Current Topics in Structural Geology

Book excerpt: Current Topics in Structural Geology is a collection of invited papers on particular topics of interest in structural geology, from field-based problems on the scale of terranes to microstructures in nature and experiment. Contributors also explore earthquake faulting; S-C mylonites; tectonics and hydrogeology of accretionary prisms; deformation mechanisms; transparent polycrystals; shape and lattice preferred orientations; and mushroom-shaped diapirs. This text is comprised of 13 chapters; the first of which introduces the reader to shallow crustal earthquakes and the structural geology of fault zones. The first chapter also emphasizes the seismogenic regime, strike-slip earthquake rupture processes, structural questions posed by seismology, and mesothermal gold-quartz lodes hosted in steeply inclined shear zones of mixed 'brittle-ductile' character. Discussion then turns to normal faulting in the upper continental crust, along with the application of a method based primarily on fault slip data analysis to determine paleostress in terms of orientation and magnitude. The mechanical behavior and deformation textures of simulated halite shear zones are considered, with special regard to the internal structures of S-C mylonites and their mechanical implications. The remaining chapters examine the role of decollement zone in the tectonics and hydrogeology of accretionary prisms; synkinematic microscopy of transparent polycrystals; and the origin of metamorphic core complexes and detachment faults formed during Tertiary continental extension in the northern Colorado River region. This book is intended primarily for students and practitioners of structural geology.