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Global patterns of tectonic stress

Nature volume 341, pages 291–298 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

Regional patterns of present-day tectonic stress can be used to evaluate the forces acting on the lithosphere and to investigate intraplate seismicity. Most intraplate regions are characterized by a compressional stress regime; extension is limited almost entirely to thermally uplifted regions. In several plates the maximum horizontal stress is subparallel to the direction of absolute plate motion, suggesting that the forces driving the plates also dominate the stress distribution in the plate interior.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA

    Mary Lou Zoback & M. Magee

  2. Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    Mark D. Zoback

  3. Geophysics Division, Geological Survey of Canada, 1 Observatory Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A OY3

    J. Adams

  4. Institute Astronômico e Geofísico, Universidade de São Paulo, 01051, São Paulo-SP, Brazil

    M. Assumpção

  5. Institute of Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology, 3303 33rd St NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2L 2A7

    S. Bell

  6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    E. A. Bergman

  7. NAGRA, Parkstrasse 23, CH-5401, Baden, Switzerland

    P. Blümling

  8. British Geological Survey, Key-worth, Nottinghamshire, NC12 5GG, UK

    N. R. Brereton

  9. Australian Seismological Centre, PO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

    D. Denham

  10. Institute of Crustal Dynamics, State Seismological Bureau, PO Box 2855, Beijing, China

    J. Ding

  11. Universität Karlsruhe, Geophysikalisches Institut, D-7500, Karlsruhe, 21, FRG

    K. Fuchs & B. C. Müller

  12. Rock Mechanics Laboratory, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa

    N. Gay

  13. Geodetic Institute, Gamlehave Alle 22, DK-2920, Charlottenlund, Denmark

    S. Gregersen

  14. Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682 022, India

    H. K. Gupta

  15. Institute of Physics of the Earth, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 123810, USSR

    A. Gvishiani & M. Zhizhin

  16. Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964, USA

    K. Jacob

  17. BP Research International, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW16 7LN, UK

    R. Klein

  18. Zentralinstitut fur Physik der Erde, Telegrafenberg A 17, Potsdam, GDR-1561

    P. Knoll

  19. Laboratoire de Géologic Dynamique Interne, Université Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay, France

    J. L. Mercier

  20. Laboratoire de Géophysique et Géodynamique Interne, Université Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay, France

    C. Paquin

  21. Department of Geology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, 29208, USA

    K. Rajendran

  22. Division of Rock Mechanics, Lulea University of Technology, 95187, Lulea, Sweden

    O. Stephansson

  23. Institute de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, DF 04510, Mexico

    G. Suarez

  24. Institute de Geologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, DF 04510, Mexico

    M. Suter

  25. Cátedra de Geofísica-Fac. de C. Fisicas, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 28040, Spain

    A. Udias

  26. Institute of Geophysics, State Seismological Bureau, Beijing, China

    Z. H. Xu

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Zoback, M., Zoback, M., Adams, J. et al. Global patterns of tectonic stress. Nature 341, 291–298 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341291a0

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