Preferred orientation in experimentally deformed stishovite: implications for deformation mechanisms

The crystal structure of the high pressure SiO₂ polymorph stishovite has been studied in detail, yet little is known about its deformation mechanisms. Information about how stishovite deforms under stress is important for understanding subduction of quartz-bearing crustal rocks into the mantle. Particularly, stishovite is elastically anisotropic and thus development of crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) during deformation may contribute to seismic anomalies in the mantle.

We converted a natural sample of flint to stishovite in a laser heated diamond anvil cell and compressed the stishovite aggregate up to 38 GPa. Diffraction patterns were collected in situ in radial geometry at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) to examine development of CPO during deformation. We find that (001) poles preferentially align with the compression direction and infer deformation mechanisms leading to the observed CPO with visco-plastic self consistent (VPSC) polycrystal plasticity models.

Our results show pyramidal and basal slip are most likely active at high pressure and ambient temperature, in agreement with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies of rutile (TiO₂) and paratellurite (TeO₂), which are isostructural to stishovite. Conversely other TEM studies of stishovite done at higher temperature suggest dominant prismatic slip. This indicates that a variety of slip systems may be active in stishovite, depending on conditions. As a result, stishovite’s contribution to the seismic signature in the mantle may vary as a function of pressure and temperature and thus depth.