Augen Gneiss Porphyroclast Analysis in the Southern Menderes Massif, Turkey

My research project analyzed the feldspar porphyroclasts of an augen gneiss core-complex for kinematics and shape-preferred orientation to help understande the core-complex formation.  The augen gneiss, in the southern Menderes Massif in southwestern Turkey, is a core-complex with overlying Paleozoic schist and Mesozoic-Cenozoic marble. While in Turkey I was graduate student Lindsay Iredaleís field assistant and collected data for my own project.  For my project I made transparency tracings and took photos of porphyroclasts on two specific faces (foliation plane, the face parallel to lineation and perpendicular to foliation, and/or the face perpendicular to both foliation and lineation) on augen gneiss outcrops.  Using these data I constructed various diagrams of the preferred shape and orientations of the clasts.

The porphyroclasts demonstrated a basic trend of a top to north shear sense in the northern area and a top to south shear sense in the southern area of the core-complex, with an abrupt switch in orientation.  This same trend was also observed in the foliation of the augen gneiss.  This data will help Lindsay determine the tectonics augen gneiss core-complex formation.
 

Alice (left) and grad student, Lindsey Iredale in Turkey.
 

BACK