The Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone revisited: Timing and tectonic implications

2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1165-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junlai Liu ◽  
Xiaoyu Chen ◽  
Yuan Tang ◽  
Zhijie Song ◽  
Wei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Red River ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Ductile Shearing ◽  
Magma Sources ◽  
T Values ◽  
Tectonic Extrusion ◽  
Lower Crustal

Abstract Continental strike-slip shear zones that may bear important information about the evolution of convergent tectonics often occur to accommodate plate convergence. When and how shearing along the shear zones responds to plate interactions, however, are often debated. In this study, we investigated the Oligocene–Miocene leucocratic dikes from the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone, which was active during India-Eurasia plate convergence, to constrain the timing and mechanism of ductile shearing along the shear zone. The dikes are structurally grouped into pre-, syn-, and postkinematic types with respect to ductile shearing. Prekinematic dikes from ca. 41 to 30 Ma have low whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr(i) values (0.707–0.710), generally high εNd(t) values (–3.31∼–7.98), and variable εHf(t) values (–7.9∼+5.7). Their magma sources involved high thermal perturbation inducing partial melting of the lower crust, and contributions from the mantle that were possibly related to extensional collapse of the orogenic belt prior to tectonic extrusion of the Sundaland block. Syn- and postkinematic dikes from ca. 28 to 20 Ma dominantly have high whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr(i) (0.707–0.725) and low εNd(t) (–5.83 to –9.76) values, and either negative or positive zircon εHf(t) values (broadly in the range of –12 to + 7.6) for coeval but separate crustal magma sources. The results imply that major shearing accompanying retrograde metamorphism along the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone was localized to crustal level. A synthesis of regional structural data suggests that Oligocene–Miocene shearing along the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone and lateral tectonic extrusion of the Sundaland block proceeded in response to progressive India-Eurasia plate convergence. Distributed and inhomogeneous middle- to lower-crustal flow along the boundaries of and within the Sundaland block occurred during the tectonic extrusion.

scholarly journals Migmatite and leucogranite in a continental-scale exhumed strike-slip shear zone: Implications for tectonic evolution and initiation of shearing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junyu Li ◽  
Shuyun Cao ◽  
Xuemei Cheng ◽  
Franz Neubauer ◽  
Haobo Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Thermal State ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Red River ◽  
Crustal Anatexis ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
Lower Crustal

Plutons within continental strike-slip shear zones bear important geological processes on late-stage plate transpression and continent-continent collision and associated lateral block extrusion. Where, when, and how intrusions and shearing along transpressional strike-slip shear zones respond to plate interactions, however, are often debated. In this study, we investigated migmatite associated leucogranite and pegmatite from the exhumed >1000-km-long Ailao Shan-Red River left-lateral strike-slip shear zone in Southeast Asia that was active during India-Eurasia plate convergence. Most zircons from the migmatites and leucogranitic intrusions present inherited core-rim structure. The depletion of rare earth element patterns and positive Eu anomalies suggest that leucosomes and leucogranites are the result of crustal anatexis. Zircon rims from the foliated migmatites and leucogranites record U-Pb ages of 41−28 Ma, revealing the timing of the Cenozoic crustal anatexis event along this strike-slip shear zone. Ages of the magmatic zircons from the unfoliated pegmatites provide the timing of the termination of a high-temperature tectono-thermal event and ductile left-lateral shearing at 26−23 Ma. The Cenozoic crustal anatexis along the Ailao Shan-Red River strike-slip shear zone indicates that thickened crust underneath the shear zone involved previously subducted crust. We propose that the Cenozoic thermal state has an important effect on the crustal anatexis and thus on the rheological behavior of the lithosphere by thermal weakening, which plays an essential role in localizing the initiation of the deep-seated lower-crustal shear zone.

Macro- and microstructural analysis of the Zhujiafang ductile shear zone, Hengshan Complex: Tectonic nature and geodynamic implications of the evolution of Trans−North China orogen

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingchao He ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Guochun Zhao ◽  
Changqing Yin ◽  
Jiahui Qian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
North China ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Slip Systems ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Ductile Shear Zone ◽  
Crustal Rocks ◽  
Ductile Shear ◽  
Lower Crustal

In worldwide orogenic belts, crustal-scale ductile shear zones are important tectonic channels along which the orogenic root (i.e., high-grade metamorphic lower-crustal rocks) commonly experienced a relatively quick exhumation or uplift process. However, their tectonic nature and geodynamic processes are poorly constrained. In the Trans−North China orogen, the crustal-scale Zhujiafang ductile shear zone represents a major tectonic boundary separating the upper and lower crusts of the orogen. Its tectonic nature, structural features, and timing provide vital information into understanding this issue. Detailed field observations showed that the Zhujiafang ductile shear zone experienced polyphase deformation. Variable macro- and microscopic kinematic indicators are extensively preserved in the highly sheared tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) and supracrustal rock assemblages and indicate an obvious dextral strike-slip and dip-slip sense of shear. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) was utilized to further determine the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of typical rock-forming minerals, including hornblende, quartz, and feldspar. EBSD results indicate that the hornblendes are characterized by (100) <001> and (110) <001> slip systems, whereas quartz grains are dominated by prism <a> and prism <c> slip systems, suggesting an approximate shear condition of 650−700 °C. This result is consistent with traditional thermobarometry pressure-temperature calculations implemented on the same mineral assemblages. Combined with previously reported metamorphic data in the Trans−North China orogen, we suggest that the Zhujiafang supracrustal rocks were initially buried down to ∼30 km depth, where high differential stress triggered the large-scale ductile shear between the upper and lower crusts. The high-grade lower-crustal rocks were consequently exhumed upwards along the shear zone, synchronous with extensive isothermal decompression metamorphism. The timing of peak collision-related crustal thickening was further constrained by the ca. 1930 Ma metamorphic zircon ages, whereas a subsequent exhumation event was manifested by ca. 1860 Ma syntectonic granitic veins and the available Ar-Ar ages of the region. The Zhujiafang ductile shear zone thus essentially record an integrated geodynamic process of initial collision, crustal thickening, and exhumation involved in formation of the Trans−North China orogen at 1.9−1.8 Ga.

scholarly journals The emplacement mode of Upper Cretaceous plutons from the southwestern part of the Sredna Gora Zone (Bulgaria): structural and AMS study

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neven Georgiev ◽  
Bernard Henry ◽  
Neli Jordanova ◽  
Nikolaus Froitzheim ◽  
Diana Jordanova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Anisotropy Of Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
Southwestern Part ◽  
Structural Investigations ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Microgranular Enclaves

The emplacement mode of Upper Cretaceous plutons from the southwestern part of the Sredna Gora Zone (Bulgaria): structural and AMS study Several plutons located in the southwestern part of the Sredna Gora Zone — Bulgaria are examples of the Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Sredna Gora type of granites emplaced during Late Cretaceous (86-75 Ma) times. The studied intrusive bodies are spatially related to and deformed by the dextral Iskar-Yavoritsa shear zone. The deformation along the shear zone ceased at the time of emplacement of the undeformed Upper Cretaceous Gutsal pluton, which has intruded the Iskar-Yavoritsa mylonites. A clear transition from magmatic foliation to high-, moderate- and low-temperature superimposed foliation and lineation in the vicinity of the Iskar-Yavoritsa and related shear zones gives evidence for simultaneous tectonics and plutonism. Away from the shear zones, the granitoids appear macroscopically isotropic and were investigated using measurements of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility at 113 stations. The studied samples show magnetic lineation and foliation, in agreement with the magmatic structures observed at a few sites. Typical features of the internal structure of the plutons are several sheet-like mafic bodies accompanied by swarms of mafic microgranular enclaves. Field observations indicate spatial relationships between mafic bodies and shear zones as well as mingling processes in the magma chamber which suggest simultaneous shearing and magma emplacement. Structural investigations as well as anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data attest to the controlling role of the NWSE trending Iskar-Yavoritsa shear zone and to the syntectonic emplacement of the plutons with deformation in both igneous rocks and their hosts. The tectonic situation may be explained by partitioning of oblique plate convergence into plate-boundary-normal thrusting in the Rhodopes and plate-boundary-parallel transcurrent shearing in the hinterland (Sredna Gora).

Deep seismic reflection constraints on Paleogene crustal extension in the south-central Intermontane belt, British Columbia

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Calvert ◽  
Draga Talinga
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Lower Crust ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Basaltic Magma ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Middle Crust ◽  
South Central ◽  
Ductile Shearing ◽  
Lower Crustal

Following growth of the Canadian Cordillera during the Mesozoic, the southern Cordillera was subject to extension during the Paleocene and Eocene that correlated with widespread volcanic activity in south-central British Columbia, including across much of the Nechako–Chilcotin plateau. In 2008, Geoscience BC acquired 330 km of deep vibroseis reflection profiles on the plateau, mostly over the Stikinia arc terrane, but also over its eastern contact with the oceanic Cache Creek terrane. All seven seismic reflection lines reveal a strongly reflective lower crust that extends from 7 to 9 s down to the Moho, which is defined by the downward termination of reflectivity at 11–12 s. In the uppermost crust, extension occurred by block faulting with faults soling into subhorizontal to shallowly dipping detachments above 10 km depth. Extension in the deeper upper and middle crust, which was partly controlled by antiforms likely related to earlier shortening, was accommodated on a network of anastomosing shear zones that sole out into the top of the reflective lower crust. The lower crustal reflections correlate with seismic P-wave velocities of 6.45–6.98 km/s, indicating that the reflective lower crust has a more mafic composition than the middle crust. As in other extensional settings, we suggest that this pervasive fabric of reflectors arises from the intrusion of mantle-derived basaltic magma into zones of ductile shearing, and that differentiation of these melts resulted in the widespread Paleocene to Eocene volcanism. Reflector dips indicate that extension was approximately east–west, consistent with north-northwest-trending horsts separated by basins filled with Paleocene to Eocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks.

High–pressure granulite–facies metamorphism and anatexis of deep continental crust: new insights from the Cenozoic Ailaoshan–Red River shear zone, SE Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haobo Wang ◽  
Shuyun Cao ◽  
Franz Neubauer ◽  
Junyu Li ◽  
Xuemei Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phase Diagram ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Thermal Evolution ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Red River ◽  
Crustal Anatexis ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Facies Metamorphism ◽  
T Path

<p>Studies of crustal anatexis have given valuable insights into the evolution of metamorphism–deformation and the tectonic processes at convergent plate margins during orogeny. The transition of metatexite to diatexite migmatite records crucial information about the tectono–thermal evolution and rheology of the deep crust. Along the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone, metatexite migmatites, diatexite migmatites and leucogranites are widely distributed within the upper amphibolite and granulite facies zones of the Diancang Shan metamorphic complex. The high–pressure granulite–facies metamorphism with mineral assemblage comprising garnet + kyanite + K–feldspar + plagioclase + biotite + quartz + melt is first recognized from the patch metatexite migmatites in the complex. Detailed petrographic evidence and phase diagram reveal that the migmatite underwent nearly isothermal decompression metamorphism, presenting a clockwise P–T path. The peak metamorphic P–T conditions are constrained by phase diagram at ca. 11 kbar and 810 °C, and the amount of melt generated during heating is up to 18 mol%. The extraction and segregation of melts are evidenced by the presence of leucosomes within migmatites and leucogranite dikes, which record the melt flow network through the crust. Zircons and monazites from migmatites record the ages of the melting episode that began at ca. 36 Ma and lasted to ca. 20 Ma. All these results are in accord with orogenic crust thickening accompanied by pervasive anatexis during the Later Eocene to the early Oligocene in the Ailao Shan–Red River shear zone. Combined with available data related to the other continental–exhumed shear zone, we propose that the crustal anatexis has an important effect on the thermal–state of deep–seated shear zones, is thus controlling the rheological behavior of the lithosphere and plays the essential role in the initial localizing of shearing in the lower crust.</p>

scholarly journals The Timing of Strike-Slip Deformation Along the Storstrømmen Shear Zone, Greenland Caledonides: U–Pb Zircon and Titanite Geochronology

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin W. Hallett ◽  
William C. McClelland ◽  
Jane A. Gilotti
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Oblique Collision ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Ion Probe ◽  
Slip Displacement ◽  
Land Deformation ◽  
Lateral Escape

The Storstrømmen shear zone (SSZ) in the Greenland Caledonides is widely interpreted to have formed in a transpressional regime during sinistral, oblique collision between Baltica and Laurentia in the Silurian to Devonian. New mapping of the SSZ at Sanddal documents a 100 m thick, greenschistfacies mylonite zone cutting the eclogite to amphibolite-facies gneiss complex. We present U–Pb ion probe geochronology on zircon and titanite from a variety of lithologies that shows the SSZ was active from late Devonian to the Carboniferous (at least until 350 Ma). The age of thrusting in the foreland is not well known, but must be younger than the age of eclogite-facies metamorphism at ~400 Ma. It is, therefore, possible that contraction is the same age as strike-slip motion, and that transpression is a viable model. The timing of the SSZ is synchronous with dextral strike-slip displacement on the Germania Land deformation zone. Simultaneous displacement on sinistral and dextral, conjugate shear zones suggests that the SSZ is part of a strikeslip fault system that led to lateral escape of material northward (present day coordinates) during the waning stages of plate convergence between Laurentia and Baltica.SOMMAIRELa zone de cisaillement de Storstrømmen (SSZ) dans les Calédonides du Groenland est généralement comprise comme ayant été formée durant un régime de transpression sénestre lors de la collision oblique entre Baltica et Laurentie, du Silurien au Dévonien.  Une nouvelle cartographie de la SSZ à Sanddal décrit une zone de 100 m d’épaisseur de mylonite au faciès des schistes verts qui recoupe un complexe de gneiss au faciès éclogite à amphibolite.  Notre analyse géochronologique par sonde ionique U-Pb sur zircon et titanite sur diverses lithologies, montre que la SSZ a été active de la fin du Dévonien jusqu’au Carbonifère (au moins jusqu’à 350 Ma).  L’âge du chevauchement dans l’avant-pays n’est pas bien connue, mais il doit être plus jeune que le métamorphisme au faciès d’éclogite à ~400 Ma.  Il est donc possible que la contraction soit du même âge que le mouvement de coulissage, et que la transpression soit un modèle viable.  La chronologie de la SSZ est synchrone au mouvement de coulissage dextre de la zone de déformation de Germania Land.  Les déplacements simultanés, sénestre et dextre, sur des zones de cisaillement conjuguées permettent de penser que la SSZ fait partie d’un système de décrochement qui a engendré une éjection latérale de matériau vers le nord (selon les coordonnées actuelles) durant les stades de convergence des plaques Laurentie et Baltica.

Ductile shearing of Apennine allochtonous units and Messinian terrigenous deposits on top of the Inner Apulian Platform (Monte Alpi, Southern Italy)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Prosser ◽  
Fabrizio Agosta ◽  
Alessandro Giuffrida ◽  
Claudia Belviso ◽  
Francesco Cavalcante
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Geological Mapping ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Ductile Shearing ◽  
Shear Sense

<p>Mylonites are common structural elements in basement complexes. There, strain localization within shear zones occurs at amphibolite to greenschist facieses. More rarely, it also takes place at low-grade to anchizonal conditions in the external portions of orogenic belts. In the present contribution, we document the large-scale architecture, micro-structure, and mineralogy of a prominent shear zone exposed along the southern flank of the Monte Alpi Unit, southern Apennines, Italy. Deformation localized within the Messinian sedimentary protolith topping the carbonates of the Apulian Platform, and in the lowermost tectonic units of the Apennine allochton. Integration of results achieved after field geological mapping, outcrop structural analyses, optical and SEM micropscopy, and X-Ray diffrattometry permits to assess the time-space evolution of the main deformation mechanisms in the aforementioned shear zone. The shear zone involved Messinian shale, sandstones and conglomerates originally deposited in a foreland basin system, and Mesozoic claystones, limestones, and marls that formed in deep basinal environments. Now days, the mylonitic foliation is sub-parallel to the tectonic contact between the Messinian sedimentary cover of the Apulian carbonates and the overlying allochton. Shear-related deformation produced a foliated mylonitic fabric dipping ca. 20° S, and a well-developed, east-trending stretching lineation defined by aligned quartz and/or calcite grains. The conglomeratic levels were boudinaged, and the individual elongated pebbles re-oriented along slip direction. The microstructure of mylonites is characterized by a fine-grained calcite matrix, which shows an intense foliation due to dark bands made up of oxides, organic matter, and minor phyllosilicates. X-ray diffraction data performed on the Messinian shales and Mesozoic claystones, indicate the presence of mixed layer illite/smectite with 80-90% of illite and R1/R3 ordering thus suggesting an high digenetic grade (temperature: 120-140 °C). The two analyzed lithologies mainly differ in the presence of kaolinite, which occurs in the more proximal Messinian facies. Altogether, outcrop-scale kinematic markers such as shear bands, rootles folds and asymmetric porphyroclasts show a consistent top-to-the-east shear sense. Mineralogical and microstructural data indicate that shearing took place at a depth of 6-7 km during the Early Pliocene emplacement of the Apennine allochton on the Apulian Platform, and then exhumed by Late Pliocene low-angle normal faulting, Lower Pleistocene transpression, and Middle-Pleistocene-Holocene high-angle extensional faulting. In summary, the eastward motion of the allochton produced intense and localized low-temperature shearing in sediments on top of the Apulian Platform and in the overlying allochton. A subsequent reactivation of this shear zones as low-angle normal fault during late Pliocene exhumation is envisioned.</p>

Crustal shear zones and thrust belts: their geometry and continuity in Central Africa

1986 ◽  
Vol 317 (1539) ◽  
pp. 111-128 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Thrust Belts ◽  
Ductile Shear Zones ◽  
Displacement Direction ◽  
Crustal Shear Zones ◽  
Orogenic Belts ◽  
Lower Crustal

The Precambrian orogenic belts of Africa are often defined by ductile shear zones which developed in response to large displacements, and which mark orogenic ‘ fronts ’ between mobile and stable parts of the crust. They are thought to represent the major crustal reflectors seen by seismic reflection profiling in younger orogenic belts. These orogenic fronts are connected by shear zones that transfer displacement or accommodate different displacements, between orogenic segments. Smaller shears within an orogenic belt occur as a result of differential movements. These shear zones are seen to pass from flat-lying to steep structures and may have a thrust or strike-slip sense. They compare with the staircase trajectories characteristic of foreland thrust belts. In common with thrust belts, the geometry of the shear zones can be used to estimate displacement direction, as can regional extensional fabrics developed in the associated high-strain tectonites. Central Africa has been previously described as a complex network of late Proterozoic ‘mobile belts’. The recognition of similar displacements and time equivalence in these belts allows their reinterpretation in terms of a linked thrust and strike-slip shear-zone system. An example is the Damaran, Lufilian, Zambezi and Ukingan system. These orogenic belts share a similar displacement picture and broad time equivalence and were apparently linked in a lower crustal shear zone of continental dimensions. This shear zone system appears to have developed under a single tectonic framework

Geochronological and kinematic constraints on crustal shortening and escape in a two-sided oblique-slip collisional and magmatic orogen, Paleoproterozoic Taltson magmatic zone, northeastern Alberta

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1549-1573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R McDonough ◽  
Vicki J McNicoll ◽  
Ernst M Schetselaar ◽  
Timothy W Grover
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Kinematic Data ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Magmatic Rocks ◽  
Ductile Shear Zones ◽  
Continental Magmatic Arc ◽  
Northeastern Alberta ◽  
Lower Crustal

The southern Taltson magmatic zone (south of 60°N) is a composite continental magmatic arc and collisional orogen resulting from the convergence of the Buffalo Head terrane with the Archean Churchill craton. Taltson basement (ca. 3.2–3.0 Ga and 2.4–2.14 Ga) and Rutledge River supracrustal gneisses (2.13–2.09 Ga) were intruded by voluminous I- and S-type magmatic rocks between 1.99 and 1.92 Ga. Taltson magmatic zone was deformed by three ductile shear zones: Leland Lakes, Charles Lake, and Andrew Lake, exhibiting both strike- and dip-lineated mylonitic domains. Kinematic data for shear zones are reported at microscopic, mesoscopic, and macroscopic (remotely sensed data) scale. We present field and U–Pb isotopic data (zircon and monazite) for magmatic and metamorphic rocks that constrain the timing of granulite to upper amphibolite-grade shearing in the Leland Lakes and Charles Lake (formerly Allan) shear zones to ca. 1938–1934 Ma. Foreland (easterly) vergent thrusting on the Andrew Lake shear zone is ca. 1932 Ma. Taltson shear zones were overprinted by widespread amphibolite- to greenschist-grade shearing, which is constrained by published 40Ar–39Ar and K–Ar dates on hornblende and muscovite to between ca. 1900 and 1800 Ma. We propose a crustal architecture, resembling a crustal-scale asymmetric flower structure, in which the Charles Lakes shear zone formed the fundamental shear zone of a middle to lower crustal sinistral transpression system that accommodated southward escape of crust in the upper plate of an oblique continental subduction–collision zone, with shortening partitioned into synchronous outwardly vergent thrust systems to the east and west of the main shear zone.

Deep-crustal deformation textures along megathrusts from Newfoundland and Ontario: implications for microstructural preservation, strain rates, and strength of the lithosphere

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Clancy White ◽  
Christopher K. Mawer
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Threshold Temperature ◽  
Strain Rates ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Preservation Condition ◽  
Deformation Textures ◽  
Highly Strained ◽  
Lower Crustal

Lithospheric-scale thrusts from the west Newfoundland ophiolite belt (White Hills Peridotite shear zone) and the south-western Grenville Province (Parry Sound shear zone) involve rocks of lower crustal and (or) upper mantle origin that exhibit intense crystal-plastic deformation of plagioclase, K-feldspar, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene, minerals that are commonly viewed as representative of low-ductility phases. The occurrence of this extreme deformation in shear zones that exhibit similar lower crustal syntectonic P–T conditions suggests a phenomenological link between the megathrust environment and both the generation and subsequent preservation of the observed deformation microstructures. An empirical homologous parameter is constructed in an attempt to characterize conditions for similar behaviour among different minerals and to explore the feasibility of refining a threshold recovery–preservation condition within the megathrusts studied. This parameter predicts, at the estimated syntectonic temperature of 800 °C, the similarity of microstructures in highly strained albite and orthopyroxene crystals observed in both megathrusts. This temperature is interpreted as a lower limit for the upper threshold of microstructure preservation in albite and orthopyroxene for the particular megathrust history. Comparison of tectonic constraints with strain rates calculated at the inferred threshold temperature for several minerals with tectonic constraints indicates that strain rates of at least 10−12 s−1 are both rheologically possible and geometrically plausible in shear zones of kilometre-scale widths. The associated lithosphere strength during megathrust displacement is on the order of 1–50 MPa. These data support formation of synkinematic records within shear zones that preserve evidence of lithospheric behaviour over crustal-thickness length scales.

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