An evaluation of different measures of dynamically recrystallized grain size for paleopiezometry or paleowattometry studies
Paleopiezometry and paleowattometry studies are essential to validate models of lithospheric deformation and therefore increasingly common in structural geology. These studies require a single measure of dynamically recrystallized grain size in natural mylonites to estimate the magnitude of differen...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2015-05-01
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Series: | Solid Earth |
Online Access: | http://www.solid-earth.net/6/475/2015/se-6-475-2015.pdf |
Summary: | Paleopiezometry and paleowattometry studies are essential to validate models
of lithospheric deformation and therefore increasingly common in structural
geology. These studies require a single measure of dynamically
recrystallized grain size in natural mylonites to estimate the magnitude of
differential paleostress (or the rate of mechanical work). This contribution
tests the various measures of grain size used in the literature and proposes
the frequency peak of a grain size distribution
as the most robust estimator for paleopiezometry or paleowattometry studies.
The novelty of the approach
resides in the use of the Gaussian kernel density estimator as an
alternative to the classical histograms, which improves reproducibility. A
free, open-source, easy-to-handle script named <i>GrainSizeTools</i>
(<a href=" https://sourceforge.net/projects/grainsizetools/"target="_blank"> http://www.TEOS-10.org</a>) was developed with the
aim of facilitating the adoption of this measure of grain size in
paleopiezometry or paleowattometry studies. The major advantage of the script
over other programs is that by using the Gaussian kernel density estimator
and by avoiding manual steps in the estimation of the frequency peak, the
reproducibility of results is improved. |
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ISSN: | 1869-9510 1869-9529 |