Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Shear zones - A review

Full text
Author(s):
Fossen, Haakon ; Cavalcante, Geane Carolina G.
Total Authors: 2
Document type: Review article
Source: EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS; v. 171, p. 434-455, AUG 2017.
Web of Science Citations: 52
Abstract

Strain in the lithosphere localizes into tabular zones known as shear zones that grow from small outcrop-size individual zones to large composite structures. Nucleation is related to distributed microscale flaws or mesoscale structures such as fractures and dikes, and they soon establish displacement profiles similar to faults. Also similar to faults, they grow in width and length primarily by segment linkage as they accumulate strain and displacement, and this process typically results in shear zone networks. Consequently, mature shear zones are heterogeneous and composite zones characterized by anastomosing patterns and local variations in thickness and finite strain. Kinematic vorticity estimates suggest that most shear zones deviate from simple shear, and even if subsimple shear may be a useful reference model in many cases, finite strain data indicate that many shear zones involve three-dimensional combinations of coaxial and non-coaxial deformation, such as transpression and transtension. Strain geometry and kinematic vorticity can vary significantly within shear zone networks, which makes it difficult to estimate the bulk deformation type for a composite shear zone or shear zone network. However, perhaps the most challenging aspect is that of progressive deformation, i.e. to what extent and how flow parameters change during deformation (non-steady state deformation), which needs to be addressed by a combination of detailed field observations and numerical modeling. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 15/23572-5 - From orogeny to rifting and drifting: a study of the Eastern Brazilian orogenic belt and comparison with the North Atlantic Scandinavian orogenic belts/continental margins
Grantee:Renato Paes de Almeida
Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
FAPESP's process: 13/19061-0 - Rheological evolution of the continental crust: microstructures and deformation mechanisms in the Além Paraíba-Pádua shear zone (Araçuaí-Ribeira belt)
Grantee:Geane Carolina Gonçalves Cavalcante
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
FAPESP's process: 14/10146-5 - Rheological evolution of the continental crust: microstructures and deformation mechanisms in the Além-Paraíba-Pádua shear zone (Ribeira Belt)
Grantee:Geane Carolina Gonçalves Cavalcante
Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor