Topology of syntectonic melt-flow networks in the deep crust: Inferences from three- dimensional images of leucosome geometry in migmatites

One of the fundamental geophysical observations made of the Earth is the stratified nature of the continental crust, in which the lower crust comprises denser, more mafic material and the upper crust comprises less dense, more felsic material. This chemically differentiated layered structure is developed and maintained by partial melting at depth and the ascent of magma to shallower crustal levels. In this paper, we are concerned with the movement of melt in the deep crust while it was in a partially molten state. Information to address this issue is potentially available from anatectic migmatites, which Topology of syntectonic melt-flow networks in the deep crust: Inferences from threedimensional images of leucosome geometry in migmatites