9The strength of rocks in the subsurface is critically important across the geosciences, with 10 implications for fluid flow, mineralization, seismicity, and the deep biosphere. Most studies 11of porous rock strength consider the scalar quantity of porosity, in which strength shows a 12 broadly inverse relationship with total porosity, but pore shape is not explicitly defined. Here

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[1] Using 3D terrestrial laser scan (TLS) technology, we have recorded postseismic deformation on and adjacent to the surface rupture formed during the 6th April 2009 L'Aquila normal faulting earthquake (Mw 6.3). Using surface modeling techniques and repeated surveys 8-124 days after the earthquake, we have produced a 4D dataset of postseismic deformation across a 3 × 65 m area at high horizontal spatial resolution. We detected millimetrescale movements partitioned between discrete surface rupture slip and development of a hangingwall syncline over 10's of meters. We interpret the results as the signal of shallow afterslip in the fault zone. We find 52% of the total postseismic hangingwall vertical motion occurs as deformation within 30 m of the surface rupture. The total postseismic vertical motions are approximately 50% that of the coseismic. We highlight the importance of quantifying partitioned postseismic contributions when applying empirical slip-magnitude datasets to infer palaeoearthquake magnitudes.

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Sill emplacement is typically associated with horizontally mechanically layered host rocks in a nearhydrostatic far-field stress state, where contrasting mechanical properties across the layers promote transitions from dykes, or inclined sheets, to sills. We used detailed field observations from the Loch Scridain Sill Complex (Isle of Mull, UK), and mechanical models to show that layering is not always the dominant control on sill emplacement. The studied sills have consistently shallow dips (1 • -25 • ) and cut vertically bedded and foliated metamorphic basement rocks, and horizontally bedded cover sedimentary rocks and lavas. Horizontal and shallowly-dipping fractures in the host rock were intruded with vertical opening in all cases, whilst steeply-dipping discontinuities within the sequence (i.e. vertical fractures and foliation in the basement, and vertical polygonal joints in the lavas) were not intruded during sill emplacement. Mechanical models of slip tendency, dilation tendency, and fracture susceptibility for local and overall sill geometry data, support a radial horizontal compression during sill emplacement. Our models show that dykes and sills across Mull were emplaced during NW-SE horizontal shortening, related to a far-field tectonic stress state. The dykes generally accommodated phases of NE-SW horizontal tectonic extension, whereas the sills record the superposition of the far-field stress with a near-field stress state, imposed by emplacement of the Mull Central Volcano. We show that through detailed geometric characterisation coupled with mechanical modelling, sills may be used as an indication of fluctuations in the paleostress state.

Igneous sills can facilitate significant lateral magma transport in the crust, therefore it is important to constrain controls on their formation and propagation. Close spatial association between sills and dikes in layered (sedimentary) host rocks has led to a number of sill emplacement mechanisms that involve stress rotation related to layering; from horizontal extension and dike emplacement, to horizontal compression and sill emplacement. Here we use field observations in the San Rafael subvolcanic field (Utah, USA), on the Colorado Plateau, supported by mechanical modelling, to show that layering is not the dominant control in all cases of sill formation. We found no compelling evidence of large sills fed by dikes; all observed cases show that either dikes cut sills, or vice versa. Local sill contacts activate and follow host layer interfaces, but regionally, sills cut the stratigraphy at a low angle. The sills cut and are cut by reverse faults (1-3 m

Threlkeld Knotts (c. 500 m above sea level) in the English Lake District has hitherto been considered to be a glacially‐modified intrusion of microgranite. However, its surface features are incompatible with glacial modification; neither can these nor the subsurface structures revealed by ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) be explained by post‐glacial subaerial processes acting on a glacially‐modified microgranite intrusion. Here we re‐interpret Threlkeld Knotts as a very large post‐glacial landslide involving the microgranite, with an estimated volume of about 4 × 107 m3. This interpretation is tested against published and recent information on the geology of the site, the glacial geomorphic history of the area and newly‐acquired GPR data. More than 60 large post‐Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) rock–slope failures have significantly modified the glaciated landscape of the Lake District; this is one of the largest. Recognition of this major landslide deposit in such a well‐studied environment highlights the need to continuously re‐examine landscapes in the light of increasing knowledge of geomorphic processes and with available technology in currently active or de‐glaciating environments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.