Welcome

The Stress and Crustal Mechanics group uses knowledge of the state of stress in the Earth and the mechanical properties of Earth materials to investigate a variety of geophysical problems. These problems cover a variety of scales, ranging from pore scale processes and the mechanical behavior of reservoir-scale faults, to the strength of the lithosphere and the mechanics of major plate bounding faults such as the San Andreas.

Our group conducts basic and applied research in the areas of reservoir geomechanics, tectonophysics, and the physics of friction and faulting. We treat the Earth's crust as a natural laboratory, using a combination of stress and strain data obtained from boreholes, GPS measurements, and earthquake focal mechanisms to test theories about the behavior of the lithosphere. Our group is heavily engaged on applying these methodologies toward optimization of production from gas shale research and CO2 sequestration.

The group is directed by Professor Mark Zoback. We are a part of the SRB project, in collaboration with the Rock Physics Laboratory.

Current Students and Staff

From left to right: Owen Hurd, Mark Zoback, Norm Sleep, Rob Heller, Indrajit Das, John Vermylen, Susan Phillips-Moskowitz, Hiroki Sone, Ashley Enderlin, Madhur Johri, Yi Yang (Alec)

Reservoir Geomechanics

Over 25 years in the making, Mark's book is finally done!