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.