Yukari Miyashita

Development of the Hatagawa Fault Zone clarified by geological and geochronological studies

The occurrence of mylonite and cataclasite, mineral assemblages of cataclasite, and the K-Ar ages of surrounding granitic rocks and dikes were studied to examine the possibility that the Hatagawa Fault Zone (HFZ), NE Japan was experienced under the conditions of the brittle-plastic transition. The Hatagawa Fault Zone is divided into three structural settings: mylonite zones with a sinistral sense of shear and a maximum thickness of 1 km, a cataclasite zone with a maximum thickness of about 100 m, and locally and sporadically developed small-scale shear zones. Occurrence of epidote and chlorite, lack of montmorillonite in cataclasite, and the coexistence of cataclasite and limestone mylonite suggest that the cataclasite was deformed at temperatures higher than 220°C. Crush zones in the mylonite near the cataclasite zone were recognized in one outcrop; they have a structure concordant with the surrounding mylonite and some fragments in them are dragged plastically. Granodiorite porphyry dikes near the HFZ intruding into cataclasite and mylonite with a sinistral sense of shear exhibit no deformational features. K-Ar ages of hornblende from host granitic rocks and from one granodiorite porphyry dike are 126 ± 6 to 95.7 ± 4.8 and 98.1 ± 2.5 Ma, respectively. These indicate that the fault activity gradually changed from mylonitization to cataclasis within 28 m.y., and suggest that the HFZ underwent a brittle-plastic transition during its activity.

Water-rock interaction observed in the brittle-plastic transition zone

Rock alteration and geochemistry of the fault rocks are examined to infer the characteristics of the fluid phase related to the ancient fault activity. The Hatagawa Fault Zone, northeast Japan, is an exhumed seismogenic zone which is characterized by close association of brittlely and plastically deformed fault rocks mostly derived from Cretaceous granitoids. Epidote and chlorite are dominant alteration minerals in both rocks. However, calcite is characteristically developed in the cataclastic part only. Decrease in oxygen isotope ratio and existence of epidote and chlorite, even in weakly deformed granodiorite, is evidence of water-rock interaction. The water/rock ratio is interpreted to be relatively small and fluid chemistry is buffered by host rock chemistry in the mylonite. The occurrence of calcite in brittle structures is explained by changes in water chemistry during shear zone evolution. CO2-rich fluid was probably introduced during cataclastic deformation and increased CO2 concentration resulted in precipitation of calcite.

Growth of plastic shear zone and its duration inferred from theoretical consideration and observation of an ancient shear zone in the granitic crust

A new model for growth of plastic shear zone is proposed based on the basis of a theory of fluid dynamics coupled with a rheological constitutive function, and is applied to a natural shear zone. Mylonite, ultramylonite and other ductile fault rocks are well known to deform in a plastic flow regime. The rheological behavior of these kinds of rocks has been well documented as a non-linear viscous body, which is empirically described as , where : strain rate, τ: shear stress, Q: activation energy, R: universal gas constant, T: absolute temperature, and A and n are constants. Strain rate- and temperature-dependent viscosity is obtained by differentiating the equation, and simplified by substituting n = 1. Then, substitution of the equation into a diffusion equation, , derives an equation δ = 4[t/p · A exp(−Q/RT)]1/2, where δ: thickness of active layer of viscous deformation, ν: kinematic viscosity, and ρ: density. The duration of creep deformation along the ancient plastic shear zone (thickness: 0.076 m) is estimated to be around 760 s, in a temperature range from 300 to 500°C. This estimation is rather good agreement with intermittent creep during inter-seismic period, than steady state creep or co-seismic slip.