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In situ stress &

Deformation mechanisms

Jan Kees Blom
November 2011
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In-situ stress
How do we know what stresses occur in the crust?
Stress measurements
Complex conditions due to heterogeneities
Sometimes multiple deformation phases with different stress
fields
Crust can freeze in stress and preserve remnants over long times

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Why stress matters
Influences stability of boreholes,
tunnels, mines, open pits, mine bursts
Influences natural and man-induced
earthquakes and faulting
Influences reservoir / aquifer
compaction and land subsidence
Controls hydraulic fracturing for well
stimulation
Influences preferred subsurface flow
directions
Influences injector - producer well
patterns and spacing
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Present-day in-situ stress
Result of:
Gravitational stresses (overburden)
Current tectonic stresses (plate tectonics)
Remnant/residual stresses (from past tectonic or
gravitational stress)

Measured from outcrops, bore holes, earthquakes
Continuous over 100(0)s of km, but local changes
Related to plate movements and to local weaknesses (e.g.
faults, weak layers)
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Direction of stress field
Breakouts of rock fragments in tunnel (or borehole) gives
information about the orientation of the principal stress and
the differential stress
Fossen 2010
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Local perturbations
Shear stress is zero along free surface, so one of the
principal stress must always be perpendicular to that
surface
Weak faults can also influence stress field
Keep this in mind when measuring stress near free surface
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Measuring stress
Developed in engineering, mining and energy industries
At surface of earth use stress relief techniques:
Overcoring: drill hole (1), attach strain gauges in it, drill annulus around it
(2), stress release causes change in shape of first hole (3).
Use elasticity theory to get stress state





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Measuring stress 2
Flat Jack: make reference grid with pins, drill slots, inject flat jacks and
repressurise slots until reference grid has been restored. Gives normal
stress component only. By combining several measurements in several
orientations, get state of stress
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Measuring stress 3
At depths of up to 5 km:
Hydraulic fracturing: magnitude
P
frac_propagation
~
3
+ T
o

P
shut in
=
3
(often
Hmin
)
T
o
is rock tensile strength
Borehole images: direction (& approximate magnitude)

At shallow to great depths (100s km):
First motions of earthquakes (approximate direction)
Aftershocks indicate fault orientation
P wave first motion gives sense of shear
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Reference state of stress
Models for idealized state of stress as if tectonic processes
do not occur
Litho/hydrostatic reference state
Uniaxial-strain reference state
Constant-horizontal stress reference state
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Lithostatic / Hydrostatic stress
Lithostatic stress is isotropic stress
Controlled by height and density of overlying rocks

1
=

2
=
3
= gz
Average density crust ~ 2.7 g/cm
3
=> stress gradient
~26.5 MPa/km
Lower with porous rocks
Hydrostatic stress : gz (water: = 1 g/cm
3
(different for
oil)), if water is intercoonected to the surface
Fluids trapped in rocks may lead to overpressures
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Practice vs theory
Stress measurements in
Norwegian mines (a) ,
worldwide and oilfields
(b) plotted against
theoretical values.
Note too low pressures in
oilfields, indicating fluid
pressures, and thus
overpressured formations
Fossen 2010
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Stresses in Sedimentary Basins
Uniaxial-strain reference state
Assume elastic crust resisting horizontal deformation:
Total stresses:
h
= [ nu / (1-nu) ] *
v


v
is assumed to be equal to the overburden
nu = Poisson ratio, approximately 0.2 - 0.4 in experiments
Rough assumption total stress:
h
0.3 to 0.5 times
v

Holds at best at depths > 1 to 4 km
< -Twiss & Moores 1992 ->
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Stress magnitude and fault style
Upper limit determined by rock strength
In present-day extensional setting:

V
=
1
= weight of overlying rocks

H
=
3
(and
2
) harder to obtain. Possibly by
Hydraulic fracturing
Assuming ratio between
V
and
H

Relaxed elastic crust:
H
/
V
~ 0.3 to 0.5
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Stress magnitude
In present-day
compressional setting

V
=
3
= weight of
overlying rocks
Thus stresses much
greater: destructive
earthquakes, harder to
drill
In present-day strike-slip
Stresses difficult to
obtain...

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Upper limit of rock strength
Byerlees experiments and database
The differential stress cannot be greater than the rock
strength
Possible
??
Twiss & Moores 1992
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Stress variations with
layering
Strong layers carry the in-situ stresses
They act as beams in a bridge or the
chassis of a car
Stress contrast also dependant on time
Joints develop in hard and brittle rocks
E.g. sandstone can sustain higher
differential stress than shale => uplift or
high fluid pressure will break sandstone
before shale
Ductile vs brittle deformation
Ductile material accumulates permanent strain without
macroscopically fracturing
Brittle material deforms by fracturing when subjected to
stress beyond rock strength (yield stress)
Ductile deformation can be dependent upon scale of
observation
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Plastic deformation is
permanent strain without
fracture, produced by
dislocation movement
Ductile vs brittle
So we can have
ductile deformation
by brittle process, but
not the other way
round
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Tectonic stress
Stresses due to tectonic forces
Andersons classification of tectonic stress and faulting:

V
=
1
: normal fault regime

V
=
2
: strike slip fault regime

V
=
3
: thrust fault regime
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Global stress
patterns
Version 2008

For stress maps of the world, see the
World Stress Map at:
http://dc-app3-14.gfz-potsdam.de/
or next page..
Data collected in mines, tunnels, drilling,
earthquake monitoring

www-wsm.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de
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Fossen 2010
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Global plate movement directions
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What is plate movement direction?
Hot-spot trails
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Plate movement history
Hot-spot trail
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Plate-scale forces
Fossen 2010
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South America case: Input
First-order force model
Ridge Push
F
tf
: transform fault
force
F
pcr
: plate contact
resistance
F
Car
: resistance due to
Caribbean - South Am.
convergence
Basal drag force parallel
but opposite to absolute
plate motion
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South America Results
Strength of lithosphere
Strength ( resistance against
shear, blue lines) increases
downwards in brittle crust
At depth, plastic flow occurs,
following a different path
Flow paths are derived from
experimental deformation of
quartzite
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Strength profile lithosphere
Different materials have different flow paths.
A layered crust can thus give several brittle-ductile
transitions
Note that dry rock is stronger than wet rock
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Stress orientations & fault style
Extension: normal faults->
1
= Vert,
2
&,
3
= Hor
Strike-slip:
2
= Vert ,
1
&,
3
= Hor
Shortening: thrusts->
3
= Vert,
1
&,
2
= Hor

Never mix geological past with present-day setting.....
Fossen 2010
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Recognizing
paleo in-situ stress
Based on
opening mode cracks / joints
(perpendicular to
3
)


stylolites
(perpendicular to
1
)



striated fault surfaces
(Striae parallel to shear traction
resolved on fault plane)
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Palaeostresses from joints
Appalachians in
New York state
Curved folded
and thrusted
mountain chain
Joint patterns
persist over large
areas
Stress in line
with mountain
building
kinematics
Arches NP, Utah
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Palaeostress from volcanic dikes
Volcanic dikes are opening-mode cracks
filled with magma
They grow perpendicular to
3

Dikes patterns show
that stress directions
can be regular over
very large distances
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Palaeostress state from faults
Present-day to Pleistocene Mio- to Pliocene
Mercier et al., 1991
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Borehole image logs
Acoustic or resistivity image of
the borehole wall
Important to distinguish
natural fractures (which
give information about
geological past)
drilling-induced fractures
(which give information
about present-day state of
stress).
Compressive (breakout) and
tensile borehole failure
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Borehole image logs
Borehole wall is a cylinder
Layering and fractures are planar
features that intersect the borehole
After unwrapping the cylinder, planar
features appear as sinusoidal curves
High sine amplitudes indicate planes
nearly parallel to the borehole axis. Low
sine amplitudes indicate planes nearly
perpendicular to the borehole axis
Low point of sine indicates dip direction
Unwrapped cylinder
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Borehole image log example
Acoustic & resistivity
image logs
Resistivity images
usually higher
resolution
Partial borehole
coverage of
resistivity logs can
create uncertainty in
interpretation
Geothermal well Japan
Okabe et al. 1996
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Borehole image log example
Induced fractures
due to borehole
tensile failure do not
extend across entire
borehole. Visible only
on two pads
Simple straight
induced fractures if
hole is parallel to
principal stresses
(left)
Multiple en-echelon
induced fractures if
hole is oblique to
principal stresses
(right)
KTB borehole, Germany
Zoback & Peska, 1995
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Stresses around boreholes
Borehole is a hole filled with fluid
Fluid cannot sustain shear stresses
Thus there cannot be any shear stress on borehole wall
Therefore the borehole locally perturbs the in-situ stress
field
Pre-drilling
Shear stress on imaginary
plane along future borehole wall
Post-drilling
Shear stress cannot exist
along borehole wall
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Stresses around borehole
Analytic solution to an elastic plate with a hole
Change in orientation of principal stresses (upper diagrams)
Change in magnitude of principal stresses (lower diagrams)
-2 -1 0 1 2
yel l ow-green = l ower val ues; bl ue-viol et = hi gher val ues.
-2
-1
0
1
2
Si gma 11
-2 -1 0 1 2
-2
-1
0
1
2
Circular hol e in plate
-2 -1 0 1 2
yel l ow-green = l ower val ues; bl ue-vi ol et = hi gher val ues.
-2
-1
0
1
2
Si gma 11
-2 -1 0 1 2
-2
-1
0
1
2
Circular hole in plate
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Stress perturbation and failure
Perturbed stresses can
become greater than tensile
or compressive rock strength
If so, get tensile borehole
failure or borehole breakout
-2 -1 0 1 2
yel l ow-green = l ower val ues; bl ue-viol et = hi gher val ues.
-2
-1
0
1
2
Si gma 11
-2 -1 0 1 2
-2
-1
0
1
2
Circular hol e in plate
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Stress perturbation and failure
Plot of stress variation along the borehole wall
Where stresses overcome tensile or compressive strength,
tensile and breakout occur respectively
-2 -1 0 1 2
yel l ow-green = l ower val ues; bl ue-viol et = hi gher val ues.
-2
-1
0
1
2
Si gma 11
Moos & Zoback, 1990
tensile
failure
breakout
failure
rock compressive
strength
rock tensile
strength
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Volcanoes
Mechanically, there is some
similarity between an active
volcanic pipe and a borehole
Both are holes filled with some type
of fluid
Therefore stress perturbation
around a volcano is in some
aspects similar to that predicted for
a borehole
Volcanic dikes that form during
volcanic activity grow perpendicular
to
3

Therefore the pattern and direction
of these dikes provides a direct
record of the (palaeo)stress state
during times of volcanic activity
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Dikes in isotropic stress field
Both horizontal principal stresses
are similar in magnitude
Thus radial pattern of dikes
expected (see earlier slide on
isotropically loaded borehole)
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Dikes in anisotropic stress field
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Stresses around other holes
Mining tunnels are holes filled by air
Pit slopes are rock exposed to air
In all these cases, the rock is shear-stress free at the rock - air interface
Therefore stress is locally perturbed near rock-air interface
Perturbation depends on geometry of air - rock interface
Sharp angles give much greater stress concentration than the curved
geometries
This is why there are no sharp corners in deep mine corridors, and why
road tunnels are mostly circular
This is why airplane windows and submarine windows are circular and not
rectangular
Increasing
stability
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The Comet story
First jet airliner De Havilland Comet
(1947)
First version had square windows
Comet flew higher and faster than earlier
planes
After initial success, series of mysterious
crashes
Failure of hull at corners of windows due
to stress concentration leading to
metal fatigue
Later versions had round windows
Unfortunately for British industry, the
Americans had taken over.....
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Stress perturbation around faults
Fault is a linear cut in the earth





The fault zone consists of fragmented
rocks
This fault gouge has reduced
strength
Similarities in mathematical
formulations:
borehole is approximately circular hole
fracture / fault is in 2D infinitely elliptical
hole or in 3D flat ellipsoid
-2 -1 0 1 2
y ell ow-green = lower v alues; blue-v i ol et = higher v alues.
-2
-1
0
1
2
Sigma 11
-2 -1 0 1 2
yel low-green = lower values; blue-violet = higher values.
-2
-1
0
1
2
sigma xx, Mode I crack
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Stress perturbation around faults
Very local
changes are
visible as
changes in
breakout
direction in
image logs
On crustal scale,
stresses change
direction too, e.g.
along San
Andreas fault
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Joints around faults
Joints can freeze in
palaeostress pattern
Near Nash point (UK), stresses
are perturbed on the scale of
individual faults
In addition, local perturbations
along the fault plane, associated
with small-scale irregularities
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Local stress perturbation on fault
Irregularities on fault plane can create stress
concentration when the fault moves
Local compression
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Stress perturbation around entire fault
Faults die out, and at tip the
displacement is zero
The change in slip near the tip causes
extension and compressive quadrants
Comp
Comp
Exten
Exten
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Waste injection
& earthquakes
First time proof that humans can
induce earthquakes in mid 1960s
Injection of waste water in
underground near Denver
Seismometers detected increased
frequency of small earthquakes
During injection shut-down, earthquake
frequency reduced, but picked up again
after injectors were brought on stream.
What do you think is the cause: faulting
or crack opening?
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Man-induced seismicity (1)
Injection pressures re-open / create fractures
gas injection fractures formation if injection pressure
exceeds minimum total stress plus rock fracture
toughness












If rock already fractured, T ~ 0

n
eff
=

t
- P
fl

Initial Depleted
Gas
injection
T
failure envelope
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Man-induced seismicity (2)
Depleted
Initial

n
eff
C
failure envelope
reservoir shrinkage
depletion induces compaction and lateral reservoir
shrinkage
this leads to unequal changes in the principal stresses










If faults recently slipped, C~ 0

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Earthquakes
The majority of earthquakes occur along plate boundaries
Most earthquakes are related to fault systems, a few to
vulcanoes
Earthquakes occur in seismic cycles in which stress is
gradually built up over many years but violently released in a
few seconds
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Surface damage
At surface, generally there exists a fault trace. This fault is
often accompanied by wide opening-mode cracks (why?).
Displacements up to ~ 10 m occur
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Fault growth
Some faults (e.g. in
unconsolidated rocks) grow by
gradual sliding. These are called
a-seismic faults
Other faults grow by repetition of
thousands of earthquake cycles.
This is called seismic growth.
Fault growth history, and
recurrence interval of major
earthquakes can be studied by
analysing topography and
drainage patterns (e.g. offset
rivers, see arrows)
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Deformation adjacent to fault
Main offset occurs during main
shock along master fault.
Aftershocks let wall rock re-
adjust.
Wall rock also deforms during
main shock. This can be
measured with theodolites or
GPS. This strain field can be used
to determine the fault geometry
and slip at depth. Common
assumption is that fault is a crack
in an elastic crust.
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Earthquake distribution along fault
Total strain varies smoothly along fault. Gaps i.e.areas
of limited earthquake activity either exhibit creep (e.g.
Parkfield gap along San Andreas), or are likely to be area
of future earthquakes
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Deformation mechanisms
Three deformation mechanisms
can be active to accommodate
strain:
Fracturing, cataclastic flow
and frictional sliding
Diffusion
Crystal Plasticity
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Process vs depth
Deformation mechanisms active
at shallow depth
Depths indicated are
approximations
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Fracturing, cataclastic flow, frictional
sliding
Includes fracture or Coulomb failure.
Can be a discrete failure plane such as a fault
cataclastic flow refers to microfractures so small
that at mesoscopic scale the rocks appears to be
ductile
generally low T, high strain rate deformation
strength depends on confining pressures due to
frictional nature of these mechanisms
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Fracturing
Breccia in core, fracturing (right),
mylonite, cataclastic flow (below
right),
slickensides, frictional sliding
(below)
www.geolab.unc.edu
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Diffusional mass transfer
Volume and grain boundary
migration, through grains and along
edges
very slow
pressure solution: add water, much
faster
temperature dependent
examples: stylolites (top), sutured
grain boundaries (bottom), pressure
shadows
w
w
w
.
g
e
o
l
a
b
.
u
n
c
.
e
d
u

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Crystal defects
Two types:
Point defects
Vacancies or impurities
Movement of vacancies is called diffusion (below)
Line defects
Also called dislocations
Their movements is lead to crystal placticity
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Diffusion

Volume diffusion
Vacancies move through
grain
Nabarro-Herring creep
Grain-boundary migration
vacancies move along
grain boundaries
Coble creep
Slow, cms per Mas
Fossen 2010
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Pressure solution
Add water to previous processes, speeds up:
pressure solution
Diffusion along film of fluid on grain boundaries
Controlled by chemistry and stress
Material can precipitate close by (below) or far away
Sandstone deformed by pressure solution (right)

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Crystal plasticity:
Dislocations
Imperfections in the
crystal lattice (top)
Edge dislocation (left)
Screw dislocation (right)
Davis & Reynolds 1996
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Crystal plasticity
dislocations

Dislocations can move through the grains
complex patterns can lock up: strain hardening
undulose extinction
recrystallization eliminates or reorganises
dislocations
high temperature deformation as dislocations move
easier

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Twinning or kinking of crystals
Fossen 2010
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Crystal plasticity
Quartz with subgrains and
undulose extinction (top) due to
dislocations in the lattice






Plagioclase with twins due to
kinking of the lattice (bottom)
www.geolab.unc.edu
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Deformation processes
Which process occurs
when is mainly dependent
upon:
the material
temperature
stress
presence of water
Davis & Reynolds 1996
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Recrystallization
Many dislocations can group into dislocation
walls and undulose extinction zones
These may lead to the formation of new,
dislocation free grains: recovery (left)
If recovery leads to new grains without
undulose extinction, we call it recrystallization
Strained, dislocation-rich grains are replaced by
unstrained grains (right)
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In-situ stress, important for engineering purposes and production
characteristics
Borehole image logs/deformation give info on in-situ stress
Faults, stylolites, joint give info on paleo stress
Boreholes, volcanoes, faults all influence stress patterns
Stress is released with earthquakes
Earthquakes can be (man-)induced
Three types of deformation processes:
Fracturing, cataclastic flow and frictional sliding
Diffusional mass transfer
Crystal Plasticity




Summary
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Literature
Fossen (2010): Structural Geology
Chapter 5: 5.1-5.7
Chapter 6: 6.8-6.9
Chapter 9: 9.1-9.2
Chapter 10: 10.1-10.6
Davis & Reynolds (1996): Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions,
2nd Edition,
Ramsey & Huber (1983): The Techniques of Modern Structural
Geology. Volume 1: Strain Analysis
Twiss & Moores (1992): Structural Geology

websites: http://serc.carleton.edu/quantskills/methods/quantlit/stressandstrain.html
Univ. of Wisconsin: http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/structge/stress.htm

Next week: Faults and Fractures
Chapter 7
Chapter 8