INTRODUCTION AND GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND. 1 Fabrics defined by the alignment of clay particles are widely reported from mudstones, and generally attributed, if they are beddingparallel or subparallel, to compaction during dewatering and diagenesis (see review in Kisch 1991 and papers by Oertel and Curtis 1972, Moon 1972, Krizek et al. 1975, Curtis et al. 1980, and Maltman 1981).
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