Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of 150 °C (300 °F), and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of chemically active fluids, but the rock remains mostly solid during the transformation. Metamorphism is distinct from weathering or diagenesis, which are changes that take place at or just beneath Earth's surface.
In physics and materials science, plasticity is the ability of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation, a non-reversible change of shape in response to applied forces. For example, a solid piece of metal being bent or pounded into a new shape displays plasticity as permanent changes occur within the material itself. In engineering, the transition from elastic behavior to plastic behavior is known as yielding.
A crystallite is a small or even microscopic crystal which forms, for example, during the cooling of many materials. Crystallites are also referred to as grains.
In materials science, creep is the tendency of a solid material to undergo slow deformation while subject to persistent mechanical stresses. It can occur as a result of long-term exposure to high levels of stress that are still below the yield strength of the material. Creep is more severe in materials that are subjected to heat for long periods and generally increases as they near their melting point.
The Portevin–Le Chatelier (PLC) effect describes a serrated stress–strain curve or jerky flow, which some materials exhibit as they undergo plastic deformation, specifically inhomogeneous deformation. This effect has been long associated with dynamic strain aging or the competition between diffusing solutes pinning dislocations and dislocations breaking free of this stoppage.
Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) is a type of recrystallization process, found within the fields of metallurgy and geology. In dynamic recrystallization, as opposed to static recrystallization, the nucleation and growth of new grains occurs during deformation rather than afterwards as part of a separate heat treatment. The reduction of grain size increases the risk of grain boundary sliding at elevated temperatures, while also decreasing dislocation mobility within the material. The new grains are less strained, causing a decrease in the hardening of a material. Dynamic recrystallization allows for new grain sizes and orientation, which can prevent crack propagation. Rather than strain causing the material to fracture, strain can initiate the growth of a new grain, consuming atoms from neighboring pre-existing grains. After dynamic recrystallization, the ductility of the material increases.
Mylonite is a fine-grained, compact metamorphic rock produced by dynamic recrystallization of the constituent minerals resulting in a reduction of the grain size of the rock. Mylonites can have many different mineralogical compositions; it is a classification based on the textural appearance of the rock.
In materials science, recrystallization is a process by which deformed grains are replaced by a new set of defect-free grains that nucleate and grow until the original grains have been entirely consumed. Recrystallization is usually accompanied by a reduction in the strength and hardness of a material and a simultaneous increase in the ductility. Thus, the process may be introduced as a deliberate step in metals processing or may be an undesirable byproduct of another processing step. The most important industrial uses are softening of metals previously hardened or rendered brittle by cold work, and control of the grain structure in the final product. Recrystallization temperature is typically 0.3–0.4 times the melting point for pure metals and 0.5 times for alloys.
In metallurgy, recovery is a process by which a metal or alloy's deformed grains can reduce their stored energy by the removal or rearrangement of defects in their crystal structure. These defects, primarily dislocations, are introduced by plastic deformation of the material and act to increase the yield strength of a material. Since recovery reduces the dislocation density, the process is normally accompanied by a reduction in a material's strength and a simultaneous increase in the ductility. As a result, recovery may be considered beneficial or detrimental depending on the circumstances.
Diffusion creep refers to the deformation of crystalline solids by the diffusion of vacancies through their crystal lattice. Diffusion creep results in plastic deformation rather than brittle failure of the material.
In metallurgy, materials science and structural geology, subgrain rotation recrystallization is recognized as an important mechanism for dynamic recrystallisation. It involves the rotation of initially low-angle sub-grain boundaries until the mismatch between the crystal lattices across the boundary is sufficient for them to be regarded as grain boundaries. This mechanism has been recognized in many minerals and in metals.
Cataclasite is a cohesive granular fault rock. Comminution, also known as cataclasis, is an important process in forming cataclasites. They fall into the category of cataclastic rocks which are formed through faulting or fracturing in the upper crust. Cataclasites are distinguished from fault gouge, which is incohesive, and fault breccia, which contains coarser fragments.
Cleavage, in structural geology and petrology, describes a type of planar rock feature that develops as a result of deformation and metamorphism. The degree of deformation and metamorphism along with rock type determines the kind of cleavage feature that develops. Generally, these structures are formed in fine grained rocks composed of minerals affected by pressure solution.
In geology, a deformation mechanism is a process occurring at a microscopic scale that is responsible for changes in a material's internal structure, shape and volume. The process involves planar discontinuity and/or displacement of atoms from their original position within a crystal lattice structure. These small changes are preserved in various microstructures of materials such as rocks, metals and plastics, and can be studied in depth using optical or digital microscopy.
In materials science, grain-boundary strengthening is a method of strengthening materials by changing their average crystallite (grain) size. It is based on the observation that grain boundaries are insurmountable borders for dislocations and that the number of dislocations within a grain has an effect on how stress builds up in the adjacent grain, which will eventually activate dislocation sources and thus enabling deformation in the neighbouring grain as well. By changing grain size, one can influence the number of dislocations piled up at the grain boundary and yield strength. For example, heat treatment after plastic deformation and changing the rate of solidification are ways to alter grain size.
Dislocation creep is a deformation mechanism in crystalline materials. Dislocation creep involves the movement of dislocations through the crystal lattice of the material, in contrast to diffusion creep, in which diffusion is the dominant creep mechanism. It causes plastic deformation of the individual crystals, and thus the material itself.
Grain boundary sliding (GBS) is a material deformation mechanism where grains slide against each other. This occurs in polycrystalline material under external stress at high homologous temperature and low strain rate and is intertwined with creep. Homologous temperature describes the operating temperature relative to the melting temperature of the material. There are mainly two types of grain boundary sliding: Rachinger sliding, and Lifshitz sliding. Grain boundary sliding usually occurs as a combination of both types of sliding. Boundary shape often determines the rate and extent of grain boundary sliding.
Paleostress inversion refers to the determination of paleostress history from evidence found in rocks, based on the principle that past tectonic stress should have left traces in the rocks. Such relationships have been discovered from field studies for years: qualitative and quantitative analyses of deformation structures are useful for understanding the distribution and transformation of paleostress fields controlled by sequential tectonic events. Deformation ranges from microscopic to regional scale, and from brittle to ductile behaviour, depending on the rheology of the rock, orientation and magnitude of the stress, etc. Therefore, detailed observations in outcrops, as well as in thin sections, are important in reconstructing the paleostress trajectories.
Salt deformation is the change of shape of natural salt bodies in response to forces and mechanisms that controls salt flow. Such deformation can generate large salt structures such as underground salt layers, salt diapirs or salt sheets at the surface. Strictly speaking, salt structures are formed by rock salt that is composed of pure halite (NaCl) crystal. However, most halite in nature appears in impure form, therefore rock salt usually refers to all rocks that composed mainly of halite, sometimes also as a mixture with other evaporites such as gypsum and anhydrite. Earth's salt deformation generally involves such mixed materials.
Julia Ann “Jan” Tullis was an American structural geologist and emerita Professor at Brown University. Tullis is known for her work in structural geology, especially for her experimental work in deformation mechanisms, microstructures, and rheology of crustal rocks.
