Stress Field of the Earth's Crust

Stress Field of the Earth's Crust is based on lecture notes prepared for a course offered to graduate students in the Earth sciences and engineering at University of Potsdam. In my opinion, it will undoubtedly also become a standard reference book on the desk of most scientists working with rocks, such as geophysicists, structural geologists, rock mechanics experts, as well as geotechnical and petroleum en- neers. That is because this book is concerned with what is probably the most pe- liar characteristic of rock - its initial stress condition. Rock is always under a natural state of stress, primarily a result of the gravitational and tectonic forces to which it is subjected. Crustal stresses can vary regionally and locally and can reach in places considerable magnitudes, leading to natural or man-made mechanical failure. P- existing stress distinguishes rock from most other materials and is at the core of the discipline of "Rock Mechanics", which has been developed over the last century. Knowledge of rock stress is fundamental to understanding faulting mechanisms and earthquake triggering, to designing stable underground caverns and prod- tive oil fields, and to improving mining methods and geothermal energy extraction, among others. Several books have been written on the subject, but none has atte- ted to be as all-encompassing as the one by Zang and Stephansson.

List of contents

Definition and Terminology.- Stress Definition.- Rock Fracture Criteria.- Rock Stress Terminology.- Crustal Stress Models.- Measuring Stress.- Physics of Stress Measurements.- Measuring Crustal Stress: Borehole Methods.- Measuring Crustal Stress: Core-Based Methods.- Interpreting Stress Data.- Local Stress Data.- Generic Stress Data.- Global Stress.

About the author

Ove Stephansson is professor the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany.

Summary

Stress Field of the Earth’s Crust is based on lecture notes prepared for a course offered to graduate students in the Earth sciences and engineering at University of Potsdam. In my opinion, it will undoubtedly also become a standard reference book on the desk of most scientists working with rocks, such as geophysicists, structural geologists, rock mechanics experts, as well as geotechnical and petroleum en- neers. That is because this book is concerned with what is probably the most pe- liar characteristic of rock – its initial stress condition. Rock is always under a natural state of stress, primarily a result of the gravitational and tectonic forces to which it is subjected. Crustal stresses can vary regionally and locally and can reach in places considerable magnitudes, leading to natural or man-made mechanical failure. P- existing stress distinguishes rock from most other materials and is at the core of the discipline of “Rock Mechanics”, which has been developed over the last century. Knowledge of rock stress is fundamental to understanding faulting mechanisms and earthquake triggering, to designing stable underground caverns and prod- tive oil fields, and to improving mining methods and geothermal energy extraction, among others. Several books have been written on the subject, but none has atte- ted to be as all-encompassing as the one by Zang and Stephansson.

Additional text

Endorsements:
"The book thoroughly and convincingly integrates in situ stress, its sources, measurement, and applications, into the fields of geophysics, geology, geomechanics, and geoengineering. It is therefore that I enthusiastically recommend Stress Field of the Earth’s Crust."
(Bezalel Haimson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, June 2009)
"I think it is a very good text that covers the most important aspects of the Kaiser effect, its mechanisms and how it can be used for stress measurements in rocks."
(Alexandre Lavrov, SINTEF Petroleum Research, Norway)
"It is beautifully laid out, easy to read, and impossible not to understand!. I especially like the way that many of the diagrams have such iconic simplicity so that the extranneous detail has been removed - leaving only the message that the diagram is transmitting."
(John A. Hudson, Emeritus Professor, Imperial College, UK, President, International Society for Rock Mechanics)
From the reviews:
“The presentation of the book is clear, with an abundant bibliography. … I found the Note boxes that summarize important results to be particularly welcome. … In conclusion, this book is undoubtedly focused on stress field of the Earth crust. … I definitely would recommend this book to Earth Scientists in need to better understanding of stress measurement techniques, and to Rock Mechanics engineers who want to improve their understanding of the stress field at the scale of plate tectonics.” (François Henri Cornet, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, September, 2010)

Report

Endorsements:
"The book thoroughly and convincingly integrates in situ stress, its sources, measurement, and applications, into the fields of geophysics, geology, geomechanics, and geoengineering. It is therefore that I enthusiastically recommend Stress Field of the Earth's Crust."
(Bezalel Haimson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, June 2009)
"I think it is a very good text that covers the most important aspects of the Kaiser effect, its mechanisms and how it can be used for stress measurements in rocks."
(Alexandre Lavrov, SINTEF Petroleum Research, Norway)
"It is beautifully laid out, easy to read, and impossible not to understand!. I especially like the way that many of the diagrams have such iconic simplicity so that the extranneous detail has been removed - leaving only the message that the diagram is transmitting."
(John A. Hudson, Emeritus Professor, Imperial College, UK, President, International Society for Rock Mechanics)
From the reviews:
"The presentation of the book is clear, with an abundant bibliography. ... I found the Note boxes that summarize important results to be particularly welcome. ... In conclusion, this book is undoubtedly focused on stress field of the Earth crust. ... I definitely would recommend this book to Earth Scientists in need to better understanding of stress measurement techniques, and to Rock Mechanics engineers who want to improve their understanding of the stress field at the scale of plate tectonics." (François Henri Cornet, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, September, 2010)

Product details

• Authors: Ove Stephansson, Arn Zang, Arno Zang
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 26.02.2010
• EAN: 9781402084430
• ISBN: 978-1-4020-8443-0
• No. of pages: 324
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 20 mm x 242 mm
• Weight: 625 g
• Illustrations: XIX, 324 p.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geology; B, Geophysics, geology, Earth and Environmental Science, Classical mechanics, Geology, geomorphology & the lithosphere, Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences, Mechanics, Earth Sciences, Geophysics/Geodesy, Geotechnical engineering, Geotechnical Engineering and Applied Earth Sciences