Introduction: the relationship between damage and localization, H Lewis and G D Couples • Damage and localisation: two key concepts in rock deformation studies, Y Gueguen and P Besuelle • The mechanics of fault distribution and localisation in high-porosity sands, Provence, France, C A J Wibberley, J-P Petit and T Rives • Strain localisation in geomaterials, J Desrues, P Besuelle and H Lewis • The progression from damage to localisation of displacement observed in laboratory testing of porous rocks, J M Logan • Microscale damage evolution in compacting sandstones, A A Di Giovanni, J T Fredrich, D J Holcomb and W A Olsson • Influence of grain-size and geothermal gradient on the ductile-to-brittle transition in arenaceous sedimentary rocks: implications for fault structure and fluid flow, Q J Fisher, S D Harris, M Casey and R J Knipe • Fracture aperture, length and pattern geometry development under biaxial loading: a numerical study with applications to natural, cross-jointed systems, J E Olson • Permeability of fault rocks from the Median Tectonic Line in Ohshika-mura, Nagano, Japan as studied by pressure-cycling tests, S Uehara and T Shimamoto • Insights into the faulting processes from numerical simulations of rock-layer bending, G D Couples, H Lewis, P Olden, G H Workman and N G Higgs • Improved seismic identification of inter-fault damage via a linked seismic-geomechanics approach, S A Hall, H Lewis and X Macle • Localization processes in a coupled hydro-geomechanically sensitive fractured system, M A Reynolds, G D Couples, H Lewis and G E Pickup • Proximity to a critical point: evidence from, and implications for, hydrocarbon reservoirs, K J Heffer