"Geomechanics and Geology" ed. by J. P. Turner, D. Healy, R. R. Hillis and M. Welch

This volume presents a rich diversity of case studies that showcase applications of geomechanics to hydrocarbon exploration and field development, reservoir stimulation, contemporary tectonics and subsurface fluid flow. The papers provide a representative snapshot of the exciting state of geomechanics and establish it firmly as a flourishing subdiscipline of geology that merits broadest exposure across the academic and corporate geosciences.

Geomechanics seeks to characterize present-day crustal stresses, to understand the geological processes that control them and to predict the impact of stress systems on rock deformation.
Geomechanics investigates the origin, magnitude and deformational consequences of stresses in the crust. In recent years awareness of geomechanical processes has been heightened by societal debates on fracking, human-induced seismicity, natural geohazards and safety issues with respect to petroleum exploration drilling, carbon sequestration and radioactive waste disposal. This volume explores the common ground linking geomechanics with inter alia economic and petroleum geology, structural geology, petrophysics, seismology, geotechnics, reservoir engineering and production technology. Geomechanics is a rapidly developing field that brings together a broad range of subsurface professionals seeking to use their expertise to solve current challenges in applied and fundamental geoscience. A rich diversity of case studies herein showcase applications of geomechanics to hydrocarbon exploration and field development, natural and artificial geohazards, reservoir stimulation, contemporary tectonics and subsurface fluid flow.


Contents
Geomechanics and geology: introduction
The geology of geomechanics: petroleum geomechanical engineering in field development planning
Contemporary stress and neotectonics in the Otway Basin, southeastern Australia
State of stress in exhumed basins and implications for fluid flow: insights from the Illizi Basin, Algeria
Chalk reservoir of the Ockley accumulation, North Sea: in situ stresses, geology and implications for stimulation
The edge of failure: critical stress overpressure states in different tectonic regimes
Active low-angle normal faults in the deep water Santos Basin, offshore Brazil: a geomechanical analogy between salt tectonics and crustal deformation
Estimating friction in normal fault systems of the Basin and Range province and examining its geological context
Natural CO2 sites in Italy show the importance of overburden geopressure, fractures and faults for CO2 storage performance and risk management
An improved procedure for pre-drill calculation of fracture pressure
Relationships between geomechanical properties and lithotypes in NW European chalks
Mechanical constraints on kink band and thrust development in the Appalachian Plateau, USA
Opening-mode fracture systems: insights from recent fluid inclusion microthermometry studies of crack-seal fracture cements
Geomechanical characterization of mud volcanoes using P-wave velocity datasets