Clay mineral fabrics in clay-rich sediments, collected from drill cores at Sites 897, 898, and 899 in the Iberia Abyssal Plain, were measured using the method of X-ray texture goniometry, to examine the relationships between fabric, strain, and physical properties, and to look for evidence for fabric changes induced by horizontal shortening of the abyssal sediments during Miocene compression. No evidence was found to support the idea that the sediments experienced horizontal ductile strain during their residence, although there was evidence for increasing fabric magnitude with depth, associated with burial and dewatering. A crude, approximately linear, relationship is inferred between discrete water contents and apparent volumetric strains derived from the measured fabric, which may correlate with fabric-strain relationships observed in other settings.