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Kinematic History of a Salient-recess Junction Explored through a Combined Approach of Field Data and Analog Sandbox Modeling

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Evolving fracture patterns: columnar joints, mud cracks and polygonal terrain.

Lucas Goehring¹

¹Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Am Fassberg 17, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. lucas.goehring@ds.mpg.de

Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences

|January 30, 2014

Summary

Cracking patterns in contracting layers can be rectilinear or hexagonal. This study shows how identical forces can create both patterns and how rectilinear cracks can evolve into hexagonal ones over multiple cycles.

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Area of Science:

Geophysics
Materials Science
Fracture Mechanics

Background:

Cracks in contracting layers form distinct patterns: rectilinear (right-angle intersections) and hexagonal (120-degree angles).
Hexagonal patterns typically arise from repeated opening/healing cycles or intermittent advance into thick layers.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate how identical forces can produce both rectilinear and hexagonal crack patterns.
To investigate the evolution of rectilinear crack patterns towards hexagonal ones.

Main Methods:

Analysis of crack formation under identical forces.
Modeling crack evolution through multiple opening/healing cycles.
Comparison with natural crack patterns in various geological formations.

Main Results:

Both rectilinear and hexagonal patterns can originate from the same applied forces.
Rectilinear patterns can transition to hexagonal patterns over successive crack opening cycles.
The evolution is driven by cracks being guided by previous cycles but allowing slight positional and ordering variations.

Conclusions:

The study provides a unified mechanism for the formation of different crack patterns.
Crack pattern evolution is linked to the history of opening cycles and slight variations in crack propagation.
Findings are relevant to understanding natural phenomena like polygonal terrain and columnar joints.