Brittle failure generally occurs through the growth, interaction and coalescence of both pre-existing and newly-initiated small-scale microcracks to produce large-scale macrofractures.
Interestingly, failure mode can be either associated with dilatancy or compaction. In this session, we aim to consider the different stress, pressure and temperature conditions under which dilatancy/compaction and brittle faulting can occur. We also aim to identify the microstructural parameters that control the development and geometric attributes of shear localization at various scales, from the field to the laboratory.

We welcome contributions from field, experimental, microstructural, modelling or theoretical studies, or any combination of these.