Estimation of the orientation of stress in the Earth's crust without earthquake or borehole data

Autor(en)
Andrew Delorey, Götz Bokelmann, Christopher W. Johnson, Paul A. Johnson
Abstrakt

The orientation of maximum horizontal compressive stress in the crust can be estimated in regions lacking borehole or earthquake source data through the use of ambient Earth noise to measure stress-induced anisotropy of nonlinear anelastic behavior.

Mechanical stress acting in the Earth's crust is a fundamental property that is important for a wide range of scientific and engineering applications. The orientation of maximum horizontal compressive stress can be estimated by inverting earthquake source mechanisms and measured directly from borehole-based measurements, but large regions of the continents have few or no observations. Here we present an approach to determine the orientation of maximum horizontal compressive stress by measuring stress-induced anisotropy of nonlinear susceptibility, which is the derivative of elastic modulus with respect to strain. Laboratory and Earth experiments show that nonlinear susceptibility is azimuthally dependent in an anisotropic stress field and is maximum in the orientation of maximum horizontal compressive stress. We observe this behavior in the Earth-in Oklahoma and New Mexico, U.S.A, where maximum nonlinear susceptibility coincides with the orientation of maximum horizontal compressive stress measured using traditional methods. Our measurements use empirical Green's functions and solid-earth tides and can be applied at different temporal and spatial scales.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Meteorologie und Geophysik
Externe Organisation(en)
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Journal
Communications Earth & Environment
Band
2
Anzahl der Seiten
10
ISSN
2662-4435
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00244-1
Publikationsdatum
09-2021
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
105122 Seismik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Allgemeine Umweltwissenschaft, Allgemeine Erdkunde und Planetologie
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/01d5ac13-d931-4cb9-ad2a-51cb1275d4d2