Laboratory models of oblique rifting


Modeling apparatus designed by Dr. Martha O. Withjack

Experiments used wet clay as a medium, and a constant extension rate of 3 cm/hr. Photographs of the model surface were taken every 5 minutes during the model run. Below are photographs taken after 3.5 cm of extension.

Orthogonal extension produces a simple fracture pattern	Oblique extension results in increasing complexity as the angle of obliqiuty decreases
Manuscripts published on this work : Clifton, Amy E., Roy W. Schlische, 2001, Nucleation, growth, and linkage of faults in oblique rift zones:Results from experimental clay models and implications for maximum fault size.Geology, 29: 455-458. (212) PDF file Clifton, Amy E., Roy W. Schlische, Martha O. Withjack, Rolf V. Ackermann, 2000, Influence of rift obliquity on fault-population systematics: results of experimental clay models. Journal of Structural Geology, 22, 1491 1510. PDF file