Fluid-assisted fracturing, cataclasis, and resulting plastic flow in mylonites from the Moresby Seamount detachment, Woodlark Basin

The Moresby Seamount detachment (MSD) in the Woodlark Basin (offshore Papua New Guinea) is a large active low-angle detachment excellently exposed at the seafloor, and cutting through mafic metamorphic rocks. Hydrothermal infiltration of quartz followed by that of calcite occurred during cataclastic deformation. Subsequent deformation of these a priori softer minerals leads to mylonite formation in the MSD. This study aims at a better understanding of the deformation mechanism switch from cataclastic to plastic flow. Deformation fabrics of the fault rocks were analyzed by light-optical microscopy. Rheologically critical phases were mapped to determine distributions and area proportions, and EBSD was used to measure crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO). Strong calcite CPOs indicate dominant dislocation creep. Quartz CPOs, however, are weak and more difficult to interpret, suggesting at least some strain accommodation by diffusion creep mechanisms. When quartz aggregates are intermixed with the polymineralic mylonite matrix diffusion creep grain boundary sliding may be dominant. The syntectonic conversion from mafic cataclasites to more siliceous and carbonaceous mylonites induced by hydrothermal processes is a critical weakening mechanism enabling the MSD to at least intermittently plastic flow at low shear stresses. This is probably a crucial process for the operation of low-angle detachments in hydrated and dominantly mafic crust

Splitting a continent : insights from submarine high resolution mapping of the Moresby Seamount detachment, offshore Papua New Guinea

The Moresby Seamount detachment in the Woodlark Basin (east of Papua New Guinea) is arguably the best exposed active detachment fault in the world. We present the results of a high-resolution autonomous underwater vehicle survey of bathymetry, bottom water temperature, and turbidity. In combination with dredging and existing drillhole data, a synthesis of the tectonic geomorphology, kinematics, and mechanics of the detachment is provided. The detachment surface, which has a 30° northward dip and ∼8 km post-Pliocene displacement, is well preserved. Two major smooth areas are tectonically created, and megascopic (kilometer scale) slickensides indicate downdip direction of movement. The detachment is transected by a major sinistral strike-slip fault, suggesting deformation partitioning in the detachment zone in response to the 500 k.y. change in plate kinematics. The mainly gabbroic protoliths and cataclasites from the fault show pervasive syntectonic alteration, leading to large increases in abundance of quartz and, more important, calcite. Resulting quartz-rich and calcite-rich mylonites play a crucial role, as weak fault rocks and ductile microstructures point to detachment operation at low differential stress. A kilometer-sized anomaly in bottom water temperature and turbidity is found at the downdip end of the detachment zone, indicating that it hosts an active hydrothermal system, probably fed by overpressured fluids from a deep crustal source