Cathodoluminescence imaging has a potential to identify
deformation structures such as cemented microfractures in
quartz (Milliken and Lauback, 2000). In a study of the Frio
Formation sandstones in the Gulf of Mexico, Makowitz and
Milliken (2003) documented that micro-fracturing in quartz
had taken place before, during and after quartz cementation.
Fisher et al. (1999) attributed mechanical compaction structures
of sandstone at deep (>4.5 km) burial to situations where
the rate of stress increase had been higher than the rate of
‘‘chemical compaction processes’’.