Heterogeneity versus Anisotropy and the State of Stress in Stable
Cratons: Observations from a Deep Borehole of Opportunity in
Northeastern Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Geophysical logs collected from a deep borehole drilled to the Canadian
Shield in Northeastern Alberta shed valuable lights on the state of
stress in stable cratons. Observed breakout azimuths rotate between
three depth intervals, from N100°E at 1650-2000 m to N173°E at 2000-2210
m, and finally to N145°E at the bottom. No obvious fractures that might
disturb stresses were found; and these rotating breakouts can be
interpreted either as being due to a heterogenous stress field or
formation elastic and strength anisotropy. The latter interpretation is
favored because the breakout azimuths are strongly controlled by rock
metamorphic textures as validated by their close correlations with both
dip directions of foliation planes and polarization directions from
dipole sonic logs. Monte Carlo realizations further demonstrate that
anisotropic metamorphic rocks subjected to a uniform horizontal stress
direction could result in the observed azimuth-rotating breakouts. The
stress magnitudes inferred from this analysis, which incorporates both
the rock anisotropy and weak foliation failure planes, suggest a normal
faulting regime and a maximum horizontal compression direction
consistent with that in the overlying Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin
(NE-SW) and the motion of the North American plate. The inferred stress
magnitudes are low and Mohr-Coulomb analyses demonstrate that the
formation is not near the critical loading for slip on weak planes.
However, more detailed investigations should be conducted since Monte
Carlo calculations indicate that analyses from breakout widths,
particularly when a conventional Kirsch-based formula is employed, are
highly nonunique, allowing for large variations in potential stress
states.