Silicification of pelitic schist in the Ryoke low-pressure/temperature metamorphic belt, Southwest Japan: Origin of competent layers in the middle crust

We propose that competent layers composed of silicified rocks in the Cretaceous Ryoke low-pressure/temperature (low- P/T ) metamorphic belt in the Iwakuni–Yanai area, Southwest Japan, may be an exhumed equivalent of a seismically-reflective bright-layer in the middle crust. Silicified rocks crop out as layers or long lenticular bodies several to fifteen meters in thickness, and they are restricted to the area of greenschist facies conditions within a structural thickness of about one kilometer. The silicified rock layers exhibit a sharp contact with subjacent biotite schist but a gradational contact with overlying pelitic schist. Silicified rock is mainly composed of fine-grained quartz and minor muscovite and biotite, and some colored minerals have been variably decolorized by alteration. This implies that silicification turned the color of pelitic schists to pale gray or milky white. Quartz veins cutting schistosity at high angles were preferentially developed in the silicified rocks, while schistosity-parallel quartz veins, which underwent viscous flow, were observed in the underlying biotite schists. En echelon quartz veins and fishnet-like quartz veins are characteristic of silicified rocks. The modes of occurrence of quartz veins indicate that silicified rocks were competent relative to underlying biotite schist. The combination of contact with high-competence contrast adjacent to low-permeability silicified rocks may be a good reflector of seismic waves. If the silicified rocks were distributed in the middle crust to a considerable extent, they may result in seismic bright-layer reflections.