LINEATION
DEFINATION
• A lineation is a fabric element in which one dimension is considerably
longer than the other two.
• A lineation is any linear feature or element in a rock , and can occur
as the product of tectonic, mineralogical, sedimentary, or geomorphic
processes.
• Lineation can be formed by both tectonic and non-tectonic causes
• Example -Ropy lava, flow lineations and columns in columnar basalts
in igneous rocks,and long axes of aligned non-spherical pebbles,
groove marks and aligned fossils in sedimentary rocks,
classification
• Lineation can be classified in following three major group
1. Penetrative lineation
2. Surface lineation
3. Geometric lineation
Types of lineation
[Link] lineation
• Parallel alignment of linear elongated mineral within a rock is called as
mineral lineation
• Example-amphibole needles in amphibolite
• Minerals and mineral aggregates can form a linear fabric by means of
recrystallization, dissolution/ precipitation or rigid rotation
• Physical rotation of rigid prismatic minerals in a soft matrix can in some cases
occur during deformation
• An example is amphibole or epidote crystals in micaschist, where statically
grown amphiboles become aligned in zones of localized deformation
[Link] lineation
• Cataclasis, pressure solution and
recrystallization all contribute to
change the shape of minerals and
mineral aggregates during
deformation
• Deformed conglomerates or oolites
are examples of rocks where linear
shapes can quantitatively be related
to strain. These and other lineation's
defined by the shape of deformed
objects are named stretching
lineation's and the related fabric is
called a shape fabric
• Quartz, calcite and some other
common minerals can grow well
aligned fibrous crystals that define
linear elements. Such mineral
lineations are referred to as mineral
fiber lineations
Roddings
• Rodding describes elongated mineral aggregates that are easily
distinguished from the rest of the rock.
• Quartz rods are common in micaschists and gneisses where striped
quartz objects occur as rods or cigars in the host rock.
• Rods are often considered as stretching lineations, but are commonly
influenced by other structure-forming processes.
INTERSECTION LINEATION
• These type of lineation is formed by the
intersection of two planar structures
• A combination of bedding and cleavage
is a common example
• Where the first tectonic cleavage(S1)
cuts the primary layering or bedding
(S0), the resulting intersection lineation
(L1) appears on the bedding planes, as
shown in Figure
• In most cases intersection lineations are
related to folding, with the lineation
running parallel to the axial trace and
the hinge line
CRENULATION
LINEATION
• Crenulation lineation's are thus
composed of numerous
millimeter to centimeter-scale
fold hinges of low-amplitude
folds
• They are commonly seen in
multiply deformed phyllites,
schists and in micaceous layers in
quartz-schists, mylonite's and
gneisses
Slickensides lineation
• These are linear structure form on
a fault plane due to relative
movements of two fault blocks .
• The plane may be coated
by mineral fibres that grew during
the fault movement, known
as slickenfibres, which also show
the direction of displacement.
Boudinage
• Boudins are competent rock layers that
have been stretched into segments
• Boudinage is a geological term for
structures formed by extension, where a
rigid tabular body such as hornfels, is
stretched and deformed amidst
less competent surroundings
• in other word boudins are formed by
layered parallel extension
• There are also examples of regularly
spaced areas of thinning in many
extended competent layers without the
separation into isolated fragments or
boudins. Such structures are called pinch-
and-swell structures and the process by
which they form is known as necking
Mullions
• Mullion is the name that structural
geologists use for linear deformation
structures that are restricted to the
interface between a competent and an
incompetent rock
• Mullions are formed at the interface of the
bed where viscosity contrast is significant
• In such cases the cusp shapes of mullions
always point into the more competent
rock, i.e. the one with the higher viscosity
at the time of deformation
• A common place to find mullion structures
in metamorphic rocks is at the boundary
between quartzite and phyllite or
micaschist
Pencil structure
• The formation of pencil
structures occurs as a result of
discrete interference between
compaction cleavage and a
subsequent tectonic cleavage,
or between two equally
developed tectonic cleavages