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Summary Scanning and transmission electron micrographs of various shales establish the close correlation between clay‐flake orientation and fissility. The shales with the best fissility have the highest degree of preferred orientation. Randomness of clay flakes prevails in non‐fissile claystones. The results suggest that the fabric of shales may result either from the deposition of dispersed clay or by the collapse of clay floccules after deposition.
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Neal R. O’Brien (1970) studied this question.
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