HIGH-TEMPERATURE DEFORMATION OF ROCKS AND MINERALS

The goal of research on the high temperature deformation of rocks and minerals is to determine the stress and strain history of the crust and mantle—to interpret the structures observed in naturally deformed rocks, to interpret geophysical measurements, and to allow accurate modelling. This research thus includes experimental and theoretical studies, as well as studies of naturally deformed rocks. In the four years since the review by Carter [1975] the importance of this field has been emphasized by a number of special conferences, including a Royal Society Discussion on Creep of Engineering Materials and of the Earth [1977; Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, series A, v. 288, 1–236] and a C.N.R.S. International Colloquium on Deformation Mechanisms in Minerals and Rocks [1979; Bull. Fr. Soc. Min. Crist., v. 102]. This field was reviewed by Carter [1976] and treated extensively in a book by Nicolas and Poirier [1976], but there have been a number of significant advances in our understanding in the past few years. Copyright 1979 by the American Geophysical Union.