Recent progress in studies on the nano-sized particle layer in rock shear planes

Since the 1990s, an ultramicro-particle texture in nano- or micron-sized scale has been continually found in shear planes of various rocks, and recently further progress was obtained by studying the generic mechanisms on both physics and mechanics. In this article, the characteristics of the nano-sized particle layer in rock shear planes (including the widespread distribution, layering texture, non-linear genetic mechanism, and multiple functions) on an ultra micro-scale were briefly introduced and more information was proposed by analyzing examples from home and broad.We found that there is a paragenetic relationship between the development of shear frictional-viscous and the formation of nano-sized particles and that in the shear movement, partitioning, segregating, and layering in rocks are initiated by the sliding motion of the nano-sized particle layer. Moreover, the plastic rheology of rocks is essentially the movement of ultra micro-sized particle (nano-size and micro-size), and the nano-sized particle layer in rock shear planes are characterized by some particular physical and chemical effects.