| Abstract: | Plastically deformed quartzites from the Betic Movement Zone (Betic Cordilleras, Spain) exhibit microstructures indicative of crystal plasticity on a mineral grain scale. Quartzites with dynamically recrystallized grain sizes larger than 10 μm have strong crystallographic preferred orientations, narrow grain boundaries, little creep damage, and an inverse proportionality of dislocation density and grain size. Mylonites with grain sizes smaller than 10 μm have low crystallographic preferred orientations, wide grain boundaries (up to 1000 Å), abundant creep damage, and decreasing dislocation density with diminishing grain size. This is thought to reflect a clear-cut shift in deformational regimes from dislocation creep to superplastic flow at 10 μm grain size. Superplasticity can be acquired by quartzites which suffer dynamic recrystallization to grain sizes smaller than 10 μm during an initial dislocation creep stage. Dislocation motion is the major accomodating mechanism for strain incompatibilities that arise during grain-boundary sliding in the mylonites.It seems reasonable to estimate flow stresses from unbound dislocation densities and dynamically recrystallized grain sizes in the tectonite specimens. In the mylonites, dynamically recrystallized grain size probably reflects the stress magnitude before the shift in deformational mechanisms, and an estimate for late stage stresses is provided by unbound dislocation densities. In both deformational regimes the flow strength appears to depend on the extent of dynamic recrystallization. |
