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Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences

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A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Structural Geology and Tectonics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 15149

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Olivier Lacombe

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Guest Editor

Department of Earth Sciences, Sorbonne Université, 75252 Paris, France
Interests: tectonics and structural geology; fold-and-thrust belts; calcite twins; fractures; paleostress and paleopiezometry; fluid–rock interactions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

E-twinning is a common plastic deformation mechanism in calcite crystals. Experimental work has allowed significant progress in our understanding of the initiation and growth of calcite twins and their controlling factors. Coevally, inversion techniques have been developed that allow for the determination of principal stress orientations and differential stress magnitudes from naturally deformed calcite-bearing rocks. Calcite twinning deformation has implications and applications in many fields of geosciences, such as mineralogy, rheology, petrophysics, tectonics, and reservoir studies. This Special Issue aims at gathering a series of high-quality, up-to-date papers dealing with every type of investigation on, or using, calcite twins: experimental or modeling work on twinning in calcite from synthetic or natural single grains and aggregates; relative contribution and timing of calcite twinning during progressive deformation of calcite aggregates under various pressure–temperature–stress–strain rate conditions; contribution of calcite twinning to the petrophysical and mechanical evolution of calcite-bearing rocks; calcite twins as paleothermometers; inversion of calcite twins for stress orientations and magnitudes; regional studies using calcite twins as paleostress/strain gauges and markers of tectonic regimes; comparison with other paleopiezometers in the brittle and ductile fields.

Prof. Dr. Olivier Lacombe
Guest Editor

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Keywords

crystal plasticity
mineralogy
experiments and modeling
stress and strain
paleopiezometry
petrophysics
tectonics
reservoirs

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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34 pages, 10636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deformation of the European Plate (58-0 Ma): Evidence from Calcite Twinning Strains

by John P. Craddock, Uwe Ring and O. Adrian Pfiffner

Geosciences 2022, 12(6), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12060254 - 20 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1872

Abstract

We present a data set of calcite twinning strain results (n = 209 samples; 9919 measured calcite twins) from the internal Alpine nappes northwestward across the Alps and Alpine foreland to the older extensional margin along the Atlantic coast in Ireland. Along the coast of Northern Ireland, Cretaceous chalks and Tertiary basalts are cross-cut by calcite veins and offset by calcite-filled normal and strike-slip faults. Both Irish sample suites (n = 16 with four U-Pb vein calcite ages between 70–42 Ma) record a sub-horizontal SW-NE shortening strain with vertical extension and no strain overprint. This sub-horizontal shortening is parallel to the margin of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean (~58 Ma), and this penetrative fabric is only observed ~100 km inboard of the margin to the southeast. The younger, collisional Alpine orogen (~40 Ma) imparted a stress–strain regime dominated by SE-NW sub-horizontal shortening ~1200 km northwest from the Alps preserved in Mesozoic limestones and calcite veins (n = 32) in France, Germany and Britain. This layer-parallel shortening strain (−3.4%, 5% negative expected values) is preserved across the foreland in the plane of Alpine thrust shortening (SE-NW) along with numerous outcrop-scale contractional structures (i.e., folds, thrust faults). Calcite veins were observed in the Alpine foreland in numerous orientations and include both a SE-NW layer-parallel shortening fabric (n = 11) and a sub-vertical NE-SW vein-parallel shortening fabric (n = 4). Alpine foreland strains are compared with twinning strains from the frontal Jura Mountains (n = 9; layer-parallel shortening), the Molasse basin (n = 26; layer-parallel and layer-normal shortening), Pre-Alp nappes (n = 39; layer-parallel and layer-normal shortening), Helvetic and Penninic nappes (Penninic klippe; n = 46; layer-parallel and layer-normal shortening plus four striated U-Pb calcite vein ages ~24 Ma) and calcsilicates from the internal Tauern window (n = 4; layer-normal shortening). We provide a chronology of the stress–strain history of the European plate from 58 Ma through the Alpine orogen. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences)

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28 pages, 25364 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In-Situ Evolution of Calcite Twinning during Uniaxial Compression of Carrara Marble at Room Temperature

by Camille Parlangeau, Alexandre Dimanov and Simon Hallais

Geosciences 2022, 12(6), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12060233 - 31 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1607

Abstract

Calcite twinning is a dominant deformation mechanism at low temperatures. It is often used to reconstruct paleostresses: orientations of the principal stress axes, stress ratios and differential stress. Despite numerous studies, on single crystals and aggregates, questions remain about the initiation and evolution of the twinning. In particular, the existence of a critical value for the activation of twin planes is debated. In this study, Carrara marble samples were uniaxially deformed at low temperature. The experiments were monitored in situ in an SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and a deformation analysis was performed at regular intervals using image correlation. Image correlation analysis shows the link between the overconcentration of strains and the appearance of the first twinned planes. This is followed by a densification and a gradual thickening of the twin lamellae. Fracturing only appears in a third stage as a precursor to the collapse of the sample. The inversion, using the CSIT-2 technique, showed that the twinned planes are globally related to the applied macroscopic stress. The inversion allows one to retrieve the macroscopic stress tensor. Schmid factors were extracted from this analysis and correlated to the loading curves. For crystals of about 200 µm diameter, the threshold value is in between 6.75 and 8.25 MPa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences)

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20 pages, 6680 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Electron Backscatter Diffraction to Calcite-Twinning Paleopiezometry

by Ernest Rutter, David Wallis and Kamil Kosiorek

Geosciences 2022, 12(6), 222; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12060222 - 25 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2066

Abstract

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to determine the orientation of mechanically twinned grains in Carrara marble experimentally deformed to a small strain (≤4%) at room temperature and at a moderate confining pressure (225 MPa). The thicknesses of deformation twins were mostly too small to permit determination of their orientation by EBSD but it proved possible to measure their orientations by calculating possible twin orientations from host grain orientation, then comparing calculated traces to the observed twin traces. The validity of the Turner & Weiss method for principal stress orientations was confirmed, particularly when based on calculation of resolved shear stress. Methods of paleopiezometry based on twinned volume fraction were rejected but a practical approach is explored based on twin density. However, although twin density correlates positively with resolved shear stress, there is intrinsic variability due to unconstrained variables such as non-uniform availability of twin nucleation sites around grain boundaries that imposes a limit on the achievable accuracy of this approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences)

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25 pages, 11250 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Paleostress Analysis from Calcite Twins at the Longshan Dome (Central Hunan, South China): Mesozoic Mega-Fold Superimposition in the Reworked Continent

by Jian Zheng, Yehua Shan and Simin Hu

Geosciences 2021, 11(11), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11110456 - 05 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1749

Abstract

It is generally accepted that during the Mesozoic NE−NNE-trending folds overprinted E−W-trending folds to form the Longshan dome in the central South China continent, although the interference map does not tell the relative ages of the fold sets. In an effort to deepen our understanding of the process of reworking the continent, paleostress analysis using calcite twins was carried out in this study to verify or falsify this model. Ten limestone samples were collected from Upper-Paleozoic limestones on the flanks of the dome and were measured using the universal stage for calcite e-twins. E-twins in the samples are divisible into two kinds, thick (≥1 μm) and thin (<1 μm), indicative of relatively higher and lower deformation temperatures, respectively. Stress estimates obtained using the improved version of Shan et al.’s (2019) method were grouped into two layer-parallel shortening (LPS) subsets and three non-LPS subsets. These subsets comprise four tectonic regimes: NWW−SEE compression (LPS1 and non-LPS1), NNE−SSW compression (LPS2 and non-LPS2), NW−SE extension (non-LPS3a) and NNE−SSW extension (non-LPS3b). They were further arranged in a temperature-decreasing order to establish a complex deformation sequence of the study area. In the sequence NE−NNE-trending folds have an older age than E−W-trending folds, something different from the model. The approximately N−S regional compression responsible for the former folds should have a profound effect on the intensely deformed continent, something ignored in earlier work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences)

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Review

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49 pages, 20059 KiB

Open AccessReview

Calcite Twin Formation, Measurement and Use as Stress–Strain Indicators: A Review of Progress over the Last Decade

by Olivier Lacombe, Camille Parlangeau, Nicolas E. Beaudoin and Khalid Amrouch

Geosciences 2021, 11(11), 445; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11110445 - 28 Oct 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4377

Abstract

Mechanical twins are common microstructures in deformed calcite. Calcite twins have been used for a long time as indicators of stress/strain orientations and magnitudes. Developments during the last decade point toward significant improvements of existing techniques as well as new applications of calcite twin analysis in tectonic studies. This review summarises the recent progress in the understanding of twin formation, including nucleation and growth of twins, and discusses the concept of CRSS and its dependence on several factors such as strain, temperature and grain size. Classical and recent calcite twin measurement techniques are also presented and their pros and cons are discussed. The newly proposed inversion techniques allowing for the use of calcite twins as indicators of orientations and/or magnitudes of stress and strain are summarized. Benefits for tectonic studies are illustrated through the presentation of several applications, from the scale of the individual tectonic structure to the continental scale. The classical use of calcite twin morphology (e.g., thickness) as a straightforward geothermometer is critically discussed in the light of recent observations that thick twins do not always reflect deformation temperature above 170–200 °C. This review also presents how the age of twinning events in natural rocks can be constrained while individual twins cannot be dated yet. Finally, the review addresses the recent technical and conceptual progress in calcite twinning paleopiezometry, together with the promising combination of this paleopiezometer with mechanical analysis of fractures or stylolite roughness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences)

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12 pages, 2047 KiB

Open AccessReview

Origin and Application of the Twinned Calcite Strain Gauge

by Richard H. Groshong, Jr.

Geosciences 2021, 11(7), 296; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11070296 - 16 Jul 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2054

Abstract

This paper is a personal account of the origin and development of the twinned-calcite strain gauge, its experimental verification, and its relationship to stress analysis. The method allows the calculation of the three-dimensional deviatoric strain tensor based on five or more twin sets. A minimum of about 25 twin sets should provide a reasonably accurate result for the magnitude and orientation of the strain tensor. The opposite-signed strain axis orientation is the most accurately located. Where one strain axis is appreciably different from the other two, that axis is generally within about 10° of the correct value. Experiments confirm a magnitude accuracy of 1% strain over the range of 1–12% axial shortening and that samples with more than 40% negative expected values imply multiple or rotational deformations. If two deformations are at a high angle to one another, the strain calculated from the positive and negative expected values separately provides a good estimate of both deformations. Most stress analysis techniques do not provide useful magnitudes, although most provide a good estimate of the principal strain axis directions. Stress analysis based on the number of twin sets per grain provides a better than order-of-magnitude approximation to the differential stress magnitude in a constant strain rate experiment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calcite Deformation Twins: From Crystal Plasticity to Applications in Geosciences)

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