Abstract
In this study of peridotite xenoliths from Ichinomegata volcano, Oga peninsula, NE Japan, we used electron backscattered diffraction to assess the validity of two methods of identifying the olivine slip system that operated during deformation. The xenoliths are harzburgite in composition and contain a distinct foliation and lineation defined by aligned spinel and pyroxene grains. Using the first method, the dominant slip system in olivine was estimated based on the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of olivine with respect to the foliation and lineation. The second method was based on an analysis of subgrain rotation: given that intracrystalline subgrain boundaries were observed within several olivine grains, we measured the misorientation angles across these boundaries to define sets of slip planes, slip directions, and rotation axes. The olivine slip systems estimated using the two methods are essentially identical. The CPO pattern provides an important constraint on the dominant slip system that operated during deformation, whereas the analysis of subgrain rotation yields the slip system responsible for the development of individual subgrain boundaries composed of edge dislocations. The two methods are therefore complementary.
