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World
Stress Map

Project

Key References for the WSM Project

Heidbach, O., M. Rajabi, X. Cui, K. Fuchs, B. Müller, J. Reinecker, K. Reiter, M. Tingay, F. Wenzel, F. Xie, M. O. Ziegler, M.-L. Zoback, and M. D. Zoback. 2018, The World Stress Map database release 2016: Crustal stress pattern across scales. Tectonophysics, 744,484-498. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2018.07.007  (download PDF)

Heidbach, O., M. Rajabi, K. Reiter, M. Ziegler, and the WSM Team (2016). World Stress Map Database Release 2016, GFZ Data Services, http://doi.org/10.5880/WSM.2016.001

Heidbach, O., M. Tingay, A. Barth, J. Reinecker, D. Kurfeß, and B. Müller (2010). Global crustal stress pattern based on the World Stress Map database release 2008, Tectonophys., 482, 3-15, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2009.07.023  (download PDF)

Heidbach, O., J. Reinecker, M. Tingay, B. Müller, B. Sperner, K. Fuchs, and F. Wenzel (2007). Plate boundary forces are not enough: Second- and third-order stress patterns highlighted in the World Stress Map database, Tectonics, 26, http://doi.org/10.1029/2007TC002133  (download PDF)

Morawietz, S., O. Heidbach, K. Reiter, M. O. Ziegler, M. Rajabi, G. Zimmerman, B. Müller, and M. Tingay (2020), An open‑access stress magnitude database for Germany and adjacent regions, Geothermal Energy, http://doi:10.1186/s40517‑020‑00178-5  (download PDF)

Sperner, B., B. Müller, O. Heidbach, D. Delvaux, J. Reinecker, and K. Fuchs (2003). Tectonic stress in the Earth's crust: advances in the World Stress Map project, in New insights in structural interpretation and modelling, edited by D. A. Nieuwland, Special Publication 212, 101-116, Geol. Soc. Spec. Pub., London, http://doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2003.212.01.07  (download PDF)

Zoback, M. L., Zoback, M., Adams, J., Assumpção, M., Bell, S., Bergman, E. A., Blümling, P., Brereton, N. R., Denham, D., Ding, J., Fuchs, K., Gay, N., Gregersen, S., Gupta, H. K., Gvishiani, A., Jacob, K., Klein, R., Knoll, P., Magee, M., Mercier, J. L., Müller, B. C., Paquin, C., Rajendran, K., Stephansson, O., Suarez, G., Suter, M., Udías, A., Xu, Z. H., and Zhizhin, M., (1989). Global patterns of tectonic stress, Nature, 341, 291-298, http://doi.org/10.1038/341291a0

Zoback, M., and M. L. Zoback (1991). Tectonic stress field of North America and relative plate motions, in Neotectonics of North America, edited by D. B. Slemmons, E. R. Engdahl, M. D. Zoback and D. D. Blackwell, pp. 339-366, Geological Society of America, Boulder, Coloardo

Zoback, M. L. (1992). First and second order patterns of stress in the lithosphere: The World Stress Map Project, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 11703-11728, http://doi.org/10.1029/92jb00132

Selected Publications From the WSM Team

Altmann, J. B., B. Müller, T. Müller, O. Heidbach, M. Tingay, and A. Weißhardt (2014), Pore pressure stress coupling in 3D and consequences for reservoir stress states and fault reactivation, Geothermics, 52, 195-205, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2014.01.004  (download PDF)

Altmann, J. B., T. M. Müller, B. I. R. Müller, M. R. P. Tingay, and O. Heidbach (2010), Poroelastic contribution to the reservoir stress path, Int. J. Rock. Mech. & Min. Sci., 47, 1104-1113, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2010.08.001

Fuchs, K., and B. Müller (2001), World Stress Map of the Earth: a key to tectonic processes and technological applications, Naturwissenschaften, 88, 357-371.

Hergert, T., and O. Heidbach (2011), Geomechanical model of the Marmara Sea region - II. 3-D contemporary background stress field, Geophys. J. Int., 3, 1090-1102,  http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.04992.x (download PDF)

Hergert, T., O. Heidbach, K. Reiter, S. Giger, and P. Marschall (2015), Stress field sensitivity analysis in a sedimentary sequence of the Alpine foreland, northern Switzerland, Solid Earth, 6, 533-552, http://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-533-2015   (download PDF)

Müller, B., M. L. Zoback, K. Fuchs, L. Mastin, S. Gregersen, N. Pavoni, O. Stephansson, and C. Ljunggren (1992). Regional Patterns of Tectonic Stress in Europe, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 11783-11803, http://doi.org/10.1029/91JB01096

Peña, C., O. Heidbach, M. Moreno, D. Melnick, and O. Oncken (2021), Transient Deformation and Stress Patterns Induced by the 2010 Maule Earthquake in the Illapel Segment, Frontiers in Earth Science, 9, http://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.644834  (download PDF)

Rajabi, M., M. Tingay, and O. Heidbach (2016). The present-day state of stress in the Darling Basin, Australia: Implications for exploration and production, Marine and Petr. Geol., 776-790, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.021

Rajabi, M., M. Tingay, and O. Heidbach (2016). The present-day stress field of New South Wales, Australia, Australian J.  Earth Sci., 63, doi:10.1080/08120099.2016.1135821

Rajabi, M., M. Tingay, R. King, and O. Heidbach (2016). Present-day stress orientation in the Clarence-Moreton Basin of New South Wales, Australia: A new high density dataset reveals local stress rotations, Basin Res., 1-19, doi:10.1111/bre.12175

Rajabi, M., M. Ziegler, M. Tingay, O. Heidbach, and S. Reynolds (2016). Contemporary tectonic stress pattern of the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, J. Geophys. Res., 121, 6053-6070, http://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013178  (download PDF)

Reiter, K., and O. Heidbach (2014), 3-D geomechanical-numerical model of the contemporary crustal stress state in the Alberta Basin (Canada), Solid Earth, 5, 1123-1149,  http://doi.org/10.5194/se-5-1123-2014  (download PDF)

Reiter, K., O. Heidbach, D. Schmitt, I. Moeck, M. Ziegler, and C. Hauck (2014). Crustal stress field pattern of Canada, Tectonophys., 636, 1111-1124, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.08.006

Tingay, M., R. R. Hillis, C. K. Morley , E. Swarbrick, and S. J. Drake (2005). Present-day stress orientation in Brunei: a snapshot of 'prograding tectonic' in a Tertiary delta, J. Geol. Soc., London, 162, 39-49.

Tingay, M., B. Müller, J. Reinecker, O. Heidbach, F. Wenzel, and P. Fleckenstein (2005). Understanding tectonic stress in the oil patch: The World Stress Map Project, The Leading Edge, 1276-1282.

von Specht, S., O. Heidbach, F. Cotton, and A. Zang (2018), Uncertainty reduction of stress tensor inversion with data-driven catalogue selection, Geophys. J. Int., 214(3), 2250–2263, http://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy240 (download PDF)

Ziebarth, M., S. von Specht, O. Heidbach, J. Anderson, and F. Cotton (2020), Applying Conservation of Energy to Estimate Earthquake Frequencies from Strain Rates and Stresses, J. Geophys. Res., doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020186 (download PDF)

Ziegler, M. O., and O. Heidbach (2020), The 3D stress state from geomechanical–numerical modelling and its uncertainties: a case study in the Bavarian Molasse Basin, Geothermal Energy, 8(1), doi.org/10.1186/s40517-020-00162-z  (download PDF)

Ziegler, M. O., O. Heidbach, A. Zang, P. Martínez-Garzón, and M. Bohnhoff (2017), Estimation of the differential stress from the stress rotation angle in low permeable rock, Geohpysical Research Letters, 44(13), 6761-6770, http://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073598 (download PDF)

Ziegler, M. O., K. Reiter, O. Heidbach, A. Zang, G. Kwiatek, G. Dresen, and G. Hoffmann (2015), Mining-Induced Stress Transfer and Its Relation to a Mw 1.9 Seismic Event in an Ultra-deep South African Gold Mine, Pure Apl. Geophys., 172(10), doi.org/10.1007/s00024-015-1033-x (download PDF)

Ziegler, M., O. Heidbach, J. Reinecker, A. M. Przybycin, and M. Scheck-Wenderoth (2016). A multi-stage 3-D stress field modelling approach exemplified in the Bavarian Molasse Basin, Solid Earth, 7, 1365-1382, http://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1365-2016 (download PDF)

Ziegler, M., R. Mojtaba, O. Heidbach, G. P. Hersir, K. Ágústsson, S. Árnadóttir, and A. Zang (2016). The stress pattern of Iceland, Tectonophys., 674, 101-113, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2016.02.008  (download PDF)

Further Key Publications on Stress Research

Barton, C. A., and M. D. Zoback (2000), Discrimination of Nature Fractures from Drilling-Induced Wellbore ailures in Wellbore Image Data- Implications for Reservoir Permeability, Soc. of Petroleum Eng., 1-8.

Bell, J. S. (1996), In situ stresses in sedimentary rocks (Part 1): measurement techniques, Geoscience Canada, 23, 85-100.

Bell, J. S. (1996), In situ stresses in sedimentary rocks (Part 2): applications of stress measurements, Geoscience Canada, 23, 135-153.

Brudy, M., M. D. Zoback, K. Fuchs, F. Rummel, and J. Baumgärtner (1997), Estimation of the complete stress tensor to 8 km depth in the KTB scientific drill holes: Implications for the crustal strength, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 18453-18475.

Célérier, B. (2010), Remarks on the relationship between the tectonic regime, the rake of the slip vectors, the dip of the nodal planes, and the plunges of the P, B, and T axes of earthquake focal mechanisms, Tectonophys., 482, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2009.03.006

Cornet, F. H., and T. Röckel (2012). Vertical stress profiles and the significance of "stress decoupling", Tectonophys., 1193-1205, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2012.01.020

Fischer, K., and A. Henk (2013) A workflow for building and calibrating 3-D geomechanical models - a case study for a gas reservoir in the North German Basin, Solid Earth, 5357-5355, http://doi.org/10.5194/se-4-347-2013

Haimson, B. C., and F. H. Cornet (2003), ISRM suggested methods for rock stress estimation - Part 3: hydraulic fracturing (HF) and/or hydraulic testing of pre-existing fractures (HTPF), Int. J. Rock. Mech., 40, 1011-1020.

Hardebeck, J. L., and A. Michael (2004), Stress orientations at intermediate angels to the San Andreas Fault, California, J. Geophys. Res., 109, http://doi.org/10.1029/2004JB003239

Hickman, S., and M. Zoback (2004), Stress orientations and magnitudes in the SAFOD pilot hole, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, http://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020043

Jaeger, J. C., N. G. W. Cook, and R. W. Zimmermann (2007), Fundamentals of Rock Mechanics, 4th ed., Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

Ljunggren, C., Chang, Y., Janson, T., and Christiansson, R., (2003), An overview of rock stress measurement methods, Int. J. Rock. Mech., 40, 975-989, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2003.07.003

McKenzie, D. (1969), The relation between fault plane solutions for earthquakes and the directions of the principal stresses, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 59(2), 591-601

Montone, P., and M. T. Mariucci (2016). The new release of the Italian contemporary stress map, Geophys. J. Int., 205, 1525-15331, http://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggw100

Plumb, R. A., and S. Hickman (1985). Stress-induced borehole enlargement: a comparison between the four-arm dipmeter and the borehole televiewer in the Auburn geothermal well, J. Geophys. Res., 90, 5513-5521.

Schmitt, D. R., C. A. Currie, and L. Zhang (2012). Crustal stress determination from boreholes and rock cores: Fundamental principles,Tectonophys., 1011-1026, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2012.08.029

Townend, J., and M. D. Zoback (2000), How faulting keeps the crust strong, Geology, 28, 399-402.

Zoback, M. L., and M. Zoback (1980). State of Stress in the Conterminous United States, J. Geophys. Res., 85(B11), 6113-6156, http://doi.org/10.1029/JB085iB11p06113

Zoback, M., C. A. Barton, M. Brudy, D. A. Castillo, T. Finkbeiner, B. R. Grollimund, D. B. Moos, P. Peska, C. D. Ward, and D. J. Wiprut (2003). Determintation of stress orientation and magnitude in deep wells, Int. J. Rock. Mech., 40, 1049-1076.

Zoback, M., D. Moos, and L. Mastin (1985). Well Bore Breakouts and in Situ Stress, J. Geophys. Res., 90, 5523-5530.

Zoback, M. L., and M. Zoback (1989). Tectonic stress field of the conterminous United States, in Geophysical Framework of the Continental United States, edited by L. C. Pakiser and W. D. Mooney, pp. 523-539, Geol. Soc. Am. Mem., Boulder, Colorado.