The Competition Between Rates of Deformation and Solidification in Syn-Kinematic Granitic Intrusions: Resolving the Pegmatite Paradox

Abstract

While fully-crystallized granites, rich in feldspar, generally serve to strengthen the continental crust, their precursor melts are assumed to be important agents of crustal weakening. Many syn-tectonic granitic pegmatites are deformed within shear zones but ubiquitously preserve undeformed primary magmatic textures, implying that they were largely molten during shearing. Yet the shapes of pegmatite bodies indicate that they deformed with a greater competence than their surroundings. This co-located pair of material behaviours is paradoxical. We interpret field relationships in a typical pegmatite/shear zone association (Torrisdale, NW Scotland) and propose a mechanism by which syntectonic granitic melts may, in effect, act as competent bodies while not yet fully crystallized. Competence was rapidly increased by preferential crystallization on intrusion margins that served to encapsulate residual melt inside stiff rinds. Further crystallization may have been pulsed as the concentrations of crystallization-inhibitors (fluxes) increased in residual fluids. Postulating the existence of initial stiff rinds also consistent with modern estimates for rates of feldspar crystallization (cms/yr) from undercooled hydrous silicic magma to form pegmatites. These greatly outpace strain-rate estimates for shear zones. Thus, fully liquid granitic melts may only be present fleetingly and have little opportunity to weaken deforming crust before crystallization begins.