Stress Field of the Earth's Crust - Hardcover

Zang, Arno; Stephansson, Ove

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1402084439 ISBN 13: 9781402084430

Publisher: Springer, 2010

Synopsis

This book about rock stress is suitable for students in geosciences and rock engineering, who need to broaden their horizons about the Stress Field of the Earth's Crust. The book covers the topic so that geosciences students will be able to grasp the Cauchy Stress Principle without fear of matrix transformations in an exercise. Students interested in mathematics, physics and engineering will learn how strain gauges are used to obtain in-situ stress by the overcoring method. Leading edge technology in determining rock stress like quadruple packer and the Kaiser effect are presented together with classical methods like hydraulic fracturing. Borehole techniques (breakouts) and core-based methods (anelastic strain recovery) are illustrated. With respect to stress data, we choose locations of global interest where integrated stress determination strategies have been applied like the scientific ultra-deep drilling project KTB (Germany), the excavation for nuclear waste disposal at Olkiluoto (Finland), or the drilling into a seismic active fault zone at SAFOD (USA). Stress compilations viewed by the World Stress Map project are presented and interpreted in terms of plate tectonics. The purpose of this book is twofold. First, to report on the current field of knowledge in rock stress to students at an introduction level and second, to inform readers about stress measurements in underground excavations and boreholes of public interest and about global rock stress in plate tectonic settings. Apart from the introduction, the textbook consists of three major parts. Part I starts with definitions, rock stress terminology, and ends in simple Earth stress profiles (Chapters 2-5). Part II is about stress measuring techniques from an experimental physics basis (Chapter 6) and a rock mechanics viewpoint (Chapters 7 and 8). Part III is about displaying and interpreting stress data at local and global scale with plate tectonics as a fundament (Chapters 9-11).

About this title

Product Description:

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.

Review:

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)

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1402084439
• ISBN 13: 9781402084430
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 343