Ruminations on Tuttle lamellae (fluid inclusion planes) in Carboniferous strata from Bellsund and St Jonsfjorden, western Svalbard

Of numerous post-depositional microstructures that exist in Carboniferous quartz sandstones, Tuttle lamellae (healed microcracks or microfractures, planar arrays of fluid inclusions) are potentially the most imformative. Universal stage orientation analysis and the stratigraphic position of relict and consistent post-depositional Tuttle lamellae populations indicate a polyphase history of formation with at least three events: a pre-Carboniferous event, a Carboniferous event (perhaps associated with basin extension), and a post-Triassic event - very likely Tertiary in age. Since Carboniferous macrostructures are scarce, Tuttle lamella provide a promising avenue for future kinematic analysis of somewhat cryptic Carboniferous deformation events. -Authors