The formation of crenulation cleavage

Abstract

Investigation of a theory of buckling of an anisotropic material has enabled the micro-folding of mineral fabrics to be more clearly understood. It is shown that “Crenulations” (microfolds) are associated with a variety of buckling instabilities which develop in stressed mineral fabrics or finely laminated multi-layers. Crenulation cleavage planes are generally formed as a consequence of mineral migration which occurs in response to stress gradients intimately associated with the developing microfolds.