Quartz microstructures developed during non-steady state plastic flow at rapidly decaying stress and strain rate

Synseismic loading to very high stresses (>0.5 GPa) and subsequent creep during stress relaxation in the uppermost plastosphere at temperatures of ca. 300–350 °C, near the lower tip of an inferred once seismically active crustal scale fault, was proposed based on peculiar microstructures identified in rocks exposed over >100 km2 in the Sesia Zone, European Western Alps. Here we discuss the conspicuous and highly heterogeneous microstructural record of quartz in disseminated small-scale shear zones. Sub-basal deformation lamellae and arrays of elongate subgrains on the TEM-scale indicate an early stage of glide-controlled deformation at high stresses. Distributed brittle failure is indicated by healed microcracks. Very fine-grained recrystallised aggregates with a pronounced crystallographic preferred orientation reflect intense plastic flow by dislocation creep. Locally, a fine-grained foam microstructure indicates a final stage of static grain growth at low differential stress. For the previously inferred peak stresses of about 0.5 GPa and given temperatures, initial strain rates on the order of 10−10 s−1 are predicted by available flow laws for dislocation creep of quartz. We emphasise the importance of short-term non-steady state deformation in the uppermost plastosphere underlying seismically active upper crust. The related heterogeneous record of quartz is governed by the local stress history at constant temperature.