Figure F10. Stress polygons showing conditions of principal horizontal stresses favoring normal, strike-slip, and thrust faulting (Zoback et al., 2003). Shmin = SHmax line is lower limit of possible stress states. Lines bounding the composite polygon on its upper and left sides are thresholds of failure; stress states to the left and above these lines cannot exist in the natural state. Different stress polygons apply for differing depths, pore pressures, and friction coefficients. Shmin = minimum principal horizontal stress, SHmax= maximum horizontal principal stress, Sv = vertical stress.
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