Microstructure modeling
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| This movie, which runs to a shear strain of approximately 2.0, shows the effect of prograde metamorphism and porphyroblast growth on integrated strength. The model mineralogy is initially "quartz" and relatively weak "mica" in the central part of the model (bright colors). Porphyroblasts of "garnet" grow in this central, mica-bearing layer. As the movie starts, notice that the mica-rich layer is relatively weak. As the porphyroblasts begin to grow, notice how strain rate decreases in the mica-rich layer, and increases in the quartz layers above and below. Notice also that the vorticity in the mica-rich layer changes from being higher than in the surrounding layers, to being lower once the porphyroblasts start to grow. This strength evolution as a function of metamorphism was the central focus of Wes Groome's PhD work - see the published work (Groome et al., 2006). This Elle/basil simulation shows one way in which deformation and metamorphism are coupled. We are currently working on Elle code that will explore in a more thorough way the coupling of deformation, diffusion and reaction. Stay tuned! |