Small-Scale Shear Zones and Deformation in Migmatite on Mt. Åreskutan

The Åreskutan nappe complex consists of the partly molten rock migmatite, which originates from the subduction formed by the collision of continents Baltica and Laurentia. It is a so-called hot nappe, which has been deeply buried in the subduction zone, based on findings of high-pressure minerals in the migmatitic gneiss. As the nappe returned to shallower depths the rock was partially molten during the subsequent exhumation as the lithostatic pressure decreased. Tectonic forces led to thrusting of the nappe towards the east and the building of mount Åreskutan. It is generally accepted that the shear zone between the migmatite of the Åreskutan Nappe and the underlying Lower Seve Nappe is a mylonitic shear zone, but the question of whether similar shear zones can be found at other sites in the migmatite complex has now been raised. In this project two major shear zones have been identified and shear direction has been determined after detailed geological mapping. Many small shear zones have also been identified, but their sense of shear direction was more difficult to determine. The two major shear zones identified have been labelled the Eastern Major Shear Zone and Western Major Shear Zone. In these shear zones the original migmatite appearing on Åreskutan is deformed and sheared with a top to the east sense of shear. The strongest evidence for determining the shear sense are garnets found mantled by micas in a sigma-type shear microstructures, found during microscope analysis. A grade of mylonitization can be seen in the mineral microstructures, with the most fine-grained matrix in the centre of the shear zones. It indicates that ductile deformation dominates, even though some minerals tend to break in a brittle manner.