In-Situ Stress in Australia and Subsurface Fluid Flow

Abstract

The in-situ stress field is a key variable in any geothermal development, principally because of its control on the direction of subsurface fluid flow. Data on the in-situ stress field of Australia have been derived from a variety of sources including relatively shallow engineering methods often associated within mining activities (sampling up to a few hundred metres depth); from deeper petroleum wellbores (sampling up to a few kilometres depth); and from earthquake focal mechanism solutions (sampling up to seismogenic depths, typically up to 20 km in Australia). Data on stress orientations within Australia have been compiled within the public domain Australian Stress Map database (www.asp.adelaide.edu.au/asm).