Microstructure modeling
Click on image to download movie
 |
| This movie, which was created in FLAC3D, shows the initiation of ductile shear zones in a two-phase material ("mica" and "plagioclase"). The movie has some explanatory frames, but the idea is that gradients in differential stress and strain rate across the margins of weak and strong minerals cause the strong minerals to fracture, leading to connected zones of plastic flow and the establishment of stable zones of weakness. General non-coaxial flow with total shear strain approximately 0.03. This work was published the Journal of Structural Geology (Johnson et al., 2004). |