Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7911-702X
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1400-0496
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2477-3043
N/A
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8762-3301
N/A
N/A
N/A
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 11-26-2020
College/Unit
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department/Program/Center
Geology and Geography
Abstract
Folds on the surfaces of mafic lavas are among the most readily recognized geological structures and are used as first-order criteria for identifying ancient lavas on Earth and other planetary bodies. However, the presence of surface-folds on the surface of silicic lavas is contested in this study and we challenge the widely accepted interpretation that silicic lava surfaces contain folds using examples from the western United States and Sardinia, Italy. We interpret the ridges and troughs on their upper surfaces, typically referred to as ‘ogives’ or ‘pressure ridges’, as fracture-bound structures rather than folds. We report on the absence of large-scale, buckle-style folds and note instead the ubiquitous presence of multiple generations and scales of tensile fractures comparable to crevasses in glaciers and formed in ways similar to already recognized crease structures. We report viscosity data and results of stress analyses that preclude folding (ductile deformation in compression) of the upper surface of silicic lavas at timescales of emplacement (weeks to months). Therefore, analysis of fold geometry (wavelength, amplitude, etc.) is erroneous, and instead the signal produced reflects the strength and thickness of the brittle upper surface stretching over a ductile interior. The presence of ogives on the surfaces of lavas on other planetary bodies may help to elucidate their rheological properties and crustal thicknesses, but relating to their tensile strength, not viscosity.
Digital Commons Citation
Andrews, Graham DM; Kenderes, Stuart; Whittington, Alan; Isom, Shelby L.; Brown, Sarah; Pettus, Holly Danielle; Cole, Brenna; and Gokey, Kailee, "The Fold Illusion: The Origins and Implications of Ogives on Silicic Lavas" (2020). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2950.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2950
Source Citation
Graham D.M. Andrews, Stuart M. Kenderes, Alan G. Whittington, Shelby L. Isom, Sarah R. Brown, Holly D. Pettus, Brenna G. Cole, Kailee J. Gokey, The fold illusion: The origins and implications of ogives on silicic lavas, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 553, 2021, 116643, ISSN 0012-821X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116643