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The crack–seal mechanism of rock deformation

Abstract

Many naturally deformed crustal rocks contain mineral-filled extension veins. The crystals making up the vein filling often show a fibrous habit and seem to be built up by a succession of ‘crack–seal’ increments: the elastically deforming rock fails by fracture, and the walls of the open micro-crack are sealed together by crystalline material derived by pressure solution in the rock matrix.

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Ramsay, J. The crack–seal mechanism of rock deformation. Nature 284, 135–139 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/284135a0

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