Microstructures and Fabrics
Capture subtle records of stress, strain, and sediment reorganization. These features offer valuable clues about deformation in glacial and mass transport environments.
Deformation at the Microscale
Microstructures and sedimentary fabrics provide insight into strain, flow behavior, and deformation processes that are not always visible at the outcrop or hand-sample scale. These features form through ductile deformation, shearing, and pore fluid pressure, especially in saturated subglacial and soft-sediment settings.
Examples include C–S fabric, clast alignment, foliation, strain ellipses, and micro-shear zones; each capturing the direction and intensity of past stress conditions. These features help geologists understand ice-bed interactions, flow kinematics, and deformation timing within glacigenic and mass transport deposits.
This section showcases high-resolution examples and interpretations of microstructures that deepen our understanding of sedimentary behavior and deformation processes in glacial environments and beyond.