Nucleation and growth of strike slip faults in granite

Fractures within granodiorite of the central Sierra Nevada, California, were studied to elucidate the mechanics of faulting in crystalline rocks, with emphasis on the nucleation of new fault surfaces and their subsequent propagation and growth. Within the study area the fractures form a single, subparallel array which strikes N50°–70°E and dips steeply to the south. Some of these fractures are identified as joints because displacements across the fracture surfaces exhibit dilation but no slip. The joints are filled with undeformed minerals, including epidote and chlorite. Other fractures are identified as small faults because they display left‐lateral strike slip separations of up to 2 m. Slickensides, developed on fault surfaces, plunge 0°–20° to the east. The faults occur parallel to, and in the same outcrop with, the joints. The faults are filled with epidote, chlorite, and quartz, which exhibit textural evidence of shear deformation. These observations indicate that the strike slip faults nucleated on earlier formed, mineral‐filled joints. Secondary, dilational fractures propagated from near the ends of some small faults contemporaneously with the left‐lateral slip on the faults. These fractures trend 25°±10° from the fault planes, parallel to the direction of inferred local maximum compressive stress. The faults did not propagate into intact rock in their own planes as shear fractures. Rather, adjacent faults were linked together by secondary, dilational fractures. Extensive secondary fracturing between faults produced larger fault zones that accommodate 10–100 m of left‐lateral slip. As deformation progressed, faulting evolved from relatively short, closely spaced faults to longer, more widely spaced fault zones.