Chapter 1: The Tectonic Stress Field

Topics
• Stress in the Earth’s Crust
• Basic Definitions
• Relative Stress Magnitudes and Anderson’s
Classification Scheme
• Stress Magnitudes at Depth
• Measuring In-Situ Stress
• Indicators of Contemporary Stress Orientation
and Relative Magnitude
• Regional Stress Patterns
• Frictionless Interfaces
Figure 1.1 – pg.6
Anderson Classification of Relative Stress Magnitudes
 Relating Relative Stress Magnitudes
to Faulting Regimes

Regime/Stress S1 S2 S3
Normal Sv SHmax Shmin

Strike-Slip SHmax Sv Shmin

Reverse SHmax Shmin Sv

Table 1.1 – pg.8

 Calculating a Value for Sv

-
Sv =∫ρ(z)gdz ~ ρgz

Correcting for water depth in offshore areas

-
Sv = ρwgzw + ∫ρ(z)gdz ~ ρwgzw + ρg(z-zw)

Equation (1.6) – pg. 9

Estimating Overburden Stress from Density

Figure 1.3 – pg.11

Visund Field, Northern North Sea
Range of Stress Magnitudes at Depth
Hydrostatic Pp

Figure 1.4 a,b,c – pg.13

Range of Stress Magnitudes at Depth
Overpressure at Depth

Figure 1.4 d,e,f – pg.13

 Handy Conversion Factors

Force Pressure gradients Volume

(or mud weight to pressure gradient) 1 liter = 0.264172 gallons
1 newton = 1 kg-m/s2
1 psi/ft = 144 lb/ft3 = 0.035315 ft3
1 dyne = 10-5 newtons = 19.24 lb/gal = 1000 cm3
≈ 0.0225 Mpa/m 1 barrel = 0.158987 m3
1 kg-force = 9.80665 newtons
= 2.31 gm/cm3 = 42 gallons
= 9.80665 105 dynes = 0.432 SG 1 m3 = 6.2898106 barrels
lb/gal = 0.052 psi/ft
Pressure
1 atm (76 cm Hg) = 1.01325 bars Length Viscosity
= 1.033227 kg-force/cm2 1m = 39.37 in 1 Poise = 1 dyne-sec/cm2
= 14.695949 psi = 3.2808399 ft = 1Pa s
1 bar = 106 dynes/cm2 1 ft = 0.3048006 m 1 cP = .01 Poise
= 105 newtons/m2
= 0.1 Mpa
1 kg-force/cm = 9.80665 105 dynes/cm2
2 Permeability
Density
= 0.96784 atm 1 Darcy = 0.986923 10-12 m2
1 gm/cm3 = 62.42797 lb/ft3
1 psi = 0.070307 kg/cm2
= 1000 kg/m3 = 0.986923 10-8 cm2
= 0.006895 Mpa 3
1 lb/ft = 0.016018 gm/cm3
= 0.06895 bar = 1.06 10-11 ft2
1 Pa = 1 n/m-2
= 1.4504 10-4 psi
1 Mpa = 106 Pa
= 145.0378 psi
= 10 bars
1 kb = 100 Mpa
 Horizontal Principal Stress Measurement Methods

Stress Orientation
Stress-induced wellbore breakouts (Ch. 6)
Stress-induced tensile wall fractures (Ch. 6)
Hydraulic fracture orientations (Ch. 6)
Earthquake focal plane mechanisms (Ch. 5)
Shear velocity anisotropy (Ch. 8)

Relative Stress Magnitude

Earthquake focal plane mechanisms (Ch. 5)

Absolute Stress Magnitude

Hydraulic fracturing/Leak-off tests (Ch. 7)
Modeling stress-induced wellbore breakouts (Ch. 7, 8)
Modeling stress-induced tensile wall fractures (Ch. 7, 8)
Modeling breakout rotations due to slip on faults (Ch. 7)
Table 1-2 p. 15
E.M. Anderson’s Classification Scheme

Figure 1.2 – pg.9

Stress Orientations in North America
World Map of Stress Orientations
Generalized World Stress Map
 First Order Patterns Observed in
Global Stress Map Data
In most places a uniform stress field exists throughout the
upper brittle crust
• Consistent orientations from different techniques which sample
very different rock volumes and depth ranges

Intraplate regions are dominated by compression

• Thrust and strike-slip stress regimes in which the maximum
principle stress is horizontal

Active extensional tectonism

• Normal faulting stress regimes in which the maximum principal
stress is vertical occurs in topographically high areas

Regional consistency of both stress orientations and relative

magnitudes
• Broad scale regional stress provinces may be defined, many of
which coincide with physiographic provinces, particularly in
tectonically active regions.
*Light blue arrow indicates relative motion of the Costa Rica-Panama block
with respect to the central North Andean block

Fig. 1.9 – p. 24
Regional Stress in Timor Sea and Western California

Fig. 6.8a,b p. 182

Stress Map of Central California

Figure 1.6 – pg.21

Stress Map of Southern San Joaquin Valley

Figure 1.7 – pg.22

Modeling Fault-Induced Stress at the Wellbore Wall
Anomalous Breakout Orientations
 Wellbore Breakout Rotations Due to Fault Slip

Breakout
Breakout Rotation
Rotation
Sketch Map of SHmax Orientations in Field X
N

em
t

t2
ys
C

ul
tS
E

Fa
us
r
Th
A G

Fault 1

H
me
st
Sy

M
st

I
ru
Th

K Approximate scale, km
0 10
L
Stress Orientations in Southern San Joaquin Valley
Southern San Joaquin Valley
Stress Map of Northern North Sea

Figure 1.8 – pg.23

Visund Field Orientations
Modeled Shmin/Sv Compared to Observations

Figure 9.3 – pg. 272

Is One Principal Stress Always Vertical?
Salt Bodies in the Gulf of Mexico

Figure 1.10a – pg.25

Salt Bodies in the Gulf of Mexico

Figure 1.10b – pg.25

Gulf of Mexico Example