Stress Regime
and Structural Style: A New Classification
for Seismic Structural Interpretation
Jean Letouzey, Carlos Cramez
The total stress tensor (effective stresses), which acts in rock
deformations, is usually divided into a geostatic component (including pore
pressure) and a tectonic component. Change in tectonic stress magnitude
(negative, nil, or positive) inverts the relative position of the effective main
stress axes. Microtectonic data, mechanical laws, structural field geology, and
seismic reflection data are compared. These studies show a close relationship
between tectonic style, strike of the structures, fault
movements, and regional
tectonic
regime
, i.e., orientation, relative position of the main stress axes at
the time of deformation, and magnitude of the tectonic stress. Thus, the
structural styles in a sedimentary basin can be classified as a function of the
tectonic
regime
n the absence or presence of shale or salt tectonics. These
styles are illustrated with strike and dip seismic sections, which allow us to
predict the style and evolution of structures in petroleum sedimentary basins.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91043©1986 AAPG Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, June 15-18, 1986.