Bi-axial quartz as a stress indicator

Experiments confirm that stress causes quartz to become biaxial with the optical axial plane parallel to the direction of maximum applied stress. Five tectonites were studied for which published data indicate strong patterns of preferred orientation of quartz. Conoscopic investigation, using an optical universal stage, reveals that the quartz in these rocks is biaxial with the 2V as large as 22°. The optic axial planes display strong patterns of preferred orientation. natural tectonites the maximum stress directions deduced from the orientations of the optical axial planes cannot be correlated with the supposed tectonic framework responsible for the quartz orientation fabric. The ease with which quartz can be made biaxial experimentally suggests that the orientation of the optic axial planes may be sensitive to tectonic events which affected the rocks subsequent to the development of the quartz orientation fabrics. The analysis of the orientation of optic axial planes in biaxial quartz may provide a tool for the investigation of neotectonics.