Stress Inversion Technique Research Articles

Tectonic Stress Analysis of Shivnath-Salena Area, Using Stress Response Structure

The geological mapping of the Shivnath-Salena area and structure analysis of the same area were conducted in the LesserHimalayan sequence, Far West Nepal, unveiling the characteristics of kinematics and the associated stress field in the region. Thearea comprises of the Salena Formation and Chachura Formation. The Salena Formation is sandwiched between the PachkoraThrust and Dudulakhan Thrust, and the Chachura Formation occurs between the North Dadeldhura Thrust and Pachkora Thrust.The Salena Formation is composed of light grey and white quartzite and black slates that are intensely deformed, with folds. The Malena Anticline and the Lamalek Syncline are the intraformational folds observed in the study area. Superimposed folding was also observed. The Chachura Formation comprises Paleocene to Late Eocene green sandstone, grey and purple shale, and approximately 1 m thick grey fossiliferous limestone. This study interprets stress-response structures to show the tectonic stress field in the Salena Formation. Twenty-seven fault slip data (slickenside) were collected in the field and used to determine the stress regime by applying the stress inversion technique. The direction of the maximum principal stress axes is interpreted as NE-SW. The average value of the stress index R' is about 0.30, indicating an extensional tectonic stress regime in the study area. As σ1 is vertical, R = R' in the study area suggests normal faulting in an extensional regime.

Research on Mechanism of Non-Uniform In-Situ Stress Induced Casing Damage Based on Finite Element Analysis

Casing damage is a common problem encountered during oil and gas field development due to the complex stress state of the casing. Despite the large number of studies focusing on this problem, the mechanism of non-uniform in-situ stress-induced casing damage in a low-permeability reservoir is still unclear. In this study, casing damage due to non-uniform in-situ stress variations was investigated, and then the tectonic stress coefficients in the study area were determined by an in-situ stress inversion technique, which led to the derivation of formulas for calculating the maximum and minimum horizontal in-situ stresses. Subsequently, finite element numerical simulations were performed to assess the stress distribution during the formation of the casing cement sheath in a G155 block, a typical low-permeability reservoir. The results indicate that casing damage is caused not only by non-uniform in-situ stresses but also by various additional creep-induced loads. Subsequent finite element investigations into casing behavior under mudstone creep conditions indicated that immersion of mudstone in water instigated further shearing and deformation of the casing, culminating in premature well failure prior to water inundation. Notably, Von Mises stress levels exhibited a positive correlation with injection production ratios, with values exceeding critical thresholds leading to distinct modes of mechanical failure including shear-induced deformations, longitudinal tensile stress, and localized yielding near water wells. Maintenance of an optimal injection production ratio is identified as a key strategy for prolonging casing longevity in the region. To this end, recommendations include augmenting the casing wall thickness or enhancing the steel pressure specifications to mitigate casing damage progression, thereby extending the operational lifespan. This research serves as a pivotal theoretical framework for informing future development strategies aimed at mitigating and preempting casing failures in a low-permeability reservoir.

Mapping paleostress trajectories by means of the clustering of reduced stress tensors determined from homogeneous and heterogeneous data sets

It is easy to draw stress trajectories to investigate the present stress field by interpolating stress orientations determined at control points. However, challenges arise when we deal with the trajectories of paleostresses, because neighboring control points may have the stress orientations of different tectonic phases. We must choose coeval stresses to draw the trajectories. Recent stress inversion techniques can separate stresses from heterogeneous data from fault, dilational fractures, etc. Natural data sets from those structures are often heterogeneous, and age data are usually not enough to classify the stresses by age. As a result, an unsupervised classification problem of the inversion results must be solved to draw the trajectories. Here, we propose a simple and heuristic procedure for this problem. We assume smooth trajectories during each of the phases. The smoothness makes density-based clustering adoptable to solve the problem. The heterogeneity of data sets allows the additional partition of the clusters. As a worked exercise for this technique, the trajectories of minimum horizontal stress orientations were drawn based on the paleostresses determined from the attitudes of felsic dikes and quartz veins formed in mid Cretaceous orogeny in the North Kitakami Terrain, northern Japan. The orogen-parallel and orogen-perpendicular extensional stress fields delineated by the present technique were probably the manifestations, respectively, of the gravitational collapse of the orogen and of regional extensional tectonics in the Far East.

Identifying subsurface fault planes via a stress inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms

SUMMARY We test three different methods for selecting the fault plane from the two nodal planes in an individual focal mechanism, which are implemented in a linear stress inversion technique, to constrain the geometry of subsurface seismogenic faults. The three fault-selection methods use the misfit angle between the slip orientation and maximum shear stress direction on the nodal planes, fault instability and slip tendency, respectively, to select the fault planes. These three fault-selection methods are applied to various types (synthetic, simulated and real) of focal mechanism data sets where the fault planes are already known. In particular, synthetic focal mechanism data sets are generated with the assumption of different levels of pore pressure variation (up to 60 per cent of the minimum principal stress) that may be involved in activating faults with diverse orientations. The instability method performs the best among the three fault-selection methods, with 60–100 per cent of the faults correctly selected in each of the tested data sets. The slip-tendency method is slightly less accurate than the instability method, especially when the earthquakes occur in a highly variable pore pressure environment, and the misfit-angle method is relatively ineffective in selecting the faults, especially in noisy data sets. The test results show that the instability method is the most effective in correctly selecting the faults when the instability of the selected fault plane is significantly higher than that of the auxiliary plane, whereby the instability ratio of the selected (fault) plane to the auxiliary plane is above ∼1.4; this constraint can improve our ability to identify subsurface seismic faults. We apply this stress inversion technique, which implements the instability method, to the 2016–2017 induced earthquakes in Pohang, South Korea. We invert 53 well-constrained, well-located focal mechanism solutions to derive the stress condition, with the nodal planes possessing a higher instability selected as faults. The earthquakes, which occurred in spatially distinct areas of the region, have been associated with water injection into two boreholes (PX-1 and PX-2). Approximately 70 per cent of the identified faults for the PX-2-related earthquakes are well aligned in terms of both their locations and orientations, thereby indicating that these earthquakes occurred along a single, large-scale fault. The fault planes with instability ratios above ∼1.3 are all correctly selected for the PX-2 fault. Although there are more variations in the identified fault orientations of the PX-1-related earthquakes, some of the fault planes with high instability ratios (>1.4) are generally subparallel to one another. Both the locations and orientations of these high-instability-ratio planes are well aligned, suggesting the presence of a large-scale fault that is subparallel to the PX-2 fault. This study demonstrates the potential of effectively identifying and imaging subsurface seismic faults using only information on fault mechanics (i.e. stress and focal mechanisms).

Tectonic stress regime and faulting style analysis due to sequence of earthquakes in Western Nepal

The current study examines the source mechanism and the regional stress regime of a sequence of moderate-sized earthquakes between October 2022 and October 2023. ISOLA-GUI-a Matlab coded program has been used to estimate Moment Tensor Solution to understand the source mechanisms of the earthquakes in the region. The earthquakes are recorded at the broadband station arrays of the regional seismological network around the Tehri region, installed by the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in India. The study focuses on earthquakes with epicentral distances of less than 10°. The investigation aims to comprehend the source process by estimating the focal mechanisms utilizing regional waveform data and then inverting the acquired focal mechanism of these earthquakes to comprehend the active stress regime in the region. The obtained source mechanism reveals a predominance of a double-couple mechanism in faulting and hence, suggests that the majority of the seismic energy is released through shear motion along a defined fault plane. By revealing the complex interaction of geological forces in the Himalayan belt, this investigation will help us to better understand the distribution of stress and deformation patterns beneath the Earth's crust. The main emphasis lies on assessing stress distribution through the utilization of earthquake focal mechanism data and employing the Stress Inversion technique using the WinTensor program. The result of stress inversion suggests that the maximum compressive stress is plunging horizontally, while the minimum compressive stress is oriented vertically. Hence revealing a thrust stress regime in Western Nepal, trending in the NNE- SSW direction corroborating the ongoing tectonic processes associated with the collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate.

Paleostress evolution of the West Africa passive margin: New insights from calcite twinning paleopiezometry in the deeply buried syn-rift TOCA formation (Lower Congo basin)

Accurate characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs requires a good understanding of the paleostress history of their host sedimentary basin. This study aims at reconstructing the paleoburial and paleostress history of the syn-rift Barremian TOCA Fm. in the Lower Congo basin (West African margin). Two oriented borehole cores drilled offshore Congo were investigated using stress inversion techniques applied to calcite mechanical twins to constrain paleostress orientations and magnitudes. The inversion of calcite twins was performed on a widespread early diagenetic cement (~129 to ~113 Ma) and revealed that the TOCA Fm. has undergone a complex polyphase stress history, including (1) extensional stress regimes with vertical σ1 and horizontal σ3 trending NE-SW and WNW-ESE (N100) associated with the rifting episode preceding the opening of the South Atlantic (130 to 112 Ma), and with mean differential stresses of ~47 MPa for (σ1-σ3) and ~ 20 MPa for (σ2-σ3). The early N100 extension is associated with the development of normal faults striking N-S that likely reactivated inherited basement structures. The direction of extension evolved during the Barremian into the main NE-SW extension marked by the dominant normal faults striking NW-SE. (2) Compressional and strike-slip stress regimes with horizontal σ1 oriented ~N-S possibly related to the far-field intraplate transmission of orogenic stresses generated at the distant Africa-Eurasia plate boundary at ~67–60 Ma, and with mean differential stresses of 40 MPa for (σ1-σ3) and 28 MPa for (σ2-σ3). (3) Compressional and strike-slip stress regimes with horizontal σ1 oriented ENE-WSW to ~E-W that we tentatively relate to the mid-Atlantic ridge push and prevailing since ~15 Ma onwards, associated with mean differential stresses of ~45 MPa for (σ1-σ3) and ~ 18 MPa for (σ2-σ3). Our results reveal that the TOCA Fm. recorded mainly far-field stress effects that could be related to interactions between the African plate and surrounding plates, and that divergent passive margins may experience a complex tectonic history including both extensional and compressional events.

Stress distribution in the western India-Eurasia collision zone, its kinematics and seismotectonic implications

In this study, we use iterative joint stress inversion technique on a declustered catalogue of 324 focal mechanisms to evaluate the stress distribution in the western India-Eurasia collision zone (IECZ). The stress field has been obtained for different tectonic settings, such as the Himalayan Seismic belt, Karakoram-Tibet region and the individual zones identified based on geology, tectonics and available focal mechanism solutions. The results reveal NE-SW trending principal stress (σ1) with compression for Himalayan seismic belt and strike-slip stress regime for Karakoram-Tibet. We observe that even within the Himalayan region, the western region (75°-77° E latitudes) exhibits arc-oblique compression (NE-SW) in contrast to the arc-normal compression (NNE-SSW) in central Himalaya beyond 77°E; consistent with GPS vectors. The Stress field for the aftershock sequence of 2005 Kashmir earthquake in the Hazara Syntaxis region displays dissimilarity with its adjoining regions (Pamir, Nanga Parbat, Hindukush, etc.), but exhibits similarity with the Central Himalaya. Within the Karakoram-Tibet region, the Karakoram fault exhibits NNE-SSW oriented principal stress with transpressional fault motion, while the Kaurik Chango rift shows N-S oriented principal stress with transtensional motion. The stress ratio in the western IECZ broadly varies between 0.07 and 0.9, suggesting the prominent role of the intermediate stress axis (σ2) in the areas of low-stress ratios. The inferences drawn suggest that the stress distribution in the western IECZ is heterogeneous with variable seismic hazard.

Post‐rift stress history of Southwest Japan inferred from early to middle Miocene intrusions and meso‐scale faults in the Tajima–Myokensan area

AbstractMiocene igneous dikes older and younger than 15 Ma in Southwest Japan are thought to be oriented parallel and perpendicular to the arc, respectively. This difference of orientations was referred to as significant evidence for termination of the opening of the Japan Sea at 15 Ma. The tightest constraint comes from ~60 dikes in the Tajima–Myokensan area, northern Hyogo Prefecture. Here we present orientations of 716 planar intrusive bodies and the directions of 143 meso‐scale faults, obtained using the latest stress inversion techniques from the lower to middle Miocene Hokutan Group in the Tajima–Myokensan area. The results contradict the 15 Ma hypothesis for the end of the opening of the Japan Sea. We find that intrusive bodies cannot be separated into two groups by their orientations as reported previously. Rather, the orientations of their poles comprise a horizontal girdle and a vertical cluster. The former indicates NE‐SW extensional stress, and the latter NW‐SE compression. However, the latter are interpreted as not representative of regional stress, based on common sill intrusions (the formation of which was not influenced by regional stress) in the well‐stratified Muraoka Formation resulting in the vertical cluster of pole orientations from which compression was recognized. The results of fault‐slip analysis are consistent with the extensional stress. Fission‐track and U–Pb ages of zircons were obtained from seven intrusive bodies. These and previously published ages suggest that the area underwent NW‐SE extension both before and after 15 Ma. In the main part of Southwest Japan, the weak extension was kept after 16 Ma when intra‐arc rifting was terminated. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the Japan Sea continued to open until 13.5 Ma.

Seismological aspects of the 15 November 2019 earthquake sequence, Kuwait

A sequence of small-to-moderate terrifying earthquakes occurred in the northern part of the State of Kuwait on November 15, 2019. These earthquakes have certainly been recorded by the Kuwait National Seismological Network (KNSN), where the magnitudes of the earthquakes ranged from 0.8 to 4.1 having focal depths ranging from 2 to 15 km. This sequence of the earthquakes continued to occur for 2 days in a row, where a total of 56 earthquakes were recorded. The objective of this work is to use the available data to determine the seismic source characterizations including fault plane solutions and stress pattern in the vicinity of earthquake sequence area. Detecting and recording the digital waveform of these earthquakes by the KNSN have given us an opportunity to analyze the data of these earthquakes using waveform inversion, focal mechanism, and stress inversion techniques. Using the waveform inversion method, the seismic moment (Mo) and moment magnitudes (Mw) of the two largest earthquakes in this sequence were determined to be 0.1532E+16 and 0.9578E+15 equivalent to Mw 4.1 and 3.9, respectively. The focal mechanism solution of all earthquakes of this sequence indicated that the type of fault was normal faulting with strike-slip component and took a northeast-southwest (NE-SW) direction, and seemingly being compatible with the structure setting of the region and also the direction of earthquakes sequence clustering. Using the multiple inverse method (MIM), the mean stress difference was essentially calculated and found to be 0.549 and sigma1 axis = 76.3/38.0 and sigma3 axis = 189.6/26.9. The acquired results give a clear picture about the structure of the region and may be used later to get acquainted with the type of earthquakes, whether they are of tectonic type, triggered, or induced.

A Generalized Stress Inversion Approach With Application to Residual Stress Estimation

Abstract We develop a generalized stress inversion technique (or the generalized inversion method) capable of recovering stresses in linear elastic bodies subjected to arbitrary cuts. Specifically, given a set of displacement measurements found experimentally from digital image correlation (DIC), we formulate a stress estimation inverse problem as a partial differential equation-constrained optimization problem. We use gradient-based optimization methods, and we accordingly derive the necessary gradient and Hessian information in a matrix-free form to allow for parallel, large-scale operations. By using a combination of finite elements, DIC, and a matrix-free optimization framework, the generalized inversion method can be used on any arbitrary geometry, provided that the DIC camera can view a sufficient part of the surface. We present numerical simulations and experiments, and we demonstrate that the generalized inversion method can be applied to estimate residual stress.

Present-Day Stress Field in Egypt Based on a Comprehensive and Updated Earthquake Focal Mechanisms Catalog

The present-day stress field in Egypt has been investigated on the basis of updated earthquake focal mechanism catalog covering the period from 1951 to 2017. Our catalog contains 234 focal mechanisms compiled from previous studies in addition to 22 new source mechanism solutions achieved in this study. According to the distribution of the recent earthquake epicentres, Egypt is divided into nine seismotectonic regions. The available fault plane solutions in Egypt demonstrate a spatial variability of source mechanisms, which categorize the study area into three groups. The first group includes Dahshour, Beni Suef, Cairo-Suez district, Northern-Central Gulf of Suez and Southern Gulf of Suez, which characterized by pure normal faulting mechanism to normal faulting with strike-slip component. Pure strike-slip faulting has clearly characterised Aswan and Gulf of Aqaba regions in the second group. However, the third group, which contains Abu Dabbab and the northern Egyptian continental margin, is characterized by thrust and strike-slip faulting. To calculate the orientation of the principle stress axes and the shape ratio we have applied the stress inversion technique. The present-day stress regime shows a variability of the tectonic stresses including extensional tectonic, transtensional and strike-slip. The transtensional stress regime with a maximum horizontal extensional NNE stress axis represents the dominant stress field pattern in Egypt. The results exhibit a good agreement with the tectonic settings and recent deformations in Egypt.

An integrated approach to determining 4D stress development at Castle Cove

Models for basin evolution and natural fracture development often contain many uncertainties. Multiscale approaches to structural analysis assist in reducing these by providing checkpoints for structural evolution to better constrain the development of paleostress phases through time. In this study, we integrate the analysis of calcite twins, magnetic fabrics, stylolites and natural fractures at Castle Cove in the eastern Otway Basin, producing a five-phase model for stress evolution consisting of: phase 1 ~NW–SE Mid-Cretaceous strike-slip or compression; phases 2 and 3 Late Cretaceous extension, coinciding with the development of ~NW–SE and ~NE–SW striking extensional fracture sets; phase 4 ~NE–SW strike-slip and compression, representing an enigmatic period of stress evolution with respect to the current understanding of the Otway Basin; and phase 5, present day ~NW–SE strike-slip stress. The results contribute to a 4D structural history construction for the eastern Otway Basin and suggest that the evolution of the region may require reassessing in order to determine the timing and nature of the detected ~NE–SW oriented compressional event. This study also demonstrates how the use of a calcite stress inversion technique can assist in providing mechanical checkpoints for the evolution of complex natural fracture networks, which can easily be expanded within the sub-surface.

Illumination of deformation by bending stresses and slab pull within the Southern Hikurangi Double Benioff Zone

ABSTRACTDouble Benioff Zones (DBZ) are ubiquitous in subduction systems worldwide, but the stress systems that give rise to them are not well known. We characterise stress orientations in the upper and lower bands of a DBZ in the dipping subducted Pacific plate beneath the southern Hikurangi margin, New Zealand. Stress orientations were calculated from focal mechanisms with 10 or more polarity picks, using a Bayesian stress inversion technique. The stress orientations in the upper band of seismicity are consistent with a down-dip extensional stress regime, whereas stress orientations within the lower band of seismicity are consistent with a down-dip compressional stress regime. This demonstrates that bending stresses are dominant within the Pacific plate beneath the southern North Island, possibly due to subduction beneath thickened mantle lithosphere of the Australian plate.

A Comprehensive Analysis on the Stress Field and Seismic Anisotropy in Eastern Tibet

AbstractWidespread rotations of maximum compressive stress in the upper crust are revealed in eastern Tibet by the focal mechanism stress inversion technique. Because of the good correlation with locations of folds, anticlines, and mountains in the region, the upper crustal stress variation is related to the lateral displacement of upper crust. To compare deformations in upper crust and upper mantle, we use SKS/SKKS splitting measurements to investigate the seismic anisotropy in eastern Tibet. The fast polarization directions subparallel to the strikes of faults in Chuandian fragment and southern boundary tectonic belt. This may indicate that the induced anisotropy mainly resulted from alignment of fault fabrics by strong shearing along strike‐slip faults, while the widespread stress rotations and systemic angular difference between upper crustal stress field and seismic anisotropy suggest that the decoupling of upper crustal deformation from middle‐lower crust by a series of detachments in the process of the crust thickening resulted from the obstruction of eastward expansion by Sichuan Basin.

Crustal stress field perturbations in the continental margin around the Korean Peninsula and Japanese islands

Seismic activity and focal mechanisms are governed by the effective stress field that is a combined result of regional tectonic processes and local stress perturbation. This study investigates the regional variation in the stress field in the eastern continental margin of the Eurasian plate around the Korean Peninsula and Japanese islands using a damped stress inversion technique based on the focal mechanism solutions of regional earthquakes. The dominant compressional stress is directed ENE–WSW around the Korean Peninsula and eastern China, E–W at the central East Sea and northern and southern Japan, NW–SE at central Japan, and N–S around the northern Nankai trough. The dominant compression direction changes rapidly in the East Sea and Japanese islands, which may be due to the combined effects of tectonic loading in the subduction zones off the Japanese islands and the India-Eurasia plate boundary. The crustal stress fields around the subduction zones off the Japanese islands present characteristic depth-dependent orientations. The orientations of the largest horizontal stress components, σH, in the subduction zones are subparallel with the plate convergence directions at shallow depths. The σH orientations are observed to rotate clockwise with the depth owing to slab subduction and lithospheric deformation. The regional stress field around the Japanese islands was perturbed temporally by the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake. The regional stress field was recovered in a couple of years. The stress field and tectonic structures are mutually affected, causing stress field distortion and a localized mixture of earthquakes in different faulting types.

Determining the Stress Field in Active Volcanoes Using Focal Mechanisms

Stress inversion of seismological datasets became an essential tool to retrieve the stress field of active tectonics and volcanic areas. In particular, in volcanic areas, it is able to put constrains on volcano-tectonics and in general in a better understanding of the volcano dynamics. During the last decades, a wide range of stress inversion techniques has been proposed, some of them specifically conceived to manage seismological datasets. A modern technique of stress inversion, the BRTM, has been applied to seismological datasets available at three different regions of active volcanism: Mt. Somma-Vesuvius (197 Fault Plane Solutions, FPSs), Campi Flegrei (217 FPSs) and Long Valley Caldera (38,000 FPSs). The key role of stress inversion techniques in the analysis of the volcano dynamics has been critically discussed. A particular emphasis was devoted to performances of the BRTM applied to volcanic areas.

Geomechanical paleostress inversion using fracture data

We describe a fast geomechanically-based paleostress inversion technique that uses observed fracture data to constrain stress through multiple simulations. The method assumes that the local stress field around individual fractures is heterogeneous and derives the far field tectonic stress, that we also call the far field boundary conditions. We show how such far field tectonic stress can be recovered through a mechanical stress inversion technique using local observations of natural fractures (i.e. mechanical type, orientation and location). We test the paleostress inversion against outcrop analogues of fractured carbonates from both Nash Point, U.K., where there are well exposed faults and joints and the Matelles, France, where there are well exposed faults, veins and stylolites. We demonstrate through these case studies how the method can be efficiently applied to natural examples and we highlight its advantages and limitations. We discuss how such method could be applied to subsurface problems and how it can provide complementary constraints to drive discrete fracture models for better fractured reservoir characterization and modelling.

Using fault displacement and slip tendency to estimate stress states

We suggest that faults in high slip tendency orientations tend to develop larger displacements than other faults. Consequently, faults that accumulate larger displacements are more likely to be reliable indicators of the longer term stress field and should be weighted accordingly in paleostress estimation. Application of a stress inversion technique that uses slip tendency analyses and fault displacements to interpret populations of coherent normal faults within the Balcones Fault System of south-central Texas provides stress estimates that are consistent with established regional stress analyses. Although the method does not require measurement of slip directions, these data, where available, and sensitivity analyses of the angular mismatch between measured slip directions and those predicted by inverted stress states provide high confidence in the stress estimates generated using slip tendency analyses. Close inspection of the fault orientation and displacement data further indicates that subpopulations of faults with orientations different from the regional pattern have formed in response to stress perturbations generated by displacement gradients on an adjacent seismic scale fault.

Geomechanics of hydrolic fracturing microseismicity: Part 2. Stress state determination

We investigate the hydraulic fracturing process by analysis of the associated microseismicity. In part 1, we recognized double-couple and hybrid microseismic events and their fault plane orientations. Critical stress (instability) and stress inversion techniques were used to assess fracture activation conditions. In part 2, we apply results from the tensile source model to investigate how activated faults relate to the stress state and geologic setting. We assess potential mechanisms for induced microseismicity including leakoff and diffuse pressurized fracture network flow, stress shadowing adjacent to large parent hydraulic fractures, and crack tip stress perturbations. Data are from the Mississippian Barnett Shale, Texas, and include microseismic events from sequential pumping stages in two adjacent horizontal wells that were recorded in two downhole monitor wells, as well as operations, wellbore-derived stress, and natural fracture data. Results point to activation of inclined faults whose orientation is dominantly northeast–southwest and vertical north–south faults. The activation stress states for a range of modeling scenarios show stress rotation, decreased mean stress, and increased deviatoric stress. This stress state cannot be explained by sidewall leakoff in the stress shadow region adjacent to hydrofractures, but is consistent with hybrid and shear activation obliquely ahead of pressurized fractures. Information about hydrofracture evolution and operationally related dynamic stress change is obscured by geomechanical heterogeneity that is likely geologic in nature. The most compelling observation is that the most highly misoriented microseismic faults occur in the same vicinity as a carbonate-dominated submarine fan feature that was previously expected to act as a minor fracture barrier.

Paleostress states at the south-western margin of the Central European Basin System — Application of fault-slip analysis to unravel a polyphase deformation pattern

We analyse the deformation pattern along the south-western margin of the Central European Basin System (CEBS) where Upper Carboniferous–Mesozoic rocks are uplifted due to the Late Cretaceous basin inversion. The geometry of mesoscale faults and associated striae are used to calculate the stress state(s) responsible for the observed deformation. Each reduced stress tensor obtained comprises (i) the directions of the principal stress axes σ 1, σ 2, and σ 3 ( σ 1 ≥ σ 2 ≥ σ 3) and (ii) the ratio of principal stress differences R = ( σ 2 − σ 3) / ( σ 1 − σ 3). We present a stress inversion technique that allows each stress state inherent in a heterogeneous fault population to be identified by integrating the results of the PBT-Method [Turner, F.J., 1953. Nature and dynamic interpretation of deformation lamellae in calcite of three marbles. American Journal of Sciences, 251(4): 276–298; Sperner, B., Ratschbacher, L. and Ott, R., 1993. Fault-striae analysis: a Turbo Pascal program package for graphical presentation and reduced stress tensor calculation. Computers & Geosciences, 19: 1361–1388] and the Multiple Inverse Method [Yamaji, A., 2000. The multiple inverse method; a new technique to separate stresses from heterogeneous fault-slip data. Journal of Structural Geology, 22(4): 441–452]. This comprehensive approach not only facilitates the separation of complex data sets into homogeneous subsets but also guarantees that each stress state derived fulfils both the criteria of low-misfit angles (Wallace–Bott hypothesis) and high shear-to-normal-stress ratios (Mohr–Coulomb criterion). The reliability of our technique is confirmed by the fact that irrespective of (i) the number of fault-slip data from an outcrop, (ii) the number of subsets they represent and (iii) the proportion of newly formed and reactivated faults, we obtain consistent results from outcrops of variously aged rocks. This consistency concerns both calculated stress states as well as locally observed deformation sequences. Such local chronologies are derived from cross-cutting relationships and superimposition of different fault-slip data which individually are assigned to a consistent stress state. A synthesis of results from different locations of the study area argues for the superposition of two main deformation events. Most prominently, the area was affected by a stress state with a horizontal N–S- to NE–SW-directed maximum compression ( σ 1) and a low stress ratio which induced reverse and strike-slip faulting. A pure strike-slip regime of E–W- to NW–SE-directed compression with moderate stress ratios is less prevalent and probably younger. The age of the youngest rocks documenting these two phases proves the stress fields to correspond to the polyphase Late Cretaceous–Tertiary basin inversion of the CEBS during post-Cenomanian times. The youngest tectonic imprints detected in the study area correspond to locally appearing extensional stress states with varying directions of σ 3. At many sites, the youngest derived paleostress state coincides with the present-day stress field in terms of the direction of the maximum horizontal stress axis, S Hmax. The only stress state detected which pre-dates the basin inversion corresponds to an extensional regime with an WNW-ESE- to NW–SE-directed σ 3-axis observed only locally in the N–S striking Leine Graben and its prolongation to the North. The fact that the majority of variously aged rocks exhibit only the traces of the latest deformation phases indicates a high degree of fault plane reactivation in the study area.