Crystallographic preferred orientations analysis of quartz crystals in Psammite using electron backscatter diffraction,western Ireland

The present study investigates the crystal preferred orientation (CPO) of quartz crystals in psammitic rocks to ascertain the deformation mechanism using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) on quartz crystals from north of the Renvyle-Bofin Slide (RBS) near Letterfrack in western Ireland. Complete crystallographic orientations were determined for several thousand individual quartz crystals in psammite samples to provide a dataset for exploring the active deformation mechanism(s). Quartz crystallographic orientations are plotted as pole figures and contour diagrams in < 0001 > and < 11¯20 > directions. Quartz-c-axis patterns show maxima in the Y axis of the pole figure, which can be explained by the dominance of prism < a > gliding, indicating that dislocation creep was the dominant deformation mechanism.