Table of Contents

Foreword; Part I. Basic Principles: 1. The tectonic stress field; 2. Pore pressure at depth in sedimentary basins; 3. Basic constitutive laws; 4. Rock failure in compression, tension and shear; 5. Fractures and faults in three dimensions; Part II. Measuring Stress Orientation and Magnitude: 6. Compressive and tensile failures in vertical wells; 7. Determination of S3 from minifracs and extended leak-off tests and constraining the magnitude of SHmax from wellbore failures in vertical wells; 8. Wellbore failure and stress determination in deviated wells; 9. Stress fields – from tectonic plates to reservoirs around the world; Part III. Applications: 10. Minimizing wellbore instability; 11. Critically stressed faults and fluid flow; 12. Reservoir depletion; References; Index.

Promotional Information

A practical reference for geoscientists and engineers in the petroleum and geothermal industries.

About the Author

Mark Zoback is the Benjamin M. Page Professor of Earth Sciences and Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Geophysics at Stanford University. The author/co-author of approximately 250 published research papers, he is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2006 he was awarded the Emil Wiechert Medal of the German Geophysical Society and in 2008, the Walter S. Bucher Medal of the American Geophysical Union.

Reviews

'A very comprehensive and complete book spanning all the aspects of stress within the accessible Earth. It is particularly useful in the fields of oil industry, geothermics and seismic hazard.' Tectonophysics

'… a strong and authoritative treatment … Professor Zoback's book will be a valued guide and reference to geoscientists and engineers.' International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences

'A major advantage of the book is … that it provides an excellent crossover between aspects of structural geology and reservoir engineering - a link that is all too often overlooked. … It is customary to have an 'ah but …', bit towards the end, but I genuinely have very few quibbles with this book. … I would recommend it to any geologist working in a situation where faults or fractures interact with the present-day stress field.' Tim Needham, Needham Geoscience, Illkley