The present work investigates the formation of nanotubes by anodizing titanium at 20 V in glycerol containing either 0.175 M or 0.35 M NH4F. A photoresist-masking method of thin Ti films allows to use SEM cross-sections to directly obtain information on oxide morphology, layer thickness and metal substrate loss. Therefore not only features of the initial growth stages but also oxide expansion factors can accurately be determined. The expansion factors were found to be similar to 2.4 for the initial formation of a barrier layer, similar to 1.7-1.9 during pore initiation and similar to 2.7-3.1 as the main nanotubes develop. These values (>2.6) suggest substantial contribution to steady state tube growth by a plastic oxide flow mechanism. Combined with RBS efficiency measurements the method presented here allows facile and direct investigation of the mechanism of pore/tube formation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.