Measurements of fracture joint distribution combined with determinations of plume length and orientation on a vertical section of a single chalk layer near Beer Sheva, Israel, reveal that joints marked by unilateral and circular plumes are skewed towards the shorter sizes while joints decorated by bilateral plumes are skewed towards the longer sizes. The mean lengths of the unilateral and bilateral joints are 66.5 cm and 155.6 cm, with standard deviations of 30 cm and 60.6 cm, respectively. These results as well as joint length observations from other areas seem to suggest a bimodal length distribution. However, since the minor maximum is generally very weak, and due to some additional uncertainties, further confirmation of the present observations is needed.
Key Words Fractography - chalk - joint length distribution - bimodality