Shear Zone

By
Dr. Shashi Ranjan Rai
 Shear Zones
• A shear zone is a zone of ductile or brittle-ductile deformation between two blocks that
have moved relative to each other .

• Shear zones are tabular to sheet like, planar or curviplanar zones in which rocks are
more highly strained than rocks adjacent to the zone.

• Shear zones have certain characteristics that permit us to recognize them in the field, in thin
sections, and on geologic maps and cross-sections.
• The distinguishing characteristics vary, depending on whether the shear zone formed
under brittle, ductile, or intermediate conditions.

• A fault zone is a shear zone formed under brittle conditions.

• When shear zones form under ductile conditions, deformation is accompanied by

metamorphism and produces rocks with foliation, lineation, folds, and related
features.
IV. Classification based on Process of formation
(the deformation mechanism)
• Fracturing: related to cracks in rocks.
• Frictional sliding: related to slip of one body of rock past
another.
• Plasticity: deformation by internal flow of crystals
without loss of cohesion.
• Diffusion: material transport in either solid-state or
assisted by a fluid (dissolution). Stylolotes
• Combination: combinations of deformation mechanisms
contributing to the overall strain.
V. Classification based on Mesoscopic
cohesiveness during deformation

• Brittle: structure forms by loss of cohesion.

• Ductile: structure forms without loss of cohesion.

• Brittle/ Ductile: deformation with both brittle and

ductile aspects.
Most shear zones contain features that permit us to determine the sense of
displacement along the zone.
TYPES OF SHEAR ZONES
We divide shear zones into three general types, based on the
characteristic type of deformation.
1 Brittle shear zone contains fractures and other features formed by brittle
deformation mechanisms.

2 Ductile shear zone displays structures, such as foliation and lineation.

3 Brittle-ductile shear zones, which show evidence for both brittle and ductile
deformation, form where conditions during shearing were intermediate between
brittle and ductile, or where conditions changed from ductile to brittle or from brittle to
ductile.
 Brittle Shear Zones
• Brittle shear zones form in the shallow parts of the crust, generally within 5-10m
km of the Earth’s surface, where deformation is dominated by brittle mechanisms,
such as fracturing and faulting.
• Brittle shear zones are in effect fault zones, and they are marked by fault gouge
and other rocks of the breccia series.
• Zones of intensely fractured and crushed rocks associated with faults vary in
thickness from less than a millimeter to a kilometer or more. In general, the
thickness of a brittle shear zone increases with the amount of displacement
accommodated by the zone.
 Ductile Shear Zones

• Ductile shear zones are formed by shearing under ductile conditions, generally in the middle
to lower crust and in the asthenosphere. For the most common crustal rocks (e.g., granite),
brittle deformation at shallow crustal levels gives way downward into ductile deformation at
the brittle- ductile transition .

• A similar brittle-to-ductile transition is present within the mantle, probably near the
lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.
 Brittle-Ductile Shear Zones
• Brittle-ductile shear zones contain evidence of deformation by both brittle and ductile
mechanisms.
• Many brittle-ductile shear zones contain boudins, rock fragments, and porphyroclasts of the more
brittle minerals and rock.
• A brittle-ductile character to a shear zone may indicate that physical conditions fluctuated
during deformation.
 SHEAR ZONE
Shear zones are produced by both homogeneous
and inhomogenous simple shear, or oblique
motion and are thought of as zones of ductile
shear.
Shear zones are classified by Ramsay
(1980) as:
1) brittle
2) brittle-ductile
3) ductile
BRITTLE AND DUCTILE FAULTS
Brittle faults occur in the upper 5 to 10 km
of the Earth’s crust. In the upper crust
consist of :
Single movement
Anastomosing complex of fracture
surfaces.
The individual fault may have knife-sharp
contacts or it may consist of zone of
cataclasite.
At ductile-brittle zone 10-15km deep in
continental crust, faults are
characterized by mylonite. At surface of
the crust mylonite may also occur locally
where the combination of available
water and increased heat permits the
transition.
The two types of fault may occur within one
fault where close and at the surface brittle
the associated rocks are cataclasts and at
deep where ductile and brittle zone
mylonite is present
Characteristics of Shear Zones
Shear zones on all scales are zones
of weakness.
• Associate with the formation of
mylonite.
• Presence of sheath folds.
• Shear zones may act both as
closed and open geochemical
systems with respect to fluids
and elements.
• Shear zones generally have
parallel sides.
• Displacement profiles along
any cross section through
shear zone should be identical.
 INDICATORS OF SHEAR SENSE OF MOVEMENT

1. Rotated porphyroblasts
and porphyroclasts.
2. Pressure shadows
3. Fractured grains.
4. Boudins
5. Presence of C- and S-
surfaces (parallel
alignment of platy
mineral)
6. Riedel shears.