Regional and local stress field orientation inferred from quantitative analyses of extension joints: Case study from southern Italy

Abstract

[1] An intense tectonic activity in eastern Sicily and southern Calabria (Italy) is well documented by the differential uplift of Late Quaternary coastlines and by the record of the strong historical earthquakes. The extensional belt that crosses this area is dominated by a well-established WNW-ESE-oriented stretching direction. However, this area is largely lacking of any structural analysis for defining the tectonics at a more local scale. The analysis of systematic extension joint sets affecting Pleistocene deposits presented in this paper allows to infer the causative tectonic stress tensor by means of a quantitative inversion technique. Local perturbations of the first-order regional stress field are consequently recognized. Such perturbations are interpreted as due to interferences between large active faults and their particular geometrical setting. These results contribute to the understanding of the Quaternary tectonic evolution and the present-day stress regime.

Joint development and tectonic stress field evolution in the southeastern Mesozoic Ordos Basin, west part of North China

“…Regional stress analysis requires that geological data be from all-scale structures. In particular, joints are opening-mode joints that propagate in the plane contains σ 1 and σ 2 , and normal to σ 3 (Hancock, 1985;Pollard and Aydin, 1988;Mandl, 2005), so they are sensitive to the local stress orientation (Dyer, 1988;Pollard and Aydin, 1988;Hancock et al, 1991;Eyal et al, 2001;De Guidi et al, 2013). The principal reasons for this interpretation are as follows: (1) some joint planes bear a delicate plumose structure; (2) veins parallel to the joints contain growth fibers oriented normal to vein margins; (3) regional stress fields can be identified and delineated.…”

“…The principal reasons for this interpretation are as follows: (1) some joint planes bear a delicate plumose structure; (2) veins parallel to the joints contain growth fibers oriented normal to vein margins; (3) regional stress fields can be identified and delineated. Because the strikes of vertical systematic joints are parallel to the trend of the maximum horizontal stress (S H ), they are used to reconstruct regional paleostress trajectories (Engelder and Geiser, 1980;Zhang, 1996;De Guidi et al, 2013). Furthermore, the orientations of the principal stress also can be determined knowing that the conjugate hybrid or shear fracture enclose an acute bisector parallel to σ 1 (Hancock and Engelder, 1989;Hancock, 1991).…”

Multiscale processes to describe the Eastern Sicily Seismic Sequences

“…The area is therefore characterized by a high variability of tectonic regimes and trajectories of the tectonic stress field [Montone et al, 2012;Pierdominici and Heidbach, 2012;De Guidi et al, 2013;Presti et al, 2013;Scarf et al, 2013;Palano et al, 2015]. Such complexity is also testified by recent tomographies: large Vp anomalies in the crust structure are well depicted and reflect the articulated crustal structure [Neri et al, 2012;Presti et al, 2013;Musumeci et al, 2014;Palano et al, 2015;Scarf et al, 2016;D╒Alessandro et al, 2016].…”

“…Eastern Sicily and southern Calabria are affected by crustal extension mainly WNWESE oriented whose origin has been related to different tectonic processes [Tortorici et al, 1995;Monaco et al, 1997;Catalano et al, 2008;De Guidi et al, 2012]. All these domains are well documented at local scales by the occurrence of active fault segments, marine terracing, growing folds and active basins [Catalano and De Guidi, 2003;Bianca et al, 1999Bianca et al, , 2011Catalano et al, 2011;Sulli et al, 2013;Argnani et al, 2013;De Guidi et al, 2013].…”

Paleo-tectonic Stress Field and Tectonic Evolution since the Mesozoic in the Eastern Mining Area of Pingdingshan

“…Joints are microfractures which are formed by the tectonic stress field acting on the rock stratum (Eyal, Gross, Engelder, & Becker, 2001;Bai & Pollard, 2000;De Guidi, Caputo, & Scudero, 2013). According to the type of tectonic stress field formed by joints, they are divided into tension joints and shear joints (De Guidi et al, 2013; Mandl, 2005).…”