Studies of convergent margins worldwide have shown that deformation patterns within continental crust vary according to crustal level and tectonic settings. This project is aimed at determining how strain was partitioned vertically from upper to lower levels of an ancient orogen where the relative strengths and rheology of the middle and lower crust changed during convergence, and will utilize a deeply eroded, early Cretaceous granulite belt in Fiordland, New Zealand. Results should provide a measure of the characteristics and kinematics of ancient lower crustal strain fields and determine how they changed vertically through the crust, thereby addressing the extent to which the upper, middle and lower crust were coupled, and the effects of a changing strength profile as orogenesis proceeded. Successful results are expected to be applicable to a wide range of tectonic
