Experimental evidence that viscous shear zones generate periodic pore sheets

In experiments designed to understand deep shear zones, we show that periodic porous sheets emerge spontaneously during viscous creep and that they facilitate mass transfer. These findings challenge conventional expectations of how viscosity in solid rocks operates and provide quantitative data in favour of an alternative paradigm, that of...

Dynamic Recrystallization Can Produce Porosity in Shear Zones

Creep cavities are increasingly recognized as an important syn-kinematic feature of shear zones, but much about this porosity needs investigation. Largely, observations of creep cavities are restricted to very fine grained mature ultramylonites, and it is unclear when they developed during deformation. Specifically, a question that needs...