Discussion

  The suggestions for interpretation of microstructures above were made based on observations in the analog experiments. Since the material property and conditions (e.g. strain rate and temperature) of the analog experimental system are very different from those of the natural geologic system, consideration of kinetic scaling (i.e. process rate scaling) as well as traditional mechanical scaling (e.g. length-, mass-, time- scaling) is necessary to confirm the suggested possibilities of microstructural evolution in natural systems. Microstructural similarity in different systems or conditions is achieved only when the history of relative rates among processes are identical (Park, 1994). Otherwise, the experiment is not properly scaled. Since the process rates at geological conditions are not known, it is impossible to know what the relative rates of processes should be in an analog system. For this reason, the significance of the experimental observations is not clear. Probably the best way of testing the possibilities suggested in this study is to study natural microstructures in detail. After detailed studies, the suggested possibilities can be accepted or rejected, depending on the presence or absence of suggested microstructures.

The processes observed in this system may or may not operate in natural magmatic system, depending on the process kinetics. If the rate of processes are slow even for geologic time (e.g. life span of a magma chamber), a reasonable conclusion is that processes with such a slow kinetics have no importance in changing the melt-grown igneous textures of rocks. But, how do we know whether the kinetics of processes are slow or fast in natural systems? The question can be answered by at least three different approaches. First, one can experimentally measure the process kinetics, using a real geological material. This will be possible only if a process is fast enough to occur on laboratory time scales (typically days to weeks). Second, one can test the possibility of a process by detailed petrographic studies. For example, a crystal which is made of one part which has grown from melt and another part which has grown by grain- or phase-boundary migration, may have slightly different chemical signature in these different parts which may be recognizable by detailed petrography with chemical imaging (e.g. Figure 5c). Finally, one can build a model (e.g. computer simulation) that links a process and the resulting textural change and check the time required for a process to change the texture. The possibility of a process can be accepted or rejected depending on the time required for textural change compared to times available for various processes in natural rock systems. Thus, the value of this type of experiments seems that the experiments can be sources of idea for setting up silicate experiments, petrographic works, and modelling.

 
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