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How low can you go? - Extending downwards the limits of plastic deformation in pyrite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

C. D. Barrie ,
A. P. Boyle  and
M. Salter
C. D. Barrie*
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9AL, UK
A. P. Boyle
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK
M. Salter
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK
*
* E-mail: cdb21@st-andrews.ac.uk
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Abstract

Understanding the deformation mechanisms that may operate in pyrite (FeS2) across a range of P-Tconditions is important in deciphering the history of deformed ore deposits. Pyrite has frequently been considered a hard mineral, which deforms by cataclastic flow or diffusive processes, if at all, at temperatures <425°C. However, utilizing SEM-based orientation-contrast (OC) imaging and electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques, plastic deformation can now be readily identified within pyrite grains. In this study, a series of pyrite-rich polymetallic ore deposits, deformed at low temperature metamorphic conditions (∼200—420°C), have been investigated. Results indicate that pyrite grains in all the ore deposits preserve internal lattice ‘distortion’ or ‘bending’ and therefore plastic deformation mechanisms have operated. Many pyrite grains in the ore deposits also contain low-angle (∼2°) sub-grain boundaries or ‘dislocation walls', indicating that both dislocation glide and creep have been the dominant deformation mechanisms at peak metamorphic conditions within the pyrite grains. These results suggest that the brittle-ductile transition in pyrite occurs at temperatures potentially as low as ∼200°C, far lower than implied from previous studies or the current pyrite deformation-mechanism map.

Keywords

pyriteplastic deformationlower greenschistelectron-backscatter diffractiondeformation-mechanism map
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 73 , Issue 6 , December 2009 , pp. 895 - 913
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2009

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