“…Polygonal faults are thought to form during early burial and diagenesis as a consequence of heterogeneous lateral volume changes caused by or associated to laterally-heterogeneous mechanisms and parameters such as sediment compaction, fluid flow and pressure, gravitational loading, and chemically driven volumetric contraction or syneresis (Cartwright, 1994a(Cartwright, , 2011Cartwright and Lonergan, 1996;Cosgrove, 1998;Dewhurst et al, 1999;Watterson et al, 2000;Goulty, 2001Goulty, , 2008Gay et al, 2004;Dehandschutter et al, 2005;Goulty and Swarbrick, 2005;Victor and Moretti, 2006;Gay and Berndt, 2007;Davies et al, 2009;Meadows and Davies, 2009;Alves, 2010;Ireland et al, 2010;Davies and Ireland, 2011). Despite numerous studies, the origin of these faults remains still largely controversial.…”