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Ductile Instabilities and Structural Heterogeneity in the Lower Continental Crust

  • Chapter
Heterogeneity in the Crust and Upper Mantle

Abstract

Geological observations, particularly of evidence for deformation, are made at scales ranging from 10-8 m to 104 m. Structural geologists use field relations to determine the relative timing of deformation events, and to determine their cumulative effect on structural patterns in the rock. This approach can be used in a qualitative sense when interpreting gradients in bulk accumulated (finite) strain. Working at different scales across strain gradients allows structural geologists to relate the final geometry of structures in naturally deformed rocks to the processes of formation. Using this approach, field studies have documented a remarkable self-similarity of structures and fabrics in ductilely deformed rocks across this 1012 range of scales. This suggests that the processes controlling development of many natural structures are not dependent on the scale of the deforming zone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Cheryl Waters & Basil Tikoff

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech., Socorro, NM, 87801, USA

    Laurel B. Goodwin

  3. School of Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6000, New Zealand

    Timothy A. Little

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  1. Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA

    John A. Goff

  2. Institute of Geophysics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

    Klaus Holliger

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Waters, C., Tikoff, B., Goodwin, L.B., Little, T.A. (2003). Ductile Instabilities and Structural Heterogeneity in the Lower Continental Crust. In: Goff, J.A., Holliger, K. (eds) Heterogeneity in the Crust and Upper Mantle. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0103-9_1

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