The crustal stress field of Germany: a refined prediction

Steffen Ahlers; Luisa Röckel; Tobias Hergert; Karsten Reiter; Oliver Heidbach; Andreas Henk; Birgit Müller; Sophia Morawietz; Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth; Denis Anikiev

doi:10.1186/s40517-022-00222-6

The crustal stress field of Germany: a refined prediction

Steffen Ahlers^*, Luisa Röckel, Tobias Hergert, Karsten Reiter, Oliver Heidbach, Andreas Henk, Birgit Müller, Sophia Morawietz, Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth, Denis Anikiev

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Information about the absolute stress state in the upper crust plays a crucial role in the planning and execution of, e.g., directional drilling, stimulation and exploitation of geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs. Since many of these applications are related to sediments, we present a refined geomechanical–numerical model for Germany with focus on sedimentary basins, able to predict the complete 3D stress tensor. The lateral resolution of the model is 2.5 km, the vertical resolution about 250 m. Our model contains 22 units with focus on the sedimentary layers parameterized with individual rock properties. The model results show an overall good fit with magnitude data of the minimum (S_hmin) and maximum horizontal stress (S_Hmax) that are used for the model calibration. The mean of the absolute stress differences between these calibration data and the model results is 4.6 MPa for S_hmin and 6.4 MPa for S_Hmax. In addition, our predicted stress field shows good agreement to several supplementary in-situ data from the North German Basin, the Upper Rhine Graben and the Molasse Basin.

Original language	English
Article number	10
Journal	Geothermal Energy
Volume	10
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-022-00222-6
State	Published - Dec 2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Keywords

3D geomechanical–numerical model
Germany
Molasse Basin
North German Basin
Stress magnitudes
Stress state
Stress tensor
Upper Rhine Graben

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
Economic Geology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1186/s40517-022-00222-6

Cite this

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title = "The crustal stress field of Germany: a refined prediction",

abstract = "Information about the absolute stress state in the upper crust plays a crucial role in the planning and execution of, e.g., directional drilling, stimulation and exploitation of geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs. Since many of these applications are related to sediments, we present a refined geomechanical–numerical model for Germany with focus on sedimentary basins, able to predict the complete 3D stress tensor. The lateral resolution of the model is 2.5 km, the vertical resolution about 250 m. Our model contains 22 units with focus on the sedimentary layers parameterized with individual rock properties. The model results show an overall good fit with magnitude data of the minimum (Shmin) and maximum horizontal stress (SHmax) that are used for the model calibration. The mean of the absolute stress differences between these calibration data and the model results is 4.6 MPa for Shmin and 6.4 MPa for SHmax. In addition, our predicted stress field shows good agreement to several supplementary in-situ data from the North German Basin, the Upper Rhine Graben and the Molasse Basin.",

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author = "Steffen Ahlers and Luisa R{\"o}ckel and Tobias Hergert and Karsten Reiter and Oliver Heidbach and Andreas Henk and Birgit M{\"u}ller and Sophia Morawietz and Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth and Denis Anikiev",

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year = "2022",

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doi = "10.1186/s40517-022-00222-6",

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T2 - a refined prediction

AU - Ahlers, Steffen

AU - Röckel, Luisa

AU - Hergert, Tobias

AU - Reiter, Karsten

AU - Heidbach, Oliver

AU - Henk, Andreas

AU - Müller, Birgit

AU - Morawietz, Sophia

AU - Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena

AU - Anikiev, Denis

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Information about the absolute stress state in the upper crust plays a crucial role in the planning and execution of, e.g., directional drilling, stimulation and exploitation of geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs. Since many of these applications are related to sediments, we present a refined geomechanical–numerical model for Germany with focus on sedimentary basins, able to predict the complete 3D stress tensor. The lateral resolution of the model is 2.5 km, the vertical resolution about 250 m. Our model contains 22 units with focus on the sedimentary layers parameterized with individual rock properties. The model results show an overall good fit with magnitude data of the minimum (Shmin) and maximum horizontal stress (SHmax) that are used for the model calibration. The mean of the absolute stress differences between these calibration data and the model results is 4.6 MPa for Shmin and 6.4 MPa for SHmax. In addition, our predicted stress field shows good agreement to several supplementary in-situ data from the North German Basin, the Upper Rhine Graben and the Molasse Basin.

AB - Information about the absolute stress state in the upper crust plays a crucial role in the planning and execution of, e.g., directional drilling, stimulation and exploitation of geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs. Since many of these applications are related to sediments, we present a refined geomechanical–numerical model for Germany with focus on sedimentary basins, able to predict the complete 3D stress tensor. The lateral resolution of the model is 2.5 km, the vertical resolution about 250 m. Our model contains 22 units with focus on the sedimentary layers parameterized with individual rock properties. The model results show an overall good fit with magnitude data of the minimum (Shmin) and maximum horizontal stress (SHmax) that are used for the model calibration. The mean of the absolute stress differences between these calibration data and the model results is 4.6 MPa for Shmin and 6.4 MPa for SHmax. In addition, our predicted stress field shows good agreement to several supplementary in-situ data from the North German Basin, the Upper Rhine Graben and the Molasse Basin.

KW - 3D geomechanical–numerical model

KW - Germany

KW - Molasse Basin

KW - North German Basin

KW - Stress magnitudes

KW - Stress state

KW - Stress tensor

KW - Upper Rhine Graben

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DO - 10.1186/s40517-022-00222-6

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85132909252

SN - 2195-4771

VL - 10

JO - Geothermal Energy

JF - Geothermal Energy

IS - 1

M1 - 10

ER -

The crustal stress field of Germany: a refined prediction

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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