Stretching lineations in transpressional shear zones: An example from the Sierra Nevada Batholith, California

Ductile shear zones and associated stretching lineations are generally considered to be the result of two-dimensional, simple shear deformations, with stretching lineations interpreted to rotate into parallelism with the direction of tectonic transport with increasing deformation. However, stretching lineations perpendicular to the inferred tectonic transport direction are displayed by some shear zones. Field studies in the Sierra Nevada batholith have revealed a single shear zone (the Rosy Finch-Gem Lake shear zone) that contains both steeply-plunging stretching lineations in older metamorphosed sedimentary and granitic rocks, and shallowly-plunging stretching lineations in syntectonic granitoids. Dextral sense-of-shear indicators are found in all these units and deformation occurred simultaneously along the length of the shear zone. Theoretical strain modeling indicates that stretching lineations can be either horizontal or vertical within transpressional shear zones. To investigate the kinematics of three-dimensional deformation, we examine the role of stretching lineations which form as a result of finite strain, including the possibility of partitioning a component of the strike-slip movement onto shear bands. Comparing the field data with the strain modeling, we interpret the along-strike variation in lineation behavior within the Rosy Finch-Gem Lake shear zone to be a result of the differences in finite strain recorded by different units. The older units, showing steeply-plunging lineation, have recorded more finite strain across a narrower shear zone than the syntectonic granites which record shallowly-plunging lineations. We conclude that the orientation of the lineation within transpressional shear zones does not necessarily correlate with the transport direction, but may reflect along-strike variations in finite strain and/or strain partitioning. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.