Influences of CO2 on the Microstructure in Sheared Olivine Aggregates

Abstract

Shear deformation of a solid-fluid, two-phase material induces a fluid segregation process that produces fluid-enriched bands and fluid-depleted regions, and a crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) characterized by girdles of [100] and [001] axes sub-parallel to the shear plane and a cluster of [010] axes sub-normal to the shear plane, namely the AG-type fabric. Based on experiments of two-phase aggregates of olivine + basalt, a two-phase flow theory and a CPO formation model were established to explain these microstructures. Here, we investigate the microstructure in a two-phase aggregate with supercritical CO2 as the fluid phase and examine the theory and model, to evaluate differences in rheological properties due to the presence of CO2 or basaltic melt. We conducted high-temperature and high-pressure shear deformed experiments at 1 GPa and 1100 °C in a Griggs-type apparatus on samples made of olivine + dolomite, which decomposed into carbonate melt and CO2 at experimental conditions. After deformation, CO2 segregation and an AG-type fabric were observed in these CO2-bearing samples, similar to basaltic melt-bearing samples. An SPO-induce CPO model was used to explain to the formation of the fabric. Our results suggest that the influences of CO2 as a fluid phase on the microstructure of a two-phase olivine aggregate is similar to that of basaltic melt and can be explained by the CPO formation model for the solid-fluid system.