Crystallographic control on the development of foam textures in quartz, plagioclase and analogue material

Abstract

The shape, pattern and crystallographic orientation of grain boundaries represent important characteristics of crystalline material and contain information about its deformation and annealing history. The present study includes measurements of grain boundaries from experimentally annealed analogue material as well as natural foam texture of quartz and plagioclase. The main subject is the relation between the development of a foam texture and the crystallographic orientation of its grain boundaries and their geometry. (1) During annealing, grain sizes stabilize at certain values. On a statistical basis, these values can be applied as a geothermometer. (2) On the light-microscope scale, the grain boundaries in foam textures commonly consist of two or several planar facets. They are preferentially oriented along specific crystallographic planes, namely in relation to both neighbouring crystals; for quartz they tend to be rhombohedral. (3) Even highly misoriented facets and dihedral angles largely deviating from the 'equilibrium angle' of 120° may be stable over long periods of annealing. (4) Parts of single boundaries may migrate, whereas other parts are stationary during annealing. The results of the present study suggest that the anisotropy of surface energy has a considerable influence on the development of foam textures and that modelling of texture development should include the influence of the crystallographic orientation of grain boundaries.