Abstract Delta–deepwater fold–thrust belts are linked systems of extension and compression. Margin-parallel maximum horizontal stresses (extension) on the delta top are generated by gravitational collapse of accumulating sediment, and drive downdip margin-normal maximum horizontal stresses (compression) in the deepwater fold–thrust belt (or delta toe). This maximum horizontal stress rotation has been observed in a number of delta systems. Maximum horizontal stress orientations, determined from 32 petroleum wells in the Gulf of Mexico, are broadly margin-parallel on the delta top with a mean orientation of 060 and a standard deviation of 49°. However, several orientations show up to 60° deflection from the regional margin-parallel orientation. Three-dimensional (3D) seismic data from the Gulf of Mexico delta top demonstrate the presence of salt diapirs piercing the overlying deltaic sediments. These salt diapirs are adjacent to wells (within 500 m) that demonstrate deflected stress orientations. The maximum horizontal stresses are deflected to become parallel to the interface between the salt and sediment. Two cases are presented that account for the alignment of maximum horizontal stresses parallel to this interface: (1) the contrast between geomechanical properties of the deltaic sediments and adjacent salt diapirs; and (2) gravitational collapse of deltaic sediments down the flanks of salt diapirs.

Abstract This study examines present-day stress orientations from borehole breakout and drilling-induced fractures in 57 boreholes in the Nile Delta. A total of 588 breakouts and 68 drilling-induced fractures from 50 wells reveal sharply contrasting present-day maximum horizontal stress ( S Hmax ) orientations across the Nile Delta. A typical deltaic margin-parallel S Hmax exists in parts of the Nile Delta that are below or absent from evaporites (NNE–SSW in the west, east–west in the central Nile, ESE–WNW in the east). However, a largely margin-normal (NNE–SSW) S Hmax is observed in sequences underlain by evaporites in the eastern Nile Delta. The margin-normal supra-salt S Hmax orientations are often subperpendicular to the strike of nearby active extensional faults, rather than being parallel to the faults as predicted by Andersonian criteria. The high angle between S Hmax and strike of these extensional faults represents a new type of non-Andersonian faulting that is even less-suitably oriented for shear failure than previously described anomalous faulting such as low-angle normal faults and highly oblique strike-slip faults (e.g. San Andreas). While the mechanics of these non-Andersonian faults remains uncertain, it is suggested that the margin-normal supra-salt orientation generated by basal forces imparted upon rafted blocks sliding down seawards-dipping evaporites.