Magnetic and shape fabrics of magnetite in simple shear flows

The magnetite fabrics measured by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and by shape preferred orientation (SPO) optical methods are classically used as flow kinematics indicators in lava flows. The development of magnetite fabrics during simple shear strains γ ≤ 20 was performed using a suspension of 1% volume fraction of multidomain magnetite randomly contained in a mixture of silicone and wax. We measured AMS fabric and SPO ellipsoids by calculating a quadratic shape tensor from oriented thin-sections. For γ < 8, fabrics obey to the theoretical model of rotation of Jeffery (1922). Fabrics are usable to determine the flow kinematics, including the amount of applied finite strain. For γ > 8, fabric elements, foliation and lineation, are stabilised closely parallel to the flow plane and the shear direction, respectively. Two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations using measured aspect ratios of magnetite point out that the large scattering of aspect ratios and the initial orientation distribution of particles are together responsible for a wide-ranging loss of periodicity. The stable AMS and SPO fabrics observed at large strains in experiments are the result of these primary fabric properties combined to collisions between particles and, possibly, their complex three-dimensional shapes. In addition, the constant angular relationship observed at large strains between fabrics and flow components is related to the transient collisions.Consequently, the determination of the lava flow kinematics by using fabric properties measured either by AMS or by SPO analyses should be indubitably associated to a detailed study of the three-dimensional shape of the solid carriers. Regularly shaped populations of low elongated particles will be capable to produce cyclic to oscillating fabrics, while the fabric of elongated particles will be more sensitive to the shape parameters and collisions, ultimately favouring stable fabrics at large strains.

► We modelled the development of magnetite SPO and AMS fabrics during a simple shear.
► AMS and SPO oscillate around the shear plane and shear direction respectively with a frequency that decreases with strain.
► The tendency of fabric stabilisation is produced by the initial orientation and the non-homogeneously distributed aspect ratios of particles.
► Transient contact-interactions between particles favour stabilisation of the fabrics.
► AMS and SPO need precise 3D shape determination of the solid carriers.