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Granite sheeted complexes: evidence for the dyking ascent mechanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

Donald H. W. Hutton
Affiliation:
Donald H. W. Hutton, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, England, U.K.

Abstract

A review of granite emplacement mechanisms in transcurrent, extensional and contractional (thrust sense) shear zones reveals that in all three tectonic settings the plutons have been constructed by multiple granite sheeting parallel to the shear zone walls and deformation fabrics. The sheets and plutons are non-Andersonian in type and were emplaced obliquely to the principal stress directions. Their shape and orientation is more likely to reflect the exploitation of faults and shear zones which were active during emplacement. Sheeting (dyking) is therefore also likely to be the mechanism of ascent along fault zones in the crust.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1992

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