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Fault reactivation and pseudotachylite generation in the semi-brittle and brittle regimes: examples from the Gavilgarh–Tan Shear Zone, central India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2008

A. CHATTOPADHYAY ,
L. KHASDEO ,
R. E. HOLDSWORTH  and
S. A. F. SMITH
A. CHATTOPADHYAY*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi 110 007, India
L. KHASDEO
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi 110 007, India
R. E. HOLDSWORTH
Affiliation:
Reactivation Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
S. A. F. SMITH
Affiliation:
Reactivation Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the sheared and foliated granitoids of the Proterozoic Gavilgarh–Tan Shear Zone (GTSZ) in central India, two types of pseudotachylite (Pt-M and Pt-C) are recognized. Pt-M layers are interbanded with mylonite and ultramylonite, show strong internal plastic deformation and buckle folding concurrent with the host rocks, and appear to have formed within the greenschist facies (300–400 °C) in the brittle–plastic transitional (semi-brittle) regime. Pt-C layers show sharp contacts with the host rock, exhibit abundant coeval cataclasis, preserve no evidence of subsequent plastic deformation, and formed at shallower depths, at temperature < 300 °C. Sulphide droplets and embayment of quartz grain margins in the pseudotachylite (Pt-C) matrix indicates a melt origin. Ductile shear sense criteria in the host mylonites are consistently sinistral, while those associated with the deformed pseudotachylite (Pt-M) layers are dextral. It appears therefore that the host mylonite/ultramylonite foliation experienced reactivated slip movement in the ‘semi-brittle’ zone when pseudotachylite was generated and subsequently ductilely deformed. The brittle pseudotachylite (Pt-C) layers were generated later at a shallower level, and at a lower temperature. They are spatially associated with a set of foliation-parallel brittle shears with sinistral-sense displacements. The multiple episodes of frictional melt generation within the Gavilgarh–Tan Shear Zone illustrate that it has a complex history of multiple reactivations. It therefore represents an important new area for the study of seismic behaviour of the upper crust along pre-existing structures and may facilitate a better geological understanding of the present seismic activity in the central Indian Shield.

Keywords

pseudotachylitemylonitebrittle-plastic transitionfault reactivationcentral India
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 145 , Issue 6 , November 2008 , pp. 766 - 777
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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