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This image of a cracked mud flat from https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/numbers-in-nature/the-patterns/voronoi-pattern/ shows that when three cracks meet at a vertex they (tend to) form right angles.

enter image description here

I remember once reading about why that happens - I think it was an energy minimizing argument of some sort. I'd like to see that argument again - and a link to a quotable source, if possible.

(Reason for my curiosity: if my memory is correct then this cannot be a Voronoi diagram, as claimed.)

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Physics Today had an article on the subject a few years ago (not sure if that link is paywalled or not - I'm a member). Maybe that's what you were thinking of? The article explains it in terms of local elastic energy balancing.

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  • $\begingroup$ That's not where I read it, but it does answer my question and it's not paywalled. Thanks. $\endgroup$
    – Ethan Bolker
    Commented Apr 18, 2018 at 0:33
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    $\begingroup$ In general posts linking to articles as answers are discouraged (as if the link goes dead so does the answer). You should ideally write a summary of the key relevant points of the article, not just link to it. $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Commented Apr 18, 2018 at 0:57

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