship between force and
displacement. However, you also know that both stress and infinitesimal strain are
second order tensors and, therefore, the relationship between them should be a
fourth order tensor:

" σ ij = −Cijkl ε kl (9.1)

where, Cijkl is the stiffness tensor. Although Equation (9.1) looks nasty with 81 terms,
they re not all independent. In fact because of symmetry, there are at most 36 in-
dependent parameters and for all practical purposes, we only refer to a few elastic
moduli. They are:
• Young’s modulus, E, for axial strain (elongations or shortenings),
where σ = Eε. A material with a high Young’s modulus is very rigid.
• The shear modulus or modulus of rigidity, G, is appropriate
for simple shear deformations.
• The bulk modulus, or incompressibility, K, is likewise the one
to use for simple contractions or dilations (i.e., volume strains).
These moduli can be related to one another if we know and independent parame-
ter, known as Poissons Ratio, ν, which describes to what extent a shortening in one
direction is balanced out by a lengthening in an orthogonal direction. Poissons ratio
is the ratio of the transverse to the longitudinal extension:

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wi

Figure 9.1 — The blue rectangle is elastically

deformed into the red rectangle (strains are
highly exaggerated). Poissons ratio is defined
as the ratio of the transverse extensions to the
f i longitudinal extensions, calculated from the
w’s and ’s, respectively as shown in equation
(9.2).

wf

⎛ w f − wi ⎞
e ⎜⎝ w ⎟⎠
"ν = − t = − i
(9.2)
eℓ ⎛ ℓ f − ℓi ⎞
⎜⎝ ℓ ⎟⎠
i

For volume constant deformation, ν = 0.5 but for most rocks, 0.25 ≤ ν ≤ 0.33. All
of these parameters are related by the following equation:

E 3K (1− 2ν )
"G = = (9.3)
2 (1+ ν ) 2 (1+ ν )

Rocks only experience a very small amount of elastic strain before perma-
nent deformation ensues. That permanent deformation can be in the form of a
fracture or fault, something we saw in Chapter 6. When a fracture cuts across the
material, there is a loss of cohesion and the sample falls apart. However, the mater-
ial can also deform permanently without losing cohesion, a type of deformation we
call…

Plasticity
Plastic deformation results when a critical threshold stress, known as the
yield stress (σy), is exceeded and the ratio of the change in differential stress to the
change strain decreases drastically. Three different behaviors are possible (Fig. 9.2):

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in g
h a rd e n
st r a in
Figure 9.2 — Idealized differential
perfect
σy stress(Δσ)-strain(ε) curves exhibiting dif-
strain sof plastic ferent types of plastic deformation once
tening
the yield stress, σy, is surpassed. Strain
Δσ hardening occurs at lower temperatures
where as strain softening at higher temper-
atures. If the stress is removed (dashed
stress line), the initial elastic deformation is re-
removed couped but the deformation beyond the
yield stress is not.

(a) the slope of the stress strain curve decreases but remains positive, which is
known as strain hardening, (b) strain increases continually without any further in-
crease in stress (perfect plastic behavior), or (c) the strain increases with decreasing
differential stress, known as strain softening. Temperature largely controls which of
these behaviors will occur.

Strain Rate and Viscosity

So far, we haven’t said anything about time except that elastic deformation is
instantaneous. Consider the deformation shown in Figure 9.3a. The same material
deforms continuously for a constantly applied differential stress, but the rate of de-
formation tensor3, ε! , increases with increasing stress. So, we can make a new
curve (Fig. 9.3b) where the differential stress is plotted against strain rate; the ratio
between stress and strain rate is known as the viscosity, η, which is a measure of a
fluid’s resistance to flow. The material shown in Figure 9.3b exhibits a constant vis-
cosity and thus is known as a Newtonian fluid. Over a long period of time, even
rocks within the earth can exhibit fluid-like behavior, but in contrast to Newtonian
fluids, they tend to exhibit non-linear, power law viscosity as we shall see, below.

3 The rate of deformation tensor is commonly confused with the time derivative of the strain tensor. For infinitesimal
strain, the two are equivalent but in finite strain, the former is defined with respect to the spatial coordinates whereas
the latter is defined with respect to the material coordinates (Malvern, 1969).

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(a) (b)

Δσc

differential stress, Δσ
Δσc
strain, ε
Δσb
Δσb
Δσa Δσa

time, t strain rate, ε

Figure 9.3 — (a) A material that accrues strain over time at constant stress. Δσa ≤ Δσb ≤
Δσc and thus the strain rate varies differential stress. (b) Same data plotted with dif-
ferential stress against strain rate. The slope of the line is known as the viscosity and
the simple material shown, with constant viscosity, is known as a Newtonian fluid.

Viscous and elastic idealized models are combined in various ways. For ex-
ample, viscoelastic deformation is non-permanent but develops over time and is
recovered over time as well. Likewise, there are viscoplastic models that combine
elements of viscosity and plasticity. There are many additional hybrid mechanisms.

Environmental Factors
The type of deformation that a rock experiences is due primarily to its com-
position and the environmental conditions under which the deformation occurred.
You have undoubtedly reviewed the environmental factors in the lecture part of
your course. The most important are:
• Confining Pressure — This is the uniform pressure surrounding
the rock at the time of deformation. It commonly corresponds to
the vertical stress or lithostatic load, that is the weight of the
overlying rocks. An increase in confining pressure makes rocks
stronger (i.e., the yield stress increases), as reflected by the slope of
the Coulomb part of the failure envelop. Because confining pres-
sure increases with depth, rocks should get stronger deeper in the
earth. The formula for lithostatic load is:

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" Plith = ∫ ρ g dz ≈ ρ gz (9.4)

0

The right side of this equation is a common approximation for the

case where the density, ρ, does not vary with depth, z, and the
change in gravitational acceleration, g, is small with changes in
depth corresponding to crustal conditions. The confining pressure
effect is relatively insensitive to rock composition, except of course
to the extent that composition determines density.
• Temperature — With increasing temperature, mechanisms of
crystal plasticity described below, which depend on composition,
begin to kick in and reduce the yield stress. The increase in con-
ductive temperature with depth varies with tectonic setting, being
about 15-20°C/km with depth (a heat flow of about 60 mW/m2)
in stable continental interiors, ~30°C/km in rift provinces (~90
mW/m2), and >40°C/km in active volcanic provinces (~120 mW/
m2). Because temperature increases with depth, its effect is opposite
to that of confining pressure. Thus these are the two great compet-
ing factors, but they are modified by other factors as well, includ-
ing…
• Fluids — There are three distinct ways in which fluids act to
weaken rocks: (a) increasing the pore fluid pressure counteracts
confining pressure by reducing the effective normal stress; (b) pres-
sure solution dissolves soluble minerals, especially at high stress
grain-to-grain contacts, redepositing the material locally in low
stress “pressure shadows” or flushing the dissolved material com-
pletely out of the rock; and (c) hydrolytic weakening where wa-
ter in the crystal structure weakens the bonds of the crystal.
• Strain Rate — When the strain is high, rocks are more resistant to
deformation and when they do deform, they are more likely to do
brittlely. A slower strain rate allows the rocks to creep or flow un-
der lower differential stress conditions, effectively lowering the yield
stress.

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Deformation Mechanisms
Although the crust is complex, there are a relatively small number of defor-
mation mechanisms which you have probably already reviewed in the lecture part
of your class. Here is a commented list:
• Elastic deformation — Very low temperature, small strains
• Fracture — Very low temperature, high differential stress, pore
fluid pressure important
• Frictional slip on preexisting fractures — Low temperature, high
differential stress but less than that required for fracture, pore fluid
pressure important
• Pressure Solution — Low temperature, fluids necessary
• Dislocation glide — Low temperature, high differential stress.
Produces strain hardening behavior
• Dislocation glide and climb — Higher temperature, high differen-
tial stress. Requires increased lattice diffusion to permit dislocations
to climb around obstacles.
• Grain boundary diffusion — Low temperature, low differential
stress, slow strain rates
• Crystal lattice diffusion — Very high temperature (T ≈ 0.85Tmelt),
low differential stress. Probably only effective as a primary mecha-
nism in the mantle of the earth.

State of Stress in the Earth

The state of stress in the earth is important for a number of reasons ranging
from where earthquakes nucleate to the thickness of the elastic lithosphere that
flexes under loads. There is a fundamental principle underlying the determination
of stress in the lithosphere: the dominant deformation mechanism is the one
that requires the lowest differential stress to activate. If mechanism A re-
quires 500 MPa at a particular set of environmental conditions, but mechanism B
only require 200 MPa, not only will B dominate, but the differential stress will nev-

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er significantly exceed 200 MPa. We tend to think of stress magnitude as something

that is imposed externally and independently of the rocks but in fact, the strength
of the rock controls the maximum differential stresses at any depth.

Frictional Slip on Preexisting Fractures

Although we examined Coulomb failure in an earlier chapter, even a casual
look at almost any outcrop will demonstrate that rocks are full of pre-existing frac-
tures and in fact the brittle crust is much more likely to slip on this pre-existing frac-
tures than by making new fractures. There is no such thing a pristine rock! Thus,
the place to start is the failure envelope for preexisting fractures (following Sibson,
1974, 1985):

" τ = σ n*µ (9.5)

where the asterisk indicates effective normal stress. We expand this equation by
substituting in the equations for Mohr’s Circle for stress:

" (σ 1* − σ 3* ) sin 2θ = µ ⎡⎣(σ 1* + σ 3* ) − (σ 1* − σ 3* ) cos 2θ ⎤⎦ (9.6)

and after some algebra, we get an equation for the ratio of principal stresses:

σ 1* (1+ µ cot θ )
"Γ = = (9.7)
σ 3* (1− µ tan θ )

To fine the minimum ratio of effective principal stresses that is necessary for reacti-
vation, we set the derivative of Γ with respect to θ equal to zero:

( (1+ µ ) + µ )
2
dΓ
" =0 ∴ Γ min = 2
(9.8)
dθ

We now have the basis for calculating the minimum differential stress at
which reactivation will occur but first, however, what about μ? Recall from Chapter
6 that Byerlee’s Law shows that friction is relatively independent of rock type (Fig.
6.10). This result holds that at confining pressures of less than 200 MPa (a little
over 8 km depth for a density of 2500 kg/m3) μ = 0.85 and at greater confining

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pressures, μ = 0.6. The only significant exceptions to this rule are the clays illite,
montmorillonite, and vermiculite. Thus, to a first order, we can ignore composition
in the upper crust, except for its obvious control on density.
Assuming that one of the principal stresses is vertical and equal to the litho-
static load minus the pore fluid pressure (here expressed as the pore fluid pressure
ratio, λ):

" σ v* = ρ gz (1− λ ) (9.9)

we can derive expressions for the minimum differential stress that will activate slip
on pre-existing weaknesses for the three basic conditions of Andersons Law (Table
9.1)

Table 9.1: Frictional Strength of the Crust

Vertical Stress Tectonic Environment Minimum Differential Stress

σ3 thrust faulting "σ 1

*
− σ 3* ≥ ( Γ min − 1) ρ gz (1− λ )

"σ 1 − σ 3* ≥
( Γ min − 1) ρ gz (1− λ )
σ1 normal faulting *

Γ min

σ 1* − σ 3* ≥
( Γ min − 1) ρ gz (1− λ )
Φ ( Γ min + 1) + 1
σ2 strike-slip faulting "
σ2 −σ 3
where Φ =
σ1 −σ 3

Power Law Creep

We have seen that dislocation glide and climb is the dominant mechanism of
crystal plasticity in the crust of the earth. Unlike frictional deformation, which is
relatively independent of composition and strongly dependent on confining pres-
sure, crystal plastic deformation depends strongly on composition and temperature
but not on confining pressure. Through much experimental work, flow laws have

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

been developed to describe this type of deformation for many different rock types.
The basic equation is:

−Q
" e! = Co (σ 1 − σ 3 ) exp ⎛⎜ ⎞⎟
n
(9.10)
⎝ RT ⎠

Where
e! = strain rate [s–1]

Co = a constant [GPa–ns–11; experimentally determined]

σ1 - σ3 = the differential stress
[GPa]
Table 9.2: Power Law Creep Parameters
n = a power [experimentally Rock Type Log(Co) n Q
determined] GPa–ns–1 (kJ/mol)

Albite Rock 6.1 3.9 234

Q = the activation energy
Anorthosite 6.1 3.2 238
[kJ/mol; experimentally
Aplite 2.8 3.1 163
determined] Clinopyroxenite 9 2.6 335
R = the universal gas constant " 14.4 6.4 444
= 8.3144 × 10-3 kJ/mol Diabase 6.5 3.4 260

K " 11.72 3 356

Dolomite 14.4 9.1 349
T = temperature, K [K = °C Olivine (dry) 14.4-15.3 3.4-3.5 528-544
+ 273.16] Olivine (wet) 14.2,16.1 3.4,4.5 444,498
Granite (dry) 1 -0.2 2.9 106
Granite (dry) 2 1.6 3.4 139
It is called power law creep
Granite (wet) 2 1.9 137
because the strain rate is proportional Limestone 9.9 2.1 210
to a power of the differential stress. Marble 25.8 7.6 418
Equation (9.10) describes a non-linear " 20.6 4.2 427
viscous rheology. Because temperature Quartz Diorite 4.3 2.4 219
occurs in the exponential function, this Quartzite (dry) 1.2 1.9 149
sort of rheology is going to be ex- Quartzite (dry) 3 2.9 184

tremely sensitive to temperature. To Quartzite (wet) 3 1.8 134

Quartzite (wet) 3.7 to 2.6 to 167
think of it another way, over a very
Salt (halite) 16.7 5.3 102

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small range of temperatures, rocks change from being very strong to very weak.
The exact temperature at which this occurs depends on the lithology. Also unlike
the equations for frictional strength, there is no depth term in Equation (9.10). In-
stead, we must use temperature as a proxy for depth by assuming a geothermal
gradient. Some of the experimentally determined parameters for different com-
mon rock types are shown in Table 9.2. There are many more that are available in
the literature.
Generally, one will want to calculate the differential stress as a function of
temperature. That requires rewriting Equation (9.10) as:
1
⎛ ⎞n
⎜ e! ⎟
"σ1 −σ 3 = ⎜ (9.11)
⎛ −Q ⎞ ⎟
⎜ Co exp ⎜ ⎟
⎝ ⎝ RT ⎟⎠ ⎠

Stress Variation in the Lithosphere

To plot the variation of stress in the crust one simply plots the appropriate
equation in Table 9.1 and Equation (9.11) against depth (Fig. 9.4). The temperature
in (9.11) will have to be converted to depth by assuming a geothermal gradient and
here we have also assumed a continental strain rate of 10–15s–1. You can see from
Figure 9.5 that the transition from frictional to crystal plastic occurs where the two
lines cross and depends on tectonic regime, pore fluid pressure, geothermal gradi-
ent, strain rate and composition.
Care should be taken not to interpret these curves too literally! In Figure
9.4, for example, we assume that the crust has a quartz diorite composition when,
in fact, crustal composition is highly variable. Likewise the mantle here is assumed
to be dry olivine but in some tectonic environments, wet olivine would be more ap-
propriate. Furthermore, we have not even taken into account mechanisms like pres-
sure solution which are known to be quite important in the crust.
What this analysis does demonstrate is that the middle crust can support the
highest stresses, on the order of several hundred megapascals, whereas the lower
crust is very weak, supporting < 20 Mpa of differential stress. In some areas where

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Figure 9.4 — Spreadsheet illustrating the calculation of differential stress magnitude

in the crust of the earth assuming that strength is controlled by frictional slip on pre-
existing fractures and power law creep. Note that we have assumed a single average
coefficient of friction rather than the two from Byerlee’s Law. The power law creep pa-
rameters are for quartz diorite from Table 9.2. Note that Equation (9.11) gives differen-
tial stress in GPa whereas the equations in Table 9.1 yield stresses in Pa. Conversion
factors have been added to the spreadsheet to cover all values to MPa.

the crust is < ~40 km thick and/or heat flow is not very high, there will be a jump
in strength of the uppermost mantle. In the case of oceanic lithosphere or conti-
nental rift provinces with low heat flow, the upper mantle may be strong enough to
support upper mantle earthquakes. This notion of a strong middle crust and strong
(-ish) upper mantle has given rise to the concept of the lithosphere as a so-called
“jelly sandwich”: two strong layers separated by a weak lower crust.

Shear Zones
As faults cut down through the earth, they change from simple fracture
planes, to zones of anastomosing fault planes to ductile shear zones that may be
tens to thousands of meters in thickness. One of the great accomplishments of the
last thirty years in structural geology is the understanding of genesis of shear zones,
especially the minor structures which are key to understanding the sense of shear.

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Figure 9.5 — Cross-

section showing
90°–φ/2 Riedel shears in a
P right lateral shear
φ/2
zone. The gray
dashed lines are P-
shears that form
R after Riedel shears
at the time of
through-going rup-
R′ ture.
45°

Brittle Shear Zones

Brittle shear zones that form in the upper ten kilometers or so of the Earth’s
crust develop a suite of structures that reflect their evolution from pre- to post-rup-
ture. The pre-rupture structures remain preserved in the wall rocks long after the
fault surface is fully developed. The most important of these structures are the
Riedel shears. These are conjugate Coulomb fractures that form in an en echelon
manner within an overall shear zone that is, ideally, oriented at ~45° to the princi-
pal stresses (Fig. 9.5). Because they are Coulomb fractures, the two planes have op-
posite senses of shear: the R, or synthetic Riedel shears, form at an angle of φ/2
with respect to the shear zone and have the same sense of shear as the main shear
zone, itself (clockwise in Fig. 9.5) whereas the R′ or antithetic Riedel shears form
at 90–φ/2 and have a sense of shear that is opposite to that of the main shear zone
(counterclockwise in Fig. 9.5). The angle φ is the angle of internal friction (Chapter
6). P-shears may form at the time of rupture and have the same sense of shear as
the main shear zone.
A number of publications emphasize the use of Riedel shears and P-shears
to determine the sense of shear in fault zones (e.g., Petit, 1987). Some imply that
any fracture at a low angle to the shear zone is an R-shear and any at a high-angle
is an R′ shear. These are dangerous assumptions because rocks are full of fractures
that existed prior to, and have nothing to do with, the formation of the fault. To
improve your chances of a correct interpretation, one should always determine that
(a) there has been shear on the minor fractures (e.g., by observing slickensides, etc.)

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Figure 9.6 — Synthetic

Riedel shears (red ar-
rows) showing correct
sense of offset associ-
ated with a larger fault
zone (yellow arrows).
Sense of shear (white
arrows) is opposite
that shown in Figure
9.5.

and (b) the shear on the minor fractures is consistent with that associated with
Riedel shears (Fig. 9.6).
Where fluids flow and precipitate minerals — commonly quartz or calcite —
in crevices and fractures associated with faulting, the resulting geometries can be
very indicative of the sense of shear. Two types of structures are very useful. The
first are sigmoidal veins, which are sometimes referred to in older literature as
“tension gashes” (Fig. 9.7). The asymmetry of the veins and their shape reflects the
rotation of the older, central parts of the veins that occurs during large magnitude
finite strain. The tips of the veins propagate parallel to the shortest principal axis of

Figure 9.7 — Sigmoidal veins in

cross-section in a right lateral
shear zone. Two generations
are shown: an older inactive set
in light gray and a younger
smaller set at 45° to the shear
zone boundary in white.

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infinitesimal strain which, we know from Chapter 7 is at 45° to the shear zone
boundary. Eventually, the central part of the vein may rotate so much that it is no
longer favorably oriented for opening. When that happens, new veins at 45° may
form, crosscutting the older generation of veins (Fig. 9.7). Sigmoidal veins are high-
ly reliable indicators of sense of shear.
The second case of minerals precipitating from fluids in shear zones is the
situation where an undulatory fault surface opens up a void during fault motion
(Fig. 9.8). These voids are ideal places in which to precipitate minerals such as cal-
cite or quartz during fault movement. Under these conditions, the mineral fibers,
sometimes called slickenfibers, are oriented parallel to the direction of motion.
On an exposed surface (Fig. 9.8b), one can usually identify the step from which the
fibers grew, usually by the sharp contact between the step and the fibers which
marks the “upstream” (with respect to the movement of the upper plate) side of the
void. Like sigmoidal veins, slickenfibered steps are highly reliable indicators of fault
motion (Fig. 9.9).

(a)

Figure 9.8 — The formation

of mineral fiber steps on an
undulatory fault plane. (a)
The void produced by the
fault slip is an ideal place in
which to precipitate fibrous
minerals such as calcite or
movement opens a voi
d quartz. (b) The fibers grow
along irregular fault pla
ne in the direction of fault slip
as the void grows in size.
The key to correct interpre-
mineral fibers grow from
the step into the void
tation of fault slip from the
(b) exposed geometry in (b) is
to identify the sharp con-
tact between the top of the
step in the footwall and the
fibers. A right-lateral or top
to the right shear sense is
slickensides on
the fault surface
indicated.
sharp contact indica
tes
beginning of step

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Figure 9.9 — Calcite

slickenfibers on a
fault surface in lime-
stone. Large red ar -
rows indicate the
sense of shear in this
oblique view with the
upper (missing) block
having moved down
towards the lower left
corner of the photo.
Small yellow arrows
indicate the sharp
contact between the
fibers and the fault
surface which indi-
cates the upstream
side for the void.

Finally, although we tend to think of foliations forming in metamorphic

rocks, brittle fault zones can likewise have local foliation developed in the high
strain zone that parallels the fault surface. Two morphologies of fault-related folia-
tions are common (Fig. 9.10): (a) where there is a discrete zone of gouge — clay-
like material produced by mechanical grind along the rock surface — the largest
movements and thus highest shear strains occur between the gouge and the much
less deformed wall rock. The foliation in the gouge reflects this heterogeneous sim-
ple shear strain and produces curving foliation planes (Fig. 9.10a). (b) Where the
fault plane is in carbonate rocks, a localized pressure solution cleavage can form; in
this case the highest shear strains are at next to the discrete fault surface and dies
out upward into the country rock on either side (Fig. 9.10b). Both of these cases are
examples of a type of brittle S-C fabric, a term we will define in the next section.

Ductile Shear Zones

To appreciate how far structural geology has come consider that, in the mid-
dle of the last century, it was common place for structural geologists to interpret
that every planar foliation in a rock represented a separate deformation, labeling
them S0 to Sn, where S0 was the original stratification. We now understand that
progressive deformation in shear zones can develop two more more planar folia-

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(a) (b) Figure 9.10 — Cross-

sections of fault re-
lated foliations in (a)
fault gouge in silici-
clastic rocks, and (b)
zones of enhanced
pressure solution
next to faults in car-
bonates.

Figure 9.11 — Idealized diagram

showing the arrangement of S
and C planes in an SC mylonite.
Red ovals represent the strain
schematically in different parts
of the structure.

tions. The basic shear zone foliations (Fig. 9.11) are known as S-C fabrics; with the
“C” standing for French word for shear, “cisaillement”, and the “S” the French
word for “schistosité” or foliation in English. As you can tell, French geologists were
amongst the first to correctly describe S-C fabrics (Berthé et al., 1979)! The geome-
try of S and C planes develops by extremely heterogeneous simple shear. From
your experiments with simple shear in the last chapter, you know that, the larger
the shear strain, the closer and closer the long axis of the finite strain ellipse rotates
towards the plane of shear, itself (though technically never being exactly parallel,
because there is no shear strain on planes parallel to a principal strain axis). The C,
or shear, planes are region of extremely high shear strain and thus the S or foliation
planes become asymptotic to the C planes as they approach them (Fig. 9.11).
Basement rocks in which one tends to find mylonites commonly lack easily identifi-

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

δ
σ
δ-type

σ σ
σ-type

Figure 9.12 — Asymmetric porphyroclasts in a mylonite from NW Argentina (left) and

schematically on the right. Representative clasts are labeled on the photo. The top-
to-the-right sense of shear is appropriate for both photo and sketch.

able offset features, so the reliable sense of shear indicated by S-C fabrics is quite
important.
Before moving on to other sense of shear indicators, a word of caution:
shear zone shapes commonly exhibit curving, sigmoidal geometries (re. Figs. 9.7,
9.10 and 9.11). However, if you compare Figures 9.7 and 9.11, the sense of curva-
ture is opposite to each other even though both diagrams have the same sense of
shear. To interpret these fabrics and shapes correctly, it is essential that you under-
stand the kinematics (i.e., the strain and how it was produced) rather than simply
trying to do pattern recognition. The curved feature in Figure 9.7 is a vein and
therefore the long principal axis of the strain ellipse is perpendicular to it. The
curving features in Figures 9.10 and 9.11 are foliations and therefore the long axis
should be approximately parallel to them.
There are a variety of other shear sense indicators in mylonitic rocks based
on the geometry of individual grains and grain aggregates. These include σ- and δ-
shaped asymmetric porphyroclasts (Fig. 9.12) and fractured an rotated mineral
grains (commonly feldspars as in Fig. 9.13). Although beyond the scope of this
manual, crystallographic c-axis fabrics and other microscopic preferred orienta-

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

Figure 9.13 — Fractured and rotated plagioclase crystal from a mylonite in the
Sierra Chango Real of NW Argentina. Note the domino-style deformation of the
feldspar: the overall rotation gives the sense of shear, even though the micro faults
have the reverse sense of displacement

tions are likewise commonly used to determine sense of shear in plastically de-
formed mineral grains.

Displacement in Heterogenous Shear Zones from Foliations

So far, we have looked mostly at features that give us the sense, but not the
magnitude, of displacement in a shear zone. Displacement is commonly not easy to
determine due to lack of identifiable piercing points in basement rocks. If we make
the assumption that only heterogeneous simple shear is responsible for displace-
ment, there is quite a nice method published by Ramsay and Graham (1970). Con-
sider a homogeneous simple shear zone (Fig. 9.14). In the field, we can’t measure ψ
directly, but we can measure θʹ, which is just the angle between the foliation (as-
sumed to be kinematically similar to S-planes) and the shear zone boundary. If the
foliation is parallel to the XY plane of the strain ellipsoid then there is a simple re-
lationship between θʹ and γ:

2
" tan 2θ ′ = (9.12)
γ

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

d
Figure 9.14 — Hypothetical
homogeneous simple shear
zone demonstrating how the
ψ area = d
y y area under the shear strain-y
curve is equal to the displace-
θ′ ment, d.

shear strain, γ

θ 3′ area = d Figure 9.15 — Variation in foli-

foliation ation across a heterogeneous
y θ 2′ y simple shear zone (left) and the
calculation of displacement by
θ 1′ determining the are under the
curve of shear strain versus
distance across the shear zone.
shear strain, γ

Although it is trivial in the case of a homogeneous shear zone, we could compute

the displacement graphically by plotting γ as a function of the distance across the
shear zone y and calculating the area under the curve (Fig. 9.14):
y y
2
" d = ∫ γ dy = ∫ dy (9.13)
0 0
tan 2θ ′

For a heterogeneous shear zone — the usual case in geology — the situation is
more complex, but you can still come up with a graphical solution as above. The
basic approach is to (1) measure the angle between the foliation and the shear zone
boundary, θʹ, at a number of places, (2) convert those measurements to the shear
strain, γ, (3) plot γ as a function of perpendicular distance across the shear zone,
and (4) calculate the displacement from the area under the resulting curve (Fig.
9.15).

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

General (2D) Shear

Alas, most natural shear zones probably do not fit the simplified assumptions
of Ramsay and Graham (1970). Instead, they probably have a combination of pure
and simple shear (sometimes known as “sub-simple” shear), and may also have vol-
ume changes, both of which would negate the elegant analysis of Ramsay and
Graham (1970). We will only briefly look at the theory here, following the work of
Tikoff and Fossen (1993) and Fossen and Tikoff (1993). Because we have studied
tensors and strain already, this part should be (relatively) easy to follow. We start
with the deformation gradient tensor, which relates the positions in the initial state
to those in the final state:

" xi = Dij X j (9.14)

Neglecting the constant of integration, this is the same equation as (7.14). In a co-
ordinate system parallel to the stretches and the simple shear is parallel to the X1
axis, the tensor D that captures simultaneous pure and simple shear can be written
in two dimensions as:

⎡ γ ( S1 − S3 ) ⎤
⎡ S1 Γ ⎤ ⎢ S1 ⎥
" Dij = ⎢ ⎥=⎢ 2 ln ( S1 ) ⎥ (9.15)
⎢⎣ 0 S3 ⎥⎦ ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ 0 S3 ⎥⎦

Γ is known as the effective shear strain. This equation is appropriate for a constant
volume deformation where S1 = 1/S3. The deformation matrix for simultaneous
simple shear, pure shear, and volume change is:

⎡ γ ( S1 − S3 ) ⎤
⎢ S1 ⎥
" Dij = ⎢
⎢
S
( )
ln 1 S
3
⎥
⎥
(9.16)
⎢ 0 S3 ⎥
⎣ ⎦

Dij, of course, is an asymmetric tensor. If you multiply D by its transpose, you get
the symmetric Green deformation tensor, C (referenced to the initial state):

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

" DDT = Dki Dkj = Cij (9.17)

From C you can determine the principal axes of strain, etc.

There are an infinite number of potential paths that lead to any finite strain
state. The deformation in Figure 9.16, for example, could be produced by (a) pure
shear with stretch, S1 = 1.75, followed by a simple shear with γ = 4.0 (76°); (b) a
simple shear with γ = 1.31 (52.6°), followed by a pure shear with S1 = 1.75; or (c) a
general shear with S1 = 1.75 and γeffective = 2.29 (66.4°). One would need to extract
information on the path — perhaps from curved mineral fibers — to distinguish
these three possibilities.


Figure 9.16 — Any finite strain may arise from an infinite number of possi-
ble strain paths. The one shown here was produced by a general shear with
horizontal stretch of 1.75 and an effective shear strain for 2.29, but many
other paths will produce exactly the same final state from the given initial
state.

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

Exercises—Chapter 9

1. Calculate the variation of differential stress with depth in the crust for Granite
(dry) 2 (Table 9.2) assuming a strain rate of 10–15s-1, geothermal gradient of
15°C/km, an average density of 2750 kg*m–3, in an extensional environment
with hydrostatic pore fluid pressure, and a coefficient of static friction of 0.70.
You can to the calculations either in a spreadsheet or in Matlab.

2. The diagram, below, shows the case of simple shear of a square where the an-
gular shear, ψ, is defined as the change in angle of two originally perpendicular
lines (i.e., the sides of the box). A dashed line in the initial state makes an angle
of θ with respect to the plane of shear. After the deformation, the same dashed
line makes an angle of θʹ. Derive an equation which shows θʹ as a function of θ
and ψ.

θ θʹ

"

3. Once Riedel shears form, they become material lines (really, cross-sections of
planes) that rotate in the shear zone. For the questions that follow, assume μint =
0.625, μs = 0.75, σ1 = 120 MPa, σ3 = 14.7 MPa, and the cohesion, So=20 MPa.
Also assume simple shear, not general shear.
(a) Calculate how much synthetic and antithetic Riedel shears will rotate before
they become inactive. Show your calculations and include any plots that you
used to come up with your answer.
(b) What is the effect of changing the magnitude of the differential stress?

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

(c) Use your result from the previous problem to calculate the angular shear
necessary to make the synthetic Riedel shears inactive.
(d) Given their different orientations within the shear zone, which shear, R or R′
do you anticipate would rotate faster and why?

4. The following questions relate to the sketch, below, of a ductile shear zone in in
granitoid rocks. A grid has been laid over the sketch to help you make your
measurements.
(a) Use the Ramsay and Graham (1970) relationship, described above, between
orientation of foliation in a shear zone, θʹ, and shear strain, γ, to determine
the displacement across the shear zone.
(b) What is the sense of shear in the shear zone?
(c) What assumptions does this calculation involve?

d 3'4'
ns 3'3 an
See Questio
Figure 3'3'
" 0 2 4 6m
Fabric traie
ctories of
Figure 3.4'

5. The photographs on the next pages are rock samples showing fault related de-
formation. For each one, interpret the sense of shear (relative to its orientation
on the page) and make a quick sketch depicting the key features that helped you
come to the conclusion that you did. T :: H i: :: :f f; J " :" #il11fi:TJJ
if f *:"
:" " T,lili3l,l1 $L
if fi 1 T J :: i"
:l T
ij ,i " lx " " :' iJ
.:fJ::::"p"":y J;"#

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CHAPTER 9 SHEAR ZONES & STRESS IN THE CRUST

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