In naturally deformed rocks the most common planar fabric is cleavage. Some of the mechanism controlling the development of cleavage are reasonably understood, however several important problems require insight into how the earliest cleavage fabric initiated. This project's goal is to recognize and quantify the incipient stages of cleavage formation in mudrocks, prior to the development of a penetrative fabric. The development of cleavage in its incipient stage in mudrocks, where there are no visible structure in outcrop, can be readily tracked by the magnetic anisotropy ellipsoid, and this project involves magnetic ellipsoid evolution in sequences of undeformed to cleaved rocks, which preserves the complete sequence of fabric development, characterization of the magnetic mineralogy responsible will be determined using SEM microscopy and x-ray techniques. Results are expected to illuminate the acquisition of incipient cleavage fabric in the earliest stages of deformation. ***
