Investigating new materials in the context of analog-physical models

To broaden the availability of granular materials that are suitable for the analog modeling of upper crustal deformation, we investigated the mechanical behaviors of pure quartz sand and two sand mixtures (quartz sand–powdered barite and quartz sand mica crystals) using ring-shear tests and simple convergent sandbox experiments. The ring-shear test results indicate that the three materials have similar peak friction angles (between 39.25° and 36.02°), but the magnitude of the shear strain and the shear strength required to cause their failure are different. The differences between the analog models are identified by distinct fault kinematics and different grain flows, which are primarily related to differences in the plastic elasto-frictional rheology. We conclude that the use of the quartz–mica mixture, which showed the strongest distributed (plastic) deformation, can improve analog models where different materials are required to simulate crystalline basement (sand) and supracrustal rocks (sand mica mixture). This is a common situation in extension and inversion tectonics, such as, for example, in inversion tectonics, when a granitic basement block acts as a buttress.