Tectonophysics, 92 ( 1983) 147- 170 147

Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

CRACK-SEAL FIBRE GROWTH MECHANISMS AND THEIR

SIGNIFICANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORIENTED LAYER
SILICATE MICROSTRUCTURES

S.F. COX and M.A. ETHERIDGE

Department of Earth Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Vie. 3168 (Australia)

(Received September 1, 1982)

ABSTRACT

Cox, S.F. and Etheridge, M.A., 1983. Crack-seal fibre growth mechanisms and their significance in the
development of oriented layer silicate microstructures. Tectonophysics, 92: 147-170.

An analysis of crack-seal fibre growth mechanisms has shown two important implications of the
crack-seal process for the interpretation of microstructures in low-grade metamorphic rocks: (1) The
ability of fibre growth to track the incremental separation history of crack walls depends on details of the
nucleation and growth mechanisms. (2) Fibrous crystals may develop crystallographic preferred orienta-
tions in certain crack-seal situations.
The microstructures of layer silicates and associated phases developed in several examples of
syntectonic intragranular microfracture sites and veins indicates that layer silicate (001) and grain shape
preferred orientation can develop during crack-seal deformation by oriented growth mechanisms. During
successive crack-seal increments preferred orientation may develop in response to an interaction between
anisotropic growth kinetics and the displacement history, resulting in preferential rejoining, by syntaxial
overgrowth, of pulled apart grains having fast growth directions parallel to the incremental displacement
direction across a microcrack. Preferred orientation may also be developed and enhanced in crack-seal
growth sites by overgrowth of previously oriented layer silicates in the microcrack walls. In this case the
crystallographic preferred orientation need not be simply related to the displacement history during
crack-seal fibre growth.
Since- crack-seal processes may operate on all scales down to the minimum size of a microfracture in a
deforming rock, such mechanisms of layer silicate preferred orientation development are expected to be
very significant in developing and enhancing foliation during deformation involving microfracture and
solution transfer processes.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years fibrous syntectonic veins have been recognized to be an important

fabric element in rocks deformed particularly at low metamorphic grades. Durney
and Ramsay (1973) demonstrated that fibres in such veins have grown by an
accretionary process, and that in many cases fibre shapes can be related to the

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14x

progressive displacement history during vein formation. Durney and Ramsay (1973),
Ramsay (1980), and Dietrich and Ramsay (1980) made a major contribution to the
understanding of syntectonic vein formation by demonstrating that some fibrous
vein infillings develop by repeated increments of microcrack opening followed by
sealing of the microcrack by deposition of material from solution. This process,
termed “crack-seal” deformation (Ramsay. 1980). occurs where accumulation of
elastic strain is followed by brittle failure, release of elastic strain, solution transfer
of material to the microfracture site, and deposition therein. Once sealing of the
microfracture is accomplished. stresses can once again be transmitted across the
region of the initial microcrack, and elastic strains again build up until there is
renewed microfracture (Fig. I ).
In this paper we discuss two important implications of the crack-seal process for
the interpretation of microstructures in low-grade metamorphic rocks:
(1) The nucleation and growth of fibrous crystals by a crack-seal mechanism may
be quite distinct in detail from the diffusional accretionary process described by
Durney and Ramsay (1973). The ability of the fibrous crystals to track the
incremental displacement history of the crack walls will depend on the details of the
nucleation and growth mechanisms in the open crack, and we discuss situations in
which fibres may or may not record displacement paths.
(2) The fibrous crystals may develop crysta~~ograp~c preferred orientations under
certain crack-seat conditions, and we shall investigate the particular case of Iayer
silicates, Since crack-seal structures may occur on all scales down to the minimum
size of microfractures in a deforming rock, the growth of oriented layer silicates by
this process may contribute significantly to the development of foliation during
low-grade metamorphism.

A 6 C 0 E

Fig. 1. Diagram illustrating the sequence of events involved in fibre growth by the crack-seal deformation
mechanism. A. Accumulation of elastic strain (0, = max. principal stress). B. Elastic strain release
following brittle failure. Solution transfer of material into microcrack, and nucleation of phases on
microcrack walls. C. Sealing of microcrack and accumuiation of further elastic strain. D. Second
microcrack and elastic strain release increment. E. Syntaxial overgrowth of material on microcrack walks
to seal microcrack. F. Repeated crack-seal increments build up a fibrous microstructure.
 149

MECHANISMS OF FIBRE GROWTH DURING CRACK-SEAL DEFORMATION

The growth of fibres from a supersaturated solution during crack-seal deforma-

tion can be considered in terms of three stages:
(a) Nucleation or initial growth on microfracture walls after the initial cracking
increment .
(b) Growth of nuclei during the first crack-seal increment.
(c) Growth during successive crack-seal increments.

Nucleation and growth of phases during the first crack-seal increment

Following the initial microcracking increment, overgrowth of phases in the

microcrack wall or nucleation of new or differently oriented species on microcrack
walls may occur when the concentration of a phase in the fluid exceeds the
saturation value for the particular conditions of normal stress, fluid pressure,
temperature, and fluid composition. Deposition of species on the growth surfaces
may proceed by one or more of several competing mechanisms.

(I) Syntaxial overgrowth

Oriented or “syntaxial” overgrowth (Bathurst, 1975) of phases in microcrack
walls may occur if the depositing species is the same as the substrate (Fig. 2A). In
such cases the lattice preferred orientation of the fibres, at least during the initial
growth increment, will generally reflect that of the host phase in the initial micro-
crack walls. However, if a phase has anisotropic growth kinetics there can be a
tendency for those grains in the microcrack wall having fast growth directions
oriented at high angles to the microcrack wall to grow much more rapidly than
grains having other orientations.

A B C
SYNTAXIAL OVERGROWTH Q=
HOGT GRAINS
\ FLUID

HOST GNAINS

Fig. 2. Nucleation and initial growth mechanisms in fluid-filled microcracks. A. Syntaxial overgrowth of
grains in the microcrack walls. B. Oriented initial growth due to competition between neighbouring grains
having anisotropic growth kinetics. C. Random nucleation and initial growth.
150

(2) Oriented nucleation and growth of nonqntaxial phases

Where material depositing in a microcrack is not a syntaxial overgrowth of
crystals in the microcrack wall, preferred orientation may develop during the initial
crack-seal increment due to oriented nucleation and/or oriented initial growth.
During the initial growth phase lattice preferred orientation can develop in response
to anisotropic growth kinetics and competitive growth between neighbours (Fig, 2B).
If the orientation of the substrate surface is significant in controlling the develop-
ment of lattice preferred orientation, then its surface roughness on the scale of nuclei
is expected to be significant in determining if any lattice preferred orientation due to
anisotropic growth kinetics can develop during the initial crack-seal increment.
Substrate orientation may also be an influence on the nucleation behaviour of
anisotropic phases. Baronnet et al. (1976) found that hydrothermally grown layer
silicates, which have the c-direction as the slowest growing direction, nucleated and
grew with (001) parallel to the substrate surface provided adjacent nuclei did not
interfere with one another.
Stress-controlled oriented nucleation is another mechanism which must be consid-
ered for the development of oriented nuclei. However, as the stress field in a fluid
filling a microcrack site will be hydrostatic, it is unlikely that there could be any
differential stress effect on nucleating phases, at least where they have no syntax4
relationship with the substrate. Where new material is being deposited as a syntaxial
overgrowth of a non-hydrostatically stressed substrate it may be possible that
non-hydrostatic stress can influence the overgrowth kinetics during an initial crack-
seal increment. As noted by Paterson (1973), for a given normal stress and fluid
pressure, the solubility of a phase is in part dependent on the elastic strain energy of
the solid at the solid-fluid interface. For elastically anisotropic phases non-hydro-
static thermodynamics predicts that grains in some orientations are less soluble than
others. Thus the degree of supersaturation of the fluid in a microcrack can be higher
with respect to grains in certain orientations, thus permitting more rapid growth of
these grains, and hence occlusion of slower growing grains having other orientations.

(3) Random nucleation and growth

This process appears to be very common, especially in veins where the depositing
species do not have strongly anisotropic growth kinetics (Fig. 2C), where intergrowth
of several species occurs, or where irregularities, ledges, or impurities on the
substrate cause significant surface roughness on the size scale of nuclei.

Fibre growth mechanisms during successive crack-seal increments

Once nucleation or initial growth of phases has occurred on microcrack surfaces,

growth of stable nuclei will ensue until the microcrack is completely filled, provided
the nutrient solution remains supersaturated with respect to the nucleated phases.
During the successive crack-seal increments the type of fibre microfabric that
 151

develops will be dependent upon the site of renewed microcracking, the incremental
displacement history, and the mechanisms of continued growth of the initial
fracture-filling phases. Consider, for example, the case in which fibres may be either
syntaxial overgrowths of grains in the initial microfracture wall, or non-syntaxial
species, and successive microcracking increments occur within the vein-filling fibres
near fibre mid-points (i.e. successive events of intrafibre crack-seal). New fibre
growth at successive crack-seal increments can occur such that the displaced portions
of originally joined grains are reconnected by syntaxial overgrowth of displaced
fibres (Fig. 3A). This fibre rejoining process should be particularly favoured when
crack-seal growth increments are small compared with fibre diameters. Evidence of
such repeated intrafibre crack-seal increments is in some cases provided by the
presence of fine bands of fluid inclusions cutting across crack-seal fibres at healed
microfracture sites (Fig. 4A).
It is expected that the detailed shape of fibre-fibre boundaries should be related
to the orientation of intrafibre microcracks if fibres have isotropic growth kinetics as
depicted in Fig. 3. In our examples of fibrous veins, no examples have been found in
which serrated fibre-fibre boundary configurations are clearly due to fibres growing

A B

Fig. 3. Fibre growth mechanisms involving repeated growth increments following fibre mid-point micro
cracking. A. Fibre growth sequence: at left fibre growth occurs by repeated microcracking subperpendicu-
lar to incremental extension direction. At right repeated microcracking occurs on planes parallel to vein
wall. B. Overall vein morphology developed during a displacement history in which principal strain
increment directions are coaxial. Arrows indicate fibre younging directions. C. Overall vein morphology
developed with changing principal strain directions.
152
 153

oblique to the intrafibre microcrack surfaces (as in Fig. 3; right-hand growth

sequence). Instead, the orientation of fluid inclusion bands at healed intrafibre
microcracks suggests that in many cases intrafibre microfracturing occurs subper-
pendicular to fibre long axes, and not necessarily parallel to the initial microcracking
increment represented by the vein wall. Many irregularities which are present at
fibre-fibre boundaries are due to competitive growth between adjacent fibres having
anisotropic growth kinetics (D. Dietrich, pers. commun., 1981) (Fig. 4B, C). Figure 5
illustrates a striking example of twin-boundary stepping which is a response to the
fast growth direction (2) being inclined to the incremental displacement direction
during the crack-seal growth of a lamellar-twinned plagioclase fibre.
The overall shape of fibres developed by a repeated intrafibre crack-seal growth
mechanism has a simple relationship to the displacement history during vein
formation only if successive microcracking increments always occur at the same
position in the vein (Fig. 3B, C). If the site of successive fibre growth increments
changes position significantly, then the relationship between fibre shape and the
incremental displacement history during a general non-coaxial strain history will be
complex. Nevertheless, such crack-seal fibres still give an indication of the total
displacement across a vein as they connect originally joined parts of the vein wall.
In the case where successive crack-seal increments always occur at or near to one
or both of the initial vein walls, two types of growth are possible. If vein-filling fibres
are syntaxial overgrowths of grains present in the vein wall, or if clean detachment
of non-syntaxial fibres from the original vein wall does not occur at each crack-seal
increment, many increments of growth which join up the displaced parts of initially
joined grains can then result in fibres having long axis orientations which track the
incremental displacement history during vein growth (Fig. 6). However, in cases
where the fracture-filling phase is not a syntaxial overgrowth of any phase present in
the vein wall, and it becomes cleanly detached from the vein wall at each crack-seal
increment, free growth of the fibre into the microcrack is expected. Successive
increments of such growth would result in fibres growing with long axes subper-
pendicular to the microcrack wall at each crack-seal increment, and fibre shapes
would not in general track the incremental displacement history (Fig. 7). This type
of fibre growth behaviour is possibly that exhibited by quartz fibres developed in
fringe structures against pyrite euhedra (Fig. 8). Though it cannot be demonstrated
conclusively whether quartz fringe structures on pyrite euhedra grow by a crack-seal
mechanism or by the diffusional accretionary mechanism proposed by Durney and
Ramsay (1973) a number of their features are consistent with growth by a crack-seal

Fig. 4. A. Fine trails of fluid inclusions in quartz fibres at incompletely healed crack-seal fibre growth sites
in an intragranular microfracture in a quartz grain. Mt. Lyell, Tasmania. B. Serrated fibre-fibre
boundaries between adjacent quartz fibres in a crack-seal vein. St&an, Tasmania. C. Complex fibre-fibre
boundary geometry developed between adjacent quartz and calcite fibres in a crack-seal vein. Strahan,
Tasmania.
Fig 5. Stepping of twin boundaries in a lamellar twinned albite fihre which has grown by an intra-fibre
crack-seal mechanism. Wattie Gully. Victoria.

2 -I ., “..I

Fig. 6. Fibre growth mechanisms involving crack-seal growth increments at. or near to, the vein wall. A.
Crack-seal fibre growth sequence involving syntaxid overgrowth of grains present in the vein wall. B.
Crack-seal fibre growth, with fibres being incompletely detached from vein wall at each crack-seal
increment. C. Overall vein morphology developed during a displacement history in which the principal
strain increment directions are coaxial. Arrows indicate younging directions. D. Vein morphology
developed with changing principal increment directions.
 155

Fig. 7. Fibre growth mechanisms involving complete fibre detachment from vein wall at each crack-sea1
increment. A. Fibre growth sequence developed during a displacement history in which principal strain
increment directions are coaxial. Note that fibre shape does not track the displacement history. B. Fibre
growth sequence developed during a displacement history in which the fibres are rotating.

Fig. 8. An example in which fibre growth is interpreted to have involved complete fibre detachment from
the vein wall at each crack-seal increment: quartz fibres developed against a euhedral pyrite gram, Mt.
Lyell, Tasmania. The quartz fibres are syntaxial overgrowths of quartz in the surrounding matrix, but
fibre growth increments are interpreted to have taken place adjacent to the pyrite grain surface following
repeated complete detachment of fibres from the pyrite.
mechanism such as depicted in Fig. 7. The tendency for fibre diameters to increase
towards the pyrite-quartz interface indicates that fibre growth has occurred by
accretion near the interface. As is expected if fibres are cleanly detached from the
pyrite at each crack-seal increment, the fibre shapes do not track the displacement
history. Rather, growth has been subperpendicular to the growth surface during
successive growth increments.

~eveiop~ent of lattice preferred orie~iation during crack-seal fibre growth

We have already seen how lattice preferred orientation may develop during the
nucleation and initial growth stage during crack-seal deformation. Lattice preferred
orientation may also develop following random nucleation and initial growth if a
phase, growing by a crack-seal mechanism involving successive increments of
rejoining pulled apart grains, has anisotropic growth kinetics. As illustrated in Fig. 9
those fibres having fast growth directions subparallel to the extension direction
during a crack-seal increment are expected to be the most successful at rejoining
following an increment of intrafibre microfracture. During successive crack-seal

FIBRE
YDUNGING
1
DIRECTION

Fig. 9. Development of lattice preferred orientation during crack-seal fibre growth by preferential
rejoining at each crack-seal growth increment of those grains having fast growth directions parallel to the
incremental displacement vector. Bars indicate orientations of fast growth directions.
 157

increments fibres with fast growth directions inclined to the incremental extension
direction will thus have their growth occluded gradually by the more rapid growth of
fibres having fast growth directions subparallel to the incremental extension direc-
tion. This situation is analogous to the development of crystallographic preferred

Fig. lOA, B (for Legendsee p. 158).

158

Fig. 10. A. Fibrous quartz crack-seal vein in a siliceous hydrothermally altered volcanic, Mt. Lye11 area
(64620). B. Fibrous quartz crack-seal vein in a quartz sandstone, Mt. Lye11 area (64309). C. Plot of 120
quartz c-axes in quartz fibres in 64620. Contour interval 3-21 per 1% area. E is the fibre long axis
direction. Foliation plane in wall rock indicated. D. Plot of 174 quartz c-axes in quartz fibres in 64309.
Contour interval 2- 1%per 1%area. (Specimen numbers refer to Monash University rock collection.)

orientation due to grain impingement and crowding out during open space crystal
growth (Buckley, 1958).
Examples in which preferred orientation development has occurred during crack-
seal deformation are provided by quartz fibres in the veins illustrated in Fig. 10. The
quartz fibres, which are overgrowths of small equant quartz grains in the vein wall.
have diameters similar to the host grain diameters adjacent to the vein walls. Some
fibres become wider further from the walls at the expense of other fibres which pinch
out a short distance from the walls. Individual fibres are crossed at high angles to
their long axes by numerous subplanar bands, rich in fine fluid inclusions, which
represent healed, intrafibre, crack-seal growth sites.
The subequant quartz in the vein walls has a random c-axis preferred orientation;
however, the fibrous quartz away from the vein walls can have a well developed
c-axis preferred orientation in which c-axes lie approximately in a small circle
distribution with an opening angle of about 40” around the orientation of fibre long
axes (Fig. lOC, D). This preferred orientation is consistent with [lOi directions
lying predominantly close to the extension direction across the vein, in which case
[lOi2] has been the fast growth direction under the conditions prevailing during
fibre growth.

ORIENTED LAYER SILICATE MICROSTRUCTURES IN CRACK-SEAL VEINS

Having examined crack-seal fibre growth mechanisms and highlighted processes

whereby lattice preferred orientation may develop during crack-seal deformation, we
will now describe and discuss some oriented layer silicate microstructures which
have developed in syntectonic veins and intragranular microfracture sites. We shall
 159

firstly discuss some oriented layer silicate microstructures in discrete antiaxial veins,
but shall then turn our attention to microfracture sites on the scale of the grain size
to show how crack-seal processes can contribute to layer silicate preferred orienta-
tion throughout the microstructure.
The microstructures to be described in the following sections occur in a sequence
of hydrothermally altered silicic volcanics of Cambrian age in the Mt. Lye11 area of
western Tasmania, Australia. Intragranular microfracturing and vein formation in
this area post-dates Cambrian hydrothe~~ alteration and has occurred in a
low-grade metamorphic environment synchronous with Middle Devonian regional
folding and cleavage development involving dissolution-solution transfer-redeposi-
tion processes (Cox, 1981; Cox and Etheridge, 1981).

Antitaxial ueim

The first examples of oriented layer silicate microstructures to be described occur

in lenticular crack-seal veins which are up to 2 cm wide and up to 50 cm long. Such
veins are very common in the Mt. Lye11 area, and are typically subperpendicular to
the regionally penetrative S, foliation and the steeply plun~ng L,, mineral elonga-
tion lineation. The veins consist of nearly straight fibrous intergrowths of quartz and
siderite, with fibre long axes oriented parallel to the bulk extension direction across
the vein.
The wall rocks to the veins are fine-grained quartz -t phengite + chlorite f siderite
+ magnetite assemblages. Large irregularly shaped magnetite grains in the host rock
show small, fibrous, chlorite-filled intragranular microfractures which have opening
directions subparallel to those of the larger crack-seal veins.
The vein-filling fibres exhibit two dominant morphologies. In parts of the vein
abutting quartz-rich or siderite-rich areas of the vein wall, fibres are apparently
overgrowths of grains in the vein wall. Such fibres range from about 30 to 200 pm in
diameter (Fig. llA), and may extend a large part of the way across a vein.
Intergrown with these fibres, and abutting the more layer silicate rich areas of the
vein wall are more irregularly shaped and wider fibres which are not clearly
overgrowths of phases in the vein wall (Fig. 11B). Some of these fibres contain well
developed, solid-phase inclusion trails similar to some of those described in anti-
taxial crack-seal veins by Ramsay (1980). Inclusions forming the trails are euhedral
to subhedral, spaced at intervals of about IO-40 pm, and usually extend outwards
from a grain of similar crystallographic orientation in the vein wall. The inclusions
are dominantly siderite and quartz, though mica and chlorite are also present.
A few of these antitaxial fibres also contain inclusions bands transverse to fibre
long axes. Such bands may have undulatory shapes, but are closely parallel to one
another and to the adjacent vein wall (Fig. 12A). The inclusion bands can be
composed of small quartz or siderite inclusions, but the most spectacular examples
are composed of tiny mica platelets and occur as sequences of parallel bands
Fig. 11.A. Quartz fibres which are syntaxial overgrowths of grains in the vein wail. B. Antitaxiai quartz
and siderite fibres which are not clearly overgrowths of grains in the vein wall. Note siderite inclusion trail
(arrowed) indicating fibre growth by a crack-seal mechanism involving repeated increments of microfrac-
turing at the vein wall.
Fig. 12. Inclusion bands in antitaxial crack-seal fibres. A. Mica-rich inclusion bands parallel to the vein
wall in an antitaxiai siderite fibrc. B. Oriented mica platelets forming inclusion bands in an antitaxial
quartz fibre.
162

separated by intervals of lo-40 pm (Fig. 12B). The mica inclusions occur mostly as
platelets up to about 10 pm long and usually less than 2 pm wide. Adjacent
inclusions in a band are separated by intervals of about l-5 pm. The mica platelets
are usually straight with square to well rounded or conical ends. Grain long axes are
parallel to (001) and most significantly, regardless of the orientation of the inclusion
bands, the majority of inclusions have long dimensions subparallel to both the host
fibre long axis, and to the layer silicate foliation in the vein wall.
The development of fibrous vein fillings which contain spaced solid phase
inclusion bands and trails is well explained by growth from solution during repeated
crack-seal increments at the boundary between fibres and vein walls (Ramsay, 1980).
The large quartz and siderite fibres in the veins described above are thus considered
to have formed by successive increments of overgrowth and rejoining of fibres to the
vein wall following detachment. The spacing of inclusions in trails and transverse
bands indicates that during each crack-seal increment about lo-40 pm of new
material was added to the vein. In any one crack-seal increment the sealing process
has occurred dominantly by overgrowth of the large quartz and siderite fibres. The
inclusion bands are clearly not bands of wall-rock detached from the vein wall at
each crack-seal increment as the inclusions have shapes which are different from

A B C

“ID- MICAS
ANTITA iLLED SYNTAXIALLY
AND SI ICROCRACK GVERGSClWlNG
MICA-RICH
FIBRES MICA GRAINS
WALL
RCCK IN VEIN WALL

Fig. 13. Sequential development of oriented layer silicate inclusion bands by a syntaxial overgrowth
mechanism. A. Antitaxial quartz and siderite fibres abutting mica-rich wall rock. B. During a micro-
cracking increment, fibres become detached from the vein wall. C. Overgrowth of quartz and siderite
fibres, as well as oriented mica grains in microcrack wall. D. Sealing of microcrack leaves a band of
oriented mica inclusions in the larger quartz and siderite fibres. E. Same process is repeated during the
next crack-seal increment. F. Repeated crack-seal increments build up a sequence of inclusion bands
containing highly oriented mica platelets.
 163

those of the same phases in the vein wall. The presence of mica inclusions forming
trails and transverse bands within the larger quartz and siderite fibres is thus best
explained by growth of the layer silicates at the vein wall after each cracking
increment, synchronous with the more rapid growth of the large quartz and siderite
fibres. The faster growth of the main quartz and siderite fibres has occluded growth
of the layer silicate platelets before they could extend completely across the
microcrack (Fig. 13), thus isolating them as inclusion bands.
The remarkable feature of the layer silicate inclusions is that they have (001)
oriented subparallel to the host fibre long axes and the layer silicate foliation in the
vein wall, regardless of the o~entation of the vein wall. In some cases observed,
individual mica platelets in successive inclusion bands are repeated as trails of
similarly shaped and sized inclusions. However, in general where the very fine-grained
mica inclusions are closely spaced in bands, trains derived from overgrowth of
particular matrix grains are not recognizable.
As with quartz and siderite inclusions which form trails and have developed by
overgrowth of grains in the vein wall, the oriented layer silicate inclusions are
attributed to syntaxial overgrowth of a proportion of the oriented layer silicates in
the vein wall at each crack-seal event. This microstructure thus illustrates the growth
of layer silicates into a fluid-filled microcrack during crack-seal deformation, with
overgrowth of previously oriented layer silicates in the vein wall resulting in effective
enhancement of the bulk rock preferred orientation.

Intragranular microfractures

The microstructures present within intragranular microfracture sites in pheno-

trysts in deformed acid volcanics of the Mt. Lye11 area also illustrate clearly the
development of layer silicate grain shape, and lattice preferred orientation during
crack-seal deformation.
The intragranular microfractures in the phenocrysts are typically nearly pure
extension or oblique extension fractures. They are usually subplanar to gently
curved, but in some cases have irregular shapes. The opening direction across
microfractures, as indicated by features such as offset microfracture wall irregulari-
ties and grain boundaries is usually subparallel to the down-dip mineral elongation
lineation ( L2) in the host rock. The grains in which intragranular microfractures are
well developed are commonly about 0.2-3 mm in diameter and show evidence of
only weak dislocation flow deformation. However, elongations resulting from the
opening of extension microfractures are sometimes in excess of 100%. Individual
microfractures may have openings up to 300 pm though commonly they are much
less. In most examples, intragranular microfractures extend right across a grain,
though usually they apparently do not extend into the adjacent finer-grained
groundmass. Where intra~anular microfractures do not extend across the entire
164
 165

grain they terminate by gradually tapering, or by intersection with another micro-

fracture.
Within the microfracture sites layer silicates occur as straight to gently curved
elongate platelets or fibres having grain long axes and (001) dominantly subparallel
to the opening direction across the microfracture, even though this orientation may
not be perpendicular to the plane of the microfracture wall (Fig. 14A). In many
cases, especially where the microfracture width is less than about 30 pm, individual
fibres extend from one microfracture wall to the other. These can be intergrown with
smaller similarly oriented fibres which extend only part of the way across the
microfracture. In some cases a few fibres misoriented with respect to the others may
also be present. Mica or chlorite may be the dominant phase within intragranular
microfracture sites, or they may be intergrown with each other or quartz fibres.
Where quartz fibres are present they commonly contain abundant cross-cutting fluid
inclusion-rich-healed microfracture planes which are spaced irregularly at intervals
of up to about 10 pm and are generally subperpendicular to fibre long axes. The
abundance of such intrafibre microfractures sites indicates that fibre growth has
occurred by an intrafibre crack-seal mechanism. The fact that fibres connect
originally joined positions on either side of the microfractures, and are commonly
non-perpendicular to the initial microfractures walls, also indicates that crack-seal
growth necessarily involved repeated intrafibre crack-seal events rather than succes-
sive increments of complete fibre detachment from one or other of the vein walls.
Layer silicates in the intragranular microfracture sites are elongate platelets
typically only about 2-5 pm thick perpendicular to (OOl), but they are commonly in
excess of 50 pm long. Their width perpendicular to the grain long axis, but in the
(001) plane, is seldom greater than about 10 pm. The size and morphology of the
layer silicate platelets thus classes them as being whisker crystals (Evans, 1972).
Some layer silicate fibres may have gentle kinks, and in a few cases, cross-cutting
growth defects characterized by a slight change in pleochroic colour or the presence
of very fine inclusions, have been recognized. Such defects may be associated with
small grain boundary ledges or necking down of grains over an interval of several
microns, and are considered to be sites of healed intrafibre microfractures.
Where layer silicate platelets meet the host-grain microfracture wall they usually
have rectangular to rounded or conical terminations, and are intergrown with a
syntaxial overgrowth rim on the host grain (Fig. 14B, C). Such overgrowth rims can
be up to about 10 pm thick and may be recognized by an inclusion content different

Fig. 14. A. Fibrous oriented white mica intergrown with minor quartz in an intragranular microfracture
site in a quartz phenocryst. Mica (001) is parallel to the total displacement vector across the microfracture
site. B. Elongate mica platelets abutting a syntaxial quartz overgrowth rim within an intragranular
microfracture site in a quarts phenocryst. C. Intergrowth of mica and quartz in an intragranular
microfracture site within a quartz phenocryst. Note irregularly oriented mica platelets near the boundary
between the quartz phenocryst and the oriented fibrous zone.
166

from that of the host grain, or there may be a line of fine inclusions separating the
overgrowth rim from the host grain. Extremely small ( < 3 pm long) layer silicate
inclusions in this overgrowth zone can have apparently random orientations or may
have long axes subparallel to the microfracture wall (Fig. 14C).
As shown by a section cut normal to the fibre long axes (Fig. 15). the (001)
preferred orientation of fibrous layer silicates in intragranutar extension microfrac-
ture sites is typically a nearly complete girdle of (001) poles perpendicular to the
extension direction across the microfracture.

Early stages of layer silicate fibre growth in intragranular microfractures

The very early stages of layer silicate fibre growth in an intragranular microfrac-
ture site are illustrated in Fig. 16. Here a narrow microfracture in a quartz
phenocryst has been infilled by quartz, chlorite and mica. In the narrowest part of
the microfracture site, layer silicates occur as tiny equant to elongate grains. Some of
the elongate grains have long dimensions and (001) subparallel to the opening
direction across the microfracture. but many other layer silicate grains are irregularly
oriented, In the syntaxial quartz overgrowth rim at the microfracture walls there are
also many ‘very small irregularly oriented layer silicate grains which range in size
from several microns in length down to submicroscopic dimensions.

Fig. 15. Microstructure of layer silicates in an intragranular microfracture site in a section cut normal to
fibre long axes. Apparently random (001) orientation in this plane indicates that layer silicate (001) forms
a girdle perpendicular to the extension direction in the microfracture site.
 167

Fig. 16. Microstructure of layer silicates (dominantly chlorite with some phengitic mica) in a narrow
intragranular microfracture site.

In slightly wider microfractures the proportion of oriented layer silicate platelets

is much larger, but a rim zone of poorly oriented small grains may be recognized in
some cases, either intergrown with quartz in a syntaxial overgrowth rim on the initial
microfracture walls, or else intergrown with the larger highly-oriented layer silicates.

MECHANISMS OF LAYER SILICATE PREFERRED ORIENTATION DEVELOPMENT DURING

CRACK-SEAL DEFORMATION

The example of oriented layer silicates occurring as inclusions within antitaxial

quartz and siderite fibres illustrates a case in which layer silicates have grown from a
supersaturated solution into fluid-filled microcracks during crack-seal deformation.
In this case the development of preferred orientation in the microcrack sites has
been attributed to syntaxial overgrowth of previously oriented layer silicate platelets
in the microcrack wall.
In the examples illustrating the development of oriented layer silicates within
intragranular microfracture sites in quartz phenocrysts, the development of preferred
orientation by a syntaxial overgrowth mechanism is not possible during the initial
crack-seal increment. Indeed, the microstructure so often developed near the host-
grain microfracture walls suggests that in many cases layer silicates have grown
initially in irregular orientations and are intergrown with a quartz overgrowth rim.
168

During successive crack-seal increments, provided microcracks develop within the

earlier fracture-filling deposits, and fibre growth occurs by rejoining of the displaced
segments of originally joined grains, then both lattice and shape preferred orienta-
tion may develop by selective rejoining of those layer silicate fibres having fast
growth directions (i.e. (001) planes) subparallel to the incremental displacement
direction across a microcrack. As illustrated in Fig. 17, where growth is shown to
occur by repeated vein mid-point crack-seal increments, rapid growth of suitably
oriented nuclei can occlude the growth of platelets having (001) inclined to the
incremental extension direction during early crack-seal increments.
It is worth noting the scale of crack-seal growth increments when each microcrack
opening event occurs in response to elastic strain release by brittle failure following
low elastic strains within individual quartz grains up to about 1 mm in diameter.
Taking a maximum geologically realistic deviatoric stress of the order of 100 MPa,
elastic strains in individual quartz grains are likely to be around 0.1% at most, at
low-grade metamorphic temperatures. This allows crack-seal growth increments up
to about 2 pm in width, and possibly much less.

MICROCRACK OPENING MI~ROCRACK SEALING

- ______
_____~ ._ .-. ._.- _.-- .--_ _ _ .~._~ ~_~~_
-._..__
FIRST f f
CRACK- SEAL B
INCREMENT -+ boa $8 BB go1
i J

_ ____ -_. _- _._- ____... _----________ -

FOURTH
INCREMENT

.: .; ,..._.: .. .. . . -..i :.
~_II -~___~- ~--___~-
LAYER S/LfCAE

Fig. 17. Schematic diagram ilIus~ating the sequential development of layer silicate preferred orientation
within an intragranular ~crofracture site during the first four crack-seal increments of its growth history.
 169

IMPLICATIONS OF CRACK-SEAL FIBRE GROWTH FOR CLEAVAGE DEVELOPMENT

Etheridge et al. (in press) have recently discussed the relationship between fluid
pressures, microcracking, permeability and fluid transport during regional metamor-
phism. They concluded that the crack-seal process acts as a local fluid pump, driving
advective fluid migration and consequent solute transport. In this context, foliation
development by oriented crack-seal fibre growth is a natural consequence of
deformation at fluid pressures in excess of the minimum principal compressive stress
(i.e. negative effective minimum stress). The high-fluid pressures promote
(~cro)cracking and fluid ~gration, with the consequent dissolution-precipitation
geometry and the incremental strain controlled by the orientation of the externally
applied stress field.
Since crack-seal processes may operate on all scales down to the minimum size of
microfractures in a deforming rock body, the development of oriented layer silicate
microstructures, and indeed other oriented fibrous microstructures, by such processes
is expected to be significant in the development of foliation in low grade metamor-
phic environments where solution transfer and microcracking processes are opera-
tive. The operation of crack-seal mechanisms for example in intragranular microfrac-
ture sites, such as those described above, can generate a significant component of the
foliation in a tectonite (Cox and Etheridge, 1981). The operation of crack-seal
mechanisms and the oriented growth of layer silicate fibres at other types of
microfracture sites, such as intergranular microfractures, may be significant in the
generation of microstructures such as layer silicate beards between pulled apart
grains, and layer silicate films or fibre zones oblique to the shortening direction at
the sites of discontinuities such as conjugate shear microfractures. In layer silicate
rich rocks the development of oriented overgrowths in response to intergranular and
intragranular crack-seal processes operating on the scale of individual layer silicate
platelets may also be significant in generation of foliation.
In cases in which foliation generation has involved extensive operation of crack-
seal processes, the orientation and intensity of the layer silicate preferred orientation
will be related broadly to the incremental strain history and total strain history
during crack-seal fibre growth. However, the details of the relationship will depend
on the details of the operative crack-seal fibre growth processes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study has been supported partly by an Australian Government Postgraduate

Research Award, and was completed during the tenure by one of us (S.F.C.) of a
C.S.I.R.O. post-doctoral studentship. The work was also supported by grant no.
E80/1601? from the Australian Research Grants Scheme.
The authors express their gratitude to the General Manager, Mt. Lye11 Mining
and Railway Co. Ltd., for ready access to the Mt. Lye11 Mines lease area, and for
assistance in the field.
D.W. Durney and W.D. Means are thanked for critically reviewing the manuscript.
170

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