Normal faulting and in situ stress in the South Carolina coastal plain near Charleston

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences (Physical Sciences)

Research Article| March 01, 1978 Normal faulting and in situ stress in the South Carolina coastal plain near Charleston Mark D. Zoback; Mark D. Zoback 1Office of Earthquake Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John H. Healy; John H. Healy 1Office of Earthquake Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John C. Roller; John C. Roller 1Office of Earthquake Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gregory S. Gohn; Gregory S. Gohn 2Office of Environmental Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Brenda B. Higgins Brenda B. Higgins 2Office of Environmental Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Mark D. Zoback 1Office of Earthquake Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 John H. Healy 1Office of Earthquake Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 John C. Roller 1Office of Earthquake Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Gregory S. Gohn 2Office of Environmental Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 Brenda B. Higgins 2Office of Environmental Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1978) 6 (3): 147–152. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1978)6<147:NFAISS>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Mark D. Zoback, John H. Healy, John C. Roller, Gregory S. Gohn, Brenda B. Higgins; Normal faulting and in situ stress in the South Carolina coastal plain near Charleston. Geology 1978;; 6 (3): 147–152. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1978)6<147:NFAISS>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract In situ stress measurements were made to depths of 344 m in Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments near Charleston, South Carolina. The magnitudes of the least principal compressive stress were found to be considerably sublithostatic: 30.6 b at 193 m, 33.7 b at 209 m, 35.0 b at 297 m, and 41.6 b at 344 m. These data, combined with simple faulting theory, indicate that the least principal horizontal stress at depths of 297 and 344 m is sufficiently less than the lithostatic load to result in normal-type fault motion on favorably oriented faults. Stratigraphic evidence from three test wells and 20 auger holes in the area supports existence of at least one normal fault in the vicinity of the wells in which the stress measurements were made. We interpret these results to suggest that normal faults in coastal plain sediments near Charleston are currently active. Because the direction of relative horizontal extension appears to be northeast-southwest, or parallel to the trend of the continental margin, we infer that this stress field is of tectonic origin. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.