TY - JOUR
T1 - Is there a genetic relationship between selected regional joints and contemporary stress within the lithosphere of North America?
AU - Engelder, Terry
PY - 1982/4
Y1 - 1982/4
N2 - On the Appalachian Plateau of New York, ENE striking joints parallel the mid‐continent contemporary stress field and do not correlate with other structures. Joints within Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia also parallel the mid‐continent maximum horizontal compression as indicated by hydraulic fracture measurements. In northern Indiana, where the contemporary stress field deviates significantly from the orientation of the mid‐continent stress, the attitude of the joints deviates accordingly. In addition to joints, structures on several scales from subcontinent size fracture systems to microfabrics in shales apparently parallel the mid‐continent stress field. From this I conclude that these joints are mode I cracks whose orientation corresponds to the contemporary tectonic stress field. In itself, the formation of these structures constitutes a tectonic event that has often been overlooked in favor of tectonic events that produce the more spectacular but less pervasive faults and folds.
AB - On the Appalachian Plateau of New York, ENE striking joints parallel the mid‐continent contemporary stress field and do not correlate with other structures. Joints within Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia also parallel the mid‐continent maximum horizontal compression as indicated by hydraulic fracture measurements. In northern Indiana, where the contemporary stress field deviates significantly from the orientation of the mid‐continent stress, the attitude of the joints deviates accordingly. In addition to joints, structures on several scales from subcontinent size fracture systems to microfabrics in shales apparently parallel the mid‐continent stress field. From this I conclude that these joints are mode I cracks whose orientation corresponds to the contemporary tectonic stress field. In itself, the formation of these structures constitutes a tectonic event that has often been overlooked in favor of tectonic events that produce the more spectacular but less pervasive faults and folds.
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U2 - 10.1029/TC001i002p00161
DO - 10.1029/TC001i002p00161
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84982682340
SN - 0278-7407
VL - 1
SP - 161
EP - 177
JO - Tectonics
JF - Tectonics
IS - 2
ER -