Veins are ubiquitous features in deformed rocks. Despite observations on syntectonic veins spanning two centuries, fundamental questions remain unanswered. Their origin as fractures is largely established but it is still not known why these fractures initiate where they do and how the vein evolves once started. We studied veins from the Lower Ordovician Mazarn Formation in the Arkansas’ Ouachitas combining textural observations, stable isotopes, fluid inclusions, SEM-based cathodoluminescence and electron back-scattered diffraction to understand the initial stage of vein formation, its later evolution, the role of fluids and their environment of formation. The veins are located at boudin necks and are synchronous with cleavage formation. Texturally, veins are characterized by veinlets (thin veins between 5 and 25 μm thick) that parallel the vein-host interface and fibers (columns of quartz or calcite) perpendicular to the vein-host interface between 30 and 350 μm wide. Veinlets are localized fractures filled with quartz. The crystallographic orientation of the precipitated material in veinlets is inherited from host grains at the micron scale and replicated as fibers’ lengths grow to centimeters. The vein-forming fluid was cyclically supersaturated yet never very far from saturation. δ18O values of vein quartz and host are within 2‰ of each other suggesting that the fluid was rock-buffered. Nevertheless, δ18O and δ13C define a ‘J’ shaped trend. Although it is not possible to date any portion of this curve, the simplest explanation is that the fluid evolved from rock-buffered in a closed system to fluid-dominated in an open system. The range of pressure-temperature conditions of vein formation is between 275 and 385 °C and 1100 and 3400 bars, from fluid inclusions and quartz-calcite oxygen isotopes thermometry. By examining a vein from tip to middle, we have established a sequence of events from inception to maturity in vein growth. Vein formation starts with folding followed by flattening of resistant sandstone layers which in turn gives rise to boudinage. Boudinage formation allowed for fracture localization along boudin-necks. The vein grew by the repeated addition of veinlets in the neck region. Recrystallization later modified the fibers by obliterating some evidence of the veinlets and moving fiber walls.

Veins are ubiquitous features in deformed rocks. Despite observations on syntectonic veins spanning two centuries, fundamental questions remain unanswered. Their origin as fractures is largely established but it is still not known why these fractures initiate where they do and how the vein evolves once started. We studied veins from the Lower Ordovician Mazarn Formation in the Arkansas’ Ouachitas combining textural observations, stable isotopes, fluid inclusions, SEM-based cathodoluminescence and electron back-scattered diffraction to understand the initial stage of vein formation, its later evolution, the role of fluids and their environment of formation. The veins are located at boudin necks and are synchronous with cleavage formation. Texturally, veins are characterized by veinlets (thin veins between 5 and 25 μm thick) that parallel the vein-host interface and fibers (columns of quartz or calcite) perpendicular to the vein-host interface between 30 and 350 μm wide. Veinlets are localized fractures filled with quartz. The crystallographic orientation of the precipitated material in veinlets is inherited from host grains at the micron scale and replicated as fibers’ lengths grow to centimeters. The vein-forming fluid was cyclically supersaturated yet never very far from saturation. δ18O values of vein quartz and host are within 2‰ of each other suggesting that the fluid was rock-buffered. Nevertheless, δ18O and δ13C define a ‘J’ shaped trend. Although it is not possible to date any portion of this curve, the simplest explanation is that the fluid evolved from rock-buffered in a closed system to fluid-dominated in an open system. The range of pressure-temperature conditions of vein formation is between 275 and 385 °C and 1100 and 3400 bars, from fluid inclusions and quartz-calcite oxygen isotopes thermometry. By examining a vein from tip to middle, we have established a sequence of events from inception to maturity in vein growth. Vein formation starts with folding followed by flattening of resistant sandstone layers which in turn gives rise to boudinage. Boudinage formation allowed for fracture localization along boudin-necks. The vein grew by the repeated addition of veinlets in the neck region. Recrystallization later modified the fibers by obliterating some evidence of the veinlets and moving fiber walls.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-13T17:08:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CamilaA_DISSERT_1-52.pdf: 4763596 bytes, checksum: 04aa5b36a81ca3019e267dac640c6e31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-25 / The Araripe Basin is located over Precambrian terrains of the Borborema Province, being part of Northeast Brazil inner basins. Its origin is related to the fragmentation of the Gondwana supercontinent and consequently opening of South Atlantic during early Cretaceous. The basin has a sedimentary infill encompassing four distinct evolution stages, comprising Paleozoic syneclisis, pre-rift, rift and post-rift. The target of this study comprises the post-rift section of the basin focusing deformational styles which affect evaporates from Ipubi Member of the Santana Formation, which is composed by gypsum and anidrite layers interbedded with shales. These units occur widespread across the basin. In the central part of the basin, near Nova Olinda-Santana do Cariri, evaporites are affected by an essentialy brittle deformation tipified by fibrous gypsum filled fractures, cutting massive layers of gypsum and anidrite. Veins with variable orientations and dips are observed in the region distributed over three main populations: i) a dominant NWSE with shallow to moderate NE dipping population, consisting of gypsum filled veins in which fibers are normal to vein walls; i) NE-SW veins with moderate SE dips containing subhorizontal growth fibers; and iii) N-S veins with shallow E-W dips with fibers oblique to vein walls. In the west portion of the basin, near Trindade-Ipubi-Araripina towns, evaporate layers are dominantly constituted by gypsum/anidrite finely stratified, showing a minor density of veins. These layers are affected by a unique style of deformation, more ductile, typified by gentle to open horizontal normal folding with several tens of meters length and with double plunging NW-SE or NE-SW hinges, configuring domic features. In detail, gypsum/anidrite laminae are affected by metre to decimeter scale close to tight folding, usually kinked, with broken hinges, locally turning into box folds. Veins show NE-SW main directions with shallow NE dips, growth fibers are parallel to vein walls, constituting slickenfibers. This region is marked by faults that affect Araripina Formation with NW-SE, NE-SW and E-W directions. The main structural styles and general orientations of structures which affected the post-rift section of Araripe Basin yielded important kinematic information analysis which led us to infer a E-W to NE-SW extension direction to the northeastern part of the Basin, whereas in the southeastern part, extension occurred in N-S direction. Thus, it was possible to determine a regional kinematic setting, through this analysis, characterizing a NE-SW to ENE-WSW system for the post-rift section, which is compatible with the tension settings for the Sout American Plate since Albian. Local variations at the fluid pressure linked (or not) to sedimentary overload variation define local tension settings. This way, at the northeastern portion of the basin, the post-rift deformation was governed by a setting which ? 1 is sub-horizontal trending NE-SW and, ? 3 is sub-vertical, emphasizing a reverse fault situation. At the southwestern portion however there was characterized a strike slip fault setting, featuring ? 1 trending ENEWSW and ?3 trending NNW-SSE / A Bacia do Araripe est? inserida sobre os terrenos pr?-cambrianos da Prov?ncia Borborema, fazendo parte das bacias interiores do Nordeste do Brasil. Sua origem est? relacionada ? fragmenta??o do supercontinente Gondwana e consequente abertura do Atl?ntico Sul durante o Cret?ceo Inferior. Possuindo um preenchimento sedimentar que abrange quatro est?gios distintos de sua evolu??o, compreendendo as tectonossequ?ncias de Sin?clise Paleoz?ica, Pr?- Rifte, Rifte e P?s-Rifte. O objeto de estudo deste trabalho, compreende a se??o p?srifte da bacia, focando os estilos deformacionais que afetam os evaporitos do Membro Ipubi da Forma??o Santana, constitu?da por camadas de gipsita e anidrita intercaladas com folhelho, de ocorr?ncia abrangente em toda a Bacia do Araripe Na parte Norte da bacia, nas proximidades de Nova Olinda-Santana do Cariri os evaporitos s?o afetados por uma deforma??o essencialmente fr?gil, tipificada por fraturas preenchidas por gipsita fibrosa, recortando camadas de gipsita e anidrita geralmente maci?as. Na regi?o s?o observados veios com orienta??es e mergulhos bastante variados, distribuindo-se segundo tr?s popula??es principais: (i) uma com dire??o dominante NW-SE, com mergulhos suaves a moderados essencialmente para NE, geralmente preenchidos por gipsita cujas fibras disp?em-se ortogonalmente ?s paredes dos veios; (ii) veios NE-SW com mergulhos moderados para SE, contendo fibras de crescimento suborizontais; e (iii) veios N-S, com mergulhos suaves para E-W, cujas as fibras encontram-se obliquas ?s paredes desses veios. Na regi?o oeste da bacia, nas proximidades de Trindade-Ipubi-Araripina a camadas de evaporitos s?o dominantemente constitu?das por gipsita/anidrita finamente estratificada, apresentando uma densidade menor de veios. Essas camadas s?o afetadas por uma deforma??o peculiar, de car?ter mais d?ctil , tipificada por dobras horizontais, de perfil suave a aberto, com comprimento de onda de v?rias dezenas de metros, n?o raro apresentando charneiras com duplo caimento, com orienta??es NWSE ou NE-SW, constituindo fei??es d?micas. Em detalhe, as l?minas de gipsita/anidrita tamb?m s?o afetadas por dobras de escala m?trica a decim?trica, em geral de perfil fechado a apertado, muitas vezes apresentando estilo em kink (n?o ? raro nestes casos ocorrer ruptura da charneira), localmente constituindo dobras em caixa. Os veios (ocorrendo de forma mais rara) apresentam dire??es principais NE-SW, com mergulhos suaves para SE, as fibras de crescimento disp?em-se paralelamente ?s paredes dos veios, funcionando como slickenfibers. Est? regi?o ? marcada pelas falhas que afetam as rochas da Forma??o Araripina apresentando dire??es NW-SE, NE-SW e E-W. De posse das an?lises dos estilos e da orienta??o geral das estruturas que afetam a se??o p?s-rifte na Bacia do Araripe, atrav?s do m?todo dos diedros retos, foram obtidas informa??o importante quanto ? an?lise cinem?tica da deforma??o, possibilitando assim, definir os sentidos de transporte tect?nico predominantes e a infer?ncia do estado de paleotens?es que governou a instala??o das estruturas tect?nicas presentes. Sendo assim, foi poss?vel definir um regime cinem?tico regional, a partir desta an?lise, caracterizado a se??o p?s-rifte por um sistema de compress?o NE-SW a ENEWSW, regime este condizente com o que vem atuando na Placa Sul-Americana desde, pelo menos, o Albiano. Varia??es locais da press?o de fluidos somadas (ou n?o) a varia??es da sobrecarga sedimentar definem regimes cinem?ticos particulares. Assim, na por??o nordeste da bacia, a deforma??o p?s-rifte foi governada por um regime em que ?1 ? suborizontal e apresenta dire??o NE-SW, e ?3 ? subvertical, denotando um regime de falha inversa . J? na por??o sudoeste da Bacia do Araripe foi caracterizado um regime de falha transcorrente , apresentando ?1 na dire??o ENE-WSW e ?3 orientado segundo NNW-SSE