Deformation of olivine in torsion under hydrous conditions

We performed torsional deformation experiments on pre-hydrated fine-grained olivine aggregates using an innovative experimental assembly to investigate water weakening in mantle rocks at high shear strains. San Carlos olivine powder was cold-pressed and then hot-pressed under hydrous conditions, producing aggregates with average grain sizes of 7 or 15 μm. Deformation experiments were performed in a high-resolution gas-medium apparatus equipped with a torsional actuator, under a confining pressure of 300 MPa, a temperature of 1200 °C, and constant shear strain rates ranging from 8 × 10−5 to 1.4 × 10−4 s−1. Maximum shear stresses range from 150 to 195 MPa. These values are 30% lower relative to those determined in previous torsion experiments on dry, fined-grained dunites under similar conditions. Textures and microstructures of the starting and deformed specimens were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. All deformed aggregates exhibit a shape-preferred orientation marking a foliation and lineation, as well as a reduction in mean grain size from 15 μm down to 3–4 μm due to dynamic recrystallization. Olivine crystallographic fabrics developed rapidly (γ < 0.1), but their strength, characterized by the J-index, is low compared to naturally deformed peridotites or to polycrystalline olivine deformed at similar finite shear strains under dry conditions. The crystallographic fabrics are consistent with deformation by a dislocation accommodated creep mechanism with activation of multiple {0 k l}[1 0 0] systems, among which the (0 1 0)[1 0 0] slip system is dominant, and minor participation of the (0 1 0)[0 0 1] slip system. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the occurrence of dislocations with [1 0 0] and [0 0 1] Burgers vectors in most grains. Analysis of unpolarized infrared spectra indicates that hydrogen concentration in the olivine lattice is below the saturation level of 18 ppm wt H2O, which is similar to those typically observed in spinel-bearing peridotite xenoliths, and also provide evidence for water-rich inter-granular material trapped in pores and grain boundaries. Seismic properties computed from the CPO observations correspond to those most commonly observed in naturally deformed mantle peridotites with fast P-wave propagation and S-wave polarization subparallel to the shear direction. These torsion experiments on fine-grained olivine polycrystals under hydrous conditions indicate that water weakening under lithospheric conditions is linked to various defects with hydrogen in the olivine structure, as well as with water-derived species in grain boundaries or pores.

► Torsion of wet dunite leads to dynamic recrystallization and moderate weakening.
► FTIR evidences low OH− contents in olivine, and intergranular water.
► Under limited hydrous conditions, olivine deformation is accommodated by {0 k l}[1 0 0].
► Fast P-waves propagation and S-wave polarization are subparallel to the shear direction.