Ongoing compression across South American plate: observations, numerical modelling and some implications for petroleum geology
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Published:January 01, 2003
Abstract
The South American plate is now in horizontal compression and shortening. This is shown by stress data compilations, intraplate stress field numerical models and space-based geodetic results. Consistent with the compressive scenario, analyses of leak-off and hydraulic fracturing data indicate that the maximum principal stress is horizontal for most Brazilian basins. The observed compression/shortening is probably mostly due to the convergence of the South American and the Nazca plates and the divergence of the South American and the African plates.
Plate-wide deformation related to the Andean tectonics has been evidenced by analyses of integrated visualizations of available plate-scale information...
Figures & Tables
Contents
Fracture and In-Situ Stress Characterization of Hydrocarbon Reservoirs

This publication introduces the newly developed, integrated discipline of fracture and in-situ stress characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs, through 16 well-illustrated case studies. These cover a wide range of tools, from borehole Scale (logs and cores) to reservoir scale (3-D and 4-D seismic). It also covers surface studies (outcrop and remote sensing). In addition, it addresses the impact of fractures and in-situ stresses on fluid flows and their simulation.
This volume deals with a subject that is gaining increasing interest with the advancement of technologies and shifting boundaries of marginal fields into more challenging ground. Fractures and their response to current-day in-situ stresses have become a crucial part of reservoir characterization in deep tight reservoirs. In addition, maturing reservoirs, which were considered as ‘conventional’ at discovery, are displaying symptoms characteristic of fractures and/or geomechanical contribution. This has lead to the need to delineate the fractures and the stresses in these reservoirs and revise reservoir management accordingly.
The book will be of interest to a broad range of readers from both academic and industrial institutes, who are researching and dealing with hydrocarbon reservoir characterization, simulation and management.