how are stresses and faulting related?

Lecture 13: Anderson’s theory of faulting, stress trajectories;

earthquakes and faulting
Earth’s surface is a free surface
(contact between ground and air)
websites from which images are taken: free surfaces cannot support shear stress,
therefore, Earth’s surface is a principal stress plane
contains two principal stress directions
http://earth.leeds.ac.uk/learnstructure/index.htm
http://www.earth.nwu.edu/people/seth …third principal stress is normal to surface
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~sieh/research

Earth’s surface

this affects the orientation of the principal stresses in the shallow crust

look at stress trajectories to examine this…

example: heterogeneous stress field in block pushed from left and
by connecting the orientation of a particular stress at a point, σ1, resisted by friction at its base (a) with free surface at top
(e.g. maximum principal stress), you generate lines that show
variation of orientation of stress in that body:
these are stress trajectories
a change in trend of stress trajectory means a change in
orientation of principal stress
together, the stress trajectories of the principal stresses
define the stress field in a body

σ1
σ1

homogeneous: σ3 heterogeneous: σ3 knowing stress trajectories and

magnitude and orientation magnitude and orientation predicted angle between σ1and fault surface (30°)
of stresses same everywhere of stresses vary in body from Coulomb fracture criterion,
…can predict orientation of faults (b)…
homogeneous is not the same as isotropic (principal stresses are equal)

listric faults Anderson’s theory of faulting

consider stress trajectories and the following: orientation of σ1 relative to Earth’s surface dictates type of fault…
…three possibilities yield three types of faults…
• Earth’s surface is principal plane
(principal stresses must be parallel or normal to it)
• thrust sheet is “pushed”, i.e. σ1 is greater toward interior
of mountain, or deformation, belt than
at its margin
• shear stress occurs at base of sheet, i.e. not a principal plane
-- σ 1 must curve from surface to depth

from: van der Pluijm and Marshak

dashed lines are fault orientations from: http://earth.leeds.ac.uk/learnstructure/index.htm

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Anderson’s theory of faulting cannot predict all geometries…
1) listric faults
can use stress trajectories to explain these;
stress varies with depth
faults curve
2) pre-existing fractures
not ideally oriented relative to principal stresses,
but may reactivate prior to formation of new fault
remember Mohr circles and failure criteria
3) fluids and faulting
presence of fluids changes shear strength of materials
also, fluids are very important for faulting…
first discovery of thrust faults (Moine thrust, Scotland)
and thrust sheets by geologists
theory said the structures were physically impossible
the stress required to move the thrust sheets
(long and thin) is so large it would break rock
before the sheet would move
initially modeled as thin rectangle with frictional resistance at base:
fault
large stress applied to end of rectangle to move thrust sheet
fault
large stress caused shortening, folding, and breaking of rectangle
(similar to pushing on a heavy rug, it wrinkles at end)

remember effect of fluid pressure on Mohr circles this is the thrust sheet paradox…

Hubbert and Rubey suggested in the 1950s that elevated illustrate this with soda can experiment…
fluid pressure along base of thrust sheet facilitated slip

fault
fluid

if fluid pressure in detachment zone approaches lithostatic pressure,

(i.e., magnitude of fluid pressure approaches weight of rock)
the effective normal stress across fault becomes small
(think of fluid giving an upward force that counteracts rock)
with small normal stress, the shear stress required to move
thrust sheet decreases significantly and becomes
less than that to break the rock
fluid pressure measurements along modern faults support this
known as Hubbert-Rubey hypothesis
• take two empty soda cans and put one in the freezer
• find a pane of glass and clean it well
• put the non-freezer can top down on glass
• lift one end of glass to form an incline until can slides
…note that the slope is about 17°
• pull out frozen empty soda can, quickly put it top down on glass, and lift glass
…note that the slope necessary is negligible (~1°)
moves because fluid pressure derived from expansion of warming air inside can
offsets normal stress exerted by the can on the glass

wedge-shape of thrust sheets also is important experimental set-up to generate thrust wedge models
analogous to movement of mass of soil by bulldozer

from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996

mass of soil (or snow) will not slide as a whole until

wedge shape is attained
wedge must have critical taper whose dip relates to:
• strength of material
• friction of surface
• dip of surface
critical taper builds through internal deformation of material
experiment with Cheerios---pour into a sheet of single layer mylar is reeled around the take-up spool resulting in
and push from behind--the Cheerios will stack until they transport of overlying sand against the buttress
reach a critical taper and then slide en masse
from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996

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 • sand thickens initially at buttress
how large must stresses be to initiate new faults or reactive old faults?
• locus of thickening moves forward
until smooth taper is achieved
• thickening occurs by thrusting depends on:
and folding • fluid pressure
• lithology
adding friction to surface • strain rate (how quickly deformation occurs)
(i.e. sandpaper for mylar) • temperature
increases taper
and, if reactivation of old fault,
reducing friction to surface • orientation of old fault
decreases taper

critical shear stress for sliding

equals product of
coefficient of sliding friction
and effective normal stress
…changing dip on basal fault
affects normal stress… from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996

faulting and earthquakes stick-slip behavior

active vs. inactive faults imagine the following configuration:

active: recently slipped or have potential to slip in future
inactive: have not slipped in a long time

length of time is key--can vary depending on who decides

block wrapped spring string
active faults: not all generate earthquakes; can have fault creep with sandpaper pulley
fault zone is weak, slips in small increments often;
clay minerals; lubrication
as the string is tightened around the pulley, the spring lengthens,
earthquakes represent sudden release of elastic strain energy but the block does not move (“stick” phase)
stored in rock and generated when intact rock ruptures when the spring finally reaches its maximum extension,
or when asperities trigger block moves (“slip” phase--earthquake)

…governed by stick-slip behavior

society wants to know where and how often will earthquakes occur
stress drops correspond to slip events
where is well understood: governing theory of plate tectonics
distinguish between boundary and intraplate seismicity
Force (kg)

intraplate: in the interior of plate--New Madrid Seismic Zone

microfractures
per second

Time (seconds)

laboratory frictional sliding experiment on granite

from: van der Pluijm and Marshak from: http://www.earth.nwu.edu/people/seth

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 recurrence interval: average time between successive events
trenches dug across active faults to determine previous
surface ruptures; offset horizons are dated

faulting event V
affected stratigraphy

faulting event X
created a fissure
that filled by
slumping from above
earthquake probabilities for coterminous US

from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996

pioneered by Kerry Sieh along San Andreas can get quite complex….Burro Flats (southern California)
…first site at Pallett Creek (1978)
….led to field of
paleoseismology

requires detailed stratigraphy

and age dating

from: Davis and Reynolds, 1996 from: http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~sieh/research

estimates of recurrence intervals along southern San Andreas estimates of slip rates per year from trenching: age of events and offset

from: http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~sieh/research from: http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~sieh/research