The materials that form the bases of this Knowledgebase owe their existence to many people. Among these are the former students and postdoctoral fellows with whom the senior author had the privilege of working. I am also indebted to Professor David D. Pollard and some of his former students and associates in the Structural Geology and Geomechanics program at Stanford University and to Professor Arvid Johnson formerly at Stanford and Purdue Universities and his former students in both institutions. All these are referenced frequently in this Knowledgebase.

We appreciate valuable suggestions on the layout and esthetics by Dan Auvil, Steve Finney, George Chittenden, and Lise Liepman. English editing by Fiona Walter and occasional checks by Elizabeth de Oliveira improved the readability of the final product. Elena Stamatakos ably handled the copyright agreements with the original publishers. Amy Hodge, Science Data Librarian at the Branner Earth Science Library, helped to establish the Stanford Rock Fracture Project and Stanford Shale Smear Project databases referred to extensively in this Knowledgebase. Julie Sweetkind-Singer provided information about the library subscriptions.

The senior author’s research has been supported primarily by NSF individual grants, DOE Basic Energy Sciences (Geological Sciences), and the Rock Fracture Project and Shale Smear Project industry affiliate programs at Stanford University. Last but not least, he is indebted to his late older brother, Ilbeyi for his motivational and financial support during his high school and undergraduate education.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Atilla and Jian

Stanford, September 2017